Anjona - Because Northampton South Deserves Better

Austerity

2012-01-15T11:21:00.000-08:00

Times are tough and you can see it’s beginning to bite with the increase in pay day lending advertisements on the TV. With Wonga offering 4214% APR and QuickQuid at a meagre 1734%, Pounds to Pocket on their 287% APR seems an absolute bargain. At only 3.8% higher than the historic favourite of those with no security and needing money, Provident at 272.2% APR it really does look the smart choice for today.

But when the pariahs of our time, the bankers have historically lent at a rate of about 6-9% APR why would anyone charge so much?

The answer is that people are getting more and more desperate.

With more and more people taking out loans to make ends meet delivering the funds that families need to pay for rent, mortgage or food money at these kind of rates are becoming a greater part of each family’s ability to stay solvent.

When even someone as mainstream as the Archbishop of Canterbury recognises the need to held those experiencing poverty and the artificial distinction between the deserving and undeserving poor, surely it is time to kick into touch those that promote these differences.

Over this week, we have seen a little chink of hope in the three times House of Lords defeat of the Welfare Reform Bill with devastating implications for people with disabilities. To be frank after the lack of this kind of response to the NHS reform bill I didn’t think that it was possible. I guess it is down to the old “organise and agitate” slogan. Disabled people and organisations did excellent work in both putting together the Spartacus Report (the easy read version is here) and organising using traditional lobbying techniques and new social media. A lot to learn, a lot to get on the agenda .

Trust ... the big issue for 2012

2011-12-31T12:16:00.000-08:00

Things do look quite dire at the moment for most people; small businesses, large businesses, small countries and large countries, for young people and older people, for those in work and for those who are not.

2012 looks to be an anxious vulnerable time for so many of us.

In my mind, I play out a variety of game plans for both me and those around me.

When the NHS reform bill was voted through in May it was clear that things were much worse than we had thought. Sure, there had previously been student protests about tuition fee increases and the scrapping of the education maintenance allowance, but these could be seen by politicians as minority interests. Simply issues that concern the young and their parents. Not even all parents would be affected, just those with bright children of the right age group. However with the NHS reform bill, here was an issue that affected us all ... or perhaps all of us that did not have private health insurance. If there was to be a smidgeon of light at the end of the tunnel, it was the hope that there were enough MP’s of conscience to rebel on at least this issue. Over the last few weeks with the legal aid, sentencing and punishment of offenders (LASPO) bill going through the House of Lords, Norman Tebbit who famously stated that the unemployed should “get on their bikes” to find work becoming the darling of many a left-wing cartoonist, managed a gargantuan image shift by fighting to legal aid to be retained cases of alleged medical negligence involving children. When Tebbit comes to our rescue, what kind of an alternative dimension do we find ourselves living in.

As we enter a new year, in 2011 there have been mass statements of the need for a political change of direction such as the TUC rally on 26th March and the combined day of action on pensions on 30th November, where we saw that biggest demonstrations that the country has ever seen. However, with parliamentary politicians in their seats for the next few years there is no sign of any movement for a change in direction.

The unity that was achieved in the TUC actions in March and November has to be the way forward, but it seems hard to get agreement on the when and the why. It is important for the trade union movement to build community links as more and more will not be in work. These are not as strong as they could be and approaches from Unite in allowing a version of membership for those not in employment must be an approach that all unions should consider for the future. There needs to be far more encouragement and incentive for unions that have their strength regionally to build links and relationships locally as that is where change needs to be actioned, brick by brick.

The thing to avoid in 2012 is conflict within the Labour Party. Despite the loose lipped comments by some senior Labour MP’s, the last thing that the party and the country need is a ditching of Labour's leader. The other potential site of conflict is between the Labour Party and the Trade Union movement over more industrial action. Yes, there should be healthy debate within open democratic processes but when decisions are taken it would be better that the ego’s are put aside so that action for change can be as effective as possible.

So although the does seem to be despair ... lets be part of the difference we want to see.

Wrong, wrong, so clearly wrong

2011-07-05T11:59:00.000-07:00

What kind of world do we live in when so whole organisations defend the indefensible, claim that they did not know, claim that is wasn’t them.
Regulation of the Press is clearly unsavoury in a democracy but when the basic human rights to privacy are not even considered essential to preserve when it comes to people who have lost their children to sexual abuse and murder, we have to accept that the balance is wrong.

But this is not just a story of good people and bad people ... young innocent girls who get killed but evil unbalanced men ... but it is also the actions of a variety of people in an organisation booth men and women who saw it as acceptable in the name of selling more newspapers,in the name of profit to commit which they knew were unlawful, immoral and potentially likely to cause additional distress to grieving parents and also potentially likely to pervert the course of justice.
In the same way as the banks , who were reckless with their risk assessment or the sub-prime mortgage market which came close to spiralling the world into complete economic disaster need better regulation, so does the media to ensure that profit and any story at any cost isn’t the doctrine that prevails and influences our world to the institutional abuse of individuals when they are at their most vulnerable.

The motivation of profit and unravelling of how various people who should have put a stop to it and did not is exactly why the Government must box clever with Rupert Murdoch’s BskyB takeover.

Millie Dowler and Soham girls murder phone hacking! Time for a public enquiry

Human Rights and Equality Disappointments - The need to get off our knees

2011-03-29T11:19:00.000-07:00

Finding myself at this time of year unusually outside the space of electoral politics, I have had time to focus a little harder on the other things around me. This afternoon the shocking revelation of the failure of the criminal justice system to obtain a single conviction for sixty people living in Kettering being kept in near slavery-like conditions leaves many of us with all too many questions. Many of these people were trafficked from their homes. Speaking earlier on in the year to a police officer involved in the investigation, it seems it was through investigating the theft of charity bags in the with second hand clothing that had alerted the police to the conditions that these workers were living and working in appalling physical abuse, threats and harassment. More than 20 of the workers were crammed into a three-bedroom terraced house with a single toilet that did not work.
This situation continued for four years with no one coming forward to the police or to report the situation to any other agency. There are various parties that share the blame for this including the Gang Master Licensing Authority that issued the license to the employers, the multi-million pound supermarkets that bought the produce. It is situations like this that highlight the real need for advice that reaches the individuals in greatest need. However, with drastic reforms and cuts to legal advice, one can’t help feeling that things are just going to get worse. Check out the campaigns on this here and here. This all comes together with the Government Equality Office releasing a consultation paper earlier this month, clearly stating that they wish the Equality and Human Rights Commission to cease funding their legal grants programme from 2012. They seem to think that this in the future could be funded by legal aid regardless of the fact that legal aid will not fund tribunal representation. With respondents generally only really motivated to settle cases as the tribunal date approaches, any respondent that is aware that the claimant in their case is supported by legal aid is likely to play hard ball to the end, increasing the number of tribunals that taken place and increase in the costs of justice for all of us. Perhaps the icing on the cake was the newly released proposals for equality regulations. These have been re-issues after initially being issued at the start of the year (hummm ... like that did take more resources at a time when I thought we are all mean to be tightening our belts) and significantly waters down the obligations on public bodies to demonstrate that they are doing all they can to elimination discrimination, promote equality of opportunity and promote good relations and just to make sure that we are on a generally uphill struggle the Equality and Human Rights Commission is having 55% of its budget cut. In such circumstances it is all too easy to not fight back when it comes to the bad news. However with decisions being changed nationally and locally all the time with the right kind of pressure at the right time, it’s all the more reason to hope and make ourselves heard. Join me and fight against the EHRC cuts by signing this.

Cuts and the recession

2011-01-29T04:47:00.001-08:00

The cuts are the big news at the minute with the reality of what will go finally emerging. In the County and the the Borough.

This is the first set of budgets that I have seen that have clear evidence that there has a least been an attempt to equality impact assess either through referencing in reports or through full publication like the County Council. However, these documents have clearly been carried out in some haste with some having completely inadequate data sets to inform them. Some of them are very poor pieces of work with others not recognising the leverage that small amounts of investment can have particularly in the voluntary and community sector. Investment of a few thousand for the County Council can assist levering in tens, even hundreds of thousands from other sources for some organisations in this sector. All this at a time when there is in addition to these local cuts decisions, national cuts decisions that are a complete assault on the vulnerable in our communities. This is a must see for all. The disabled women presenting in the film highlights the focus from some in the voluntary and community sector "picking the carcass of the welfare state". It is reference to the hours, often days of time trying to apply for a plethora tenders and contracts to see some future after 31st March rather than putting the kind of energy that is needed to challenge the cuts. All too true. The cuts locally are difficult to see as much of them are hidden in debris of enormity of the cuts. For instance, in the £2,772,000 cut known as SC016 the complete axing of all advice work in the County lies. This will in particular hit Cleggs alarm clock Britain. It is those who have always worked for a living who perhaps now find themselves in hard times through redundancy, ill-heath or bereavement that will feel this the most as the services that have previously guided these people in need through an unfamiliar and complex welfare system disappear.

The recession and the cuts that exacerbate them are about inequality. Figures released last week show only one in five under 24 year olds are in work with an increasing proportion never having experienced work in the last two years. Over 50% of Black under 24 year olds unemployed, our nation is failing an entire generation. Since the Fawcett Society's attempted challenge on the governments budget the case for the gender equality implictions of the cut carries on growing.

So what is the answer? the only one that I can think of is about resistance. There are many ways of doing this, talking planning objecting but overall making the job of implementing cuts as hard as possible. The demonstration on 26th March should be a highlight of the campaign. Why don't you commit to going along too.

