Political – Page 3 – Made In Preston

Anyone for strawberry picking?

Reading in the paper today that David Cameron is taking a business delegation to China to follow on from his Indian visit. A bit further down an article that Jaguar – Land Rover might build a factory in China to supply the Chinese market. So how very clever of the Indian company that bought Jaguar – Land Rover. A bit more far-sighted maybe than British investors. Looking through the Made in Preston website the list of items made in this area that have fallen to overseas companies; cotton, buses, lorries and their suppliers to name a few. To a degree this has been inevitable but to the extent it has happened it seems folly and now the North West is said to be an area where people increasingly do transplanted government paperwork processing jobs that have no added value to the economy.

What are the paths for young people to start with some kind of solid vocational training, get some qualifications and maybe rise through the ranks in a company making interesting and long term products, so good they are wanted overseas and keep the food on our tables. Is it that if you are in the 50% who don’t go to university you can only get a job with little prospects. Many of those who go to university aren’t particularly academic or practical and often don’t have the grounding to get a decent job either. Sometimes starting younger at work can give you this work sense and getting qualifications while at work is a better path. Maybe I’m just old fashioned. Having started as a craft apprentice who left school with little but got an HNC, which opened some doors, then a degree with the Open University. It is a worry that the children being born today in Britain might need to be good at picking strawberries, perhaps in China.

Liam Fox in Saudi Arabia supporting local industry

It is reported the UK Minister of Defence Liam Fox is meeting the King of Saudi Arabia and will discuss potential arms sales. The US has recently announced the sale of $100bn of arms to the region and the UK is hoping to gain a share of the market. This could include further sales of Typhoon and ships. The UK also sent a high level delegation to Brazil in the wake of the French and Italians who have already staked their positions and David Cameron visited India to promote the industry. It has been commented that the last government didn’t provide enough support to arms sales and there is a lot of ground to be made up in re-establishing contacts and position. The UK has traditionally been a major supplier of arms to enable friendly countries to defend themselves and to create alliances as well as to fund continued technological development.

3rd degree vulnerability in Preston

The data research company Experian has published an analysis that shows the areas around Preston to be more vulnerable than average to government cut-backs. Out of 324 areas Preston and its surroundings are generally in the third quartile 0r positioned around 250th. The main reasons given are that people are vulnerable to long term unemployment, low numbers of self-employed and professional workers, as well as some areas having vulnerable employment.

In the region Burnley, Hyndburn and Blackpool are below the 300th. In many ways much of this could be guessed but it puts more focus on those areas and these areas should be looking for assistance from the government rather than cut-backs. The BBC contains fuller information.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11233799

BAE trims its cloth

Around 450 jobs are to go at BAE SYSTEMS Warton and Samlesbury plants out of a total of 950 that will be shed nationally. In such a large company it could be expected that there will be a lot of volunteers and redeployment but with the Strategic Defence Review approaching the company workforce could be in for a rocky time so transferring to another site might not be a good move.

Over the years there have been many ups and downs and the factories in the north west have benefitted from consolidation of the industry. With the rump of the aircraft sector now being in the north-west there isn’t a lot more consolidation available and changing technologies mean new types of aircraft are being developed with new companies entering the market as well as new countries.

Over the years this industry has done well for the region and there is little opportunity for similar work possibly in the UK so any damage could further degrade the UK skilled engineering base. Reduce the potential for exports and influence while creating a need to import these expensive products: double losses all round. Not to mention the small factories all over the north-west who supply parts.

At the moment it hasn’t come to major reductions and Liam Fox commented that he wanted new technology to be introduced rather than upgrading old products. Upgrading is a useful piece of business but the prestige of producing a new and complete product creates a more solid core and a reputation that brings customer confidence and a position of strength in negotiations with potential partners.

Industrial Revolutionaries in Preston

The Industrial Revolutionaries is a display at the Harris Museum in Preston. The revolutionaries are the people who made an impact in Preston and include cotton magnates and reformers, mill workers and inventors. The display was funded by a number of organisations to make that key part of Preston’s history come alive for locals and tourists. This is achieved to some degree although if you already have a decent knowledge of local history it might not be deep enough whereas to many it will be just right.

