Interviews, grills and pledges: Thursday in action

The last time I did a big interview for the BBC, it wasn't broadcast, despite having put in a large amount of work and research for the programme (it was Panorama over a year ago - I was interviewed about opencast mining). I am a bit more hopeful that the interview I did this morning will be broadcast. It was for the BBC Politics Programme, North East edition. Mark Denten interviewed me about how the proposed conference centre for Gateshead will be paid for. I'm not going to go into the details of it now. I'll save it for another day. I feel a little more confident that this interview will be broadcast. Fingers crossed for Sunday. The programme starts on BBC1 at midday.





The 2 photos above were taken at the interview. In the 2nd one, it looks like I'm playing the air guitar! Maybe I thought I was performing at the nearby Sage Concernt Hall!

Inevitably I took an interest in the camera they were using. Meanwhile, Mark asked me if all my stories on my blog about jam making and growing our own food was spin. Sadly, it is all for real! And with 5 tonnes of manure due shortly for our allotment, this politician for one will be up to his eyeballs in muck shortly!

Then to the Civic Centre where a group of children from Fellside Primary School grilled us on life as a councillor. We were told to expect questions about what time we get up in the morning and when do we eat dinner. We ended up instead with questions about whether we need qualifications (Council Deputy Leader Ian Mearns said no but pointed to me - as the only Doctor in the Council village - saying that I had a bagful of them: "Not sure if they have helped me!" I joked); what age do you have to be to stand; is it a privilege to be a councillor and what are our greatest achievements (I think mine was to survive the grilling!)

Shortly before full council we did the next part of our promotion of healthy lifestyles. We had to write on a note something we were pledging to change in our lifestyles to make us healthier. The note then went on to a display where everyone could read it. I announced I was giving up nibbling between meals. So out go the cheese, chocolate shortcake (with caramel), salami (yes, I confess, one of my favourite nibbles, but they are very very thin!) and other such foods. Eating is to be done at meal times, unless it's health fruit etc.

Photos below - my ward colleagues Cllr John McClurey and Cllr Marilynn Ord and I agree to change our lifestyles for something healthier:

BBC interview

I am currently heading on the bus to central Gateshead to meet up with Mark Denten from the BBC Politics Programme (North East edition). He is going to interview me about the funding of the proposed conference centre that is being considered for the Gateshead Quays area. The problem at the moment is that I am stuck in the traffic congestion in Bensham. My bus has taken 10 minutes to move forward 10 metres!

This afternoon is full council. I'll report later on how I get on at both.
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Funeral for a local lad lost in Afghanistan

David Watson was a soldier in the Royal Engineers. He was raised in Whickham, went to school there and his family still lives there. He was on active service in Afghanistan and it was whilst on duty on New Year's Eve that he tragically lost his life to a road side bomb at the age of 23. He went there to save lives and did so by making the ultimate sacrifice himself.

His funeral service was held today in St Mary's Church in Whickham. I attended. So did hundreds of others. Outside the church, hundreds of residents also gathered to pay their last respect.

David Watson RIP

I can appreciate his disappointment

Say what you might about Blaydon Labour MP David Anderson, and I often do, but one issue that he has led on and which is close to his heart is the campaign for compensation for sufferers of pleural plaques, a form of asbestosis. A judgement by the House of Lords a few years ago overturned the previous position in which sufferers were entitled to compensation. David Anderson is campaigning for that previous position to be restored.

He was due to team up with a group of likeminded MPs and meet Gordon Brown last week to take the issue further. However, the meeting was cancelled by Downing St and Mr Anderson is, understandably, angry and disappointed.

He said, "It is imperative that the government departments who will have financial responsibilities accept their responsibility and work with us to put through the legislative changes required to reinstate the previous position. The Prime Minister needs to tell them to get on and do it. We are not going away."

I can appreciate his disappointment and frustration. I can also see where Mr Anderson is coming from. This is an illness that is more likely to afflict people who worked in the old heavy industries. Sorting out their compensation is clearly needed but the danger now is that many will not live to see it.

So on this issue Dave, good luck and hopefully you are successful.

Burstow to Brown: go to police with your election rigging claims

Nick Brown, Labour's Chief Whip, made unfounded allegations of electoral fraud against Newcastle City Council's ruling Liberal Democrats earlier this week. He claimed he could not trust the Lib Dem council with ballot boxes and papers to be left overnight so that counting could take place in the day after polling day.

