“Regeneration is the main thrust of my campaign. There are too many empty shops and factories and more should be done to get businesses interested in setting up in Aldridge and Brownhills.”

Ian, who is Vice Chair of Railfuture West Midlands is also interested in supporting the plan for a new railway station in Aldridge, possibly linking through Walsall to Wolverhampton.

As reported previously the deterioration in the surface had become a real problem, particularly in The Walmers, and a major cause of complaint for residents.

I’ve contacted the maintenance team, who confirm the verges will be  reinstated in the next few weeks.

Job well done!

Walsall Council is working in partnership with Aldridge Rotary Club on the ideas for The Croft and representatives from both groups were on hand to explain the plans, listen to views and get people to indicate if they were either “For” or “Against” a range of ideas.

There seemed to be universal agreement that it was a good idea to have a pedestrian crossing, as you left the Shopping Centre, joining a new path across The Croft towards the play area or Church. The planting of shrubs along Rookery Lane - as well as work to benches, repair of brickwork, signing at entrances - again seemed to be supported.

One proposal which did seem to split opinion was the idea of putting picnic benches in a section of The Croft.  This was because of concerns about it creating the potential for Anti Social Behaviour. Roy Sheward said “Although I understand residents concerns I feel it would be a shame to drop this idea from the plans because of this reason. I will await with particular interest the outcome of the public consultation on this issue.”

Ian Jenkins said” I congratulate the parties involved because I welcome genuine consultation events, such as this, which offer residents a real opportunity to be involved in influencing what happens in their own community. ”

http://www.walsall.gov.uk/news/have_your_say_on_aldridge_open_space.htm

Anyone who would like more information on the scheme, or wishes to register their thoughts, can contact Cherry Shine, Walsall Council principal regeneration officer, on 01922 652537 or via shinec@walsall.gov.uk.

We wish the Council and Rotary Club all the best and hope they are able to secure the funding to bring those ideas backed by the community to life!

Ian said: “ The plans under consideration involve an expansion of the Conservation Area; I am fully supportive of the need for the unique character of The Green to be respected, and would not approve of any proposed development which would impinge upon it. I am, however, concerned that there is always a balance which needs to be achieved, so that householders can continue to develop and improve their properties without the need for bureaucracy, as long as such improvements do not spoil the look of the area.”

As for the proposed new Medical Centre Ian said “This is most welcome, and the people of Pelsall will find it of great benefit. But we need to know more details…what will it include, and will the design suit the local environment? Furthermore, it seems that the area behind Town Fold has already been surveyed and staked out, yet planning permission has NOT yet been granted. Are ‘they’ trying to get it started before a General Election, so that it isn’t cancelled by an incoming Conservative Government taking an axe to all kinds of public spending?”

We will keep in touch with the Pelsall Heritage Group and look to get clarification on these issues.

Ian works as a sales agent and acts as a consultant in the glass industry. He has been a member of the Liberal Democrats for more than 37 years.

Ian is pictured below with one his daughters, Eluned Parrott, 35 who is also standing as a Liberal Democrat Candidate at the election in The Vale of Glamorgan. Whilst it is her first election it is Ian’s 5^th attempt!

Presently Ian is Chairman of Wolverhampton East Liberal Democrats local party and he has formally served in a senior position at Regional level. He also brings with him plenty of experience having fought since 1992 for Liberal Democrat interests at previous elections.

A keen conservationist, Ian is a member of Friends of the Earth, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the Campaign for Real Ale and is Senior Steward at Fordhouses Methodist Church, where he is the Fairtrade Co-ordinator.

Ian has worked hard for local transport, having served on the Sandwell and Dudley Transport Advisory Committee, being a key player in getting passenger services restored on the line to Cannock and is also the Vice Chairman of Railfuture, West Midlands. He also wants to restore passenger services on the line running through Aldridge and today visited the site near Anchor Meadow Medical Centre where it is hoped the new station will stand in the near future.

The new policy was announced in last year’s budget but the date from which it starts has now been decided. The idea is based on a long-standing policy in Ireland where publication of the identities of tax cheats attracts widespread publicity.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8548226.stm

I’ve long argued that this should happen. We’ve had years of targeting benefit cheats and I feel tax cheats are as bad, if not in fact worse, than benefit cheats. Both result is us other taxpayers losing out.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8546536.stm

With Council elections on Thursday 6th May and a General Election having to be held by 3rd June it is vital if you want to have any say about the future you are able to vote. Whether you like it or not politics affects virtually every aspect of your normal daily life. You not being able to vote, or not bothering to vote, will not worry many politicians - it is one less person who can vote against them! Indeed they would argue that you must be happy with what they do otherwise you would have voted.

If you are not registered to vote it’s not too late to sort your vote out. Contact the Council’s Electoral Services Office and make sure you have a voice:

The Electoral Services Office, Darwall St, Walsall, WS1 1TH
Telephone 01922 652030 Fax 01922 652040
Email allsopp@walsall.gov.uk

http://www.walsall.gov.uk/index/council_and_democracy/elections/registering_to_vote.htm

Then we’ve got foreign media moguls using the TV and Newspapers they own to try and influence who we vote for - mainly they are supporters of the Tories.

And now we have news that the Pound is sliding against the Euro and the Dollar, because after recent opinion polls showing the gap between Tories and Labour has narrowed the currency Markets are “scared” about there being a hung Parliament! The big institutions (some of whom Made millions speculating on the banks collapse and financial crisis) are it seems hoping to scare voters and convince them that only by electing a Tory government can we save our currency!

Wouldn’t it be nice if we voters could be left alone to listen to all the arguments, consider the ideas being put forward by the parties, weigh up ourselves which one we feel offers the best choice and then vote positively for that party. Instead most of the time on TV and in papers we have issues politically spun depending on who they support, with opposing views being completely ignored. I hope the leaders debates might at least give a chance for this to happen!

Lord Ashcroft, one of the Conservatives’ main donors, said he expected “to be sitting in the House of Lords for many years”, suggesting he would change his tax status if the law changed. How very honourable and decent of him - to agree to pay taxes under the same rules as the rest of us having avoided doing so for 10 years! I believe that his announcement has been prompted by the recent Information Commissioner decision indicating it was in the public interest to release information and criticising the refusal to clarify this. I wouldn’t be surprised if the timing of the announcement wasn’t designed to spoil the PMs big speech on crime reduction, certainly it has drawn most of the coverage away from this!

I’ve listened in disbelief to David Cameron recently pledging to bring sunshine and openness to politics, especially when he made a big announcement in December of his “amazing” plan  to change the law to prevent “Non doms” from being able to become MPs or Lords.

