planning has gone to Poots*

The news that Northern Ireland’s Environment Minister, Edwin Poots, is set to abolish the Planning Service and devolve planning to local councils is a shock to many.

The 11 council clusters that should be eleven separate councils by now... but for the failure of the Minister to bring forward the legislation.

The shock is made worse as he is basing this on the ‘eleven council’ model that should by now be being implemented under the Review of Public Administation.

Of course, this has not happened. And who is to blame for that? Why, none other than Mr Poots, the Minister, himself.

* cf councils delay has gone to Poots
Oct. 14.

Party and Public will end up having no confidence in our MPs

Good enough then, good enough now.

The Tuition Fees battle continues to rage, with a petition signed by 104 PPCs from last May’s Westminster Election having been sent to all 57 Liberal Democrat MPs.

Personally*, I hope that if the MPs vote against Party Policy – that is, for the increase in tuition fees – they are challenged by their local parties for the right to stand again as Liberal Democrats.

Perhaps it is time for the Leadership to be challenged publicly at Lib Dem Spring Conference in Sheffield. Would a vote of no confidence in the Party Leader in his home city be in order?

A petition, calling on all Liberal Democrat MPs to vote against the proposed rise in tuition fees when this is debated in Parliament before Christmas, has been sent to all the 57 Liberal Democrat MPs.

This petition has been established in opposition to the coalition government’s current proposed policy on tuition fees and has been signed by 104 of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidates at the 2010 General Election (over 15% of the total Lib Dem candidates).

The petition was conceived and produced by Craig Bichard, with the support of Derek Deedman, the Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate for Arundel & South Downs at the 2010 General Election. Craig is a 19-year-old student and passionate member of the Arundel & South Downs Liberal Democrats, and it is his ambition to become a Liberal Democrat MP in the future.

Both Craig and Derek feel very strongly that unlike manifesto policies, which are aspirations to be delivered by an overall majority government or used as a basis for a compromise agreement in a coalition situation, the unconditional pledge made by Liberal Democrat Candidates to vote against any rise in tuition fees is a promise which must be kept – and 103 other Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidates at the 2010 General Election agree and have signed the petition. All agree that this is a red line issue and the provision in the Coalition Agreement for Liberal Democrat MPs to abstain is not sufficient.

Derek Deedman‘s blog

The petition in full is reproduced below:

During the General Election campaign many of our MP’s (and now government ministers) signed a pledge with the National Union of Students that they would vote against any tuition fee rises during the course of the next Parliament. The wording of this pledge clearly indicated that this would be unconditional; regardless of whether the party was in government or in opposition. The party has been very clear for many years about its view on tuition fees and that we feel they should be abolished.

However after the recent publication of the Browne review into university funding it now seems entirely likely that although tuition fees will be capped this will be done to an unacceptable level of somewhere between £9000-£9500 per year with almost all courses costing at least £6000 per year.

Stopping this from happening is vitally important. Not just for the benefit of students but also for the Liberal Democrats. There is one thing that sets the Liberal Democrats apart from other political parties; this is that when we say we will do something during election campaigns we then do it in government. This can be seen in how the income tax threshold will rise to £10,000 by the end of this Parliament, the AV referendum on 5th May 2011, the reduction of MP’s to 600, the Pupil Premium and the delay over the replacement of Trident. We have achieved this and more despite the compromises of being in a coalition.

Nick Clegg emphasised this best of all during the televised leadership debates when he said that the Labour and Conservative Parties have given us “Nothing but broken promises”, he also emphasised that “The Liberal Democrats are different”. Finally and crucially he announced how he wanted to create a “New politics” and part of this vision was for parties to do in government as they claim they will in opposition.

It is time for us to remind him of these important values. The rise in tuition fees is designed to fill in the £2.9 billion black hole that will be left in the teaching funds for universities after the announcement of cuts of 40% in the spending review. However in the context of reducing the deficit this is a drop in the ocean and these savings could surely be better achieved elsewhere. For example during much of Margaret Thatcher’s time as Prime Minister the top rate of tax for the highest earners was 60% and yet today in harder financial times it is 50%. Yet it is students (hardly the richest people in our society) who will be paying for the last generations mistakes. This may be a hard time economically but this is a battle we must win.

