The view from Creeting St Peter

You know something, I'm not going to go gently into that dark night...

2012-01-29T23:16:00.000Z

I have, I must confess, been confronted with signs of my mortality of late. No, I'm not dying, I'm not even ill. it's just that, in recent months, the notion that I am still young has taken a bit of a kicking. I've known that I'm in my mid-forties, but there has been a piece of me that, emotionally at least, has striven to deny the fact that I am, to put it kindly, getting on as bit.

I've been dwelling on my long-term finances, on my health, on the future. Ah yes, the future. I've never been very good at that, apart from planning trips (and I'm really good at that...). And now, whilst I don't have to be really good at it, it does make me realise that, eventually, one day, I might die. So, perhaps I ought to be a little more relaxed about duty, and slightly keener on fun, worry less about things that might go wrong, and wonder more about what might just happen.

I wonder what will happen...

Lobbying Reform: sorry Eirian, but sorry doesn't cut it...

2012-01-29T16:55:00.000Z

Today, it emerges that Eirian Walsh Atkins has resigned. For those of you who don't know her, until Friday, she was the head of constitutional policy at the Cabinet Office. Why was she important? Perhaps because she has been preparing the government's consultation proposal on a statutory register for lobbyists... a key part of the political reform package promoted by Liberal Democrats.

Interestingly, she resigned because of a message on her Twitter feed, wishing "that Unlock Democracy would die". Now you might think that such an attitude is, to put it mildly, unhelpful. You might also wonder if her attitude had led to potential bias in terms of her handling of the issue. I know that I do.

And, there is a suggestion that she has displayed such bias. We do know that she has refused to meet with the Director of Unlock Democracy, Peter Facey, to discuss the proposals. We also know that she has refused to meet with Spinwatch, an independent non-profit making organisation which monitors the role of public relations and spin in contemporary society. On the other hand, she is understood to have met with representatives of the UK Public Affairs Council four times since September 2010. Equitable treatment? I don't think so.

She also led the Cabinet Office's rejection of a freedom of information request to disclose details of its contacts with the lobbying industry since 2010. On the basis of what we do know, it might appear that she was covering up her own behaviour.

But before I continue, time for a declaration of interest. I am a member of the Council and Management Board of Unlock Democracy, and a civil servant, so I have multiple perspectives on her behaviour.

The Government has talked big about cleaning up British politics, and whilst I wonder if everyone is entirely committed to doing anything more than talking about it, the commitment to cleaning up the lobbying industry is a key step towards improving the transparency and integrity of our body politic.

And part of that body politic is the Civil Service, a body supposed to be beyond reproach in its dealings with the public and with those that govern us. As a reminder for Eirian, here are our core values, as placed on a statutory footing by the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010;

Integrity – putting the obligations of public service above personal interests
Honesty – being truthful and open
Objectivity – basing advice and decisions on rigorous analysis of the evidence
Impartiality – acting solely according to the merits of the case and serving governments of different political parties equally well

So, let's see how Eirian got on...

Integrity

That would be a fail. She had a duty to serve the public interest, and publicly declared her view towards a leading campaigner on the question under discussion. She has given a clear impression of favouring one side of the debate over the other.

Honesty

In one sense, she has passed. After all, her view of Unlock Democracy is refreshingly direct, even if unwise. On the other hand, if her refusal of a seemingly legitimate Freedom of Information request was intended to prevent scrutiny of her conduct, she has failed.

Objectivity

Article 11 of the Code states;

11. You must not:

ignore inconvenient facts or relevant considerations when providing advice or making decisions

Is it possible to imagine that she could now be, or has ever been, objective? Can you credibly suggest that she has taken into account all of the facts? I really can't see that one standing up.

Impartiality

Oh dear, another fail. The merits of the case? She clearly doesn't believe in taking them seriously, and has evidently failed to serve this government well. Of course, she could have been equally useless under the previous Labour administration, but given her rank, it seems somewhat unlikely.

Article 13 of the Code reads;

13. You must not:

act in a way that unjustifiably favours or discriminates against particular individuals or interests

So, not a good score, methinks. I'm pleased that she has resigned as head of constitutional policy, but might I suggest that this civil service thing isn't really her forte? After all, if you were a Cabinet Office minister, could you really trust her work? I couldn't.

Time to go and get a job as a lobbyist, Eirian. Don't worry, I'm sure that they'll look after you...

I can count, I can...

2012-01-26T11:20:00.001Z

I am, somewhat unexpectedly, being educated again. Well, I say educated, in that I am part of an HM Revenue & Customs pilot study, testing the value of the NVQ Level 2 in Operational Delivery.

I've met my assessor, Barry, and done the mandatory literacy and numeracy tests. And that's my first concern. The picture shows one of the sixteen numeracy test questions, indeed, one of the more difficult ones.

Remember, I'm a tax official, working in an organisation that requires academic evidence of numeracy as part of our recruitment process. I have an 'O' level, two 'A' levels and a degree in Mathematics. I do find myself wondering why I am obliged to take a test that I would have been upset at failing when I was five. It appears to be 'education by box ticking', something that I don't really approve of.

And, to be blunt, it doesn't appear to be particularly rigorous. Keep the answers short, I am told, avoid detail. There I was, thinking that this might offer an opportunity to give some serious thought as to the way we function, and whether or not we provide a service that meets the actual needs of our customers, rather than one that fits with what we're willing to provide. Clearly, I am being naïve.

Once upon a time, we had proper, rigorous training, where you were taught not only what to do, but why you are doing it. But that's expensive, so instead consultants are brought in to break down our work into simple bite-sized chunks that a slightly slow gibbon could master.

That's fine, so long as you have a basic knowledge of the job. However, if you don't, as soon as something unusual crops up, you're floundering at the end of a long rope, with managers appointed on the basis of managerial competence, rather than any knowledge of your job.

And that, my friends, is why bureaucrats become jobsworths. If in doubt, stick to the letter of the law...

Eric Pickles redefines 'moral duty'

2012-01-23T13:57:00.000Z

Not only has Eric Pickles failed to extend his largesse to Parish Councils, but he now accuses me of failing in my moral duty by increasing the Parish precept by 13%.

I would love to freeze our share of the council tax this year. But I can't - the numbers simply don't add up.

Like councillors around the country, I have a legal obligation to secure the finances of my authority. Each year, we fret about balancing the books, about long-term sustainability, about maintaining essential services, about protecting our staff and treating them with respect. Even in good years, difficult choices are made, but in hard ones...

Some of my colleagues on principal authorities have concluded that, rather than take the 'bribe' equivalent to a 2.5% increase on the previous year's budget, they will increase council tax. Their logic is that, one day, the bribes will stop and, when they do, the gap between income and expenditure will need to be bridged by a large increase in the precept. A little basic arithmetic tends to support their contention.

Others argue that it is better to protect council taxpayers this year, accepting the likelihood of a big increase for 2013/14. And if you're up for election in 2012, one can see the political attraction. Or, if you hope that the economy will improve so that the increase will seem less painful, it is entirely logical.

But, whatever decision they've taken, it has been one which has not been taken lightly. And given that Eric's largesse has no impact on the deficit, and that it is being paid for by taxpayers, I thoroughly object to him bandying around the phrase 'moral duty'. It is my moral duty to do the best for my community - all of my community. That may mean cutting costs, it may mean increasing council tax levels.

And by the way, Eric, you've just passed a Localism Bill, giving me a power of general competence. The idea was that local councils were to be trusted to get on with things without vast layers of central bureaucracy or diktat. For pity's sake man, read the memo. Or, if it's all too complex, it's your moral duty to get someone to explain it to you. I'd ask Andrew Stunell, if I were you...

For the benefit of Iain Duncan-Smith: a definition of homelessness

2012-01-23T10:52:00.001Z

This morning, on BBC's Breakfast Show, Iain Duncan-Smith was talking about the impact of his proposals on a benefit cap. He suggested that the 'scare stories' were exaggerated, claiming that the Shelter definition of homelessness was unrealistic.

When pressed, he stated that their definition of homelessness includes circumstances where bedrooms are being shared. At this point, Ros noted that he was being less than entirely accurate.

So, I thought that I ought to check. Given that Ros has plenty of knowledge on housing issues, and has held senior office at District and County level, I'd tend to trust her judgement. And here, for the benefit of the Secretary of State, is Shelter's actual definition;

"Homelessness means not having a home - most people who are homeless don't sleep on the street. Even if you have a roof over your head you can still be homeless. This is because you may not have any rights to stay where you live or your home might be unsuitable for you due to severe overcrowding or other reasons."

If I was being extremely generous, I would accept that he may have misinterpreted this. But I'm not. To my mind, most people would see severe overcrowding as being rather more than simply sharing a bedroom.

So, either he is wilfully misrepresenting the facts, or he is ignorant of them. And on that basis, he is unworthy of any faith that Parliamentarians might wish to place in his judgement. And that rather casts doubt on the quality of the legislation he is promoting...

A benefit cap: victimising people at taxpayers' expense?

2012-01-23T08:22:00.000Z

I freely admit that I haven't given an awful lot of attention to the Welfare Reform debate. Odd really, because Ros cast her first ever vote as a rebel against the proposal to punish those in receipt of housing benefit who have a spare bedroom. But nonetheless, it isn't an area of policy that I'm terribly knowledgeable about.

But I do like to think that a proposal should add up. And the benefit cap doesn't seem to do so. As I understand it, the proposal will lead to a direct saving of £270 million from the social welfare budget. So far, so good. But are there consequential effects?

Some of the people impacted, indeed, a lot of them, will be living in private rented accommodation. If housing benefit is reduced, they will probably lose their home unless rents drop in their area across the piece. That seems, to put it politely, somewhat unlikely, given that landlords will not want to reduce their income, and that overheads are likely to increase as interest rates revert to more sustainable long-term levels. If they lose their homes, they aren't intentionally homeless, and their local authority is obliged to house them, which comes with a cost to the local authority. If they have available housing, that cost can be held down but, if temporary rented accommodation is required, that can be quite expensive.

If the senior official in the Department for Communities and Local Government who wrote that the resultant costs would exceed the benefits of the cap is correct, the Government will have achieved something superficially popular and fiscally inept simultaneously. Quite some achievement, might I suggest?

Tim Leunig offers what seems like an entirely sensible alternative, suggesting that you could make equivalent savings by increasing the housing stock by 1.3%. You would create jobs, impose some downward pressure on housing costs across the board, and create an asset which will generate a return, all of which are obviously good.

I'm uncomfortable about the idea of punishing people on the basis of an arbitrarily chosen number. Yes, it is right that we should give people an incentive to seek work, but it can't just be about sticks - carrots need to play a part too. And whilst Liberal Democrats approach it by taking people out of income tax at the bottom end of the income scale, Conservatives appear to prefer making them so impoverished that any job, no matter how poorly paid, and no matter whether or not it allows them to live with dignity.

And so, in the unlikely event that Iain Duncan Smith happens to see these words, I'd be grateful if he put fiscal responsibility ahead of a rather perverse insistence on self-reliance...

Even a bribe from Eric Pickles wouldn't help me this time...

2012-01-22T21:19:00.001Z

Last year, I was rather pleased that I had managed to freeze the Parish Council precept by cutting a swathe of utterly superfluous proposed expenditure from the draft budget. Indeed, I probably felt a bit smug about it at the time.

But something was bothering me. Our Parish Clerk produces an exquisitely detailed budget document each year, which we, the Parish councillors, look at and, apart from my enthusiasm to cut out things that I deem unnecessary, accept. I had therefore assumed that the income and expenditure balanced, as it all added up.

And, indeed, it does. However, it gradually dawned on me that I didn't have a grasp of the whole picture, a failure which annoyed me somewhat, as I take a degree of pride in my basic numeracy. So, this year, I produced my very own income and expenditure account, based on the budget figures, stripping out the earmarked funds for elections and the funds inherited from the Community Council intended to finance the playing field.

As a result, my vague unease was crystallised into a rather ugly realisation, that we were actually spending more than we were bringing in. To be honest, I should have spotted it earlier, but you know how it is, everything seemed alright, and I didn't want to be too aggressive as a reasonably new councillor.

Luckily, I'm not alone. Our Parish Clerk has seen the same iceberg, and has proposed some changes that will help address the problem. I've added my own thoughts, and we've filled much of the gap. Unfortunately, inflation and a transfer of waste management costs from the District Council make the numbers more difficult.

Which leaves one last option - increasing the precept. Not a palatable one, but really the only viable one we have. And so, taking a deep breath, I've joined my colleagues in agreeing a 13% increase in the precept for 2012/13, about £5 for a band D household.

It doesn't sound like much, 10p a week, but it's my friends and neighbours who will be paying it, so none of us have done it lightly. Hopefully, though, it will allow us to stabilise our finances in future years.

I do wonder how these people do it...

2012-01-17T12:29:00.001Z

It is said that getting involved in Liberal Democrat Voice is a certain route to blogging damnation. With the 'curse of the BOTYs', whereby all winners have almost entirely stopped blogging thereafter, and the workload involved in being an editor, you can kind of see why that might be so.

And, alas, I seem to be sliding into the same trap. Blogging here has been a bit light of late, partly caused by my being on holiday, partly because my other responsibilities are keeping me from the blog.

Ironically, most of what I write for Lib Dem Voice is not what I have included on my own blog and, in truth, I haven't written that much for the site. It is a bit of a distraction though, and I really need to start managing my time a little better, so that I can keep up.

So, we'll see what can be done here, but in the meantime, it's my day today on Liberal Democrat Voice so, if you have any comments on how it's going, feel free to add them here...
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Don't you just hate it when an accountant spams you?

2012-01-11T12:39:00.000Z

There are few things that genuinely annoy me - I'm a fairly placid soul at heart. But one thing that really does irritate me is commercial spam comments on my blog.

Last week, I blogged about an Indian chartered accountant turned standup comedian. So far, so commonplace. However, in my inbox is notification of a comment, reading as follows;

"For your peace of mind, Gordons Knight www.gkcadvice.co.uk offer a 100% Guarantee on our chartered accountant london services in the UK."

Now, I don't know the firm myself. However, their action in spamming my blog gives an impression that they are a bunch of opportunists, rather keener to attract clients than to worry about ethics. That might seem unfair, but it annoys me. They clearly don't know me too well either, as the chances of an HMRC official needing an accountant are, I would suggest, fairly small.

So, to those 'nice' people at Gordons Knight, might I offer a piece of advice? Spamming people is annoying, regardless of how well meaning you might be. Indeed, it gives the impression that you might not be that well meaning, something that I look unkindly upon.

Luckily, they're in South London, so I'm less likely to encounter them, but if you're looking for an accountancy firm in South London, don't ask me for a testimonial...
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No more unlikely than a chartered accountant doing standup...

2012-01-07T12:14:00.001Z

One of the things about visiting family is that I am simultaneously inside, and outside, of my comfort zone. Inside, because I am with my family, and outside, because I tend to find myself doing things that I might not otherwise do. My second cousins, Dylan and Arlene, are somewhat younger than I am, and are incredibly social. So, when cousins are in town, they are keen to do things. And, for some reason, if there's karaoke involved, all the better.

We had been part of a shopping exhibition to Phoenix Mills, a rather chi-chi mall in Lower Parel, and the existence of comedy was noted. As, to my knowledge, stand-up comedy is not a traditional Indian artform, and having noted that one of the comedians was a local ex-chartered accountant, when the idea of a night out was mooted, we thought, why not?

So, on Thursday evening, we set off from our hotel, an edifice so vast that you can presumably see it from space, and so over the top that Graham Norton would claim it to be tasteless - just what purpose does the young lady wishing us a good morning actually serve? - in an air-conditioned taxi to the mall, where we were joined by Dylan and Arlene.

And yes, it's that 'Comedy Store', transplanted to South Mumbai for the benefit of a young, almost painfully hip audience. With a Geordie compere, who rapidly alighted upon a young man isolated on the front row, and kept coming back to him with some quite concerted advice on how to make friends, and made a series of suggestive comments about the sexuality of the guys further down the row.

I was intrigued, because homosexual acts are still punishable by imprisonment here, and somewhat surprised by the reception he was getting - uproarious laughter.

He was, it must be said, very funny in a 'thank God he hasn't seen me' sort of a way, and he had evidently made a real effort to research a bit of Mumbai culture first, with gags about biscuit adverts and Amitabh Bachchan (the Big B, as he is known).

Now I know that Will Howells has taken up stand-up and, whilst I haven't seen his act yet (so, when are you playing the Regal, Stowmarket, Will?), I sense that Karun Rao has given me a hint of what I might expect, as he delivered a set of jokes about being a chartered accountant and about how difficult it is to get laid when you are one. Geek humour at its very best.

Our last act was a black comedian from Greenford, near Southall, called Nathan Caton. As a West Indian kid at a mostly Indian school, he'd learned a pretty impressive number of Hindi swear words, which he tested on a fairly receptive audience. I have to say that I was least impressed by him, as he seemed to think that doing a bunch of gags about his mother would be enough.

The beer flowed, and the sushi was good too, and all in all, it was a really pleasant evening. But somehow, I can't see me getting into the Comedy Store in London for less than a fiver...

Hello from 2012! You guys, you're so last year...

2011-12-31T19:19:00.001Z

So, Ros and I have seen in the New Year, to the sound of bhangra (you have no idea...). I have my flashing light stick as a souvenir, and Ros has an excitingly blue feather boa.

But, of course, I'm out of synch for five and a half hours because whilst here it is 2012, I'm still Regional Secretary until 5.30 a.m. local time. At least I'll be asleep when the transition actually happens.

So, let me wish you all a Happy New Year. May 2012 bring you all that you could reasonably hope for, and be a year less painful than 2011 was.

Time to wave the flashing light stick, methinks...
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Arise Sir Bob, the Voice of Colchester

2011-12-31T13:33:00.001Z

Long term readers of this blog will know that I am a bit of a fan of Bob Russell, our nearest Liberal Democrat MP.

And the talk here in Mumbai is of nothing else but the exciting news that, at some point in the New Year, the Queen will say, "Arise, Sir Robert" and we'll have another Liberal Democrat knight.

Bob is not 'fashionable' but he is a bloody good tribune for the people of Colchester, a patriot and a great campaigner over forty years for local residents. And for all of that, and the fact that he's a nice guy too, I couldn't think of anyone more deserving in our Parliamentary Party.

And for next time, Your Majesty, might I commend Sir Alastair Carmichael, for services to politics and Facebook?... Make him come in his Viking outfit too, he's got an enormous axe...
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2011 in review: a tale of what wasn't to be... and where we were going to be...

2011-12-31T13:16:00.000Z

Released from the role of First Husband, things were going to be a bit quieter, yes? Well, no, not really. Freed from her Presidential responsibilities, Ros ran through the gears as my campaign manager, as I sought to win Stowupland ward from the evil Tories.

We'd been leafleting with increasing enthusiasm, and it was soon time to put a bureaucrat on the doorstep. And much to my surprise, I began to rather enjoy myself, uncovering a latent liberal vote dating back to the post-war years. The locals were (mostly) friendly, and I began to suspect that I might have an outside chance.

Sadly, the combination of increased turnout stemming from the AV referendum - they tended not to vote Lib Dem - and a Green candidate who attracted 15% of the vote without actually campaigning was enough to deny me by 91 votes. As Ros said, if I could achieve a 12% swing under such circumstances, I could have reasonably expected to have won in any other year.

There was no time for disappointment though, as Europe awaited. Ros and I had been elected on to the Council of the European Liberal Democrats (ELDR), and our first outing was to Dresden. I freely admit that it didn't sound tremendously enticing but we discovered that Saxony was a pretty corner of Germany, and with pork and beer as key staples, the cuisine suited us too. So much so indeed, that we went back.

