Figures produced by the Government paint a striking picture of the way in which the country has changed since 1997. They reveal a sharp decline in many of the traditional businesses and services which once sustained community life.



The number of Hospitals and Clinics has fallen by 580,
2,380 schools have closed,
196 libraries,
7500 Post Offices,
1,310 Public lavatories,
3,460 pubs have closed
and 150 less swimming pools.
The number of police stations has fallen by 160,

However we have:
276 more lapdancing clubs,
1,270 more bookies,
1,060 more supermarkets.

Oscars 2010 heroine Kathryn Bigelow couldn't have timed her historic first-female-director win better, because today the world is celebrating International Women's Day 2010.

The 100th anniversary of International Women's Day, marked with the slogan 'Equal Rights, Equal Opportunities: Progress for All', will see rallies, seminars and assemblies take place around the globe.

So, what makes 8th March so significant? First proposed in 1910 and launched in 1911, International Women's Day came about because of a woman named Clara Zetkin (leader of the 'Women's Office' for Germany's Social Democratic Party), who thought every country should mark an annual Women's Day to press for her gender's demands.

The Independent has listed 100 women who changed the world; it includes Caroline Lucas; Politician. 'As leader of the Green Party, who could become Britain's first Green MP in this year's general election, Lucas has given the party a mainstream image in the "Others" backwater of British politics. Formerly active in CND and Oxfam, she is also the vice-president of the RSPCA and the Stop the War Coalition.'


The list contains some great people, but didn't include Blue Peter presenter Helen Skelton, who has completed a 2,000-mile kayak trip along the Amazon for Sport Relief. She has gone 2,010 miles since she set off on her solo journey from Natua in Peru on 20 January. The BBC star, who had never been in a kayak before training, broke two world records as she became the first woman to paddle the length of the river. In April 2009, Skelton became only the second woman ever to finish the 78 miles Namibia Ultra Marathon. The TV presenter paddled about 60 miles a day, six days a week, to reach the target. "It's been tough but I've had enough highs to make it more than worthwhile. Sport Relief will take place from 19 to 21 March and will raise money for charity schemes in the UK as well as developing countries.

Progress report; what remains to be done.
POVERTY 70 per cent of the world's poorest people are women.
HEALTH Three million girls a year are at risk of genital mutilation every year
SLAVERY At least 300 women are discovered in domestic slavery every year in the UK
SEXUAL VIOLENCE The conviction rate for rape in Scotland is 3.7 per cent
CHILDBIRTH 1,500 women die unnecessarily every day giving birth or during pregnancy

How interesting to see my rival PPCs for Reading West on the Politics Show. Though I am the Green Party candidate, the first I knew of it was watching Alok Sharma, Naz Sarkar and Daisy Benson on TV on a Sunday at lunchtime. Still its their loss, the three of them were so similar it was short on debate, though we had plenty of bickering.

The introduction was done at Risc, great to see the roof garden on TV. Then they showed footage of Gordon Browns 'secret' visit. Well it seems to have been secret from Naz and Anneliese who didn't mention it at the time on their sites. Mind you they don't mention each other either!

First there was a little quiz on Readings history.
Where is a King of England buried? I knew that, as did Alok. Henry 1 at Reading Abbey.
What is the population of Reading. All 3 knew it to be around 200,000.

Question 1. Health. Alok discussed his background and conversations with people about the NHS, its getting worse despite the extra investment. Naz launched into an attack on the Tories, defended targets, cancer guarantees. Daisy discussed cutting bureaucracy, targets led to Staffordshire problems, infant mortality here same as Hackney. More power to elected health boards, sounds like increased bureaucracy to me. Millions lost on IT but a bit late to change it.

I would have discussed the privatisation of the NHS, with corporations making millions and us paying more for longer, a burden for future generations.


