Young Liberals - it’s like deja vu all over again...

“I’ve been a Young Liberal for many a year...”, we used to sing to the tune of “The Wild Rover” many years ago, and whilst that hasn’t strictly been true for a very long time, you can’t necessarily escape the gravitational pull of the Liberal Democrat youth and student wing forever.

Having served as an officer of the National League of Young Liberals prior to merger - I was the only eligible person left in the room when the vacancy for Secretary General arose - and as (at various times) Secretary, International Officer, Treasurer and, for one slightly bizarre year, President of the Young Liberal Democrats between 1987 and 1992, I made a somewhat unexpected return as the Returning Officer for Liberal Youth in 2008.

I was warned off, mostly by my predecessors, but I served for eighteen months or so, surviving despite the best efforts of Harry Cole (whatever happened to him) and a contest for Chair for which the word ‘volatile’ barely did justice. They then elected me as an Honorary Vice-President...

And now, just as unexpectedly, I’m back, probably for a one-off gig, to help them to fill two Officer vacancies. Thankfully, the process is much eased by technology and Returning Officers serve as much to keep the peace and to manage the process as anything else. I can cope with that, I think.

Whilst for LGBT+ Liberal Democrats last year, it was a job that revolved around running an election in order to reestablish stability, this is a rather less complex task, as much to offer reassuring dullness, competence and occasional compassion where needed as much as anything more demanding.

The only difference this time is that, having been slightly depressed by being old enough to be their parent last time, I’m possibly now old enough to be a grandparent to some of the younger activists. Perhaps being a virtual Returning Officer might lessen that feeling a little this time... I do hope so...

Conservatives - perhaps telling the truth isn't always a smart move...

I'm a great believer in truth in politics which, on the face of it, seems like an obvious statement. Lying in politics is, to my mind, reprehensible, because you are wilfully offering a false prospectus to those who are asked to choose between candidates and ideologies to find the person or persons most appropriate to represent them and their community.

However, I'm not naïve. As a politician, do you tell the whole truth, or just those parts that support what you're trying to achieve - after all, your opposition has the opportunity to pick out and highlight the faults or negatives of your proposal. You might make a virtue of acknowledging that some people will be worse off, particularly if those who will be worse off aren't particularly popular or numerous, but you might want their votes too.

Sometimes, you might rely on silence or evasion to avoid having to tell an explicitly uncomfortable truth, especially if you see no advantage from addressing the issue directly. That's potentially a bit cowardly, but politicians live and die by their popularity, actual or reflected, so whilst you might not endorse it, you might be secretly sympathetic.

And then, there's telling the truth that doesn't need to be told, and which would rather be better never spoken. Step forward, Victoria Prentis, MP for Banbury and the current Fisheries Minister.

In front of the House of Lords EU Environment Committee, in response to a question from the Liberal Democrat Chair, Robin Teverson, she explained that she hadn't read the Trade and Co-operation Agreement at the time it had been published because she was "very busy organising the local nativity trail".

There is no doubt that what she said was true - you could genuinely find it hard to disbelieve her. But to say that out loud, on camera, in front of a whole bunch of interested parties, does make you wonder. You're asked a direct question, you think about an answer, and then you give one which invites, nay demands, ridicule and calls for your resignation. It also suggests that you were completely out of the loop on the most important document affecting your ministerial portfolio for years, as you wouldn't have needed to read it after it was published if you'd been briefed on its likely contents in advance.

Now I wouldn't say that Victoria Prentis is a bad person - whilst I've met her parents, who I rather like, I don't recall ever meeting Victoria - and although I'm not persuaded that she is anything other than intelligent and possibly fun to know, she might just be a bit naïve to hold high office. And that's fair enough, I'm almost certainly not qualified to hold high office either and possibly with greater cause.

But this is a Government which appears to struggle to find sufficient talent to fill key roles - Gavin Williamson, Priti Patel, Robert Jenrick... are these really the greatest talents that the modern Conservative Party can field? So, perhaps Victoria's talents might find a more appropriate home in another part of the administration once the laughter has stopped, because she's probably lost the room as far as the fishing industry is concerned.

Needham Market - an unlikely home for a conspiracy theorist?

There was, I admit, more than a little disappointment when the Conservatives gained Bosmere from the Liberal Democrats in 2017. After all, it had been Ros’s seat from 1993 to 2005, and whilst it had been defended successfully in 2013 - as much thanks to a UKIP intervention as anything else - the margins had become ever more dependent on piling up votes in Needham Market and hoping that the losses in Barking and Somersham and Ringshall weren’t too much against us.

But, with a new candidate, selected rather too late in the day to establish a track record outside the town, the seat was narrowly lost to Anne Whybrow, the former Conservative county councillor for Stowmarket South who herself had lost in 2013 by one vote to a UKIP candidate now serving a fourteen year sentence for murdering his wife.

It turned out that she wasn’t well, and perhaps hadn’t been expected to win, and her sad death just fifteen months later led to a by-election which... we didn’t win... by 19 votes.

Her replacement, Kay Oakes, had political form in Needham Market, and thus was probably a good choice. It turns out though, that she might not have necessarily been that good a choice.

