The musings of a liberal and an internationalist, living in Suffolk's county town. There may be references to parish councils, bureaucracy and travel, amongst other things. And yes, I'm a Liberal Democrat.
Saturday, November 30, 2024
I’ve been clothes shopping…
Friday, November 29, 2024
I'm not dying, at least, not yet...
One of the things about getting older is that the NHS tends to take more interest in you. Now, given that I believe that preventative medicine is a thoroughly good thing, I can hardly object to that. And so, when I received an invitation from my surgery to come in for a free NHS Health Check, naturally I thought that taking this up might be a good idea. After all, what's the worst that could happen, right?
Hmmm... well, actually, quite a lot, I guess. I am, after all, the far side of sixty. And whilst the Senior Railcard is a welcome boost to my finances, I am at the stage where things start to go wrong, or simply fail. But you can't dwell on these things and, in any case, isn't it better to know what might be wrong and, if there is anything, what you might do to mitigate it?
The first stage was a blood test, which was relatively pain free. I'm not a huge fan of needles, which does make me wonder why I watch the needle going in, but that was alright. All I then had to do was wait a week and return for the inevitable lecture about being less of a walrus.
As it turned out though, the whole walrus thing went unremarked upon. My blood pressure is fine, blood sugars fine, cholesterol a bit on the high side but nothing remarkable and, in short, if I lost some weight, I'd be in pretty good health for a man of my age. That is, as you might imagine, modestly reassuring. I might start paying more attention as I cross roads going forward, but otherwise, I have nothing obvious to worry about.
There is, however, a sense that I can't simply maintain the habits that I always have. I eat reasonably well, thanks to Ros, and I really don't drink that much any more, so much so that I'm beginning to run up a significant balance with the wine club I'm a member of. Holidays are an issue in that they tend to be the primary cause of weight gain, and I'm not terribly disciplined when it comes to diets.
On the other hand, the 10,000 steps each day are a positive, and I tend not to experience much in the way of stress, despite the things I do both professionally and for "leisure" - is being a Liberal Democrat leisure? Life is, in most ways, good.
Ah well, onwards and upwards (in a chronological sense, at least)...
Wednesday, November 27, 2024
For Gawd's sake, get me to the Parish Council on time...
I am, allegedly, a responsible adult. At least, I am the Chair of a Parish Council which should, theoretically, make me a responsible adult - I leave that to others to judge. But, in planning our trip to Tirana, I had suffered something of a diary malfunction which meant that, whilst I was starting my day with an excellent breakfast in our Tirana hotel, I was supposed to be finishing it at a Council meeting in Creeting St Peter. And, given that we're a councillor short, we don't have a lot of wriggle room in terms of absences.
There is only one British Airways flight per day to Tirana, and the Monday flight leaves Mother Teresa International at 13.35, with a scheduled arrival time at Heathrow's Terminal 5 at 16.05. That notionally gave me three hours and twenty-five minutes to exit the aircraft, clear immigration, collect our luggage, catch two trains to Stowmarket and have a taxi drop me outside the Church Room. Easy, right? No reason to be slightly on edge, eh?
The weather was still nice, and we were packed and ready to go, so we took the opportunity to take a last stroll around the city centre before heading for the airport where we encountered a rather jolly, helpful chap who turned out to be the local British Airways manager. I did wonder for a moment if he was real, as that's not always what you expect from their ground staff...
The lounge is nice enough, with homemade cake and an interesting selection of Albanian food and wine, but we did need to spend the last of our Albanian Lek - a bottle of Albanian rose did the job - before we headed to the gate a little earlier than we had been told to, only to find that the flight was already boarding. It was all so efficient, indeed, that we were ready to go ten minutes early. I might yet make my meeting...
There is, if you're flying into Heathrow, every likelihood that you'll end up in a holding pattern over East London was ages, but after an uneventful flight, we were on the ground early and, whilst immigration was busy, we made good time through the e-gates. My hopes of catching the 16.50 Elizabeth Line train to Liverpool Street were rising.
And yet, and yet, where was the luggage? We reached the carousel only to find a distinct lack of activity. We waited... and waited, as time ticked on. I was just beginning to give up hope when, at 16.41, there was a flurry of bags and, grabbing mine, we made haste to the Elizabeth Line station where the train was still waiting for us.