Q2. Education. Naz wanted brand new classrooms for everyone! No one picked him up on this, would it need to be every year, or perhaps every term, perpetual building. Alok discussed academies, schools and teachers having more say. Daisy discussed the postcode lottery.

I would have said we need every school to be a good school, letting rich people set schools agendas means some children will learn creationism ahead of evolution! Education has become a competitive as watching football league tables with exams every year, but there is no level playing field.

Q3. Housing. LD lobbying has helped Lab says Daisy, build more family homes not executive flats. Alok supports regeneration, opposed Pincents Hill and Bath Rd reservoir. Naz claimed Alok had jumped on Martin Salters campaign, though Alok had actually already said that Naz and Daisy were with him on this. Daisy said this bickering turned people off, then did some bickering. Naz said Dee park was a Labour investment, and I thought it was our money!

I have some radical ideas on this, all those empty office blocks could be turned into housing with no need to build on green fields, as Labour decided in the Barker review. A bit of government planning would see investment in areas where housing is cheap and jobs scarce, so less pressure on the South East. When I discussed this with Martin Salter he though I was being Stalinist. We moved the DVLA to Swansea years ago, why not send some other London based civil servants to the rest of the country? I see Labour have been considering my plan. 'Labour's plan to dismantle Whitehall revealed; 132,000 civil servants and 90,000 employees of "arm's-length bodies" currently based in London and the south-east'.



I just had a look at the Bershire Blog listings for the last month, this blog was at number 16, Naz at number 42, no sign of Daisys blog and Alok doesn't blog. Even my greenconstruction blog got to number 47, that only gets updated a couple of times a month. So I declare myself the blog champion Reading West PPC.

Theres a campaign to save the Tilehurst allotments from the builders. Website www.saveouropenspace.co.uk/

The land belongs to the the Tilehurst Poor’s Lands Charity. www.tilehurstallotments.co.uk/

Tilehurst Poor’s Land Charity dates from the early nineteenth-century, when the open fields, common meadows and common waste of Tilehurst were enclosed into private ownership under an Act of 1811. The fields were divided into strips, and each farmer had a number of strips in fields. The same crop was grown in each field in any particular year, and after the corn had been harvested, the livestock of all these farmers was grazed on the stubble to provide manure. The common meadows were by the Thames and the Holybrook. They too were grazed for part of the year in common, but grass for hay was held in strips, like the fields. The common waste was available for grazing and the gathering and cutting of fuel. These rights belonged to the owners and occupiers of certain properties, and most of the poor had no established rights on the common waste. However, rights to gather fuel had been allowed by custom. For some years, and this was seen as a way of reducing the rate for poor relief at no great cost.

When the common lands were enclosed,1/16 by value of the waste was allotted for the poor. This was at Kentwood Hill, Armour Hill and Polsted rd., including the allotment gardens and what is now the Victoria recreation Ground. This land still belongs to the Charity set up to manage it. There were further allotments of land at halls Rd and Chapel Hill. The land at Halls Rd and Chapel Hill were sold for residential development, and this provided the capital from which most of the Charity’s income comes. There are still six allotment gardens at Chapel Hill and some 80 on the other site.

Originally, the land was to be let and the rent used to buy fuel for the poor. This continued for many years, but gradually, with the decline of furze, wood and coal as fuel, grants were made to the poor for other purposes. The last coal tickets were issued in 1972. The area of benefit was originally the Ancient Parish of Tilehurst, which included Theale, Calcot and Holybrook. More recently, this area has been extended to include the Borough of Reading, as some of the Ancient Parish is now in the Borough. In practice, the area of benefit is to the west of the Reading West railway line.


The Charity has owned and let allotment gardens for over 80 years, as part of its letting of the land it owns. The allotments are seen as an investment, and there is no statutory duty on the Charity to provide them. The net annual income is usually around £750 a year, a small part of the Charity’s income.