Entering the museum it isn’t obvious where the display is if you come in when the monitor is showing something else. It’s on the third floor.

The information is in a modern well presented display made of a number of islands in subdued light. The story is formed around 7 people in different segments of society which can still be recognised to this day in the UK wrapped in 200 years of new legislation while the changes from rural to urban industrial can be seen today in the development of China. As a side issue, sort of worrying about where we are heading, we need some new inventors in the north west.

For me the most interesting part was the 100 year old film of the raw cotton being processed into material in the Yard Mill. Looking at the workers, their reactions to the camera and thinking they were walking round Preston over a 100 years ago sparked curiosity. Ladies in shawls, men in flat caps or bowlers. We see where the flat cap worker image comes from in the north, whereas in the south it often represents the wealthy country gentleman. The story of the workhouse and prison reform was interesting as well. They’re all interesting and even though it might not appear too deep there is enough, as it would be a good test to name the main characters on leaving. I’d fail.

It would be good if this could be made into a permanent exhibition coupled with updating the History of Preston exhibition. Having been ‘Stuarted’ which is a term used for those intercepted and spoken to by the enthusiastic and knowledgeable museum worker Stuart, it appears that to do that will cost a lot of money and probably at this time the cash will be difficult to find. If I win the Euro Millions maybe. Been to see this twice now and overall it’s definitely worth a visit. On until 6^th November 2010. Website; http://www.revolutionaries.org.uk/index.php

Blackpool 11, Preston 3*

A wake up call. The elected Preston council is struggling to get its projects put into place. Tithebarn, Winckley Square, Flag Market are being thwarted. On transport the bus sale has been done and redone, and light rail proposals seem uncertain. The football team is in difficulty and the National Football Museum lost. Successes have been the Deepdale Retail Centre, updating the football ground, updating St Georges and probably the biggest success; UCLan.

Compare that with Blackpool who looked lost not long ago when the casino plans were rejected. Since then the promenade has been rebuilt for £100m with more to come, a new main shopping mall built, several streets and main square pedestrianised. A light rail system and depot is replacing the trams, the Tower and Winter Gardens have been taken over by the council and a £40m grant obtained. The Central Library is about to be given a £3m modernisation. A central gateway has been built enabling fast access to the town centre. A large sound and light effects structure has been built along the length of a shopping street with an EU grant. The Pleasure Beach and South Pier have announced £10m of investment in the next year. Not to mention the football team and its ground. Granted it still looks like a building site but all these are underway or done.

Blackpool has 11 major improvements. Preston possibly 3*. Yes, Blackpool is only making up lost ground. Preston is still ahead on points overall but wouldn’t it be good to get some great new stuff. Shouldn’t those stalled projects get better attention or is it too late now with the economy needing the heat turning down.

Note: *Tithebarn could be worth 8 points to make the score equal.

Broughton Roundabout No Change

Today the council announced that widening the M55 / Broughton roundabout and associated work wouldn’t go ahead. The previous plan to by-pass Broughton with a road from the roundabout east to Whittingham Lane and back to the A6 has also foundered several times.

The area north and east of Preston has some attractive countryside blighted by the continual spread of warehouses and offices. Building another road doesn’t seem a good idea. Widening the roundabout will only move the congestion elsewhere. Somehow the traffic should be fitted onto existing roads perhaps using the motorway and creating new junctions, restricting speeds during rush hours and perhaps using the hard shoulder.

Now that the government has removed building targets outlying housing projects should be stopped and more built in areas with ready made transport and employment and on brown field sites. The concept of distant commuting should be deterred, perhaps by congested roads. Then again most people are tired of government dictators and a more libertarian position is now expected.

Bad Sewage Day with United Utilities

There’s still raw sewage at the neighbours. Can’t say I’m impressed by United Utilities.

Rained at last after several weeks with only a drop or two. Woke up to a sewage smell but thought nothing of it. Should have been suspicious when the loo flush didn’t go down properly.

An hour later the neighbour came round with big wellies on looking a bit upset. Seemed the drains in the street had blocked and raw sewage was covering her neighbours drive.

Is it the local council or the county council who look after street drains. Yes and no. United Utilities need to investigate but depending on the problem it might be the county council. Discovered UU have a novel way of spending your money by putting a long message about there being no hosepipe ban before you speak to anyone.