Ah yes, travel. I got to the Caribbean for the first time, to Jamaica. I wasn't entirely convinced, as it seems fundamentally wrong that most of the profit goes offshore, leaving the locals to do the lifting and carrying for little pay. Perhaps I need to go somewhere else...

We had liked Dresden so much that we went back for a holiday, combining it with Prague as a two-centre trip. The sun shone, the food (and the beer) were marvellous, and we discovered a whole new part of the world to intrigue Ros.

For we had discovered a degree of freedom. When Ros and I first met, the campaign for the Presidency was warming up, and with a year and a half of campaigning, followed by two years of the Presidency and another four months of a District Council campaign, we hadn't actually had a lot of 'us time'. And we were enjoying it too.

Our last trip was to Palermo for more ELDR business. It can seem a bit cliquey from the outside, as a lot of our delegates attend the annual Congress year after year. Undoubtedly, the cost is a factor, but the fact that it is a little known facet of the Party's activity doesn't help. I rather enjoy it all, as the way of doing politics is gentler, more collegiate. And despite having fought a campaign as the candidate and not just a supporter, I still don't like retail politics.

Life as a parish councillor has continued to take up more of my time. As the parish council's 'envoy to everywhere else' I discovered a thicket of committees, councils and other bodies sufficient to fascinate a bureaucrat. And it is all genuinely fascinating for a transplanted boy from the city.

And with that, I must away, as it's New Year in just over five hours. You see, we're in India, visiting family, catching some sunshine and doing some shopping. It's warm, the rupee is on its knees, and my family are their usual, gloriously bonkers, self. It's good to be home...
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A new way of keeping busy... but how can I match the glamour that is Stephen Tall?

2011-12-20T17:37:00.001Z

Having wound down my political activity in recent months, I do need something to keep me busy. And, on the apparent basis that the Devil makes work for idle hands, today I'm making my debut as one of the volunteer editors of Liberal Democrat Voice.

In fact, today I'm sharing duties with Paul Walter who, along with Mary Reid, will be handling Tuesdays on an alternating basis, under the close supervision of Mark Pack. In fairness, Paul has done most of the work today, and is clearly keen - this augurs well for the future.

Once we're considered ready, the three of us will be alternating in a three-week cycle, giving each of us time to commission pieces, or write them ourselves if need be - and I quite fancy making the odd contribution myself.

As Stephen Tall noted this morning, we aren't the first, with Caron Lindsay, Prateek Buch and Nick Thornsby already up and running - they're handling a day each, rather than alternating on the same day. Rather them than me, I must say...

So, what can you expect from me? Something ermine, something blue, something grey and something rural, I'd guess, reflecting my background and the circles I move in.

I hope that you like it, I've some tough acts to follow...
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No hard feelings, I trust, Lord North?

2011-12-18T16:09:00.000Z

Our recent trip to Stratford was made even more interesting by our accommodation for the night, Wroxton Abbey, just outside Banbury.

The Abbey, with its eighteenth century garden, is one of the perhaps less well known stately homes but its history is an interesting one. Originally built in the Jacobean era, on the site of a monastery torn down on the instructions of Henry VIII, the house became to home of the Norths, one of whom went on to become Prime Minister.

Lord North, for it was he, is probably most famous for, let us put it tactfully, misplacing the American colonies, but his family appear to have been quite forgiving about it, as one of the family guests was none other than Theodore 'Teddy' Roosevelt, who came to Wroxton to shoot. He slept in what is now known as the Presidential Suite, our billet for the night, and almost certainly the biggest room I've ever slept in.

And, irony of ironies, when the house became a burden too great for any descendent to bear, it was sold... to an American university, Fairleigh Dickinson which, nearly fifty years later, maintains the estate as a study abroad program base, with students from across the country coming to take advantage of the facilities and setting.

I'm sure that Lord North would have seen the funny side of it though...

The blunders of the human spine

2011-12-18T13:30:00.001Z

"Good grief," you're thinking, "what's he on about this time?. Is this an obscure attempt at humour by using metaphor?".

Actually, it is pain-induced. Yesterday, whilst bringing in logs for the wood burning stove, I attempted to reach outwards and downwards for a last log and discovered the outer limit of what my back is actually capable of. It isn't that, it appears. Twenty-four hours later, after much resort to painkillers, and some rather gingerly negotiation of various parts of the house, I am capable of moving around, albeit stiffly and cautiously, although it isn't pretty.

As I have noted in the past, I have not really looked after my spine, slouching in chairs, reaching awkwardly for things rather than doing so in the approved health and safety conscious manner, and carrying more weight than is good for me, albeit less than I was carrying a year ago.

It is a dual reminder, first that I am, despite an emotional denial of the fact, getting older, and second that I really rather ought to look after myself better. A bit more weight lost would ease the pressure on my lower vertebrae, and a bit more exercise would strengthen the muscles that support it.

The problem is that, as I get older, being sedentary becomes more and more appealing. I enjoy my food and drink, and life is generally pretty good.

Oh well, life can't only be wine and roses...

Cameron offers up his Parliamentary Party as a hostage to the Media

2011-12-18T10:07:00.001Z

Those of us who have, I put it politely, been about for a while, will remember the carnage that followed John Major's 'Back to Basics' campaign in the mid-nineties, as a series of hitherto anonymous Conservative MPs were outed for their less than entirely conventional view of human sexuality.

It demonstrated, beyond any doubt, that politicians are human, like everyone else. Unfortunately, with the media sub-contracted to act as moral arbiters, it was never going to end well, with effects that still impact on our politics today.

I find myself in what seems like a counter-intuitive position. Because, whilst our Conservative dancing partners normally claim to have a jump on issues of personal responsibility and freedom, this is one area where Liberal Democrats seem more comfortable with both. And whilst Liberal Democrats are not immune to personal frailty, the fact that the Party has a generally less prurient view of personal relationships and sexuality means that charges of hypocrisy in this area have been relatively few in number.

And the problem with hypocrisy in human relationships is that you become horribly exposed to a media who will never miss an opportunity to pull down an errant politician or, at least, a politician whose personal life does not meet with their moral approval.

So, David Cameron's talk of 'Christian values' will, I suspect have provoked a few groans at the breakfast tables of Conservative politicians this week, and a little rummaging in the files of our national newspapers. I'm not going to say that I look forward to the results, but I have a nasty feeling in my bones...

Measure for (somewhat sado-masochistic) Measure

2011-12-15T23:40:00.001Z

It's been a day of surprises here on Planet Bureaucrat, none of which, I am delighted to say are work, or even politics, related.

Ros and I are at Wroxton College, the United Kingdom campus for Fairleigh Dickinson University, a New Jersey based institution, hosted by their Director here, Nicholas Baldwin. Our visit here was founded on an opportunity to see Shakespeare performed live, and our show 'Measure for Measure'.

I admit that, having studied Shakespeare at school, it only ever seemed to live when exclaimed, so I can't claim to be a huge fan. And when the performance began with a number of the cast in bondage outfits being whipped by others, I was not necessarily convinced that the evening was going to go well.

However, once the bondage gear had receded from the consciousness, the power of the plot, the quality of the acting and the Globe-like setting of the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon began to work their magic. Read in isolation, Shakespeare's plays require a suspension of credibility and a sense of creativity, yet performed you forget this and are drawn like a magnet to the morality of the piece.

And so it was this evening. I found myself curious to know what would happen - an advantage of not knowing the play, I guess - and enjoying the humour with which events unfolded.

It would naturally be wrong of me to reveal the plot, even though it is so well known. But, if you're in Stratford, and it's still on, I can but commend it to you. And, in any event, the Swan is a wonderful performance space...

Is it REALLY necessary to be that aggressive?

2011-12-14T21:01:00.000Z

Perhaps I'm getting old, or perhaps I'm just becoming a better politician, but one of the things that bothers me is the tendency of some people, predominantly men, to do politics as though it is a contact sport, all aggression and playing the man if the ball isn't convenient.

I've had an example today. A colleague, who shall remain nameless, but knows who he is, wrote an e-mail complaining about the behaviour of a third party. That complaint was made to an e-mail list including the person the person being complained against, in front of all of the people she will be working with in the coming months.

I responded almost immediately, explaining why I thought that such an approach was inappropriate, but it dawned on me that, perhaps, this is the sort of behaviour that discourages people from getting involved in organisations. And I admit that I find it a little depressing, especially as someone who believes that an organisation is at its most effective when everyone who can contribute is given the space to do so.

So, if you find yourself frustrated at a meeting, take a deep breath, count to ten, and ask yourself, "Is losing my temper going to help?". And then, why not calmly, and discreetly, approach the root of your problem, and find out why they are behaving in the way that they are. You may learn something. Of course, it may still mean that you have to kill them, but at least you've tried...

Another day, another lesson in Indian bureaucracy

2011-12-13T21:50:00.001Z

Another day in London, dealing with my Indian visa application, having lunch with the woman I love, meeting my brother for a drink and doing 'Unlock Democracy' stuff.

Traditionally, obtaining an Indian visa has been fairly straightforward, if time consuming. You downloaded the form, or picked one up if you were lucky enough to live near a consular facility, filled it in, attached two photographs and went to the High Commission at India House. There, you were given a number which entitled you to wait in a scene from bedlam with hundreds of others, hoping that you didn't miss your number and, eventually, handing over the form, some cash (no cheques or credit cards accepted) and your photographs. You would then wait for your number to be called again, at which point your passport, containing a one page visa, could be collected before you made your escape. An early start was essential, before the queues built up too far but, if all went well, you could be out in three, maybe four hours.

Now, the task of processing applications has been contracted out, to a company called VFS Global. What this means is that you can complete your application online, and book an appointment to visit at a pre-arranged time. Or so I thought...

I had gone on line and filled out the very long, sometimes seemingly irrelevant, form, pressed submit, and then... not very much actually. You are asked to print out the form, and then led towards an appointment, where you pick a time and a location, subject to availability. There are three locations in London - one in Victoria, one on Goswell Road, on the fringes of the City of London, and the last in Southall.

So, I arrived in Victoria in good time for my noon appointment, forewarned by Ros, who had gone through the whole experience three hours earlier that I needed photographs that were two inches square rather than standard passport photograph size, ready with the right change for the handily located photo booth. The pictures taken, I joined the throng waiting for service.

There were three sets of numbers being called, one for those with appointments, one for those without, and one for those with specific requirements. Given that I had an appointment, I assumed that I would have priority. Well, not really, but I was only there for about an hour before the ten people with appointments ahead of me were dealt with.

When do I get my passport back with its new shiny visa? Don't know, but they'll e-mail me to let me know that it's available for collection. Progress...

Lunch with Ros followed. Our lifestyle keeps us apart more often than I would like, but given Ros's responsibilities, I can't grumble. They've got a new cafeteria on the Parliamentary Estate, and the food is pretty good. Not exactly cheap, but fair value and well prepared.

Next, some time with my kid brother, Kirk (the tall, dark handsome one). I try to get down to London to see my family as time permits, especially as I couldn't reasonably have been described as a dutiful son in the past. I took him to the Red Lion, just off St James's Square, and we chewed the fat for a while.

I was then left with a little time on my hands, so I went shopping, looking for some music. I also picked up a thermal long-sleeved vest, which will be handy in Finland in February.

Finally, in what turned out to be quite a busy day, I headed to Islington for a meeting of the Management Board of 'Unlock Democracy'. I have to admit that I wasn't properly prepared, to the point of being uncertain as to whether there was going to be a meeting at all. It went alright though, and I was able to make what I thought were salient contributions.

And now I'm on my way home to the country... too much London can be stressful...
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Goldman Sachs' favourite taxman bids us farewell?...

2011-12-12T22:11:00.002Z

It is unusual for a tax official to become the subject of widespread public opprobrium, but David Hartnett may well have set the standard by which future HM Revenue & Customs senior officials are judged. The man blamed by many of the Vodafone fiasco where, it is alleged, said multinational avoided as much as £4 billion pounds in tax liabilities, and linked to the deal whereby Goldman Sachs dodged £10 million in interest charges that other companies, in similar circumstances, were forced to settle, has become a lightning rod for political dissatisfaction with a Government Department struggling with low morale, pressure to reduce costs by 5% per annum and an increasingly complex tax code.

The announcement that he will be retiring next summer will have come as a surprise to many, including many working for HMRC itself, although the arrival of a new Chief Executive, Lin Homer, does offer a convenient window of opportunity - she will probably want to build a new team around her, and at sixty-one, Dave might not want to be a part of it.

On a personal note, and as someone extremely junior in this rather large, critically important piece of governmental architecture, I can't claim to know much about his performance. That said, his solid grounding in the technical areas of taxation always earned respect, especially amid a leadership who were usually appointed on the basis that knowing how to run an organisation is more important than knowing anything about tax. In truth, in an organisation that prides itself on its professionalism and specialist knowledge, theory is rather secondary to practice, and many of us are reassured by the notion that someone 'upstairs' actually might understand what we do.

I suspect that the history books might not be too kind to Dave, and would suggest that he will be one of the early casualties of a media that does not respect the old model of confidentiality and discretion that stood the Civil Service so well in the past. Civil servants did not take public positions, and in return, the media didn't attack them, as the Minister was responsible. The idea that a civil servant might have to publicly defend a position or an action remains something that is quite difficult to adapt to.

And so, what do we know about the new broom? A former Chief Executive of Suffolk County Council, and then Birmingham City Council, she has reached her current position via roles as Chief Executive of the UK Borders Agency and Permanent Secretary at the Department of Transport. So, no obvious tax background there. Trained as a lawyer... but not a tax lawyer, as I understand it.

However, the Deputy Leader of Suffolk County Council, when she was Chief Executive, was none other than my lovely wife who, naturally, is far too discreet to say very much. But if she's from Suffolk, she can't be bad, can she...

Glory, glory, Disgruntled Radical...

2011-12-11T21:55:00.001Z

I note that my gallant colleague, Disgruntled Radical (better known in this household as Young Mr Grace), is deeply unhappy about the shambles of the past few days.

But he has had some better news. Yes, you heard it here first, David has been successfully elected to be an (Extra)Ordinary Member of the Regional Executive of the East of England Liberal Democrats. I think that he will liven things up no end. Indeed, I thoroughly expect him to enjoy working with our Europhile MEP, and to make sure that we run a properly pro-European across the Region in 2014. In fact, I would go as far as to suggest that, were he to essay an attempt at seeking a place on the Regional List for that election, I might well be minded to endorse him.

Luckily, the endorsement rules haven't kicked in yet, so I can't get into trouble...

Europe and the Liberal Democrats: we're at our best when we believe in something

2011-12-11T10:35:00.001Z

Having just watched young Clegg on 'The Andrew Marr Show', I am much reassured. The initial reports of his response to the failure of the Brussels summit were, in the eyes of many Liberal Democrats, including this one, deeply regrettable, which only goes to show that you shouldn't necessarily believe what you read in the newspapers or see on the television news.

And I have to say, I thought that Nick did very well this morning. By admitting the truth, that the City of London is no safer now than it was before Cameron played the Conservative Party's joker, he said what most people who actually understand both the issues and the politics know, that a veto only works if it prevents something bad from happening, and that if you're not in the room when the big questions are discussed, you're not fighting for Britain's interest, you're watching as other decide your future for you. Not so much a veto as an abrogation of personal responsibility.

There are only really two options from here, one popular but wrong, one difficult but right.

If we want to protect the City of London, we need to be at the heart of the debate, or outside altogether. The Conservative Party would, I fear, given the chance, lead us out, leaving us dependent on the World Trade Organisation to protect our interests - not a happy scenario for anything smaller than a multinational. And Nick is clear, with three million jobs potentially at risk, with our influence in the world at stake, leaving Europe is not an option.

No, young Clegg did well today. It's about jobs and growth, not about machismo. It's about our long term future as a nation, not about pandering to the Daily Vile.

And perhaps, whilst we're at it, we can start talking about building the sort of democratic, accountable, transparent Europe that might prevent this sort of stupidity in future...

So that's it then. I'll get my coat...

2011-12-10T16:26:00.001Z

Executive Committee over, I'm on my way home, after a lively three hours which demonstrated both the strengths and weaknesses of your typical Regional Party.

We discussed the forthcoming Police Commissioner elections and, amongst the general but sometimes only vaguely directed unhappiness about how we got to where we are, we did take some steps to enable the counties to progress with any candidate selection process they might wish to initiate, and to move on providing support to them should they need it. I personally believe that the decision as to whether or not to run a candidate is best taken at the county level. However, if it is made more difficult than it might otherwise be by 'bureaucracy', we risk disenfranchising local members and activists.

Other than that, there were brief discussions on campaigning, the usual panoply of reports, plus mince pies.

And that's it, as I trudge away from the Regional Party into the icy tundra that is Suffolk. As Captain Oates so aptly put it, I may be gone some time...

The final (wipes tear from eye) report of the Regional Secretary

2011-12-10T09:29:00.000Z

Since the last Executive Committee meeting, I have been concentrating on my legacy as your Regional Constitutional Monitor, sorry, Secretary.

To that end, I have revamped our website, enhancing its 'usability', making it more current and vibrant by linking it up to bloggers across the Region (and that includes you, if you blog). There is more that can be done with it, especially in terms of being a research resource, and I intend to spend more time on this over the coming months (Lloyd, I was going to mention the fact that, as you have been so kind in arranging a smooth transition, I was planning to stay on as, if you like, the mad aunt in the website attic).

I have also carried out a major reconstruction of our Constitution, providing a secure base for future Executive Committees to take the strategic view that I believe imperative for their work. The introduction of two-year terms for the Executive Committee is a first for a Regional Party, and I shall be an interested onlooker as its effects emerge.

I have also worked with both Lorna Dupré and Chris Williams, our gallant Regional Returning Officer, to deliver a set of elections that will, when finished, be rather more efficient than last year's. I should, at this point, say how much the Regional Party owes to Lorna, and to Chris, for the phenomenal amount of work they have put in, and to Tim Huggan and Ian Horner for contributing their time and energy to make sure that the ballot mailing went out as quickly as it did.

I have also successfully delivered the elections for Regional vacancies reserved for Parliamentarians and Principal Authority Councillors. In case you had missed these, the results were as follows;

Parliamentarians

There were no nominations forthcoming.

Councillors

Regional Executive – Belinda Brooks-Gordon

Regional Policy Committee - Lucy Nethsingha, Andy Pellew and Anne Turrell

I probably did some other things, but they haven't come to mind as I've typed this report, so I'm guessing that they weren't interesting/important/life changing. If there was anything else that you particularly remember, do let me know – I'm getting older and my memory increasingly plays tricks on me. In fact, it reminds me of…

My other key roles have been to buttress the sanity of our Regional Chair (job done, I think), to liaise closely with our Vice Chair (that seems to have gone fairly well this year), and occasionally tell people that they can't possibly do that (I think that you'll find that Article 5, paragraph 3, sub-section iii is on my side here).

As an aside, I should note that the job of Regional Secretary in the East of England is a rather odd one, in that virtually all of the tasks defined by the Regional Constitution as the responsibility of the Secretary are currently carried out by our Regional Administrator. It does make the job rather more ethereal than actual, and can lead to a sense that one should do something if only to be seen to have something to do. Luckily, Lorna has done a superb job, often under quite trying circumstances, and I 'bequeath' her to my successor in the total confidence that the administration of the Regional Party is in the safest of hands.

