The views expressed in this Blog are mine and do not necessarily represent County Council policy or Conservative Party policy
31/05/10
From a BP promotional poster!
If you can't read the small print on the T-shirt, it reads "We're bringing oil to American shores"!
My thanks to Cllr Mike Badcock for this!
29/05/10
Simon Hughes is standing in the Liberal party Deputy Leader election, following the resignation of Vince Cable recently.
Hughes is a leftie and it is clear he is deeply unhappy with the Liberal-Conservative coalition that David Cameron has formed with Nick Clegg. Clegg and Laws are both seen as well to the right of the Liberals while Hughes is well to the left.
If he is elected, I suspect he will be a thorn in the side of Clegg and Laws, if the latter survives his expenses scandal.
Here is a link to the Simon Hughes web site where he demonstrates his unhappiness with the coalition.
John
Prescott has been made a peer in the Dissolution Honours list!
There is some merriment that this bastion of the solid working class traditional wing of the Labour party should have swallowed his principles and accepted a title that is anathema to him in a Second Chamber that he would dearly love to abolish.
The rumour is that it appealed to his wife, Pauline, much more than to John. She has had a lot to put up with so good for Lady Pauline!
Here is a link to the full Dissolution Honours list.
David Laws is Chief
Secretary to the Treasury in the Coalition and the Liberal MP for Yeovil.
As Chief Secretary, he has responsibility for making the cuts in national
spending to bring our broken economy back into balance.
It transpires he has been claiming rent paid to his partner, James Lundie, for a London flat they share. James Lundie used to work for the Liberal party as a press officer and now works for a lobbying consultancy.
According to the The Daily Telegraph, Laws has claimed around £40,000 in rent over the last 10 years, despite a rule that prevents MPs claiming for rent paid to a spouse or partner.
Laws has referred himself to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner, a step with which David Cameron says he agrees.
Laws claims himself to be an intensely private person who had wished to keep his homosexuality private. I support him in this and find distasteful the modern way of flouting alternative life styles. However, the litmus test for me is what would have happened if this had been one of DC's team. I rather think if it had been a Conservative member of the Cabinet, he would have been packing his bags by now.
FEMALE INTERVIEWER:
So, General Cosgrove, what things are you going to teach these young boys
when they visit your base?
GENERAL COSGROVE:!
We're going to teach them climbing, canoeing, archery and shooting.
FEMALE INTERVIEWER:
Shooting! That's a bit irresponsible, isn't it?
GENERAL COSGROVE:
I don't see why, they'll be properly supervised on the rifle range.
FEMALE INTERVIEWER:
Don't you admit that this is a terribly dangerous activity to be teaching
children?
GENERAL COSGROVE:
I don't see how. We will be teaching them proper rifle discipline before
they even touch a firearm.
FEMALE INTERVIEWER:
But you're equipping them to become violent killers.
GENERAL COSGROVE:
Well, Ma'am, you're equipped to be a prostitute but you're not one, are
you?
The radio went silent for 46 seconds and, when it returned, this interview was over.
General Cosgrove was interviewed on the radio recently.
Read his reply to the lady who interviewed him concerning guns and
children. 
Today's Cuts Announcements I watched the cuts announced by George Osborne and his Liberal Chief Secretary this morning. I have to confess to being none the wiser as to the impact on Oxfordshire County Council or more generally.
In the County Council, we have planned for a significant reduction in government grant which accounts for almost two thirds of our annual one billion pound budget and for a very low increase in council tax. Whether or not our planned cuts will be enough, I do not know. I rather think they will not and that we will have to dig deeper to maintain financial balance, given the degree of debt this country faces.
As a Board Member of the South East England Development Agency, I am also concerned to know its financial fate. Our economy in the South East is very strong. We are the engine room of the country, contributing almost as much net revenue to the Treasury as London and the Eastern Region combined while the other six regions take money from the Treasury. I am therefore very worried about cuts in funding for SEEDA. Although much depends on the market working, there is a need for intervention, particularly in attracting foreign inward investment. Here, our South East Region is competing with major global players and, without effective support and some financial backing, I worry about our ability to compete effectively. I have made this clear to senior politicians but I understand the need to balance the national finances.
14/05/10
Unemployment
rises again!
Thanks to Mark Clayson for this gem!
13/05/10
David Cameron - Prime Minister of Great Britain George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer; William Hague, Foreign Secretary; Ken Clarke, Lord Chancellor and Minister for Justice; Theresa May, Home Secretary; Liam fox, Secretary of State for Defence; Andrew Lansley, Secretary of State for Health; Iain Duncan Smith, Secretary of State for Work & Pensions; Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government; Phillip Hammond, Secretary of State for Transport; Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media & Sport; Francis Maude, Secretary of State for Cabinet Office; Caroline Spelman, Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs; Sir George Young, Leader of the Commons, Lord Strathclyde, Leader of the Lords; Patrick McLoughlin, Chief Whip; Dominic Grieve, Attorney General; Baroness Warsi, Chairman of the Conservative Party.
