ALDE Party: Verhofstadt and Rehn shake hands on a deal that Nick doesn't like

The news that Guy Verhofstadt and Olli Rehn have shaken hands on a deal whereby Verhofstadt will be the ALDE candidate for the Presidency of the European Commission, whist Rehn will be promoted for a key role in the new Commission as part of a joint ticket, will have come as a disappointment to Nick Clegg.

The deal. drawn up by the Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, and the National Chairman of the FDP, Christian Lindner, was confirmed by Guy Verhofstadt yesterday afternoon.

Thks to @c_lindner @MinPres for the Proposal under which I'm candidate for CommPres & #Rehn for one of the other senior posts #ALDE #EP2014

— Guy Verhofstadt (@GuyVerhofstadt) January 20, 2014

As a result, subject to the agreement of the ALDE Bureau, a resolution will be proposed by ALDE Party President, Sir Graham Watson, calling for acceptance of the deal, and that, if passed, the scheduled election between the two men will be abandoned.

Not everyone is happy. From the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister came the response;

This isn't a deal Nick Clegg or the Liberal Democrats have signed up to, and we won't be supporting it. We will continue to back Olli Rehn, and we regard him as being at the top of the liberal ticket across Europe, certainly in the UK. Nick Clegg will not be campaigning with Guy Verhofstadt and does not support at all his views of a federal Europe.

Given claims that a majority of the Liberal Democrat MEPs were backing Verhofstadt, and that there are, amongst regular participants at ALDE events, some who might favour a more robust, more overtly federalist approach, that's brave, or possibly foolhardy, talk indeed. It implies that, having picked a fight with the Parliamentary Party in the Lords over the "Rennard affair", the European Parliamentary Group might be next to come under pressure.

I have a funny feeling that this may not be the last we hear on this matter...

Taxi for Rachel Reeves... for as sure as hell there isn't a bus...

Labour's proposals for the unemployed just get better and better, it appears. Listening to Rachel Reeves, it seems that Labour policy is now to require claimants to take numeracy, literacy and IT tests within six weeks of lodging a claim to Jobseekers' Allowance.

Now, I do see the importance to those seeking work of having some basic skills, but what we aren't hearing is the "or else", i.e. what the penalty for failure, either to attend or to reach the standard set, will be, because you just know that there will be - she is, after all, boasting that she'll be tougher on welfare than the Coalition. And is it just another way of picking on migrants, whose English language skills might not be as good as those of the locals?

I'm sure that others, more knowledgeable about the benefits system, will have plenty of grounds to question the efficacy of such a proposal, unless they're Labour activists, of course, in which case they'll clam up, but I want to focus on the impact on the rural unemployed.

One of my local Labour Prospective Parliamentary Candidates is forever complaining about local transport provision in small towns and villages. In that it isn't great, we can agree. In terms of what can be done, we differ - at least I presume we differ because she simply complains rather than indicate what might be done. So, how do the rural unemployed get to their local FE college to gain the skills required to meet the standard? Running a car is expensive, buses are scarce, to put it mildly, but Rachel Reeves wants to place an obligation upon unemployed villagers to travel, potentially quite some way, to study.

Of course, you could study remotely, but given that my village has, following an upgrade, got slightly less rubbish broadband access than it had previously, and the fact that you'd need a computer and a landline - not necessarily the prime essentials for a low-income household - it isn't perhaps the slamdunk that it appears at first glance.

It is, in short, another policy dreamt up by urban politicians, who know nothing of rural life, from a political party which, in Suffolk at least, barely shows up on the rural political map.

I look forward to the promotion of this policy by Labour PPCs outside of Ipswich and Waveney. I won't be holding my breath though...

Ros in the Lords: Business and Society

It was the Chief Rabbi, perhaps unexpectedly, who had called for a debate on the interaction between the business community and wider society on 12 June, and Ros saw an opportunity to espouse her belief that businesses benefit from greater community involvement...

Baroness Scott of Needham Market: My Lords, perhaps oddly in a debate on business, I am going to focus on the topic of volunteering. I am going to do so because the good news is that more and more people of working age are volunteering, but they are able to do so through the good offices of the businesses and people who employ them and give them time off to do so. Many organisations are going further than this, and are participating in bespoke schemes which enable their staff at all levels to become involved with volunteering. This is perhaps with chosen charities through team activities, fundraising or joining in the work of the charity, or in other cases, giving professional advice such as legal, IT or financial.

The Westminster volunteer centre has a very good track record of working with large organisations and corporations to enable this to happen. I recently met a lady called Nikki King. She is the managing director of Isuzu trucks, and she decided to tackle the lack of aspiration that she sees so often in young people by giving them mentors from the world of business and industry. She started just doing this by herself, but she now works with the Freight Transport Association, DHL, Asda, William Hill and many others to provide mentoring to 14 to 18 year-olds. In my own area, AXA insurance and Willis have both worked with local volunteer organisations.

Academic studies from around the world have shown that creating an employer supported volunteering scheme is a cost-efficient way for business to increase staff job satisfaction, build internal and external networks, contribute to high-quality personnel recruitment, teach new skills to their employees, improve customer relationships and increase shareholder value.

What do we, as parliamentarians, need to do to encourage this trend? First, we need to keep our house in order. I think that it is rather a pity that, as one of the largest employers in Westminster, we do not have a corporate volunteering scheme here. I have raised this with the House, and perhaps other noble Lords will support me in this endeavour.

Secondly, the Civil Service has a very good track record of volunteering and I hope that the Government will remain committed to it. Finally, the Government need to take a look at the funding for volunteer centres. Volunteering does not come free; there is no substitute for the face-to-face expertise and bespoke service provided by good volunteer centres.

ALDE Party: just who exactly am I accountable to?

I appear to have upset most of the Liberal Democrat European Parliamentary Party, at least, if a recent e-mail is to be believed. Given that I haven't spoken to any of them for more than a month, and don't come into contact with them much, this may come as a bit of a surprise - it certainly did to me.