His groundless comments have caused a storm of protest. Now, Lib Dem chief whip Paul Burstow has written to Brown demanding he raise the matter with the police rather than the press.

Paul wrote, "...you are accusing the ruling group on the council of vote rigging because the count is being held on the Friday."

He then went on to write, "I believe that unless you have evidence, this is an unfounded attack on the integrity and independence of the officials responsible for running and overseeing the electoral process. You will know very well that these officials are not affiliated to any party.

"If you have evidence of any conspiracy to rig the election you should be passing it to the police not issuing press releases condemning officials who are in no position to defend themselves. I hope you will take this opportunity to apologise to the officials concerned and withdraw your remarks."

In reply Brown simply reiterated his allegations were about the Lib Dems, not officials.

So everyone, no withdrawal of his claims, no evidence to back them, no specific allegations, just a vile smear from the man who is at the heart of the Labour party. Watch out folks, I think we can see the desperate tactics Labour will use in the coming general election.

Meanwhile, my colleague, Clare Mills, who works in Alan Beith's office, pointed out to me this morning that Friday counts in Berwick are the norm. There have been no problems with fraud, vote rigging or any other misdemeanours.

And here in Gateshead, we have Friday counts for local elections now. The process goes smoothly. Officers behave with the greatest integrity - and so do both the parties on the council, Lib Dems and Labour. Maybe Mr Brown should venture across the Tyne to speak to his Labour colleagues who, on this issue at least, have a saner view of the world.

Northern Democrat now published

Thanks to my former colleague Mark Pack for posting up a government document on his site using Scribd. I have to confess I had never come across this site before but now that I have, I've signed up and can now put various publications for which I am responsible directly onto the web.

The following is the Northern Democrat which I finished last night and which is about to be emailed to Lib Dems in the north.

North East Democrat No 47 Jan 10

4 meetings

I was in the bizarre situation yesterday of walking to a meeting in the morning in Gateshead because it was quicker that using any vehicle on the roads. I was supposed to be in Gateshead at 9am. I am taking part in a health promotion drive with other councillors and it starts with a health check. That was my 9am meeting. The bus I got from Sunniside took me as far as the Teams when I decided that the traffic was so congested it was time to put my legs into action and walk the rest of the route. The last I saw of the bus was when I got to the end of the Redheugh Bridge. I could see it in the distance, barely moved from the bus stop where I had decided to get off.

I was of course late by then. Arrival time was not helped by my turning up at completely the wrong place for the health check. For some reaon I have St Mary's visitor centre next to the Tyne Bridge as the venue. People there knew nothing about it. A phone call to the Civic Centre and I discovered it was meant to be in the Old Town Hall. Fortunately not too far to walk but I was now running very late. The health check was rushed through so I could get to a 10am meeting in the Civic Centre. For any political opponents hoping the health check showed me at death's door, I am sorry to disappoint them. Apart from a need to marginally reduce my waistline, I am in fine health, ready to do battle!

The reason for the visit to the Civic Centre was to attend planning committee and represent Councillor Peter Maughan who was opposing a planning application to build a house on the old farm on Whickham Highway. Peter had been called away on business so he kindly offered the task to me! Such was the ferocity of my argument and the skill with which I presented Peter's case opposing the application in such a superbly convincing way that the application was agreed unanimously!

Back home for a bit of news release writing. And for the foodies amongst you, I also plucked and gutted a pheasant, given to us by one of the other allotment holders. A few jars of homemade jam and chutney will be winging their way to him shortly.

Having ripped the innards out of this formerly feathered friend, I was in the mood to head back to Gateshead Civic Centre for some politics and a group meeting to decide on motions for council next week. I had a vague idea about a motion about holding general election counts on the day after polling day, following the "vile" claims by Labour chief bruiser Nick Brown MP that suggested the Lib Dems are politically corrupt. But my idea was as popular in the group as Gordon Brown is at a Labour love-in so I didn't push it. Given that it was barely a twinkle in my eye, never mind a fully formulated motion, I didn't feel I had wasted any time on it. We opted instead for a motion on the impact of the recent winter weather.

After the group, I went along the corridor to the Gateshead Lib Dem executive meeting and gave my media and communications report. Mention was made of the coverage I got on the non-demolition of the Gateshead Multi-Storey Car Park (known for its starring role on the Michael Caine classic "Get Carter"). This same coverage had ruffled one or two feathers amongst some Labour members, one of whom before Christmas had made a passing remark to me in a corridor in the Civic Centre. At least then I was only ruffling feathers, not plucking them!