The landlord owns another small allotment site off Chapel Hill, the Victoria Recreation Ground, the allotment site at Armour Hill/Polsted rd, and land (now uncultivated), called the ‘reserved land’. Most of the reserved land is bounded by Kentwood Hill; the rest is bounded by Armour Hill. This reserved land was let as allotments until 1998 when the tenancies on this land were not renewed. The Charity explained that they hoped to sell this land for housing, and the tenants were offered plots on the main remaining allotment site.

The proposals were controversial, and to date there has not been a successful planning application. There are many groups opposing development on the reserved land, the most prominent being Save Our Open Space/.

Currently Reading Council are reviewing the Local Plan. The new ‘Local Development Framework’ will contain details about the use of all land in the Borough. Some consultation about the future of the ‘reserved land’ has already occurred and more is anticipated. You can find out more by looking on the Reading Council web site page 83. Copied below.

Site Address Land at Kentwood Hill and Armour Hill, Tilehurst
Customer/ RBC Reference/s SS28, 29, 52, 92
Size in ha 1.95

Current Use Former allotments (Tilehurst Poor’s Land Charity – ‘Reserved lands’) and builders yard
Description of Location Allotments and recreation ground immediately adjacent.
Residential surrounding site. Vacant builders yard buildings fronting Kentwood Hill.

Proposal/s 1) SS52 C3 housing for 60-70 units (hatched area); 2) SS28 & 29 (hatched area) and reserved lands to be protected under policy LEI 2 as a Major Areas of Open Space along with the whole area (whole area outlined above)

Constraints/ Issues Proposed development area adjacent to area covered by TPO 24/00 (group and individual trees). Should it be retained for open space and/or future allotment use? Potential contamination to be checked related to historic uses at builder’s yard. Allotments provide habitats for arrange of species. Part lowland mixed deciduous woodland (BAP habitat), potential for protected species. Covered by deeds trust. Proposal should include a desk-based archaeological assessment to clarify the impact of development and previous remains and ground clearance.
Site Reference: SA17

The consultation process on all LDF documents referred to above runs between 19th February and 2nd April 2010. Exhibitions on the consultation will be held at the following venues and times:
9 March 2010 South Reading Youth and Community Centre 9am to 1pm
9 March 2010 Tilehurst Library 2pm to 7pm
10 March 2010 South Reading Youth and Community Centre 2pm to 7pm
12 March 2010 Civic Centre, Committee Room 1, 2pm to 7pm

Responses can be made in writing to:
LDF Planning Team, Planning Department Civic Centre Reading, RG1 7AE
Tel: 0118 939 0286 Fax: 0118 939 0435

Or by E-mail to: ldf@reading.gov.uk

In my capacity as Parliamentary candidate for Reading East I have just signed the action for children pledge:

"Early intervention is the best form of child protection and the best way of making sure children thrive. In the UK we spent too much time and money picking up the pieces when it's too late. This has to change and we need your help to make it happen."

This is well and truly at the centre of the Green Party Parliamentary campaign under the slogan "Fair is worth fighting for!". Unfortunately this will be one of the areas which suffers under the "swingeing cuts" being proposed by the three main parties as positive programmes such as Sure Start face cuts to budgets.

I was delighted to be contacted by the Woodland trust, I have been a supporter of theirs for some years. Earlier today I was contacted by Construction News with a different message.

Being a candidate this time is a little different to 2005, then I got a pile of mail from organisations, far too much to read. This time its by email, so I can see it in a more easily accessible form.

I agree with every point below.

Dear adrian,

Please find enclosed a copy of the Woodland Trust’s manifesto. As a candidate at the next general election I wish to raise with you the importance of doubling native woodland cover over the next 50 years.

Creating new native woods and planting trees is not a luxury but essential if we are to tackle challenges such as climate change mitigation and adaptation, wildlife loss, improving public health – both physical and mental – and shaping places where people want to live, work and spend their leisure time. They also offer genuine value for money at a time of enormous pressure on the public finances. Sadly, however, the levels of woodland creation with broadleaved trees has halved in England in the last six years.