New Year

2011-01-03T00:09:00.000-08:00

With the new year comes a new accolade with local twitter and hyper-local blog Hunsbury Herald highlighting this blog in it's best of blogs page here.
Although it's always good to have praise, I will point out that my blog is a personal one and not connected to my employment at Northamptonshire Rights and Equality Council.

A Better Northampton

2010-12-27T10:22:00.000-08:00

I have a deep love of where I live and I do get frustrated when it's not all I want it to be. I'd like less closed down retail units in the town centre, I'd like more people to have work and have the economic power to figure out the changes they would like in their lives and how to get them, I'd also like an environment where there was more chance that my daughters can have relationships with other human beings without some thinking that because they are women that they are lesser human beings. I'd like to bringing my son up in an environment where he does not have to walk past a lap dancing club every time he goes to play warhammer at gamesworkshop, past unclad female images of bill board proportions. The outside of the venue itself is regularly strewn with litter and rotting food which in addition to the graphic marketing tools scream out that our town is not family friendly, and doesn't have a pride in the way in the place we live or the way people can expect to be treated as citizens. My town would be a better town without it. Join with me and others in objecting to its licence.

There is until 11th January 2011 to get objections in.

Objections can be sent by post to:

The Licensing Officer
Northampton Borough Council
Borough Solicitors Division
The Guildhall
St Giles Square
Northampton
NN1 1DE

Or by email to pbayliss@northampton.gov.uk

What's the difference or making a difference

2010-12-27T00:45:00.000-08:00

With thoughts turning to the new year and resolutions, it's worth considering what a citizens manifesto for the May elections would look like.

One key concept that hasn't enjoyed much discussion is a Northampton Living wage. This would involve the Council committing to pay staff a living wage rather than minimum wage and also committing to only contract with companies and organisations that paid staff a living wage.

It was a key policy platform that all candidates for the London mayoral elections fought on, however in the face of austerity is it still an aspiration that is deliverable or even able to capture the imagination of the electorate. With so many going into 2011 with uncertainty about the future maybe all people want to hope for is security as opposed to hoping for something better.

Change - anyone else up for it?

2010-12-17T10:08:00.000-08:00

With those great guys at 38 degrees fundraising for this and the CWU folk mobilising against the proposals for the post offices and the post, it seems to be activism all round. However the proof of the pudding is in the change it creates or doesn’t as the case maybe. With the key change point being next May, perhaps it’s time to think ambitious in the an alternative coalition ... a coalition for change. Post-Xmas and new year those into electoral politics will be winding up for the target of success at Borough and District Council elections. For those of us that have been here before, in the past it has meant that the better organisation (historically Northampton Town Football Club Supporters Trust), canvassed the opinion of all candidates on their views about the Sixfields stadium. A while back there was the semblance of a coalition for change with the debate in the Guildhall organised by Northampton town football club supporters and Market Traders. Unfortunately, the ruling Lib Dem group declined to have a formal presence with some individual Lib Dem Councillors skulking in the audience. Perhaps it’s time to renew that energy and as citizens make our own manifesto for the town and then ask those putting up for office what they will buy into. What’s certain is that it won’t happen on it’s own but with more than one local community group thinking of hosting a hustings, IMHO should be something that the party pundits should be thinking of their responses to.
Who knows it may even change the stability of the Westminster coalition?

In the fast lane with a whole load of crashes around

2010-12-16T12:31:00.000-08:00

I was presenting a statement signed by about a dozen Black and minority ethnic groups and 80 individuals at the Northampton Borough Council Overview and Scrutiny Panel tonight. The statement was developed by Voice 4 Change with input from NREC and Council for Ethnic Minorities. The first shocking thing about the experience was the paucity of Councillors in attendance. Although the weather was dire it was traversable and clearly myself and several other members of the public had made the trip out. Having elected Councillors the least that they can do it to actually turn up and represent you or in this case listen to you.
The statement was not news. It was basically the articulation of the frustration that many Black groups have had with not achieving any resource from Northampton Borough Council. The Council’s position is that the applications made by the Black and minority ethnic organisations were simply not robust enough to get through the scoring framework. One could argue a very similar argument used by 21 Oxbridge Colleges here.
The other big news is about the cuts released by the County Council so far but so far very little detail exists on what this means for specific communities. It’s all very well stating that bus route subsidies will have to be re-negotiated but to look at this effectively with an equalities eye, it is really important to identify which ones we are actually talking about and which communities that they actually serve. In the mean time things that were seen as important for vulnerable members of the community now seem to be put on hold

Patriotism

2010-11-07T04:36:00.000-08:00

Growing up I can remember that this was important to me. My ideas were really influenced by living in India in the nineties. Here our ears are often attacked by statements such as “this country is going to the dogs” and reminiscence of a bygone age when summers we long and people kept their front doors unlocked. Outside of the UK it does seem that patriotism is much more in vogue than over here. In India and indeed on mainland Europe it seems that it’s far easier to love your country. I think part of the reason for this is that is seems owned by the political right and far right that makes those of us with a social conscience uncomfortable with sharing this space. However I really think that the time has come to take back this ground from the right.
Last year, my presence at a remembrance day parade in Wellingborough was commented on in a fascist blog locally. The writer intonated that I must have felt ill and sickened by participating in the very moving ceremony. They also I think you must be inhumane to not feel for the men and women who are the operational arm of British foreign policy whether you agree with the policy or not. Those that are killed and injured maimed and slaughtered in the service of their country deserve our respect and support. If it is Britishness that they are fighting for, I believe that the Britishness that we should be promoting is one of respect of humanity and respect for fairness.

2010-11-01T14:25:00.000-07:00

When you are up everyone wants to know you ... its a different story when things aren't going too well. When Obama won, everyone wanted to be associated with his success whatever the political spectrum. The Tories developed Big Society and the Labour Party tried to up their game on community organising . Obama's experience is unique and I am not sure could eve be replicated in the UK. I'm off the the UNISON community service group conference tomorrow where I think most will be insecure about their futures. The real news I think will be what position UK politicians adopt after the mid term elections. Is this something that they are committed to or do they view this as some other easy cutting fodders?

Coming out in favour of ...

2010-08-20T09:00:00.000-07:00

The Labour leadership contest has been significantly lack lustre to date but today Andy Burnham's battle bus rolled into town at the Earl Spencer White Water Rafting Centre and raised the game significantly with a message of "Big Ideas" such as a National Care Service and a central core of the need to fight for the principle of social justice in our country and across the world.

As part of the ethos of his campaign much was stated about the Labour Party needing to reclaim its ground as the Peoples party and taking back the party from a political elite.
With the likes of Pete Jenner acknowledging Andy's potential in his comments about the Labour Party needing to stop spinning and start inspiring, Andy really seems to be the passion in this contest with his feet firmly on the ground.

I'm encouraging people to back Andy as the one that can

really relate to people on the street
define the priorities that bring Labour back home to where it belongs on the side of the vulnerable and the voiceless
demonstrate that he has the ethics that have the values of social justice at his heart
have the courage to state the "bleedin' obvious" in respect of his sense of right and wrong

With many thinking that one or other of the Millibands has got it in the bag ... Andy gives Labour Party members a chance to vote for real change so sign up to support his campaign here.

Getting the change we need

2010-08-07T23:52:00.000-07:00

It certainly has been eventful since the election in May and still can't quite work out what's going to change next. News comes this morning of proposals to cut milk for children. Something that takes many of us back decades in terms of campaigning against cuts in public services.

In Northamptonshire, first proposals about cuts in transport to over 16's with learning difficulties and then news that the County Council is reconsidering it's decision following Special Need Involving Parents (SNIP) higlighted the potential of the decision being discrimination against young people with disabilities and their carers.

It does seem for those of us that want to challenge the reduction in spending on public services we do need to know who are friends are and how to work together with others so we do not get services picked off one by one. Certainly the strategy of using Equality Impact Assessment maybe one that will disappear as legislation changes.

So all the more welcome are plans for a one day workshop hosted by Northampton Quakers under the banner of Turning the Tide. The workshop seeks to bring together active campaigners from a variety of organisations to share information and resources for effective campaigning.

It will be held on Saturday 13th November between 10am and 4pm at the Freinds Meeting House, Wellington Street, Northampton NN1 3AS (opposite Marks and Spencers side entrance). To register for the limited spaces at this event, contact Julia Bush on julia.bush@northampton.ac.uk.

Northampton and austerity

2010-07-01T00:35:00.000-07:00

Surprised to see David Kennedy in the Guardian discussing austerity in local government. The question going through my mind is whether it is really possible for doing more with less. I believe it is possible to change the way services are delivered to provide something better for a large volume of people with a certain set of needs but event that change costs money in the short term. It is certainly true that local government still doesn't know the actual amount of money that will be delivered or even how much they can generate themselves. However what is really clear is the future is going to be brutal in particular for those who are disadvantaged with multiple needs having to be addressed.

For those of us in the third sector there is even more uncertainty. For a government which talked about the opportunity of "Big Society" what's on offer seems to be considerably less than that. Ken Clarke yesterday suggested that third sector organisations could help offenders find jobs and be paid piecemeal only if an offender found work. In this economic climate certainly not a proposal that would survive the dragons den.

In the meantime, the County Council has released it's third sector commissioning strategy which simply isn't clear enough about what it is they we actually commission. For smaller groups the prospect of a small grants scheme is to be welcomed bringing a more open process to almost the grace and favour approach for doing small scale short pieces of work. Already this year with the demise of Ability Northants, it's no wonder that many in the sector are sceptical about commissioning given that local groups partnering together don't seem to be winning the goods. It seems that there will be a bit or a lot of a cull in the days ahead,

2010-06-30T15:02:00.000-07:00

Cruising for a bruising from the low life that complain about me not posting enough, but the need is to stick my head over the parapet.