At 10am we logged our call with UU and were told it would be 3-4 hours for an engineer to assess it with a warning that as it’s a joint street drain / sewage drain it would be a council job to clear it.

Rang the council to see if it could be speeded but was told it needed logging with UU and they usually turn up within 4hrs.

9pm no-one has turned up even though at 3pm we were told it he’d be here in an hour. Smell is still about and the drains round our house and in the street are still full. Also I hadn’t noticed but our back garden has a lot of white stuff that seems to be also on the front of the neighbours.

There’s still raw sewage at the neighbours. Can’t say I’m impressed by United Utilities how much sXXt in the garden does it take to get attention.

UPDATE 10.30PM. Call from United Utilities saying they’ve been delayed but can come round. Told them if they do they can see from the road that the grid is full. Either now or first thing. So that is impressive from United Utilities, they’re trying to make up even at this hour.

UPDATE DAY AFTER: They turned up at noon the following day and then a tanker with a very large hose arrived around 5pm and worked for a few hours. Fixed it, although it gurgled badly that night when it rained. Staff very courteous.

Council Tax 13 years of excess

Found an old South Ribble council tax bill for 1997 and discovered that since then inflation has increased by about 45% but council tax has increased by over 100%. A change from £650 to £1350. That means that the people of South Ribble are paying over £400 a year extra for council services in comparison with 1997 as the tax should be about £930 for band C.

Are services that much better. Seven years ago I asked South Ribble to remove a load of furniture and they sent a team who went into the house and did a great job, for a fee. I rang a couple of weeks ago to ask the same and they suggested I carried the stuff outside as their staff aren’t insured or get a skip. Might end up a hospital job, the settee is a bit heavy.

Labour promised fairness and progressive taxes yet Council tax is neither fair nor progressive and they have systematically increased it to keep the headline progressive income tax level low. Not to mention increasing National Insurance, not increasing tax thresholds and removing the 10p tax band.

Today the Coalition is about to start cutting our cloth to match our wealth so it’s unlikely that cuts in Council Tax will be high on their agenda. In Spain government workers have been given a 5% pay cut from June and loss of inflation proofing on pensions to prevent a Greece scenario. There is little use saying it wasn’t my fault I shouldn’t pay, if government workers here accepted a pay cut they could perhaps save jobs.

Any problem with the coalition?

Amazing things do happen. Having looked at the policies of all the parties and thinking a pick and mix might make a good option. Such an option has been created in the coalition between LibDems and Conservatives.

Good policies that are common to both parties and those that are not too divisive will be progressed. While more extreme policies creating objections will be delayed.

Some people might feel let down that their party is diluting its manifesto. In the case of the Conservatives they have not won the mandate for the full manifesto. While in the case of the LibDems this is their big chance to get some of their policies onto the statute book from a position that only marginally warrants it in terms of seats. It seems a very reasonable outcome and gives a big majority.

Some say this has the potential for a win-win strategy for both parties. David Cameron is desperate to rid the Conservatives of being thought of as the nasty party representing only a limited section of the population while the LibDems are desperate to demonstrate that they are capable of performing. Yet there are strong head winds ahead with the treasury pantry having been stripped bare and in big debt for years through a combination of world recession on top of a high risk public spending strategy. A lot of the repairs will be made with a strong LibDem input and it will be interesting to see what that outcome will be.

Post Election – Preston and surroundings

A swing of 5% nationally to the Conservatives. No Lib-Dem surge but a small swing towards them in many seats. Preston is now a red island in a sea of blue seats.

Preston had it’s own mini-surge of 2.5% to the Lib-Dems from Labour with a very low turn-out of 52% and Mark Hendrick, Labour winning with just over 48% of the vote. When you don’t live in a seat it isn’t easy to judge how effective candidates are being. It appeared that in column inches Mark Hendrick was a long way ahead of the other candidates. The Lib-Dem is a local councillor so you’d expect to hear more but from where I am it seemed quiet. The Conservative candidate similarly didn’t get a lot of inches. Whether that makes a lot of difference is hard to tell but a quiet candidate is unlikely to capture those key middle ground voters. The cost of publicity is often referred to but a strong candidate can make their own publicity.

