Local Blog: Heatherwood Hospital Petition Great Response‏

The petition by Russ Bryant asking the Prime Minister to Intervene in the Underhanded Closure of Heatherwood Hospital has now closed.

It was a very big response with 2,631 Signatures. Russ is now waiting on a response from numbers 10. He expects the health minister to ask the Health Trust about any potential closure of the hospital and then they will reply to the petition (the department for health details are here).

I would like to give a personal thanks to Russ for setting up this petition and facebook campaign. Bracknell Standard and Green Gabbles who also covered this petition.

And well done to everyone who signed this petition, every signature really counts.

Is Banning Islam4UK Right?

Michael White has done an excellent blog here on the banning of Islam4UK http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/blog/2010/jan/12/islam4uk-ban-michael-white where he hopes Alan Johnson has called this one correctly.

Michael writes

‘My own prejudice is against bans unless absolutely necessary. Society is stronger for taking on the nasties in open debate and proving the merits of mutual tolerance. That goes for the BNP and their ilk just as it does for tabloid demagogues.

Repression only feeds extremism and other unpleasant side-effects as the current woes of both Sinn Fein’s Gerry Adams and the DUP’s “Swish Family Robinson” Underline.’

These paragraphs above really sum up my thoughts on this ban for me.

I find Islam4UK highly offensive and disagreeable but banning them does not sit well with me. I think these groups need to be in the public eye so we can engage with them. Simply banning groups because we don’t like them and its popular to do so, is not always the right thing too do.

It would have been awful of course if Islam4UK did protest in Wootton Bassett and could of ended in violence, however the media attention they have gained from this has already got them the voice they are always seeking.

Anjem Choudary who heads up this group and led other groups before hand before they were banned will simply think up a new name and again get press for whatever action he tries next. Banning this group will simply not work.

We should not pick and choose freedom of speech, Where does it end?

Lib Dems Become More Realistic

Nick Clegg today outlined the Liberal Democrat four priorities called 'Four steps to a Fairer Britain' which are ;

1.Fair taxes.

2. A new, fair start for all children at school.

3. A rebalanced, green economy.

4. And clean, open politics.

Nick Cleggs speech can be read here

My blog is not about this speech however its about the fact that he has delayed some of the key policies as they are too expensive and that no party is telly the truth when it comes to the required spending cuts to reduce the countries deficit.

The policies being removed from the manifesto are; extending free childcare, free personal care for the elderly, "citizen's pension" and delaying introducing free tuition fees too six years (It will now be rolled out over these 6 years - starting with final year students).

I actually agree with this as the Lib Dems do need to be more realistic on how much we can afford to spend. I also think that the Lib Dem activists should be more realistic about what is possible and therefore I agree with Nick Clegg and not with the probable back lash from Lib Dems. After all these policies have not been forgotten and will be added later when they can be afforded. But for the moment are removed so as not to cause any of the usual confusion.

I also think that the whole tax credit systems costs way too much in administration for both the government and the people requesting tax credits. Having a higher tax starting rate of £10,000 (as the Lib Dems propose) would be more simple and would infact cut administration costs.

I would also point out that no party, (Even the Conservatives) are being realistic on what we need to do to pay back Britains debt, which is why I was pleased to see that the Lib Dems are now moving in this direction.

Labour and the Tories have been going at great guns at each other recently over each partys funding gap in their policies. The holes the media and the parties have found in each others policies is all the proof you need that both parties plans do not go far enough. The parites are making promises they can't keep. This is why I'm please too see the Lib Dems getting real on their policies. Now all Parties and us (the public) need to get realistic on spending cuts.

Whats scary about this is, one of these parites will be in power this year and their plans don't appear to be ready to handle this counties money problems.

Of course we are not the only country which a deficit problem see Bracknell Blog World Debt Crisis.

The Hurt Locker Review

It can be forgotten that political decisions result in life changing events for many. Such as the decision to go to war in Iraq. The film The Hurt Locker demonstrate how hard it can be to carry out the wishes of general and politicians. This film comes across as non-political but is infact has political overtones its just not overtly political.

Director Kathryn Bigelow's (who directed Point Break) has done a brilliant job of converting the wartime experiences of journalist Mark Boal into a engaging and absorbing account of an American Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal team. I was gripped from the beginning as you can feel the constant threat of death and the fear flowing over the film.

This film is not just about bomb disposal but the interaction between the replacement bomb technician and his crew. Showing the why you have to work within the rules and what can happen if you don't. Many of the events have an attempt to gain control but you can see how they soon become uncontrollable.

The Hurt Locker has so many situations within it, there's blow-by-blow account of defusing IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices), snipers and attempted hostage taking as well as a unwilling suicide bomber and bomb investigation. Infact this made me wonder how many attacks are by suicide bombers as many in the firm were infact remote detonation bombs.