This week, she was exposed on social media for retweeting comments supportive of the Washington rioters and, as it turns out, being an enthusiastic supporter of Donald Trump. Indeed, she retweeted conspiracy theories suggesting that the invasion of the Capitol was an antifa act.

What I found most intriguing, however, was her defence;

I would like to apologise for ‘liking’ a small number of posts on Twitter which suggested, inaccurately, that those other than the obvious perpetrators were behind the events at the US Congress. 

It can sometimes be too easy to be taken in by conspiracy theories on social media and my judgement on this occasion was wrong. 

I hope that all those who know me realise how hard I work on behalf of our community and how dear to me our part of Suffolk is.

I suppose that we are being asked to accept that despite her apparent gullibility, and the ease with which she can be persuaded to endorse and promote conspiracy theories, she can be trusted to take decisions on education and social care on the basis of fact rather than fiction.

And if you’re willing to accept that, I’ve got a nice bridge in Brooklyn that you might be interested in purchasing...

Sometimes, it’s one damned thing after another...

The power came back on just before 11 p.m... and went back off just after midnight. And then it came back on at some point in the middle of the night - my phone was plugged in to charge and suddenly sprang into life. At some point after that, it was off, but neighbours confirmed that it came on yet again at about 6 a.m. I slept through that.

Morning came and the power was on, so all was good. Except that we had no broadband. Word reached us that there had been a knock-on effect from the power failures and that we’d lost broadband. Openreach were working on it though which might have been fine had it not been for the small detail that I was supposed to be interviewing candidates for some vacancies HMRC has. A few frantic e-mails later, a substitute was arranged and my manager informed.

But we were promised restoration by noon. And, indeed, Openreach were as good as their word and all was well. That was, until the power was cut again. Apparently, this was caused by an emergency isolation that had been carried out for safety purposes, and we would be out of action for another four hours or so.

The location of the fault became apparent following a brief stroll - Pound Road was blocked just south of the bridge over the A14 by a clutch of large vehicles, one of which had a cherry picker on the back.

I settled back to wait. And wait. Perhaps a stroll would help... but, eventually, the power was restored. Would the broadband still work? Yes, it would.

And so, life returned to normal in Creeting St Peter. At least, for the time being...

And then the lights went out again...

It has, I must admit, been pretty cold in the Creetings of late. Alright, not bitterly cold, but certainly raw. And, with sunset at about 4 p.m., the nights are long.

Thus, when the lights flickered just before the sun set this evening, it was unhelpful but not serious. We were, according to UK Power Networks, expected to have electricity again by 6.30 p.m. which, whilst somewhat sub-optimal, was hardly the end of the world. Ros and I gave up our dinner plans and ordered Turkish food for home delivery - they’d been before so could find the house, even in darkness.

Yes, eating by candlelight is, under normal circumstances, romantic. Admittedly, having the option to turn the lights on so that you can establish where the cutlery is does help, but we’re hardy souls in the Gipping Valley.

It became apparent, however, that 6.30 p.m. was a mite optimistic. An underground cable had failed, and it might take time to resolve the problem. The new target was 11.30 p.m., a rather different kettle of fish, particularly for the more vulnerable amongst us. It looked like Ros and I might be... whisper it quietly... forced to talk to each other instead of curling up with a good movie.

Luckily, our wood burning stove was keeping the house nice and toasty warm, and our phones and iPads were charged sufficient for the long haul, whilst UK Power Networks requisitioned emergency generators to tide us over and brought a customer support vehicle capable of supplying tea and coffee and answering questions. Meanwhile, regular text updates were passed on via the village Facebook group.

Our power came back on just before 11 p.m. thus giving me the ability to post this. I suspect that there may be an interruption or two before we’re done, but it’s nice to have things back to near normal...

Why are “free speech” campaigners so touchy when attacked?

It is often suggested that, as a liberal, I should carry a torch for free speech. And, it’s true, I do strongly support freedom of speech. You would therefore think that, in theory, I would therefore be supportive of the Free Speech Union, Toby Young’s latest attempt to get noticed.

Unfortunately, as it turns out, Toby doesn’t actually believe in free speech, at least he doesn’t appear to believe in free speech for those who disagree with him. That doesn’t really come as a great surprise, as he seems to begrudge the notion that with freedom of speech should come the “freedom” to accept the consequences.

Having had those consequences brought home to him when he withdrew from his appointment as a member of the board of the Office for Students, he seems to have chosen the role of martyr. If he was really to make a half decent martyr, he’d have left up the 50,000 plus tweets that he deleted in a frenzy of history rewriting. But, it seems, he didn’t want to stand by his original comments, or the liturgy of offensive articles he wrote and was lucratively paid for.

The thing about liberty is that it is intended for everyone - as long as they’re willing to accept the consequences of their actions. Many so-called libertarians (as opposed to genuine libertarians whom I respect even as I disagree with them) find that a bit difficult to cope with, merely using libertarianism as a justification to offend. Take, for example, Chris Mounsey, who, as leader of the Libertarian Party UK, took great delight in being offensive in a quite vile manner but, when it began to rebound on him, decided that his job and his family were rather more important than his right to offend.

In fairness to him, he was right to protect his job and his family. It was a pity that he hadn’t apparently given the consequences to them much thought up until the point where he was exposed.