Labour can’t shout too loudly because they also have 2 peers who are “Non doms”.  It is no surprise to me that, in spite of their public statements on this subject, both the Tories and Labour have consistently blocked Lib Dem attempts over several years to make the change to the law preventing “Non doms” from being able to stand as MP or House of Lords. Leader Nick Clegg added: “I think if you are seeking to influence the outcome of the next general election… then it is wholly wrong that you basically seek to pay taxes only partially in this country.”

It makes me angry that non UK taxpayers and foreign media moguls are allowed to use their money or newspapers/ TV interests to seek to influence voters.

It is 14:00 on 28th February and Blue Peter presenter Helen Skelton completes her epic journey to become the first woman to have kayaked 2,010 miles down the Amazon!!

When she reached the half-way stage in her epic journey on 9th February she had already tripled the Guinness World Record for the longest solo journey by kayak. The Guinness World Record, set in 2006, had stood at 326.98 miles.

Congratulations to Helen for her personal triumph and also to Sport Relief for all their continuing efforts to aid those in need!!

See here for further details on BBC website:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8541832.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8506683.stm

Walsall Council is working in partnership with Aldridge Rotary Club on ideas for The Croft which is near to the village centre.

http://www.walsall.gov.uk/news/have_your_say_on_aldridge_open_space.htm

A public consultation day is being held at Aldridge Shopping Centre off Anchor Road, on Saturday 6 March between 11am and 3pm for people to see these proposals and add their input.

Anyone who would like more information on the scheme can contact Cherry Shine, Walsall Council principal regeneration officer, on 01922 652537.

The Tories’ use of Lord Ashcroft’s millions raises profound question:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ashcroft-money-casts-long-shadow-over-rivals-1912408.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-how-money-can-distort–the-democratic-process.html

On his website Lord Ashcroft says: “Belize - “If home is where the heart is then Belize is my home.”http://www.lordashcroft.com/belize/index.html

How can it be right that a man whose heart lies with Belize and has a ” Non Dom” tax status to avoid paying full UK taxes is able to be so directly and heavily involved in trying to influence UK voters? He has had ten years sitting in the Houses of Parliament, deciding on how we are taexd and governed, without being a full UK taxpayer and has the cheek to say he will change when he is forced to if the Tories are elected. He should have been made by Cameron to do this when he accepted his peerage.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8542744.stm

Author Dr Linda Papadopoulos said there was a clear link between sexualised imagery and violence towards females.

Her report said the material children were being exposed to included the growth of lads’ mags and pornography on mobile phones, through to big-name fashion brands using sexual imagery to advertise clothes targeted at young teenagers.

‘Distorting perceptions’

The report said this “drip-drip” exposure was distorting young people’s perceptions of themselves, encouraging boys to become fixated on being macho and dominant, while girls in turn presented themselves as sexually available and permissive.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8537734.stm

I hope the Government will take the report seriously and look hard at implementing some of the 36 recommendations in the report to protect our children.

Responding to the study Vince Cable, the Lib Dem Treasury spokesman, said:

“This is a clear endorsement of the Liberal Democrat approach to the deficit and the re-privatisation of the state owned banks.

“Decisions of when to cut Government spending must be based on economic principles not political games.

“Both the public and the markets have a right to know how the parties plan to tackle the deficit, but gung-ho spending cuts while the economy is barely recovering is simply reckless.

“While Labour buries its head in the sand and the Tories change position according to the prevailing wind, only the Liberal Democrats have produced a credible and coherent plan for dealing with the deficit.

“The Tories must also realise that the taxpayer will have to have a stake in the state owned banks for a considerable period of time if we are to get good value for money when they are re-privatised.”

Nick Clegg’s speech in full:

The way a society treats its elderly and vulnerable people is a true mark of its identity. With an ageing population, rising numbers of people suffering from dementia and millions of people in need of care with basics like washing, dressing and feeding themselves - if ever there was an issue for cross-party talks, this was it.

Those talks fell apart when the Conservatives chose to launch a poster and in doing so killed off one of the best hopes in recent years of agreeing a long-term settlement.

But the Labour Party contributed to this breakdown with their cynical promise of free care at home. A promise everyone now knows will actually lead to cuts in care budgets for some of the most vulnerable elderly people. This policy is one of Gordon Browns so-called dividing lines, designed to paint opposition parties into a corner rather than to improve the country.
We need a solution that unites the generations, not divides them.

A solution we can all sign up to, not just for today but for the long term.

A solution that will not be torn apart on the rocks of short-term party-political advantage.
The Liberal Democrat manifesto will confirm that progress must be and will be made on a consensus basis, by an independent, cross-party commission.

I commit us to reaching an agreement that will help all people, no matter their needs in their retirement. An agreement that is fair, affordable and sustainable.

I challenge the other party leaders to stop grandstanding and put the long-term needs of the elderly ahead of the short term demands of politics.

I would be happy to meet with Gordon Brown and David Cameron at any time on the basis of the principles I have set out to start thrashing out the beginnings of a cross-party solution.
But, even as we wait for progress on a long-term approach, that doesn’t mean we can’t do something now to help with the difficult challenges faced by the many families in which someone is in need of care.

It is time to recognise that there is a hidden army of people in Britain, without whom no social care policy would be even remotely affordable.

Between them, they save the country an estimated 87 billion a year.

They are some of the most dedicated, hard-working and under-valued people in Britain today.

They are carers: people who put in hour after hour, day after day, week after week of care for their relatives and loved ones.

The physical challenge of looking after someone who needs help.

But also the emotional challenge of seeing someone you love struggle or suffer.

There are a million carers who do this for more than 50 hours a week.

That’s more hours than anyone else is allowed to work in paid employment.

Without even the right to time off, breaks or holiday.

I am in awe of every carer, young or old.

I want to make an announcement today about a new policy we will put in our manifesto to help carers. Labour has allocated hundreds of millions of pounds to its mistaken pledge on care at home. That policy threatens other forms of social care, has not been properly costed and should be dropped.

We are proposing an alternative: guaranteed respite care for the million hardest working carers in Britain.

Paid for by redirecting the money the Department of Health has allocated to the Governments flawed care policy, together with its existing, poorly-focused funds for respite care.

It is a simple promise: if you care for more than 50 hours a week, you will have the right to a full week of respite.

Giving you the time you so desperately need to rest, recuperate, or simply have a holiday.
This commitment to carers would finally acknowledge the debt all of society owes to carers. And it would make a difference, a real difference, to a million families straight away.

The Policy in Brief

There are close to five million unpaid carers in England, with a million providing more than 50hrs care each week. Liberal Democrats believe that people who selflessly provide care to their loved ones deserve a break.  In most jobs you get paid holidays but for a huge number of carers that simply isn’t an option. We believe that respite care is a lifeline - not just for carers but for whole families.  That’s why we will provide a weeks break from caring every year to the million unpaid carers who provide more than 50 hours care each week.

Why is it Necessary?

