"Twitter Day" A waste of time

Below is my recent answer to Bracknell Standards What does Bracknell think column.

 

This week's question was; Bracknell Forest Council recently held a "Twitter Day" where it's Twitter followers were given regular updates on what the council's staff were doing on a an average day.

 

Do you think it's a good idea to get people more involved and knowledgeable on what the council does?

 

Should local authorities embrace social media as a modern, and free, way of getting information to their residents?

 

and, are you a fan of social media or do you prefer more old-fashioned methods like a council magazine put through the door?

 

My reply;

 

As a member of the political twitterati you may imagine that I think this is a good idea. But actually I think its a waste of time and money. Email is a fair way to communicate with the council, not using up staffs time to post messages on Twitter or Facebook.
 
I have twittered with many a politician but really their number of followers is very low compared to the number of constituents they have. to me it seems a little unfair that just because I'm on twitter and engaged in the political twitter community that I get preferential treatment when talking to MP's.
 
Of course this could be corrected by getting everyone else to join twitter and following me

Blogging will remain light

I am currently moving home and looking after my 6 month old son, this is taking all my time up at the moment. Therefore I have not been able to blog, which is a shame because I would have had plenty to say about recent events.

However I have still been leaving comments on the regular Bracknell Standard column, 'What does Bracknell think?'

So here is a selection;

Library E-Books

Wellington College in Crowthorne announced last week it is planning on removing books from its library and instead giving pupils their own hand-held e-books to read from.Do you think the days of print are now in the past or will there always be a place for a good old paper or hardback in the future? Do you use e-books yourself of are you a fan of the more traditional books?

My reply;

I am a fan of traditional books, but I do believe they will be replaced by electronic books, just as CD and DVD will be and are being replaced by downloadable media.This is not all bad news, (although it is for high street shops) as electronic media is so easy to manage and store.One question thought, are all of Wellington College library books available in electronic form? sure this is not a straight replacement of books.It will be interesting to see if children's books will remain as these are hard to create electronically.

 

Super-Injunction

"After journalist Andrew Marr removed his own super-injunction covering an affair, do you think it is right for the famous and wealthy to be able to cover up news stories about their private lives or do the public have a right to know about the private lives of people in the public eye?"

My Reply;

Injunctions do make me uneasy, although I'm not bothered about personalities and their personal life's. So who was sleeping with who I don't think is in the public interest anyway. However where I do have a real issue with super injunctions is when its used by corporations or individuals to cover up illegal activity.

The best example I can think of is when Trafigura illegally dumped toxic waste instead of processing it in Cote d'Ivoire then used a super injunction to stop MPs discussing this in the house of commons and to stop the media covering the story. Now that I cant agree with.

 

Fare increase for Taxi Drivers

Taxi drivers in Bracknell have asked for their fares to be put up for the first time in three years to meet the rises in fuel costs and insurance.

The cost of a three-mile journey will now cost 80p more, from £6.80 up to £7.60. A 12 mile trip to Reading has risen from £20 to £23.60.

Do you think this is reasonable? Do you use taxis much? and should driving firms receive discounts due to the high cost of fuel?

My Reply:

It can't be denied that cost have gone up for taxi's. I think in view of this it would only be fair for their fees to rise. I use the local taxi's and always find them pleasant and talkative. They have families to and I can't see how we can continue to squeeze them.

Heartened by protests

I was in Last Thursdays Bracknell Standard What Does Bracknell Think. This time the panel was asked, Students were protesting against proposed changes to university fees but, what started out peacefully, was marred by the invasion of the Conservative HQ at Millbank, acts of violence and vandalism.

Protests happen in London everyday but don't make the news. What we want to know is whether the riot on Wednesday has actually managed to further the students' cause by drawing more attention to it, or has it hindered it?

My response;

I was heartened to see students on the streets, yes other protest are not covered but this was a big protest (close to 50,000 people). I was beginning to wonder if the British people had lost the will to protest. Brit's don't do enough of this type of activism. It's good to see some passion, much of it in a light hearted protest.

Unfortunately I think the few people who hijacked the protest at Conservative HQ have distracted the news away from the student cause. If this was at the weekend I would of gone myself. Although I would say to the students. Don't let the fees put you of. You can still afford to go.

Bad experiences with speed cameras

My comments were again in this weeks Bracknell Standard. I was asked the question;

 

It has been revealed that speed cameras cost the council around £97,000 per year and that they could be scrapped. If they are scrapped, what would you like to see them money spent on, or do you think speed cameras are worth spending money on?

 

Details can be found on the Get Bracknell website here

 

And my answer;

 

I have had some bad experiences with speed cameras. On one road the speed was changed (not in Bracknell Forest) and me, my brother and my brothers girl friend were all caught by this change on the same day, a bit unfair.