In the seats next to Preston the results are;

The new seat of Wyre and Preston North remained strongly Conservative yet had a swing from Con to Lib-Dem of 3.9%. Ben Wallace getting 52% of the vote on a very respectable 72% turn out in a fairly large seat.

Ribble Valley which now includes Walton Le Dale remained strongly Conservative and the swing was 6.6% from Labour to Conservative. Nigel Evans gaining 50.3% of the vote on a tidy 67% turn out.

South Ribble is probably the most interesting seat in the area being the most marginal. An 8.1% swing from Labour to Conservative made it change hands to Conservative who had 45% of the vote on a 67% turn out.

Fylde remained strongly Conservative with 52% of the vote for Mark Menzies on a 66% turn out. A swing of 4.1% to the Lib-Dems from Conservative.

Another seat of interest in the area is Chorley which had previously changed hands with the election winner. This time Lindsey Hoyle kept his seat with 43% of the vote in a decent 73% turn out. A swing of 5.6% from Labour to Conservative. Lindsey Hoyle is an MP who makes himself heard locally. Same thing for Gordon Marsden in Blackpool South. Both MP’s could have fallen but perhaps their work in their locality helped.

Other seats changing hands to the Conservatives are Blackpool North, Rossendale and Darwen, Bury North, Pendle, Lancaster and Fleetwood, Morecambe and Lunesdale. With Burnley becoming Lib-Dem. A good day for the Conservatives in Lancashire but not quite good enough perhaps mirroring the national mood.

The message seems to be that we want change but not a big one. A move to the right is the only way we can go but we don’t want to go too far. Does that mean Conservative with Lib-Dem or Labour with Lib-Dem. Democratically it seems to mean the former yet the combination is less easy. It could be that a softer more progressive Conservative coupled with a Lib-Dem without its less safe policies is the best of both worlds.

Electoral Reform might be the point to watch but if National Interest is the key subject, how important is reform relative to the economy.

The Third Man returns – leaders debate

Years after the final episode of the Third Man can it be that next week Gordon Brown will still be in power from third position. After putting in a solid display in the third leaders debate it was widely said he was third after David Cameron and Nick Clegg. After the incident with Mrs Duffy and a car crash at his meeting we await the third incident. The stars seem to be giving a message that three is the number. But for who?

The Nick Clegg effect has made this election a lot more interesting and it would be good for the Lib Dems to get more seats and for there to be a change in the voting system. As far as policy goes though it isn’t so clear. Seems like they were selected based on being different from the other parties whether they were good ideas or not. Do we really want the jails emptying, an amnesty for illegal immigrants, join the Euro, defended less securely. Have we thought through the effect of having no nuclear power and no university fees. They slip off the tongue easily but all these things have uncertain outcomes and might cause a big and very expensive mess.

Labour have done a lot of good things particularly in new buildings for schools and hospitals, not at the RPH though. There has been a lot of social change and some of this is less comfortable for many. Their worse performance has been in spending too much so there were no reserves for the bad times and selling off gold at low prices to make it worse and whether you say banking regulation would have been different under any other leader. Also there seem to be a lot of processes creating red tape and an official excuse culture, excessive surveillance, a return of sleeze, and a form of denial about immigration as exemplified by Mrs Duffy.

The Conservatives seem to be offering to reduce the processes and blame culture and to stop red tape. Also David Cameron is a more mellow leader than previous ones in terms of social, education, health, environment and the EU. The downside is that the inheritance tax threshold increase is too generous and the school creation policy might be at the expense of other schools. Their message seems to be that they are a change from Labour.

No party offers you everything you want and they are always have policies you don’t like. Who-ever wins it’s going to be tough with the massive financial deficit. In conclusion if I had a say, on balance, Nick Clegg would be the third man. Who would be the first man – posted the vote last week.

Gordon, Dave and Nick talking on TV

Leaders Debate number 2 last night. Not riveting, these politicians can talk, but that’s what they do. Agree with Gordon that what they say is more important than how they look. Although you could add will they do what they say. Only Gordon has a history in office and many might say things never seem quite as advertised.

