Why Rover collapsed

The report outlining the sorry story about the collapse of MG Rover Group has a lot of information and detail but misses the crucial point of why the company was always going to go under - simply, Rover made rubbish cars and people weren’t willing to buy them. Nothing else needs to be said.

Why I voted for a Labour amendment

Last night at the end of the Council meeting I spoke up for and voted for a Labour amendment - the only Conservative Councillor to do so. “Why?” you may well ask, so I’ll do my best to explain.

The last item on the Council’s agenda last night was about the future governance of Birmingham City Council. New legislation has been brought in that meant the Council needed to consider whether to adopt an ‘Elected Mayor with Cabinet’ or a ‘Leader and Cabinet’ system (we currently have a Leader and Cabinet system however we would change to appointing the Leader for a four year term rather than electing them annually as present) and to consult the public on the issue. The motion put forward was to keep the ‘Leader’ system and proposed the bare minimum of public consultation. The Labour amendment was that the issue should be put to a referendum of the people of Birmingham.

I gave a short speech (I’ll paraphrase it below) and the reaction ranged from stunned silence from my colleagues surrounding me, looks of incredulity on the Lib Dem benches and a warm round of applause from the Labour Councillors.

My speech went something like,

“Thank you Lord Mayor,

I rise to speak briefly in favour of this amendment for two reasons.

The first is simply trust, trust in democracy and trust in the people of Birmingham. We represent the people but are not better than them and I believe they deserve to cast judgment on this issue.

The second is that in 8 months there will be a new government and a new Prime Minister who has promised that referendum. In reality the choice before us is whether we have the referendum this year or next?

So we have a chance, here and now, to be first, for Birmingham to lead and for others to follow. However we vote tonight the people of Birmingham will get their referendum, so why wait?

If you believe in democracy, believe in the people of Birmingham and their wisdom and their judgement you have nothing to fear. Support the amendment.

Thank you Lord Mayor”

It is indeed Conservative policy to hold referendums in the twelve largest cities on the issue of Elected Mayors, so why was I the only one to support that policy? It is well known in Birmingham that current Leader, Cllr Mike Whitby (Con), is opposed to the introduction of an Elected Mayor and so it is often perceived that that is the view of the Conservative group as a whole. It is not. But it is up to other councillors to speak for themselves.

So I voted in favour of a Labour amendment that was putting forward Conservative Policy. Politics is sometimes a very strange world to inhabit.

Violence on Birmingham’s Streets

After trouble erupted for a second time there are serious questions to be asked by those in charge.

http://www.birminghampost.net/news/west-midlands-news/2009/09/07/call-for-inquiry-into-violence-at-birmingham-city-centre-rallies-65233-24622539/

Clearly the police were woefully underprepared despite everyone knowing what was going to happen. Both residents and visitors have been badly let down again and the saying “fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me” springs to mind. Much shame is hanging around the necks of the police right now.

The Council also needs to look carefully at its role especially when it follows up with the comment “there were obviously difficulties but they never got out of hand”. After a bus is badly vandalised, one mob is barricaded in a pub with another mob outside and over 90 arrests are made it makes me wonder how far up your arse do you have to stick your head to be that blinkered?

But while the shame lies with the police the blame is with the members of the EDL and the anti-fascist movement. Two organisations who start their lying with their own names. An English Defence League that causes damage to an English city! Anti-fascists who use the fascist technique of stopping your political opponents from having a rally/meeting! Neither deserves praise and it is clear that whenever these two groups meet trouble is inevitable.

People and groups are free to hold a peaceful rally to air whatever views they like however repugnant or ignorant those opinions. However if a group (or groups) were involved in a previous rally that turned violent then it is time to stop them from meeting in crowded public areas were people should expect peace and calm.

There was one comment made last week by the police that showed their lack of proper thinking. They claimed to have no power to stop a peaceful protest from taking place but were drafting in extra riot police in preparation. If you know you need the riot police, you know its not going to be peaceful.