The second time I was driving on a motorway when I was forced to go faster by a bad driver who I was avoiding, as they almost hit the back of my car along a slip road in road works. So it's not surprising that I think the money could be better spent on protecting vital services.

There are very few speed cameras in the Bracknell Forest area anyway. I suspect other cheaper low maintenance measures would be more effective.

My newspaper Q&A

This weeks Bracknell Standard has a little Q&A with myself. Heres my answers as submitted to the paper.

What is your favourite food? Normally the food on the biggest plate.

What is your favourite holiday destination?  So far Japan, I just so enjoyed my trip there, the people, the food and the crazy cosplay costumes.

What was the last book you read? The Dirt which is a biography of Motley Crew. Its a crazy rock n roll story that's just unreal.

What is your favourite TV programme? currently Spooks but it was Waking the Dead and before that Star Trek.

What was your first pet and its name? I have fish which I haven't named, maybe I should.

What is your favourite film? That's a hard one. I guess Comedy it would have to be Austin Powers (all 3) but otherwise on the serious side it's Michael Moores Bowling for Columbine which is about the Columbine High School massacre. Still his best documentary. I wish America would do something about their gun laws.

What painting or photo do you have on your wall or desk? A scan of my yet unborn baby.

Who would your ideal dinner guests be? from politics I would take Boris Johnson and Paddy Ashdown. I think they would be the most interesting politics to hear lots of stories from around the table. Music I would go for Jimi Hendrix and Vernon Reid (Guitarist in a rock band called Living Colour) because I think Jimi is the great rock musician who has ever lived an Vernon because he's very intellectual, oh and Ozzy you have to have Ozzy.

What car do you drive? I just sold my yellow mini which I loved. I now have a very boring Ford Focus.

What is your biggest regret? Not going to university.

What makes you smile? Life in general.

What was your first job? Cleaner at Gateways in Crowthorne, had to get up early for that one then head off to school.

What do you like about Bracknell Forest? Well its certainly not the town centre or the 3M building. I think its the parks and the many cycle paths. You can travel all over Bracknell without touching a road.

If you won the National Lottery, what would you do? I would help shelter the charity giving my time to them and I would actually afford to run for parliament as I would have the time to commit to it.

If you could be asked one question what would it be and what would you answer? Would you ban certain video games? My anwser, No. Parents should pay attendtion to the age restrictions on video games. Games are a media just like films and they should be treated the same way.

Do cloned cows highlights other problems

I was recently lucky enough to be asked to take part in the 'What does Bracknell Think' opinion section of The Bracknell Standard.

The question was 'Would you want to eat meat and milk from cloned animals'?

My full response (edited version in the paper) was;

"I would not be too concerned about eating meat from a cloned cow. Personally I'm more concerned about cross contamination in the natural world from genetically modified food.


I do think that this episode shows a fundamental problem in our farming industry, Which is the reliance on foreign imports where regulations are different. In this case I believe the cloned cow was from the US.


Farmers simply do not receive enough funds from supermarkets to give them a decent living. This has lend to more reliance on foreign imports both in food terms and in this case breeding. This is the real problem along with the lack of British farming to cover our growing population leading to more reliance on imports."

So what do you think?

Local Blog: Reply to letters in the press

I wrote a letter to the Bracknell Standard (see Political Letters in the Press‏) which was published on the 18th February 2010. I received many replies to my letter in the paper. So I wrote a reply;

Here it is;

I appear to of hit a nerve with my letter on 18th Feb as there were many responses, all of which made some great points and all agree that we do need effective opposition in Bracknell. I don't believe the opposition parties are not sitting on there Loral's I just think they are finding it hard to increase there votes to get elected.

Some Independents also wrote in, David Vousden suggested that you could stand as a Tory and then become an Independent. I like this idea but unfortunately I think you would be found out and it would be very hard to be selected. It's also very difficult to get elected as an Independent as many people don't change their vote. I think its best to have a party behind you but be independent within that party and only stand in a party that agrees with your principals. Then if you have a fundamental disagreement while your in office you can resign at this point and become an Independent.

I would suggest that the Independents don't stand separately but talk to each other and help each other out perhaps only one of them should stand in a general election if they agree.

I also agree with the letter on civic studies. I think this kind of knowledge would really help because apathy is no ones friend, after all if you don't vote then its partly your own fault when the people you didn't vote for perform legislative action that you disagree with.

Paul Horgan is right that its complacency that has contributed to the expenses scandal that we have suffered from this in Bracknell. Bracknell seat is far to safe and when it feels like a contest which has already been decided before it has even begun. This does make people more apathetic.

Darren
Bracknell Blog