I am particularly motivated by the news that Inspiration FM go live on thier new community radio station with recently granted license in the coming month.

The Inspiration crew are a vital part of community life in our town and the implementation of the license have been a long time coming and once it get's here I know that there are so many that are going to appreciate it

Hope not Hate campaiging in the sun

2010-03-27T08:05:00.000-07:00

It's been a fantastic morning delivering leaflets with more unexpected faces from across the area coming out to help. Thanks so much to anyone who came along. We achieved far more than I expected on today. I'm hoping that this has been the case across the country but especially in Barking.

Philosophy Football have just released a new T-shirt which I think will make anyone look fetching in the Springtime weather. There's even music to go with it. :-)

A13 The Road from Cable Street to Barking

The A13 starts in Whitechapel, just round the corner from Cable Street where Oswald Mosley's Blackshirts were stopped in 1936. Travelling east to the Essex coast it passes by Barking and through Dagenham where the Hope not Hate campaign are seeking to stop Nick Griffin and the BNP in 2010. SPECIAL CAMPAIGN PRICE JUST £14.99. Philosophy Football's A13 shirt will help raise valuable funds for Hope not Hate in Barking, wherever you live it wear in support.

Available from Philosophy Football

After having the local BNP passing judgement on the neck lines of my clothing recently perhaps even they will appreciate it.

Mike Prescod ... The Peoples Man

2010-02-20T10:45:00.000-08:00

On Monday Mike Prescod died. Since then we have all been trying to come to terms with it. Mike had an immense influence on the Northamptonshire Voluntary and community Sector and local Northamptonshire politics. His contribution to public life included being the first Black mayor of Wellingborough, being the first Black chair of Northamptonshire Probation Service, but much, much more than that he supported and mentored so many of us into the work and activism that we do now.

My friend Roopa said looking back at the years she spent in the area,

"Mike's presence was there, guiding us, teaching us, watching over us and giving us a kick up the backside if it was ever needed! WE are Mike's legacy. We'll carry on fighting the cause, often with our backs against the wall but always strong together. Mike made sure of that. He WILL rest in peace as he's done his bit and it's time for us to carry on with him always in our hearts."

So what did this man from Barbados have that enabled him to command respect from such a wide variety of people across his adopted town and county? Mike was passionate about people, was straight talking and it was these qualities that won him friends where ever he went. He knew a lot from just immersing himself in the community events and activities in Wellingborough and across the County.

Condolences to Mikes's wife and family. Mike Prescod, Rest in Peace.

For those who would like to attend his funeral, it will be Friday 5th March at 1pm at the United Reformed Church on the High Street in Wellingborough.

New politics for a new year

2010-01-16T04:37:00.000-08:00

People have been asking me about life after the Labour Party. Craig asked whether I was in the wilderness ...with the antics of some ex-ministers last week it seems that I’ve left the wilderness for something more fertile.

There seems to be a profusion of political initiatives outside of party politics. The one that seems to be buzzing with the ballot action is power2010 where there seems to be interest across the political spectrum. As ever my passion is the democracy so do go out and vote and try and swing this campaign to a progressive agenda.
With 38 degrees that agenda seems far more left rooted but the campaign issues seem to be selected by a self selected team with little grassroots input.
My favoured campaign is still a local Citizens campaign like this. Anyone want to join in a bit of political groundbreaking with a Northampton Citizens campaign .. get in touch

Truth, Justice, Racial Violence and Belief

2009-12-19T16:19:00.000-08:00

Over the last five days I’ve had to give a redundancy notice to a pregnant women and had to hear the ultimate abuse of a Council Worker of twelve years who has been told that they don’t know what will be happening with their job or whether they will be made redundant or redeployed in the next few weeks.

That and writing off my car (again!) Thursday morning only to have another car collide into my courtesy vehicle on Friday makes it officially a danger zone. So in situations like this it is about the fundamentals. Those have to be words like truth and justice and making them more than words.

Work at the moment is hard ... harder than ever ...we always say that it is hard ... but the search for truth and justice seems harder than ever.

So in the context of this turmoil news comes of this. So is it better to feel that there is the potential of people in the then institutionally racist Met being brought to justice for the failure to properly investigate a murder that happened sixteen years ago or is it right to focus on the fact there has been sixteen years with no individual accepting or being apportioned blame.

Perhaps the most important thing is to belive that truth and justice will be brought to the front of our minds regardless of collusion of those who do not value these ideals for the world of today or the future.

So when does it matter what people say?

2009-12-12T01:50:00.000-08:00

At Weston Favell School staff, students, community and politicians have spoken and it still doesn’t seem to matter. So when does it matter what people say?
Following consultation from everything from public meetings (one of which only allowed three questions from members of the public) and OFSTED surveys when everyone says that they don’t want this school to be an academy why has it still been voted by a Tory cabinet to be on track to turn into one.
At the end of the day it is all about Northampton. The reason why a Tory cabinet can stumble into this decision is only because there is no heavy representation from Northampton what do Tory;s from rural South Northants or Kettering care about Northampton.
So why should they care? They should care because students at Weston Favell went on strike twice over Wednesday because they cared about their school. They were threatened with exclusion but felt passionately about the millions of public money invested in their school over the past couple of years being handed over lock stock and two smoking barrels to a company which has been deemed by the Government as having no capacity to manage any more schools.
There is now a hastily arranged full council in January to discuss the issue. Politicians panic stations!

moving forward

2009-12-10T15:11:00.000-08:00

It seems that people have been talking about me and my news.
So guess it must be time to have my say.
Since being told that I was no longer in the Labour party I have
• had good friends who has expressed genuine love and affection for me and a wish for me to move forward in a positive way.
• contacted by a Tory M P expressing profuse regret and stating respect for my hard work and integrity
• contacted by a recently born again Independent wishing to “share my pain”
• a Labour group leader looking for the mobile number of a colleague
For all those from all political persuasions who have given me messages of support, thank you for your very generous words.
To the BNP who reverted to gloating at the situation I find myself in ... all the more time to do anti-BNP campaigning. The events surrounding my exclusion from the Labour Party do not cloud my judgement about who are real political enemies.
The task now is to get political change for Northampton which delivers real benefits for the people living here and destroy the evil ... the racist and the fascist views in our communities.

2009-10-22T01:10:00.000-07:00

It's been an interesting few days. Firstly the mass revulsion at the Jan Moir article in the Daily Mail. The writing had been based on hatred of Stephen Gately because of the way he chose to live his life and the way he used to love in his life. In many respects this terrible event and Jan Moir's choice to get a cheap headline out of his tragic death has propelled Boyzone into new found popularity in quarters they would never have found favour with.

Over the weekend a local Community Centre in the Northampton South constituency had their local BNP candidate introduce himself at their open day. The recent press reports of the stand that the Royal British Legion has taken in respect of offers of support from the BNP, highlights how charitable and community organisations can and will be aware of the damage association with extremist parties can do. Increasingly with the run up to the general election this are the kind of new choices and conflicts many will have to face.

On the issue of the question time appearance of Nick Griffin, we have to wait and see the impact of this level of exposure for the BNP. For the record allowing a holocaust denyer and the figure head of a racist organisation on mainstream television can never be the right thing to do.

Wanting to think the best of folk

2009-09-21T14:16:00.000-07:00

With news rapidly running about town about the proposals to close down the Northampton Borough Council Cliftonville offices there are plenty of people worried about whether they have a future in their job.
In the mean time the BNP locally seem to have taken to heart campaigning against them with a series of offensive posts on their blog. They try to pass the requests for the age of consent to be lowered to 10 and hate messages to the african and caribbean community and asian community as infiltration ... the truth is ... the BNP and their supporters do hate and this is the essence of what they do whether they like to think of this happening or not.

Unlikely bed fellows

2009-08-27T12:49:00.000-07:00

Apologies for the lack of posting but life has been busy of late. With the local BNP standing in two by-elections over the next few weeks (Daventry District Drayton Ward) and Kettering Borough Northfield Ward) there has been a lot to be keeping up with.

It was intriguing to find that the Northants Patriot blog had started trying to earn revenue with a Google ad's stream, particularly when one ad related to equality diversity training and another related to bespoke consultancy for equalities work in local government. Seems like exactly the kind of stuff that the blog seemed to spend it's time criticising as 'a waste of money and why don't these people get real jobs rather than using my council tax for something that might be more useful instead' rant. I do wonder what the companies listed would think if they knew the exposure that they were getting.

This all co-incided with the shift in government direction to include far right extremism as part of the prevention of violent extremism agenda. It's been a long time coming but at least it's there now. The recent graffiti attack on the Ramgaria Centre on Craven Street in Northampton which included the National Front emblem is clear evidence of why work in this area is so important.

2009-07-29T15:42:00.000-07:00

The last couple of weeks have had their ups and downs. Firstly, the swanspool by election last thursday was a definate up.

June 2009
con 548 46.0
lib 162 13.6
lab 361 30.3
BNP 120 10.1
1191

July 2009
Con Bell, Paul Anthony 958 41.2
Lab Cass, Pat 543 23.3
Lib Dem White, Julie Dorothy 282 12.1
BNP Robinson, David Peter 274 11.8
Green Hornett, Jonathan T. 270 11.6

Labour 7 points up and the BNP 2 points down :-)

With a by election in daventry soon (albeit not yet announced) it's all reasons to get our act together.