Caring matters deeply to families and individuals but when you are taking care of somebody you also need to think about caring for yourself.  The millions of unpaid carers in this country deserve as much support as possible and that is why we will provide a week of guaranteed respite care each year for a million carers who work the longest hours. This also makes financial sense because carers who don’t get a break can often end up suffering health problems themselves. Sustaining the ability of carers to provide the care and support they give to others is of critical importance.

Policy Detail

We will provide a weeks respite care to the million carers in England who currently provide more than 50 hours of care every week. Each carer will be entitled to receive a personal budget each year equivalent to the cost of a care homes weekly charge to redeem with whichever local service they choose.

How you use your personal budget will depend on your own circumstances. The money can be used to take one break or a series of breaks, for example: to get someone to take over caring for several weekends while the carer takes a break; payment towards the cost of the person you care for going away leaving you to take a break at home; arranging for someone to look after the person you care for at home while you go away; payment towards the cost of a break for you both together.

Each Local Health Board (currently Primary Care Trusts) will receive a block grant dependent on an assessment of the needs of their local populace and the costs of care in their local area. Local Authorities are already equipped to carry out assessments of the needs of the people requiring care, and the needs of their carers. Once such an assessment has been made and the person is considered to eligible they will be able to apply to their Local Health Board for funding for respite care. By operating the system in this way we hope to encourage improved partnerships between the NHS, social care and third sectors, in looking after the needs of carers.

Costs/Savings

We will provide a week’s respite care to the million carers in England who currently provide more than 50 hours of care every week. The total cost of this scheme will start from 460m in 2010-11 rising to 500m in 2014-15. Some people will not want to take part in the scheme and some will already qualify for respite care through local authority funding. We have therefore assumed a 90% take-up rate for this scheme.

We will pay for this by using the 420m of health funding that the government intends to use for the Personal Care at Home Bill. And we supplement this money with the 100m that has already been allocated by the Department of Health for respite care through the Carers Strategy.

“Dangling this prospect, when UKFI has said it will take at least 5 years before the likes of RBS are back in private hands, is Tory electioneering at its most cynical.  They have no understanding of the economy they are aspiring to run.

“The nationalised and semi nationalised banks should be re-privatised when the conditions are right to maximise tax payer return. Selling shares off at a discounted rate will not achieve this.

“These banks should be set the concrete objective of ensuring lending to sound small and medium sized businesses who are the drivers of our economic recovery.

“Actively encouraging people on very low incomes to invest in a volatile share market beggars belief and shows just how removed the Tories are from everyday reality.

“A young couple on low income is more concerned with putting food on the table than speculating on the stock market.

“If the Tories were actually committed to helping people on they would be trying to instil fairness into the tax system instead of coming up with this ill conceived attempt to buy their vote.”

Sir Ian Kennedy is chairman of the new Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa), set up in the wake of the MP expenses scandal last year, and he told the Times gains made from rises in the value of properties should not be retained. “The mechanism for doing it is the only question we have to decide,” he said.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8517337.stm

This proposal is similar to one set out last April by Nick Clegg. Under Mr Clegg’s proposals, put forward at a meeting with the Labour and Conservative leaders, MPs would no longer be able to claim mortgage interest payments on expenses and would be compensated only for rental payments. MPs who then sold their second homes would be forced to return to the taxpayer a proportion of the mortgage interest they had claimed, out of the profit. The principle being that MPs should not continue to profit from huge capital gains at the taxpayers’ expense.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6062719.ece

However when checked it was discovered that they had got the decimal point in the wrong place - the real figure is 5.4% (54 for every 1000) - which is actually down from the figure in 1998 which was 6.0%!

What was the Tory response: the misplacing of a decimal point made “no difference” to claims Labour had let down the poor.

Well I’m not sure this is how people will see such a glaring error - saying the figure had gone up when in fact it had gone down and getting the figure wrong by a staggering 48.6%!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8515798.stm

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/labour-attack-tories-over-dodgy-pregnancy-figures-1899727.html

This week it emerged that the three main parties, including the Lib Dems, had met privately over the issue. But talks broke down and MPs verbally attacked each other in Parliament over their parties’ respective plans. The organisations said politicians had to find a “sustainable” solution to improve care for the elderly.

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb said an attempt to build a consensus between the parties had been “undermined by this descent to a puerile level of point scoring”.

The 18 Organisations including Age Concern, Help the Aged and Macmillan Cancer Support jointly wrote to the Times to denounce the squabble. They said: “We welcome the political attention that social care is receiving. However, we are in danger of seeing this most important of debates become reduced to election soundbites and poster slogans.”

In the letter, they said: “The vexed question of who pays is unquestionably difficult, and the solutions may be controversial - but the costs of failing to act are simply too great to allow the debate needed to be drowned out by party-political squabbling.”

They called for a “serious debate” and said: It is premature to rule out future proposals to score a political point… social care reform needs to be an issue of consensus.

“We need a care settlement that delivers long-term solutions that will not be reversed by changes in government or in the economic climate.”

See the story in The Times:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article7025714.ece

Government advisor Dame Joan Bakewell - described as its “voice of older people” - said the row between the parties was “shameful”. “It’s highly regrettable that political interests have stepped in where a really serious issue was being discussed by serious men with the interests of older people at heart,” Dame Joan said.

“The fact that it has become a political circus is shameful.”

See the BBC’s full story:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8513949.stm

SIGNATORIES

Carers UK

Counsel and Care

Joseph Rowntree Foundation

National Care Forum

English Community Care Association

Alzheimer’s Society

Age Concern and Help the Aged

Resolution Foundation

WRVS

MS Society

Macmillan Cancer Support

Sue Ryder Care

Contact A Family

Crossroads Care

Princess Royal Trust for Carers

Grandparents Plus

Radar

Parkinson’s Disease Society

The Tories were opposed to the voters being given any chance of having a say on voting reform. This after everything Cameron said just the other day about his party being the only one seeking to tackle Britain’s broken politics! They showed utter contempt for supporters of minor parties, with some Tory MPs describing them as “nutters ” who could end up determining who was elected if there was a change from First Past The Post. They argued there was nothing wrong in an MP with the most votes getting elected no matter how few votes he received, or how many voters had voted for someone else.

The Labour argument (which has reared up suddenly now after 13 years of them choosing to do nothing) was voters should be given a referendum with just one option - change to the Alternative Vote sytem. This is where voters put 1,2,3,4 etc against the candidates rather than just marking one X. The votes from lower scoring candidates are reallocated to the second choices until the the MP obtains 50% plus 1 of the votes.

Labour won the vote so there will be a referendum to be held by October 2011 on changing the voting system. A Lib Dem amendment suggesting that other options (like PR) could also be put to the voters in the referendum for them to determine which system they preferred was not surprisingly defeated!

Watching the proceedings there were two things I found laughable:

- a small number took part in the debate, then everybody tried to cram into the chamber for the vote.  Why on earth can we not use a chamber big enough for everyone to sit down in, rather than having to crush in?