We are different and must show that we are; especially now that we are in a position to do so.  Otherwise this party will rightly face many more years back in the political wilderness having been labelled as ‘just like the other lot’.

So are these savings of £2.9 billion worth it? Is this price worth the loss of our party’s integrity and our values? If not then we must let the leadership know how we feel and stop these fees from rising while we still can.

We, the undersigned Parliamentary Liberal Democrat Candidates at the 2010 General Election, call on Nick Clegg, Vince Cable and all the Liberal Democrat MPs to vote against any increase in tuition fees, as pledged to the National Union of Students and publicised as such during the 2010 General Election campaign.

There must be better alternatives and we must find the right one; or the else the party and the next generation of students will rightly feel let down for the next Parliament and beyond.

Thank you all for your time, we will all be watching the results of the vote very closely.

Signatures

Derek Deedman (Arundel and South Downs)

Godfrey Newman (Horsham)

Simon McDougall (Littlehampton and Bognor)

Martin Lury (Chichester)

5. Bernadette Millam (Brighton Pavilion)

Andrew Falconer (Runnymede and Weybridge)

Paul Elgood (Hove)

James Blanchard (Huddersfield)

Jon Underwood (Tiverton and Honiton)

10. Mark Chapman (Spelthorne)

Andrew Aalders (Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)

Wendy Taylor (Newcastle upon Tyne East)

Nick Perry (Hastings and Rye)

Peter Carroll (Maidstone and the Weald)

15. Alan Bullion (Sevenoaks)

Roger Barlow (Macclesfield)

Richard Baum (Bury North)

Nigel Quinton (Hitchin and Harpenden)

Nigel Bennett (South Suffolk)

20. Chris Nelson (Kettering)

Chris Bramall (Stourbridge)

Sam Boote (Nottingham East)

Adam Carew (East Hampshire)

David Ord (North Tyneside)

25. Adrian Collet (Aldershot)

Gareth Epps (Reading East)

Chris Foote Wood (Middlesbrough)

John Dixon (Cardiff North)

Philip Eades (Poole)

30. Steven Lambert (Aylesbury)

Philip Latham (Stockton North)

Lynne Beaumont (Folkestone and Hythe)

Michael Mullaney (Bosworth)

Brendan D’Cruz (Castle Point)

35. Jamie Matthews (Pudsey)

Helen Flynn (Skipton and Ripon)

Edward Fordham (Hampstead and Kilburn)§

Alex Berhanu (Ilford North)

Richard Grayson (Hemel Hempstead)

40. Howard Keal (Thirsk and Malton)

Iarla Kilbane-Dawe (Edmonton)

Paula Keaveney (Garston and Halewood)

Steve Guy (Wycombe)

Rob Hylands (Gosport)

45. Martin Pierce (West Ham)

Tim McKay (Edinburgh South West)

Elizabeth Jewkes (City of Chester)

Daniel Roper (Broadland)

Stephen Glenn (Linlithgow and East Falkirk)

50. Chris Tucker (Slough)

Dave Raval (Hackney South and Shoreditch)

Margaret Rowley (Mid-Worcestershire)

Mike Willis (Loughborough)

Andrew Simpson (Northampton North)

55. Colin Ross (Wolverhampton North East)

Fiona Hornby (Devizes)

Paul Smith (Enfield North)

Tom Snowdon (Amber Valley)

Anna Pascoe (South West Devon)

60. Denis Healy (Hull North)

Tony Hill (Maidenhead)

Jane Lock (North Swindon)

Les Jones (Morecambe and Lunesdale)

Paul Brighton (Alyn and Deeside)

65. Ian Robertson (Rutherglen and Hamilton West)

David Harding-Price (Sleaford and North Hykeham)

David Rendel (Newbury)

John Loughton (East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)

David Hall Matthews (Bradford West)

70. David Smith (Wakefield)

Jerry Evans (Birmingham Hall Green)

Carol Woods (City of Durham)

Denise Hawksworth (Bolsover)

Mark Blackburn (Westminster North)

75. Jonathan Bramall (Dudley South)

Jane Brophy (Altrincham and Sale West)

Peter Reisdorf (Wirral West)

Jill Wareham (Isle of Wight)