Whilst I am thanking people, I should thank my fellow colleagues on the Regional Executive for their patience and good humour over the past two years. On being elected, I swore fealty until my Chair until death (it's a Regional Secretary thing, this being my second Region in which I've held the post). The fact that all five Officers saw fit to bow out at the same time should not be taken to indicate a 'Kool-Aid moment'…

Finally, you have not necessarily seen the last of this (actually not very) faceless bureaucrat. As the new Treasurer of the Suffolk County Co-ordinating Committee, I expect to find good reasons for keeping the incoming Regional Treasurer on his toes and to ensure that you all continue to provide good value for money. I'm sure that you will.

Mark Valladares

Creeting St Peter

9 December 2011

The beginning of the end... and on such a lovely day too!

2011-12-10T09:25:00.001Z

Welcome to the 8.34 train from Stowmarket to Cambridge, as I head for the last Regional Executive meeting of the year, and indeed of my tenure as Regional Secretary.

Today, we're discussing the Police Commissioner elections, amongst other things. The initial shambles on this issue, further exacerbated by a failure of leadership on the part of the English Party, has now been replaced by a position which was exactly where I always thought we should have been, i.e. running a candidate, or not, should be a decision for local members. In Suffolk, I have been tasked with drafting a document to go to members across the county, laying out the position regarding the costs and other issues, and trying to gauge interest in being, and running, a candidate. I honestly have no idea what the outcome will be, but it seems right that we consult our members.

There is the usual plethora of reports, some of which are more interesting than others, although we appear not to have a report from our representative on the English Council Executive. One might assume from this that said body is an utter irrelevance, of no value or purpose - and I believe the latter to be true - but given that the ECE was where the Police Commissioner debate reached its nadir, it would have been nice to hear more about how they made such an utter mess of it.

Ho hum...

'Federal Union Now', by Andrew Duff

2011-12-08T13:28:00.000Z

Here's another document that I've read lately, which you might find of interest. The good news is that I can now remove it from my in-tray and file it...

The European Union must take a decisive step towards a federal economicgovernment, with common fiscal policies and a larger budget, if it is to savethe euro. Saving the euro is the precondition for the economic recovery of all Europe. Therefore a major revision of the EU treaties can no longer be avoided.

EU states which choose not to accept political union will have to beoffered a new form of associate membership. At any rate, the new treaty, whichwill be prepared by a democratic Convention, must be allowed to enter intoforce before all 27 member states have completed their ratification processes.

These are the main messages of a hard-hitting new pamphletwritten by Andrew Duff and published by the Federal Trust.

In Federal Union NowDuff defines what he means by a federal Europe and points out the steps neededto transform the Lisbon treaty into amore durable constitutional settlement for the EU. He argues that the currentnegotiations on the reform of the EU’s finances must aim to transfer items fromthe states’ budgets to the EU budget in the interests of efficiency savings.Such a shift in the levels of spending must be reciprocated by the creation ofgenuinely autonomous streams of revenue to the EU.

Duff draws a distinction between the tight coordination ofnational economic policies around a German agenda and that of a genuine fiscalunion run by a democratic federal economic government. He strongly opposes thepractice of intergovernmental cooperation outside the EU treaty framework,which has always failed in the past.

The new form of EU federal government will require thecreation of an EU treasury and the integration of the presidencies of theEuropean Commission and European Council. The author advances the EuropeanParliament’s efforts to improve its own political legitimacy by installing apan-European constituency for the election of a certain number of MEPs.

A veteran of the EU’s two earlier constitutionalConventions, Duff argues that comprehensive democratic reform will only beachieved through a third Convention composed of ministers, MPs and MEPs.

In a major departure from the status quo, Duff wants the newtreaty to enter into force as soon as it has achieved national ratification byonly four fifths of the states.

In a stark warning, Andrew Duff says that the recent EU Actof the UK parliament, whichinstalls British referendums on all EU treaty amendment, has imposed an effectiveunilateral veto on Europe’sevolution towards a federal union. The author asks whether the coalitiongovernment has either the moral authority or the political will to prevent therest of the EU from doing whatever it takes to save the euro. As a contingencyplan, Duff proposes that a new category of associate membership be created tocater for the likelihood that the UK will decide not to follow, atleast for now, the federalist integration of its mainland European partners.

Andrew Duff MEP (UK/Lib Dem) is President of the Union of European Federalists and spokesman on constitutional affairs for the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE). He is co-chair of the Spinelli Federalist Intergroup and the Parliament’s rapporteur on electoral reform.

An (almost) unnoticed milestone...

2011-12-06T16:15:00.000Z

Good heavens, have I really just posted my 2000th blog entry? It would appear so, having started my l'il old blog six years ago (when dinosaurs ruled the Earth).

In those relatively early days, when blogging was trendy, but not yet mainstream, it was all about opinion, and my rather gentle musings on life, the universe and bureaucracy made barely a ripple in the blogosphere. And, six years later, not much has changed in terms of the blogging. I'm still not terribly excitable, and there's still rather a lot of bureaucracy - despite my increasingly frequent chafeing about being defined as a bureaucrat, albeit it a gentle one.

On the other hand, I've got married, to the lovely Ros, moved house (twice), changed my work location (twice), run for the District Council, become a Parish Councillor and moved to a new Regional Party (and been an officer of that too). I've even tried 'micro-blogging', with my village blog. Alright, that hasn't worked, but it was worth a try.

The blog has, one might say, been a bastion of stability in a curiously unstable world.

And, curiously, life has become more reflective of the blog - gentler, more amicable. Life in my small village tends to be more my pace, much to the surprise of everyone, including Ros, and it is a never-ending source of new ideas. In turn, because I'm not rushing around like I used to in London, I have time to think.

So, the content has changed a bit, even if the style hasn't. And, of course, I've changed the design a few times, and will probably change again in due course, once I get bored and have too much time on my hands.

But now that I'm warmed up, here's to the next two thousand blog posts. You can look forward to more tales from the Parish Council, more countryside discoveries, quite a bit of travel and some 'more interesting than you might think' bureaucracy.

Now if only I could persuade Ros to start blogging again...
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

I've got 'The little Liberal Book' and I know how to use it...

2011-12-06T13:40:00.000Z

Due to other commitments, I was unable to attend a book launch that took place in Palermo during the ELDR Congress, that of 'The little Liberal Book: a guide for political party work'. It is exactly what it says on the tin, a nuts and bolts guide to building a political party from the grassroots up.

As someone who has rarely found himself in a successful, dynamic Local Party (Brent North, Dulwich and West Norwood and Bury St Edmunds have hardly been wildly successful in periods when I have been involved), I have found that one hurdle to success is simply not knowing what needs to be done. Or, more accurately, how it might be done. And I'm lucky. I've served at most levels of the Party bureaucracy, I know about candidate stuff, and who does what, where and when. But a guidebook never goes amiss.

The book comes in ten chapters;

Why we need strong liberal parties
What liberal parties have in common
The role of political parties
Party structures and functions
Membership administration
Event organisation
Communication
Participating in elections and campaigning
Fundraising
How to be in (local) parliament/government - coalition or opposition

and I'll be looking at some of them more closely over the coming weeks/months. And, you'll be intrigued to know, there's a section on how to form a coalition...

Tax and the Coalition: fairness and responsibility?

2011-12-05T12:47:00.000Z

I've got rather a backlog of stuff that I wanted to cover, so for those of you who have read the booklet already, you can always find a couple of dozen leaflets to deliver...

A copy of 'Tax and the coalition: fairness and responsibility?' has been passed to me, and given my obvious interest in taxation policy (you might as well know what might be done to you, personally and professionally, before it is), I've found time to read through it. Written by Dick Newby, our Treasury Spokesperson in the Lords and a former tax policy advisor for the Inland Revenue (I knew that I liked him for a reason), the booklet looks at ways in which the tax system can be made fairer, and how tax collection can be made more effective.

There is a valid debate to be had in terms of how fair our tax system already is, and the Gini coefficient (a measure of a population's overall income inequality) for the United Kingdom demonstrates the impact of, amongst other things, how government action has impacted on income inequality since 1961. It tells a tale of relative stability until the arrival of the Thatcher administration in 1979, when the coefficient value went from 0.25 then, to 0.37 in 1992 (the measure is on a scale between 0 (no inequality) to 1 (think Russian plutocracy). Through the Major and Blair years, it stabilised again, before resuming its upward trajectory as Blair handed over to Brown. By 2009, it stood at 0.41.

Lord Newby then goes on to look at various measures that might create a fairer taxation system, starting with adjustments to capital gains tax (linking it to income tax rates and equalising the annual tax free gain with the level of the personal allowance), inheritance tax (extending the exemption period from seven years), reviewing the tax regime for non-domiciles, and introducing a General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR).

He also supports widespread calls for a review of HM Revenue & Customs staffing cuts, and at a time when the Public and Commercial Services Union is calling for the staff losses to stop, his suggestion that "this is illogical and counter-productive' might come as a surprise to Mark Serwotka and his friends. However, it is an opinion that is much more widely held than by those in favour of a larger State. Taxation Magazine (your partner in tax law, practice and administration), for example, has run a number of campaigns calling for better staffing.

Finally, land taxation gets a look-in, with a call for site value rating. Whilst I would admit that this has been a liberal campaign over decades, it still has relevance, and even more so given the mobility of capital.

There is much worth reading in this booklet, as a means to developing a truly Liberal Democrat approach to taxation, and I would encourage those of you with an interest in the field to take a look. Indeed, I would urge those of you who wouldn't normally have an interest to read about the income generating end of an income and expenditure model.

The European Union and an elephant?

2011-12-04T13:46:00.001Z

With apologies to Millennium Elephant, who really isn't going to like this at all (there is cartoon violence towards an elephant involved, albeit the wrong type of elephant), here's a video about the European Union budget and what you can do to contribute towards balancing it...

Bear in mind that it is designed for a European audience, so that the language used is a bit simplistic and the delivery a mite slow.

Small... far away...

2011-12-04T10:50:00.001Z

Those of you who watched Father Ted may recall a scene where Father Ted tried to explain perspective to Father Dougal. "Small," he said, holding up a toy cow from a farmyard set, "far away.", pointing at the cows in a field outside the caravan.

My political life feels a bit like that now. As a Parish Councillor, my world is very local, taking me to Stowmarket, Claydon and, occasionally, Henley (just outside Ipswich). My new role as Local Party Treasurer may take me as far away as Bury St Edmunds, although that will be for a dinner, rather than for meetings.

However, my horizons are now slightly expanded. Yesterday, I was elected to the position of Treasurer of Suffolk's County Co-ordinating Committee. In that role, my patch runs from Lowestoft to Clare, from Newmarket to Shotley. There isn't much money involved, but the body has, potentially, a valuable role in supporting our campaigning across the county, especially for the county council elections in 2013.

So, that's the 'small'...

Beyond Suffolk, I'm still a Party delegate to the Council of the European Liberal Democrats (ELDR), which took me to Dresden and Palermo this year. Next year, the mileage will be rather greater.

But, maintaining the financial theme that now seems to run through my activities, I've been nominated to serve on ELDR's Scrutiny Committee, which monitors the finances of the organisation. That doesn't mean that I've got the job yet, as I haven't been told what the process is from here - one assumes that the Bureau decide - so I may yet have other trips to make.

So, 'small', and 'far away'. Perhaps I need a model cow to remind me how to keep it all in perspective...

I don't think that I'm going to be on Tim Prater's Christmas card list...

2011-12-04T00:09:00.001Z

Local Party websites, don't you just love them? Once upon a time, they were the big thing, and everybody had to have one.

But they were difficult if you didn't know much about web design, so when Prater Raines came up with a cookie cutter design, a lot of people jumped at the opportunity to climb on board. And yes, they're not exciting, but they do the job. The only catch was, and still is, you do actually have to feed them. Active campaign teams do but, here in Suffolk, we don't tend to, so we have a collection of semi-derelict websites whose sole impact is to enrich Prater Raines.

As the incoming Treasurer of my Local Party, I have concluded that we could share a website with either the District Council Group in Mid Suffolk, or with the County Council Group. We would all save money - which could be ploughed back into campaigning - and there would be more potential news sources.

However, this can be taken one step further. We have seven Local Parties and eight Council Groups, so why not bring them all under one umbrella?

At this morning's meeting of the Suffolk County Co-ordinating Committee, I raised the suggestion, and got a very positive response. I've been asked to write a paper for our next meeting, so that it can be taken back to the various bodies for agreement. I think that the savings might pay for a County Training Day and conference, which would been a lot to us as a County team.

We'll see how it goes, but it might be a model for other counties in future.

Suffolk County Council budget - pain, pain and more pain

2011-12-02T18:49:00.001Z

Part of my role as Creeting St Peter's 'envoy to the world' is to represent us at area meetings of the Suffolk Association of Local Councils. Now I would be the first to admit that this does not appear to be high on the list of 'must see' events, but they are a valuable source of information. And last night's meeting was a fine example of that, as we were the rather concerned recipients of a presentation on the future finances of Suffolk County Council, fronted by the Deputy Leader of the council, Jane Storey.

In short, it is going to be pretty bloody awful, with another £50 million worth of cuts to be inflicted over the course of 2012-13 and 2013-14, and the prospect of more to follow given George Osborne's Autumn Statement earlier in the week.

There is some good news, however, in that she talked of a more holistic, long term approach. For example, we heard that the council provides carers to help people into and out of the bath if they need help. Instead, it might make more sense to build them a wet room instead, allowing them to preserve their independence and reduce the overall cost. It's a small thing, but it helps.

Turning off street lights between midnight and 5.30 a.m. also helps, saving £1 per month per street light, which certainly adds up across a county.

It will be painful, undoubtedly, and we're all going to have to get used to doing things for ourselves where we can, but rather than see the poor and the vulnerable suffer, we're just going to have to deal with it, I suspect.

ELDR Congress: adrift on a familiar sea...

2011-11-25T16:26:00.001Z

It is that moment, where you find yourself alone with a glass of wine, looking out over the azure sea, when you almost feel as though you are on holiday, rather than debating war and peace, feast or famine, life or death. I tend to the view that this is a good thing, a reminder that perspective is precious, that we are not consumed with our own importance.

This morning, we have been occupied with an ELDR Council meeting, most of which was quite dull, and a debate on various resolutions. Astonishing though it might seem to Liberal Democrats, we got through thirty-two resolutions, on everything from the Debt Crisis to Prison Reform, from taxation to Iran, in just eighty-five minutes.

You see, most of the arguing goes on in working groups before hand, allowing only brief arguments on the floor of the Congress itself. Delegations then vote as steered by their leaders (well, mostly, because Linda Jack is amongst us...). I'm one of the scrutineers, tasked with counting votes from time to time. I've also been given another task, which might well be intriguing.

I've promised to report back via Liberal Democrat Voice, so I won't cover the outcomes of our deliberations. It would, however, be remiss of me not to pass on an impression.

ELDR is, in many ways, much like our own dear Liberal Democrats. There are social liberals, economic liberals and those willing to be swung by the arguments or by their own innate pragmatism. And whilst, perhaps, the balance is more in favour of the economic liberals than social ones, we act as a critical voice with a weight of votes which cannot be ignored.

However, there is a question as to whether our delegation is entirely representative. It excludes those without the means to pay for two or three nights and flights, it is predominantly white, overwhelmingly male, astonishingly middle class and almost entirely self-selecting. That is, some might suggest, an inevitability. Our Party has no funds to commit to support our delegates financially, and getting to, as an example, Palermo, is not cheap.

But if we cannot take financial steps, perhaps we need to find ways of inviting those from under-represented groups to take part in our international work.

Just a thought...

Graham Watson formally unopposed for ELDR Presidency

2011-11-24T15:15:00.001Z

Nominations have closed, and I can confirm that there has not been a late challenge to Graham's candidacy.

Curiously, that doesn't mean that he has been elected. A ballot is still required as a President can only be elected if he or she achieves more than 50% of the vote. And that isn't necessarily as easy as it sounds, as I am reliably told that one unopposed candidate did lose once upon a time...

European budget: shoot the DJ?

2011-11-24T10:52:00.001Z

Alright, so we're underway here in Palermo, in a room lit in blue lights a bit like a 1980's disco (if I find the glitterball, I'll let you know).

After a fiercely early start, the 32nd Congress of ELDR (European Liberal Democrats) is deep in discussion about the future of the European economy, with a rather technical presentation on global interconnectedness. Interestingly, the United Kingdom ranks 6th of the one hundred and twenty-five nations considered, although we rank behind Ireland. Even more interestingly, thirteen of the top twenty are in the European Union, and fifteen are in the European Economic Area.

The Indo-American professor, Pankaj Ghemawat, based in Barcelona, talked persuasively about the importance of migration into the EU to address the demographic timebomb that threatens the welfare system that has developed since World War II. He also noted some of the issues that inhibit intra-EU trade, relative to that within the United States.

The issues of transport, which is significantly more expensive within Europe (twelve times as much in the case of rail) are perhaps well known. However, the question of trust was not something I had previously considered, and the 'news' that levels of trust in those beyond our national borders are very low perhaps explains why companies do not pursue opportunities elsewhere.

But I ought to share the Congress logo with you. Often, these are esoteric in the extreme, but this one is worth a thousand words...

First published elsewhere... ELDR Congress - let's hope it isn't a lemon...

2011-11-23T17:39:00.001Z

For those of you who aren't Liberal Democrats (which includes my father, although he's fairly gracious about my political affinity), here is a piece published on Liberal Democrat Voice (apologies for the lack of linkage, but I can't do that when posting by e-mail from my BlackBerry)...

It's a long way from Creeting St Peter to Palermo, which partly explains why this piece comes to you from Linate Airport in Milan. But if my eight hour journey feels arduous, it is as nothing compared to the journey back to stability that is the mission of the Eurozone's finance ministers.

In the midst of this crisis, ELDR (the European Liberal Democrats) delegates from across Europe (and I'm beginning to appreciate just how far that might be) are gathering in Sicily's capital to discuss the European Union's budget for 2014-2020. I'm here because you sent me (or at least those of you who voted for me last year - molto bene, everyone).

In fairness, what has come to pass was unimaginable at the beginning of the year, and even when the ELDR Council met in May, there was little sense of the chaos to come. However, the current financial situation is likely to take up much of our time over the coming two days and will doubtless inform our debate on what the European Union should be doing in the coming years.

It's also time to elect a new President, and as already reported here, Sir Graham Watson is currently the only candidate to replace Annemie Neyts, from Open VLD (Flanders, Belgium), and assuming that an opponent hasn't emerged by this evening, the Liberal Democrat delegation will be being heavily lobbied for its significant voting strength by the various candidates for Vice President - we represent something like 12% of the available votes, and with four candidates to be elected, that really matters.

We'll also have the usual array of weird, wonderful and frankly parochial resolutions, urging ELDR to do this or that, and some fascinating seminars. And on the subject of seminars, it should be noted that it was at the equivalent event two years ago that the long-term need for recapitalisation of European banks was highlighted, and at the Dresden Council meeting in May when the junior partner in the ruling Slovak coalition announced that they would be opposing any proposal for a stabilisation fund (damn, I could have made a fortune...).

Finally, there are rumours that ELDR could be coming to a city near you soon, and I'll report back once this is confirmed. But first, we may be going somewhere that, when I first heard the news, made me exclaim, "How the hell do you get there?". It's not all glamour, this Euro stuff...

Italians - not entirely as stylish as one might think...

2011-11-23T17:24:00.001Z

It's been a long, long time since I was last in Italy, more than thirty years, in fact, and one's memories do play tricks as senility sets in, but I had always had an impression that Italians are rather more stylish than the rest of us. Given my occasional tendency towards self-image doubts, that makes the prospect of a journey via Milan, Italy's style capital, slightly fraught.