- when it came to the votes they all trooped out, then back in, then back out, then back in again. Why do we not have a system in place where they could simply press a button to indicate their vote each time? It would save time and after all this is 2010!

When she reached the half-way stage in her epic journey on 9th February she had already tripled the Guinness World Record for the longest solo journey by kayak. The Guinness World Record, set in 2006, had stood at 326.98 miles.

Congratulations to Helen for her personal triumph and also to Sport Relief for all their continuing efforts to aid those in need!!

See here for further details on BBC website:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8506683.stm

Nine LNPs have been operating in Walsall since 2004 to help local people to become more involved in matters that affect them in the area in which they live. Despite early success however, their popularity has waned in recent years, with limited attendance at public meetings and lack of understanding of their purpose.A review of the LNPs, which began in September 2008, confirmed that a new way of engaging with the public was required for the council and its partners to work more closely with residents.

The new model will see the borough divided into six community areas. Within each Community Area, there will be at least one ‘Place of Focus’. These will be relatively small, locally identified places where residents and the council and its partners will work together to solve specific issues and problems.

Each Community Area will have a local budget of £40,000, managed by an Area Manager, which will be used to tackle issues affecting the people who live there. Of that, half (£20k) will be ring-fenced to the identified ‘place of focus’ within each Community Area.

It is estimated that the implementation of the new scheme will cost the council £412,000 in 2010/11 and £357,000 in 2011/12.  In addition NHS Walsall and Walsall Housing Group have committed financial support to the scheme.

For further details:

http://www.walsall.gov.uk/news/green_light_for_new_neighbourhood_model.htm

The Lib Dems would free up £1.5bn from the tax credits change and £1bn from reductions to administration costs.

He wanted to give every child “a chance to get ahead… and give every child a chance to fulfil their potential”.

See the full BBC article here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8490701.stm

An estimated 30,000 tonnes of portable batteries - from those in electrical goods like torches, to rechargeable ones in mobile phones - enter the UK market each year.At present, the other 97% eventually end up in landfill sites, where they can leak toxic chemicals into the soil.

I’ve already seen the recycling bin in the entrance of a number of supermarkets and there is one of course at the Council rubbish tips , so it is easy to ensure they go to be recycled.

If you want know more here is a link to BBC article:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8490175.stm

The Better Government Initiative report,  compiled by 14 former senior civil servants,  says: “There has been too much legislation in recent years, some of it has been unnecessary and too much of it has been badly prepared.”

It says badly trained ministers, both Tory and Labour,  have rushed through “ill thought-out” legislation to satisfy media demands. And they say “political point scoring” has become more important to ministers than solving actual problems.

Examples given of bad laws that have resulted from the way government now operates  include: the poll tax of 1990, the Dangerous Dogs Act of 1991, the failure of the Child Support Agency, the Hunting Act 2004 and the story of the Millennium Dome.

The report says governments have created “perverse incentives” and “unintended consequences of targets and performance indicators”.There is “confusion and loss of expertise resulting from frequent changes of policy or organisation and movement of staff to meet new demands”, it adds.

The report also argues that there has been “loss of direction as one initiative is laid on top of another, or ‘trialled’ and ‘rolled out’, distracting attention from ordinary business”.

It criticises “excessive bureaucracy in prescribing new systems or procedures” and “a ‘tick-box’ culture in which complying with the rules replaces responsible judgment and individual discretion”.

For further details:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8481943.stm

http://www.bettergovernmentinitiative.co.uk/da/57700

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8483320.stm

I have managed to drastically reduce the waste that we put into our grey bin for landfill - usually 2 small carrier bags full a week - but I will now look again to see if there are further steps I can take to reduce this even more.

We are lucky to have the big recycling bins that with the increased items you can put in make things much easier than they were.

It would be nice to see the investment of a small amount of my time in improving recycling might one day result in the Council having to pay lower landfill charges, enabling them to use the money more usefully - maybe on speeding up the filling of potholes……

“Deep-seated and systemic differences” remain between men and women and minority groups in pay and employment, the National Equality Panel found. It said in areas such as neighbourhood renewal, taxes and education, policy action was needed to limit inequality.

Commenting on today’s report, David Law the Liberal Democrat Shadow Children, Schools and Families Secretary said:

“This report confirms the damage done to Britain’s society in the 1980s by the Conservative Government has yet to be repaired.

“Gordon Brown has failed to make significant progress in reducing inequality. His Government has run out of ideas for tackling the lack of opportunity for so many children and the chasm that separates the rich from the poor.

“The Conservatives talk about a broken society, but their policies on inheritance tax and cutting education funding would make Britain less fair and further reduce opportunities for disadvantaged young people.”

2010 - 2 boys attacked. David Cameron claims that the teenage boys torture case in South Yorkshire had to be considered as part of what was “going wrong” in society because of Labour. Surprisingly the papers have not castigated him, instead many have chosen to agree and blame Labour - double standards or what?

Attacks like this have unfortunately taken place without reason or pattern over the years - and sadly may happen again - irrespective of which party is in power. They are, thankfully, too rare to tell us much about the state of the nation.

I believe political leaders and the media should avoid using the human tragedy of families involved for political gain!

“The efforts at clarifications have not been effective. In fairness to Mr Campbell and in the interest of the Inquiry itself, he should be recalled to give further evidence on these matters and to allow members of the Inquiry to question him again.

“These issues go right to the heart of the deliberations and the responsibilities of the committee, this is why clarification is key.”

Commenting on David Cameron’s claims that he would have to think ‘much more carefully’ on future interventions such as Iraq, Edward Davey said:

“Iraq was a judgement call and David Cameron and the Conservatives got it badly wrong. David Cameron could have joined the Liberal Democrats in opposing this illegal war at the time, but instead he backed Blair and Bush.

“Now Cameron admits that he didn’t even think carefully before voting for Britain’s worst foreign policy disaster since Suez. If he didn’t think it was worth thinking things through before backing a hugely destructive invasion without the support of the UN, then he is alarmingly unfit for Government.

“David Cameron should just admit he got it wrong and apologise to the British people. Without recognising his own failure of judgement, and with unrepentant neo-conservatives like Liam Fox and William Hague at the helm of Tory defence and foreign policy, the public will question whether the Conservatives have changed at all.”

Reading this story you’d be forgiven for thinking that this was an initiative of Walsall’s Tory Cabinet when in fact it is a Government initiative launched the other day by none other than the Prime Minister.  Now I’m no lover of the Labour Party, but credit where credit is due.

Compare the Tories version with the one carried today on this website Free laptops and broadband for 270,000 families across the country in ground-breaking scheme.  The issue is about free computers and broadband access being available and putting that information out to make people aware of that fact, not trying to make out it’s you’re idea.