Thank you so much to all the many activists that delivered and organised the anti -BNP leafleting and the printing of the leaflet ... a lot of learning this campaign that will do us proud for the next few years

Behaving responsibly in the face of unfairness

2009-07-12T06:17:00.000-07:00

Children seem obsessed with being treated unfairly. They constantly question whether the treatment and benefits that are laid down out by parents, school or anyone else in the line of fire is delivered fairly.

I guess it’s human nature ... but the issue of being treated fairly is not only a local one or a national one but also a global one. With this release of Obama’s first speech to African nations stressing the role of good governance, it really seems that western nations and particularly Britain after the expenses scandals are in glass houses throwing stones.

Working over this weekend I’ve also been thinking about how to get the clearest message to local people about the need to take action to protect public services when there is such a lot of unhappiness with the quality of them after years and years of sustained cut backs on all from all sides. Some politicians seem to think that it’s just about fighting the cause, however some of the work has to be about taking local communities with us. One of the difficulties is media onslaught from certain prominent individuals about public sector wages and pensions. Although some of it is from the shallow thinking of the Tax Payers Alliance and other Daily Mail readers there all too often pressure from “so-called” friends. Look here for a thoughtful post from Michael Meacher telling it how it is.

Trust me a little ...

2009-06-16T00:40:00.000-07:00

After a challenging weekend with my nearest and dearest, I came into work yesterday to this.
Some of the interesting arguments in it relate to what local politicians should be doing rather than slagging each other off without however addressing the sticky wicket of resourcing.

Another interesting bit includes a quote from then former Chief Executive of Solihull, current Chief Executive of Northamptonshire County Council, Katherine Kerswell. Katherine highlights the importance of citizens feeling that they have at least been listened to in decision making even if they disagree with the decision made.

The publication also dwells a little on the semantics and space between justice and fairness ... can there be a distinction to people who are outside of local governmentspeak? The document talks about citizens having trust in the organisations like Councils when they don't deliver for them as long as they can see that things are done fairly. Can't see it myself.

The legislation for decision making now demands thorough investigation on how decisions changes will affect people and whether new decisions will unfairly or less favourably treat people and has done since 2000. It's interesting that in a document based on discussing trust, there is no mention of discrimination and less favourable treatment. Equally, there's not consistent application of the legistlation as yet in local authorities. Perhaps it's just a little unfashionable at the moment. When doing the right thing and making the right decisions based on treating people equally falls out favour it's a trend that I'm willing to to fight. I don't think I'm the only one either.

Reasons to be cheerful

2009-06-09T12:28:00.000-07:00

With the Blockheads due to play in Northampton at 2pm on Sunday in the Market Square and Penny Red’s post it seems to be the right thing to start blogging again with.

Having had a couple of days to think about elections I think it’s time we regained a sense of humour. The picture indicates this house on Calder Green is unlikely to have voted for me but 577 others did.

One of those that told me that she did, attended one of my councillor surgeries a while back. She told me that she used to live in the Boroughs (Spring Boroughs) and when she went to a girls school in the town there were only two teachers there: one teacher for the English and one for housewifery. The girls took it in turns for two of them to go in early so that the floors were scrubbed clean and the fires light in the classroom.

Reasons to be cheerful, reasons to celebrate progress.

Change, Risk and Judgement

2009-04-21T01:26:00.000-07:00

The Labour Party blogsphere is saturated with discussion of "smeargate" emails from number 10 and now the debacle that is the Erith & Thamesmead selection. Makes Northampton Labour Party politics positively tame.

The bloggers response to this been this , which poses a number of statements about the principles under which we operate.

The chaotic and unstructured environment that blogging can produce is something I find attractive partly because I believe most really good solutions to problems involve an element of risk. The risky nature of blogging in that you don't know who's reading and what kind of mindset they have when they do ready your work, I think does produce possibilities that would not usually be there. I guess it is all about judgement in the end, something Damian McBride and Derek Draper showed little of in this episode.

Of course, it's not really true that I don't have a clue who reads my blog apart from the usual suspects ... even with lurkers, word gets around.

Tent Village Spin

2009-04-15T00:40:00.000-07:00

With the front page of the Chron focussing on the tent village (now cleared) the local spin seems significant. The site now has an infestation of local lib dem Councillors as they look to get their next quote in the paper.

I'm sure there were some homeless people on the site (at least one to my knowledge) but despite the headline most from the picture are kids I know who have problems with their parents and who like the lack of supervision that creates opportunities to drink large amounts of alcohol and hang out with the opposite sex. The picture features two lads from St James (Symington Street)and one from Kings Heath (Swale Drive). The site has been used off and on by these kids for the past few months.

It highlights the real problems that young people have. The need to feel valued and loved and when they need it proper housing advice that gives then options not to be in a tent. Sasha in the photo has been homeless for some weeks now, and it is testimony to the lack of accessibility of the Borough Councils Homelessness advice that she has ended up in a tent.

The kids are all good in their own way, have said please and thank you when they've eat in my house but need the real things in life to achieve anything more than self indulgence when they get the money.

Time to turn back the tide

2009-04-12T01:21:00.000-07:00

The war on terror produced a fundemental shift towards conservatism in the country. It's the culture of fear that makes us want to suspect all foreign students regardless of the fact that 99% of them are law abiding with their heads down trying to get an education.

With not inconsiderable public concern about what did actually happen at the G20 demonstration that resulted in the death of a homeless newspaper seller perhaps the time is right for people to stand up not only for their own rights but also for the rights of others.

I came across this and thought it an opportunity to encourage all of us to think about the way we'd like to think about our neighbours. Hat tip to Nigel Ashton for showing it to me:-)

Will the last one to leave please switch off the lights

2009-04-06T15:14:00.000-07:00

With news today that the carnival hangs in the balance it seems like it's going to be a long bleak summer with very little to look forward to. But maybe this is one thing that we really can't blame the Liberal Democrats for. After all it was athe Tory County council which gave the carnival the funding axe. Well think again, as fundemental to this situation is the fact that the Lib Dem Borough council which has given no black or minority ethnic groups any funding in this financial year or the previous one also give no money to the carnival making them realiant on a County Council grant which is no longer available as the Tory county council wishes to spend more pennies in areas other than Northampton where there might be a quite vote or two in it.

With the loss of the St Crispin's Fair and the Balloon festival it's going to be a long hot lonely summer.

Regeneration in the recession

2009-03-30T01:48:00.001-07:00

That time of year again. You know when the kids are all sick and suddenly Liberal Democrats re-discover the areas that the represent. So with a new focus out in Kings Heath (featuring three photos of Councillors in Spencer and focus on Dallington Park and Spencer Brook ... do they really know so little of what exists North of Mill Road) what's interesting is the news that isn't there. Over the last few weeks the talk from West Northants Development Corporation has been about demlotion of some of the housing on Kings Heath. It's fairly horrifying how blasé the discussion is on the destruction of people's homes. What's more horrifying is that the demolition being proposed is not for the worst housing on the estate. Given this fact, it just does make you question to motivation of actions like this.

The Community Prosecutor

2009-03-25T15:22:00.001-07:00

The real heroine of today for me was Grace Ononiwu of the Crown Prosecution Service (however she always is ... just love her smart dressed lady look ... just wish that I was able to pull it off). Having been invited to the Northamptonshire CPS staff development day, it was a real eye opener to see the drive to embrace the role of community prosecutor. Despite my dislike of much that has come out of Louise Casey, this is a real revolutionary step forward in transforming the organisation responsible for ensuring that justice is delivered for victims into something that is a public service in the real sense of the word (focussed on communities, delivering to communities and being held to account by communities).

Over the last few months there has been a growth in hate incidents without identified victims. These include aggressive racially and religiously motivated graffiti in public places. All the evidence shows that the increase in this kind of offence increases offences of violence against people and property in addition to having a significant impact on relationships within communities.

The concept of the community prosecutor, encourages the gathering of a different kind of evidence ... evidence that relates to impact on the community. To date impact evidence has generally focused on impact on individuals and sometimes even that is not consistently presented. The concept of the community prosecutor will also provide opportunities for other criminal justice agencies to raise their game by putting the focus on the community. Can't be a bad thing.

Kings Heath in the Springtime

2009-03-24T02:58:00.000-07:00

In May 2005, the Silver Cornet was where we stopped to wind down at the end of a campaigning session. This is what it looks like today. I guess the derilict environment is slightly better than the wreck of the Morris Man on the other side of South Oval. Both sites have had planning permission to build housing for a good three years or more now. Doesn't stop the rumour mill of the potential of a mosque being built there. Local Lib Dems don't seem to care that the rumours exist or even that the sites remain eyesores for the local community. Clearly, with overwhelming control of the local Borough Council, they could do something about it if they really wanted to. Perhaps, the real priorities are shutting down services and axing neighbourhood wardens.

The merit of pounding the streets

2009-03-24T01:37:00.000-07:00

It's been a tough week or so, emotionally with death issues around. One of my strategies about dealing was trying to stay focused on what's important and trying to stay busy. I've been doing a bit of delivery of late in Spencer, Dallington and King Heath. I was eased into it through a request from the Neighbourhood Manager to deliver the neighbourhood newsletter. Given the amount of casework I still get from that part of the town I thought it maybe was time to start acting like a councillor in the better sense of the word. I did get quite a bit of feel good walking around as people came up to chat about the forthcoming elections. Going to ponce a cup of tea after delivering is always a good idea. I dropped into a local residence in Kings Heath to be told that the Tories had been paying for their election leaflets to be delivered in St. James. The poor kid who had been saddled with the task has been telling folks the leaflet “Was just wrong!”. Having never read a political leaflet before, the beleaguered Tory leafleter commented that it just seemed wrong to scrap National Insurance so that the health care could be purchased privately. Who says young people don’t have the right political instincts!