Then there is good old Dave standing as the person to bring change. There isn’t a massive message though, seems to be more a change from Gordon. Big Society was one but didn’t get much airing. Being in Europe but not a pawn of Europe seemed to be a theme although the European grouping that Dave has joined seems a bit unknown. Dave is looking a gentler leader than those of old and he needs to be as things have moved on a long way in the last 30 years in terms of care, sexuality, race and expectation.

Nick as new boy on the block, looks sincere and stands his ground. His policies seem a change but it set me thinking of the lyrics to Imagine by John Lennon. Imagine there’s no countries, it isn’t hard to do. Nick has no religion too. You may say that I’m a dreamer but I’m not the only one. Their policies are left of the Labour Party and Gordons call to ‘get real’ on nuclear power and defence seemed a good point. Nick also likes saying buying more Eurofighters is a waste of money and that’s before his defence review, although the other parties haven’t played their hand on this one.

When it comes to putting an X in the box what actually happens might be a surprise. Protesting is one thing, but many might think 5 years of a similar government isn’t what was really wanted. There is a big question that a vote for Nick Clegg is a vote for Gordon Brown to continue as PM. Although the LibDems could say no partnership while Mr Brown is the leader, no-one has said that. He could continue as a minority leader and the SNP / PC and others might help it. Then again SNP v Labour could cost Labour a lot in Scotland, or maybe not. The Conservatives seem to be buffeted on conflicting currents relating to other parties and need to come forward with a big message to get back above it. Interesting couple of weeks ahead, so surprise or no surprise won’t be that surprising.

Do we agree with Nick

Since the leaders debate Nick Clegg has grown into a giant. A clever and catchy campaign slogan, unofficial perhaps and penned by Gordon Brown, of ‘I agree with Nick’ has become a mantra. The debate has brought the Lib Dems into the spotlight and seems to have brought a lot of younger people to take an interest as they have been enrolling to vote in high numbers. Both of these are good as it reduces the lack of choice argument and involves more people into the voting process. In countries like Australia it’s illegal not to vote, that might be a bit too far for most, but more involvement is needed.

The spotlight has also brought debate onto policies in the LibDem manifesto. There are what appear very good ones like raising the income tax threshold. Nick Clegg is against the police holding the DNA records of people not convicted and reform of parliament comes high. Some appear a bit over-enthusiastic: no prison sentences less than 6 months, quiet enthusiasm for the Euro, illegal immigrant amnesty, no Trident. Although listening to an explanation of these on the radio the spokesman appeared to water them down. Perhaps they’re not as clearcut, or they could be just a beginning of more to come. For example he said the amnesty is only for a select few, Trident could be extended and the alternative isn’t clear.

Trident is a key issue. Many would say it’s more than defence. It’s about a national position. To be able to promote UK interests and resist pressure to accept policies we don’t like. Either by being at the top table in international forums or bi-laterally with emerging nuclear states. Some people put a financial cost on this but it’s real value might be a way of life or more acceptance of other peoples preferences.

Labour or Conservative best for Lancashire?

Our fourth review seeking the effect of political parties on the region around Preston. This time it’s head to head with the Conservatives and Labour. Not only head to head but neck and neck in some places.

With no major policy announcements yet it isn’t easy to know who’s really the best for this area. The manifesto’s are due out next week and it will be useful if they have snappy bullet lists like the UKIP one rather than only being long-winded multi-paged affairs.

The most interesting seat in the area is South Ribble which is a key Conservative target. Yet this seat is said to have a high number of people working in public services and this might favour the incumbents as they have created a bigger public service sector. It’s also been said, in the Times newspaper, that a seat like South Ribble in the south of England would be a comfortable Conservative seat. How many Labour voting but secretly Conservatives are there in South Ribble?

At present only the Liberal Democrats have made statements about where they might seek to balance the economy, and defence is one of their targets with the locally produced Eurofighter specifically mentioned. The other parties are shying away from such statements in case it scares off voters because they’re so close. No doubt this area has benefitted from the large amount of work in defence.

The Conservatives by not increasing National Insurance appear to have more money to make up than Labour especially when coupled with their planned inheritance tax give-away and now a marriage tax give-away. Will this mean they need to tax more and cut more, elsewhere. How painless can this be?