... and the Liberal line up: Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister; David Laws, Chief Secretary to the Treasury; Vince Cable, Secretary of State for Banks and Business; Danny Alexander, Secretary of State for Scotland; Chris Huhne, Secretary of State for Energy & Climate Change; That's all so far .....
History made today Working in my office in County Hall today, I kept my TV on and followed news reports throughout the day. There seemed to be no clear position and the first clue I had about events was a call from BBC TV South, asking me to do an interview at the Central Oxford Conservative Club on David Cameron's progress towards Number Ten.
I shared my slot with Cllr Arash Fatemian, Cabinet Member for Adult Services and I hope we acquitted ourselves well against a very uncertain political background.
I returned to the Four Pillars Hotel in the Abingdon Road where the Oxford & Cherwell Valley FE College was holding an Away Day for the College Governors and Senior Management. From the TV coverage we saw in the hotel, we learned that Gordon Brown was gone and our Leader, David Cameron, had been invited by HM The Queen to form a government.
I then learn, somewhat to my horror, that Cleggy is to be deputy Prime Minister. I have to say this is a high price for a minority Party and one that I do not admire but I fear the Leader had little choice. I understand there are to be four other Liberals in the Cabinet but am struggling, after Vince Cable, to think who they might be! Suggestions on a postcard please!
That "Spontaneous" PR demo outside Cleggy's HQ.
From an Abingdon supporter: "The plot thickens. I have noticed in a photo in The Sunday Telegraph that a lot of the placards in yesterday's demonstration had written on them www.unlockdemocracy.org.uk. It claims to be non-aligned and was founded in November 2007 after a merger of Charter 88 and the New Politics Network.
"The New Politics Network was formed in December 1999 following the wind-up of the Democratic Left - an organisation that emerged from the remnants of the Communist Party of Great Britain. It claimed to be politically independent.
"Unlock Democracy is funded from three main sources:
 |
grants from trusts and foundations, |
|
subscriptions and donations from members and |
|
income from a subsidiary company - Rodell Properties Ltd. |
"The Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust is also a major contributor. Rodell Properties Ltd gave £72,000 to the Poverty & Environment Trust. The Unlock Democracy accounts then received £25,000 from Rodell via the Poverty and Environment Trust. The link seems to be Peter Facey who was a Director of the New Politics Network, is Company Secretary of Rodell and is a director of Unlock Democracy. All three organisations have the same address - 6, Cynthia Street, London N1 9JF."
A cure for boredom If you are
tired of political debate, try this for light relief:
A friend e-mailed me with this: "I took my dad to Banbury the other day to buy some new shoes (he is 66). We decided to grab a bite at a snack bar. I noticed he was watching a teenager sitting next to him. The teenager had spiked hair in all different colours - green, red, orange, and blue.
"My dad kept staring at her. The teenager kept looking and would find my dad staring every time. When the teenager had had enough, she sarcastically asked: What's the matter old man, never done anything wild in your life?
"Knowing my Dad, I quickly swallowed my food so that I would not choke on his response; I knew he would have a good one!
"In classic style he responded without batting an eyelid Got stoned once and had sex with a peacock. I was just wondering if you were my daughter.
That "spontaneous" PR demo outside Cleggy's HQ
I tweeted earlier as follows "Did Cleggy's team fabricate that collection of scruffs today campaigning for Proportional Representation? I don't believe it just happened."
A friend from Abingdon has e-mailed me as follows: "As I watched it on TV, I have done some research and it was fronted by Billy Bragg - an alternative musician who usually votes Labour but is keen on PR and voted for the Liberals in this election - and Pam Giddy who was greeted with two kisses by Nick Clegg at his HQ.
The organisation is Power 2010 which was formed in Sept 2009 and is supported by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in the form of The Democratic Reform Co Ltd which shares the Foundation's York address.
They have a list of five demands:
1. PR
2. Scrap ID cards
3. Replace Lords with elected chamber
4. Allow only English MP's to vote on English laws
5. Draw up a written constitution
If you look at their website they have a 60 page document outlining further demands that we, as Conservatives, could not possibly accept. It is under the title of 'Power 2010 Poll Guide to Reforms'. It will make your hair curl. Yes, the demo was a Liberal fix.
We live in interesting times!