Careful who's bandwagon you jump on

2009-03-17T12:35:00.000-07:00

I have a lot of respect for Tim Hadland, having served as a borough councillor with him. I remember when he expressed his condolences at the death of my parents, he wasn't aware that they were Conservative voters. He said that they didn't seem to be on their voter identification list. I did let him know that I seemed to be on the Tory voter ID list given that I seemed to get all the promotional literature from them.

However the letter six of the letters page of the Chron today really does concern me.

With the local Northants Patriot website (local BNP website) hoping that muslims stay away from the march through the town this week, I believe it is a case of being careful what bandwagon that you are climbing on.

Talking to key Army recruitment personnel in the region they talk about the activities of the British army from this region returning from Afganistan. They talk in terms of those from the forces responsible in reconnecting electric and water supplies for the area that they were working in. The officer I spoke to, spoke in very emotive terms of the muslim officer killed alongside him when trying to undertake the task. Almost exclusively, the muslim community would accept the actions of this regiment as support for Afgani communities and would celebrate the courage and commitment to duty that these individuals have shown. No need to think the worst of people.

When can a whole be part

2009-03-06T01:49:00.000-08:00

The part privatisation of Royal Mail simply makes no sense in the current climate. The spade work of getting us out of the recession must be done through greater investment in public services not by selling bits of it off. There has been a massive groundswell of support for this matter locally. Even the teenagers living in my house recognise that the postal service is something owned by them.

It's really positive that there has been so much support for the Early Day motion opposing the plans.

It's interesting that after all the bluster over the campaign to save post offices like the one on London Road in Delapre, the only way that this proposal will go through will be through Conservative support. Mores the pity, if the proposals go through it will represent a breach of a cornerstone manifesto commitment by the Labour Party.

Contrary to popular belief, Private Finance Initiatives approaches are not the only game in town and it's supporters in the Labour Party represent the part of the party who still think people are fooled by spin.

Council Tax - do people really matter?

2009-03-02T14:30:00.001-08:00

What's clear is, people are willing to pay for better public services but if they think they're being palmed off with dross, as an electorate they'll reap their revenge.

In Northampton do people think their getting better public services for their council tax? ...after speaking to people today ... I think not.

Despite Lib Dem protestations that services have improved, the
people really just can't see it. One of the key issues is the scrapping of award winning public toilets. Many up and down the country see this as a key indicator of public pride and active citizenship.

I guess for me the key question is what town do we want to be and who in the town need to be supported as the recession bites?

With a Council tax increase higher than the national average increase, the question has to be asked "Are we doing our best to help the right people through the credit crunch".

Credit carrot crunch

2009-02-20T10:12:00.000-08:00

I've been talking to people about the market over the last couple of weeks. I've been genuinely surprised about the amount of deep, sincere feeling that the market elicits from local people. Although you come across the sections of the community that no longer go into town either because of mobility issues or just driven out of the Town centre by the prohibitive parking costs, even amongst this group of people there is a significant proportion that passionately care about the market and see it as a key feature of the towns heritage.

I went into the mobile consultation unit on the market square this morning to have a look at the proposals. Many have been commenting positively about the idea of placing a version of the historic fountain as a key feature on the entrance of the square. Aside from that there was a lot of focus on the potential of large and small events on the site rather that the core work of providing a shopping area for fruit, veg, meat, fish and clothing.

The council representative glibley commented that if the town wanted big events "We can close the market when we need to". With the potential loss of the Balloon festival impending the horizon looks like event on the market square and the the eventual ceasation of the market as traders find it hard and hard to survive with the credit crunch and a council unsympathetic to the difficulties of running a business as a local trader.

Development in Sixfields

2009-02-06T16:36:00.001-08:00

Let's get this clear ... I have a complete aversion to any sport. 14 years of being a cricket widow and always being picked last for the team kinda did it for me. However as someone with a sport aversion ... I believe it's really important that the sixfields development goes ahead if the Northampton is to survive and have a hope of thriving.

The key problems are with the exclusive relationships that the Borough have with other key partners in regenerating the town who see anything as a threat but still won't put the required time and energy to give the town a boost.

Time to re-evaluate relationships at the very least.

Time to lay it on the line...but will it happen ... we'll have to wait and see.

Northampton- extreme snow, and the need for authorities to lighten up

2009-02-05T10:37:00.000-08:00

There were high spirits and a atmosphere of a town where people really cared about each other and wanted to create out of the snow the essence of joy and playfulness. So was it right for the six foot snowball that appeared outside the Grosvenor Centre to be destroyed ?.

With town campaigns increasingly led by the people and not politicians it's concerning when there has been yet another incident when authorities seem to be out of touch with the wishes of local people.

The tenth anniversary of the MacPherson enquiry report being published is coming up in a few week. In the report, ten years ago there was out and out damning condemnation of the police but have things changed now?

Race for a long while has been something that's been too hard to raise as an issue in Northampton with the oh so many problems that are faced locally ... failing schools despite more government investment than anywhere else in the country, a dying town centre, an absence of ambition. Perhaps the key is harnessing the peoples sense of injustice. In that way perhaps race really does need to be on the agenda.

New Duston By election

2009-01-26T10:36:00.000-08:00

So I have almost caught up on sleep and for those that don't know the result was Labour second place. Albeit with second to fourth being within twelve votes of one another. On the whole we did well with a well resourced campaign with frankly appallingly bitter weather.

New Duston by election

2009-01-21T05:10:00.001-08:00

So the by election did get a little more demanding (hence the absence of posting. In the rest of the world we now have an a new world leader in situ and ready to go with an audacity of hope. For me it's just getting through the next couple of days. It's normally really difficult to get press coverage during a by election but my candidate has done really well. I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow. Just don't wait up for it.

The Fishmarket - don't let it be another loss for Northampton

2009-01-08T03:19:00.000-08:00

I remember really disliking the fishmarket as a child. I just couldn't work out why somewhere indoors was so cold. When it closed in 2006 it offered the opportunity to showcase cultural and artistic spirit. This offered opportunities for local artists to have their work exhibited alongside national figures. Certainly it has florished to an incredibly short space of time. All the more concerning now that it appears that the Borough Council want to snaffle back the building and throw out the cultural baby with the bath water.

The lack of strategy in relation to the Borough's relationship with the voluntary and community sector is astounding. I remember sitting in meetings with the previous Borough Chief Exec where she denounced the Borough for not having proper service level agreements with the organisations that they gave grants to. Strangely enough there actually were contracts in place then and there aren't now. In addition there seems to be very little understanding of what investment into the voluntary sector there is. So when the Borough Council consultation document on the budget suggests that support to the voluntary sector should be frozen, then maybe it is about the temperature in the Fish market and the relationship with the Northampton Arts Collective rather suggesting that support to the sector should remain at a standstill. Maybe the current administration liked it better when it was cold.

Delivery in New Duston

2009-01-03T07:19:00.000-08:00

It maybe freezing, but delivering leaflets in the New Duston by election does really put a spring in your step. Needless to say I now have evidence on Tories doing it differently. The sight of lonely leafleters doing their own little seemingly unending patch is not something I really ever encourage. What's clear is the Tory presence seems to be from the bright young things from the North of the town (no doubt recruited in by agent David Mackintosh following his spat with Northampton North tories). He's done well in setting them to work even when they are on their own.

I've now had a better look at the Lib dem focus. Maybe it is the fact that being brought up a Bengali, I have a deep understanding of the concept of shame. Lib dem leaflets are what the more generous of us would term "apasancriti" (apologies about the spelling but it's getting it right in Bengali that counts). The correct translation is "anti-cultural" but generally bad guy talk and behaviour. The Lib dems openenly state that "Labour can't win here" when they have never came first or second (finishing seventh and eight behind the independent and SOS at the last Borough elections). They also have a go at no-show Tory councillors. A bit of a farce when they even quote Spencer ward councillors as having"excellent attendance". One of the Spencer councillors has the worst attendance rate in the Council.

Family at Christmas

2008-12-31T09:09:00.001-08:00

It's just that phase when it's getting all too much. Too many of MY chocolates being eaten by children and their entourage. Too many presents still strewn over the floor with no apparent home. Too many of those really horrid sour sweets (the ones that are covered in sugar) ground into the carpet, and to cap it all I've just spilt the alien (and associated alien fluid) in the kitchen. I've yet to tell my son about it but I'm sure he'll be understanding. The last few hours he's been playing happily on the X-box with his sister having said he was doing "family bondage".

However, still on a high with by election fun. Apparently, the really important people who are hanging on to my every word about the campaign are incommunicado. Oh dear, what a pity, never mind.

Being agent again - part 2

2008-12-30T14:00:00.000-08:00

This is sooooo goood!

Having an active ward membership that delivers stuff even when I don't expect them to! Sooooo goood!

This is the easiest gig I've had in the Labour Party!! Might even convince me to stand seriously for council again.

Had a local member today in stitches about how the Lib Dem leaflet says that they'll report a local issue to the Council. Maybe report it to their alternative schizophrenic identity.

The e-culture in elections also makes a real difference. No more sitting outside the ERO's office waiting for them to open up. Joy ... Bliss ... or maybe I'm just a by election junkie.

Awards

2008-12-27T12:33:00.000-08:00

Last week, the Chron's Aufona awarded me with Blogger of the year. Unfortunately, they seem to be under the impression that posting has stopped (obviously a short term memory loss thing - we of course have to make reasonable adjustments).