The details aren't terribly important - they seldom are - but I was reminded of a dilemma which has troubled me for some time, i.e. who, or what, am I accountable to, and for what? The nub of the matter was that I was accused of having made a decision which was potentially damaging without consulting on the matter - a quite serious assertion, at least to my mind.

There was a catch, however. The committee I serve on, and which was indirectly accused of making said decision, has no decision-making powers, and is only advisory in nature. So, effectively, I was being accused of something that I couldn't have done, in a capacity where I might have opposed the decision but been in a minority on. You might understand why I was less than entirely pleased.

So, for the benefit of Fiona Hall, and in the hope that she might tell her friends, perhaps an explanation of what I do, whose interests I am responsible for safeguarding, and what principles I intend to uphold in my capacity as a member of the ALDE Party's Financial Advisory Committee is in order.

My job is to advise the Treasurer, the Secretariat and, indirectly, the Bureau on issues relating to the finances of the ALDE Party, accounting, fundraising and any related ethical and moral questions, and I do so as one of a group of six - currently, I serve with a Croat, an Italian from Catalonia, a German, a Swedish-speaking Finn and the Dutch Treasurer of LYMEC (Liberal Youth's European umbrella group).

So, who do I serve? Not the Liberal Democrats, at least, not just the Liberal Democrats - I am just as responsible for protecting the interests of the United Democrats of Cyprus, the Alandsk Center and Fianna Fail, and I do so by seeking to ensure that, as far as possible, Belgian law, which applies to the ALDE Party, is adhered to, and that, when giving advice on potential sponsors, ALDE Party policy is respected.

Quite simple, really...

Staring blankly ahead, making my way, making my way through the crowd...

As British politics increasingly eats itself, and as my fellow Liberal Democrats compete for space before the national media, one can't help but notice that, regardless of what one might think of the Government, our national debate appears to be lurching from one witch hunt to another.

Migrants from Eastern and Central Europe, the young, the unemployed, the LGBT community, Muslims, all seem to make good scapegoats for politicians who offer very little in the way of solutions but seem quite good at sound bites.

UKIP's problems with, basically, anyone unlike them are fairly predictable. If you're going to base your appeal on taking a hard line against foreigners, you're going to attract some pretty unlikeable supporters. At least we've gotten a good laugh out of the latest product of their fruitcake production facility, courtesy of @UKIPweather. And, given that they don't run anything serious, and don't actually do anything but rant in a futile way in Brussels and Strasbourg - gentlemen, you don't change much if you don't take part - one tends to worry less about them than one might otherwise do.

No, I tend to worry about people who hold, or may soon hold, power, and one really does need to pay attention there. So, when Rachel Reeves MP is reported to be thinking about the notion of withdrawing benefits from under-25's, my antennae twitch. It's not a story which has received much attention, so it may just be another piece of shoddy journalism, but the apparent lack of a denial does imply that the story might have some truth to it.

The story goes on to suggest that Labour are considering a linkage between contributions made and benefits due, a concept which sounds plausible until you reword it a little, say, to those that had, we will give, to those that didn't, we might not be as beneficent. Does this mean a decoupling of the benefits system from the level of need, and how attractive might such a concept be to the more vulnerable members of society?

I admit that it doesn't appeal very much, even if a Labour administration were minded to find ways to ameliorate the potential downside for certain groups.

What it does indicate, however, is that, in an attempt to shore up support within a key voting demographic, i.e. older people, politicians, even Labour ones, are willing to consider throwing others under the proverbial bus - lest we not forget, the 18-25 age bracket turns out to vote in smaller numbers than any other.

Apparently, we may not all be in this together...

My brother, Kirk, explores the dilemma of how to educate your children

I am childless, entirely by choice, I might add, but in my role as evil stepfather and hapless uncle, I do have to. occasionally, give some thought to the next generation. But not as much thought as my younger, taller and generally more handsome younger brother, Kirk.

He blogs too, and I like to, from time to time, read what he publishes. His life is different to mine in all sorts of ways, but he is a good father and an all around decent human being (is one allowed to say that about one's kid brother?). Recently, he has been dealing with the question of his daughter's education, and the choices available.

He isn't political, takes little interest in politics, but writes interestingly and well of the issues that face him in his choice here.

A musical interlude...

At the end of a long day for many of you, here's some light ballet for you, courtesy of the Consort of Musicke, performing Monteverdi's "Tirsi e Clori"...

And a peaceful goodnight to you all...

The domestication of a bureaucrat

It is mid-winter, and the usual greenery of the mid-Suffolk countryside is replaced by a rather more stark world, with bare trees and hedgerows, little to gladden the soul on a grey afternoon. However, that will change, as crocuses and daffodils are already beginning to poke above ground, so Ros has been out in the garden, tidying, pruning and weeding. That means that I have been too, not something that one might normally associate with this bureaucrat. I'm not particularly good with plants, although I have improved my ability to spot what shouldn't be there, but I can follow instructions, so I can at least be vaguely useful.

And it is relaxing, in an unexpected sort of way, knowing that if we have a decent spring and summer, I can sit outside with a beer, or a glass of wine, and read a book, or the newspaper, in pleasant surroundings.

I'm only glad that we don't have a bigger garden though...

Ros in the Lords: City of Bradford Metropolitan District

In the course, of Ros's research into her family roots, it has become apparent that her father's side of the family are properly Northern, and in linking up with the far flung strands of family, the notion of Bradford as the base for a renaissance in British textile manufacture has been mooted as a 'good thing' - it's amazing what emerges from family discussions. And so, when Baroness Eaton, whom Ros knows from her days in the Local Government Association, sought a debate on the future of Bradford, Ros was keen to contribute...