Returning to Toby though, he’s been a pretty lucky boy on the whole. He’s ridden his connections to have opportunities that might not have come so easily to the rest of us, and used the benefits he has gleaned to, for the most part, fail at a series of things. Failing upwards, it seems, as there are evidently sufficient people willing to give him money to continue whining self-piteously about how he is oppressed and “cancelled”.

The thing about freedom of speech is not that it is a blank cheque. It is an opportunity to also demonstrate how you regard the rest of the community. What you choose to say, and what you refrain from saying, tell everyone else a lot about the sort of person you are, and whether or not you really respect their liberties as much as you demand your own.

And, by acting as Toby has done in attempting to surreptitiously influence a supposedly independent group campaigning for free speech and to constrain it in its campaigning, he has demonstrated that, far from believing in free speech, he merely believes in abusing others who don’t share his views.

Sadly, like so many self-proclaimed radicals, it turns out that he’s a reactionary after all, only interested in personal advantage. You follow him at your own risk...

Creeting St Peter - a Parish Council and a Climate Emergency...

I noted the other day that I was running out of Liberal Democrat things to do. The last remaining role I have is that of membership of the Appeals Panel for England, and my five-year term expires in March. It can be renewed once, however.

As a courtesy, I notified the Regional Secretary once her re-election had been confirmed more than five weeks ago but, as I haven't heard from her one way or the other, I'm guessing that either my services aren't required, or nobody cares or, quite possibly, that the Appeals Panel for England has become obsolete. In truth, I'm a bit out of touch with the constitutional settlement of the Party these days, which feels a bit strange for a self-confessed political bureaucrat.

Luckily, into that "vacuum" has fallen my work as a Parish Council Chair. And boy, are we busy at the moment, with two large (one of them vast) planning applications to respond to and all of the work that involves.

But it probably isn't enough to be reactive, and so I've decided to initiate a small project, to "green" the Parish Council. The first step is to declare a Climate Emergency.

I know what you're thinking. Isn't little old Creeting St Peter Parish Council, residents 275, precept £5,285, getting a bit up itself with this whole climate emergency thing? And, I suppose, you may have a point. We don't have a building to maintain, or much in the way of energy burning assets, and the village sits in the midst of fields of wheat, barley, oil seed rape and sugar beet.

But, we can play a small part. Our street lights are aged, obsolete and decidedly inefficient. We could print less paper, lobby our District and County Councils to rethink the services they provide to us, encourage recycling and walking, plant trees.

And so, I've drafted a very simple motion for discussion at our next meeting on Monday week which reads;

This Council pledges to:

1. Declare a climate emergency.
2. Ensure that, in its decisions, it takes into account the impact of its actions on the environment.
3. Work with local government partners towards the aspiration of making the county of Suffolk carbon neutral by 2030.

It isn't particularly fancy, but it isn't prescriptive, and I can't help but feel that, like a lot of rather larger local government bodies, we're going to have to rethink how we do much of our business in the coming years. And if, by doing that, we can both offer value for money and improve our communities, no matter how marginally, that must be a good thing.

Luckily, there is much inspiration available, both through the Suffolk Association of Local Councils and the National Association of Local Councils. But, ultimately, it will be up to us as a community to design solutions that suit us.

Suffolk Liberal Democrats select Justice campaigner as their Police & Crime Commissioner candidate

I don’t normally reproduce press releases here but I’ll make an exception for this one...

Justice campaigner and former Parliamentary Candidate James Sandbach has been selected as the Liberal Democrats’ candidate for the upcoming Police and Crime Commissioner election in Suffolk.

James has been involved in Suffolk politics for several years having been the Lib Dem Parliamentary candidate in Suffolk Coastal (2015 and 2017) and Central Suffolk and North Ipswich (2019). He lives in Saxmundham where he is Town Councillor.

Professionally, James has an active background in the voluntary sector, the justice system and the challenges it faces – over the past 15 years he has worked for leading national charities Citizens Advice, the Legal Action Group, and LawWorks (the solicitors pro bono group).

On the upcoming election, James said;

I am delighted to have been selected to be the Lib Dem PCC candidate for Suffolk. The PCC has an important role in supporting our fantastic local police force, and ensuring the policing needs of all of Suffolk’s communities are met.

Since I moved to Suffolk, I’ve been struck by the ever-diminishing emphasis on community policing – police numbers down, local stations closed, and the thin blue line stretched far too thinly. I strongly believe that when it comes to fighting crime, anti-social behaviour and low-level disorder, prevention and deterrence is always the best approach but to do that well there must be a strong bond between the police and local communities, accessibility, and a visible presence. 

I’m looking forward to talking to communities across Suffolk about their concerns and my priority will be to fight for better funding and resources to support the police in the vital work they do in the community.

I wish James good luck in the months ahead...

And that’s why democracy and rule of law are as one...

The ghastly scenes at the US Capitol yesterday are a reminder that our democracy is more fragile than many appreciate. Whilst the United States has a written constitution, it still needs to be defended by the people from those who would wish to deny it. The judiciary, a free Press, public servants who serve the Government and the people, all of these should theoretically be responsible for promoting and preserving the freedoms that we take for granted.