However, times change, and I have to say that Linate Airport is a ghastly reminder of what flying used to be like before proper architects started designing airports. Yes, it does have the ludicrously expensive shops, but it is ugly, dirty and poorly lit, with insufficient seating, poor layout and... But I should stop there, I've said quite enough...

And, curiously, Italians aren't as interesting to look at as they once were. Admittedly, times are hard, but that effortless sense of style appears to have been lost, and instead, the people around me look like everybody else.

I fit in quite nicely...

"What do you do with a Secretary, when he stops being a Secretary?"

2011-11-21T09:26:00.001Z

So, I've started the process of turning in my sheriff's badge as Regional Constitution Monitor (the actual title is Secretary, but you know what I mean). Just one more Executive Meeting to go, and a successor in place, Lloyd Harris from Dacorum, I'm already beginning to look for ways of filling my midweek evenings whilst Ros is in London running the country.

Meanwhile, my Local Party has been struggling a little. The Treasurer who, as is often the case, had his arm twisted to serve, has not exactly been on top of his game. Given that the Chair is a management accountant, this is, understandably, a mite frustrating to him, as he related to me over dinner one evening.

So I said, "Son-in-law, I'll tell you what, I'll do it myself if you really need someone.", thus breaking Valladares's First Rule of Bureaucracy - if you show any hint of willing, they will come. And so, despite being unable to attend the Annual General Meeting of the Bury St Edmunds Liberal Democrats on Friday evening, I was gloriously elected to the position of Treasurer unopposed.

And I'm already deep in thought about a four-year plan to take us through to the General Election...

Happy birthday, Mr Bureaucrat

2011-11-14T23:04:00.001Z

Yes, another year older, and possibly another year wiser. Another year closer to death, certainly, although I like to think of that as being rather a long way off, and really not worth worrying about. That said, I don't really do birthdays, as I never know what I want, don't like having a fuss made of it (except when I unpredictably feel like it) and tend to have fairly simple needs anyway.

Fortunately, Ros is a pretty astute judge of her bureaucrat, and it was agreed that apart from the gift bit, and a nice dinner for two at home, Sunday was going to be a fairly normal day. So, I was left to sleep in for a while, before being presented with two books of railway maps - is there anything better than the prospect of travel?

We'd been away visiting my family the previous day, so food shopping was necessary, and we headed to Ipswich. My personal priority was cheese, as my lunchtime treat was to be my first cheese sandwich for five months. The cheese has been sacrificed in the cause of my diet (coming along quite nicely, thank you very much) and has been occasionally stressful. I have been known to hallucination a cheese sandwich at times, which is not something you want to witness in a grown adult.

A lovely afternoon followed, with two cheese sandwiches, a nice walk in the countryside, spotting deer and a kestrel, and some gentle pottering around before dinner. Dinner was belly pork (with crackling, naturally), roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding and vegetables (apparently, they're part of a balanced diet), with a bottle of champagne to wash it gently down.

So, all in all, a pretty good day. I should thank everyone for their kind words and greetings, my family for their generous gifts, and life generally. And now, I really ought to get on with year forty-eight. Perhaps a nap first, though...

Theresa May - how likely is it that a senior civil servant takes a critical decision on their own initiative?

2011-11-09T23:25:00.001Z

I am, I must confess, intrigued by the whole UK Border Force controversy. It is, in my view, a classic example of what happens when you set goals which contradict each other.

I've spent enough time at enough airports to have become a bit of a connoisseur of 'good' border controls. What I want, as a traveller, is an efficient and speedy transit through immigration, so that I can pick up my luggage and get to my final destination. If I'm in transit, it's even more essential. As a citizen, however, I want the border to be sufficiently well-policed to exclude as many 'undesirables' as possible. Quick isn't important. Thorough is.

One thing that is emphasised more and more when entering the United Kingdom is the 'customer experience' (please add the rant against the use of the word 'customer' of your choice). The key measure of this is throughput - how many people can be processed per hour. After all, do you care if the immigration officer smiles at you?

And so the news that, at times of peak flows through airports, the scale of examinations was reduced, comes as no surprise. Managers would probably be evaluated on the queues, or lack thereof, and would have an incentive to find ways to improve the statistics. On the other hand, you can't set targets for the number of people prevented from entering the country, so the stringency of checks might be degraded without risk of penalty... unless the Press find out, of course.

But it is a gamble, and civil servants aren't prone to gambling as a rule. Indeed, it seems to this state-sponsored bureaucrat that the trend is towards having your opinion validated by a senior officer just in case.

And now that Brodie Clark, the senior official at the heart of this controversy, has announced that he will be suing for constructive dismissal, one finds oneself wondering, "who did he seek authority to act from?". He will know that any such claim will have no chance unless he can prove that this was discussed further up the food chain.

So, it seems reasonable to assume that somewhere, in someone's inbox, there is a smoking e-mail. Whose that is, I suspect, is going to be a source of much discomfort in the coming days...

And talking about a sense of perspective...

2011-11-02T22:01:00.003Z

I am reminded that, as usual, Monty Python had found a lighter way of noting where we fit within the universe...

Somewhere out there, is someone thinking what I'm thinking?

2011-11-02T14:44:00.001Z

One of the many joys of living in a small, dimly-lit village is the night sky.

In London, light pollution means that only the brighter stars can be seen with the naked eye. In Creeting St Peter, the night sky is a sea of lights, tiny pinpoints marking who knows what.

It is the sort of sky to inspire philosophers and dreamers. For me though, it is a reassuring reminder that, in a world where people can be quite irritatingly certain about things regardless of the uncertainties that exist in political decision making, that there are vast areas of doubt and uncertainty, and that we are a small backwater in a vast universe...

Written ministerial statement on the Universal Credit Migration Strategy

2011-11-02T13:52:00.001Z

Yesterday, the Government issued a statement on the timetable for the transition from the current welfare framework of multiple benefits to the new Universal Credit.

"Today the Department for Work and Pensions announces its strategy for moving 12 million working-age benefit and credit recipients on to Universal Credit by 2017.

Universal Credit is intended to provide a streamlined welfare system which makes the financial advantages of taking work or increasing hours clear to claimants. We recognise that the move from one welfare system to another needs to be carefully managed to ensure social outcomes are maximised and no one is left without support.

The transition from the old benefit system to Universal Credit will therefore take place in three phases over four years, ending in 2017 with around 7.7 million households receiving more support to find more work and be more self-sufficient.

Between October 2013 and April 2014, 500,000 new claimants will receive Universal Credit in place of jobseeker's allowance, employment support allowance, housing benefit, Working Tax credit and Child Tax Credit. At the same time, a further 500,000 existing claimants (and their partners and dependants) will also move on to Universal Credit as and when their circumstances change significantly, such as when they find work or when a child is born.

From April 2014, the second phase will give priority to households who will benefit most from the transition, such as those Working Tax Credit claimants who currently work a small number of hours a week but could work more hours with the support that Universal Credit brings. Overall, 3.5 million existing claimants (and their partners and dependents) will be transferred on to Universal Credit during this second phase.

The last and final phase, which begins at the end of 2015 and runs through to the end of 2017, will see around three million households being transferred to Universal Credit by local authority boundary. This phase will have the flexibility to respond to the circumstances of particular local authorities as they change and will focus on safeguarding financial support, such as housing benefit payments, to claimants as the old benefit system winds down.

The Department for Work and Pensions will continue to work with HMRC and local authorities to settle on a precise timing schedule of the move to Universal Credit. Once agreed, the schedule will be kept under regular review."

Iain Duncan-Smith

Secretary of State, Work and Pensions

It must be borne in mind that this isn't the only big project underway at the moment, as HM Revenue & Customs are preparing to unleash 'Real Time Information', which will provide DWP with up to date information about claimants' employment income.

But, if it all works, it will reduce the administrative costs of our benefit system significantly, and make it easier for those eligible for benefits to get what they are entitled to.

Follow, follow, follow, follow, follow the privatised brick road...

2011-11-02T09:23:00.000Z

Whilst Suffolk County Council has rowed back somewhat from its originally announced goal of divesting itself of all services, our Conservative f(r)iends are still keen to ensure that, regardless of what Suffolk residents want, there will be little scope for an incoming council to change very much.

The road to Stonham Aspal?

Their next wheeze is to hand over responsibility for all highways related services to a single private sector organisation, the Fully Private Sector Model, as it is called. The new organisation will be responsible for, amongst other things, the design and construction of highways improvements, winter maintenance, road safety education and street lighting (although not the latter in Paradise-sur-Gipping, because we own the street lights here!).

We are assured that the input from local county councillors and town and parish councils on the delivery of the service will be enhanced, and that, as much of highway work is carried out by local (often small scale) contractors, the glorious Portfolio Holder for Roads, Transport and Planning, Guy McGregor, will ensure that the good relations that currently exist will continue under the new arrangement.

Now I admit to some cynicism here. Most Conservative county councillors do as they're told right up to the point when they risk losing their seats, and they aren't renown for the volume of casework they get through (I still haven't seen a leaflet from either my county or district councillors outside of an election campaign). Given that the likely break clauses in any contract will almost certainly favour the contractor rather than the council, it would be reasonable to assume that, before the ink is dry, the new contractor will suddenly become harder to reach, and young Weasel McGregor will be wringing his hands, saying that there is nothing he can do.

Suffolk has hundreds of miles of narrow country lanes, many with low traffic volumes but of vital importance to the villages that are linked by them. There is likely to be little profit in maintaining them, and a village of 200 or so is easy to ignore (our votes aren't important enough, I guess). On the other hand, I'll be delighted to make our county councillor work a bit harder at future Parish Council meetings if this turns out badly...

Can you leap a dual carriageway in a car? Suffolk Highways think you can.

2011-11-01T17:00:00.000Z

I mentioned the closure of Fen Lane in passing a few days ago, and it has subsequently been brought to my attention that the proposed diversion has a slight flaw.

Whilst the notion of using Church Lane to get from St Mary's Church to Jacks Green Road is an interesting one, the lack of a bridge over the A14 dual carriageway is a bit of a challenge. I'm told that the wooden bridge closed to vehicles might be a bit tricky too...

Ros has suggested that the ladies and gentlemen from Highways might like to check the route before the publish it in future...

Suffolk to divest itself of its libraries... sort of...

2011-11-01T13:30:00.000Z

Today's announcement that Suffolk County Council will transfer all of its library service into the care of a newly created Industrial and Provident Society (IPS) is merely the latest stage in the efforts of local Conservatives to wriggle off of the hook created by them when they announced plans to slash and burn the county's libraries under the leadership of the late and rather unlamented Jeremy Pembroke.

Whilst the devil is in the detail (as so much is with Suffolk County Council), the numbers are interesting. The IPS will cost about £600,000 to set up, but will save about £2.5 million per year, without having to close a single library.

Now, there is a catch. The savings include those gleaned from cutting management tiers and central staffing costs, which sounds good. However, what that means is that, for example, the apparent cost of running Needham Market library included a chunk of the Chief Executive's salary. I would argue that this is entirely legitimate, but if you take the service out of the hands of the Council, you don't need such things. So, if a volunteer group want to run it, a la 'Big Society', a huge saving is generated quite easily. Of course, this means that the remaining county-run services look even less cost effective, unless you ditch, or transfer, all of the staff costs that were assigned, a task which becomes more difficult as economies of scale are lost.

Another issue is the aim that local library organisations will be expected to find 5% of the running costs, £100,000 in total, and it is proposed that they do this through fundraising, membership schemes and income generation (whatever that means precisely). This might not be easy, and I wouldn't be surprised to see local businesses tapped up for sponsorship, potentially displacing other recipients.

The Portfolio Holder for Libraries, Cllr. Judy Terry, is predictably delighted, saying that, “We want to free the library service from unnecessary council bureaucracy so that it can thrive and move with the times. Giving people a genuine say over how their library is run is also important and this model does exactly that."

I would be tempted to ask Cllr. Terry what she now has to do, given that she won't have any direct responsibility for the libraries, and, as Portfolio Holder for 'the Greenest County', she has divested all of the county's nature reserves and country parks. However, as I wasn't wildly impressed by her on the occasion that we met, perhaps the less responsibility she has, the better.

Meanwhile, the proposal to take an axe to the mobile library service is likely to be approved in the coming weeks, halving the frequency of visits, and cutting out those stops where there is a 'real' library within the community. Yes, it will save another £200,000 or so, but as far as a village like mine is concerned, it's just another link between villagers and their county council broken. Ah well, at least the council tax will be frozen...

A Budget for Europe: what Liberals want the Union to do

2011-11-01T08:00:00.000Z

Last time, I looked at the areas where European liberals sense that Europe has, potentially, a greater need for action. Today, it's time to look at the 'wish list'...

Calls for:

An end to the blame game that sees “Brussels” made the scapegoat for things that national politicians do not want to take responsibility for;

National and European politicians to openly talk about and promote the good things the EU has achieved and how European money has helped to improve the lives of people at all levels of society;

Bless... the day that politicians stop blaming something far away that has little ability to make its own case, and even fewer friends, is about as far away as a Liberal Democrat majority government. I wish it wasn't so, but...

New joint EU solutions which create an added value and demonstrate the efficiency of community action;

A debate at the Member State and European levels on what constitutes European added value;

Indeed, what is Europe for? What is it most effective at? And let's be honest, all of the bluster over an EU referendum acts to blur the real debate.

Greater scrutiny of the EU budget in terms of the added value that EU level initiatives bring before allocating money to the various budget lines;

A commitment to review the CAP during the 2014-2020 period and to further reduce its budget beyond 2020 as part of the ongoing process of phasing out the policy.

Now, here's a controversial one, abolishing the Common Agricultural Policy. How much would that save the British taxpayer, I wonder, given that our farmers are apparently so efficient?

Wants to see the EU budget 2014-2020 include:

Alignment of EU spending commitments, including in particular the CAP and cohesion policy, with the goals of the EU 2020 Strategy;

What do you mean, spending money on your priorities? What sort of talk is that? Any more of that and you'll be convincing people that politicians mean what they say.

The introduction of a ”greening” top-up incentivisation payment aimed at improving sustainability, tackling climate change, improving farm competitiveness and driving innovation across the EU through EU-wide applicable measures. This greening top-up should not disadvantage those farmers who are the most advanced in terms of environmental protection, and should not lead to an additional administrative burden;

You'll have noticed that liberals don't like bureaucracy... but this might well act to increase food production in the poorer, more agricultural economies of the Union.

Financial means for the fight against climate change, as well as for sustainable development, energy infrastructure to secure the Union’s economic future and reduce dangerous dependency on imported oil and gas, renewable energies and preservation of biodiversity, in line with EU political commitments and declarations;

A European power grid, linking to the various trans-nation facilities in place already. Sounds like a good idea to me, and potentially profitable for a country with huge wavepower generation potential. Know any countries with a really long oceanic coastline?

A new system, for instance called JERICHO (”Joint Rural Investment CHOice”), [to be developed] to let the Rural Development Fund provide SMEs with finance in rural areas where the market fails;

This looks like a bit of a dinosaur to me, with a large multi-national structure trying to find small, nimble companies. Feels like something better suited to a national Regional Growth Fund, I would suggest.

Further investment in future-oriented trans-national networks in the fields of energy, transport and communications as a means through which to foster economic growth and to boost social interaction across the Union;

We're talking major infrastructure projects here. In fairness though, such things are already happening (investment in the railway link from Felixstowe to Nuneaton, for example), but the EU needs to be a bit bolder in claiming some of the credit.

A reinforcement of the share of the EU budget allocated to Research, Development and Innovation policies;

Or in other words, the policy of national champions doesn't always work.

Funding for the extension of the Erasmus scheme to enable students, researchers and academics from outside the Union to spend a period of time at an EU university;

A reduction in administration expenditure to be achieved by replacing the monthly commute of the European Parliament to Strasbourg with the establishment of a single seat for the Parliament in Brussels;

A really easy change, which the French will obstruct to the last man. I like Strasbourg, but put another institution there if you must.

An increased share devoted to the EU’s role as global actor, to answer to topical challenges in the Union’s geographical vicinity in both the short and long term as well as giving the EU’s External Action Service, set up by the Member States in the European Council, the appropriate tools to operate fully, and not remain as a paper tiger.

Oh dear, more money for Cathy Ashton. Perhaps not, at least while the key players would rather go their own way.

In tomorrow's final instalment, I'll be reviewing the principles that ELDR believes should be applied in structuring the financial arrangements for Europe, including the bit that Liberal Democrats will stand foursquare against...

And to think, one of my friends is an international cricketer...

2011-10-31T22:46:00.000Z

I've been spending the evening working on the East of England Regional Party's website - not the most exciting of chores, I know. However, in the tidying process, I discovered something that I didn't know.

This distinguished looking gentleman is Peter Welch, former Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate for Southend West, former European Parliamentary candidate, and all round decent fellow. He is also a former member of the Luxembourg national cricket team, and was part of the team that took part in the 2003 ECC Trophy in Vienna, competing against the might of Portugal, Croatia and Malta (amongst others).

Alright, they weren't very good. But, let's be honest, isn't it every cricket buff's dream to play international cricket?... But I know that you're dying to know how he got on, so here are the statistics;

13* vs. Switzerland (batted at number 8, hit two fours)
0 vs. Greece (batted at number 3, one catch as wicketkeeper)
4 vs. Austria (batted at number 6, hit one four, one catch as wicketkeeper)
2* vs. Finland (batted at number 8)
5 vs. Switzerland (batted at number 7)

An average of 8, three boundaries struck and two catches taken for a team that, it is fair to say, didn't shine. But the record will always say that he was there...

Using the Lord's Highway as a diversionary route...

2011-10-30T13:58:00.001Z

Once upon a time, there were four Creetings - St Peter and St Mary will be familiar to regular visitors - but for different reasons, we are now reduced to just two. Yes, you can find Creeting Hills and the evocatively named Creeting Bottoms on maps, but they're just names to fill blank spaces.

Creeting All Saints lay between Needham Market and the core of modern day Creeting St Mary, although the two parishes were so intertwined that the parish churches shared a churchyard by all accounts. But All Saints Church blew down in a great storm in the early eighteenth century (no foundations, you see) and, rather than rebuild, it was easier to merge the two parishes into one.

Creeting St Olave is little known, and the church appears to have vanished by the end of the seventeenth century. There is a sign on the site, explaining a little of the history, but little easily unearthed information to take the story further.

However, I was reminded of this by an e-mail I received, notifying me of a road closure that affects our parish. Fen Lane, which runs along our south-eastern border, is to be closed during the day for a week in early December to allow BT to replace some of their equipment (and no, it hasn't been explained what sort of equipment needs thirty hours of road closure to be replaced).

Naturally, a diversionary route has to be announced and, amusingly, this route includes The Lord's Highway, which will take drivers past the former site of St Olave's Church.

I've also learnt something else which amuses me a bit, but I'll save that for another day...

Eric Pickles is lying, ladies and gentlemen, start your Risos...

2011-10-30T10:46:00.001Z

The suggestion today, emanating from the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, that council tax for band D properties could be cut by £20 per annum, funded by the abolition of the second home discount, is the sort of stupidity that I have grown accustomed to from the blue wing of the glorious Coalition (although the yellow wing isn't exempt from criticism either).

What is a very good story - the abolition of the second home discount on council tax - is utterly ruined by an undeliverable promise of individual savings. Why do I say that?

Second homes are concentrated in a relatively small number of authorities. For example, Cornwall has lots. Mid Suffolk has very few. Therefore, there will potentially be quite a lot of extra money available to Cornwall and other such authorities, and not much for the rest.
Actually, band D is the median band, relative to which all other band levels of council tax are set. In Suffolk, more people live in properties in band B, which reduces the likely benefit further.