Release of al -Megrahi, right or wrong?

Much has been said over the release of al-Megrahi with widespread disagreement with Kenny MacAskill’s decision to release him. When asked if I agreed with the release I find myself unable to give a straight yes/no because I think there are three separate parts to this story.

The first is the principle of “compassionate release”. Should that exist as part of a legal system? I would say yes and even people convicted of the most horrendous crimes should be put forward for consideration under the scheme. Not because of any supposed right’s prisoners have but because of what is says about us, about our values. Our judicial system is not based on vengeance but on justice. The idea that you should lock someone away forever with no chance of release is barbaric. There will clearly be people who will never be released due to the danger they pose to others but they should have the opportunity for redemption. If they don’t take that opportunity, they stay behind bars.

The second is the release of al-Megrahi himself. Right or wrong? I have not seen the file of evidence on which Kenny MacAskill made his decision so although my gut-reaction is “keep him locked up” unless I see the evidence for myself I have to support Kenny MacAskill. There must have been strong arguments both for and against but the choice to send a dying man home has to be respected for the principle and political courage it involved.

The last part is the reaction in Libya. Did anyone expect anything different from Gaddafi? If so they are fools. He was always going to play it up like this because he knows the offense it will cause and the fact that there is nothing our Government will (can?) do about it. It serves as a reminder of the true (and ugly) face of Gaddafi’s regime but should not be allowed to affect the (higher) standards we set for ourselves.

Compassion is not the same as weakness - vengeance is not the same as strength.

Been away for a while - time to get going again!

I played around with this blog a little back at the start of the year but other things took my time, I'm trying for a new start. What have I been doing? Two things mainly - I became a father for the first time (son - Ethan, he is such a delight!) and I was selected as the Conservative Party Candidate for Birmingham Ladywood for the forthcoming General Election. I still have plenty of things to say on many many issues, both local, national and international, and I'm looking forward to sharing them with you. Whether any of you want to listen is another matter.

Education results get better and better?

I see that school results are "improving" again and there are less failings schools (why we tolerate the existence of any failing schools is beyond me). But what I would like to ask is that if our students are so much better can somebody please explain to me why students in my A-level Maths class cannot add two fractions with any confidence? And let's not look at the complete lack of basic algebra skills! A-levels have already had their contents reduced (you might say "dumbed down" but I couldn't possibly comment!) but how long will it be until we have to "adjust" the syllabus once again to "reflect the changing world"? The school system is very good at meeting targets but not so good at actually educating children.

It's an old one but still good ...

hat-tip to 'Oli England' for his comment on ConservativeHome ...

Recession is when your neighbour loses their job.

Depression is when you lose your lob.

Recovery is when Gordon loses his job.

Measles, MMR and Media

The latest figures out for the number of cases of measles are horrific. 1,217 cases and the year not complete, only ten years earlier, the year the MMR scare exploded into the public domain, it was a mere 56.

… story at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7819874.stm ...

The numbers alone are shocking but why has this happened? Quotes from the story include:

‘Dr Mary Ramsay, an immunisation expert at the HPA, said: "… an unprecedented increase in measles … due to relatively low MMR vaccine uptake over the past decade … is concerned that we may see measles epidemics take hold … we cannot stress enough that measles is serious and in some cases it can be fatal."’

MMR uptake rates dropped significantly after Dr Andrew Wakefield, working at the London Free hospital at the time, published a paper in February 1998 suggesting their might be a link between the MMR vaccine and autism and bowel disorders. [notice the word might, this was one piece of research among many]. Shortly after in March 1998 the Medical Research Council stated there is “no evidence to indicate any link” and in April 1998 an extensive 14-year research programme following a massive 3 million children who had been given the MMR jab reported they could find “no data to support the hypothesis that it would cause pervasive development disorder or inflammatory bowel disorder.”