Following today’s Prime Minister’s Questions, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg has written to Gordon Brown, urging him to indicate to the Chilcot Inquiry that he would prefer to appear before it ahead of the election. The text of the letter is as follows:

Dear Gordon,

I am writing to urge you to indicate immediately to Sir John Chilcot that it is your strong preference to go before the Iraq Inquiry ahead of the General Election.

Following developments yesterday at Alastair Campbell’s hearing, your personal role in the decisions that led to the war in Iraq has now come under the spotlight. The notion that your hearing should take place after the election in order that the Inquiry remains outside of party politics therefore no longer holds. On the contrary, the sense that you have been granted special treatment because of your position as Prime Minister will only serve to undermine the perceived independence of the Committee.

As I said to you across the floor of the Commons today, people have a right to know the truth about the part you played in this war before they cast their verdict on your Government’s record. I urge you to confirm publicly that should Sir John Chilcot invite you to give evidence to the Inquiry ahead of the election you will agree to do so.

In a pitch unprecedented in its scope, ahead of a general election likely in May, the leader of the Liberal Democrats threw down the gauntlet to his opponents. He called on the Tories, and in particular the Conservative leader David Cameron, who has voted against gay rights, to prove that they really supported full gay equality.

In an interview with The Independent columnist Johann Hari for today’s edition of Attitude magazine, Mr Clegg changed the terms of political debate on what it means to be gay in Britain.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/clegg-lays-down-law-to-cameron-on-gay-rights-1866116.html

Last week’s phoney election campaign was a depressing experience.

The other parties managed to produce a greatest hits compilation of almost everything that has turned people off politics.

Airbrushed posters, meaningless slogans.
All set against the spectacle of the Government turning in on itself when the country is crying out for leadership.

But most depressing of all was that we learned that the Labour and Conservative parties have decided to run their election campaigns as if the world hadn’t changed:

Bombarding people with gimmicks and promises the country can no longer afford.
Treating people like children, as if winning elections is simply about who can provide the best shopping list of policies to buy off voter groups one by one.
Nobody believes a word of it.
Certainly not the voters and probably not even the politicians.

Playground politics.
Make-believe economics.

It really can’t go on like this.

I start this election year with a different assumption: voters know the game’s up for the old politics.

Shopping lists of pledges don’t wash any more. The politics of plenty are over.
After the expenses scandals most people will have no time for implausible promises and no interest in attempts to buy their favour with cheap trinkets.
But neither are they interested in relentless prophecies of doom and despair.

Faced with these new circumstances, I start from three simple beliefs:

First, treat voters like grown ups. People know that the country faces one of the greatest crises in our public finances in generations. They know that difficult decisions must be taken. So they want politicians to spell out their priorities, spell out the choices, rather than live in denial about the dilemmas we face.

Vince Cable and I have gone further than any other politicians in spelling out some of the steps which must now be taken to address the deficit and redirect money to our priorities: a 10% levy on banks profits as long as they are underwritten by the taxpayer; no to the like-for-like replacement of Trident; an end to tax credits to above average income families; cancelling the Government’s Baby Bond scheme; a £400 cap on all public sector pay increases.

These cuts and revenue raising measures are, in our view, unavoidable if we are to persuade people that we are serious – and we are deadly serious – about tackling Gordon Brown’s astronomical deficit, yet alone generate the resources we need for our social and political priorities.

Second, the importance of conviction. I have heard the claim that at a time of crisis in the Government’s finances, values and conviction must take a backseat to the immediate task of balancing the books.

I strongly disagree.

I do not believe it is possible to balance the books, yet alone transform British society, unless you are guided by strong values which guide you through the difficult choices which now must be made.

People will not support a Government which merely presents itself as a team of bean counting accountants – just as it will dismiss a Government living in denial about the enormity of the task ahead.

People want leadership that is realistic about the difficult decisions ahead, but optimistic about the way forward and guided by clear values.
The party which will win the argument in this year’s election campaign is the party which finds a way of marrying credibility and hope, restraint and generosity, discipline and compassion. That is what the Liberal Democrats will provide.

And, third, stick to the big ideas. The coming election will be no ordinary election. For once, the hype about the future of Britain being at stake is true.

Elections should be an opportunity for us all to ask: where next?
And for voters to choose.

As a country, we face acute social, environmental, economic and political problems.

The next Government will not only need to deal with the immediate crisis in the public finances.
It must reinvent our rotten political system, heal the social divisions which still thwart the hopes of millions, and put our economy on a new, more balanced, more sustainable footing.

None of this can be achieved if we merely tinker at the edges – the Labour and Conservative approach.
Talk of change is cheap.
Delivering big, permanent change is the real challenge.

We are putting our cards on the table now.
The heart of our manifesto will be short, direct and to the point.
We have stripped away everything that is not essential because the country cannot afford it.

We have isolated only two areas where we will make immediate, significant additional spending pledges: in education and in infrastructure investment.
And both will be funded from specific cuts in other areas of current Government spending.

No other party in British politics today has taken such a deliberate step to be open and credible with the British people about what we can and cannot afford.

And, yes, that means that some multi billion pound spending commitments we have promoted in the past – like new free childcare entitlements, a new citizen’s pension or free personal care – will no longer be firm commitments in our manifesto, but will be put on hold until they become affordable again.  And some of our other pledges such as the scrapping of tuition fees will have to be phased in over a longer period of time.

Our manifesto is based on a single insight: that the dreadful crises we have faced gives us the chance to reshape our country. And it is built on one simple and very British value: fairness.

Making this country fair will not be easy. There are huge vested interests standing in the way.

We will offer the British people the chance to vote for the four steps that are essential for a fairer Britain.

Only four. But they are four big changes – more significant than anything Labour or the Conservatives will offer at this election - that together will reshape the country we live in.

Fair taxes.
A new, fair start for all children at school.
A rebalanced, green economy.
And clean, open politics.

Four steps to a fairer Britain.

Why have we chosen these four priorities?
What do they say about the kind of society we are seeking to build?

As I set out in a pamphlet this Autumn, The Liberal Moment, I believe power, opportunity, good fortune is unfairly distributed in Britain.
I want fairness to be hardwired into every aspect of British life.

It’s just plain wrong that a child born in the poorest neighbourhood of Sheffield today will on average die fourteen years before a child born in the wealthiest neighbourhood down the road.
It’s just plain wrong that the City of London has been cossetted for years while first rate manufacturing companies have been ignored.
It’s just plain wrong that young people leaving school, College and University find it so difficult to get a foot on the property ladder, a steady job, and are saddled with crippling debt before their adult lives have even started.
It’s just plain wrong that our political system is the plaything of two old parties who do not represent the vast majority of people in Britain today.
It’s just plain wrong that a wealthy banker pays a lower rate of tax on his capital gains than his cleaner does on her monthly wages.

As a Liberal, I passionately believe in the potential of everyone to do well for themselves, their families, their communities – if only they are allowed and supported to do so.

