Filed under: Crime
Although I am out of the country on holiday, the shocking murder of Rhys Jones has really brought home just how brutalised and broken our society has become. Since January 2007 there have been 18 murders (shootings and stabbings) of juveniles in Britain. Overseas the perception of Britain is that it has become the new Wild West with the increase of firearm and knife offences reflecting a genuine disregard by criminals of human life. Gang culture that perceives itself to be above the law has been allowed to thrive on our streets due to our pathetic laws and claims that our police are too over stretched to respond to increasing levels of gang related disorder. Social breakdown and violent crime are booming across Britain which off course is a world away from that ‘tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime’ vision promised by Labour all those years ago. Although I do not have the answer on how to reverse this trend, it seems clear to me that w e need to end the culture of individuals having ‘rights’ whilst abdicating all forms of responsibility. Parental love and responsibility can help to prevent the making of young criminals, as can a strengthened criminal justice system with deterrents such as automatic jail sentences for the possession of a weapon, along with life sentences (and no exceptions) and capital punishment for the most abhorrent crimes. Young people need boundaries and an understanding of what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. The state can no longer solve the problem of violent crime on its own. Families and individuals have a significant role to play in helping to mend our broken society. They need to recognise that ‘rights’ bring a responsibility to wider society and can help to create the stable communities which we would all like to live in.
Filed under: Uncategorized
According to news reports this morning (all of which are pretty gloomy), the government has said that it will challenge “robustly” the decision to allow the man who knifed the head teacher Philip Lawrence to death to stay in the UK. The decision to allow this man to stay in the UK, was made because to send him back to his country would have violated his ‘human rights’. This ridiculous decision highlights he real incompetence of the Government’s human rights legislation. In essence, the message to the law abiding majority is that under this Government, the human rights of a killer are of more importance that the rights of the victims of crime. This is such a terrible and a depressing case. The Lawrence family must feel utterly devastated by this ridiculous decision. The government must act now to correct this very wrong decision.
Filed under: Broken Society
Having been a blog free zone for the past few weeks (due to day job demands), I have emerged from my business haze just as the UK political scene gears itself up for what could well be an action packed autumn (and yes, I know that it is still apparently summer!). However, amidst all the speculation of a snap election and the daily political spats we read about, I have been waiting patiently to see some ‘inspirational political leadership’ – the type of leadership which is prepared to look beyond the immediate six to twelve months and provide a real vision as to how we can tackle some of the serious problems faced by our country today. Which is why I welcome the signal by David Cameron today to focus on the current social challenges facing Britain and on the problem he describes as our ‘broken society’. With issues of violent crime (just look back to those dreadful murders last week), social breakdown and yobbish behaviour threatening the way we all live our lives, I believe that we need real political courage and leadership to create a vision which leads to lasting change in this area. Recent political decision making (under Labour) has been dominated by short termism, getting a quick headline and generating an instant feel-good factor leading to the impression that the problem has been addressed – not exactly the right way to determine public policy. I believe that David Cameron is more than determined to address the area of social breakdown. The challenge now for the Party will be to outline the long term policy measures which can address this breakdown, whilst articulating a positive vision of the type of society we could all live in if this breakdown ended. Now that to me would be inspirational leadership .
Filed under: Floods
As the Government prepares to hold its enquiry into the recent floods, bare a thought for the distress being endured by the victims of the floods. Those that have lost everything will be badly hit especially if they do not have insurance cover. Many thousands will no doubt be grateful for any support that can be provided, especially by organisations such as the Red Cross whose national appeal is well worth supporting.
Filed under: Society
Its only Tuesday and Gordon Brown having started the week assessing the flood damage, meeting flood victims, holding a press conference, attending Parliament and various meetings, has also found the time to launch his book “Everyday Heroes”. By all accounts, his book is very much about celebrating the work of people who he describes are ‘at the forefront of change but are seldom if ever in the public spotlight’. He also used his launch to call for a day 24/7 to celebrate the work of such heroes up and down the country. But he also went further when he said that “this is my idea of Britain and Britishness today – not the individual on his or her own living in isolation sufficient unto himself but the individual with a sense of belonging that expands outwards as we grow from family to friends and neighbourhood; a sense of belonging that then ripples outwards again from work, school, church and community and eventually outwards to far beyond our home town and region to define our nation and country as a society.’ What Brown has done today, is to highlight and define the future political battleground. It’s all about the broken society and who can fix it.
