As you will see, when I met the Wilbury Residents Alliance I was concerned to hear that lorries bringing materials to the Hitchin Loop rail works are likely to mount the pavement. It seems that there is not room for two lorries to pass on Wilbury Hills Road without running on the pavement. After hearing this I immediately contacted Hertfordshire Highways to raise these concerns and to ask what their view is of the danger.
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North East Herts, Videos |
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Posted by oliverheald
With strike ballots very much in the news, it is worth considering whether there should be a turn-out threshold for the results to stand. At present a simple majority of votes cast is enough. Given the potentially drastic impact of a strike, there is a case for requiring a majority of those balloted. This would enhance workplace democracy by putting a premium on turnout. Some argue that in a General Election not even a simple majority is required to elect an MP. But there is a difference between deciding on a strike action – yes or no – or electing an individual MP taking account of their qualities and party policy issues. It is noteworthy that in that other area of workplace democracy – trade union recognition – there is a threshold that 40 per cent of those balloted must support recognition. Conservatives introduced modern workplace democracy with the introduction of secret ballots. A reasonable ballot threshold would further encourage turnout and legitimacy.
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General Election 2010, The Economy, Unions |
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Posted by oliverheald
In my last blog, I was remembering when the last Labour Government lost its grip on the nation’s finances and was damaged after a welter of strikes in 1978/1979 known as the Winter of Discontent. A number of readers have commented to me that it just does not make sense to strike in the current economic climate with the risk to the employer’s business and jobs. As though the BA strike threat was not bad enough, we now hear of a threat of a first national rail strike in 16 years after the RMT union voted for industrial action. This lunchtime RMT announced 54% of members voted for industrial action over signal workers’ job cuts. Train operators have condemned strike action. Perhaps the unions sense that the government is a lame duck and will be desperate to find a way out, hoping they will apply pressure to meet strikers’ demands. But jobs are precious and the success of business is vital to see jobs created and protected. Strikes damage business anyway, but to strike in the middle of an economic crisis didn’t make sense in 1978/1979 and doesn’t make sense now.
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General Election 2010, Parliament, The Economy, Unions |
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Posted by oliverheald
The last time Britain was in really serious economic trouble under Labour was in the late 1970s. Huge debts led our country to borrow from the International Monetary Fund – the lender of last resort to poor countries. The Trade Unions caused chaos with strikes and the 1978/1979 winter became known as the Winter of Discontent. It was against this background that the public turned to the Conservatives. Part of the national mood was the understanding that Trade Unions funded the Labour Party and that the Labour Government was powerless to stand up to them. Gordon Brown has tried to give the impression that he opposes the BA strike as unjustified. Yesterday at Prime Minister’s Questions, David Cameron asked whether the Prime Minister would advise BA workers to ignore the strike and work normally. He would not answer and wriggled uncomfortably as David pursued the point. This gives the game away – talk is cheap, but the Unite Union gives millions to Labour. If a strike is unjustified as Gordon Brown says, why not say to workers that they should work normally? The answer is that it would upset the close relationship between Union and Labour.
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General Election 2010, Parliament, The Economy, Unions |
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Posted by oliverheald
In these difficult economic times, it is important that taxpayers’ money is spent wisely. Public Sector Travel Magazine has recently highlighted some of the answers to Parliamentary Questions I have asked about departmental spending on overseas first class air travel. At the end of last year I asked each Government department how much they spent on first class flights. Many departments ducked the question and simply referred me to the list of all departmental spending on travel which does not differentiate between first, business and economy classes. However the results were still illuminating. The total departmental spend on overseas travel amounted to £2.2 million last year with three departments putting their hands up to Ministers’ first class air travel of £17,790.
The fact that an industry website has picked up on this line of questioning is good, as it shows that we have rattled a few cages. As Public Sector Travel put it: “In better times these might have been considered too small in the totality of public spending to matter much”, so it looks like someone is getting the message!