It’s funny, really, because it could be argued that the United States is a pretty poor model for a democracy, with judges appointed for their political reliability, the senior bureaucracy likewise and whilst the Press is free, it’s not always fair and balanced, to quote one major (Murdoch-owned) news channel. And with districting controlled, and often gerrymandered, by the majority in each State, you don’t even have the confidence of knowing that, in a two horse race, if you get more votes, you probably get more seats.

How unlike the United Kingdom, where the penalty for breaking electoral law is trivial compared to the advantage gained by doing so, where the basis upon which Parliamentary constituencies are determined has been altered to favour the governing Party, where the Electoral Commission is under threat (from the governing Party), and where spending limits are expected to be increased (to favour the governing Party).

It goes without saying that most of our major news media are owned and controlled by foreign nationals or tax exiles, whilst the governing Party places one of its supporters as Chairman of the state broadcaster. And, of course, we have an election system which disenfranchises so many people but which suits the governing Party just fine. It also seems to suit the Official Opposition for reasons only it can explain.

We do, on the other hand, have an independent judiciary and a Civil Service which, despite the best attempts of some, remains apolitical, if cowed.

Our democracy works, or has worked up until now, because the unwritten conventions have been adhered to in the absence of a written constitution. But, we’re forced to confront the question of what happens if people don’t play by the rules. What is there to protect us from the corruption of our government and our democracy?

The answer, it appears, is “not much”.

And that’s why having rules, and having effective punishments for breaking them, matters.

If we learn one thing from the events of last night, it should be that, if politicians do not stand up for the rule of law and for democracy, the people need to vote them out of office at the first opportunity in order to protect themselves. And, having done that, they must vote for those determined to secure democracy of the people, by the people, for the people. All of the people, all of the time.

Lockdown starts gloomy... outside at least

I noted, a few days ago, that the inclement weather and the generally sodden nature of the countryside offered a challenge in the then circumstances of Tier 4 restrictions. Well, the national lockdown makes things a bit more trying, especially when you're restricted to a limited number of grounds for going outside.

It therefore shouldn't have come as a huge surprise that day one of the new lockdown dawned cold, grey, wet and windy. Luckily, we needed bread and milk, which at least gave me an excuse to walk the more than four miles to and from the Co-op at Stowupland. It isn't as close as Tesco cross country, but given that the footpaths, especially across fields, are a morass, it's a less perilous walk, especially given that it consists of a little used single track road with relatively good sight lines and then pavement along the A1120 (which, frankly, isn't that busy either). The alternative means dicing with the HGV's that journey to and from the concrete products factory to the A14 - I think not.

And the exercise is not only good for me, but the journey requires almost exactly 10,000 steps (and yes, I'm still doing them every day) and, whilst the cold and wet is a bit grim, I can listen to music and think about whatever needs thinking about as I meander across the gently rolling landscape.

I got back to find that Ros's bread baking effort had been rather more successful than she had originally feared, but on days like this, a nice piece of toast never goes amiss...

Is Mid Suffolk District Council really committed to its sustainable travel policy? We may be about to find out...

Regular readers will know that I take a particular interest in buses, possibly because I am a non-driver. In London, that was just fine - why would you have a car in inner London when traffic speeds are glacial and there’s an excellent public transport system? Out here in the Suffolk countryside, it offers rather more of a challenge.

Creeting St Peter saw its last scheduled bus service in 2011, not that it impinged upon anyone’s consciousness. Indeed, when I raised it at an early Parish Council meeting, my fellow councillors didn’t seem to know that it existed, perhaps because it ran on Thursdays only with just one journey in each direction between Stowmarket and the Creetings. We do have demand responsive transport, but it is likewise little known about, which does make it a bit easier for me to use it as part of my usual route to work. But I digress...

The new business and enterprise park on the edge of the Parish is to be managed by a development company on behalf of its 100% owner, Mid Suffolk District Council. It promises, or at least, promised up to 4,500 new jobs which, on the face of it, is a good thing - we can argue about the quality of those jobs another day. And it struck me that having a bus link to Stowmarket would be a good thing, given that it’s more than one mile from the station to the nearest point of the development.

Coincidentally, in July the District Council agreed to create a “Sustainable Travel Action Plan” so you might think that, if you were going to bring 4,500 workers to an edge of town location, encouraging public transport use might fit neatly into that. Indeed, I found myself wondering if such a link could be extended to serve Creeting St Peter and Stowupland (which is growing fast and lost its regular bus service a few years ago) in a circular route to link up with Stowmarket station and the town centre.

It is now clear that there is no intention to make provision for public transport - I asked and have a written answer from the development company to that effect, which rather disappoints me. The justification is that there is a bus stop within 400 metres of the entrance to the development - the fact that two of the six services that serve the stop run on a Thursday only, and two others are school services appears to have passed them by. And so, I’m going to have to challenge the District Council to “put their money where their mouth is” in terms of the environment and sustainability, and to adhere to the policies they themselves set.

It is unacceptable in the modern era to build a development which effectively obliges its workforce to drive. Given that the employees won’t just come from Stowmarket and the surrounding villages - the population couldn’t supply 4,500 additional workers even if it wanted to - there will be significant increases in traffic, air pollution and noise, and any mitigation that might reduce traffic volumes would be welcome.