My day ended back home when we decied to watch the 2nd dvd of "Victorian Farm" which included a bit about pheasant shooting and cooking. Ideas have now been generated for forthcoming dinners!

"Vile" claims by Labour chief whip on Lib Dems

Labour Chief Whip, Nick Brown MP, has now stooped to the lowest of the low with outrageous and "vile" allegations of electoral fraud and cheating against Lib Dem run Newcastle City Council.

The row involves the decision of Newcastle Council, supported incidentally by a majority of Labour councillors on the authority's constitutional committee, to hold general election counts on the day after polling day. Brown claims, "Leaving blank ballot papers and lists of those who haven't voted and the ballot boxes all together in the same place overnight is not a reassuring prospect. The scope for fraud is obvious."

He then went on to claim, "I wouldn't trust Newcastle Liberal Democrats to be left alone with the blank ballot papers and ballot boxes overnight."

The unfounded and untrue allegations that Newcastle Liberal Democrats are corruptly abusing the electoral process really are "vile". That was the description applied in response by Newcastle City Lib Dems.

It should be remembered that the person making these despicable, vile and untrue claims is the Government's chief whip. This is the level to which those in the heart of Labour have now sunk. And I suspect it is a foretaste of the Labour campaign in the general election battle to come.

Brown however may have shot himself in both feet whilst placing them both in his mouth. Our regional newspaper, The Journal, was distinctly unimpressed by his disgusting claims. According to their leader column, his comments were "outrageous" and, "Such shameful politicking has the power to impair his party's cause."

Now we await the announcement, assuming they make one, of Newcastle Labour's distancing of themselves from Nick Brown. Let's hope we are not kept waiting.

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Regrets, I have a few, but there again, too few to mention

You would have thought that there would have been at least a vague hint of contrition from Alistair Campbell. Perhaps a small concession to the obvious reality that Labour got it utterly wrong over the war. But no, nothing of the sort. As far as Campbell was concerned, he had no regrets at all. He stood by the "evidence" that weapons of mass production existed in Iraq and said Britain should be "proud" of her role in the Iraq invasion.

It will be interesting to see what Hoon, Straw and of course Brown and Blair have to say when they get their grilling from the Iraq inquiry.
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Some more snow pics

Yes, I've been out with the camera and snapped a few photos around my ward. Here are some of them:







The three above are of the Sandy Lonnen, the medieval lane that runs from the Derwent Valley, between Whickham and Sunniside. We walked down it on Sunday to go to Hollinside Manor House. Here are some of the photos we took when we got there.




(and through the square window)


(I can imagine that this one will end up appearing on Xmas cards later this year!)


(I was not half feeling the cold at this point!)

The following is the railway viaduct in the Derwent Valley. I put the telescopic lens on the camera and snapped it from Hollinside.



Labour didn't repair the roof when the sun shone!:


(Taken near Hollinside, I think the derelict building is an old farm worker's cottage)

Out filming for my latest snow epic movie:



Is that an icicle in your hands or are you just pleased to see me?:

Labour suicide tendency dents poll position

Today's poll in the Times putting the Tories at 41%, with Labour on 28% and us on 19%, does not show any significant degree of difference from the previous poll picture. In other words the position of Labour continues to be dire. The behaviour of the Hewitt-Hoon Labour Suicide Action Team has hardly helped their own party to make the recovery they need to stand any chance of salvaging even a vaguely respectable result at the general election.

At 28%, Labour are on the same share as they won in 1983, their worst general election proportion since 1922. Even in 1931, when Labour dropped to only 50 seats, Labour's share of the vote was over 30%. In 1983, tactical voting barely registered as a factor. In the past three general elections, tactical voting has significantly reduced the number of Conservative seats and artifically boosted the number of Labour ones. The same could happen in the 2010 election, only in reverse for Labour. Gordon Brown's party could be heading for their worst ever result since the first world war.

This is of course speculation. There is a possibility of a rise in Labour support in the polls as people move away from a mid-term view of politics. Nevertheless, Labour are leaving it late in the day to get into winning form and at the moment I see no signs of the late surge coming.