The connection at Liverpool Street for the 18.00 Norwich train was a relatively easy one, and I had a taxi waiting for me at Stowmarket when I arrived there at 19.20, which whisked me to the Church Room in the nick of time.
But a responsibility is a responsibility, right?...
Tuesday, November 26, 2024
In which we mingle with Albania's influencer set...
I am, it's fair to say, not the sort of person who photographs their meals, poses in front of hot venues or influences very much, if anything. I understand that there are (mostly) young people who do these things, and I wouldn't stand in their way for one moment, but such behaviour mostly engenders a wry smile and attempts to make sure that I'm out of shot. I hadn't expected to encounter such a phenomenon in Tirana though.
Perhaps I shouldn't have been surprised - Albania has a relatively youthful population, despite significant levels of outward migration. And, in truth given that I don't meet many young people even in the workplace, my grasp on youth culture is tenuous at lbest.
Having found another highly-regarded restaurant, we walked across town and found ourselves in a somewhat dimly-lit street. At least, it was dimly-lit in the context of my gradually deteriorating eyesight but I spotted our destination and walked through the rather stylish entrance to be met by two stick-thin young woman, dressed wholly in black, who were tasked with greeting guests, taking their coats and suchlike.
It was at this point that I began to sense that their idea of "smart casual" and mine were slightly at odds. But the restaurant was still quiet - yes, we were early again - and whilst we had clearly chosen one of the hottest restaurants in town, I take the viewpoint that, if I'm the one paying, then I have the right to be treated properly. Our waiter was charm itself though, and we settled down to peruse the menu.
SALT is one of a pair of restaurants - the other is in Pristina, Kosovo's capital - and the goal is evidently to serve high quality food in an elegant setting. Clearly, they've convinced so far, as we were increasingly surrounded by young people taking photographs of each other and the food, posing in front of the decorations and the like. We focused on the food, pretending that we weren't raising the average age of the customers by a decade or two.
One thing that surprised me was that not only was virtually everyone around us young, but female, which strikes me as not being that common. I suspect that they don't eat much though, and the kitchen were probably grateful for customers who actually eat more than a light salad.
And, it has to be said that the food was very good indeed. I would even go as far to suggest that, if you're in Tirana by any chance, it is well worth a detour. Do book in advance, just in case, but their website is easy to use.
As meals out go, it was a nice way to finish our trip. And we did rather have to be back home...
A day by the seaside, Albanian style
Whilst Albania isn't exactly a big place - just over two hundred miles from north to south and less than one hundred from east to west - it isn't entirely easy to get around. There are, theoretically, at least, trains, but once you leave the major highways, the road system is sub-optimal and the mountainous terrain means that straight lines are few and far between. But Tirana is pretty central and there is a shiny new highway linking it to Durres, the country's main port and access point for ferries from Italy. It's also a city with a history dating back to to the 7th Century B.C.
Sunday dawned bright, sunny and mild, so why not go to the seaside for the day? Now, normally, this would involve me scouring the internet for public transport options but, frankly, there's little in the way of readily available information, time was short given that the sun would set at 4 p.m. and taxis are quite reasonable, we organised a taxi to take us to the seaside. Admittedly, I hadn't given any thought as to how we might get back but...
And for approximately £25, we were whisked to the promenade overlooking the Adriatic Sea. The sun was shining, and myriad Albanian families were out enjoying themselves. Not in the water, or on the beach, because the water wasn't that inviting and what beaches there are are somewhere else, but there's a swish hotel nearing completion (a Crowne Plaza for those interested in such things) and a sense that more visitors would be welcome.
There are plenty of reasonably priced fish restaurants and coffee shops, and it was nice to idly stroll along the shore.
Monday, November 25, 2024
Just an ordinary Saturday in Tirana…
So, about this hip and trendy Albania I was told about...
Normally, when we go places, I take special care to organise dinner on Friday and Saturday nights because, you know how it is, places are busiest and you really don't want to be in a strange city, walking from restaurant to restaurant in the hope that they'll have a table free. I might have been happy enough to wing it in my twenties and thirties but not now.