Woods and trees matter to everyone because they are vital in securing our quality of life. The Trust calls on all political parties to take the following actions to help secure the benefits of woods and trees:

1.) Adopt a target of doubling native woodland cover in the UK over the next fifty years, bringing together the public, private and voluntary sectors to make this a reality.

2.) Enable every child to plant trees and engage with the natural world as part of their formal education to develop rounded citizens equipped for 21st century challenges.

3.) Provide planning guidance which makes provision for the creation of new native woods within walking distance of residential areas.

4.) Offer incentives to encourage private landowners to plant trees.

5.) Retain a public forest estate but ensure it reflects society’s changing needs with an enhanced emphasis on woodland creation.

6.) Provide global leadership on deforestation by ensuring the UK’s equivalent to the rainforest – our ancient woods and trees – are protected for their biodiversity and cultural importance.

Please visit the Woodland Trust website at www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/candidates-commitment and commit to working for the expansion of native woodland cover in the next Parliament.

Best wishes,

Lee Bruce
Government Affairs Officer
After following the link above I got this message.

Thank you for supporting the Woodland Trust's aspiration to see more native woods and trees planted in the UK. We look forward to working with you in the next Parliament.

The Cooperative movement gives money to the Labour Party. But the Labour Party support supermarket Giants Tesco, and a few years ago gave them permission to open yet another huge supermarket opposite the Oxford Road Coop. Now the Oxford Rd Co-op to close its doors. When will the coop give up on Labour?

The decision to site the Tesco here was always an odd one, it seemed designed to destroy the vibrant local shops and damage the community. For a century the site was that of Battle Hospital, so thanks to new Labour we lost our local hospital and got a giant supermarket.

Part of the site was a flood plane, so now when it rains we have increased danger of flooding, and pollution as they sited a petrol station there.

It has added to traffic problems in the area, on the already congested Oxford and Portman Roads. Tesco made a promise that cars would only use the Portman Road, but many customers park on the Oxford Road instead.

Many trees were cut down to make way for the car park, even those with tree protection orders. Labour support for Tesco was matched by the LD and Tories who all voted for this plan.

Greg Costello, owner of Workhouse Coffee Shop further down Oxford Road, said: “I can categorically say that Tesco has destroyed shopping in West Reading. “No-one walks down here any more. They all just drive straight to Tesco and it has obliterated the local businesses.”

04 March 2010 - Statement from Caroline Lucas, Green Euro-MP and Green Party leader, and Jean Lambert, London’s Green Euro-MP:

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If you paid a scriptwriter to make up some reasons to abolish the House of Lords, I doubt he would do as good a job as they are managing themselves.

In the headlines now is Baron Ashcroft of Belize. Since 2001 Ashcroft has given £5,160,915 to the Tories. He was given his peerage after promising to become a "permanent" UK resident, rather than a non dom where he did not have to pay UK taxes on overseas earnings. But this was later changed to "long-term resident" - a lesser commitment - after discussions with civil servants. Tory deputy chairman and donor Lord Ashcroft revealed this week that he had been non-domiciled for tax purposes for the past decade.

On a similar theme, Labour have a troika of of non-dom donors, Lords Mittal, Cohen and Paul have given £6,734,250. Mittal bought a bit of corporate lobbying after a donation of £4 million. Tony Blair lobbied for Mittal’s business interests when he was still Prime Minister. Ronnie Cohen, PFI profiteer and non-domiciled donor?

Lord Paul – £69,250 in donations to Labour, including £45,000 to Gordon Brown’s leadership campaign. A close friend of Gordon Brown and appointed to the Privy Council last summer, he has admitted to being ‘non-dom’. Lord Paul put up one fifth of the money for Gordon’s leadership campaign.