Jane Kulka (Reigate)

80. Paul Dixon (Sunderland Central)

Susan Gaszczak (Rayleigh and Wickford)

Sally FitzHarris (Kingswood)

Simon Partridge (Great Yarmouth)

David Rundle (Banbury)

85. Mike Collins (The Cotswolds)

Margaret Phelps (Witham)

Stephen Martin (North Warwickshire)

Graham Oakes (Exeter)

Nigel Jones (Newcastle under Lyme)

90. Trevor Carbin (South West Wiltshire)

Farooq Qureshi (Leyton and Wanstead)

John McClintock (Chatham and Aylesford)

Nigel Rock (Kinelworth and Southam)

Christian Vassie (York Central)

95. Linda Jack (Mid Bedfordshire)

Kevin Ward (Glasgow East)

James Monaghan (Morley and Outwood)

David Goodall (Southampton Itchen)

Joe Naitta (Derbyshire Dales)

100. Robin Lawrence (Wolverhampton South West)

Lucy Care (Derby North)

Richard Nixon (Brigg and Goole)

Sally McIntosh (Mid Derbyshire)

Alan Beddow (Warwick and Leamington)

*This post is purely my personal opinion, not that of the Northern Ireland Liberal Democrats.

§ (deleted) as was included originally in error. (updated 30 November 2010)

the big society needs to start at a local level

Care must be taken when using mobile heaters of any kind.

There is much talk about fuel poverty in Northern Ireland, one of the ways that many people try to provide some heat for their homes is by using a free-standing heater. It may be a gas, an electric, or even an electrically powered oil heater.

Whichever it is, it is vital that anyone using these heaters uses them sensibly and responsibly. Earlier this week, a 24-year-old woman and her eight-week-old baby were

treated for smoke inhalation following a fire at a house in the Lisburn Road area of Belfast.

From BBC news

I fully agree with the SDLP’s Conall McDevitt MLA that

This incident highlights the dangers that can arise from free-standing gas heaters and further underlines the need for people to be vigilant when using these as a means to heat their homes in the cold winter months.

I hope that everyone will look out for their neighbours as well as themselves as we move into the coldest part of the year. The Coalition Government talks of ‘building the big society’ but it is at the local level that ‘society’ can and should make a difference.

crossposted from GYRONNY HERALD

local party AGM – now on 8 December 2010

AGM now on 8 December 2010

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Annual General Meeting of the Northern Ireland Liberal Democrats due to be held tomorrow evening has been postponed to 8 December 2010. The time and venue will remain the same but on the new date.

All members that have email contacts registered with the Party will have received notice by email. We are endeavouring to contact others by telephone.

another attack – when will the scum stop?

Another attack in north Belfast

The news that another man has been attacked in the Brompton Park area of the city is news that we should not be reading about. Not because it should go unreported, but because it ought not to be happening…

read rest of story at Michael Campbell.

Successful complaint brings Pink Paper’s Readers’ Awards to Northern Ireland

Pink Paper Awards now come to Northern Ireland - go and nominate

Following my complaint yesterday to Tris Reid-Smith, Editor of the Pink Paper, and following his response, I am pleased to say that as of today, the Pink Paper’s Readers’ Awards now include the option of saying you are from Northern Ireland.

The email I received from Tris this morning says:

There’s a further update. Having looked into it further, we have now been able to include Northern Ireland as an option in the Readers’ Awards! Obviously anything you can do to get the word out to people and to get them to take part would be great!

Therefore, anyone reading this please broadcast far and wide.

crossposted from Gyronny Herald

Just shows what you can do if you complain.

Paramilitaries Back Off – Let’s Stop the Suicides

There are few things worse than when a young life is snuffed out. It is worse if that young life sees no option for themself but to take their own life.

Recently there has been a lot of global headlines recently for the number of young LGBT people who have felt pressure from bullies to take their own life. But here in Northern Ireland there is another pressure that can come upon young lives. Threats from loyalist paramilitaries over debts accrued or for doing something wrong have led to a number of young people in the Shankhill area taking or contemplating taking their own lives.

18-year-old Michael Robinson who took his own life 6 weeks ago.