The film is entirely convincing (shot not far in Jordan) The explosion feel very real and there is good use of slow scenes with faster placed scenes and story telling.

The Hurt Locker is in my opinion one of the best modern war movies made. I found this film gripping and interesting and highly recommend it to anyone who can face watching a film with some very horrific scenes of war. I Think this is one of those must see films.

The Hurt Locker stars Jeremy Renner, Guy Pearce, and Ralph Finnes and is now out on DVD and Blue Ray to both Rent and buy.

December 09 was the first month since the Iraq war begun that not a single US solider was killed in action for that month, a statistic I hope can continue (I hope that one day soon the Iraq casualties also stop). The total of the coalition forces casualties for both Iraq and Afganistan can be viewed here http://icasualties.org/

Review of The Decade

I recently watched History of Now: The Story of the Noughties on BBC 2 which can be on BBC IPlayer. This was split into 3 programs the 2nd and 3rd of which were the most interesting for me as this tackled the social aspects of Britain’s society. These programs can be found here

The second program (which included Lib Dem blogger and co editor of Liberal Democrat Voice Mark Pack) examined how politicians used popular culture like pop music and how Jade Goody paved the way for David Cameron. The program also mentions how parties now concentrate on winnable seats, leaving safe seat alone. and how they even use the MOSAIC methodology that supermarkets use for targeting political messages.

The second program also covers the development of the Chav and how it has become harder to climb the social ladder. It suggest that the Chav has given up being aspirational because the ladders have been removed. Its now much harder to achieve without an education. We are simply conned by reading about WAG’s and the cult of celebrity into believing that we can climb this social ladder.

The third program covers globalisation and how Britain is are the heart of it. Which millions of Brits buy up property aboard and millions of immigrants came to Britain to work. I found this very interesting as many believe that us Brits perhaps feel superior to our European counterparts. We moan about Europeans working here but forget that there are many Brits living aboard. We also go on lads or lad’et holidays to eastern Europe and trash the place while drinking huge amount of cheap beer. Thanks to cheap flights to unheard of ex military airfields.

I to admit to having done this myself on a stag do in Prague. However I think its because we work so hard that we also party hard. You could say its hard wired into our culture now. Also the drink is so cheap that we just go mad for it. We love a bargain. We try too keep up with our peers, drinking the shots they buy etc and then don’t think about the consequences because for that one night, we don’t want to worry about them.

The program also shows how influential Britain still is. with its Premiership football being watched all over the world. British pop music as popular as ever and also British TV formats exported to every corner of the globe. We are still a very important Island in this world.

We have certainly had some massive highs like winning the Olympics and lows like the 7/7 London bombings the next day. Its quite amazing how the banking and credit bumble bust right at the end of the decade, the same bubble that made the decade at the beginning (the one that gave us the money in the first place).

For myself I actually enjoyed the noughties on a personal level because despite that bad things that happened I agree with Andrew Marr in the final program. That it would be easy to say that the decade could be viewed as a time of enormous delusion and folly but it was also a time when many people enjoyed life more. I for one think this is very much the case.

So what do you think about the last decade, Good or bad?


And on Another Note

I can’t help but wonder why all the documentaries appear to be on Channel for on the BBC. Why is ITV not showing more documentaries? Mark Reckons has some advice for ITV’s falling viewing figures here in The trouble with ITV.

MP's Should be Allowed to Make Mistakes‏

David Cameron recently admitted that he "messed up" after his blunder on Monday where he said that tax benefits for being married could not be guaranteed.

Cameron told BBC Radio 4's Today programme "The truth is I give dozens of interviews every week and on Monday I messed up, and there is no other way of putting it. I was thinking about all sorts of different things. I misdescribed our policy. I immediately corrected that".

I think this is fair enough and I for one am not going to have a go at David Cameron or any other MP who makes the odd error in their interviews. After all, we all remember Nick Clegg getting the state pension figure wrong or Gordon Brown saying that he "Saved the world".

Local Blog: A Walk in The Snow

I had a nice quite walk in the snow this morning to clear my car in preparation of the frost to come. Everyone is very chatty, there are kids playing and very very little in the way of traffic. I only saw a milk float of all things and two snow ploughs and very very few cars.

Like I imagine most people in Bracknell, I'm working at home today. The snow we have in Berkshire is so thick I never thought I would see anything like it again.

Well I know we the Great British public will all ask, Why can't we cope with the snow. Before you do remember in many other countries at the moment, they aren't coping. Just have a look at these headlines here and here. I have a friend who is trapped in Brussel airport which is currently closed. The fact is that there is just too much snow at the moment for the councils to cope with. Unlike the pervious time (see here) when the council was caught out (detailed explanation defending the council is given by Alvin Finch in the Comments).

This time the roads have clearly been gritted before it snowed and the snow ploughs are out. Even when the road has been ploughed however there is still snow left on the road because the plough can damage the road. This operation is going to cost however especially when all those pot holes caused by the frost will need to be filed in. But I am grateful for all those council workers who are doing a great job and who managed to get to work today.