Alan Johnson said that Michael Ashcroft is "basically unpatriotic because he has remained a non dom." I'm sure loyal Labour donors Paul, Cohen and Mittal will like that.

I don't even need to mention Baron Mandleson.

Lib Dem Lord Falkland, the 15th viscount, designated a converted oast house in Kent as his main residence so he could collect allowances. Yet neither he nor his wife owns or rents the property. It actually belongs to his wife’s aunt, who also pays the utility and telephone bills. By saying his main residence was outside London, he was able to claim £174 a night for accommodation in the capital. “I am quite prepared to accept the fact that a loophole has been here and a number of us have exploited it, there’s no doubt about that.”

Lib Dem Baroness Jenny Tonge was sacked after spreading lies about Israelis organ trafficking in Haiti. George Monbiot calls her 'a bully in ermine'; and says he has found a 'clinching argument for closing the House of Lords. It is the presence in that chamber of a peer called Lady Tonge of Kew.' She made some unfortunate remarks about Botswana Bushmen, the government want to evict them to exploit the land, she is on the side of the exploiters.

No need to mention Michael Brown.

These are just symptoms of a dodgy corrupt system, we need to think again time for a change.
Perhaps its time for a fully elected chamber. And a mechanism for ejecting the offenders.

04 March 2010 - Reacting to news today that Shepway District Council has approved the planned expansion of Lydd Airport (1), Kent’s Green Euro-MP and Green Party leader Caroline Lucas said:

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Councillor Jon Hartley in Park Ward seems to be in a spot of bother. Allegedly he has been failing to turn up to important meetings and may have misled the Council.

I would say maybe he had not been attending some of the council meetings because he was busy with casework. However as my recent Freedom Of Information Request has shown, at less than one item per month this is not the case.

If it is shown that Councillor Hartley has deliberately misled the Council then he should resign. Otherwise he will need one almighty grovelling apology!

03 March 2010 - EU’s ‘2020’ climate and energy strategy "is no Green New Deal”, warns Caroline Lucas

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Above Caroline Lucas and below Peter Tatchell at the launch of the Green Party 2010 LGBT manifesto in Brighton.

I saw an interesting leaflet recently, it predicted the General Election result for Reading East based on the number of Cllrs.

Whats annoying is not just the prediction, but the ridiculous statement 'Only The LD or Cons can win here'. They have some cheek, saying who can win, especially after how close it was in 2005, the Tories only just beat Lab then. Rather than tell people who can win I prefer to leave it to voters, it is there one chance to make the decisions; the politicians have to accept this.



I can see why the LD would like this way of looking at things, it lets them pretend they are front runners with the Tories. But if that technique was used elsewhere that would predict some great results for the Greens in several constituencies, but somehow I doubt the Lib Dems are doing it on those areas, only where it suits them. When they talk about fairness they don't think it applies to them.

If we were all to use the best result for our prediction, then Greens would use the Euro Election, which saw the Greens get 2nd place! For Reading East – Cons 6,051; Green 3,504; Lab 3,057; LD 3,040; UKIP 2,169. (These numbers are from the RBC part of the constituency, which is most of it.) Now I don't think thats a fair prediction, people don't vote in Euro elections as they do in General Elections, but then the same is true of local council elections.

Reading East is Lib Dem target number 39, Labour target 20. So Labour may well be trying harder here than the LD. In 2005 is was very close between the Tories and Labour, the LD were not even close, as you can see below. Rumours are that big Labour money is getting behind Naz in Reading West in an attempt to hold on to that seat though.

2005 General Election Results


Here is the latest Poll Prediction from political betting, I've added the Greens and Ukip based on previous results.


As you can see the LD are a long way behind, actually they may do worse even than this, squeezed by the even bigger parties.

Our Green Party fund-raiser quiz went well bringing £50 into the campaign. It was an enjoyable evening -- even though I am rubbish at quiz questions! The live fiddle music and singing was especially good.