Just to say that I am appreciative of the award and will treat it as encouragement. It's hard to come down from the heady heights of being Aufona's darling but I suppose Blogger of the year is the next best thing.

Mervyn Felix - Not Forgotten part 3

2008-12-27T12:07:00.000-08:00

So Mervyn's funeral came and went. In true tradition of direct action, the trinity of the Council, the undertakers and the appointed vicar did not succeed in ensuring that there was no embelishment to the funeral. Julia Bush was allowed to pay tribute to his life in her synopsis of the interview that she undertook about his life. I was not prevented from handing out an order of service sheet and the local conservatives (bless 'em) did put on his wake.

Those who attended included those from the NREC Board, contacts and associates from the local Black community, the Conservative association the Labour party and at least one of his neighbours.

I was anxious about it all partly due the that last minuteness of the preparation and the need to muscle in the things that Mervyn would have wanted. Also, this was the first funeral I had been involved in planning since my parents. The only downside really was the multiple occasions before and after the event that the right hon member for Northampton South chose to indulge in lip action about my person. Well - maybe Mervyn was worth it.

Being Agent

2008-12-19T01:26:00.000-08:00

So once again I am in the role of agent. My candidate is Geoff Howes. Geoff asked me to take on the position of agent and I gladly agreed. Geoff is a candidate that was principled and trustworthy – a golden combination. Since my late teens, being agent is what I wanted to do - paid or unpaid. The worst experience of this has to be May 2007 and the fall out beyond. However, this time it's going to be different. The advantage is that Geoff, being an old school politician knows the personal responsibilities that agents take on.
Geoff and I have talked about the regrets we have about the circumstances of the by election. Geoff has known Rick Taverner since childhood. Attending Liz's funeral a couple of weeks back Rick, his daughter and the rest of the family were clearly devastated by her passing away.

Mervyn Felix - Not Forgotten part 2

2008-12-19T01:13:00.000-08:00

It does seem that there there isn't any family for Mervyn to be there or make the arrangements for his funeral. So being consigned to a local authority funeral, people who were closer to him are finding it hard to make the funeral something that he would have wanted. The relationships between local council, funeral director and appointed vicar seem inpenetrable.

In some ways Mervyn was indicative of political circles in Northampton - drifting from Party to party as first he displayed passion for his cause and then disillusionment when political breakthroughs seemed unattainable. The only consistency was his committment to anti-racist activity. In some ways, it's a reflection on the kind of animal that local politics attracts. In some ways its a reflection on how hard it is for people who are not really part of the popular crowd.

The funeral is at 11am on Christmas Eve at the Counties Crematorium.

Behaving badly

2008-12-11T23:57:00.000-08:00

All political parties have people who behave badly in them. However the Liberal democrats in Northampton seem to have a little spate of them at the moment. The leader has had to deal with this

Strictly speaking that car park although used by Councillors for evening meetings in the past was more a resource for the Council to run it's day to day affairs .. the management of the huge Guildhall building ... ensuring that there is good communication across an organisation that is based across a number of sites. In my opinion, quite definately a misuse of Councillor privelidge to leave the car there for months.

Now hot on the heels is an allegation that a Spencer ward Lib Dem Councillor has gained another council house by presenting as homeless. The Councillor in question had previously had a two bed roomed Council House in St. Davids which they had sublet, whilst they lived in their partners Council House. I am advised that the two bed council house offer came within 8 weeks in the precise area of her choosing. Whilst I was a Councillor most of the casework was housing related. It's interesting that this Councillor managed to figure out the system for herself as when she needed ground floor housing for her partners mother who had failing health it was me who had to organise it.

All of this behaviour gives all politicians a bad name and taints those of us that are genuinely in it to get a better Northampton.

neigbourhoods and renewal - Council priorities or not?

2008-12-02T13:45:00.000-08:00

With the continual revolution both in the County Council and the Borough Council, the new dynamic seems to be the unilateral decision by the County Council to at short notice ditch multi-agency neighbourhood renewal arrangements. With the County taking that stance with the alleged deletion of all the neighbourhood manager posts in the County. Again allegedly, the Police (in the middle of their own negotiations on their own re-structure) have stated that if the County don't want to play ball then neither will they. For voluntary sector agencies there are concerns as to what will happen to infrastucture (support) organisations. A County Council cabinet report suggests that there is an expectation that local District and Borough Councils will pick up the resourcing of support organisations.

So when car crashes like this take place one has to ask, "where's the learning in this". The learning is things don't change if statutory agencies can really improve their image by appearing to care about the County's most disadvantaged communities and then feel that it's totally acceptable to leave the most vulnerable communities in our County in the lurch because they want to take quick (presumably budget saving) decisions. There really isn't any point in being two-faced with the communities that need the most help.

The other surprising thing is the inability or lack of concern of the Borough to prevent this hiding to nothing. Honestly, I really don't know which it is ... but if things could be changed ... I think that can be changed. You just have to want it.

local conservative deaths

2008-11-25T13:43:00.000-08:00

Liz Taverner's death on Friday was a shock. It just really seemed that she would always be here. I visited about four weeks ago just to see her as full of the zest of life as any other person. Talking to people close to the family, it seems like Lizzie passed away as peacefully as possible. She was always, always kind to me and I will always remember that.

Mervyn died alone as a strong supporter of the conservative party. Working on trying to find his next of kin, I've learnt a lot about him that I didn't know. He did talk to a local racial equality officer about having children but it does seem from community and police contacts that they do not exist or do not want to be contacted. At this stage at least I know that his mother and cousin at least know that he is dead.

This is all the more important to me having attended Caanan Mutemasango's memorial service (canaan of course a socialist spending time in the Labour Party and more recently the independent socialist group) this weekend at which his daughter was only lately informed of his death. I do feel that if there is even one action that can help that not happening to someone else then all of us of us need to be doing that.

I've been doing some research in finding out about Mervyn. He was in the army, where he was injured which resulted in his limp that all of us in recent years knew as a distinguishing feature.

In trying to track his family down I called contacts in Peterborough. Even there the details of contacts drew a blank. One member of the local community said, "There were a lot of people who were impressed and supportive of Mervyn for his ability to speak out for local people. However, his general position that 'Margaret Thatcher could do no wrong',did lose him a lot of support in the community".

Maybe Mervyn had just not found his time. Hopefully Mervyn will now find his friends who want to be involved in his death. Not easy for the best of us, but still has to be done.

2008-11-20T15:21:00.000-08:00

With both Roger Conroy and Mel de Cruz (I'll vote for an increase in pay for me despite already earning over £1000 per meeting I attend) unable to do what they say they'd like to do for Spencer, Dallington and Kings Heath, I thought it would be helpful to reflect on who else had promised to deliver for the area. I came across an old leaflets from an erstwhile contender for the Spencer County seat which had the image of Tony Woods currently leader of the Council proclaiming his undying passion for ensuring that the goods were delivered in Spencer. This passion was demonstrated at the Council meeting a few weeks ago where he was quite triumphant about charging the Need 2 Know shop rent for the year even though the Council had agreed to supporting it in the same way as a community centre (without rent). Not to put too fine a point on this, the story about the Lib dems claiming to have saved the Need 2 Know shop appeared on a Kings Heath focus leaflet in April 2007. A lib dem friend so it seems is a fair weathered friend.

Mervyn Felix - Not Forgotten

2008-11-18T13:24:00.000-08:00

I met Mervyn Felix about five years ago when he was Chair of Race Action Northampton, the Northampton locality group of Northamptonshire Racial Equality Council. I served as his Vice Chair until I became Chief Executive of NREC.

Mervyn was aways a political animal that saw an agenda outside of anti-discriminatory practice, and this brought him into touch with a variety of people.

I believe this link,

http://www.bbc.co.uk/northamptonshire/content/articles/2006/08/04/race_action_northampton_newsletter_feature.shtml

illustrates his commitment to racial equality and his approach to campaigning in Northamptonshire.

Councillors ambition to be lady bountiful

2008-11-18T11:34:00.000-08:00

The current to and fro about local councillors pay increases seems to be a story that will run the distance. What is really shocking is the lack of political foresight by so many of the players.

Clearly, offering the people who are employed by the council a 2% pay increase, and offering Borough councillors substanstially more, is a circle that can never be squared. Labour Councillor, Cllr. Joy Capstick was the first Councillor to suggest the only plausible alternative which was to spend it in her own ward.

Strangely, two of the political groups on the Borough (Lib dems and Conservatives) then suggested that they would set up trust funds to distribute the resource. Quite rightly both have been admonished by the effective and efficient Northamptonshire Community Foundation Chief Executive, Victoria Miles here. Given the very work of the Community Foundation which has made real and genuine differences to Northamptonshire communities, particularly in the way that they use funding they receive for leverage (making your pound, two pounds or even three) it's crazy to think about setting something up, unless it was simply to get political leverage. Not what Northampton communities need, not what Northampton communities want.

Hope

2008-11-06T02:15:00.000-08:00

The world is ready for change. We just have to believe it.

Northampton Borough Council Meeting

2008-10-27T15:06:00.000-07:00

Quite a while since I've been to one of these.

I believe that this was the first meeting that members of the public had submitted questions during the "questions" item on the agenda.

It was quite a surprise to see the shambles that a Council meeting could descend into. Members of the public had not been given answers by portfolio holders despite protestations to the contrary and the Council had to allow time during the meeting for members of the public to read through answers (some of these stretched to over a page), all utilising precious minutes of the half hour allotted to this agenda item.