Baroness Scott of Needham Market (LD): My Lords, the Committee may be wondering why a woman from deepest Suffolk is speaking in a debate on Bradford. The answer lies in the genes: my father was a Bradford man and, thanks to the wonderful work of the West Yorkshire Archive Service, I know that generations of my ancestors, going back over 300 years, came from the area around Bradford, Leeds, Halifax and Huddersfield. These towns were part of the backbone of the industrial revolution, and in the case of my ancestors it was the textile industry that occupied them. In my ancestry are wool combers, sorters, cloth dressers, weavers, dyers, spinners, carders, warp dressers and weft men, and this continued right up to the death of my uncle in the early 1970s. During the 1940s and 1950s, these jobs were done increasingly by immigrants from the Indian subcontinent who were prepared to tolerate the low wages and poor conditions in the industry. By the 1970s and 1980, instead of the people coming to the jobs, the jobs went to the people—most of the textile and garment industry moved to the Far East, where labour was cheap.

I mention that because there is growing evidence that we should be rethinking all this. The textile industry can now be almost totally automated; fewer people are required, and those who are required are highly skilled. Every process, from design to manufacture and packaging, can be computerised and automated. Digital connections mean that small start-up businesses can almost instantly be connected to markets, research and suppliers from right across the globe.

The competitive advantage of cheap labour does not necessarily exist anymore. If noble Lords are not convinced, I can point to Apple and General Electric, both of which are bringing their manufacturing capability back to the United States. Reshoring, the opposite of offshoring, is a growing reality, and I can point noble Lords to the recent work by our colleague, the noble Lord, Lord Giddens. In the textile industry, Jaeger has restarted UK production, having ceased in 2000. The fact is that wages in Asia have risen while they have stagnated in Europe and the US. The head of a company manufacturing household textiles in both the UK and China recently commented that it is his UK plant that is more productive, due to the highly skilled workforce and the fluctuations in currencies.

Transport costs are going up all the time, which makes reshoring increasingly viable. Producing closer to the markets also has the advantage of shortening order times, giving a flexibility that many big retailers particularly welcome. Customers and businesses are becoming more aware of sustainability arguments and the ethical considerations, which were so graphically highlighted by the terrible loss of life in the garment factory in Bangladesh. The UK is currently still uncompetitive in cheap mass-produced markets but has a big advantage in quality.

In Seoul, John Lewis is now one of the most popular stores in the city. Its quilts and bedding are being made in Lancashire, and the managing director points to the design, quality and overall value that are leading to their success. The “Made in Britain” label is definitely seen as a plus, and retailers such as Marks & Spencer are committed to promoting it. The textile trade body is promoting UK manufacture under its Let’s Make it Here initiative, which links companies at all stages of the supply chain.

Vince Cable has talked about the growth of reshoring. The textile industry is ripe for this, and I would appreciate assurances from the Minister that its importance is being taken seriously. The Government have a role in promotional activities, helping start-ups and ensuring that capital, and the right skills, are available. Bradford still has a small but thriving textile sector, but it could do so much more. How magnificent it would be if Bradford, with all its industrial heritage, could once again become a thriving centre for textile manufacturing.

London to Copenhagen, the slow way...

So, as a distraction from my study, I've taken time out to book my travel to Copenhagen. But why Copenhagen, I hear you ask? Well, Ros has been invited to take part in a meeting of the North Sea Commission in Aalborg, and it seems sensible to make a weekend of it.

I'm in London on the Wednesday, and don't see the point of going home and then turning round again, so whilst Ros heads for Aalborg, I'll be on an early evening Eurostar to Brussels, allowing me to have dinner in my favourite brasserie on Place Jourdan, before catching a mid-morning ICE train to Cologne, where I connect with an inter-city train to Hamburg. An evening which may include beer and pork will then follow, with an overnight in another nice hotel before, on the Friday, I catch the lunchtime ICE train to Copenhagen where I'll meet up with Ros.

Cost? £39 to Brussels, standard, plus €158 for first class tickets from Brussels to Hamburg, and from Hamburg to Copenhagen, plus some reservation fees. It's a bit more than the airfare, and the two nights in a hotel add to the cost, of course, but it's a proper journey, rather than a glorified bus ride.

And that's what life should be about, shouldn't it?

Better bus connectivity for the Gipping Valley

As a non-driver, I take particular interest in anything that makes it easier to get around the neighbourhood, so the news that the First route between Stowmarket and Ipswich has been revised is very good indeed.

The re-routing of alternate buses around Claydon to serve the York Crescent area connects Needham Market and Stowmarket to that part of Claydon for the first time, which will allow the elderly in particular access to shops and services there, perhaps a more desirable option than Ipswich.

For more information, check here.

Turn on, tune in, drop out...

It's been a trying week on Planet Bureaucrat. I've had problems over Europe, caused by the inability of people to understand how process works, and problems related to my ability to trust others to behave with some consideration towards their colleagues. In that sense, one could be easily disheartened.

However, having expressed myself clearly, I have resolved to focus on the things that I enjoy rather than stress about things that needn't concern me that much. There is, after all, no point in being a volunteer doing something that one isn't enjoying, when there are things that I do enjoy that could occupy my time instead. So, my political world is Europe and Mid Suffolk for a while, until someone gives me a reason to do something different.

On the other hand, I suddenly find myself with some opportunities to travel and, given that I really do love to travel, and to plan some travel, I have a project. So, what's the best route from London to Copenhagen, leaving London on a Wednesday evening?...

An A to Z of 2013 on Planet Bureaucrat...

And a Happy New Year to you all from poolside, here in the Hawaiian Islands. Yes, it's a bit late, but the sun is warm and the living is easy... Here are some of last year's highlights that I'd like to share...

A is for... Aardvark - a creature I wouldn't ordinarily come into contact with, let alone rub its tummy. But that's exactly what came to pass, and it was a fantastic experience. See also L...