Nevertheless, the Conservatives are yet to close the deal with the voters and the final general election result could leave them short of a majority. The final result is likely to hinge on what happens in individual constituencies. With a national swing less applicable than for decades, there remains all to play for in those constituencies where a change of control could take place. For those of us involved in campaigns in Labour held seats, such as our constituency here in Blaydon, Hewitt and Hoon have been a godsend. (I hear Hoon may now be in trouble with his local party in Ashfield and it waits to be seen whether or not that helps boost the Lib Dem candidate, Jason Zadrozny, in a constituency that has developed as a winnable one for us.)

So, at a time when Labour need to be recovering, their own suicide tendency have dented their own ratings. Whilst minor in its own right, it is a classic characteristic of a party that is losing the will to win.

After a day of writing press releases

Today has been a day for writing news releases and sorting candidate photos. So we are taking a few hours off this evening to celebrate David's new job. The interview was this morning. So we walked down to the Marquis of Granby pub, near our village of Sunniside (it is one of the historic pubs of the area). The meal is ordered. And I am drinking a pint of guest ale called "Brains"!
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Time travelling MP demands vote in debate that never happened

You couldn't make this up! Some MPs think their mission in life is to sign as many early day motions as possible. New one, old ones, completely out-of-date ones! They'll sign them. And that's when they start to get into difficulties.

So step forward time-travelling David Anderson, Labour MP for Blaydon. Mr Anderson loves EDMs. The more, the merrier. He signed around 600 in the past year, though that's less than some EDM junkies.

Anyway, here's one of the EDM's he signed:

That this House welcomes the Employers' Liability Insurance Bureau Bill as a long overdue reform; believes that it will provide the necessary mechanism to ensure compensation for employees who suffer injury, illness or disease as a consequence of the acts or omissions of a negligent, but uninsured employer, or an employer who has ceased trading and whose insurers cannot be traced; notes that the provisions of the Bill would particularly benefit sufferers of diseases such as asbestosis and mesothelioma, which are often diagnosed long after the negligent response to harm; and urges all hon. Members and the Government to give the Bill a second reading on 13 March 2009 and a fast passage through committee.

It all seems proper and in order. Except.......

This EDM was the last one signed by Mr Anderson in the 2008/9 year. According to the Parliament website, Mr Anderson put his name to it on 11th November 2009. "Better late than never" could be Mr Anderson's defence for signing a call to action 8 months after the event has passed. Unless of course, Mr Anderson has invented his very own Tardis and is able to whip his colleagues back 8 months to March so they can vote in the debate mentioned!

But the story doesn't end there. It is reasonable to assume that having put his signature to the EDM late, he was at least present on 13 March 2009 to take part in the debates and vote that day. Alas, a quick check on the votes taken that day show Mr Anderson was not present!

Nice one Dave!

The story however doesn't end there either! It gets even more interesting.

I have no doubt that Mr Anderson was committed to the Bill. He has a record of campaigning on the illnesses mentioned in the EDM and his concerns are genuinely held. But....

The vote on the bill did not take place on 13th March 2009. In fact, it never took place at all. The bill was abandoned before 13th March 2009 by its sponsor Andrew Dismore MP!

So, 8 months after the event that never took place, Mr Anderson asks colleagues to attend and vote on a day he himself was not present on a bill that had been dumped before the non-existent vote could (but did not) take place.

Mr Anderson must therefore be appreciated for his ability to make politics that bit more interesting!

Snow photos

I couldn't let the last few days go by without a few photos.



This one's a bit fuzzy as I took it from the train on the way home from London on Tuesday. It's the Team Valley with Lobley Hill in the background.



A bird in the hand is worth two in the snow! Our bird table in our back garden in Sunniside, feeling the weight of all the snow.



Our back garden yesterday morning. A bit more snow has arrived since then.



Breaking the ice: well, thawing a bit of it on our barrel pond. David melted the surface to allow in oxygen for the fish.



Down at the bottom of the garden and David applies WD40 to the shed just to unlock it.



This one I took from the train on Tuesday whilst travelling at high speed. I think it is somewhere in North Yorkshire.



Our fruitcage, straining under the weight of snow on our allotment.



The allotment yesterday just before sundown with the snow cleared from the greenhouse and fruitcage.



The allotments in the Whinnies, Sunniside, just after sunset, yesterday. Ours is off the picture, to the left.

Fizz and Ice: the Labour leadership crisis

As predicted, the latest Labour leadership crisis didn't even melt any ice, never mind put the skids under Brown. A short fizz and then nothing. So the latest bout of infighting has simply damaged Labour. Quite what Hoon and Hewitt were thinking when they went off half cock is difficult to work out. Perhaps the cold has affected their ability to think sensibly (as far as Labour are concerned.)