It also seemed that as a lowly member of the general public, I had been cast in the role of "el diablo" in not only questions that I submitted but also questions that other members of the public had submitted.

In one question about support for people with disabilities in their own homes, despite a member of the general public requesting me to raise this issue in Council, I was accused of trying to make political capital on the situation. Of course it would have nothing to do with the inactivity of the existing Borough Councillors for the area. The Borough Council portfolio holder sees the real problems as caused by previous administrations. Nearly, eighteen months following the current adminstration coming to power that excuse doesn't quite wash.

I raised a question about equality impact assessments by the Borough Council with the case law emerging from the High Court from Lord Justice Moses over the summer. Despite the admission that equality impact assessments in grant aid decisions were not taken before the decisions had been made (and thus decisions being made outside of the law) the administration did not seem to want to champion the cause of justice or even the legal way of doing business.

In the question by Kathy Smith about the rent charges to the Thorplands Brook Community Co-op and the Kings Heath Need"Know shop, despite proclaiming this as a Lib Dem victory in a "Focus" before the 2007 Borough elections, the Borough administration have painted this as a rash and potentially destabilishing attempt by little old me (presumably me and me alone - no mention of the other councillors who voted in favour of it) to throw the Borough budget off course. It seems that the Lib Dems are quite ashamed of their part in the two community spaces getting 2007/8 as rent free. They still don't seem to answer the question as to why in 2008/9 the two community spaces received information in August of this year that they would be expected to pay £15,000 rent for the spaces. Must be neighbourhood renewal the Lib Dem way.

Quite intrigingly, at various points in the meeting I was referred to as Councillor Roy. I did ask for the allowance but perhaps with the debate on the increase in allowances later on in the meeting, they might have decided that it was a bridge too far given the £7.2 deficit.

Lib Dem Portfolio holder, Sally Beardsworth suggested that I might be PPC (I'm going to really glad when we can actually tell people who gets that badge of honour) before being corrected.

The campaign continues - 11 days to go

2008-10-21T15:22:00.000-07:00

Still campaigning for the Northampton South selection for Propective Parliamentary Candidate, I've been knocking on the doors of a fair few members. Given the recent announcements about deficits in both the Borough and the County Council, a lot of people are quite anxious about what the future holds. There does seem to be a lot of concern about how the Councils are going to get out of the mess that they are in. There's also a lot of concern about the provision of basic Council services.

With both the Borough and the County suffering the same affliction of an over dependence on very expensive interim managers and consultants there is limited direction for the development of Council services as decision after decision is postponed. With elections coming upon us at a rate of knots it's hard to know what the outcomes for hard working families will be. Time to remember election promises of better run Councils for the conservatives, and Town centre Car parking charge cuts from the Liberal Democrats.

Why things don't work out

2008-10-12T05:16:00.000-07:00

Door knocking in Spencer again yesterday, it was good to see the amount of support we actually had. The turnout of activists was quite a bit more than I expected and so managed to crack through quite a bit of the area. Helal Uddin from Tower Hamlets joined us as an aspirant candidate for the parliamentary selection. With the sun shining it was an exceptionally pleasant afternoon. As an area of town that has recently lost CCTV coverage (previously donated by a private sector source) there still seems to be confusion as to why Council’s still do things badly when there are opportunities to do well. On resident told me, “it’s because it’s a hung council so they can’t make decisions”. I did tell him that in fact the Council stopped being a hung Council over a year ago and actually decisions to implement the CCTV in the first place had been achieved by Labour councillors at the time within the hung Council. The Lib Dem Councillors who controlled the administration had allowed the CCTV to be withdrawn all by themselves.

Frank Lilley comes out supporting the campaign

2008-10-12T04:10:00.000-07:00

Frank Lilley, former Duston Parish Councillor dropped me a line the other day. He offered me a rather the lengthy endorsement. I’ve sent out an abridged version to members. Frank is the epitome of the “good Labour man” in Northampton. A union man, Frank is active in his local community and is Chair of Governors at St. James Primary. He’s also active in his local Anglican ministry in Duston. It’s really great to get Frank’s support particularly when he’s so connected to his local community.

He’s said,
“As a Bakers and Food Allied Workers Union branch secretary and Pastoral Assistant to Duston Anglican Team Ministry, I offer my unreserved endorsement to Anjona Roy in this campaign. As a churchman, socialist and family man, I know Anjona will be the best representative to really deliver for Northampton South. Anjona has that natural empathy with people. Something that is really important in serving those living in Northampton South”.

Thanks Frank. With people like you supporting my campaign, I know we’re fighting on the side of the angels.

Nominations Weekend

2008-10-04T05:21:00.001-07:00

This weekend Labour Party branches in the Northampton South constituency will be meeting to decide who to nominate from the twelve candidates who have put themselves forward for selection. There's been a fair bit of paper landing on people's doormats over the last couple of weeks from some of the candidates (including me). I've been hand delivering most of my literature to try and get to speak to as many members as possible.

I was talking to Jona Kotnis from BBC Radio Northampton about the selection who reacted with quite a bit of surprise that half the people putting themselves forward were from Black and minority ethnic communities and that I wasn't the only Black and minority ethnic woman putting myself forward.

Of course it's all about getting the "right" person for Northampton South, but with a wide selection to choose from, with candidates having a wide variety of professional backgrounds, skills and experience, it's more likely that the local Labour Party membership will get a candidate that genuinely can deliver for the Labour Party and for Northampton South.

I'll post the scores on the doors later on in the weekend when I know.

Confidence in Anjona from a Dallington Resident

2008-09-27T14:01:00.000-07:00

It was just such an honour to get an endorsement from Suzanne Moen. Partly because it always gives you a buzz when someone you’ve served supports you. A real objective judgment as to whether you really are worthy. It’s not something that you get just because you’re mate with someone. It’s something you get when you’ve made it on the ground where it counts.

Suzanne works with community groups in Northamptonshire. She's got three kids and works in a field that she's really committed to ... and she shows it when she works day after day, hour after hour ... supporting the community.

She has said,

“I have known Anjona as a councillor and community activist over the last few years and know that she has the knowledge, drive and determination to win Northampton South.”

Support from former Leader of Northampton Labour Group

2008-09-26T19:35:00.000-07:00

With Labour Party conference over and a week left for nominations, the contest for the northampton south labour selection is gaining momentum. Support for my campaign has been growing and so I'd like to share a message of support from Geoff Howes. Geoff is a former leader of the Labour Group on Northampton Borough Council and is a freeman of the town.

He's said,

"I have known Anjona for a number of years and always found her to be honest, straightforward and hard working. I fully support her bid to become the next prospective parliamentary candidate for Labour. She is what is needed to win back Northampton South."

Across the pond

2008-09-18T07:55:00.000-07:00

You can't help but be interested in what's happening the other side of the Atlantic (partly because it takes your mind off the leadership bog the the Labour Party's finding itself in here).

Maybe the fact that I like this shows my age.

Thanks to Sheila for sharing it with me :-)

2008-09-18T07:27:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I attended the "meet the members" event arranged by Northampton South Labour Party. The event took place straight after campaigning in St Crispins where the weather decided to shine after a week of rain. There was lot of enthusiasm from both members who attended as well as other candidates.

Members have already started to experience death by junk mail and spam from potential candidates. I must admit I have contributed to the deluge but having talked to some members about the correspondence they've received they have said, "I want to know what candidates actually think, what they actually believe in". What's clear to me is that members in Northampton South have strong opinions about our world, our country and our town. They care passionately about the state of the schools, the support for vulnerable people and pensioners and the need to build on the towns strengths for the best future for Northampton.

I've also started to get some messages of support. I got this really humbling one from Ricky Matthews from Duston (pictured above).

As a Firefighter, school governor and constituent of Northampton South I would like to offer my unreserved endorsement of Anjona Roy in her effort to become our next Labour party parliamentary candidate.
Anjona is an experienced, motivated, intelligent woman who has put an enormous amount of hard work into the local community over a number of years. She consistently demonstrates her commitment to local people by campaigning to improve the lives of others, and I have the upmost respect for her.
I would urge other party members to unite behind Anjona to ensure we do not miss this opportunity to elect a local candidate with a proven track record of supporting local people.

Thanks for the support Ricky. It means a lot to me.

Hate dealing with death

2008-09-03T15:13:00.000-07:00

I have always honestly stated on several occasions that the worst part of my job at Northamptonshire Racial Equality Council is when I have to be involved in a murder that has been designated a racial incident. For the second time in my career this has happened. This has involved close communication with the family who have demonstrated the most impeccable degree of dignity and capability in this situation. To lose a family member is bad enough, but losing a family member to a violent situation that from the outset has been designated a racial incident is another level of being able to cope.
At a memorial service last night, literally hundreds of people ... friends, family (but all people who loved and respected Sachince Popat) were there together celebrating his life... his life as a person who wanted to make a difference in the world, through his work for charitable organisations, through his generosity and love for all in his family will live on beyond him.

There were flashbacks from when my parents died in 2006. Two weeks ago when taking my family to a wedding it did strike me that my children had seen more funerals than weddings. Perhaps I need to be more positive.

2008-08-28T10:08:00.000-07:00

Phone canvassing last night with David Morgan, who will be fighting the European elections next year with Glenis Willmott, he was enthusing about the Democrats convention in Denver. He was very surprised with the number of people still willing to take calls and take to people they don’t know.
Despite what is said about political cynicism and the lower numbers of people turning out to vote, people are still interested in the world around them. In particular, they are concerned about the older people and people with disabilities in the town. With Conservative proposals to charge those with residents permits in the town increased amounts for 50 visitors permits, people immediately knew the adverse impact that this would have on older people and people with disabilities who rely on social care and health staff to provide daily support.