C is for... Croatia and Cuba - these were my new countries for the year, numbers 53 and 54. My quest to visit more countries than my age continues in 2014, but I've still got a few spare, and Europe still offers plenty of opportunities.

D is for... Diet - I finally attempted to get a grip this year, and lost more than a stone (7.5 kg, for those of you who prefer metric). It felt surprisingly good, so I might have to try for the same again in 2014.

E is for... Examinations - I sat, and passed two major ones, as well as ten smaller, but no less stressful, ones. After twenty-six exam-free years, it came as a bit of a surprise to experience once again the stress of doubt. It gets no better with age...

F is for... Football - the cause of one of the biggest events in the history of Needham Market, the day that Cambridge United FC came to town to play our local Ryman League Division One North team. The giants from the Skrill Conference Premier weren't that impressive, and my beloved Luton Town finally removed them from the top of the table this week.

G is for... Gym - I joined one, which may turn out to be foolish, or inspired. But diet AND exercise have been proven to be the most likely way to lose weight and improve fitness, so what the hell, how bad could it be?

H is for... Home - which is where the heart is. Most of the big, important work has been done on our cottage in mid-Suffolk, so it is ours rather than a place with other people's influences. It is a bastion of sanity in an often bewildering world.

K is for... Kitchen - which we had rebuilt from scratch. Our Polish kitchen designer and his team delivered the job on time, in budget, and did exactly what they promised when they promised to. This came as a bit of a shock.

L is for... Lemurs - Ros had arranged for me to be a Keeper for a Day at Colchester Zoo, which is how I ended up covered in lemurs whilst I fed them raisins. It turns out that they really like raisins.

P is for... Parish Council - it was time to give up on being a parish councillor, as I had reached the point where I was continuing for the sake of it rather than in the expectation of achieving anything. So I did. It feels good...

R is for... Readers' Editor - my new role at Liberal Democrat Voice, whereby I test the limits of my reasonableness and explore human nature in a 'thinking aloud' sort of way.

S is for... Select Committee - Ros was appointed to chair one, the Lords EU sub-committee on Agriculture, Fisheries, Environment and Energy. As a result, I was introduced to fish and food waste, subjects that might not have entered my consciousness otherwise. I do know what a spurdog is now.

T is for... Treasurer - this year, Bury St Edmunds Local Party, next year, Mid Suffolk Local Party, following a Ros-designed county reorganisation. I don't expect my job to be any more complicated...

W is for... Walrus - I discovered my inner walrus this year and felt good about it. I'm not sleek, like a sea otter, I'm rather more rotund, and whiskery. And there was a lot to be said for accepting it. That's not to say that you can't build a better walrus.

Kaua'i: rather more like the brochure promised...

Having escaped the kitsch and commotion that is Waikiki, we find ourselves on the island of Kaua'i and, I must say, this is why you would fly 8,000 miles across ten time zones. It is lush and green - mostly - life is slower, less hectic, and you can fall asleep to the sound of ocean waves washing against the shore. So, last night, we did.

Despite its size, Kaua'i has its isolated, hard to reach spots, which is why it makes an excellent movie set. Jurassic Park was mostly filmed here, and a string of other movies - South Pacific, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Fantasy Island and Avatar, amongst others - used Kaua'i as a backdrop. And so, it seemed sensible to get an overview...

And what better way to do that than a helicopter ride over the island? I did keep that small detail from Ros, as a surprise is often appreciated, but we arrived at the Lihue Airport heliport for our Sunshine Helicopters flight with pilot Greg with no real idea of what lay ahead.

It turns out that Kaua'i is a bit wet, which is like saying that the ocean is big. Mount Wai'ale'ale gets 9,763 mm of rain each year, on average, which is 384 inches, or 32 feet, and is the seventh wettest place on Earth. Luckily, the rain falls mainly away from the plain...

As a result, our flight was a combination of spectacular scenery and rainbows, with huge, jagged sea cliffs formed from ancient volcanic eruptions, massive waves crashing at their feet, waterfalls two thousand feet high, and impenetrable rain forest.

It was worth every cent, and we'll soon have a video of the entire flight to show our friends and family to prove that, yes, we were there.

But I sense that the sea is calling out to me, so, for the time being, aloha!...

Waikiki: cheeseburger in paradise, and that's not so good...

I am somewhere that, clearly, lots of people want to be. President Obama is eating dinner down the street, the streets are full of tourists in loud shirts, there is a lot of happiness out there. I hate it.

Waikiki, on the island of Oahu, is a magnet for tourists, yet is entirely artificial, with every hint of native Hawaiian beaten out of it. It is as though the gods of the Hawaiian people have decided upon a revenge for the sufferings of their people, the loss of sovereignty and freedom, by inflicting such a place upon Americans.

That's a pity, really, as the rest of the island is rather nice. We've explored a little, discovering small coastal communities that are far less scarred by mass tourism, some incredible scenery and we're rather taken by downtown Honolulu.

Waikiki, on the other hand, is packed with tall, characterless hotel blocks, restaurants that seem to believe that quantity will overcome a lack of quality, and more tacky faux-Hawaiiana than you can shake a stick at.

Tomorrow, we leave, in the hope of something better. Wish us luck...

@ALDEParty Congress: election result - Technology 0, Bureaucrats 1

Having been appointed as Congress Returning Officer in a reprise of my double act with Daniel Obst from the FDP in Dublin last time, our instructions were quite simple. "We're using keypads to vote, so all you need to do is look reassuring, confirm that the vote tallies look alright and, once we have an official record of the result, ensure that the individual voting data is destroyed to ensure privacy."

Doesn't everyone have a ballot box at home?

That sounded easy enough, and the system had been tested so, when the election session started, Daniel and I stood at the side of the hall, looking relaxed and confident. As this was the first time that the technology had been used in an ALDE election, the delegates were invited to have a test vote, using historic political figures. It didn't go well, with some keypads freezing, so it was back to the technicians for some swift resetting before another attempt - which didn't run entirely smoothly either.