I'm sure that Eric Pickles would like to think that we're all so utterly selfish that £20 (maybe) in our pockets trumps our desire to protect local services, but perhaps using the extra income to reduce the level of cuts might be more appropriate? Perhaps, applying the logic of localism which, I accept, Eric has tortured almost beyond recognition, leaving it to local people to decide how to use the additional income would be more logical than a central edict.

Of course, if I was campaigning against my local Conservatives, I'd be thinking about a leaflet asking Mid Suffolk District Council where my £20 was...

Doe, a deer, a female deer...

2011-10-28T13:56:00.001+01:00

I was on my way to work this morning on the community bus (£2.10 return, very reasonable), heading up Creeting Lane, when suddenly, a deer leapt in the road in front of us, disappearing equally quickly into the trees on the other side. It wasn't the only one either, as there was another right behind it.

I looked across to the right, through the trees, where there were another four deer, the remainder of the herd, heading across the field beyond them.

It was a misty, murky morning in the Gipping Valley, and the lack of visibility obviously provides our larger wild mammals an opportunity to move from one grazing spot to another. But, whilst the deer have learned to take advantage of the fog, it adds a whole new set of risks for rural motorists.

Deer are surprisingly quick, and even more surprisingly solid, and if one appears on a narrow country lane in front of you, there is little chance of missing it. The prospect of a deer coming through the windscreen is not one to savour, and deaths are not unknown.

In New Hampshire, away from the Interstate highways, moose are a huge problem. Bull moose can weigh more than 1000 lbs, and given that roads are quite winding, you can be upon one far too late to break. Worse still, they are attracted to roads by the salt laid to keep the roads ice-free, I'm told, so reaction times are even worse if you need to brake.

Just another danger in a rural existence...

A Budget for Europe: getting your excuses ready...

2011-10-27T08:00:00.000+01:00

Yesterday, I looked at the vista which rolls out before European liberals. Today, let's look at some of the justifications for expenditure...

Whereas:

The EU has simultaneously enlarged to 12 new member states and received new competences;

Between 2000 and 2010, member state budgets increased by 62%, compared to the EU budget that increased by 37% over the same period;

There have been liberal achievements in reforming EU agricultural policy, including; a reduction in CAP funding from a high of almost 70% of the EU budget in 1985; the decoupling of direct support for farmers through removing the link between payments and the production of a specific product; ensuring farmers have greater consideration for environmental, animal welfare and food quality standards by making financial aid dependent on respecting these issues; and putting further emphasis on a reorientation from direct aid to a more comprehensive approach to rural development that will strengthen initiatives in the areas of climate change, renewable energy, water management, biodiversity, and innovation.

Hmmm... Yes, the EU is bigger, but is it really fair to compare the budgets of member states, with social welfare responsibilities and bank bailouts to finance, with the European Union? I'm not so sure, to be honest. And whilst reducing the proportion of the EU budget spent on CAP funding from 70% to 39% is a good thing, the EU has been given a lot more in the way of competences over that quarter-century.

Considers that:

EU-level projects not only have the potential to create long-term benefits for the Union as a whole, but can save individual member states money through better coordination across all EU countries, thus avoiding twenty-seven different and costly means of achieving the same ends.

This is the international equivalent of BOGOF, but it is a fair point.

The budget for 2014-2020 must be viewed as an investment budget. Accordingly, negotiations should centre on priority areas where EU spending can make a difference;

I couldn't agree more. Spending money on things that will generate a return can only help the European economy and create jobs. Infrastructure spending, anyone?

National politicians all too quickly resort to criticising or blaming “Brussels” for unpopular measures taken at the member state level, which heightens a sense of negativity towards the EU and fuels misinformed, anti-EU sentiments;

If you think that politicians are bad, you haven't met our media yet...

EU cohesion policy plays a vital role in creating equality between Europe’s regions, while acting as an incentive for private investment, leading to economic growth and social prosperity;

Trans-national networks are crucial to advancing economic and business and social and cultural ties between regions as well as being a prime example of the benefits that can be derived from EU projects in general and cohesion policy in particular;

As a matter of principle, the level of EU co-financing should reflect the European added value of the different investments made under the cohesion policy and rural development programmes;

Only local funding for local projects, in other words Europe will be taking a broader, strategic view.

The importance of speaking with one voice and coordinating efforts in the field of Foreign Affairs becomes all the more important in a quickly globalising world. Acting collectively, the European Union is a world leading power;

So, if you have a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, with a veto... In theory, I agree. In practice, it's going to be a hard sell in Tunbridge Wells...

In times of austerity, important financial gains can also be made through increased pooling of resources in defence spending, which relies on heavy financial investment and top level research;

The Eurofighter is not something to shout about, and I can't help feeling that this is better left to the private sector.

With a better use of the European Social Fund, there should be no need for a European Globalisation Fund in the next seven year EU budget, and believes that the very idea of such a Globalisation Fund conflicts with the liberal vision of free and fair trade and competition;

I'm yet to be convinced that having government, at whatever level, attempt to pick winners is likely to be a roaring success.

Existing programmes that encourage the mobility of students and educational professionals should be further developed.

A case of familiarity breeding content, and a thoroughly good thing, if you ask me.

So, nothing too alarming so far, except the bit about pooled defence spending, unless they mean the weapons buying equivalent of Groupon, you know, if twenty of you sign up to buy tanks, you get 61% off. I suspect though, that they don't.

Next time, what European liberals are calling for in terms of spending...

Counting Women In campaign: holding David Cameron to his word

2011-10-26T23:26:00.001+01:00

As a member of the Management Board of 'Unlock Democracy', I thought that I should take this opportunity to endorse the Counting Women In campaign, and ask you to help, by signing the e-petition calling on David Cameron to keep his word. He pledged that, by the end of his first administration, one-third of his ministers would be women., i.e. there would be at least forty female ministers out of one hundred and nineteen, as there presently are. And I think that he needs to be held to that.

In fairness, it isn't just about the Conservatives, it's about the Liberal Democrats too, and young Mr Clegg needs to do rather better, having failed to appoint a woman to the Cabinet. Now, before anyone gets too excited, and points out my rather glaring conflict of interest, let me be the first to say that I'm not demanding a job for Ros. It is for others to decide whether or not that comes to pass.

But, in principle, I share the view that having a more diverse politics makes for better, more representative, more inclusive politics. And, at a time when the public feel more remote from those who supposedly represent them than ever before, drawing talent from a bigger pool might reconcile the two sides.

A Budget for Europe: creating European added value from European Union expenditure (part 1)

2011-10-26T16:01:00.000+01:00

So, where were we? Ah yes, the cuddly European Liberal Democrats had produced a rather fluffy preamble. However, in fairness, preambles are like bunny rabbits, they're not intended to scare you, they're intended to reassure. So, let's look at what the key issues are...

The European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party Congress convening in Palermo, Italy on 23-25 November 2011:

Notes that:

As a result of the economic and financial crisis, EU member states are implementing a range of austerity measures in order to reduce their public debt;

Although member states are in a period of austerity, for the majority this has involved a freezing of the current budget level, rather than a cut, in real terms, in expenditure;

The European Commission has proposed a multiannual financial framework for the period 2014-2020 set at € 1,025 billion in commitment appropriations (1.05% of EU GNI) and at € 972,198 billion in payments appropriations (1% of EU GNI), which corresponds, respectively, to an increase by 3.16% and 3.12%, in constant prices, in comparison with the current multiannual financial framework;

So, we see that the EU doesn't spend that much (gosh, think how much money national governments have to waste by comparison...). It is ambitious though, and likely to increase its budget at a faster rate than predicted United Kingdom inflation. That increase is also rather higher than the target rate for inflation within the Eurozone. Call me quirky, but when money is tight, and governments are cutting expenditure rather than increasing it, this is unlikely to be popular.

The 2007-2013 EU budget is dominated by two policy areas; the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) (39,4% of the total budget) and cohesion policy (35% of the total budget);

The ELDR Party manifesto for the 2009 European elections and resolution “Agriculture and climate change” (2009) call for ambitious reform of EU agricultural policy within a multilateral framework (World Trade Organisation) and a continuing reduction of its budget after 2013;

The European Commission proposals for the EU multiannual financial framework 2014-2020, released on 29 June 2011, put forward a reduction in CAP support to 36.2% of the EU budget and welcomes this;

That does mean increasing expenditure relating to the Common Agricultural Policy, although it will be a smaller proportion of EU expenditure overall.

It is worth remembering that more than 95% of the CAP is decoupled, and export subsidies are virtually gone - being less than 1% of the CAP, a fact that is often overlooked;

Good news if you're a farmer in a developing country, we won't undercut you in your own domestic market.

Agriculture is an important part of the Union's strategic interest in order to ensure food security throughout its territory, and with public finances under serious pressure due to the economic crisis, it is important to press for better targeting and a more efficient use of this part of the EU budget;

Bad news if you're a farmer in a developing country, there will be less scope for imports from you.

EU Agricultural policy should continue to move away from price support for farmers and export subsidies and recognise the wider role that farmers play, and have the potential to play, in the rural environment as “stewards of the environment”, including tackling climate change;

Good news for the environment, and good news for you urban types wanting to visit our pretty countryside.

The Arab Liberation process in the Middle East and the founding of the European External Action Service has substantially increased calls for a global role for the European Union;

That'll be more money for European Union diplomats then...

The increased streams of migration have caused severe strains on many EU member states, resulting in increasing demands for a more active role for the EU’s border agency FRONTEX. Yet the proposed increase in funding for ”the EU as a global player” remains minimal; up only by some € 20 billion over the coming seven-year period - or 1,02% compared to the current multiannual financial framework;

Keeping migrants out, the Conservatives will love that, and security costs, so this seems a bit on the low side.

There are advantages derived from revolving funds compared to traditional subsidies and welcomes the JEREMIE (access to finance for SMEs) and JESSICA (sustainable urban development) initiatives through which the Structural Funds have provided important capital with considerable leverage effects.

Sounds clever. I confess that I'm not sure that I understand what this means, but if anyone would like to have a go at explaining it...

So, we have context, and some 'directions of travel' which point towards the proposals to come. Next time, things that have changed, and some of the key issues to be addressed...

Goodbye National Express, and good riddance!

2011-10-26T08:12:00.000+01:00

And so, it's goodbye to National Express East Anglia, and welkom to Nederlandse Spoorwegen, who have won the new Greater Anglia franchise. The only catch is, the franchise is for... twenty-nine months, starting from 5 February 2012 (yes, only 101 days of NXEA to go!).

In their bid, a series of improvements for passengers during the franchise period has been promised, including better station and ticket facilities and measures to improve passenger information. There will be a text messaging service to keep passengers informed if service disruption occurs will be introduced, and new information desks will be provided at major stations including London Liverpool Street, Cambridge, Norwich, Ipswich and Stansted Airport.

For commuters, the new franchise will make it easier for passengers to buy tickets, including:

extending Oyster Pay As You Go between London Liverpool Street and all stations to Shenfield, and stations to Hertford East
improvements to ticket vending machines, and
introducing mobile phone and print-at-home ticketing facilities.

They are also committed to provide an additional 600 car park spaces (subject to planning approvals), more cycle storage facilities and deliver a number of other measures to improve the service to customers including deep cleaning of stations and trains.

Like me, Bob Russell thinks this is a good thing, noting as he does that we now have a railway system privatised by a Conservative government, run by one government (Netherlands) and powered by electricity produced by another (France). It isn't exactly a glorious endorsement of the private sector, is it?...

A Budget for Europe: liberal priorities for the EU budget 2014-2020

2011-10-25T21:26:00.000+01:00

A copy of the draft theme resolution for next month's European Liberal Democrats Congress in Palermo has reached me. So, over the next few days, I'm going to publish it (in sections), and let you have my thoughts. And where better to start than...

Preamble

The effects of the global economic and financial crisis that began in 2008 continue to be felt by the European Union (EU) and its member states. The crisis is not over and Europe’s response to it remains a matter of vital importance.

So far, so obvious...

The crisis has highlighted how interconnected the world has become, and shown that no single country can overcome the consequences of such an upheaval in economic and financial markets on its own. European Liberal Democrats believe that it is only through coordinated action at the European level that member states of the Union will return to a path of growth, employment and prosperity. Therefore, it is essential that the EU budget for the seven-year period from 2014 to the end of 2020 is one that promotes and enables initiatives to be undertaken at European level, in order to meet these goals and to make a demonstrable difference to the lives of European citizens, whether at local, regional or national level.

It's the 'promotes and enables initiatives to be taken at European level' bit that would really upset our Coalition partners, isn't it...

It is therefore vital that on the expenditure side the EU budget focuses on creating European added value and puts European interests above those of individual countries, including on matters of research and development and innovation within the framework of the Europe 2020 strategy and in tackling climate change and reducing the EU’s dependency on external, un-environmentally friendly energy sources. In this regard, there must also be a clear route for the long-term financing of the EU that deflects the discussion away from national interests about how much money countries are going to get back from the European pot at the end of each year, and establishes the focal point of budget discussions on how to use the EU budget most effectively for the common good of the Union.

Putting European interests above those of individual countries? This is entirely worthy, but assumes a level of altruism that is NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN. That's never. Sad, but true. One can dream though...

So, there's a gentle introduction to the thinking of our European liberal family. They're so cute... Tomorrow, I'll be looking at some of their thoughts on creating added value from EU expenditure...

Perhaps the classiest electorate for any internal Party election?

2011-10-24T23:06:00.000+01:00

In the quest to deliver the remainder of my job as Regional Secretary, I am hard at work on election business this evening and, in particular, one of the two elections I have promised to conduct.

Whilst I'm not aware of the logic behind it, our Regional Constitution allows for the following vacancies to be filled by, and from, the ranks of our Parliamentarians;

one member of the Regional Executive
one member of the Regional Campaigns Committee
two members of the Regional Policy Committee

And do we have a classy list of voters, and potential candidates...

four MPs - Messrs Huppert, Lamb, Russell and Wright
three Baronesses - Brinton, Scott and Williams
four Barons - Hussain, Loomba, McNally and Phillips; and,
one MEP - the irrepressible Andrew Duff

So, with nominations closing on 13 November, we'll see whether we get a contest (they are, after all, pretty busy people)... Watch this space...

A life in the day of a Regional Secretary...

2011-10-24T21:46:00.000+01:00

So, two years as the Regional Secretary in the East of England are nearly at an end. And, what, you may wonder, have I achieved in that time? Here's the list...

reconnected the Regional Executive to its Constitution
designed a framework for handling complaints for the Regional Party
written some election rules, plus guidance for the external returning officer
changed the term length of the Regional Executive

When put in written form, it doesn't feel like very much, perhaps because, unlike most Regional Secretaries, I don't have much to do. According to our Constitution;

3.7 The Secretary shall be responsible for

(a) arranging the meetings of the Regional Executive, and keeping minutes;

(b) receiving and distributing the minutes of the Regional Party’s committees, sub-committees and working groups;

(c) maintaining an up-to-date list of regional conference representatives and supervising the conduct of the Region’s internal elections; and

(d) for ensuring that the Region makes effective communications with Local Parties and other bodies within the Party.

Unfortunately, due to reasons that pre-date my election to the post, someone else does all of these things, and that someone is our Regional Administrator, Lorna. Lorna is, I have to admit, really good at these things. However, it doesn't actually leave me with a job.

And yes, spending the time on process has had its uses, but it isn't a role, and having been a Regional Secretary before, where I had to do all of the things listed above, I tend to feel a little adrift on a sea of ennui. So, it's time to go. It's been fun, and I still have a few things to do, including two elections to run, so I'll be busy enough over the coming weeks, but the future is a great big fish... or something like that.

Is it really necessary to elect a new Regional Executive every year?

2011-10-24T09:50:00.001+01:00

I have noted before that, courtesy of my new lifestyle, I've developed an awkward tendency to ask questions like "Why...?".

One of those questions was, "Why do we elect a new Regional Executive every year, given their role?". So, I drafted some amendments to our Regional Constitution, proposing a two-year term, and ran them past the Regional Executive. They had no objection, and so it was agreed that they could be debated at Regional Conference.

Of course, our Region has, amongst its membership, the legendary Colin Rosenstiel, not exactly prone to ignoring constitutional change, so there was a risk of debate, and I was prepared to get up and defend my proposals. What I had failed to realise was that, in producing the Conference Agenda booklet, Lorna, our ever-alert Regional Administrator, had included my justification for each amendment.

As it turned out, Colin had read all of the proposed changes, and was content. So, on being called to move the motion to adopt them by the session Chair, the ever fragrant Baroness Scott of Needham Market, I thanked my wife for her warm introduction and simply moved them formally. And, apart from a point of clarification, there were no apparent concerns, so I summated formally and watched as the constitution was amended without opposition.

So, next year, the East of England Liberal Democrats will elect an Executive Committee for the two years ending on 31 December 2014, allowing the new team to take a more strategic view, and making them more likely to deliver upon it.

I can't help but think that, at least for the time being, my work here is done...

East of England Regional Conference: Is that the time? I really must be going...

2011-10-23T18:24:00.000+01:00

And so the day of the Regional Conference came, and with Ros and I on the platform for part of every session, and with two side meetings scheduled, I was never going to be anything other than busy. Anyone would think that I was up for election, or something.

Regardless, we left for Cambridge in pretty good spirits, and arrived at Cambridge Regional College in good time for the 10 a.m. kick-off. Sian Reid, Leader of Cambridge City Council, welcomed us to the city and to the conference, before a session of policy debates and Parliamentary reports. Motions on 'A green future for the East of England' and 'Science in the East of England' sandwiched the Commons report, fronted by Bob Russell and Norman Lamb, memorably described as 'Eric and Ernie' by Tom McNally when introducing his report from the Lords (I did tell Bob later that I had assumed that he was Eric, rather than Ernie).

We have a positive story to tell about our Parliamentary representation, as we now have a Westminster Parliamentarian in every one of our six counties (four in Hertfordshire, two in Norfolk and Suffolk, one in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Essex), and we really need to use them more effectively.

The next session, chaired by the dashing and handsome Regional Secretary, was a series of presentations and speeches, the first being a call to arms for the 2012 campaign from our Regional Campaigns Officer, Ian Horner. Ian is a hardened professional, and gave those still licking their wounds after May every encouragement to believe that, with hard, smart work, we could do better next year. (Baroness) Sal Brinton talked to us about the work of the Diversity Engagement Group and the new Leadership Academy, subjects dear to my heart certainly, before Watford's 'city boss', Mayor Dorothy Thornhill gave us a good talking-to about what is possible.

And last, before the lunch break, was our Member of the European Parliament, Andrew Duff. I have to say that, when the European project appears to be at its most vulnerable, it reassures me to know that someone as passionate about the good that Europe can do is representing our interests. His speech was warm, funny (not necessarily expected) and informative, and he received a very generous, and thoroughly deserved, round of applause at its conclusion. And we hadn't even reminded people that he was generously sponsoring the buffet lunch!

After lunch, whilst Ros chaired a session with more motions plus the reports of the Regional Chair and Treasurer, Lorna (our Regional Administrator), Chris Williams (our Regional Returning Officer, from Milton Keynes, and I met to go through the nominations for the Regional Executive and its various sub-committees. This, perhaps, is the advantage of not running for office again...

Back to the hall, as Ros introduced the 'highlight of the day', as she put it, the constitutional amendments, moved by me. Luckily, the rationale for each amendment had been included in the agenda, so I was able to move them formally, allowing them to be passed en bloc in just two minutes from start to finish.