Now that the town "on the street parking" has increased, with bus fares also having increased people are really worried about the effect this will have on the town centre. Lib Dem promises in 2007 to reduce parking charges have metamorphosized to reduced car parking charges on Sundays. Far, far too little for the town to really flourish.

David mentioned that where he came from the Council has cut parking charges to encourage people to use town facilities. What a shame Lib Dems and Tories don't keep their promises.

2008-08-24T01:01:00.000-07:00

So yesterday, it was all go at the Kings Heath Residents Association funday. With excellent weather and the ubiquitous bouncy castles, the event had good chances of success. The ever so eager Tory, Ivan Sljivic the chef let residents down by not providing a promised barbeque. Several phone calls later produced no result and a number of volunteers had to be press ganged into service. Generally, Kings Heath folk seemed to be well disposed to the keen Conservative up till now (well disposed but weren’t going to vote for him). His broken promise might make a difference to peoples perception of both him and the Conservatives in the area.
Liberal democrat councillors (Borough and County) did not even grace the event with customary swanning in and swanning out. I guess they must have been too busy avoiding meetings that they are paid to attend. With Cllr de Cruz on the heady total of attending seven meeting since being elected and having let down the Brookside residents association by promising to face paint and then cancelling the week before, the Lib Dem record of letting people down just keeps getting longer. Cllr de Cruz is currently averaging £1000 per meeting that she attends. Nice money if you can get it.
The Labour Party was at the Kings Heath Fun Day proving free face painting for children and campaigning against the increases in parking charges in the town. In the community, working with the community, one of the first stalls to set up and one of the last stalls to leave, we had lot of good conversations with people, particularly about the proposals for a new secondary school in the area. People are concerned that the new school should be for the existing communities and not just for new communities on the Dallington Grange development. With Labour being the only party campaigning for the school (both Lib Dems and Tories oppose building on the Dallington Grange site), local people look to us to ensure that their views are taken on board.

Some of the good things in life are still important

2008-08-21T00:02:00.000-07:00

While phone canvassing last night and talking to people about the County Council proposals for residents and on the street parking, the strength of feeling coming through really hit me. Some of the people I talked to did not have a car and always used public transport, however they still felt really strongly about what was happening to our town.

With yesterdays headline about some USA citizens trying to sell their votes on ebay, it would be easy to assume that people weren't interested in how things could improve. However, talking to people about the Conservative County Councils consideration of effectively allowing restrictions on visitors permits (no pay, no visit if it's more than 50 per year - not even one a week) the people I spoke to automatically thought about the impact the policy change would have on the most vulnerable in the community. Those needing district nurse or other health professionals attention.

However the Council is legally required to do an equalities impact assessment on the change in policy, and surely would have considered this in advance of publishing the policy change. For the people I spoke to last night the key issue was about fairness. Not about being politically correct. Just about being fair.

I can't speak for the rest of the world but I live in a place where the value of fairness still means something.

Sharing the same virtual space is better than sharing physical space when ...

2008-08-13T13:08:00.000-07:00

It seems BNP occupying the same County as us have conveniently short memories when it comes to threatening a variety of Public Citizens in the town. It also seems that my blog attracts their attention. For those who don't know about the regular 7am call myself and other councillors had to endure (yeah ... and the rest), here's the link.

This kind of attention just shows that you're getting under their skin :-)

Just when you thought you were not in the picture ...

2008-08-05T14:57:00.000-07:00

It does seem that others see me as a contender.
At least it's a change from the 7am harassment calls from these that use citizenship and democracy as opportunities to abuse individuals and communities and divide local people from working with each other.

Selection at Last

2008-08-05T12:16:00.001-07:00

So at last the selection process for the Prospective Parliamentary candidate for Northampton South is up and running. A lot of people have been telling me that it's been a long time coming. After an eternal desert of communication from the Labour Party Regional office, members in Northampton South have been faced with a veritable flurrie of letters about parliamentary and County selections. So if the question is "Anjona are you going for it?" the answer is "Yes!".

I hope to share with you my thoughts and ideas about the needs of the constituency over the next few weeks.

However, another cruical issue that has come to a head are the County selections. With the County selection process going forward it is really important that anyone wanting to stand puts in their forms as soon as possible. I was talking to a member today who was considering putting his name forward (Aziz Rahman). It just struck me that no matter how hard we work as a Labour Party to make processes fair and inclusive, there is still the opportunity to go the extra mile to ensure everyone has a fair crack at the whip. As a Party we can only go forward by rebuilding the movement that is the Labour Movement. This is not about the triangulation of a coalition of people who do not want Tories and Liberals making decisions. It is a coalition of people who genuinely want a fairer town to live in and want to ensure that all of us have the necessities of life and the opportunities to fulfill our dreams.

The Challenges of next summer

2008-06-11T01:07:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, there seemed to be part campaigning, part attending a Searchlight seminar in London. After putting out the best part of 2000 Labour leaflets in Kings Heath with colleagues from Northampton South CLP and a neighbouring one, it was a bit strange going to the Searchlight seminar.

When it comes to anti-fascist campaigning, for quite some time it has seemed to me that there are those people who go to meetings and talk about anti-fascist campaigning and those people that do it. For those people that go and talk about it, it does seem to be significant time and effort in discussing why we are where we are.

For those of us involved in local anti-fascist work, often it feels quite a lonely place to be, with fairly minimal support nationally and people often looking for someone to blame when things go wrong and people wanting to take the credit when things go right.

Next summer with County and Euro-elections with a guaranteed BNP presence in both, a group of us are trying to pull together a meeting on our approach to this. Up to date our activity has been very localised, however the euro-elections present us with a far different challenge. With the last combined UKIP and BNP vote at the last Euros of 26% and the BNP polling in the mid-20ies to 30%, it's a factor that needs to be treated even more seriously than before.

Ashes to ashes ... and ambition

2008-06-03T09:56:00.000-07:00

It's been a hectic time with those younger around me going through exam season.

Over the last few days I've heard of the death of Steve Winder. I worked closely with Steve until he left for the Liberal Democrats, but did come into contact with him as a Director of the organisation I work for. Steve worked hard and didn't take a break. Although he had aspirations (to fight for his community, to fight crime in his area, to become a Councillor) sometimes he was far to accepting of poor treatment he received. In a variety of political enviroments he was just far too accepting not having a position as "one of the favoured few". It always confused me when he clearly had the right skills to challenge - consistency and persistence. This seemed to happen which ever political party he found himself in. In the Labour Party, I and others tried to make it as inclusive as possible ... not quite sure who did in the Liberal Democrats.

His close friend Chris Swinn called me to check that I had details of the funeral and then spent the time asking if I was standing for the County elections. I told him that at this stage I wasn't sure. He then talked about the scenario if I stood for the Northampton South parliamentary seat. It seemed like a big jump from being uncertain about standing for the County Council and I told him so. "Well", he said, "you're ambitious ... and you're missed". I did quiz him a little more about what he meant but it was hard to uncover.

Belief

2008-05-19T12:09:00.001-07:00

There have been a number of comments over the past few days about the need for difference between the different political parties. Although Labour, Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats are all claiming the progressive agenda, none of the political parties nationally are squeaky clean enough on it. The Labour Party as a party of aspiration can never do enough as there will always be injustice to set right in the world. However it's easy to lose sight of what has been acheived. Part of the achievement has to be the switch of the climate of politics from the politics of the free market at any cost to the politics of being progressive.

Even a few years ago, the national minimum wage was being billed as the policy that would bring the country to it's knees. Now millions of those on low pay are benefiting from it.

However, Labour Party must do more to claim the progressive agenda. Proposals for 42 day detention and ID cards are really damaging to that agenda. The Labour Party also needs to do a lot more about relating to Labour's core vote. The low paid, those on fixed limited incomes such as pensioners, those who face discrimination and injustice.

So in an environment where everyone is progressive what built in advantages does the Labour Party have? The answer is in our belief.

Belief isn't about a handful of pledges or a set of headlines. It's about being committed to a way of thinking that means that we are bound to fight against injustice. Not just because it's politically expedient, but because we believe in it. It's basing our thinking on the philosophy of the needs of the few and the aspirations of the many, the belief that we can acheive more through the strength of our common endeavour than we can individually.

We've stopped being critics ... now we're cynics

2008-05-14T13:48:00.000-07:00

I've been phone canvassing in Spencer ward today. We've been doing voter ID and promoting the campaign for a new secondary school in the area. Generally the campaign has been received really positively with the exceptions of:

1) people who think that if we set up a new school we maybe closing another
2) people who don't like young people and don't want them coming into the area (they'll be more crime, joy riding, anti-social behaviour)

In contrast there were some older people who emphasised "Our children have grown up a long time back but the kids in this area are so good, that we'll do anything we can to support them. My wife volunteers at the local school and they come round the house to take the dog for a walk. If it's a proposal supports them we'll support it!"

I think the key things that this shows is that people are concerned that they're having the wool pulled over their eyes in the new environment with everyone wanting to be at some time or other "progressive".

That people can and will have their imagination captured by the ability to believe that better public services are possible but they need to feel that human beings are at a baseline that they can take off from.

At the end of the day individuals rise or fall to the expectations put on them ... we need to work harder at making people expect more from life!

First Post

2008-05-11T09:00:00.001-07:00

I've set up this blog to describe events and my thoughts in this period leading up to the next elections in Northampton.

I hope to be posting regularly and welcome feedback from Labour members and supporters.