First Post
Welcome to the first entry of my political blog – perhaps more accurately it will be described as my rants on all things political.
The last couple of days have been busy ones; yesterday I attended a commission on recycling and waste management – set-up through the Environmental, Housing and Planning Scrutiny Committee. The meeting was almost entirely productive; my only fear is that we’ll set our sights too low and that some members will continue to attend meetings for which they appear to have done no research or background reading. I find it intensely irritating that long-serving councillors seem so unashamed to comment on a subject they know nothing about, or appear completely ignorant of policies and strategies they should have played a part in forming. My afternoon was then spent at a seminar questioning whether globalisation was under threat in the post 9/11 world. Unfortunately the speaker didn’t appear to have any real ideas of his own; thankfully however, the talk was livened-up by some Marxist academics with some entertainingly forthright views on the subject.
Today has been a day of follow-up research on local initiatives we can use to inform ourselves and some more information-gathering on solutions to homelessness; in preparation for a sub-group meeting next week.
Also today, I have continued searching for printers that can provide cheap printing on recycled paper and using environmentally friendly inks. I have also found myself being extremely irritated by the pitifully weak and weaselly words of Jack Straw: on the subject of England playing cricket in Zimbabe; his response was that sport is not state-controlled in England and the matter was therefore for the England Cricket Board; and on the elections in Ukraine, which he acknowledged were unfair, his solution was for both leaders to meet and seriously discuss the matter. I cannot believe that he was unwilling to condemn anti-democratic practices openly. Here’s a little animation I crudely put together:
1:25 pm on November 26th, 2004
Is this not because Jack straw is really a big bottler who is afraid to critisize anyone who has a different skin colour to his own. but as a minion to a tambourine thumper what more could we expect?
2:43 am on December 4th, 2004
nice to see the Lib Dems getting on with the ‘mature grown up politics’ they continually preach about.Read some of your stuff from the Eccles by- election too, real gutter stuff but I suppose when you are ordered to act ‘wicked and shamelessly’ you have to obey.
5:00 pm on December 4th, 2004
Hi Scott,
I get the impression you dislike me for being a Lib Dem and nothing more. I see little point in trying to change a closed mind – but as far as I’m concerned the essential quality in a politician is integrity, which has been described as ‘requiring, amongst other things, the ability to accept discomfort for the sake of truth’ (I belive it was said by M. Scott Peck in The road Less Travelled and Beyond. The only leaflet I had a hand in in the Eccles election was the one written soley for Ellesmere Park, and every point in that was in response either to national Tory party policy or statements made in the council chamber or 2003 local budget. If those points made unwelcome reading then you shouldn’t vote for the Conservatives. As to the other leaflets, they were produced by the Eccles party, and as I am chair of the Salford party I had no say in their content. As it happens, I have made my collegues quite clear on how I feel about overly negative campaigning – I don’t like it and I will continue not to like it. Frankly however, it beggers belief, having seen what was put out in the June elections by both Labour and the Conservatives, that anyone supporting either party has the gall to critise as you have above.
11:59 pm on December 14th, 2004
Great to see you blogging. Good luck!