Next, off to a meeting with a Local Party to discuss candidate issues. A very courteous, yet robust exchange took place, where the reality of the relationship between Regional and Local Parties was aired and mulled over, whilst some useful points hitherto unconsidered by the Regional Party were brought to our attention.

And then, almost too early, Conference was over for another year. As we headed home, Ros and I agreed that it had gone pretty well...

One of those moments that makes this Coalition worth the hassle

2011-10-22T10:13:00.000+01:00

Whilst I freely accept that I voted for the Coalition Agreement, having never actually had to make difficult decisions in government myself means that, sometimes, I can be a bit blase about the implications. It's the old story, being in power is nice, having to compromise, not so. And yes, there are parts of the Coalition programme that I'm not wild about. However, raising personal allowances and taking the some of the poorest people in society out of income tax brackets altogether is a thoroughly good thing.

Last week, like many Liberal Democrats across the country, I got an e-mail, the gist of which was that schools in my constituency will be receiving £703,000 through the Pupil Premium.

Just because my constituency is habitually prone to voting Conservative doesn't mean that there aren't plenty of families who struggle to make ends meet. I've occasionally mentioned issues relating to rural poverty (which reminds me, there's a document I need to read and report back on...), and if you don't live in a big house, there is genuine hardship about the county. It is therefore good news that schools will have additional money to spend on the children who will need most support.

Now I accept that there are those who will say "yes, but you're cutting education spending overall", and they probably have a point. However, spending has to be cut across the piece, and education is not exempt from that. Providing schools with an incentive to focus more resources on those children most in need of support is, in itself, a good thing, the sort of thing that educationalists support, and I would like to think that, as the economy improves, funding can and will improve too. And, best of all, the amount of money will be increased year on year.

I'm not foolish enough to think that the public are going to suddenly start liking us again, but regardless, if we manage to do enough good to make the electoral pain a bit more bearable, we can at the very least go down with a bit of pride. And despite the cynicism that exists in this country and, in my view, is one of the most corrosive things about British politics, standing up for things that you believe in represents what matters most in politics...

It's that time of year when a bureaucrat's thoughts turn to amending the Constitution...

2011-10-21T22:32:00.002+01:00

Off to Cambridge tomorrow for East of England's Annual Conference (we don't have a Spring Conference, the only Region not to have one, as far as I know), where I get to chair the pre-lunch session, including presentations on the 2012 campaign (not available in Mid Suffolk) and diversity, a speech from Watford's city boss, Dorothy Thornhill, and the report of our MEP, Andrew Duff. This means that I don't have to work too hard, but come up with pithy introductions for each bit, and maybe control a few questioners.

We then have the entertaining prospect of Ros chairing the session where I torture the Regional Constitution a bit more - I'm hoping to move to a two-year cycle for elections, and free up our Parliamentarians and Youth to select their representatives by a method of their choosing at a time of their choosing. I'm hoping that she'll be kind to me, as it's my first speech to Conference.

We also get a new Regional Chair, and I'll be intrigued to see who it is, albeit not intrigued enough to serve on their Executive Committee. As a result, I get to work with our Returning Officer to deal with the fallout from the nomination process. It seems fair enough, especially as I wrote the briefing notes for him, as well as the election rules.

And with only one meeting of the Regional Executive to go, I can quietly slip away into the evening, playing Butch Cassidy to Ros's Sundance Kid... or something like that. It will make life a little more peaceful...

Parliament and the public: What difference does the Lords make?

2011-10-21T21:49:00.003+01:00

A very good question indeed. So, what is the answer?

If you happen to be free on the evening of 2 November, you might be more enlightened if you attend the Hansard Society event forming part of Parliament Week, described as a week of planned events and activities which bring the story of Parliament to life and encourage greater engagement with democracy amongst people of all ages, running from 31 October to 6 November (is it me, or is the fact that it includes 5 November curiously symbolic of something?).

The Hansard Society is particularly keen that the work of the Lords is recognised so we have organised this event, with the co-operation of the Lord Speaker, to throw light on the role that the Second Chamber plays in our democracy and how individual peers engage with the public, something that might be seen as of particular interest given Paul Tyler's exchange with Guardian readers this week.

In any event, the event takes place between 6.30 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Wednesday, 2 November, in the Attlee Suite at Portcullis House. I recommend getting there a bit earlier than the scheduled start time, because you'll have to clear security.

The event will be introduced by the new Lords Speaker, Baroness D'Souza, the former Convenor of the Crossbench Peers, chaired by Peter Riddell, with panellists Mark Darcy (BBC), Lord Soley (Labour), a regular blogger, Baroness Young of Hornsey (Crossbench) and Ros, batting for the Liberal Democrats (and perhaps occasionally the Coalition).

Life in the big city...

2011-10-21T00:07:00.001+01:00

So, I've been in London for the day, and the sun was shining, which was nice. Best of all, I wasn't in a hurry, which meant that I could ride the bus from place to place, a much more pleasant means of transport than the Tube.

Lunch with my father and my kid brother was very nice, especially as I don't see as much of them as I would like. The chosen pub serves Timothy Taylor's Landlord, which is always a bonus, and my weight loss has not gone unnoticed, which puts me in a good mood.

However, they have to go to work, so time for a bit of light shopping. I'm a bit of a random shopper in that, when I'm up for it, I'm really up for it - the shirt collection is evidence of that - but when the muse is not with me, the credit card is safe. And, in a sartorial sense, I'm safe for another month, although I now possess more Monteverdi madrigals than one could reasonably listen to in a sitting.

And that is the minor drawback of living far from the madding crowd, the lack of certain types of shopping. For example, buying classical music CDs is not really an option, unless I go to Snape for a concert, and even then my choice is a bit limited. On the other hand, I am less likely to purchase things that I don't need, and therefore spend less on a day to day basis (sorry guys, if you're counting on me to spend the kind of money that would save the British economy, I fear you will be disappointed).

Of course, London is less than ninety minutes away by fast train (alright, National Express East Anglia train, it would probably be seventy minutes by real train), so if there's something I really want, it's hardly like a trek across the Gobi Desert (Essex really isn't that bad, you know).

The evening was spent with friends, exchanging tales of campaigns past, over an excellent meal and good wine. One disadvantage of living in the countryside is that, if you throw, or attend, a dinner party, one of you has to drive, and not drink. In that sense, public transport makes you free. Ah well, when I raise enough money for the Mid-Suffolk Light Railway...

And so to bed...
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Occupy London Stock Exchange becomes a media circus

2011-10-20T15:08:00.000+01:00

I'm visiting London today - I've got a dinner party to attend - so I thought that I should make a day of it.

I had a bit of time to spare, so rather than take the Tube, I caught a number 23 bus at Liverpool Street, a route which takes you through the City, past St Paul's, and down the Strand. Passing St Paul's in slow-moving traffic, I had an opportunity to cast my eyes over the 'tent city' formed by anti-capitalism demonstators. And an interesting sight it is too.

The tents appear to be laid out in an orderly fashion, and if there is a town planner amongst the demonstrators, he/she should be pretty proud of themselves. However, the fact that, apart from the protestors, there appears to be a heavy media presence, would indicate that they're winning the publicity battle.

And why not? After all, protesting against bankers and corporate greed is hardly likely to be unpopular. According to some polls, the public are broadly supportive, which just goes to prove the old adage - being against sin is easy, proposing virtue is rather more difficult. Unsurprisingly, the solutions being rather randomly offered from those camped out in front of St Paul's are likely to be rather less popular.

I fear that the protestors 'fifteen minutes of fame' is already coming to an end at any rate, fuelled as it is by a media ill-equipped to understand, let alone report on, a horrendously complicated technical crisis. Easier to cover a small number of protestors than attempt to supply complex facts and, in an era of 24/7 news, much more telegenic. But there will be another story, and I suspect that the semi-professional protestors will find something else to 'save' once the media have moved on, leaving little but a slogan.
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Lords call for proper testing of EU health workers in the UK

2011-10-19T20:47:00.000+01:00

In a widely welcomed report, the Social Policies and Consumer Protection sub-committee of the European Union Select Committee of the House of Lords has sharply criticised the European Union MRPQ Directive, underpinning the mobility of healthcare professionals within Europe, for its failure to protect the public from doctors ill-equipped to carry out the duties expected of them.

As a taster, here is a short video, featuring one of the Committee's members...

The report, "Safety First: Mobility of Healthcare Professionals in the EU", notes that whilst employers in the United Kingdom are obliged to recognise the qualifications of health workers, including doctors, nurses and midwives, from other EU states without question, they are barred from carrying out language testing to ensure that they have the verbal skills required to deal with patients. Indeed, there is no scope to verify whether or not an individual has maintained their skills since receiving their qualification.

It notes that the definition of key roles, such as 'general practitioner', varies in terms of its scope across Europe, with some patients seen directly by consultants for conditions treated by GPs here. In some countries, babies are delivered by gynaecologists, whereas in others, midwives are at the heart of things. The question of definition, and hence skill and experience levels, is at the core of the problem, and the Committee called for an updating of the minimum standards as currently outlined in an Annex to the Directive.

Questions relating to medical ethics were also touched upon, with the Committee noting that some groups of healthcare professionals were required to have an understanding of the issues surrounding ethical behaviour whilst others, including doctors, were not.

In brief though, the Committee made three core recommendations;

regulatory bodies (including the General Medical Council, Nursing and Midwifery Council, General Dental Council and General Pharmaceutical Council) should be allowed to test the language skills of ALL non-UK applicants
an alert mechanism should be implemented so that authorities can share fitness to practice information and warn each other about practitioners who have been subject to disciplinary proceedings
the list of qualifications and skills recognised by the EU Directive must be updated

Hopefully, the Government, and the European Commission, will act upon these recommendations by 2013, although it is not likely that the impact will become effective until 2017, at the earliest.

Twitter: dipping my toe back into the water...

2011-10-19T11:58:00.001+01:00

Funnily enough, having given up Facebook and Twitter a few months ago, I haven't terribly missed them. They can be a dreadful distraction from real life, and the introduction by Facebook of a means to add your friends to groups without their being asked was an utter nuisance. And, by the way, I still don't care about virtual chickens and the like.

However, I do see the value of an opt-in system like Twitter, so I've... opted-in again. So, look out for the @honladymark tag (my continued satire of the inequality of treatment of aristocratic spouses), and I'll try to live up/down to expectations.
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Does freedom of movement within Europe trump public safety?

2011-10-19T09:55:00.001+01:00

One of the great benefits of our membership of the European Union is the ability to work anywhere within it, a benefit which has allowed British professionals to take their skills to places where they are needed and valued. However, it does occasionally present problems.

A management consultant is, if they get something wrong, unlikely to kill you. On the other hand, a healthcare professional might. The recent incident where a German locum doctor accidentally killed a patient by multiplying the correct dosage of the prescribed drug by a factor of ten, highlighted this risk.

The Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications Directive (MRPQ Directive), agreed in 2005 and transposed into UK law in 2007, is a fundamental component of the Single Market. It allows professionals to have their qualifications, obtained in one Member State, recognised in another and thus allows them to be employed anywhere within the Single Market irrespective of where they have trained.

However, whereas non-EU healthcare professionals have to undergo language testing, EU ones don't, not necessarily ideal for a relationship as nuanced and intimate as doctor/patient.

Thankfully, whilst the Commons is pretty useless at scrutiny of European Union directives, the Lords is rather more dedicated to the task, and its EU Sub-Committee G - Social Policies and Consumer Protection has been exploring the impact of the MRPQ Directive and considering what further steps might be taken. Today sees the publication of its report and, once I've had an opportunity to examine it, I'll report back...
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Lords Reform: if some is better than none...

2011-10-19T08:17:00.000+01:00

Friday sees the Committee Stage in the Lords of the House of Lords Reform Bill. No, not that one, the Private Members Bill introduced by David Steel or, as one should refer to him, Baron Steel of Aikwood.

Whilst he has indicated his opposition to the outline proposals currently being debated by the joint pre-legislation scrutiny committee, he is calling for some desperately need reforms. For example, the Bill calls for

the abolition of by-elections for hereditary Peers
the removal from the House of any Peer found guilty of a serious criminal offence and sentenced to more than a year in prison
the transfer of the power of nomination to a Statutory Appointments Commission consisting of nine members nominated by the Speaker of the House of Commons and the Lord Speaker of the House of Lords.
a limit on the number of Peers - less than the number of Members of the House of Commons
the right to take permanent leave of absence, i.e. an opportunity to retire.

Yes, there is no reference to election, and the overall effect would only emerge slowly, but it would represent an advance whilst the Government's proposals wend their way through the legislative minefield that will undoubtedly be laid. And, if the Government loses its nerve, there would at least be some reform, rather than none.

The Committee Stage will also provide an indication as to how the House of Lords is likely to approach the question of reform. My sources indicate that hereditary Peers are likely to oppose even these modest proposals, which does not augur well for the prospects of the Government Bill, when it finally arrives...

Does Liberal Democrat Voice need a Lords correspondent?

2011-10-19T00:26:00.000+01:00

I ask, because the question has been raised by our noble friend, Lord Greaves, who suggests that it should include more coverage of events from the red benches and their environs.

As someone who has taken more interest in the activities of our (occasionally) ermine clad friends and colleagues, and written on the subject sometimes, I have to say that it is quite hard work. Some of the best work is done in meetings with ministers, through the 'usual channels' and by means of seemingly harmless, but actually quite significant questions. It isn't glamorous, but it is important.

The problem is that, in order to cover it well, you do need to have an interest in, and a knowledge of, the matter at hand. You also need the time to do the research, not as easy a prospect as it might sound... week, after week, after week. Accordingly, I have a lot of time for Paul Walter, whose weekly report on Prime Ministers' Questions has become a regular feature in recent months, and his efforts have now expanded to cover young Nick Clegg's regular trial by ordeal.

So, is there a demand out there for more coverage of the Lords? And if so, is anyone willing to take it on?

It appears that my Noble Lords are more accustomed to hard work...

2011-10-17T20:26:00.000+01:00

I see from a copy of the Evening Standard loft behind on my train home this evening that there is some controversy over the decision to add in an extra week of recess for the House of Commons in mid-November. It would therefore seem sensible to assume that the Lords will be off as well, wouldn't it? Well, no. The Lords will sit on three of the four days concerned, demonstrating perhaps that young people today don't really get the notion of 'work ethic'.

In fairness though, it is easy to accuse MPs of fecklessness. For some, the recall during the summer prevented them from carrying out scheduled constituency work, or from taking a planned holiday. We would be the first to complain if our employer did something similar to us, without extra pay, or even time off in lieu.

Defending MPs is not popular in this country, and the expenses scandal damaged the reputation of all elected politicians for a generation, but nonetheless, there comes a point when such a blanket condemnation of all, regardless of their behaviour, risks driving out the very people who we need to keep, those who place a high value on good character, for they are the ones most affected by abuse by the public and by the media.

And as it seems that Parliament will be sitting for more days in this session than had previously been the case (on a per annum basis), the charge of skiving does seem a bit harsh...

A slight rumble in Creeting St Mary - when a planning application causes unrest...

2011-10-17T19:44:00.000+01:00

A copy of the Creeting St Mary newsletter drops through the front door, and a pretty professional effort it is too. I always read it, in part because there are things happening in our neighbouring parish that impact on us, and because, if they've gone to the trouble of dropping a copy through our door, it seems only fair that I do so.

This month's issue is more interesting than usual though, as there is a two page article about an apparently controversial planning application at Whissels Farm. Admittedly, I don't actually know much about it, but the contributor is clearly deeply unhappy about the response of the Parish Council, who approved it by a vote of 6-1.

As a mandatory consultee, a Parish Council generally finds itself in a difficult position. As councillors, we're not really equipped to deal with anything remotely complex, as training is sparse, and support sparser still. I was offered an afternoon session entitled 'Planning for Parish Councils' by Mid Suffolk District Council which, whilst interesting, merely scratched the surface of what is possible. And perhaps the fact that Mid Suffolk's planning department isn't thought to be very good is, to some extent, unhelpful...

Accordingly, when confronted with anything bigger than a single building, consideration risks being a matter of 'sticking a wet finger in the air and seeing which way the wind is blowing'. Consideration of any District, County or Regional development plans relies on having the information easily available, and having the time to do the research, not necessarily a possibility for 'well-meaning amateurs' like myself.

In addition, a good planning application, even an unpopular one locally, is likely to be approved by the District Council in any event, and parish councillors are then obliged to consider what terms they might reasonably extort from the applicant in exchange for their acquiescence. Better, perhaps, to have one's wishes known in advance, than have the District Council claim any Section 106 benefits for itself.

I'll be keeping a weather eye open for this application in any event, as the site is on All Saints Road, one of the three access routes into Creeting St Peter...

My life as a country gentleman

2011-10-17T13:14:00.001+01:00

It's been more than eight months since I gave up life in the big city and moved permanently to my small village in mid-Suffolk. And whilst there were some concerns when I did so, it seems to be going well enough.

Part of the adjustment was ensuring that I didn't become isolated, a genuine risk when you don't drive, and you rely on a rather fragile transport infrastructure to get around. And so my role as a Parish Councillor helps that, both as an intellectual challenge (it is possible that I worry too much about that element of the job) and as an activity. In turn, that leads to my role as 'foreign minister', representing the village at meetings of the Suffolk Association of Local Councils (SALC), and of the Stowmarket and District Road Safety Committee.

Of course, one needs a social life too. The monthly coffee morning organised by the Parochial Church Council, the odd village pub night (odd, as in occasional, before you ask), a Local Party social event or two, all of them fill slots in the diary. I come to London from time to time, to visit family, to do things with Ros, or for meetings of Unlock Democracy.

Finally, there are what I would describe as the unexpected events. Last weekend, I put on my black tie and the dinner jacket, and attended the High Sheriff's charity dinner in Ipswich, a high society event for Suffolk gentry, raising funds for the Suffolk Foundation, a wonderful organisation doing valuable work across the county. The wine flowed, as did the witty and light-hearted conversation, as networking took place.

The following day saw the Mayor of Needham Market's Civic Service and, given Ros's title, and her long connection to the town, we get an invite to attend and to take part in the procession. Mayors from other Suffolk towns attend in their robes (the Mayor of Aldeburgh even has a robed bodyguard), and we processed down the middle of the High Street to the
Parish Church of St John the Baptist, with traffic blocked by the police whilst we did so. When we reached our destination, a rather robust, not entirely multi-cultural service followed (pardon me, but singing 'One Church, One Faith, One Lord' isn't exactly inclusive, even if the local Catholic priest is present...). We then processed back down the High Street to the Swan, where afternoon tea was served.

It is gentle, I admit, a rather low-energy lifestyle, where trying too hard is frowned upon, and those 'big city ways' need to toned down, but it is far removed from the stresses of the urban rat race. Think of it as the rural vole stroll...
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Another council tax freeze makes for a worried Parish Councillor

2011-10-03T17:15:00.001+01:00

Last year's council tax freeze was very good politics, even if it wasn't necessarily very good for local government finances. Any council freezing its precept was given additional funding equivalent to a 2.5% increase. I say 'any', although my fellow parish councillors will note that we weren't included in that offer.

I suspect that the long-term implication - that if the 'bribe' stopped, or was stagnant in cash terms, then precepts would need to be increased rather more than inflation - did not go unnoticed. So, here it is again this year. What this means, effectively, is that local authorities who have taken the money will have seen their precept fall by about 8% in real terms over two years.

One solution to the medium-term problem is to divest local services, or to charge more for them. And that's where my problems start...