The Social Services budget dwarfs all other budgets and is equivalent to education, health and defence combined. Both parties are making comforting noises about health and in reality defence is so small now that to get big savings could seriously affect our capability. That could affect how consequential we are in world affairs and business. Would we make it obvious we couldn’t defend the Falklands for example and cease to court American favour for our UN, NATO and IMF positions by reducing our commitments to their support.

This leaves Social Services and Education as the only meaty budgets left. The other way is to raise money from efficiency, taxes and perhaps taking an optimistic view on growth.

Other issues such as parliamentary integrity, and if we look a bit further afield into East Lancashire can we expect any reflection from the European Parliament election when the BNP won a place, might have more influence on voting for major parties than thought as little is being said about either at present.

At this time for those who are looking for a divide between the parties it isn’t obvious beyond traditional loyalties. So do we like Gordon or David?

David Cameron seems decent and genuine and it isn’t easy for a fair person to find a bad character trait. It’s difficult to criticise someone for being wealthy because of their birth when it’s said you can’t criticise for other birth traits like poverty, race and religion. It isn’t automatic that you are of a type because you’re wealthy, and frequently such an upbringing creates a more natural leadership style. You might worry whether those behind him have the same characteristic but you could say the same about elite school Tony Blair in 1997 and those believed to be class warriors and politically correct behind him.

Gordon Brown is defending opinion about whether he’s done a good job over 13yrs and there are those who criticise his style. In many areas like health and education things are better. The economy after following the post 1991 trend did well until late and Mr Brown says the current recession is a worldwide problem. Many will believe he must take some blame for Britain’s worse than most economic predicament. Claiming to abolish boom and bust, celebrating in light touch regulation and glorying in how London was beating New York because we had little regulation seem to now have been poor judgements. Countries like Australia had stronger banking regulation and no bank problem. Mr Brown also started the run on final salary pensions with a new tax, which is something that worries many. Then turning on the spending tap too exuberantly, causing a house price boom and selling gold at its lowest price might not have been good judgement. Perhaps if you’re around so long then such a list is bound to appear.

Then you could look at the teams. Preferences in the teams could be: Mr Brown has David and Ed Miliband and Liam Byrne who regularly give strong and likeable showings. David Cameron has George Osborne and Michael Gove as good support, although George Osborne sometimes has an image problem but has done well so far in the campaign. Nick Clegg has Vince Cable who is popular but often doesn’t come over too strongly. It is to be expected that the party in power has a stronger team as they have all the information and have been on TV more. Also the current government has refused to give access to information for opposition parties.

In conclusion it seems that at present politicians are arguing about small issues when we want to know how economy will be fixed. Only the Liberals have directly threatened Lancashire jobs although all parties have hinted there are threats. We’ve had 13 years of Labour with the first half looking good and the last half deteriorating and then the party ending.

Is it 5 more years of the same, a short time of compromise, or time to give someone else a go? It’s still a close call. Will the manifesto’s and TV debates bring out anything new.

Liberal Democrat policy in Lancashire

The third of our political comments looking at what is being offered at the General Election. What will the LibDems do in the Preston region and what are their policies.

The Liberal Democrats got quite a good percentage of the vote overall at the last election but in our voting system the number of seats is no-where near representative. Although you can say that for the Conservatives as well who polled almost as many votes as Labour. The LibDems will support change to the system, it’s in their interest, and the election after this one should be the target, unless it’s in 4 months.

Reading the LD policies on their website there are some good ideas. Although I don’t find any mention of the opinions frequently expressed by senior party members that seem to effect the biggest wealth generators in our area. For example Sir Menzies Campbell, Norman Lamb and Vince Cable frequently express strong distate about the defence and nuclear industry and conflicts in general. Although don’t we all, but to different degrees. It isn’t known what exactly they would do if they had any mandate as their website isn’t very precise on defence. It says:

‘Move away from a Cold War-style posture towards a more relevant armed forces structure. If we are to continue to have the capability to be a force for good in the world we need far greater cooperation with our NATO and EU partners. Liberal Democrats do not believe that the UK can afford the billions of pounds the Government wants to spend on a like-for-like replacement of the Trident nuclear weapons system We believe that less expensive alternatives should be considered.’