So why the huge scare? Why the huge drop in MMR take up that, although recovering, is still far too low to offer adequate protection? When a scare story gets all out of proportion like this the finger can only be pointed in two directions, at the Government and at the media.

Blair went around saying that the MMR vaccine was safe but refused to tell the country whether his baby had received the injection. Family privacy is one thing but if a politician is asking that every child in the country to receive an injection then it is perfectly fair to know if that politician’s child has also received it. This lack of transparency dealt a huge blow to public confidence.

But the biggest share of the blame must surely lie with the media.

There is a great lack of people with a scientific background in the media (the number of times my blood boils because I hear a journalist laugh and brag about how bad they are at Maths is something I may talk about another time) and the reporting at the time showed up exactly how badly they lack understanding when it comes to science. Whipping up a fear and scare far out of proportion with the evidence has caused great damage and the results are now coming in. How many journalists will look back and regret their role in this situation? Not many I fear. Tabloid sensationalism might be good fun when talking celebrities but when the health of our children are at stake surely more sensible heads must rule.

Over 1000 cases of measles in a single year when a simple and safe vaccine is freely available! How can you not be shocked? My children will be having the MMR vaccine when old enough and I urge all with children to do likewise. My biggest fear though is that another media fuelled scare can happen at any time. Who will know what the consequences of that scare will be ten years on from that?

KP nuts or a bottle of Brown?

A man walked into a pub, ordered some nuts and a bottle, turned around and told the following story …

“There were two men he knew, both promoted to leadership roles, who were greeted with thunderous applause by people at large. They initially gave the impression of being very successful and having a mastery of their briefs. However when times got tough arguments about who to blame for the failures quickly arose. The tensions between key players unfortunately became public and people became unsettled. When the men looked around for support their teams thought their behaviour odd and unacceptable …”

… the man paused and threw the nuts down his throat before continuing …

“… well one of them faced the reality of the situation very quickly, swallowed his pride and quit before being pushed. However people still think he is good at his previous job and fully expect him to reprise that role with continuing success. The other man sank into a sorry delusion …”

… the man looked wistfully at his beer going rapidly flat …

“… hanging on believing the world owes him grateful thanks for all he has done. However the previous job this second man did is now coming under closer scrutiny and people are finding out that he was not nearly as good as they (or he) had all believed. In fact things are turning so bad that not only do they not like what he is doing in the role he now fills but also questioning how did he ever get the promotion when his previous record was so poor?”

… the man looked at his now nearly completely flat drink …

“You know what? I’ll think I’ll leave this alone, the sooner I’m rid of it the better.”

Trouble in the Middle East

I never thought my first post would be about the Middle East but here goes…

Trouble flares in the Middle East and instantly everyone has to jump to one side or the other, "pro-Israel" or "pro-Palestinian". Whichever side you pick you get demonised by the other. You either support a thuggish military machine bombing an innocent civilian population who can't possibly defend themselves or you support a terrorist organisation that sends waves of rockets and suicide bombers to attack children. I despair of this so-called debate but not as much as I despair for the people living with this mess.

The constant question of "who started it?" is utterly meaningless. The back and fro of "they did this" but "the others did that first" but "they did this earlier" achieves nothing, but it doesn't stop it being a frequent player. The latest version is that Israel was provoked by rockets being fired at Israeli towns, but the Israelis had sealed off Gaza with an effective blockade causing wild spread suffering, but that was because of .... and so on back through decades and decades. Until the people involved are tired of history and focus on the future instead nothing will change and this cycle of pain and misery will continue.

This is a failure of leadership on both sides; Israel will never achieve peace and security by force and Israel will never be wiped from the map. The end result, as is common knowledge to all who follow this situation, is two states, a free Palestine and a secure Israel, based pretty much on the pre-1967 borders. It has all been talked through before, agreement nearly reached then lost, and all that happens is people keep dying. Sadly, for those living in the region, that peaceful future seems a long way off.