Last year, the amount charged to my Parish Council by Mid Suffolk District Council for cutting the grass on the village green went up by 13%. It had been subsidised in the past, we were told, so we swallowed hard, made cuts elsewhere, and lived with it. This year, they have decided to charge us for emptying the dog waste and litter bins. It isn't a huge amount, about 1.4% of our total budget, but it will need to be found.

We also pay for street lighting, and the cost of electricity is going up... fast. We need to budget for that too. We are being asked to take on the Local Nature Reserve, as Mid Suffolk District Council have pulled out. Add in salaries, maintenance and insurance, and before you know it, you're talking about a precept increase in excess of 5%.

Our reserves are somewhat lower than I would like, a view shared by our Parish Clerk, so I'd like us to run a budget surplus to bring that up to par, and we have no funds to cover replacement street lights which, eventually, we will need.

Meanwhile, Suffolk County Council and Mid Suffolk District Council, armed with their bribe from George and Eric, will set a 0% council tax increase, which will make the 8% that I fear will be necessary for Creeting St Peter rather unpalatable. And even then, I can look forward to a future of squeezes from above and from the past...
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Last week, Prager Strasse, this week... Prague!

2011-10-01T16:57:00.001+01:00

It is, perhaps, merely a coincidence that, on my last holiday, I read a history of the Thirty Years War (1618-48). There was quite a lot of death and destruction, chronicled quite sensitively, not necessarily suited to a beach holiday in Jamaica. However, as research material for this holiday, it has been extremely useful.

As all of my readers doubtless recall, the Thirty Years War started here in Prague, a gentle stroll from the Strahov Monastery, the unexpected location of our extremely comfortable hotel, complete with sixteenth century wood beams in the ceiling, above Prague Castle. The defenestration of two leading advisors to the Hapsburg emperor led to a short-lived uprising brought to a chaotic and conclusive ending at the Battle of White Mountain in 1621.

Even the journey here included reminders of one of the most destructive conflicts in European history, as our train passed through Pirna. The town was occupied by the Swedes in 1639, and never really recovered its wealth, with subsequent invasions by the Swedes again in 1706, the Prussians in 1756 and the French in 1813 - the town had the misfortune of being on the main route between Bohemia and Saxony.

As Ros has never been to the Czech Republic, it means that I can be her tour guide, pointing out some of the historic stuff and putting it into context. I am supported in this by the Lonely Planet 'Prague City Guide' which is, I must admit, extremely good. The maps are accurate, the walking tours not too heavily touristed, and the restaurant suggestions excellent.

We've now eaten four meals at restaurants they recommend, one in Hradcany, between Strahov and Prague Castle, which was pricey by city standards, although not by London standards. My veal roll with black truffles, washed down by a very decent bottle of Czech wine, was a joy.

The next recommendation was here at the Strahov Monastery, the St Norbert's Brewery, which brews its own beer, which serves hearty food for hearty people (that probably means us). Ros particularly enjoyed their amber beer, which washed down the wild boar in rosehip sauce and bread dumplings a treat.

Last night was an opportunity to explore real Prague, away from the tourist crush. The guidebook suggested 'Perpetuum', a restaurant serving the local speciality - duck - so we set off towards the end of Metro Line A. The problem with all guidebooks is that they are accurate as at the time they are written, and that as a result, their usefulness decays quite quickly. However, we found the restaurant easily enough and were highly impressed with the fantastic roast wild duck in plum sauce they produced, served with bread dumplings and red cabbage. Two courses, with beer, for just £32, would be hard to beat, and would doubtless surprise the tourists eating near Charles Bridge.

Today, we've been walking in Letna and Stromovka, north of the city, taking in the parks, enjoying the sunshine, and on our route, we were advised to stop at 'La Creperie', part way through. We were a bit early though, so got to the end of our walk at Prague Zoo and headed back. As we travelled on tram number 17, I realised that we were back near 'La Creperie', so we got off, and headed down a rather unlikely back street towards a rather unlovely government building.

Just as we were beginning to have severe doubts, there was the restaurant, looking ominously quiet. However, nothing ventured, so I tried the door and found myself admitted to a cosy little room where old French chansons were playing. Promising, we thought. The menu was equally promising, with an array of galettes (open-faced crepes) to choose from. They were very well done indeed, very reasonably priced, amidst genuine charm and ambience.

Prague has, thus far, been a delight. Architecture to die for, great food, better beer, easy to get around, full of surprises, it is a sensory overload designed to lift the spirits. And the weather has been amazingly kind - sunshine and blue skies throughout. Indeed, the trip has gone so well that thoughts are turning to Budapest, Krakow, Bratislava...
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Liberal Democracy linked to obesity!

2011-10-01T15:29:00.001+01:00

No, not a Daily Mail headline - it would be cancer if it was, surely - but the findings of a sample of Liberal Democrat councillors in one mid-Suffolk local authority, i.e. Creeting St Peter.

It would be fair to say that politics and liberal bureaucracy are not a healthy mix. When I first got involved in politics at university, I was in the early stages of putting on seventy pounds. The late nights, the beer, the junk food, the lack of exercise, all of these took their toll. It was only when I became International Officer of the Young Liberal Democrats that I became inspired to address the problem, and promptly lost half of that in a year. Giving up active politics in mid-1991 caused me to lose the remaining thirty-five pounds in six months.

I became politically active again in the late nineties, and the pounds began to pile on inexorably, until late 2003, when I had put all of the weight back on, but was suddenly out of the political scene again. Off came the weight again, another thirty-five pounds, and I was doing well, relatively fit (fit enough to wander around Machu Picchu and Potosi comfortably, despite the high altitude).

And then Flick Rae came a-calling in 2004, and lured me back into Liberal Democrat politics. More late nights, less/no exercise, bad dietary habits, more alcohol, those pounds went back on. The Presidency, combined with a diet rich in locally produced pork, cheese and beer, certainly didn't help - all of those Local Party dinners, the hotel buffet breakfasts - I was on the road to perdition. Until this summer, with my District Council election out of the way, when I decided to scale back the politics and focus on getting myself into rather better shape.

It's gone quite well up until now - I've lost twenty pounds and reclaimed a large wardrobe of clothes that had ceased to fit - but there's an awfully long way to go still. It will, I have to confess, probably be even further after this holiday, with much pork eaten and even more beer drunk. But it's been fun, and I have a decent run until Christmas to make another dent in the pile of sugar bags I effectively carry around with me.

Next year, I suspect that the politics I do will be rather gentler. I'm not up for election to anything significant, certainly nothing requiring a campaign, I won't be a Regional office holder, and I'm not expecting the Parish Council to occupy my time quite to the extent that it did this year. Hopefully, I might reach the end of 2012 in rather better shape as a result, both mentally and physically. One can but hope...
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Social housing policy: does Grant Shapps have a point?

2011-09-30T17:01:00.001+01:00

I note that there have been some rather critical responses to the announcement that preferential treatment might be given to those with jobs when allocating social housing. But before we get too indignant, perhaps we need to consider what underpins such an idea.

Escaping the ghetto mentality

With social housing in short supply, and with the existing obligation to house those meeting set criteria, it is increasingly only those whose circumstances are most desperate who get housed. It is, as has been noted, a case of putting a roof over the heads of those most in need. The catch is that, as a result, estates of social housing become sinks for the worst social problems in our communities, places where aspiration is low, achievement lower.

Many people have concluded that restoring the social mix in these estates is key - after all, if people are conditioned by their circumstances, then introducing people with jobs into the community might provide role models to those seeking to improve their lot. However, with current policies, you can't do that, leaving such areas to spiral downwards into despair and deprivation. If building the hundreds and thousands of new social housing units that would allow an improvement in the social mix isn't viable, what do you do instead?

Creating a bridge from your parents to your own home

Finding a place to live is difficult, especially in our big cities. The cost of renting, relative to salary levels, is almost out of reach of many twenty-somethings in London. However, if they could move into social housing, this would drive rents down across the board, as the government can already cap housing benefit. But again, you'd need the sort of change of policy that is being proposed.

Challenging the rewards for fecklessness

There are a lot of people in this country, who, fairly or otherwise, believe that we devote far too many resources to those they define as scroungers, people who could work but don't, those who are perceived to be asking the State (or more appropriately, taxpayers) to support their 'lifestyle choice'. And there is no doubt that some of those on benefits are making the logical calculation that if working makes them only marginally better off, why go to the trouble?

The notion that the State should be there for, as Al Murray, the Pub Landlord, puts it, honest, hardworking, decent, tax-paying English people, is widely held. The idea that such people should pay their taxes to support a bunch of people to skive all day whilst they themselves struggle to get by is a deeply unpopular one.

And yes, there is a differentiation between 'deserving' and 'undeserving' poor. We all make it, although our definitions of deserving and undeserving may vary depending upon our social consciences. So, is a homeless person with a job more deserving than one without one? Of course, the answer is, "that depends upon the circumstances" - easy in principle, less so in practice.

So, there are three reasons that might justify giving those with jobs preference in allocating social housing. Note that I'm not saying they will...
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If a no-fly zone was what did for Gaddafi, will an economic boycott do for Assad?

2011-09-29T16:08:00.001+01:00

As the Syrian regime continues to kill protestors, events in Libya are conspiring to make life a bit more difficult for President Assad and his government.

Syria exports about 100,000 barrels of crude oil per day, or at least, it did until European Union sanctions were imposed last month. In the scheme of things, that isn't very much, but it represents about 25% of the country's earnings denominated in foreign currencies. Virtually all of it was bought by EU-based customers, so the Syrians are looking for alternative purchasers.

And that search is made more difficult by the resumption of exports from Libya, expected next month. Oil prices are expected to fall back, making Syrian oil less attractive, especially once the costs of insurance are factored in. Indeed, given that the Transitional National Council in Tripoli have been openly admitting that they will be favouring those nations that supported their quest to overthrow the Gaddafi regime, it might be seen as risky to gamble on an open show of support for the Assad regime. And the option to retain oil pending the arrival of a customer is limited by Syria's storage capacity, which is now almost entirely utilised.

With the Syrian economy now thought to be on the verge of recession, the question is, how long can the regime continue to arm its military, and at what point does the military leadership start looking for a way out?

Meanwhile, a worrying pattern is beginning to emerge, with a number of leading Syrian academics being assassinated in Homs, a hotbed of dissent against the regime. In 2003, a similar wave of killings in Iraq, targeted at doctors, academics and scientists, led to a rush for the exit, and impoverished Iraq. Here, one suspects that the regime is trying to discourage the emergence of potential opposition leaders. The effect might well be the same though, as high profile figures decide that they are safer somewhere else.

Roll your own? Bloody tax dodger!

2011-09-29T15:31:00.001+01:00

I'm on holiday, so I need some reading material for the bits when we're taking time out from being tourists. A good book, perhaps. But no, I'm a bureaucrat, so something educational, methinks. Indeed, what I have is highly informative, and as you certainly haven't read it, and you almost certainly won't, I feel obliged to give you some snippets...

Today, I've learned about HRT. No, not hormone replacement therapy, hand rolling tobacco. Now, I have to admit that I don't smoke, and never have done. I do rather like the smell of a good cigar, and I find pipe smoke strangely reassuring in its carcinogenic way. However, I've never given tobacco much thought. I do have friends who roll their own - you kind of expect that amongst Liberal Democrats.

What I didn't know is that it is statistically likely that those friends are ripping off the Treasury. In truth, some of them probably know if they are - if you're paying less for it than the usual price, you might logically be suspicious - but if it's being sold to you by a tobacconists, or a corner shop, you may be unduly enriching not only the retailer, but the criminals he or she purchased them from.

You see, HM Revenue & Customs reckon that illicit hand rolling tobacco supplied between 41% and 50% of the total market in 2009-10. Interestingly, that's down quite substantially over four years (the range was from 55% to 64% in 2005-06), but still represents approximately £750 million. And that's a lot of money, about 2% of the estimated tax gap. Put another way, it represents the same amount of money as that lost through incorrect self assessments by non-business taxpayers.

So, when UK Uncut talk about closing the tax gap, here's a statistic that you can quote right back at them. And then ask them what they'll do instead...

Peter Hain and his Theory of Political Cohesion

2011-09-27T17:08:00.001+01:00

"It seems to me that the Liberal Democrats are likely to splinter at the time of the next election between if you like the Orange Book leadership, Nick Clegg and others at the top, and what I think of as the majority of Liberal Democrats."

"If that happens, then I think there is a prospect for some kind of alliance, with if you like... the genuine Liberal Democrats, together with the Greens and together possibly with other forces."

"But I think from the basis of where we are at the moment I think it is very possible we can win the next election but it is very difficult for us to win a majority and therefore we need to look to alliances well beyond our ranks in order to effectively get a majority government to stop the Tories with others, whoever they might be next time, carrying forward this very right-wing agenda."

There is no doubt that, in advance of the next General Election, Liberal Democrats are going to have to give serious thought to the questions of "what if". This will involve some discreet discussions to see where the common ground is, if any, to discover who will dance, and who won't, if the public decide not to award a clear mandate next time.

This makes the comments from Peter Hain above look interesting. Yes, those discussions are taking place, with Liam Byrne leading for Labour, but it isn't clear that Peter is hearing the same music that we are, or that it's even from the same band. Mind you, given that Ed Balls has cast himself in the Gordon Brown role pre-1997, I'm not sure which band he is listening to. It might not be his. I am, however, intrigued by the notion that he thinks that the Liberal Democrats could split, and even more intrigued by the potential thought processes that lead him to such a conclusion.

Liberal Democrats are quite a fractious bunch, by comparison with the Labour and Conservative Parties. Our open policy-making, our fixation with internal democracy, these are things that place squarely on the record where our disagreements are. In many ways, they make us stronger by sketching out the ideological boundaries beyond which we will not be dragged, by sending a message to our leaders. It also makes huge falling outs less likely.

That balance of power is a restriction, and a protection, all in one. It makes us more coherent as a campaigning force, and makes us less, not more, likely to split. Perhaps it has been too long since Peter split from the Liberal Party, and perhaps it was too easy for him to leave, because he fails to understand the loyalty that our activists retain.

And we are not alone. Our supposed intellectual schisms are as nothing compared to the Old Labour/Nu Labour split of the Blair years, and yet they hung together. You see, political parties are like families, the more time you spend with them, the more comfortable you become, making the thought of giving it up for an uncertain future rather harder.

There are those who join a party, have a look around, and realise that it isn't for them. They either go somewhere else, or they give up. There are those for whom a political party is simply a vehicle for their personal ambition - they tend to become obvious sooner rather than later. But organised mass breakaways are rare.

So, if Mr Hain is relying on a Liberal Democrat schism to allow Labour back into power, he may be forced to wait some time. A split is possible, but unlikely, and many of our social liberals don't entirely trust Labour anyway. Of course, some of their social liberals might want to find a home in the Liberal Democrats...

Labour discover that university funding is rather harder than they wanted to admit

2011-09-25T15:29:00.001+01:00

Unlike most of the 'Comment is Free' contributors (do you get a pitchfork and a burning torch when you submit your first comment?), I'm rather more tolerant of Ed Milliband's suggestion that they would cap tuition fees at £6,000 per annum. That is not to say that I support it particularly.

It is at least an acknowledgement that the future funding of our universities cannot rely solely on government, especially if you want to provide a world class education to as many people as might want it.

Labour's drive over thirteen years to massively increase the number of young people going to university appeared to be built on the backs of university lecturers and academic administrators, with salaries kept low, class sizes increasing and facilities stretched beyond capacity. And given that, with finite resources, you will always have rationing of some sort, something was inevitably going to give.

As one of those who was always nervous about the infamous pledge, the events following the publication of the Browne Review were akin to the slow motion unfolding of a train wreck. And yes, you can argue that Liberal Democrats did what they could to improve fairness, but the brutal fact is that if something is provided at below cost price, and then you remove the subsidy, you're not going to be popular. Being right, assuming you are, isn't the same as popular.

There are so many facets to the debate that simply talking about the cost deflects the debate away from such basic questions as "do we need 50% of our young people to have a degree?". Or, if the state is to support students, what priorities might be set? Grants for mathematicians and scientists, or reduced fees for those whom the State believe we have a need of - if you can apply that theory to immigration, you can surely apply it to education.

So, Ed is merely tinkering at the fringes. He's allowed, but I'm not convinced that the politics are that profound...

Saxon beers and sausage roll

2011-09-24T22:40:00.000+01:00

I have a funny feeling that the autumn is going to be busy, so it is nice to be on holiday for a little while. And you might guess from the title that we're back in Dresden, having enjoyed the city so much in May that we were moved to come back.

This time, we have some proper exploration in mind, given that last time, we were a bit disorganised, drifting around in a bit of a haze, and quite dismally failing to visit most of the key attractions. The guidebook has been read (mostly by Ros, I admit), plans made. And we have enough time to do it well. We have been welcomed with some decent weather too, with the forecast for sunshine until Wednesday, when we leave for the second leg of the trip.

So, stand by for tales of good beer, quite a lot of pork, and a bit of seventeenth century history, most of it pretty grim. For we are in one of the key locations for the Thirty Years War...

Half man, half shortbread?

2011-09-24T08:25:00.001+01:00

I spent Wednesday afternoon with my mother, something that I haven't done for an awfully long time - almost certainly far too long. And no, she's perfectly well, her faculties are still in fine working order, and she's no crazier than she's ever been (in truth, she's probably one of the sanest people I know).

It was fun. We drank tea, put the world to rights (she's not a huge fan of Nick Clegg, I must note) and talked about family stuff. I got fed at regular intervals and agreed that we should do this more often - we're not a family that demonstrates its affection on its sleeve, and organising get-togethers is not something we're great at.

However, as I was getting ready to head back to Mid Suffolk, there was something unexpected to see. Some old family photographs of my maternal great grandfather and great grandmother have turned up, dating back to 1909, taken at a photographer's studio in either Keith or Dufftown. For those of you who don't know either, they are in Banffshire, between Aberdeen and Inverness, the home of some of the finest Scotch whisky to be found anywhere.

Whilst my mother was born in Keith, I had assumed that this was merely an accident of timing, as my grandparents moved the family to East Sussex within a year of her birth. And as we don't really talk about the dead, the family history has gone uncommented upon. So, the fact that my mother's grandparents were from Craigellachie indicates that I might be rather more Scots than I had thought.

And yes, there is a clan - Gordon - and a tartan, a relatively tasteful one too.

This may explain the instinctive liberalism, the somewhat conservative personal morality and my broad non-conformist streak in. Indeed, it implies that whilst I've got my father's looks, I could have my mother's philosophical outlook. Which begs the question, might liberalism be genetic?
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The new politics isn't blindly partisan. Have we really understood that?

2011-09-23T14:01:00.000+01:00

I am, in political terms, a fairly gentle soul, as I may have noted before. I like to think generously of my opponents, as far as that is possible. It isn't always easy, but one should try. And perhaps I'm not the only person who should.

Now that we've got the hang of this 'being in government and acting responsibly' lark, perhaps we need to think about how we do politics as a party. As people who talk a good game of pluralism, we imply that collaborative, inclusive politics is a good thing. Which, of course, it is. However, we're not always good at dealing with the consequences of that stance.

It does mean that we have an obligation to listen to opposing views, to evaluate what they have to say, and to explain why we are going to do what we have agreed. After all, given the overlap between the manifestos of the various political parties, there are areas of agreements with all of them. Admittedly, you'd be amazed to find what some of them are, but they do exist. Oh yes, we may differ as to why, or how, or when, but in broad terms, that agreement is still there.