And, in most places, you can make reservations online and relax in the confidence that regardless of what else happens, you've got a decent meal to look forward to. Guidebooks will suggest the sort of places you might choose. This is not really true in Tirana - there is only one useful guidebook, the Bradt guide - and online booking is still in its infancy.
However, the advantage of staying in a really good hotel is that the concierge will help you with the language barrier and know whether or not a restaurant (a) still exists and (b) is any good. I'd found a fish restaurant relatively nearby which came recommended and so I asked the concierge to make a booking for me, which she kindly did.
The sun sets in Tirana at pretty much the same time as it does in London at this time of year, so it was dark by the time we set off for our gentle stroll to Galeone, some twelve minutes from our sanctuary. And, as we discovered, it's in an area of the city which is rather livelier than the city centre proper, full of cafes, restaurants and young people out enjoying themselves.
One of the things about Albania is that, if you like Italian food, you'll do rather well, as seafood is readily available and the strong historic and cultural links between Italy and Albania - not always voluntary - mean that there is a tradition of awareness of how Italian food should be prepared.
It's clear that, as part of Albania's emergence onto the European stage, that the culinary scene is developing fast. There is plenty of good food to be had, it's relatively cheap by our standards, and there's a strong service culture, with pride taken in presentation and delivery. It reminds me of cities like Sofia and Tallinn where, after the end of Communism, the freedom to do things differently led to a spurt of great restaurants and interesting meals inspired by the available local ingredients.
We weren't going to eat out the next day though...
Unitary Suffolk incoming?…
Sunday, November 24, 2024
A cautious dip into the Regional politics of the Liberal Democrats
You might think that I'd have learnt better, having served as Regional Secretary and then Regional Candidates Chair in London, and then as Regional Secretary in the East of England, but I find myself hoping for a somewhat gentler return to the fray as a member of the East of England's Regional Candidates Committee.
Now, that said, there is the small matter of an election to win first, with six candidates for four places. My odds are perhaps improved by the slightly puzzling failure of two of my opponents to submit a manifesto, and the high probability that another will be directly elected to be the Regional Candidates Chair, but I take nothing for granted, even though I'm the only candidate who is running for just the one position.
So, why am I doing it?
I've always been fairly outspoken about the way we select our Parliamentary candidates but also about the importance of preparation by candidates. As I've written in the past, we can create all the pathways we like, but you can't just rock up at the last minute and expect to beat opponents who have been "working the patch" for months and even years. I've seen more of that than I'd like.
As Liberal Democrats, we rely heavily on a good ground war, and any successful Parliamentary candidate needs a strong relationship with the members of the Local Party who, by definition, will do a lot of the heavy lifting of leaflet delivery, canvassing and building the team that will organise, fundraise and all of the other essential stuff that is needed to win. And, no matter how charismatic you think you might be, familiarity matters.
As a member of a Regional Candidates Committee, my hope would be to work on a plan which would allow Local Parties to move as quickly as they'd like, and offer potential candidates the time and scope to effectively pitch for a job. What matters is knowledge and information, and if being a Parliamentary candidate is to be treated as being a bit like a career, you need to give people the tools they need to plan that "career".
That means getting as many potential candidates through the development process as early as possible, so that they can then focus on a seat or seats that they believe they could win selection for, keeping them informed of opportunities as far out as possible and then letting them do what they think needs to be done to be successful.
Meanwhile, a audit of Returning Officers, some refresher training if there are significant rule changes and a call for new RO "blood" will enable the Regional Party to be ready to respond to the needs of the Regional and National Campaign Teams.
I acknowledge that this sounds a bit like a pitch for the job of Regional Candidates Chair. So, why didn't I run for the post? Well, I have plenty of time for the incumbent (who is running for re-election anyway) and not enough time of my own to allow me to lead in the way I would see fit. I am, apparently, a busy person with everything I'm doing in the Town and Parish Council sector, and besides, it feels a bit presumptuous to turn up and run for a serious position. Besides, I'm not convinced that the powers that be who currently run English Candidates Committee would be wildly keen on having me back - I was something of a "wild child" in those days (relative to the membership of the Committee, that is). Ironically, more than a decade away has seen me mellow... a bit...