Noting the word ‘considered’ which isn’t ruling anything out including keeping Trident, although that seems unlikely. I’d be surprised if the RAF and Trident survived without big cuts. To be fair George Osborne also hinted at RAF cuts on Typhoon. The case for Trident includes that other countries are moving towards nuclear options, international security has a tendency to sudden change faster than our defences can change, the nuclear option provides an ultimate deterrent and greater influence in the world not only in defence but well into the ‘food’ and status chain, a joint European force with France and reducing dependance are interesting options.

The LibDem defence policy makes me immediately quite hostile but the rest of their policies have some interest. From their website:

‘Raise the threshold at which people start paying income tax from current levels to £10,000, cutting the average working age person’s income tax bill by £700 and cutting pensioner’s income tax bills by £100. These plans will mean that almost 4 million people on low incomes will no longer have to pay any income tax at all.’

It seems ridiculous to pay tax when you’re on the minimum wage and I’ve long thought this LibDem policy their best and I’d expect them to do it without caveat unlike the other parties.

‘Liberal Democrats are the only party which believes university education should be free and everyone who has the ability should be able to go to university and not be put off by the cost.’

Doesn’t actually say they’ll make it free though and the term ‘who has the ability’ is adaptable. That the UK should have universities that equal the best in the world is required as well and this needs a lot of money.

‘Drive a massive programme of investment in renewable energy sources such as wind, wave and solar. We will also transform the National Grid into a smart decentralised grid which will respond dynamically to the changing patterns of energy demand.’

No nuclear station at Heysham perhaps, will the hills be alive with the sound of windmills. This could be a very expensive policy.

‘Unlike the Conservatives we oppose all airport expansion serving London and the South East and so would block expansion at Stansted and Gatwick as well.’

Not really relevant to round here except it isn’t clear how this will effect the UK’s prosperity if decision makers for example find it easier to go to Paris and Amsterdam to do international business. The thought-to-be over-paid people are the ones who place 1,000’s of jobs so we need them here.

‘We will scrap central targets and guarantee that you get your treatment on time. We will give people the power to stop hospital closures in their area through elected local health boards.’

Laudable, although I had a course of serious treatment and the doctor assured me that the target setting would ensure I got the speedy treatment I was asking for, so I’ve never been sure about people making statements against targets.

In conclusion a selection of policies for a kindly Britain making fair and decent decisions in a world that in general doesn’t regard fairness or decency too high a requirement. This doesn’t sound like it will work for me. I have a fear of being part of something that is too decent to know they’ve been had.

Gas Strikes Ahead

While I’m on the theme of strikes, todays papers say 8,000 British Gas fitters have voted to go on strike over bullying by management. The BBC say the union haven’t told British Gas what the dispute is about although it seems a bit improbable. The GMB website says the workers are being pressurised to provide customer satisfaction and in contradiction cut costs and says that is bullying.

Standing at a distance it seems another case of a union bringing out its sledgehammer over what seems a minor issue although a large number have voted in support. Are the unions taking advantage of this period before the general election because they think the government will try and sort it behind the scenes rather than it appearing to be another 1979 winter of discontent. Union leaders and politicians scent weakness and like to make the most of it.

Rail Strikes ahead

Rail strikes threatened. The RMT union are very busy at the moment with threatened strikes about whether signalmen work 3 days or 4 days and about re-structuring of maintenance staff resulting in 1500 redundancies out of 18,000 staff. In Scotland they’ve been on strike about who opens train doors. In all these cases the staff and union are claiming safety issues about the changes.

It appears the signalmen are looking for a lesser action than a strike although that usually results in a more prolonged dispute, they’ve already been talking about these changes for 3 years so there’s no hurry for them. While the maintenance men seem enthusiastic about taking redundancy, leaving the safety issue as a lone factor. Another curious thing is that the strikes are being spoken of as being at Easter but the leader of the RMT, Bob Crowe, said the railway is usually shut for maintenance at Easter and buses are used. Bit of a surprise. So he’s saying passengers aren’t inconvenienced at Easter. Although the maintenance will still need to be done and if safety is their worry and they’re not maintaining the track it seems a bit of a double standard.