Ironically, the development company have been quite responsive in other areas, so it would be nice if they could be persuaded to improve this aspect. We’ll just have to see, I guess...

If only the Government would actually follow the science more closely...

And so, we're back in lockdown again, just as we were in March. The problem is that, given the mixed messages and failure to set an example at the top, the public willingness to adhere to the letter of the guidance is fragile at best.

Walking in Needham Market at the weekend, it was noticeable that people aren't allowing others the required two metre separation, that people are passing each other in narrow spaces without masks, and that multiple households are meeting. Whilst I don't take the view that draconian enforcement is appropriate, the seeming lack of self-awareness is problematic.

You may not care about the rules, but you really ought to respect those who intend to adhere to them, and might have very good reason for doing so. I take the view that, by keeping myself at a safe distance, I am less likely to become a burden to an already hard-pressed National Health Service. There are, quite evidently, plenty of people whose need for treatment is urgent and they don't need me taking unnecessary risks.

The guidance on outdoor recreation and exercise is going to be a bit tougher this time. March and April were dry and bright last year, which made walking rather more tempting, and with longer days, you could at least dodge any inclement weather that might come along. Now, the local footpaths are a morass of mud following persistent and heavy rain, the sun sets at 4 and the single track roads that lead out of the village are not recommended to pedestrians after dark. We will persist, however.

What I do begrudge though is the Government's failure to react in a timely manner to the advice that they're being given. With the Prime Minister unwilling to do or say anything that might be unpopular unless forced to, and his persistently annoying tendency to over promise and underdeliver - why does he keep offering up timetables for a return to normality that are never going to be met? - I sense that every surge is worse than it might have been and the restrictions more burdensome.

That tendency to overpromise has impacted on the vaccination programme too. The initial indication was that I might reasonably expect to be vaccinated in May. To be honest, I now don't expect to be vaccinated until the Autumn, if then. I'll wait my turn patiently - what else is there to do? - but if you keep raising people's hopes and expectations, you shouldn't be surprised if they respond badly to the subsequent disappointment.

Indeed, can you really trust this Government not to mess up the vaccination programme?

Ah well, at least work carries on regardless...

3 January - a look through the archives...

It is occasionally hard to believe that I’ve been writing this blog for more than fifteen years now. I was, at the beginning, decidedly single, having concluded that this was likely to be the case forever. So much for predictions, eh? And perhaps it’s time to, occasionally, take a look at what was happening in retrospective to see if I learned much...

Fifteen years ago, I was in India, attending a family wedding. That was a part of my life that had fallen into abeyance for the previous decade and a half, given that my then relationship didn’t leave much room for my extended family scattered across the globe. Pretty much the first thing I did once I’d somewhat straightened my head out was to set out on a world tour to find out what uncles, aunts, cousins and second cousins were up to - from Mumbai to Toronto, from Auckland to Edmonton.

Having been asked to give one of the readings at the service, I did have some misgivings, especially with a failed marriage so recently behind me (well, mostly behind even if some of the most depressing parts were still to come). But it’s hard to feel depressed for long in the midst of my Indian family, and you end up unable to resist the urge to relax and enjoy the craziness.

We’re all a bit older and, in my case, rather greyer (although I’m about the same weight, curiously) but we still seem able to relax with each other no matter how long we’ve been apart. And, in Ros, I have someone who is happy to share in it, even to encourage it, which is hugely appreciated.

We remain utterly scattered, with twenty time zones between Walter and Felba in San Francisco and Windsor, Beryl, Warren, Tanya and Kim in Auckland, but we keep in touch after a fashion thanks to the wonders of modern technology which allows me to talk to Kim via Facebook Messenger, or be updated on Arlene and Ryan’s progress in Bahrain.

I ought to be better at marking birthdays and anniversaries, and maybe I might aspire to do a little more in 2021. After all, as the oldest of the generation (and we are curiously hierarchical), there are some vague obligations...

I seem to have accidentally attracted the attention of the anti-5G campaigners...

One of the bits about being a day editor of Liberal Democrat Voice is that, occasionally, you are tempted to respond to the news of the day. And sometimes, you realise why you aren’t often tempted...

On Monday, I was critical of a piece by Nick Cohen, attempting to smear the entire Liberal Democrats on the basis of a rather quirky stance on 5G masts by two councillors in Bath and possibly endorsed by the local Liberal Democrat MP. My view was that his attempt to associate the party with an anti-science stance was indicative of lazy bias.

My understanding is that 5G-capable masts aren’t an issue. At least, that seems to be the generally accepted position amongst experts and, as I know a lot less than them, unless someone is going to offer me overwhelming evidence that the experts are both wrong and corrupt, I’m content to go along with that. I’m not, for example, going to tell the pilot of a flight that I’m on that, just because someone on Twitter is convinced that there’s a better way of doing it than the way he was trained to, he should stop what he is doing and heed my words of wisdom. Expertise and consensus, whilst not foolproof, tend to offer better odds over time.

The bad news is that some anti-5G campaigners have found me and incorrectly assumed that I share their view. So, to be clear, I don’t. Please don’t send me obscure and, doubtless, thoughtfully edited quotes from reports, documents or other sources. As I’m not a scientist, I don’t have the technical knowledge to properly evaluate them, and I haven’t got the time, or the inclination, to teach myself.