Local Council Election Results:
|
Cherwell District Council: |
One third of the seats were up for election - 17 out of 50. After a month of frantic campaigning, the political composition remains unchanged with: 44 Conservative; 2 Labour; 4 Liberal. Here is a link to the Cherwell web site with the full results.
Astons and Heyfords, James Macnamara (Cons) held the seat; Banbury Calthorpe, Colin Clarke (Cons) held the seat; Banbury Easington, Kieron Mallon (Cons) held the seat; Banbury Grimsbury and Castle, Margaret Cullip (Cons) held the seat; Banbury Hardwick, Tony Ilott (Cons) held the seat; Banbury Neithrop, Ilyas Ahmed (Cons) held the seat; Banbury Ruscote, George Parish (Lab) held the seat; Bicester West, Norman Bolster (Cons) held the seat; Bloxham and Bodicote, Christine Heath (Cons) held the seat against Liberal opposition after her husband, Eric Heath, stood down; Deddington, Paul O'Sullivan (Cons) held the seat; Fringford, Barry Wood (Cons) held the seat; Kidlington North, Douglas Williamson (Lib) held the seat; Kidlington South, Tim Emptage (Lib) held the seat replacing Davena Rae who stood down; Sibford, George Reynolds (Cons) held the seat; Wroxton, Douglas Webb (Cons) held the seat.
In addition, there were two Conservative walkovers where no other candidates put up; they were: Kirtlington (Simon Holland) and Otmoor (Tim Hallchurch).
|
Oxford City Council: |
Half of the seats were up for election 24 out of 48. There are 24 two-member wards so one member was up for election in each ward. Here is a link to the Oxford City Council web site with the full results.
Against the national trend, Labour made 2 gains - 1 from the Liberals and 1 from the Independent Working Class Association; the Liberals made 2 gains from the Greens but lost 1 to Labour; the Greens held 2 and lost 2; the Independent Working Class Association did not put up and therefore lost 1 seat by default. The Conservatives put up candidates in all 24 seats but did not take any although Jonathan Gittos (Cons) gave John Goddard (Lib) a strong challenge in Wolvercote. Here is the outcome:
|
Party |
2009 |
2010 |
Change |
|
Labour |
23 |
25 |
+2 |
|
Liberal |
16 |
17 |
+1 |
|
Green |
7 |
5 |
-2 |
|
Independent Working Class Association |
2 |
1 |
-1 |
|
|
48 |
48 |
|
|
West Oxfordshire District Council: |
After four weeks of campaigning, the political make-up is unchanged with: 40 Conservative; 7 Liberal; 1 Labour; 1 Independent.
Here is a link to the West Oxfordshire web site with the full results.
Bloxham & Bodicote Ward Election Results: Bloxham & Bodicote Ward comprises Bloxham., Bodicote and Milcombe. It is a two-member ward and the two councillors were Eric Heath and Lynda Thirzie Smart. Eric Heath was up for election this year and has decided to stand down for health reasons. Lynda Thirzie Smart is up for election next year.
This was a two-horse race. Eric Heath's wife, Chris, stood for the Conservatives and Peter Davis stood for the Liberals. The result was: Chris Heath (Cons) 2,025; Peter Davies 1,461.
Across the South East, here is the result of the General Election. There are now 73 Conservatives (14 up); 4 Liberals (2 down); 4 Labour (13 down); 1 Green (1 up). The Green MP is Caroline Lucas who was once an Oxfordshire County Councillor and is already an MEP.
The moment of truth for Evan Harris as the guy in the black short-sleeved T-shirt at the microphone (the Returning Officer, David Buckle - Chief Executive of South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils) makes the Declaration.
Nicola Blackwood is on his right and the Labour candidate (who came third) is Richard Stevens, an Oxford lawyer.
Is this the worst dressed Returning Officer of 2010?
Talking of which, Harris has put on a clean shirt and a tie (where did he find it?) for his decapitation!
Nicola with her family at the Count.
Her father, Robert, is obscured on the left then her sister, Anneliese, with Nicola and her mother, Libby, to the right.
Behind Nicola is Sandy Lovatt, Chairman of the Oxford West & Abingdon Constituency.
IN: Nicola Blackwood
OUT: Evan Harris
Oxfordshire's neighbours looking clockwise from Buckinghamshire:
Buckingham - John Bercow (Con) holds his seat with a majority of 12,529. Because he was Speaker in the last Parliament, the two main Parties and the Liberals did not put up candidates against him but a Buckinghamshire Campaign for Democracy candidate put up and secured 10,331 votes, beating Nigel Farage (UKIP) into third place.