That is why I have never shared the pessimism of the Labour party, a party still fixated with the idea that people’s lives can only be improved if someone in Whitehall tells them what to do.

That is why I have always rejected the lack of compassion and imagination of the Conservative Party, a party still fixated with giving tax breaks to the wealthy few rather than opportunity to the aspirant many.

My liberalism, then, is all about giving people the power to get ahead.
Fairness means opportunity is for everyone.
And that means that power must be dispersed, and never allowed to accumulate among elites – be they political, social or corporate – who inevitably exercise that power in their own interests.

It is the failure to disperse power that has made Britain unfair.
It was the failure to disperse the excess power accumulating in the City of London and the global financial markets that brought about the economic collapse.
And it was the failure to disperse political power that made politicians so isolated from reality that they created the expenses scandal.

The four priorities we will set out in our manifesto will put power back into people’s hands.
They will upend the status quo and dismantle, once and for all, the vested interests that have dominated our political and social life for too long.

They will make Britain the fair country I believe people want it to be.

Our tax plan would be the biggest tax reform in a generation.
It is needed because, in our society, money gives people power.
When money is unevenly distributed, so is power.
Of course, no tax system should try to create total equality of income.
But it can and should help redistribute some wealth – and power – to alleviate the worst excesses of inequality.
Under Labour’s unfair taxes, however, power is taken away from the poorest and given to the richest because the poorest 20% pay the highest proportion of their income in tax….
While the richest people and the biggest corporations can effectively pick and choose what taxes to pay.

That is why tax reform is top of our list.
Only when everyone pays their fair share, and no-one is crippled by their tax bill, will we have a fair society.
We will close loopholes for the richest and introduce a tax on mansions to fund tax cuts of £700 for everyone else.
No-one will pay income tax on the first £10,000 they earn, meaning tax freedom for millions of low earners and pensioners, while millions more get hundreds of pounds back in their pockets.
The biggest tax reform in generations.
A level of change you will never see proposed by the other parties.
Only the Liberal Democrats will make taxes permanently fair.

Next: we will give every child the fair start they deserve by reducing class sizes and increasing one to one tuition in our schools.
Nothing is more important in dispersing power and delivering opportunities to people of every background than education, especially education when children are very young.

As a report I commissioned on social mobility from Martin Narey in 2008 concluded, bright but poor children are still being left behind in our school system.
Social disadvantage is reflected in class results from an early age.

Countless young boys and girls are falling behind at school not because of a lack of potential, but because of the circumstances of their birth.
This is not only unfair on them – it blights the education of the whole class when some pupils start falling behind the rest and the class is unable to move forward as one.
Any teacher, any parent of young children, knows that a successful school with happy, fulfilled children depends on children studying happily together rather than pulling apart.

That is why, following on directly from Martin’s conclusions, we are devoting significant new resources to our schools, freed up by taking above average income families out of the tax credit system.
The money will be targeted directly at the most deprived children.
We know for a fact this is the only way to make society fair.
The only way to ensure, over the long term, that every child has opportunities, no matter their background, their home town or their parent’s bank balance.

We’ll be putting more money, £2.5 billion, into schools to pay for more teachers, better discipline and catch-up classes.
Cutting class sizes so children get the individual attention they need to thrive.
Schools receiving an average of £2,500 extra per pupil for each of the million most deprived children in the country they teach.

Of course, an education is little use if there’s nothing for you to do once you leave school or college.
So the third building block of a fair society is economic opportunity.

There are nearly 100,000 square miles in Britain.
For the last thirty years, politicians have been obsessed with just one of them: the City of London.

We will never have a fair society while this is allowed to continue.
The big, permanent change we offer is a shift away from the traditional over-reliance on the City of London and on financial services.
We will usher in a new era where growth is enabled in every part of Britain.
And we place a new emphasis on infrastructure, on people, and on green technology.
Growth that lasts.

Our vision is that, 10 years from now, our economy will be very different from the one we have today. Instead of bias towards the city, there will be balance. Instead of short-term fixes, we will seek growth that lasts.
Thriving local and regional banks, tied into their communities, with real knowledge of their customers, instead of the faceless global leviathans of the international markets.
Diverse, thriving town centres each with their own identity instead of identikit high streets dominated by global retailers.
Reliable transport infrastructure so people can get to work without it costing a fortune or costing the planet.
Wealthy people encouraged to channel their money into supporting local entrepreneurs instead of ferreting it away in offshore accounts.
Each community, home, and office generating its own power and heat locally, instead of reliant on the centralised, polluting energy grid.

None of that will happen under any party other than the Liberal Democrats.
Labour and the Conservatives want to prop up the City, because finance is the only kind of prosperity they understand.
If that is allowed to happen, the only thing that is certain is that we will find ourselves facing the same problems all over again in years to come.
We are the only party that doesn’t just want to rebuild the economy – we want to change it permanently so that we have growth that lasts.

The final change is the one that makes the others possible.
Political reform.
The fair society we seek to build will not be possible without it.
Our corrupt politics is not capable of driving through change.
It exists to block it, to protect the status quo and maintain the vested interests of an old elite.

Only a party which will really disperse power, breaking open the sorry, stale system of governance, rebuilding local government, and embracing fair votes for every level of election can reinvigorate our democracy.
From the smallest parish council to the corridors of Westminster, we have to create a politics that opens its doors to every citizen.
A politics that is open, transparent, and local, so that the power to push through change is in the hands of everyone.

That is why we will get big money and corrupt donors out of politics altogether.
Reduce the number of MPs by 150.
Devolve power over the police and NHS to local communities.
Change the voting system to abolish safe seats and make every vote count.
And give constituents the right to sack corrupt MPs.

Fair taxes.
A new, fair start for all children at school.
A rebalanced, green economy.
And clean, open politics.

Four steps to real change.
Four steps to a fairer Britain.

The coming months are a crucial time for politics.
We will be using those months to focus on these four priorities.
Unveiling, step by step, more details.
How the changes will work in practice.
How they will affect people.
And why they are needed for a fairer Britain.

So I’m putting our cards on the table.
David Cameron and Gordon Brown are playing the politics of the airbrush and the focus group.
One doesn’t know what he believes. The other doesn’t know what to do with the power he clings to so desperately.

I know what I believe.
I am clear about the real changes a new Government must bring about.

I believe the country wants something different.
The Liberal Democrats are different.
We offer credibility where it’s needed.
And hope for our common future.

“David Cameron didn’t just mess up because he blundered in an interview, he messed up because his policy is incoherent and fundamentally unfair. It is unfair because it gives tax breaks to married couples where one person can afford to stay at home, but does nothing for couples who both have to work.

“It is unfair because a family that loses one parent will have their tragedy compounded by an effective tax rise.

“And it is unfair because ultimately it takes money from the pockets of poorer families and gives it to rich ones.