Here are the results of my Questioning, click on entries to see the links to Hansard:
| DEPARTMENT | FIRST CLASS TRAVEL 2008-09 | TOTAL TRAVEL SPENDING 2008-09 |
| Business Innovation and Skills | “Cabinet Office provides an annual list of overseas travel over £500 undertaken by Ministers” | £291,616.00 |
| Cabinet | “See annual list” | £67,559.00 |
| DCSF | “See annual list” | £40,386.00 |
| DCLG | “See annual list” | £23,371.00 |
| DCMS | “See annual list” | £36,373.00 |
| Defence | £10,723.80 | £84,127.00 |
| DECC | “See annual list” | £21,700.00 |
| DEFRA | “See annual list” | £34,508.00 |
| FCO | “See annual list” | £886,780.00 |
| Health | “See annual list” | £52,316.00 |
| Home Office | “See annual list” | £109,642.00 |
| DIFD | “See annual list” | £326,379.00 |
| Justice | £2,040.50 | £22,348.00 |
| Northern Ireland | “See annual list” | £92,712.00 |
| Scotland | “See annual list” | £12,114.00 |
| Treasury | “See annual list” | £51,667.00 |
| Transport | “See annual list” | £30,739.00 |
| Wales | “See annual list” | £2,978.00 |
| Women and Equality | £5,026.00 | - |
| DWP | “See annual list” | £23,759.00 |
| TOTAL | £17,790.3 | £2,211,074 |
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Me, Parliament |
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Posted by oliverheald
Today was the Westminster Mile for Sport Relief and I was delighted to take part. I was never going to be the winner, but that wasn’t really the point afterall. Sport Relief is a great charity and I would urge all constituents to get involved with the many runs that are taking place this year. If you want to see more on this, why not check out my video below.
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Charity, Videos |
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Posted by oliverheald
Getting ready for my up-and-coming Westminster Mile this Wednesday, when MPs gather to run 1 mile round St James’ Park in aid of Sport Relief, I went for a training run with Letchworth’s super-fundraiser Richard Kell through Manor Wood in Letchworth. Richard’s ambitions are far higher – to raise £1 million in a year for Help for Heroes by running 12 marathons and other daring feats. Next weekend Richard is running the equivalent of 4 marathons between 4 Football league grounds – all in 24 hours. He will start at Peterborough United’s London Road ground at 3pm on Friday and hopes to arrive at Watford’s ground in time to watch the fixture between POSH and the Hornets on Saturday afternoon. It was a pleasure to join Richard’s training run and I wish him the very best of luck in his year of fund-raising efforts for such a worthy cause.
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Charity, Videos |
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Posted by oliverheald
As we approach this landmark General Election, today’s Electoral Commission Report Completeness and accuracy of electoral registers in Great Britain found that non-registration for voting is higher among certain groups, particularly young people aged 17-24 years old (56 per cent not registered) and people from black and minority ethnic communities (31 per cent not registered). Changing address is a key reason for non-registration – just 21 per cent of those living at their present address for a year or less are registered to vote. Millions of people could be falling off the register if they move house between annual canvasses. As a result, the rate of completeness of the register may fall by around 10 percentage points between canvasses. I think this highlights the need to put the duty to register on the individual and to do more to encourage youngsters and those from bme communities to register. It is often argued that 16 year olds should have the vote, but the experience of the group immediately ahead of them in age is not encouraging. Plenty of young people are interested in political issues, but they seem to be willing to let their parents decide what actually happens. We felt almost exactly the opposite when I was young. We wanted to vote to achieve change. It is time for the voice of our young people to be heard. They must register and have their say.
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Civil liberties, General Election 2010 |
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Posted by oliverheald
As soon as the weekend Opinion Poll showed more Labour support, the Markets took fright and the cost of Government borrowing went up as interest rates rose. For months, the Government has been shielded from the true state of business confidence in their abilities, because the assumption has been that the Conservatives will win and rein in Labour waste and overspending. The Opinion Poll showing just a 2 point lead has shaken them out of this cosy complacency. Now we see the professional investor’s view of Labour – disastrous! Several papers pick up on Ken Clarke’s warning yesterday that a Labour election victory would panic the markets and hammer the Pound. In the Mail, a leader explains why the markets don’t trust Labour. Ken is right to point out the blunt realities. Experts investing funds for their clients including pension funds know that this Government has spent and borrowed even when the economy was doing well. Now there is not enough money left, they are printing extra money to pay for their borrowings. It is like the person maxed out on their credit card simply getting another card and another card. Borrow, borrow, borrow…print money, print money… borrow, borrow is the road to national ruin. It is the historic Conservative mission to save the day after a period of Labour recklessness and we can rein in spending, achieving better value for the taxpayer’s money, without damaging front line services. Britain can’t stand another 5 years of Gordon Brown’s Labour.
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Conservative Party, General Election 2010, The Economy |
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Posted by oliverheald
Do you agree with me that there is something pretty sickening about Labour protests over Lord Ashcroft’s tax affairs? It is tired, desperate stuff. After all, he has followed the law and kept faith with the promises he made. The Labour spokesmen like Lord Mandelson and Jack Straw pontificate, but they have plenty of donors with the same tax status as Lord Ashcroft. The fact is that now that Conservatives are more popular, Labour supporters don’t like it, so they suggest changing the voting system and try to put off Tory donors. Surely, they would be better off apologising for running our economy into the ground, damaging the interests of all age groups and coming up with some real plans to save the country from the mess they’ve made.
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Conservative Party, General Election 2010 |
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Posted by oliverheald