It is a reminder that, out there, there are some people absolutely certain that, in the face of the available evidence, that governments are out to control us all through mind control, or microchips administered via fake vaccinations. Frankly, I haven’t encountered the government competent enough to do that or, even if they somehow could, monitor individuals any more than they currently do. The internet has given such people the means to publicise their views and convince the paranoid, the vulnerable and the disturbed to do things that harm society.

Anti-5G campaigners mostly don’t fall into that category, but they are likely to make the same sort of mistake, i.e. believing that because something passionately concerns them, the rest of us should be equally passionately concerned. And in a world where there are plenty of obvious things that need addressing - poverty, climate change, armed conflict to name but three - I really don’t have the bandwidth to worry about something that I currently have no reason to worry about.

So, if you have been trying to contact me without response, perhaps this might explain why. I’m a statistician by training, sceptical of data but prone to accept the odds implied by having most of the experts on one side of the debate, especially in a field that I’m not trained in. It’s not personal though...

Are difficult planning applications like buses? Because it surely feels like it right now...

If having the challenge of the Gateway 14 planning application wasn’t bad enough, we’re now faced with a proposal to expand the Poundfield Products facility at the other end of the Parish.

Given that the applicants had a fairly poor record of compliance with planning constraints previous to their takeover by Sigma Roc plc, and that the relationship between the new owners and the village is, how can I put it, suboptimal, we are wary as to their intent.

The new proposal is to extend towards the River Gipping by adding an outdoor storage and fabrication area and likely objections are pretty obvious, in truth. The impact on the setting of Creeting Hall, both visually and in terms of noise, as well as the probable effect on Mill Lane, already damaged in places by the sheer weight of lorries transporting concrete products out towards the A14, are all likely to be factors in resident objections.

Naturally, the Parish Council will meet to consider our response, and I don’t want to prejudge that. But I am hesitant to support anything that will lead to more traffic from what is already a highly unsuitable site for a concrete products factory, and given the persistent breaches of the working hours conditions - admitted by the local management in the presence of one of our two District councillors - you can’t help but wonder if an outdoor fabrication area is likely to impact on the residents of the clutch of houses at Creeting Hall.

A village resident described the application as being “their traditional Christmas planning application” and, whilst my memory isn’t good enough to recall the accuracy of that, it does feel sometimes as though their strategy is intended to make it as difficult as possible to make a balanced and complete response.

Ah well, we’ll struggle on, I guess, but I have to admit, it does feel a bit wearing so early in the year...

A new year begins here...

It’s funny really, but 2020 has been a bit of a mixed year. Yes, we’ve had the pandemic, which has been awful in the generality, and we’ve finally left the European Union which, whilst traumatic, will only really impact in the months and years ahead, but on a personal note, neither has had an obviously negative impact yet.

I’ve been working from home since 18 March which, at the beginning, was not something I had looked forward to with unalloyed pleasure. I’m kind of institutionalised, having worked for the same organisation, in the same context, for well over thirty years, and working on my own offered some personal challenges. Would I be able to maintain the discipline without supervision, would I have enough to do given the structures and methodologies that had previously constrained my work?

It turned out that the problem would, for the most part, be solved for me. The Job Retention Scheme kept me busy for a while, and I learned how to use webchat software to answer questions before moving on to contact centre work, offering technical advice to employers and explaining to unhappy employees why we couldn’t just furlough them ourselves.

After that, it was time to switch to the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme, helping those without internet access to apply, and dealing with those who were unable to self-verify - basically those without U.K. passports or driving licences and without a credit history here. It was, occasionally, entertaining, often complicated, especially when dealing with Eastern Europeans whose English, whilst far better than my grasp of any of their languages, struggled with the legalese of grant applications.

The most difficult cases were those where the potential applicant wasn’t eligible. In many cases, they already knew that, but wanted to hear it for themselves from a genuine human being. Some of the cases demonstrated genuine hardship, but without the discretion to make exceptions, and knowing that their calls were being recorded, all that could be done was to give them an honest explanation, point them towards local council grant schemes and universal credit, and give thanks that you weren’t in their position.

And now, I’m kind of back to the day job. That’s more complex than it sounds, especially now that nearly all of us are in Tier 4. Face to face meetings are difficult at best, obtaining records for examination is challenging and disruption is everywhere. How that changes in 2021 is still not entirely clear - to me at least.

I’ve been, at times, a bit disenchanted by party politics. I’m a liberal democrat, undoubtedly. I’m still a Liberal Democrat too, albeit a somewhat more distant one these days. Shortly, I will cease to hold any formal position in the Party, partly due to the democratic process (which I’m entirely relaxed about), and partly due to creative differences. I’ve made the odd contribution, but in truth my attention has strayed towards the third tier of local government.

I didn’t have much ambition beyond the borders of Creeting St Peter, and was expecting to stand down as Chair in May, but the pandemic rather interfered with that. The autumn saw me fill two new positions merely by being the only person to show an interest - the story of my political career to a great extent. And so, I serve on the Board of the Suffolk Association of Local Councils and as the Suffolk representative on the National Assembly of the National Association of Local Councils - our equivalent of the Local Government Association. I’m still slightly shellshocked if truth be told.