A gentle introduction to Albanian politics
Friday morning dawned, and we had an appointment in the diary. But it was time to explore, and thus time for a walk.
Saturday, November 23, 2024
You probably don't remember me, Gillian Gloyer, but I owe you a debt of gratitude...
Deep in the Balkans, a long weekend in Albania...
I have now established a tradition that birthdays with a zero in them merit a trip to somewhere new and, potentially, exciting. Admittedly, it's a tradition that might not get much of a run, given that I'm now officially in my sixties, but nonetheless, if in twenty years I report back from Luanda or Dili, you'll know that I'm still in decent form.
But, given that we're been doing a lot of travelling, I wasn't going to be quite so ambitious for this particular celebration. And, I'd heard a lot about Albania - apparently an up and coming destination, now served by British Airways - so, for my seventy-third country, it seemed like a decent choice.
Albania does suggest a rather darker corner of Europe, and its reputation for blood feuds, poverty and isolationism perhaps doesn't appear very inviting, but I'd booked us into a nice hotel - of which more later - and we'd made a few contacts in advance, which offered some reassurance. After all, if somewhere turns out to be truly awful, you can always hide out in the hotel and get some light pampering.
The weather wasn't great when we descended through a rather murky sky into Mother Teresa International Airport - she's a bit of a national hero here, even if she was (whisper it quietly) actually born in modern day North Macedonia. We cleared immigration and customs quickly and found a taxi to take us to the hotel. So far, so good.
Saturday, November 09, 2024
Vote for me... please?
I’m Mark Valladares and I want your vote to be part of the next Regional Candidates Committee. Why me, and why now?
A General Election may be more than four years away, but there’s a lot of work to do even now. The Selection Rules are being reviewed, we need to find and approve more potential PPCs, train Returning Officers and Assistant Returning Officers, and encourage Local Parties to start their selections earlier and support them as they go through it. None of it should be left to the last minute.
And this can’t be done in isolation, as we need to work across the Party to help meet our wider goals. So, what skills and experience would I bring to the Regional Candidates Committee?
- I know how our candidate systems work, as a veteran Returning Officer over more than thirty years, a past candidate assessor and a former member of the English Candidates Committee.
- I appreciate the burden that our processes can place on Local Parties, having led moves to simplify the Selection Rules and make it easier for non-target seats to choose their Parliamentary candidates
- As a former Regional Secretary in two English Regions, I understand how Regional Parties work, as well as the importance of reporting back
I’m a member of the Ipswich Local Party, sit on Federal Council and, in my spare time, I’m the Chair of a small Parish Council in mid-Suffolk. Questions, or simply want to know me better? You can reach me on markv233@aol.com, check me out on Bluesky, or on my blog.
I think that it sums me up pretty well, demonstrates my strengths and, all things being equal, should give me a chance to win. Time will tell, I guess...
Wednesday, October 16, 2024
The gathering of responsibility or, how one thing leads to another...
I've had a conversation with my Vice Chair, who seems to be more than capable and offers a usefully different perspective - she's a Town Clerk - and I've started preparing for my first official meeting on 5 November, which should be interesting. It also means that, all being well, I'll be in post in time for the NALC Annual General Meeting two days later.
I haven't let the grass grow under my feet though. I was part of the two hour drop-in session at the ALDC stand at Federal Conference, talking to conference delegates about what we do and why Parish and Town Councils are such a good thing. We even offered some advice for councillors faced with challenging situations, which is sort of what NALC is there for. And I've given some thought as to what action Smaller Councils Committee could take to promote those parts of the NALC legislative agenda that particularly impact on our end of the sector.
So, the next few months could be interesting, as I settle into my new roles. At least there isn't anything else that I can be persuaded to take on, right?...
Saturday, October 12, 2024
My Parish may be small, but it is, apparently, mighty...
Friday, October 11, 2024
Is it me, or is British politics missing a Conservative Party?
Now I admit, I'm highly unlikely to be ever mistaken for a Conservative. I might be fiscally cautious, conservative even. And I'm never likely to be accused of being a radical thinker. But am I the only person that wonders why this country doesn't appear to have a traditional, averse to change, cautious centre-right political party any more?