Time passed, and despite the work of the technicians, it became apparent that delegates were getting restless. And so, it was decided that we would revert to Plan B, using the ballot papers that, with some prescience, had been prepared just in case.

We had less than two and a half hours to issue ballots to more than four hundred voting delegates, get them through a hastily constructed polling station and count two sets of ballot papers but, with the invaluable and unflappable assistance of the ALDE Secretariat, and our counting assistant, Doreen Huddart, who will be a familiar name to those readers from the North East, and Francis Burstin, from Open VLD, Belgium, who happened to be in the room when it was decided that we needed another counting assistant, we were ready to announce a result well inside our deadline.

Lucky that Daniel and I are so unflappable, eh?

For those of you that are interested, the results can be found on Liberal Democrat Voice...

ALDE Congress: the struggle for Europe's soul begins here...

It is that time in the political cycle when the various European political groupings come together to decide upon a platform for the approaching European Parliamentary elections. And, this time, the Liberal manifesto is being debated, amended and, hopefully, agreed in London - this weekend, to be precise.

As an elected member of ALDE's Council, I will be there, naturally, although my role will probably not be entirely policy-focused, given the size of our delegation. Indeed, given the number of delegates we will be sending, I'm unlikely to get a word in edgeways.

So, what am I hoping for from the manifesto?

I'd like to see some action on the following;

• meaningful political reform of the way Europe does business - more transparency, better accountability to its citizens
• efforts to enable citizens to take advantage of the opportunities that Europe potentially offers - free movement of labour, educational exchanges, trade etc.
• support for innovation - we have no future in labour intensive mass production as developing countries can undercut us with drastically lower labour costs, so must be cleverer instead
• a Europe that speaks with one voice when, and only when, it is best placed to speak for us all
• real subsidiarity, not a 'land grab' for power by the European Parliament

There's more, but that's enough to be going on with for the time being.

As time permits, I'll be covering the event for Liberal Democrat Voice, so watch out for reports there...

Goodbye to payday loans. But good riddance?

The news that the Government will be taking steps to restrain payday loan companies appears to be generally welcomed. As Ros said more than three years ago, when asking the Government whether they planned to regulate loan companies charging high rates of interest;

Is my noble friend aware of the growing number of companies, some of which advertise on television, which offer short-term loans at extremely high rates of interest-in one case the APR is 2,689 per cent-plus an arrangement fee? Does she share my concern that a small short-term loan could very quickly turn into a very large lifetime millstone?

At the time, the Minister, Baroness Wilcox, noted the dilemma that previous Governments had faced in deciding whether or not to act. More than four months later, Stella Creasy introduced her Private Members' Bill to regulate the industry, a move which, eventually, led to yesterday's announcement by George Osborne.

I have, in the past, been sceptical about payday loans, worrying as I do about the ease with which some people have accumulated debts that they cannot service, without any great scrutiny. Others have noted that, if used sensibly, they can be a valuable way through which individuals can get through difficult, short-term, crises.

There is doubtless an element of truth in both arguments, which I now acknowledge. As a liberal, I believe that people should be trusted to make decisions that suit them and that, by removing, or restricting the availability of payday loans, their freedom is restricted unduly. However, choice, and the freedom that it implies, does not truly exist if the ability to evaluate the risks and benefits of any transaction is not present.

Restricting the freedom of some people against protecting those who need protecting is a very difficult choice, especially given the impact of unsustainable debt on some of society's most vulnerable people, and the likelihood that the community, through government, will have to step in.

Clearly, in order to survive within the restrictions to be laid down, the various payday loan companies will be obliged to change the way they do business, which will restrict their profitability and possibly force them out of the industry altogether. The service they offer will become less easily accessible and, possibly, less useful to those capable of making informed choices.

It seems that, whatever government does, there are casualties. And, regardless, the issues that lead people to turn to payday lenders will still exist. Perhaps it is time for government to look at ways to help people to manage their finances more effectively, and to encourage the growth of credit unions and friendly societies, for fear that loan sharks will surface once more in our towns and cities...

Building a better walrus, one invisible cheese sandwich at a time...

I have remarked in the past that I am more walrus than gazelle, and those of you who know me (and are honest), will accept that this is true. And whilst I like walruses (and what's not to like?), being more gazelle-like is likely to enhance the quality of my life. Well. probably, anyway.

Not Ros, and not actually me. But isn't he cute?

And so, with more than a touch of apprehension, I have embarked on a quest to change from walrus to, if not gazelle, then at least something slightly smaller and more streamlined.

I started with a diet which, I must admit, has gone well. I have shown rather more discipline than I had feared would be the case, and have lost a quite acceptable amount of weight in just nine weeks. Indeed, I have lost the amount that I promised Ros that I would lose by Christmas already.

Alright, it has not been without sacrifice. I have given up quite a lot of red meat, most of the cheese in my diet and much of the alcohol that I might otherwise consume. I have found myself scanning menus for things that are less damaging, even though they might not be quite my first choice. It has, in short, not entirely been fun.

I have taken to walking during my lunch break, something which is less trying because I don't actually eat lunch generally anyway. When in London, I set off from the training centre in random directions to see what I can find - it's been rather interesting so far.

And now, in the most unexpected step yet, I've joined a gym, something which will bring some joy to my father. I've even gone, which is nice, and I'll write about that before very long.

The effect has been interesting. I have gained a little more confidence, and a touch more energy, and whilst I am no more than a slightly more svelte walrus so far, my clothes are looser and my pace a little faster.

I do kind of miss the cheese sandwiches though...

On being reminded that, perhaps, one should count one's blessings more often...

I read Jennie Rigg's blog post today with a sense of disquiet. Not, as one might think, with a sense of disbelief, or disgust, or disappointment, but disquiet. It does bother me somewhat when people I like are disturbed to the point when they take actions which, in my mind, are injurious to themselves and/or others, or are made unhappy by the actions of others or even sheer randomness. Sometimes I note from their Twitter feeds, or from third parties, that life is dealing out lemons today.