What I find more interesting however is the slowness of the chief cabinet members to come forth with gushing praise for Brown. This probably said more about internal Labour dynamics than the fizz of the Hoon-Hewitt self-indulgence. It shows that whilst cabinet members accept Brown is there to stay til the election, there is absolutely no enthusiasm for him at all. They are stuck with him because they have lacked the will to dump him previously and because Brown has been very good at using his office to maintain his own position.

Labour are in an ice age of their own making. The slow-moving glacial Gordon is here to stay a little longer. The chances are that political warming will come with the election. Brown may melt away then but that is not certain. After all, events of the last three years show he has a remarkable ability to survive, even if the cost of that is serious damage to his own party.
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Labour turn their guns on themselves

Does Labour suffer from a suicide tendency? Are they really sufficiently off their trolley to take pot shots at themselves rather than their opponents right at the start of the unofficial election campaign? The answer seems to be yes. Just when Brown and Darling seemed to score a successful hit against Cameron on the married people's tax, Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt come sweeping in from the cold and like a couple of abominable snowmen amongst the Labour pigeons are causing chaos.

Were I a Labour member (and thankfully I am not) I would be in a state of despair. This action seems to be uncoordinated. It is not a major conspiracy in which large numbers of Labour MPs are taking part. So, yet again, Brown, who won't be prised out of office before the election, is faced with individual, irresponsible, self-righteous cranks who think they can bring down the PM. Blears and Purnell last year thought they could bring down Brown. All they did was wreck their own party.

Brown is secure as leader until the election. Any attempt to dislodge him by disgruntled Labour MPs will simply be an internal row that damages Labour. So Labour must have taken leave of their senses, on the eve of the election. It's not the longest suicide note in history but it is certainly the longest political self-strangulation session on record.
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Tories rewrite history

If only the Tories had a Tardis of their own. They would be able to go back in time and change the past rather than talking in the present as if their own history were different to what it is. The issue at point here is the Tory attempt to claim they were conned into supporting the Iraq invasion. Chris Grayling has just had a go at Alan Johnson in the Commons about this, whilst debating the recent attempted bombing of an airliner in the US. The Tory posturing is that they were conned into supporting the war. No word about the others, especially the Lib Dems, who questioned the dodgy dossier. No mention of the Tories as the cheer leaders for war. No mention of the fact the Tories failed in their duty as the opposition to hold the government to account.

Watch out for forthcoming general election claims by the Tories that they were opposed to the war, supported nationalisation of the banks and opposed privatisation of the railways. The Tory Tardis will need to be in overdrive.
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Half baked policies give Tories indigestion

It was good to see the Tories in a mess yesterday over their policy on tax breaks for married couples. This Tory bit of social engineering deserved to give them trouble. In the morning it was merely an aspiration. In the afternoon, it was changed to be a hard core policy but with no explanation whatsoever as to how they would pay for it.

I wonder how many more of their half-baked policies are going to give the Tories political indigestion. Still, it could lead to some interesting Tory cock-ups during the 4 month election campaign. I suspect there will be a number of them.
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Heading North

I am currently sitting on a train heading north to Newcastle, having spent the Xmas/New Year break in London. There is no snow in London but the news says it has fallen heavily in Yorkshire. The result is East Coast services have been delayed. I seem to be the lucky one. My train is only 9 minutes late. We have not, however, got as far as Yorkshire. David returned home over the weekend and has sent me a message to tell me the snow has fallen back home. With a load of Focuses to deliver, that is not good news.
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Let battle commence

Actually, it has already begun with both Tories and Labour engaging in high profile political cross dressing. Yes, Election 2010 is underway and the first skirmishes have taken place. The Conservatives claim to be in love with the NHS - and I can imagine A&E depts of NHS hospitals today being flooded with people who fell off their seats laughing at the Tory claims. Meanwhile, Chancellor Darling highlights gaps in the Tory spending plans, carefully overlooking the rather interesting gaps in his own PreBudget Report.

Meanwhile Cameron complains about the widening gap between rich and poor under Brown. Alas, his claim is true. How his plans for inheritance tax cuts for millionaires and giving wealthy couples a tax break simply because they are married will solve this crisis is not clear.

Anyway, we now have 4 months of this. Enjoy it whilst it lasts!
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