Clearly, there's a space in the British political market for what one might describe as a European-style Christian Democrat type of party. Because, equally obviously, the culture war fighting, counter-institution group that leads the current Conservative Party isn't it.
A properly conservative political force wouldn't want to undermine the judiciary, the Civil Service, local government - it would be at ease with letting them get on with their jobs. It would campaign for home ownership, for protecting the countryside from development, for supporting farmers and small businesses.
But there isn't another political force that could, or might want to, occupy that space. No matter what you think of the Starmer administration, they aren't centre-right, and Reform are far too harsh in tone to ever persuade that type of voter. The Greens are going to outflank Labour to the left, which brings its own stresses but is an obvious choice. And the Liberal Democrats may be the most comfortable alternative left, but in order to permanently occupy that space, they would have to risk alienating a large chunk of their activists. I don't believe that it's going to happen.
So, the logic is that it should be territory that the Conservatives should hope to reclaim. The problem is that the people who make leadership decisions are minded to buy into the idea that the mistake they made in July was not to be radical enough. Not to fight culture wars with sufficient conviction. And not to admit that claiming to be tough on immigration whilst letting more people into the country than ever before was just a mite hypocritical.
No, they've bought into the idea that fighting a populist campaign targeted at a 30% wedge of reactionary voters will gain them a victory. And, despite the evidence that building a bigger tent tends to lead to better results, key elements of the Conservative Party believe that they can cannibalise the Reform UK vote and sweep back to power in 2029.
Eventually, the Conservative Party, after its massive defeat in 1997, found its way back towards the centre of British politics or, at least, it persuaded enough people that it had, under the leadership of David Cameron. But, for the life of me, I'm not seeing a similar figure emerging from the current crop of Tory MPs, and even if they did, I couldn't see them surviving a vote of Conservative Party members. It does not augur well for our democracy...
Wednesday, October 09, 2024
India - the centre of the known world (once upon a time)...
I always used to joke that, whilst Britons were painting themselves blue and calling it the height of fashion, my Indian ancestors were building a great civilisation. It turns out that there may have been an element of truth to it.
But let's go back to the beginning...
Greater Anglia offer a "London Evening Out" ticket, which allows a traveller to go down to London in the afternoon and come back the same day for a very reasonable £27 (£41 first class, should you fancy a bit more space and leg room), and so that's what we did last Tuesday, heading down to Liverpool Street and across to Notting Hill Gate before taking a leisurely stroll from there to West Kensington.
The Bhavan is, apparently, the largest centre for Indian classical arts in the United Kingdom, located in what was originally the local parish church before undergoing a radical rebuild and reconfiguration twenty years ago. The old nave is now the Mountbatten Auditorium, and it was there that the lecture took place in front of a very engaged, and predominantly Indian, audience.
The lecture itself was, even for an audience more familiar with Indian history than most, something of an eyeopener, propounding a theory that, far from the Silk Road being the preeminent channel of trade between east and west, it was in fact India that served as the primary trading partner of the Roman Empire. As an aside, it was noted that the Silk Road as a concept was the invention of a German writer in the nineteenth century, and that the term only became widely used after his works were translated in the last century.
So, what is the evidence? Well, you'd expect to find hoards of Roman coins across Europe, and perhaps around the Black Sea. And, if there was major trade between China and the Romans, in China. But, there are no significant finds there. In India, on the other hand, major finds of Roman coins have been made. And William Dalrymple offered us plenty of other examples of sculpture and art which point towards significant, regular interaction between Indian and Roman traders in the Red Sea ports of the time.
Delivered with great verve and conviction, Dalrymple spun the threads of his story over more than an hour, to the extent that, as he finished, we concluded that we really needed to get away to catch our train rather than stay for a light supper. We did find time to purchase a signed copy of the book, which I will make time to read at some point, and I suspect that a great many will have been shifted subsequently.
I know that Jonathan Calder has also written about the book and offered more detail on the argument offered by the author, but for those of you who think of China as being the preeminent trading partner of Europe in the distant past, you might find that the book offers a rather more balanced perspective on India and its place in the ancient world. Think of it as a recommendation...