So, why do we have to talk as though politics is about us and them, about right and wrong, in the kind of black and white way that we spend so much time saying is exactly the wrong way to look at complex problems? Instead, for example, of simply exclaiming that Labour would have cut almost exactly as far and as fast, oh and, by the way, they smell, why not say that, given the state of the public finances, we would welcome any specific suggestions that they might have? If they have any good ideas, it is in the national interest to use them, giving credit accordingly. If they don't, and there are no signs yet of specifics, then it will become apparent pretty quickly. They may even up their game.

It isn't about being nice, it isn't about being wishy washy, it's about building a politics that allows people to work across party boundaries for the national or local interest. Because it's really hard to do so with people you've spent five years slagging off.

We have an opportunity to change the way politics is done in this country. Given that, as a Party that is a potential partner for either of the other major Parties, plus the Nationalists in Scotland and Wales, we could end up in government under a myriad of circumstances, developing better personal relationships might well make for better governance.

And to the public out there, they may not necessarily understand how important that is, but they will certainly appreciate the benefits.

A bureaucrat's guide to... the committee

2011-09-22T21:05:00.002+01:00

As a bureaucrat, you might not be terribly surprised by my headline. Bureaucrat and committee go together like gin and tonic (now, there's a thought...), or the House of Lords and old people who need a warm place for a nap.

However, I am obliged to respond to my fellow parish councillor in Stansted, Essex, Daniel Brett, whose rather broad generalisation as to the value of committees reminds me that those white stilettos must be killing him (oops, that's an astonishingly broad generalisation about Essex residents, drawn from a very limited and extremely biased sample of experiences in Romford on a Friday night...). Daniel entertainingly links the rather complex mesh of committees in Gaddafi's Libya to the oppression that the people of that benighted country experienced for too long. Well, in the same way that guns don't kill people, the people bearing them do, committees aren't a menace to good governance, the people who serve on them are.

And trust me, I should know.

So, here are some things that make committees work, rather than frustrate...

1. Determine whether or not your journey is really necessary

Do you actually need this committee? This might seem like an obvious question, but there is a tendency to create committees because you can. The idea of a committee is to reduce the number of people attending to just those who add value, thus allowing consideration of issues by those who care, or can have an effect. By doing so, you combine expertise whilst reducing the number of stupid questions.

2. Preparation is everything

Written reports, circulated in advance, prevent rambling verbal updates, reduce stupid questions and, in an ideal world, allow the author to formally move the report, take the odd question (a good report includes all the relevant information, as well as the context) and focus colleagues on the decisions that need to be taken.

3. Ramblers shall be prosecuted

There is nothing more annoying than having someone who rambles on, sucking the oxygen out of the room, never sticking to the subject when the opportunity to tell a lengthy story about 'old Bert' or whoever. Get rid of them, or create a special committee to occupy all of them whilst the real work is done elsewhere.

4. Chairs aren't for sitting on, they're for moving on

How quickly do you want to get home? More importantly, how quickly does the Chair want to get home? It's amazing how quickly meetings go when there's an unavoidable deadline. And if there isn't one, fake it. People will be much more focussed if time wasted further up the agenda denies them the chance to address the things that really matter. Put the things that are important at the end of the agenda, and people will skate through the dull stuff to get to it.

So, Daniel, don't get mad, get even. And, best of all, get home early...

Your democracy is under threat - do something to save it!

2011-09-22T13:59:00.000+01:00

I'm not one for hyperbolae normally, but the proposal to make electoral registration voluntary risks disenfranchising millions of people - women, ethnic minorities, the young - and changing the electoral landscape of this country forever.

As a member of the Management Board of 'Unlock Democracy', I am asking you to write to your MP, urging them to support the retention of mandatory registration. I admit that the idea of mandation is a tricky one - some of my more libertarian colleagues might rightly question whether or not the freedom to exclude oneself from the democratic process is a good thing - but if it is made voluntary, there will be a huge upsurge in the number of those who do not appear on the electoral register.

We already have a problem in this country with a significant number of people who avoid being on the electoral register - to avoid jury duty, or to lower their profile with the authorities for whatever reason. These people deny themselves right to take part in the decisions that affect their lives, and the idea that many more people will unintentionally be shut out weakens our democracy, and excludes diverse voices from the fora that decide our nation's future.

Many thanks!

Commitment and culture - barrier to progress, or gateway to opportunity?

2011-09-22T10:20:00.003+01:00

Picking up where I left off last time...

The personal commitment aspect is a less tricky one.

Frankly, in a small village, the volume of work is, relative to that of a district or county councillor, derisory. And as for metropolitan or unitary councillors, our 'burden' would be barely noticeable. That isn't to say that what we do is irrelevant, more that our powers are rather few. However, like at any level, the amount you do beyond the statutory minimum is up to you.

It is, perhaps, the cultural element which offers the broadest challenge. What sort of parish council is it? Is there a sense of 'Führerprinzip', with a hierarchy of authority, or is it more collaborative? How are the tensions between those styles of governance managed, where they exist? If there is a hierarchy, does it respect the ability of councillors to deliver both their legal, and their representative obligations?

I freely admit that I struggle in this area. You might expect that I tend towards a more collectivist sense of responsibility, whilst the fact that I am (potentially) directly elected makes me personally accountable. I'm also spontaneous, to an extent which troubles the Chair, and the Parish Clerk. If something arises urgently, and there isn't a parish newsletter due (and as it is published quarterly, it is likely that it won't be), my first thought is to do something to publicise it.

Naturally, I can't do that in an official capacity, because it isn't approved by the Chair and the Parish Clerk. And now, it seems, they don't want me to do it in a personal capacity, at least, not without their approval. It is, to put it mildly, a paradox. What happens if they don't approve of it?

It is, I suppose, a question of potential effectiveness. A difference of opinion between us potentially weakens my ability to influence the decision making of the council as a whole (the validity of the argument isn't always enough), and if I believe that I have a useful role to play, then I have to take a longer view.

And whilst the cultural differences between some of us may be difficult to bridge - and in this instance, I fundamentally differ, I may have to accept that subliminating one's personality for a greater good is the best option.

Now, all I have to do is reconcile myself to that...

Total Politics Blog Awards: life is full of surprises

2011-09-22T08:18:00.001+01:00

It's been a roller-coaster ride so far. Having been 42nd, 49th and 92nd on the list of the 100 top Liberal Democrat blogs when it was first published - we finally settled on 42nd - I had no great expectations beyond that.

So, you can imagine my surprise when, on checking the list of the top 100 Liberal Democrat bloggers, I found myself in 20th place (which does kind of make you wonder why the blog is 42nd, but who am I to argue?). That's not bad, if I say so myself. After all, there are some damned good bloggers above that - and some equally good ones further down.

This morning, however, I was looking at the councillor blogs, only to find that I write the 34th best councillor blog. Not the 34th best Liberal Democrat councillor blog, but the 34th best of any political stripe. It isn't as though I've won an election yet (well, if you count unopposed ones, I have, but...). And, apart from my ongoing philosophical struggle with the dilemmas of life on a small parish council, I don't actually do much councillor stuff - you'd be pretty desperately bored if I did, and the Chairman wouldn't like it.

And now I find that I am the 174th best political blogger which, I must confess, comes as a bit of a surprise. Clearly, given the fact that the content is not exactly exciting (harvest mice?), there can only be two explanations - I write well, or I have a lot of friends. Either is good (naturally, both would be better, but I leave that to viewer discretion).

Recognition is a good thing, on the whole, and can act as a useful spur to further activity. So, moving right along...
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

The one in which I explore how effective one can be as a Parish Councillor...

2011-09-21T13:57:00.003+01:00

There are, as at any level of government, limits upon what you, as an elected representative, can do or achieve.

There are the financial ones - what discretionary spending is available, if any, what resources you can bring to bear in terms of staff, the ability to increase income. There are personal ones - how much time you have available, how much casework you get, your level of commitment. And there are cultural ones - how empowered you are, how much information you can obtain.

At Parish Council level, the 'debate' is more philosophical in nature than elsewhere. The general lack of elections means that the motivation to work for the electorate has to come from within, rather than through any fear of defeat at the polls. The absence, for the most part, of partisan politics means that there is a risk of isolation, balanced by an enhanced sense of independence.

It is also much more personal. The staff are not faceless, he or she is all that you have. If the relationship is good, based on mutual respect, a shared sense of purpose and an understanding of each other's needs, it works very well. If, however, you are not lucky enough to have this, it is unlikely to end well. And, because you are on your own, there is a lack of support - nobody to explain why, or how, nothing to ensure that you are included. In short, there is the scope for conflict.

The financial aspects are, at this level, far less complex, but far more personal. The money I spend as part of the Parish Council is raised from my immediate neighbours. If I waste money, they know about it and, given that I can't hide behind a large, faceless bureaucracy, there is nowhere to run. And, as a fiscal conservative, I fret about spending money 'because we can'. It could be a toxic combination, if you allow it to become one.

Next time: how your commitment and the council culture can boost, or reduce, your effectiveness...

Freedom of expression and the Parish Council...

2011-09-20T11:02:00.002+01:00

Yesterday, I touched on the context within which small parish councils operate. Here's an example of the sort of issue that can arise...

I blog, both here and at 'The Creeting St Peter Journal', a local blog for local people', you might say. The Chairman of our Parish Council, a former army officer (I believe), is somewhat suspicious of anything that he doesn't 'get', uncomfortable with the idea of my reporting from Parish Council, and is a mite autocratic. Perhaps autocratic is a bit harsh, but he's a bit more used to command and control than I am.

Rosemary, our Parish Clerk, isn't wild about my blogging either. Her view is that all reportage of the Parish Council should come from her. What she must make of Focus leaflets doesn't bear thinking about... Upon issuing a hard copy edition of my other blog last week, I received a 'demand' that I provide her with a copy (she lives in another parish). I accept that my response was a bit prickly, as you might expect.

I chafe against the notion that, as an elected official, there is an implied sense that my responsibility to the council supersedes that to the people who would have elected me had there been an election (at least, I hope that they would have done).

When I first became a parish councillor, I came under severe pressure not to report events at Parish Council. As a newcomer to both the village and the council, it seemed easier to comply with their wishes rather than pick an unnecessary fight. However, times change and, with confidence renewed, there is a piece of me, my inner citizen journalist if you like, that feels that I should seek a better balance between competing loyalties. Facts can be interpreted to suit your argument, but there is a difference between a political report and a news one. That's perhaps why I maintain a village blog, with straight reportage, and a personal one, where I can 'vent my spleen'.

And ultimately, I'm up for re-election in 2015. In the event that I choose to run, and there's a contest, I don't want to be campaigning with my hands tied behind my back...

Learning how to manage the balance of power - Parish style

2011-09-19T12:21:00.002+01:00

As a rookie at the grassroots level of local politics (and trust me, there is no lower level than a small parish council), it is fair to say that I have discovered a number of advantages.

Firstly, you can't kill anyone, no matter how badly you screw up. Yes, I might miss a subtle nuance on a planning application, or forget to submit my thoughts on a consultation on primary school provision, but I don't actually have any powers over such things. We could turn off our nine street lights, or let the grass on the village green grow until you could hide a rhinoceros in it, but even that is unlikely to be fatal - I've never seen a rhinoceros lurking anywhere in Creeting St Peter, let alone on the village green.

Second, you do get to learn a surprising amount about local government at higher levels. Our district and county councillors, both Conservative regrettably, report back on what they're doing (albeit badly and usually verbally), so you get a sense of who is responsible for what. Admittedly, Ros knows far more about this than they do, and I can learn more from her in five minutes than I could from my elected representatives, but it is educational, if only as a 'how not to' exercise.

There are disadvantages too. You have very few levers to pull, especially in a small village like mine. Bigger villages have village halls, subcontract tasks from higher tiers of local government, have budgets that allow them to do things. But when your precept is less than £4,000 per annum, you're not exactly fretting about anything significant.

However, there is a learning opportunity. We have a Parish Clerk, who is paid to provide us with a fixed amount of time per week. As an experienced officer at this level, she has a view as to how her work is done, and how her council operates. You will note the use of the phrase 'her council'. And that is the crux of my 'opportunity'.

You see, we disagree on something rather fundamental, i.e. who actually runs the council. It isn't as easy as it sounds.

Her job is, effectively, to ensure that we fulfil our legal responsibilities, something which has become more difficult as layer after layer of legislation has been draped over this junior tier of government. In a lot of parish councils, especially the smaller ones, the level of expertise amongst councillors is low - they're there because they care about their village, not because they are fascinated by the minutiae of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007. As a result, being a Parish Clerk means leading councillors by the hand, a somewhat paternalist exercise, but an often necessary one.

A parish councillor like myself - political, rather better informed than the norm, and prone to thoughts of accountability and communication - presents an unusual problem. I see democracy as participatory, an informed process, and not necessarily well suited to a paternalist approach. I'm an 'out' Liberal Democrat, operating in a sphere where overt politics is rare, and often discouraged. You can see the potential for... how might I put it... gentle disagreement?

Tomorrow - an example of where paternalism and liberalism collide... freedom of expression and the Parish Council...

A toad in the demesne

2011-09-18T20:55:00.002+01:00

Home in Mid Suffolk again (or rather, having never left Mid Suffolk in the first place because, as I have explained, I haven't gone to Conference...), we've been catching up on a little light gardening before the nights begin to draw in. Ros has been planning one of the borders for next year, and was poking about when she was slightly surprised by this...

I presume that it is a common toad - it's a bit squat to be a frog, and we don't have any open water anywhere (given the size of our garden, I'm sure that I would have noticed). However, it is rather attractive, and I am fairly confident that one of my readers can give me a more definitive answer.

It is one of the great delights of being a country dweller that I encounter much more wildlife, at much closer quarters, than I ever did as a Londoner. Quail, pheasants, deer, hares - all of these are commonplace and part of a gentle scenery that never ceases to soothe a bureaucrat's soul.

It seems to have that effect on our visitors too. Friends come to Creeting St Peter from their busy urban lives and tend to remark afterwards how relaxing it all is, which is very nice. And now that both Ros and I have settled upon a less hurried pace of existence, we tend to get more visitors...

Lib Dem Voice Blog Awards - Spidey, you're wrong on this one...

2011-09-18T20:26:00.000+01:00

As one of those shortlisted for one of last night's awards (best blog by a Liberal Democrat holding public office), I was somewhat disappointed to see the comments from one of Woking's finest which, I fear, smacked of bitterness. The accusation that the Awards are an opportunity for the Liberal Democrat Voice team to 'reward its friends' is a pretty serious one so, as someone who has worked with them in the past, has written for them too, but isn't actually part of the team, perhaps I should contribute a response.

Ros's 2008 BOTY for best use of social networking

Firstly, a declaration of interest. As mentioned, I have written for Liberal Democrat Voice in the past, predominantly on issues relating to the internal bureaucracy of the Party, and mostly because I'm one of the Party's very few bloggers who specialises in such stuff. I've generally used LDV as a means to convey information or report back on events - you would be amazed at how difficult it is to do so by any other means as an elected representative. I am, technically, the bureaucracy correspondent - Mark Pack asked me to do it, I contributed three pieces and then, to be blunt, lost interest (it really is fearfully dull for the most part). I've also been guest editor for the day - I might even do it again one day, if I can be organised enough, and they'll have me.

And yet, I have never won an award. If Lisa is right, I should feel pretty hard done by. I've been blogging for six years, been shortlisted three times, once for best post and now twice for best blog by a Liberal Democrat holding public office. C'est la vie, as they say. Frankly, I'm rather surprised to have been nominated at all - I wouldn't describe myself as a blogger who sets the heather on fire, more someone who is broadly respected as a stalwart denizen of the Liberal Democrat blogosphere.

I assume that the judges, a fairly diverse crew this year as in years past, express their views and have a system that synthesises those views into a final outcome. If Stephen Tall is to be believed, and despite his occasionally shocking taste in outfits, and excessive displays of chest hair, I tend to, they actually do. And, their decision is final, no matter how personally disappointing I may find that (and I certainly wouldn't turn down an award if one came my way).

I don't attack those people who do win. Indeed, even if their blog is not to my personal taste, I like to think that I can admire the quality of the writing, or recognise the influence that they have had. It is also entirely legitimate to disagree with the decision of the judges - it is, at the end of the day, their decision and not yours or mine. But to slag off a winner in such personal terms because you don't like them very much, or you find their work boring, is the height of boorishness. It is also entirely hypocritical to slag someone off and then deny them the right to reply, only to report on your rather biased interpretation of their response.

Lisa won't like this, I suspect. She'll probably be rather rude in response. But then, people can be in cyberspace - I perhaps have a better grasp of that than most. And, to her credit, she is at least rude in person, rather than hiding behind a pseudonym. It isn't much credit though, and her behaviour is hardly pitched in such a way as to make me warm to her. It does reassure me, however, that she won't care about that one jot...

On not bring (t)here

2011-09-18T16:25:00.001+01:00

Another advantage of not being at Conference is that I have no plans to do anything. This means that Ros and I can pretty much come and go as we please. So we have.

We voted on the Lords Reform motion, I voted for, and Liberal Democrats for Lords Reform can find out themselves how Ros voted. Ros has been tagged by various people to talk about I know not what, whilst I smile sweetly and potter gently. I'm quite good at these things, if I say so myself.

And then we had dinner, Indian, which was very nice, before heading to the East of England Reception (too hot, no chairs) and, in my case, the Lib Dem Voice Blog of the Year Awards ceremony. A glass of wine with friends, and it was time to sleep...

"I am a liberal, but I don't believe in Evan Harris"

2011-09-17T17:21:00.001+01:00

Having not come to Birmingham (because, of course, I am not here), I did feel that I ought not to appear in the conference hall. In particular, I was not going to get involved with any debate on whether or not to suspend standing orders so as to allow Evan Harris to attempt to overturn the results of Liberal Democrat efforts to modify the proposed NHS reforms to reflect public concerns and liberal ideals.

So, naturally, I was merely exercising my trick right shoulder and it was a simple coincidence that I was holding a delegate card with my name and photograph on it that doesn't exist, when the motion to suspend standing orders was voted on. And it was clearly a misfortune of timing that Romer Hoseason was, at that moment, counting votes against the proposal. And, I must admit, it was a happy coincidence, because I strongly believe that, if you send your people off to negotiate with a strong brief, and they come back with the best deal they can get and they are still working to do better, you can't then interfere with their efforts. Unless you are Evan Harris, of course.

Evan, and his colleagues in the Social Liberal Forum, don't understand how coalitions work, especially when you're the junior partner. Or worse still, maybe they do, but don't care. In a coalition, you fight your battles with a view to the wider pictures, giving this up to get that. It's a partnership, not a master/slave relationship. So that's why I achieved the Liberal Democrat dream of being a minority victor, being on the wrong end of a 56% to 44% vote in favour of suspending the standing orders to allow Evan's emergency motion on the NHS to be added to the emergency motions ballot. He didn't get his required two-thirds majority, so the proposal was lost.

And now, if the Social Liberal Forum really want to work with our Peers to further improve the legislation, they can come up with a decent set of amendments that can be used to gain valuable improvements for a service we all cherish. They might be surprised to find a Parliamentary Party in the Lords that knows what is good for the country, is liberal, and will work. They'll also find a disciplined, hard working team who would quite appreciate a little appreciation from time to time. Just a thought, Evan...

Unexpected bureaucrat in the conference area

2011-09-16T17:16:00.001+01:00

I'm not sure how to put this... So, I'll make it simple.

I'm in a car, the satnav is set for B1 1HH, and I should be in Birmingham by about 9 p.m. I'm not sure if the arrangements have been made as I've been told they will be, but assuming they have, I'll see most of you in the ICC tomorrow.

And may Cthulhu have mercy upon my soul...