I find myself thinking, "there, but for the grace of God, go I", but seldom do I take the next step of reflecting upon that. So, by way of making amends, perhaps I should tempt fate by doing just that.

I am, in many ways, extraordinary in my ordinariness. I had an uneventful childhood, raised by two people who cared for me, in a community where I felt safe, and schooled by people who took sufficient interest in me as an individual to want to encourage me to explore the possibilities open to me.

I never experienced poverty or suffering in the way that, as it turned out, so many other people have done, never had people tell me that I couldn't do things, never been treated as a persecuted minority, never felt that I have to justify my existence. Clearly, being a mixed-race, middle-class male comes with certain advantages. And to the extent that I am in a minority, it is one that goes almost entirely unnoticed, even if it is something that I am inordinately proud of.

I have had opportunities denied to many, and even taken some of them, and when bad things have happened, I have been blessed by friends and family who generously given their love and time to support me. And I am married to someone who I love and, I think, loves me back.

In short, the fates have been generous thus far, a view reinforced by the dilemmas faced by my friends and associates on a day by day basis. I can only admire the grace and good humour with which they face them.

And so I say to Jennie, and to so many others, I am proud and honoured to be your friend, and I take strength and solace from your bravery and honesty.

And, in turn, I give thanks for the good fortune that I have had over nearly half a century, and promise not to take it for granted quite so much in future...

Standing room only? Another 'interesting' idea from the Institute for Economic Affairs...

Picking up my copy of the Times this morning, my eyes were drawn to a small teaser on the front page, indicating that Ministers are being pressed to allow train companies to reintroduce third-class "standing only" train carriages as a cheap way to increase capacity.

As a retired South Londoner (as in, I don't live there any more), I remember spending most of my time standing on trains anyway, and then standing on the Underground having reached a London terminus. Accordingly, I turned to the piece, on page 11, expecting the worst. I wasn't disappointed.

Given the tendency of the Institute of Economic Affairs to promote some mildly wacky ideas and overstate support for them, I was not surprised to find that this was one of their efforts. Dr Richard Wellings, the author of the report, has a PhD in transport and environmental policy, which is all very nice, but doesn't necessarily demonstrate any practical experience of running a railway.

Apparently, many commuters on shorter journeys already choose to stand even if seats are available, according to Dr Wellings, so positioning three standing-only carriages at the front of commuter trains would provide a valued service. They could be described as 'third-class', with fares to match, he suggests.

I find myself wondering how far-reaching his research was - perhaps no further than talking to his (probably) relatively youthful, in a hurry, workmates. I also find myself wondering what his knowledge of suburban rail travel is, as any hardened commuter over the age of, say, thirty-five will tell you that they tend to seek the comfort of a seat if one is available, and their journey is long enough.

Given a little time, and if I cared enough to trash such nonsense, I could come up with half a dozen reasons why the proposal is merely a desperate attempt to draw attention - safety, infrastructure, rolling stock layout, accessibility, fare evasion risks come readily to mind - but, luckily, the response of the Government is, apparently, to consider the proposal to be "a bizarre idea from the Westminster bubble". A government source (whatever that is) is quoted as saying;

It doesn't reflect what commuters in the real world want and it would be a step backwards.

I suspect that the same phrase could, with the word 'commuters' replaced by 'people', be efficently recycled to describe the Institute for Economic Affairs...

An away day to watch the Hatters

We all have our burdens to carry, I'm told, and one of mine is being a Luton Town supporter. I have no connection to the town, so why the Hatters?

I'm a north Londoner by upbringing, but by a fluke of geography, one of the easiest Football League teams to reach from my childhood home is Luton Town, and they wore orange shirts - I'm an old Liberal, and that was their colour too - and so that's how I ended up, after a brief, and somehow unsatisfying flirtation with Queens Park Rangers.

When I still lived in North London, I would go and watch them play erratically (my attendance and their performance both), as the politics got in the way, and when I married and moved to South London, that was it. Until this weekend past, that is. With Ros scheduled to be away, I was at a loose end. We also needed a Saturday night stay in an Intercontinental Hotel Group property - it's a long story - so, where were Luton playing?

The answer, it turned out, was Chester, but the local hotels were either full, or difficult to get to, but a trawl through the website led me towards the Crowne Plaza Manchester Airport, so that was alright.

The other issue was getting to Chester. The best standard class fare that would get me to Chester in time for kick-off was £111.50, which is a bit stiff for a football match. Luckily, the first class fare was a much more reasonable £48.00 (go figure!), and I could also get back from Manchester Airport for the same amount. So, bookings made, I waited for Saturday to come.

Luton had gone ten games unbeaten in the Skrill Conference Premier (think Fifth Division, or League Three for you young people) and were second behind Cambridge United, the conquerors of the mighty Needham Market two weeks ago, and Chester were in the bottom five, so prospects were good as I traveled across the Stour to London and then up the West Coast Main Line.

I had a nice walk around Chester, as well as a modest luncheon, before heading to the ground through a traffic jam. I might not have made kick-off had it not been for the fact that the Luton Town team coach was stuck just ahead of us...

The match itself was a bit of a disappointment, after Luton swept Chester off the park for the first fifteen minutes, then seemed to forget that keeping the ball on the ground was what had allowed them to do so. Chester scored a pretty good goal, but otherwise weren't that good. So, 1-1 it ended up, and whilst it was a bit disappointing, it was a point well-earned.

All I had to do was get to Manchester Airport, where dinner and a comfy bed awaited...

Political appointees: did Northcote and Trevelyan die in vain?

The news in yesterday's Times that Ministers are "likely to hire hundreds more political appointees" (£) is, for anyone who cares about the concept of a non-political bureaucracy, deeply depressing.