Filed under: Floods
With substantial parts of Britain currently underwater, there is a great deal of news about the flooding crisis and the announcement by the Housing Minister, Yvette Cooper, of a huge £8 billion house building programme. No-one can doubt that there is a need to build more homes – demand has long outstripped supply and there is an affordability crisis in the country. My problem with any new commitment and new money to build homes, is that not enough attention has been given to the rather important area of infrastructure. By all accounts £300 million has been pledged to kick-start infrastructure for this new housing. But if building is taking place in areas where the infrastructure is in a parlous state then someone still has to ‘invest’ in the development of sound local infrastructure. Across the UK, the recent floods have shown that the UK’s infrastructure can no longer cope. Instead of pledging to build more houses, perhaps the government should go back to the drawing broad and take a look at the foundations upon which these houses will be built.
Filed under: Floods
This morning we heard that more than 48,000 homes across Gloucestershire and parts of Herefordshire were left without power after a flooded power station was switched off. The pictures from these areas are devastating. Thousands of people are now without food, water and their homes. This is now an ongoing emergency with public health consequences. So with this reality in mind, I am astonished by the response from our political parties to this crisis. Brown has called for a review into the floods, but this is no-where near enough. A review headed up by a ‘worthy’ figure will provide no comfort to the thousands affected because once the water’s disappear, householders will have months of domestic misery ahead as they deal with insurance companies and the bureaucracy this brings. Those with insurance will in the future face higher premiums – more so if they live on a flood plain, while those without cover will be up against it when it comes to sorting out the damage. The government needs to offer and provide real assistance and assurance to those affected. As a matter of urgency, the provision of food and shelter is the number one priority and the emergency service and volunteer groups are clearly doing all they can in this area. But the government should go one step further so that once the waters have disappeared, pressure should be put on insurers work flat out to help families rebuild their homes and lives. In the era of social responsibility it will also be interesting to see whether insurance firms will assist those without cover or will the government step in to help? As for the Conservative response, well, surely its all about ‘social action’….
Filed under: Floods
Its all well and good for Gordon Brown to say that lessons must be learned from the floods, but it’s a bit late to say so once the damage has been done. To be frank flooding is not a new occurrence in the UK, come to Essex Gordon and I’ll show you the impact of flooding, along with the homes which have been flooded because they were built on flood plains (thanks to house building targets set by your government). Having met with local residents during the week who have experienced flooding, it is pretty clear that this government hasn’t got a clue about this issue or the extent to which flooding is a major issue across UK. And why? Well its partly because no-one is responsible or accountable for co-ordinating anything to do with the issue of flooding. In my view this crisis could become Brown’s mini-Katrina because his response is too little, too late. By saying that the flooding has been an ‘emergency that no-one could have predicted’, will provide zero comfort to those families who are now homeless due to the floods. If Brown wants to come out of this looking like a serious can-do leader of our nation, he needs put a rocket up the various agencies and authorities to ensure that clear lines of responsibility are in place to tackle flooding emergencies. Brown and his Ministers should now muck in and supervise a nationwide clear up. Perhaps the biggest lesson he could learn from this crisis is that if he had invested in building new flood defences while he was Chancellor, he could have helped to prevent the extent of the crisis the county now faces.
Filed under: Constituency
Like most of us, I so look forward to my Fridays. And for most of us Fridays are one step closer to the weekend and an end to the daily routine of work. For me, Friday’s are merely the start of an action packed few days of constituency activities and today was no exception. I was lucky enough to spend my Friday day meeting with key figures from Essex Police and then later in the day with the Mid Essex Hospital Trust. As a candidate, to meet with representatives from such organisations is a real bonus because it’s my chance to ask all sorts of questions and discuss the issues that have been raised by constituents. This is off course what politics is really about – getting results and trying to make a difference on behalf of constituents. What a contrast to the daily politics we see and hear about whether its cash for honours scandal or even the fuss made over the recent by-elections.
Filed under: Cash for Honours
It looks as if all hell is about to break lose in Westminster over a leaked report that no-one will face charges after the 16-month cash-for-honours investigation. So after 16 months, a £1 million plus costly investigation and the police questioning of a sitting Prime Minister, we the public are none the wiser as to whether there is evidence to show a link between donating cash to a political party and ‘receiving’ a peerage(I think we can draw our own conclusion on this causal link). By all accounts Scotland Yard is preparing to make a public defence of its officers on the time and money spent on the investigation tomorrow, which is also when the CPS will also issue a formal statement on the investigation. However, the reality is this is now a major and serious news story which is not going to go away. At the start of the investigation the Assistant Commissioner, John Yates who headed this inquiry up stated that all the evidence would be released to the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee who will waste no time in taking the evidence apart. This story will also reignite the whole debate about who funds political parties (taxpayers vs donors), as well as the wider debate about the ‘nomination’ for Peerages. I certainly welcome a debate about the later as this whole process has been damaged by many of the questionable appointments to the Lords we have seen in recent times. Not for the first time, this story has reinforced the public view that politics and politicians are miles away from the whiter than white world which politicians all seem to talk about.