Milton Keynes North - Mark Lancaster takes seat from Labour with a majority of 8,961 a swing of 9.2%
Milton Keynes South - Ian Stewart takes seat from Labour with a majority of 5,201 a swing of 6.2%
Aylesbury - David Liddington (Cons) holds seat with increased majority of 12,618 and 52.2% of the vote
Wycombe - Steven Baker (Cons) holds seat with increased majority of 9,560 and 48.6% of the vote
Maidenhead - Theresa May (Cons) holds seat with increased majority of 16,769 and 59.5% of the vote
Reading East - Rob Wilson (Cons) holds seat with increased majority of 7,605 and 42.6% of the vote
Reading West - Alok Sharma (Cons) takes seat from Labour with a 6,006 majority and a swing of 12.1%
Newbury - Richard Benyon (Cons) holds seat with increased majority of 12,248 and 56.4% of the vote
Cotswolds - Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Cons) holds seat with increased majority of 12,864 and 53% of the vote
Stratford on Avon - Nadhim Zahawi (Cons) holds seat with increased majority of 11,346 and 51.5% of the vote
Kenilworth & Southam - Jeremy Wright (Cons) holds seat with a majority of 12,552
Oxfordshire goes blue:
Banbury - Tony Baldry holds seat with increased majority of 18,227 and 52.8% of the vote
Henley - John Howell holds seat with increased majority of 16,588 and 56.2% of the vote
Oxford West & Abingdon - Nicola Blackwood takes seat from Evan Harris with majority of 176 - a tiny majority but a massive swing of 9.6% from the Liberals
Wantage - Ed Vaizey holds seat with increased majority of 13,547 and 52% of the vote
Witney- David Cameron holds seat with increased majority of 22,740 and 58.8% of the vote
Labour hangs on in in Oxford East where Andrew Smith retains his seat with a majority of 4,581 and a swing from the Liberals to Labour of 4.1%
The early results:
Houghton & Sunderland: Labour majority 12% down! Liberals down. A good start to the evening!!
Washington & Sunderland West: (11th safest Labour seat!) Labour majority 11.6% down. You have got it wrong, BBC exit poll!
Sunderland Central: (This is DC''s "wild card"! ) Labour 5% down on this seat, all moved to Conservatives. No movement for the Liberals!
Polling Day Polls are open from 7:00 am to 10:00 pm. I plan to be out and about for the day, helping out in Banbury, Kidlington, Oxford and Abingdon.
We start with some telling in Woodgreen for Ilyas Ahmed.
While standing outside the polling station, my mobile rings and it is the Oxfordshire Fire & Rescue Service to tell me that a light aeroplane has crashed near Hinton-in-the-Hedges (which is not far from my home). Our fire service supported Northants Fire & Rescue Service. They fund the plane crashed while towing a UKIP banner and passengers included Nigel Farage, an ex UKIP MEP. It just demonstrates the perils of campaigning! We learn later in the day that he is not too badly hurt.
Then on to Kidlington to do some early knocking up. I am impressed by the new Merlin Committee Room software. It is hugely better than the paper-based systems that have largely died out now. Some luncheon in Oxford and then on to Abingdon where we do some knocking up again and again see a hi-tech Committee Room doing the business in the Abingdon Conservative Club. Back to Nell Bridge House while Lynda gives our Jack Russell a run around the paddock and then back to Banbury. Lynda does some telling at Woodgreen and I do some knocking up and then on to Ruscote for a final push for Nicola Smith.
Finally, home for a glass of wine and something to eat while we warm up the telly for the results .....
Eve-of-Poll message to Oxfordshire County Councillors As we stare into the unknown tonight at the end of the campaign, I believe we should be very proud of the Conservative effort nationally and, very specifically, here in Oxfordshire and in those other parts of the country where many of our County team have put in a real effort.
It would be invidious to single out individuals and I will not do it but I do know of a small number of County Councillors who have really worked their socks off over the Campaign. Most of the rest have worked very hard and plenty have been willing to take the campaign to battle fields new. This willingness to campaign outside members' own Divisions and Constituencies is, I think, a defining characteristic of the 2010 Campaign. Regular forays to Coventry, Oxford West & Abingdon, Reading, Swindon and I know not where else have been exemplary.
My thanks to you all and here's to a good result whenever it comes on Friday.
Once we know the outcome of the General Election, I will be putting together some thoughts and proposals for the Group to consider on Thursday 13 May. Whatever the outcome, we will have some real challenges to face. The outcome we all seek - putting David Cameron into No 10 - will probably be the most difficult for our Council, facing the most difficult financial position in a lifetime but we can rise to it.
Here's to success ..
Another outbreak of foot 'n mouth
.....
My grateful thanks to a certain Wing Commander (Retired) from Burford who shall remain anonymous who forwarded this mischievous little piece to me.