There’s no time to rest on my laurels though. We have a rather daunting planning application due this month for a vast business and logistics park, as well as a proposed expansion of the concrete products factory at Grove Farm. Neither will be popular, and our influence is limited. But, we must try to do our best for residents, and we will.

I am an evil step grandfather too. More virtual than actual, due to the pandemic, but nevertheless I have a role, which mostly consists of smiling warmly and saying how adorable Eleanor is. This, it turns out, is very easy...

But the biggest change in 2020 was in the amount of time Ros and I spent together. You see, we’re used to being apart a fair bit, given that she’s normally in London during the week, and I’m not. There was, I guess, the possibility that I might drive her crazy, but that didn’t happen, which was nice. We’ve been there to help each other through the occasional low points, as well as learning to appreciate a rather simpler life of good food, country walks and our home. It isn’t particularly complicated, but it works for us.

And so, to 2021. I’m expecting to get my first vaccine dose in May or thereabouts, although given the Government’s propensity to make any task so much more hapless than one might imagine, I won’t hold my breath.

A happy New Year to you, gentle reader, and stay safe...

Another public sector pay freeze or, for many, a continuation of the last one...

This week’s briefing that another public sector pay freeze is under consideration is going to prove to be a serious blow to morale. And yes, I get that, as a Government, you feel that you want to be setting an example for the rest of the economy. But, as I’ve noted in the past, the cost of bad governance far exceeds the price you pay to attract and retain quality staff.

Yes, the economy is going to take a hit, but it is already evident that, especially in more technical areas of the Civil Service, we just aren’t competitive in terms of pay and conditions, even allowing for an increasingly non-gold plated pension scheme. And recruiting people to fill the gaps left by people who you recently recruited and couldn’t retain is a very expensive thing to do - the initial cost of training and low productivity in the early years of employment is thus repeated over and over again.

And the comparison between earnings of public and private sector employees is increasingly distorted by the fact that most low-paid public sector employees have either been made superfluous by technology, or contracted out to the private sector. Thus, the average increases whilst the rate of individual pay falls in real terms.

And, at the same time, whilst Ministers bewail the fact that civil servants are less innovative, they entirely overlook the point that the mid-range civil servant is earning 15% less in real terms than he or she did a decade ago, and thus the temptation to seek pastures new is that much greater for the ambitious and those whose skills are in demand in the private sector. You can’t, as Margaret Thatcher said, buck the market.

I’m a minor bureaucrat in a technical field somewhat sought after in the outside world, and I know that my equivalent in the private sector is earning considerably more than I am. Luckily for everyone concerned, I’m nearer the end of my career than the beginning, I’m mortgage free and have no big financial commitments. In short, finances are not particularly pressing.

Now look at it from the perspective of a colleague in their mid-twenties. They’ve probably got student loans to pay off, they would like to find somewhere to settle down, someone to settle down with, and might want to raise a family. They have a choice - earn a salary which isn’t competitive, is becoming less so each year, and will possibly never allow them to have the sort of life we are encouraged to aspire to, or work in the private sector, with an element of vulnerability, but with enough extra income to probably have a decent lifestyle. It isn’t a difficult choice, when you think about it.

It is a difficult choice if you’re trying to run an efficient organisation, a Brilliant Civil Service, if you will. If you can’t recruit and retain the best and the brightest, you limit the aspirations you might have. You need to reduce the scope for error by process-mapping decision making because those who might be able to apply legislation imaginatively but properly are less likely to be a part of your workforce. You end up with “the computer says no” administration - unimaginative, unable to innovate, likely to make choices which are legally sound but contrary to Parliamentary intent.

And that’s how you end up with Windrush, the Grenfell Tower, Baby P. Everyone did what they were required to do, yet the outcomes were catastrophic. Nobody was able, or willing, to say, “hang on, if we do this, the consequences might be injurious, and this is why.”, and be taken seriously.

At the other end of the organisation, a lot of older colleagues have strained sinews during the pandemic, keeping the show on the road, enabling the Government to support the economy. The sense of gratitude engendered by then cutting their pay (again) might be difficult to locate, and given that it will impact negatively on their eventual pension too, they may (will, in truth) decide to retire earlier than might otherwise have been the case. I’ve got colleagues who retired with a pension representing 50% of their then salary who are now catching me up year on year in actual terms, not just real ones. It doesn’t go unnoticed...

So, if there are any Government ministers reading this (admittedly highly unlikely), might I politely suggest that you think long and hard before freezing public sector pay again, and not just about the short term impact. And, if you think it’s the right, or only, thing to do, then go ahead. But don’t then complain about the quality of the advice you get or of the implementation of your policies - there is a correlation between the value you place upon something and what you’re willing to pay for it.

It’s been twelve years, but a President-elect’s promise has been kept...

Twelve years ago, Ros was declared the new President of the Liberal Democrats in what was a bit of a landslide - 72% in a three-cornered contest can, I think, be fairly reasonably described as such. In her acceptance speech, she promised me a kitten, the cause of some amusement.

We did still have cats at this point, however, and the time never really came right to get more of them. You know how it is, life is busy, we travel a lot, and leaving cats alone for much of the day seems a bit unfair. But the pandemic changed that - I now work from home, and am likely to do so to some extent even after the pandemic recedes. And that means that the “excuse” for not having cats has also receded somewhat.