It is too late for 18-year-old Michael Robinson who 6 weeks ago took his own life because he was threatened, after owing money to these thugs. But others are facing the same sort of threats that he faced, teenagers at a youth club in the area said:

“Your childhood is supposed to be the best period of your life and that’s what you always hear from adults and you’re supposed to be able to have a laugh with your mates and be a bit boisterous.

“I don’t think anyone should be getting threatened by paramilitaries about getting their knees blown off anything like that is too far and would drive you to having suicidal thoughts.”

It is time for the paramilitaries to back off. Their threats and heavy-handedness is leading to young people fearing the worse and therefore doing far worse to themselves than maybe what the threat of violence was that was facing them. Ending in them taking their own lives.

However, if you are feeling pressured and contemplating taking your own life talk to someone a friend, a member of your family, a youth worker. If you can’t or don’t want to talk to anyone that knows you then you can call the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90 or email them at jo@samaritans.org

Assistance in finding bodies: but when for finding murderers?

We are hearing the news that a body has been recovered in Waterfoot, County Antrim by the teams searching for Peter Wilson, one of ‘The Disappered’.

I am glad that another family it seems is going to be able to bury the remains of their missing member soon.

However, I found the comment of Sinn Féin President, Gerry Adams MP MLA rather odd

“The reports that remains have been found at Waterfoot, County Antrim, where the Commission have been searching for St James man, Peter Wilson, is welcome news.

“My thoughts are with the Wilson family at this time and I would hope that confirmation would be speedy to ease the burden of the final wait the family will endure.

“I again would repeat my appeal that anyone with any information which might help other families locate remains and find closure should bring that information forward.”

The Wilson family would not have this burden to endure if it were not for the murdering scum that killed Peter Wilson and the others of ‘The Disappered’. Sympathy now from the leader of Northern Ireland’s main Irish Republican party although it may be well meant, seems a bit lame.

Perhaps Mr Adams will work with the Police Service of Northern Ireland in finding those who committed these horrific crimes and bring them to justice.

For reference, some information about Peter Wilson:

Peter Wilson: Described as a vulnerable person with learning difficulties, he vanished at the age of 21 from his home in west Belfast in 1973. Reports suggest he may have been abducted and murdered by the IRA. His name was added to the list of the Disappeared in 2009 after new information became available.

For four days before he disappeared he lived with an Army unit at their headquarters near his Falls Road home. At the time the Army was accused of using a vulnerable person to gather information on the IRA, but the Army said they wanted him to experience military life.

from BBC article Who were the Disappeared?

crossposted from GYRONNY HERALD

Delivered to Sender! #MailFail

Postcards intended for MLAs Brian Wilson and Alex Easton but returned to me

As well as helping Michael to draft a response from the Northern Ireland Liberal Democrats to the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister’s (OFMDFM) draft Strategy for Cohesion, Sharing and Integration I sent off my six postcards to my MLAs here in North Down. They read:

Dear (fill in name)

I write to you to indicate my opposition to the draft Strategy for Cohesion, Sharing and Integration currently out for consultation.

This strategy lacks in focus, dedication and vision and fails to recognise the needs and rights of a number of marginalised and isolated groups including those living with disabilities, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and women.

With this in mind I would ask that you, as an Assembly Member and a representative of the people of Northern Ireland, oppose this flawed draft and support amendments to the strategy which would ensure the recognition of issues affecting all marginalised and isolated groups.

Yours truly, Stephen Glenn

All well and good. So I toddled off and got a book of stamps to sent these pre-addressed postcards off to my MLA. There is a place to fill in my address so the MLA knows they are my elected representative.

Guess what?

Today two of mine came back. The one address to Brian Wilson the Green MLA and the other addressed to Alex Easton of the DUP. They don’t appear to have even been to Stormont but appear to have been delivered to my return address directly. That is 33%, two out the six that have been returned.

posted elsewhere: Nick Clegg and Simon Hughes – get the drivel checked first

Like many people last evening, I received an email from the leader and deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats on the subject of voter registration. Whilst I agree that we should encourage everyone that can / should be on the electoral register to be on it. I feel that I must point out that the letter as sent out has fatal flaws in it: for once again, Northern Ireland is different.

read the rest of the post on GYRONNY HERALD