“Labour has failed to deliver fairness and the Tories can’t be trusted to make the country fairer. Only the Liberal Democrats will build a fairer Britain.”

1. forget expansion plans

2. appeal the decision (which will involve Council facing paying their legal costs should the decision be overturned)

3.  look at an alternative site outside Aldridge centre that would enable expansion to proceed.

I’m told that the Morrisons board will consider the options soon.

Commenting on David Cameron’s decision to stick with his proposed inheritance tax cut and his assertion that it will be paid for by taxing non-doms, Vince Cable said:

“It’s unbelievable that the Tories are still planning to cut taxes for a handful of millionaires when the majority of people across the country are feeling the squeeze. We need fair tax cuts that put money back in the pockets of ordinary people.

“The Tory sums simply do not stack up. It is irresponsible and highly misleading for George Osborne to continue to pretend that they do.

“If Osborne and Cameron can’t get these simple sums right how can they possibly be trusted to run the economy.”

Suddenly over the last few months, and the Christmas period in particular, everything seems to have changed. Mr Cameron has said there is little between the Tories and Lib Dems, who are both striving for fairness in Britain. Mr Brown then says similar things about Labour and the Lib Dems being close in ideals. Lib Dems are apparently now decent people who have developed a series of policies that are worthy of consideration and both the Tories and Labour want to talk to us.

The aim I’m sure is to try and persuade anyone thinking of switching to Lib Dem from Tory or Labour that there is no need as our policies are the same as theirs, so there is no point! Call me cynical if you want, but it hasn’t escaped my attention that all these kind words have coincided with the polls showing a levelling off in Tory support and a rise in Labour support. The words HUNG PARLIAMENT are being banded around and both now seem to be vying for Lib Dem support.

I hope those Tories and Labour voters who were thinking of switching to the Lib Dems, but were put off because they believed they would be risking the UK’s future, will look at the recent statements of Cameron and Brown to see there is clearly no justification for any such fears.

I believe the Lib Dems have the best policies and more importantly the best people to see these are brought in. Vince Cable has shown himself to be head and shoulders above Darling and Osborne in realising the financial problems we face and how best to tackle these. On many occasions I’ve seen Lib Dem policies taken and then badly implemented by the other parties, who had no idea of the ideals behind them.

If you really do desire to see the Lib Dems ideas for fairness, honesty and justice in politics implemented then I would urge you to support and vote Lib Dem, because the others have had their chance and failed to do it. Do they really deserve any more chances??

I don’t believe it is any coincidence that with the advances in CCTV and DNA technologies, we have seen a year on year reduction in crime, particularly murders which are at a 20 year low.

I remember once looking round the House of Commons during another Punch and Judy session of Prime Ministers Questions. In the real world, youth unemployment had just reached its highest level ever, our brave soldiers were facing extraordinary dangers in Afghanistan, the bankers were still gorging themselves on bonuses, and the economy was in the middle of the worst recession in generations. And what were the politicians doing? Yelling and guffawing at each other as if the world outside didn’t exist.

So I don’t blame anyone for feeling a sense of despair about our clapped out political system. You are being taken for granted by the people in charge. Big money is hollowing out politics with some rich donors not even bothering to say whether they pay full British taxes or not. And to top it all the expenses scandals exposed some MPs as spivvy property speculators and tax evaders rather than public servants.

This whole set-up has to change. That’s what 2010 should be all about.  Big, permanent change for the better.

People’s  faith in politics may be dented, but I still believe in our ability to learn from the mistakes of the past, and set things on a new course.

2010 must be the year we press the political reset button.

But that will only happen if we do things differently.  More of the same won’t produce anything new.
Of course both Labour and the Conservatives have learned to parrot the language of change. But where’s the proof they mean it? Despite all the hot air about fixing politics they have both voted against giving people the right to sack MPs who’ve seriously broken the rules. Both have refused to clean up the rotten system of party political funding. Both refuse to give you your say by introducing  fair votes to the House of Commons. And both refuse to shake up the City of London, so that bankers can never again play Russian roulette with your savings.

Some people say, what’s the point of voting when the same old parties always win? I say: vote for what you believe in. If you like what the Liberal Democrats stand for, vote for it. If you want real change, not phoney change, vote for it. If you think things should be different, vote for it.

At the end of the day, politics should be about what you believe. What kind of Britain do you want to live in? What kind of world do we want our children and grandchildren to grow up in?

So as the countdown to the next General Election finally begins, I have a simple question for the other party leaders: what do you believe, really believe?People don’t want leading politicians clinging on to power for its own sake, or just telling people what they want to hear. There’s got to be more to it than that.

I have one belief above all others: a belief in fairness.  Under my leadership the Liberal Democrats have been working on new ideas to make Britain the fair country I believe most people want it to be. We want to raise standards in all of our schools by giving specific help to the children most in need, and by making class sizes smaller. Soon we will be publishing new ideas to turn our economy away from its over dependence on the City of London to a new, green economy where hundreds of thousands of new jobs will be created as we rebuild our transport, energy and housing infrastructure. Above all, we are now the only party with a detailed plan to make taxes fair – removing all income tax on the first £10000 you earn, paid for by asking people at the top to pay a bit more.

If we as Leaders want people to turn out to vote at all at the next General Election, we have got to show people our convictions, not just dividing lines, our beliefs, not just soundbites.

I hope in the coming months even more people will get a chance to find out what I believe in, and the beliefs of the Liberal Democrats. If enough people share our convictions, our beliefs, then 2010 really can be the beginning of something new. “

According to worrying research by the charity Diabetes UK there are already 255,405 people diagnosed with diabetes in the West idlands region and around 50,000 more people who have the condition without knowing it. Diabetes has been linked to almost one in eight adult deaths in the West Midlands.

Liz said: “It is worrying that so many people in our region and up to 750,000 people in the UK may have type 2 diabetes without knowing it and this number is set to increase. Diabetes is a chronic, debilitating and costly disease but with early diagnosis many of the more serious complications may be avoided. I would encourage anyone at risk to take the test which is really simple, it only takes a few minutes and could save their life. “The traditional warning signs of type 2 diabetes are often missing or hard to detect, which makes a test even more important.”

“David Cameron has failed to seal the deal with the British public, who believe the Conservatives would govern for the well-off and are not an attractive alternative to Labour.”

In a remarkable snapshot of national opinion just months ahead of the general election, a ComRes poll for The Independent found that people disagree with the statement that “the Conservative Party offers an appealing alternative to the Labour Party”, by a margin of 49 to 45 per cent.