Anyway looking at the forecast to come see below, it looks like we are in for quite a long spell of bad weather. There's not a lot we can do about it so I'm going to enjoy it. If you do go out please be very careful on those slippery paths.

More Lib Dem Love Bombing

First it was Cameron love bombing LibDem voters. Now Gordon Brown has made overtures on the Andrew Marr show.

This suggests that both are aware that LibDems are a real force on the political scene. They certainly are at local government level where they have shown so often how much better things can be managed than by the blue or red brigades. LibDems now run more cities than either of the other two parties. In addition they are the opposition party in huge swathes of the country. Main opposition to Tories in the South and to Labour in the North.

Both Westminster leaders obviously frightened that LibDems are the real threat to their ability to get a majority. We’ve got Gordon Brown clinging on to power and David Cameron promising phony change. If we want something really different then we’ve got to vote for something really different and the Liberal Democrats are the different party of British politics.

This was posted by Dazmando for and on behalf of OldBiddy

My own thoughts on the Love Bombing can be read on New Year Love bomb by David Cameron Working?‏.

More can be found on Reading List post here

Immigration Points System is Just Spin

I have been reporting on a number of visa issues relating too Intercompany Transfer Visas and foreign workers replacing the contracts of EEA with information provided to me from IT contractors, See these articles here and here on Lloyds are Being Investigated by the UK Border Agancy and Unfair Competition for UK and EU IT Workers?

Recently one of my contacts was on BBC Radio 4 on the program 'The Report' entitled 'Immigration 31st Dec 2009'. Steve can be heard from 21 minutes to about 26 minutes into the report here, although the whole report worth a listen. the report is about 'Phil Kemp investigates whether the government's new points-based system of immigration is actually working'. I am not surprised to discover that the government spin on the new points system working is just that, spin.

Closing Guantanamo Bay

I have just watched the BBC 2 Program This world on Closing Guantanamo, this can be found on BBC IPlayer here.

The former Conservative defence secretary Michael Portillo investigates the response to President Obama announcement in his second day in office that he would close Guantanamo Bay within 12 months. A task which has ultimately proved unachievable within this time frame. Personally I’m not so sure this is achievable on any short term scale because of the politics.

The most interesting aspect of this program was examining the balance between human rights and the security of the USA. Michael Portillo concluded that he would like to think that he would release the detainees. However after examining the political implications decided that he would have done the same thing as Obama. Which is release a few detainees and keep the others locked up indefinitely because you don’t have the evidence.

Obama as a liberal minded man would naturally wish to release the detainees as there is not enough evidence to convict them. I also would being a liberal release the detainees and monitor those that appear to be a threat (wrong perhaps I know). But I can see Obama’s problem.

The fact that Guantanamo Bay is helping to fuel the fire for terrorism but on the other hand if Obama released them and just one form detainee was involved in a terrorist attack in any capacity then this would be enough probably for him to be forced to resign. Not to mention the opposition in America to closing Guantanamo Bay.

It’s all very well us Libertarians calling for a closure for the right reasons of Guantanamo. But unfortunately it’s worth remembering that we live in a realistic world, one where it’s hard to make the political decisions for the right reasons. Politics can have a way of forcing your hand into a decision that we do not like. This is because leaders can find themselves in a situation where political decisions will almost certainly come back to haunt you. The right reasons are not always politically acceptable.

Please do watch this program (see here) and let me know what conclusion you would come too.

10 Predictions for 2010

Many predictions for 2010 have already been made by bloggers and I can't resist adding my own. So here are my predictions for 2010;


1. Both the Greens and UKIP will have there first MP’s after the election in Caroline Lucas and Nigel Farage

2. Lib dems will lose a number of seats in the South West but will gain others ending up with about the same number of MP’s (63)

3. The Tories will win the next general election with a very small majority.

4. England will lose on penalties in the Simi final of the World Cup.

5. A premiership football club will go into administration.

6. A major Conservative blogger will stop blogging after the general election.

7. A singer from one of Simon Cowells shows will be number one again for Christmas.

8. The general election will be in May.

9. The new Doctor Who actor, Matt Smith will help Doctor Who become even more popular than it was with David Tennant.

10.Bracknell Town centre will still not have the new town centre it so needs.

Whatever happens I hope you all have a good new year.

Cassetteboy vs Party Leaders

Cassetteboy recently had his edits of the Party leader speeches shown on BBC2's 2009 Unwrapped with Miranda Hart. The full episode can be found here on BBC IPlayer.

Here are some of the funny outtakes from it.



Also here is the full Nick Clegg edited speech




And as an extra treat do check out Cassetteboy vs Nick Griffin vs Question Time



Other clips from Cassetteboy can be found here. Enjoy!