I'm a rather old-fashioned soul, I admit, and rather proud that we live in a country where civil servants are appointed on merit through a process of open competition. It means, in theory, that an incoming administration can call on a corps of senior officials who understand how their departments work and are grounded in the process and legislation that determines what should and should not be done, as well as what might be possible.

The Northcote-Trevelyan report, commissioned by Gladstone and published in 1854, made the following recommendations;

1. Recruitment should be entirely on the basis of merit by open, competitive examinations
2. Entrants should have a good ‘generalist’ education and should be recruited to a unified Civil Service and not a specific department, to allow inter-departmental transfers.
3. Recruits should be placed into a hierarchical structure of classes and grades.
4. Promotion would be on the basis of merit not on the grounds of ‘preferment, patronage or purchase’.

On the face of it, the new proposals breach all four of the recommendations, which does not commend them to me.

I also worry about the impact that such an influx would have on the Senior Civil Service. The idea that these new recruits will be able to give orders to civil servants is a troubling one, and is likely to make the task of recruiting talented individuals to the Civil Service even harder than it is already becoming - bear in mind that one-fifth of senior civil servants would like to leave.

It also means that, if there is a change of government, then a whole tranche of the higher echelons of central government will need to be replaced overnight, with a significant destabilising effect on our governance.

No, I can't say that this is one of the Coalition's best ideas...

I am another step closer to my inevitable demise...

Or not, as the case may be, because my life span is elastic, rather than fixed. After all, if I live healthily, eat properly and get enough exercise, I could live for another, well, who know, number of years beyond what might otherwise be the case. But I digress.

Yes, it's my birthday, which makes me... well, actually, it doesn't matter that much, as I increasingly feel disconnected from my chronological age and am puzzled by my emotional age - still somewhat less than the actual figure. Ah, I've digressed again...

Anyway, what to do on a birthday in mid-November? I wasn't certain, to be honest, so rather left it to the day itself to reach a conclusion. Spontaneity, that's the thing. And so, on waking up this morning, I looked out of the window at the blue sky and thought, seaside, that'll be nice. Not just any seaside of course, proper bourgeois seaside, as supplied by Southwold or, as I lovingly refer to it, Notting Hill-sur-Mer.

It is, I admit, charming, with a pier with good coffee, shops with interesting things in them and a quirky, Heath Robinson-esque clock which puts on a display on the hour and half-hour. And, as it turned out, we weren't the only ones who had drawn the conclusion that, on a sunny day, Southwold is a good place to be.

Having explored the pier, we took a stroll along the seafront, with its vast array of brightly coloured beach huts, towards Sizewell B which stands in the mist some six miles or so south of town, before wandering into town in search of lunch. Any suggestion that this might be a supposedly typical English seaside resort might be scotched by our lunch, venison and beef hotpot, with potato dumplings and freshly baked bread for Ros, Blythburgh belly pork with savoy cabbage and garlic mash for me. It is, as I say, a bit middle-class.

Southwold is also home to the Sole Bay Brewery, home of Adnams, and their 'Cellar and Kitchen' store has all sorts of good things - award-winning gin, cordials, kitchen stuff and vast amounts of beer. We stocked up on gifts and headed back to the seafront for more exercise, stopping only to buy me a hat (I did rather need one).

Back at the pier, we purchased a doorstop in the form of a polkadot pig and a moneybox in the form of a beach hut - it even has a seagull on it - before heading for home.

All in all, a nice day out, and a splendid way to spend a birthday...

A branch line at the end of a spiral arm of the galaxy

Suffolk is surprisingly well provided for in terms of trains. With the exception of Haverhill, the towns are connected to Ipswich by hourly train services which, given car ownership and population levels, is about as good as you could reasonably ask for.

The Corn Exchange, now used as the town's library

The quirky exception is Sudbury, which sits at the end of the single track Gainsborough Line, and is served by two-carriage Diesel Multiple Units from Marks Tey on the main East Anglian Main Line. There are no through trains to London, as the branch joins the main line on a curve, pointing towards Colchester and Ipswich, and the fast London trains don't stop at Marks Tey anyway.

There are two intermediate stations, Bures and Chappel & Wakes Colne, the latter being the home of the East Anglian Railway Museum and an exceptionally popular beer festival. There's also the viaduct, which is said to be the largest brick structure in the country.

What this does mean is that Sudbury isn't an obvious place to commute to London from, with a consequential impact on house prices. And it's a rather nice little town, known for its silk production and for being the birthplace of the eighteenth century artist, Thomas Gainsborough, amongst other things.

It has a small department store, Winch & Blatch, enough shopping, some nice churches, sufficient architecture to keep you engaged, and the water meadows on the River Stour are a nice place to stretch your legs and get some fresh air.

But, for any Londoners reading this, it might as well be on Mars. Ah well, your loss...

The advantage of loyalty schemes

Readers of this blog will appreciate that I do like to travel, and that marriage to Ros hasn't really changed that. Naturally, the sort of travel that I do has changed a bit, as Ros isn't quite as adventurous as I am, but nonetheless, we do travel a fair bit.

One of things that really helps is loyalty schemes. I join them as a matter of course, even though it is usually best to stick to just one or two for maximum effect. All of them offer free stuff, although the free stuff does vary in quality and quantity.

For example, I'm not a huge fan of British Airways' Executive Club programme, as it is relatively hard to earn status, and the miles gained are often hard to spend, whereas United Airlines' Mileage Plus scheme allows you to earn miles quite quickly and spend them pretty easily, and in some unexpected places.

The secret is to find an airline that is part of one of the big three airline alliances (Star Alliance, One World and Sky Team), and has a fairly liberal points policy. My preference is for Star Alliance, as they have the best coverage, and miles earned on one member can be spent on others, i.e. you can use United Mileage Plus points to fly Air New Zealand from Melbourne to Port Vila, or LAN Airlines from Buenos Aires to Bogota, should you be minded to.