Related articles from “The Independent”

• Michael Brown: Tories still dogged by ‘rich toffs’ image
• Leading article: David Cameron needs to reclaim the centre ground
• Cameron to keep hospice funding
• Steve Richards: Where have all the big beasts gone?
• Party leaders to take part in election TV debates
• Search the news archive for more stories

Meanwhile, by 52 to 44 per cent, the public agrees with the statement that “a Conservative Government would mainly represent the interests of the well-off rather than ordinary people”……. Full story at  http://bit.ly/6SNwTf

Previous attempts to get leaders to do a TV debate have failed

The UK looks set to have its first ever televised leader election debates after a deal was struck between the three big parties and the main broadcasters.

Labour’s Gordon Brown, Conservative leader David Cameron and Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg have agreed to go head-to-head in a series of three debates.

Each clash will last about 90 minutes, with the first shown on ITV, the second on Sky, and the third on the BBC.

“I’m delighted that these debates will finally go ahead,” said the Liberal Democrat Leader. “After a terrible year for politicians because of the expenses scandals, these debates will be an opportunity to start re-engaging people with politics.

“Next year everybody will get the chance to decide this country’s future. I hope an open, honest and vigorous debate will encourage more people to have their say at the ballot box.” ]]> http://roysheward.mycouncillor.org.uk/2009/12/21/nick-clegg-delighted-that-leaders-debates-will-take-place-in-2010/feed/ http://roysheward.mycouncillor.org.uk/2009/12/20/rage-against-the-machine-beat-x-factor-winner-in-charts/ http://roysheward.mycouncillor.org.uk/2009/12/20/rage-against-the-machine-beat-x-factor-winner-in-charts/#comments Sun, 20 Dec 2009 19:32:48 +0000 Aldridge Brownhills Liberal Democrats http://roysheward.mycouncillor.org.uk/2009/12/20/rage-against-the-machine-beat-x-factor-winner-in-charts/ Rock band Rage Against The Machine has won the most competitive battle in years for the Christmas number one.

The band’s single, Killing In The Name, sold 500,000 downloads beating X Factor winner Joe McElderry’s The Climb by 50,000 copies to clinch the top spot.

Their success followed a Facebook campaign designed to prevent another X Factor number one.

One retailer said it was a “truly remarkable outcome - possibly the greatest chart upset ever”.

Personally it restores my faith in the great British public, unwilling to be force-fed a pretty non-discript song by Mr Cowell (although I do like Joe’s voice) and taking action to make their will be known!

“We need to be careful not to fall for Conservative remedies, which would involve sudden deep cuts in the public sector at a time when the economy is still very fragile and a very real risk of falling back into a continuing and deepening recession.”

The figures also show that:

• There were 3,000 more people in residential care this year who were forced to sell their homes – this is the equivalent of 8 homes sold each day
• Almost one third (31%) of the 155,000 self-funders who are in residential care in 2009 were forced to sell their homes to cover the costs
• Since 2005 the number of people in care who have been forced to sell their homes has increase of 23% - an extra 9,000 people

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary, Norman Lamb said:

“This Government’s treatment of older people is its shameful legacy.

“Ministers have turned their backs on thousands of older people who are forced to sell their homes each year to pay for the costs of care.

“The recent Social Care Green Paper was the perfect opportunity to sort this problem out, but yet again Labour has kicked this issue into the long grass.

“We need a complete overhaul of the current unfair system so that people’s homes are no longer considered fair game to cover care bills.

“Whoever wins the next election cannot avoid the fact that we’re facing a crisis in funding for care. What we need is a long-term solution where the state pays its fair share and individuals are encouraged to save for later life.”

Supported by three other MEPs from different parties, Liz Lynne has put down a Written Declaration calling for the plan as part of a sustained Europe-wide campaign to beat the disease, which kills nearly 90,000 women in Europe every year.

Liz Lynne MEP was co-chair of MEPs Against Cancer in the last parliament and is leading the campaign to ensure it is set up again. Liz has worked closely with the European Breast Cancer Coalition of cancer charities in drawing up the proposals in the Declaration, launched today at the European Parliament in Strasbourg .

The Declaration calls for every EU member state to introduce nationwide breast screening, and for the Commission to draw up a progress report every two years.

Liz Lynne said: “Breast cancer is still the leading cause of death of women between 35 and 59, and across European Union nations 331,392 women were diagnosed in the most recent yearly figures.

“We need to ensure that every member state including Britain is taking the most effective steps to fight this terrible disease and we hope as many MEPs as possible will sign this Declaration - we need 369 signatures to force a debate.”

Full Story @ http://bit.ly/51SwQJ

Procter and Gamble Ltd, which makes the product, admitted “minor retouching”. But the company said Twiggy was a “beautiful woman” and alterations were “inconsistent” with its policies.

The image had been voluntarily replaced with one that had no “post-production” work in the eye area, it said. Procter and Gamble denied the advert could have negative perceptions on people’s body image and rejected claims it was “socially irresponsible”.

It’s accepted industry practice in advertising to choose beautiful women such as Twiggy, as models, and to use cosmetics, hair styling and lighting to show them at their best Procter and Gamble spokesman

More than 700 people complained about the “digitally re-touched” image in a website campaign set up by Jo Swinson, the Scottish Liberal Democrat MP.

In its ruling, the ASA agreed the advert was not socially irresponsible, and said no further action was required because the image had already been withdrawn. It said it acknowledged advertisers were keen to present their products in their most positive light, often using techniques such as post-production enhancement and the re-touching of images.

“However, we considered that the post-production re-touching of this ad, specifically in the eye area, could give consumers a misleading impression of the effect the product could achieve. We considered that the combination of references to ‘younger looking eyes’, including the claim ‘reduces the look of wrinkles and dark circles for brighter, younger looking eyes’, and post-production re-touching of Twiggy’s image around the eye area, was likely to mislead,” it said.

Twiggy became known as the world’s first supermodel in the 1960s

Ms Swinson said she hoped the ASA’s decision would bring airbrushing in advertising “under control”.

“Experts have already proved that airbrushing contributes to a host of problems in women and young girls such as depression and eating disorders.

“They shouldn’t constantly feel the need to measure up to a very narrow range of digitally-manipulated pictures,” she said.

“All MPs and peers would have to pay taxes in the UK under legislation that would be rushed through if he became prime minister, David Cameron has said.”

What lies behind this rush to put a law through? It is that the Conservatives seem to need a law to force their own candidates (e.g. Zak Goldsmith) and donors (e.g. Lord Ashcroft)  to pay UK taxes like the rest of us, otherwise they seem happy to carry on avoiding paying tax!

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said: “It is the height of hypocrisy for the Tories to suggest a new law when they opposed Liberal Democrat Lord Oakeshott’s bill to stop non-doms sitting as peers.  Someone who wants to pass laws about tax in this country ought to pay this country’s full taxes, and not hide behind the special offshore status of non-doms.”

A Tory spokesman said Mr Huhne was “wrong”, adding: “When the other parties attack these proposals it just shows they don’t get it.” What a joke, it seems it is only their own supporters who don’t get it,  and need a law passed before they will do what is right!