However, we are still a good £700 short of funds for the Reading East campaign! If you've got any fundraising ideas for us -- and more importantly time to put them into practice -- let me know. Alternatively you can always make a donation and encourage friends and family to do the same via our PayPal donate link on the right.

02 March 2010 - The European Commission today issued the first new cultivation authorisation for a genetically-modified plant variety in 12 years, despite concerns that its controversial antibiotic-resistant gene could subsequently enter the food chain.

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This year's council tax debate appears to have been another farce.

Apparently the Tories were in the loo or something for a key vote, which meant the Labour Party had a majority in the chamber and could vote through whatever they wanted. However, earlier in the evening when the Tories were in the chamber debating they were calling for a totally unrealistic freeze on Council tax which would have surely meant cuts in local public services.

On the one hand the Labour government has shafted local councils by cutting money given to them. But on the other hand politics is the art of the possible and if you simply say that you are going to freeze Council tax because the government isn't properly funding councils, then you will have no choice but to cut public services, and as always it will be the poor and vulnerable that suffer.

I would usually parcel out some of the blame to the Liberal Democrats saying "if you don't like the Labour budget, then why don't you get together with the Tories and pass your own budget" but with the high levels of incompetency within the Tory ranks I just don't think this would have been possible.

So we have ended up with a council tax rise of 2.2%.

Alok Sharma, the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Reading West, expressed disappointment at the decision by the Whitchurch Bridge Company to increase the Bridge Card Toll price from 13.89 pence to 20 pence from Monday 1st March on top of the 100% increase in the standard cost of a single crossing.

Labour MP Martin Salter has similarly opposed car drivers paying towards the cost, he went there with film crews from ITV and BBC. As has John Howell Tory MP for Henley

The Whitchurch Bridge Company implemented the current Tolls on Monday 26th October 2009, some 4 months later than it had planned for, as they had a public enquiry. They say this delay in implementing the new Tolls cost the Company about £60,000 in lost revenue. In addition, the Public Inquiry itself cost the Company about £40,000, so the Company has a shortfall of about £100,000 in the current year.
The Company has decided it has no option but to raise the Bridge Card Toll to 20p in 2010. This increase will enable the Company to recoup about £60,000 of the £100,000 shortfall by 2013, so they can afford to keep having a bridge here. Its one of the few examples of car users having to pay for their car use, usually its the rest of us paying, even people who don't have a car.

There is a considerable benefit to using a card for the toll, in cash the toll is 40p for a car, if over 3.5 tonnes mgw, up to 7.5 tonnes its £3.

Update; Clearly the rise is above inflation, but then bus fares have risen far above inflation, where is the outcry for that. Public spending should go on transport for those who can't afford cars, such as buses, trains, cycle paths and improved pedestrian facilities.
Spending millions on crash barriers when there are other ways of improving safety is a similar case; Greener safer A329(M), reduce the speed limit




The cost of motoring has fallen while the cost of public transport has risen since Labour came to power. Official figures show that the cost of motoring has fallen by 13 per cent in real terms since 1997, while bus and coach fares have increased by 17 per cent above inflation. Rail fares have risen by 7 per cent extra above inflation. This is despite the Government's pledge of cutting carbon emissions by 80 per cent by 2020.

Drivers often feel that they have been unfairly targeted by the Treasury, with the duty on petrol having increased dramatically since 1997. But the rises in the costs of running a car have been more than offset by the falling cost of buying and maintaining a car in real terms. For example, a Ford Fiesta cost £9,165 when Labour came to power. Consumers can buy a similar model 12 years later for £9,995, making it much cheaper once inflation is factored in. The cost of maintenance has also fallen sharply as cars have become more reliable.

So while the car lobby often complain about rising costs of motoring; its those who don't use a car that have been hit hardest, and this includes the poorest people. Meanwhile the public transport services continue to get worse as does car congestion. You would think politicians from the big parties would have put this information together by now, if they cared to they could have.