And so, kittens. Two of them, to be precise, obtained from a cat rescue centre in mid-Norfolk which Ros had spotted in the Eastern Daily Press. They were, coincidentally, in need of homes for a number of kittens and it was a case of right place, right time. We’d been up to Mattishall a few weeks ago, been approved as appropriate cat owners and were asked to wait whilst the kittens were weaned, vaccinated and prepared for their new life.

Accordingly, last Sunday, we drove back up the A140 in the pouring rain, equipped with a newly purchased cat carrier, to collect the little monsters adorable creatures, and then brought them home, mewling most of the way.

They settled well, exploring the living room, where we had chosen to confine them on their first day so that they might slowly acclimatise themselves to their new home, and using the litter tray that we had bought for them - they came litter trained, thankfully. And, reassuringly, they were very “people friendly” from the outset, sitting on us, purring, and all the behaviours you might hope for.

Naming them was a bit of a challenge, especially as we weren’t sure whether they were male or female when we picked them - they’re both male as it turned out. But, after some discussion, we settled upon something topical, calling them Penn and George, after two of the key states in the recent American elections.

Penn is almost entirely black, with a small wisp of white fur across his chest, whilst George is black and white, albeit mostly black. We’ve expanded their area of operation to the kitchen and conservatory, and eventually, once they’ve been neutered, they’ll be allowed outside - the lucky devils get to miss the worst of an English winter.

They’ve got toys, an occasional box to play with, a scratching post/tower to lie on, destroy and otherwise torture, and seem to spend much of their time asleep or lying on one or other of us. So far, so good...

There is something of an irony, in that whilst the kittens are twelve years late, Ros is still President... albeit of the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors rather than the Liberal Democrats, but a President is a President for all that.

And now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a kitten on my shoulder which needs my utmost attention...

October 2020 - Parish Councillor report

October was a busy month in the life of this Parish Councillor, dominated by two things - Gateway 14 and something more personal.

Two meetings with the developers managing the Gateway 14 project took place virtually, one for the Parish Council, the other for village residents. Each had its own flavour, the first being slightly more formal, as befits a statutory consultee, the other more freeform.

As I noted after the first meeting, I'm of the view that Jaynic are a serious operator and, regardless of whether they are genuine in their intention to take our concerns into serious consideration or not, they have at least responded to concerns raised - this is no "fly by night" proposition. And, in many ways, they are the messengers, in so much as they are operating within a brief outlined by the District Council.

What concerns me more is whether or not the District Council is accountable in any meaningful way, because we need to know who, ultimately, makes the decisions, so that we can most effectively seek changes where we need them, and benefits where we can obtain them. And, in that sense, it is a bit of a David versus Goliath scenario, in that they have the size and power, and we have to rely on our wits and intelligence. But, a campaign group, independent of the Parish Council, has emerged, and I look forward to working with them in the best interests of our community.

On a personal note, I appear to have been the beneficiary of a rapid double promotion in the world of third tier local government, having started the month anticipating life as a new member of the Board of the Suffolk Association of Local Councils. By the end of the first day, I was the county's representative on the National Assembly of the National Association of Local Councils (NALC).

Since then, I've attended NALC's AGM, which was interesting but not of immense relevance to our village (yet), and gotten up to speed with some of our key priorities as a County Association. NALC is our main route through which to lobby Parliament and the Government on issues that affect communities like this, and to enable us to do more, more effectively and with greater accountability.

What doesn't change, however, is my focus on Creeting St Peter. As Chair of our Parish Council, I have little, if any, power. What I can do is lobby on behalf of the village, use my contacts to argue our needs and priorities, and ensure, with my fellow councillors that we use what resources we have most efficiently.

Parish Council meets again on 16 November, with Gateway 14 and our draft budget for 2021/22 at the heart of the agenda. It's going to be another challenging month, I suspect...

Meanwhile, a bit further down the Gipping Valley

One of the borders of Creeting St Peter is the River Gipping, which flows in a south-south easterly direction towards Ipswich where it mysteriously becomes the Orwell. Once upon a time, it was a major trade artery for mid-Suffolk, eventually being "improved" to form the Ipswich and Stowmarket Navigation in 1793.

It was, apparently, a profitable enterprise for about fifty years, with agricultural produce heading south, and coal and other heavy goods heading the other way. And then the railway came...

Nowadays, the river is seldom more than a foot deep, and most of the infrastructure is in poor condition. Fortunately, the River Gipping Trust has stepped up to restore it, with a long-term goal of restoring the navigation between Ipswich and Stowmarket. There is a public footpath between the two towns which follows the river, which makes a pleasant walk on a dry day.

The catch is that the Trust is very much a volunteer-led operation, and money is short for anything much more than maintenance. Their latest project is to restore a bridge near Baylham, which would allow walkers to follow the intended route, rather than having to hug the railway line, and they need £25,000 to finance this.

It helps, we're told, to have support from the local community when pursuing grant opportunities and, accordingly, I've written a letter on behalf of the Parish Council, indicating how valued their efforts are, even if we can't offer financial support ourselves.

But, if you have something to spare, and you want to support a good cause, here's the link to their fundraising page.