Ever increasing regulation and improvements to standards will result in costs that we can no longer afford. Efficiencies must also be found. From what I can gather no-one has been threatened with compulsory redundancy on the railway and surely the managers and regulator have safety at the top of their agenda. So should they be on strike. Is there more to this dispute? No doubt, but what agenda; is it politics, opportunist power with the government vulnerable at this point in time.

Meanwhile, like at British Airways, will you be planning a trip using the railway if there is another way? Many will, but I wouldn’t. Then again with the pot-holed roads the car has square wheels and loose suspension, not looking forward to its MOT. Perhaps best to not go so far this Easter.

High Speed Rail from Manchester, not Preston, announced

The government announced its proposed 250mph High Speed Rail link plan today with a Y shaped network. The line to Birmingham from Euston is to be first followed by a line to Manchester and a separate one from Birmingham to Sheffield and Leeds. With the first full speed trains running all the way to Birmingham around 2027.

Sounds great but still a lot of questions to be asked. The biggest one being will it ever reach Preston.

Will there be a full capability link to Scotland. Will it go up the west or east coast or both or remain a slower line. Liverpool is on a spur from Manchester so will Glasgow be on a spur from Edinburgh via Newcastle on the east coast. That could mean Preston missing out.

Protests from people living on the route will be considered with one person in the Chilterns saying they aren’t convinced of its value – yet living only 20 miles from London it has no value to them. Although I wouldn’t want the line near us particularly if it spoilt nice areas of green. The M40 cuts through the Chilterns and has created an ugly gash in Englands green and pleasant, lets do better than that. Maybe using the existing West Coast Line in that area is a better solution although it might lead to years of unacceptable disruption.

The Conservatives are listening to the people on the route and looking at a line via Heathrow. That seems to have some sense as cutting out flights is one of its purposes. Although a line further west via Heathrow might be less politically messy for the Conservatives or is it just expediency not to announce it now.

The other issue is the timeframe. It’s so far in the future that it might be overtaken by technology. The Conservatives have said they’ll pull it 2 years forward which sounds better but not good enough. It should be planned for it to run to Manchester in 2020 at the latest although it is said we can only afford £2bn a year and the London crossrail is spending that till 2017.

The technology will probably all be imported into the country that built the first trains. Surely we can do better than that, where are the British companies that can do this.

Other countries are now building trains that run on magnetic fields and by 2027 will the HST begin to look like the stagecoach and horses. The canals and original railways were built quicker.

Another influence will be for Preston to be the link for the north west, outside Manchester. Building Tithebarn will make Preston that much more of a convincing destination.

This line, if it was available now would change the idea of travel and bring more wealth to every area it touches. It would be possible to commute to London. Birmingham would be a stones throw away from most regions. Reducing flights from Manchester to London as well. The downside of that is that the prices would need to be high or the line won’t have enough capacity. To have fast trains from Glasgow, Manchester, Leeds converging with the Birmingham trains on one line will have an almost constant frequency.

The French found that they built too many stations and it slowed the line and reduced capacity so the regional philosophy sounds about right.

The line is planned to within 5 metres it is said so lots to think about, need more information.

Council Tax 2010 – Preston highest

Council taxes have hardly increased in 2010 / 11. That appears to be good news although I’m a bit sceptical about why, just before a General Election. Mustn’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

Preston has increased its Band D from £1566 to £1577. Doesn’t sound a big increase but it sounds like a lot of money. Considering it’s a tax paid after tax. Add on your income tax, National Insurance and it really costs around £2000 per household at the mid-band, D. Some houses pay twice that and there are proposals from the Liberal Democrats to add an extra tax for houses over £1m. They also propose a local tax that will get rid of council tax.

Fire and Police are about £200 for all regions of Lancashire.

Preston has its own rate and that is added to Lancashire’s which is £1108, unchanged. Unitary councils like Blackburn have the one rate which at Band D is £1476, up £30 this year. While Blackpool is £1516, up £40.

Other parts of Lancashire like South Ribble pay £1521, Fylde £1486. Although many of the rural villages have Parish Councils that charge up to £30 on top of that.

Overall the people of Preston pay the highest council tax in the region.