Two sides to every story on the future of transport

1 RAC FOUNDATION: New road capacity does not simply fill up with traffic. Additional traffic may occur on new routes as less suitable roads are relieved of congestion.

GREEN PARTY: New road capacity has been shown to generate an average of one-fifth more traffic, greatly increasing climate-changing emissions. New roads lead to new journeys being taken on them.


2 RAC: Building roads will not have a significant effect on climate change, so long as wider policy measures are also introduced. Road building on its own can slightly increase carbon dioxide emissions, but it could also reduce emissions by up to 10 per cent if introduced alongside road-pricing.

GREEN: Relying on the car and pricing public transport out of the market is exactly what underlies our current worsening emissions. Of the 19 road-building projects currently planned by the Scottish Government, just one shows any carbon reduction.


3 RAC: Traffic pollution is not getting worse. Vehicle technology has reduced traffic pollution significantly.

GREEN: The most recent figures show that in 2004-5, Scotland's road transport emissions of increased by 70,000 tonnes.


4 RAC: Roads do not occupy large areas of land – they cover less than 2 per cent of the surface of Britain.

GREEN: Land for roads, such as the proposed Aberdeen bypass, is often the most beautiful and ecologically sensitive.


5 RAC: The UK is not unusual in Europe in relying on roads and has the lowest level of motorways and main roads relative to its population.

GREEN: This is spurious and ignores so many other factors, notably the higher costs of public transport in the UK.


6 RAC: Building roads will benefit low-income groups, as all income groups rely on roads for more than 92 per cent of their travel.

GREEN: Most of the poorest in society live in households without access to a car. Britain has historically had the lowest investment in public transport, leading to its excessive cost and limited services.


7 RAC: The construction industry can accommodate a substantial increase in road building.

GREEN: The construction industry would no doubt deliver any level of road-building required.


8 RAC: Roads are efficient users of space in comparison with the railways. Roads carry almost five times more passenger traffic than railways and take up only 50 per cent more land.

GREEN: Roads are more heavily used because the total cost of motoring continues to fall, despite changes to oil prices. Driving generates about three times as much per passenger mile as trains.


9 RAC: Public transport is not a ready alternative to the private car. Railways serve very distinct markets and have little room for additional passengers. Bus services cover less than 23 per cent of the road network.

GREEN: In a compact country like Britain, high-quality public transport is easily deliverable, if there (is] the political will.


10 RAC: Road traffic does pay its way. Even if road users were put in a unique position of needing to pay all of their external costs, such as pollution, congestion and for accidents, current charges are too high.

GREEN: When the effects of pollution are factored in, as they should be, these taxes cover less than half of the overall costs imposed on society.


11 RAC: Building new roads is not too costly. In many cases, the benefits of road development have vastly outweighed its costs.

GREEN: The costs of developing new roads are enormous. The Scottish Government is about to spend £6 billion on unnecessary roads.

01 March 2010 - The EU Council (representing Member State governments) today officially adopted a common position on the draft Regulation on the illegal trade of timber and wood products.

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I just got the latest statistics through on councillor activity -- the number of items of work each councillor has put through the system they use to get answers to questions from officers and request repairs for residents. Of particular interest to me is Park Ward, which is where I will be standing in the local elections on May 6. I was amazed to see that for the period July 2009 to February 2010 the local councillors had been so inactive:

Shirley Merriott (Labour) -- 2 (0.25 per month)
Jon Hartley (Labour) -- 4 (0.5 per month)
Wazir Hussain (Tory) -- 26 (3.25 per month)

I looked back through my activity reports and for the same period I have done over 150 items of casework (19 per month) off the back of our year-round doorknocking. I think Jon and Shirley should be handing back their £8,000 each of councillor allowances! In terms of value for money Shirley is receiving £4000 for each item of casework!

For the full results click here.