If you can stick to that alliance, you can earn points, and therefore free flights fairly quickly, with only a few flights. If there is an airline that flies from near you to somewhere you travel frequently, it's probably best you pick an airline in their alliance - so KLM or Air France for Sky Team, BA or American Airlines for One World, Lufthansa, SAS or United for Star Alliance.

Don't forget partner offers either. British Airways have a tie-in with American Express (indeed, a number of airlines do), allowing you to earn miles for your purchases, and by using e-retailers via the airline loyalty scheme website, you can double, or even treble up, making that free trip a little closer.

Hotel chains, Eurostar, they have schemes too, and all of them offer an opportunity for free stuff without having to pay any more. After all, they want your custom, and they'll happily bribe you to get it. They'll even offer bonuses for staying in certain hotels, or flying certain routes, if you're flexible.

So, if you're travelling, sign up. Because, if you don't, you're only subsidising people like me. And whilst I am most grateful, I'd be delighted if you got some free stuff too...

And suddenly, it went dark... Day 3

It was beginning to get a mite depressing as another day dawned without power. So, I rang UK Power Networks to find out what the latest news was and, to my surprise, I got through almost immediately.

"I'm sorry, Mr Valladares,", said another very polite operator, "but we don't really know when someone will get to your village. I'll get back to you when I have some more information.". Luckily, I'm a fairly patient soul, so I left it another three hours before trying again.

This time, I was a little more assertive, noting that, in a village without mains gas, getting us back on line was perhaps more of a priority. I noted that, whilst it was very nice that they had opened three drop-in centres for those without heat or hot water, placing them all at least thirteen miles from a village which, in any event, had little way of finding out that they even existed, wasn't very useful.

An hour and a half later, my mobile rang. "I understand that you contacted the Red Cross, Mr Valladares.", said a female voice. "I don't think so,", I replied, "but what can I do for you?". The woman explained that they would be sending volunteers to the village, in an effort to help, in particular, the more vulnerable members of the community. In a spirit of helpfulness, I gave them the address of our Parish Council chair, and directions to his front door.

Two hours after that;

.@honladymark @UKPowerNetworks Fantastic - the @BritishRedCross have just helped neighbours with blankets, socks & torch #ukstorm #powercut
— Kate Mason (@kate__mason) October 30, 2013

Things were beginning to look up, especially when word reached me that engineers had just arrived in the village as darkness fell.

When I got home, however, my hopes of light appeared to be dashed. The engineers had apparently left after just half an hour or so, and the village was still dark, with only the occasional flicker of light from a candle to break the gloom. And when, an hour later, it was announced that a drop-in centre would arrive in Creeting St Peter at nine the next morning, I drew the obvious conclusion.

At eleven o'clock, with the wood fire banked and still giving off heat, I curled up on the sofa under a duvet and fell asleep.

My slumber was disturbed by a bright light and the sound of people talking. The television had sprung into life, and I checked the time - 11.45 p.m. I turned the television off and went back to sleep. The nightmare was over...

And suddenly, it went dark... Day 2

Tuesday dawned sunny, and I got ready to go to work. At the usual 7.55, my Suffolk Links bus arrived to take me to the station where, upon arrival, it became clear that my community bus was the only thing working well.

No 8.11, no 8.29, the 8.45 nowhere to be seen but presumably eaten by desperate residents of Elmswell, I had no choice but to read my copies of The Times and the East Anglian Daily Times and find out just how bad things were. The answer, particularly in Suffolk? Very.

I got to work eventually, stopping for some breakfast on the way and performed my usual duties before heading for Bury St Edmunds for dinner and an evening's culture (I'll talk about that another time). The trains appeared to be running on time at least, and the burger I subsequently enjoyed was pretty good too.

On arriving home, the news was not good. The village was still in total darkness, although there were some consolations...

It's still dark in Creeting St Peter - now more than 38 hours without electricity. The night sky is sensational though...
— Mark Valladares (@honladymark) October 29, 2013

And there were still thousands of households across the county still without power... 

The dream dies as the rain pours... Needham Market 0, Cambridge United 1

And so, the big day came for our local Ryman League Division One North team, as the big boys from the Skrill Conference National came to town for their FA Cup, Fourth Qualifying Round tie.

To put it in perspective, there's a three division gap between the two teams - think Premiership and League Two - and Cambridge United are top of their league, having gone sixteen games without defeat. But, where there's life, there's hope, as they say, and Needham Market had only lost their first game of the season less than a week earlier.

A crowd of 1,784, the largest ever to grace Bloomfields, and including Ros and I, settled down in anticipation of a slaughter, if the Cambridge fans were to be believed. I wasn't overly optimistic, but then I knew the odds, but was confident that the Marketmen would give it their best shot. And indeed, at half-time, with the two teams goalless, it was hard to tell which was the Conference side. Needham Market were playing the better football, without creating too many chances, whilst Cambridge looked as though they had rather underestimated their opponents.

The second half was a different story, as the visitors began to impose themselves, and the snap gradually disappeared from the home team - the disparity in fitness levels and experience was beginning to tell. Goalkeeper James Shea, a former Arsenal trainee, was coming into the game more and more, making a string of high-class saves as the rain began to bucket down.

But, just as the outnumbered home supporters were beginning to dream of survival and a place in the draw for the First Round proper, their hopes were dashed as tired defenders lost an attacker and substitute Adam Cunnington nodded home a simple goal.

There was a brief flurry by Needham Market in the ten or so minutes that remained, but it was to no avail, and it would be fair to say that, overall, the better side won. The minnows weren't disgraced though, and the funds generated by the best cup run of the club's history will doubtless be reinvested into its future.

And, I suspect, I'll be back from time to time, as my other commitments permit, to watch them as they try to reach the promised land that is the Ryman League Premier Division.

Come on you Marketmen!