Floods - Cameron's claims there is no North/South divide

He is a terribly arrogant Prime Minister, but maybe that goes with the job. This Government has consistently under minded all policies designed to tackle global warming, and thus the underlying cause of these losses which is climate change. These events were predicted years ago, but the were ignored. Well it is real, it is happening now, and he is ultimately responsible.
Some immediate actions could include
1) Allowing our moorlands to return to forest, with the added bonus of saving the lives of 1000's of grouse
2) Reinstating minimum build standards for all new properties, to include insulation
3) To fund retrofit of older properties
4) To divert fossil fuel subsidies (including fracking and CCS) to renewable energy. This to include the compulsory inclusion of solar panels and ground source heat pumps in all new build
5) To develop a nationwide network of EV charging points, powered by a nationwide network of wind turbines. It may spoil your view, but at least you will be in your house not a life-boat

Floods, Energy & Trees

Floods, Energy & Trees

I agree with Elizabeth Truss's opening sentence that a review is needed, but not of our flood defence policy. What is needed is a comprehensive plan for flood prevention, which can only be achieved by a Government U Turn on Climate Change. Just a fraction of the costs of clearing up the floods could be used to reinvigorate our fledgling Green Energy industry. The Government must stop obstructing the construction of wind turbines, support solar and promote energy efficiency. As for fracking the best place for the gas is to leave it in the ground. We also need to look upstream and develop better methods of slowing the water, and helping the ground absorb it. The most effective mechanism is to allow our moorlands to return to their natural state of woodland; which will also have the additional benefit of saving the lives of 1000's of grouse every year.

Liberal Democrats Cost Low Paid Families £1127 per annum

The Coalition Government, which included Julia Porkensen's Liberal Democrats introduced a range of punitive tax measures that badly affected of Britain's low income families. According to the analysis by the Institute of Fiscal Studies the average family lost £1127 per annum when taking into account the impact of benefit and tax cuts. Income tax cuts mostly benefited middle income families, not the low paid. The IFS report goes on to say “Low income working age households have lost the most as a percentage of their income from tax and benefit changes introduced by the coalition, mainly as a result of benefit cuts”.

Tax Credits were introduced by Labour to ensure that work pays. It was one of a range of measures that pulled Britain out of the multi-dip recessions that dogged this country in the 1990's, which also included the introduction of a 10% rate of Corporation tax for new businesses and Research & Development Tax Credits. These financial incentives helped people to get work, start businesses and create jobs. In contrast George Osborne has abolished the small business tax rate, so that all companies now pay the same rate of tax whether they earn £1 or £100 Million, cut capital allowances for investment in new plant and machinery, and increased the effective rate of tax for the low paid. Tax Credits and the reintroduction of lower tax rates for small businesses will help build our economy, and deliver skilled jobs to Berwick.

Julia Porkensen first needs to apologise to the people of Berwick for the damage inflicted on them by the Liberal Democrats role in the Coalition Government before claiming to be a supporter of Tax Credits. 

(response the Julia's claim inteh Berwick Advertiser that they are the champions of low paid workers)

Dominic Cummings (Vote to leave EU) is Naive

Dominic Cummings' (Vote Leave) claim that leaving the EU would enable us to get a 'Free Trade Deal' without EU directives demonstrates his naivety. The only Free Trade deal on offer is to join Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein in the European Economic Area (EEA). EEA members are required to abide by EU Directives, but due to the inferior rights offered by the EAA system, they have no say in what they are. Switzerland is neither a member of the EU or the EEA, but has to abide by the EU rules that govern the Single Market. In effect Cummings' 'Vote to Leave' position would remove all influence the UK has over EU Directives, but we would still be obliged to accept them to trade within the Single Market.

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He has now announced that a vote to leave the EU is the only way to stay in a 'reformed' EU - maybe he is just confused.

We must give shelter to refugees

Theresa May's comments on migration simple displays her ignorance about EU migration. The maximum anyone can stay in another EU country without applying for permission is 3 months, unless you have a job or a private income. It is about time Tory politicians told the truth, instead of taking their lead from the Daily Express.

Thankfully the EU had been a pillar of ensuring that no new European conflict has arisen for over 50 years. As it is the current crisis is down to refugees fleeing wars that surround the EU. In the 1930's the UK failed to give sanctuary to 1000's of refugees from Nazi Germany, mostly Jews, and they were then murdered. The same it true today, it seems that the Government relly does want these people to just go away and die.

ARCH the Northumberland Development Company

Are ARCH really taking over the world?
http://nottheberwickshireadvertiser.com/2013/10/17/arch-unmasked-as-secret-terrorist-organisation/

Coming back down to earth ARCH have now been loaned £53 Million of our money by the County Council to 'regenerate' Northumberland. To date there is little to show on the ground for that 'investment' - apart from £15 million of shares bought in property portfolios, and low cost housing being bought across the County to be offered at extortionate private sector rents. Contracts are placed at our expense without the approval of Councillors, being offered up for public scrutiny, or abiding by 'value for money' rules. Should a County Council really be planning to build a Hotel?

This year their turnover was £8 million - admin costs were £6 million (what are they spending the money on), the rest went of debt repayments. The onyl part of business that is profitable os the former Northumberland Coalfields Property Company, that they now own. So ex-miners are supporting this business thorugh their rents.

Much more to follow of this sorry tale, that no-one in authority seems to be interested in

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And now there's Prudhoe Estates - joint venture with Northumberland Estates - from a recent Foi ....

The answers to your questions are as follows;

1.  What are the objectives of Prudhoe Estates ?

To Develop sites restricted by covenants

2.  What type of developments will it be involved in, commercial,speculative,housing ?

As a Commercial real estate investment

3.  What function will it fulfil that cannot be undertaken by existing Arch Companies ?

To have Access to more developable land

Best of Regards

Rural priorities - the Tory way

The North of Scotland and the Islands are suffering from a terrible harvest due to high rain levels, resulting in cattle going to market early, and the prospects of a huge cost burden for winter feed. Yet the Tory high command's only rural policy is to reinstate the inhumane killing of foxes for fun. So much for their oft repeated claim that they are the supporters of the rural economy.

Cameron's wish list

At least we know what cameron wants
a four-year ban on EU migrants claiming in-work benefits
providing greater protections for non-eurozone countries to ensure they cannot be outvoted in the single market by eurozone countries
giving Britain an opt-out from the EU’s commitment to create an “ever-closer union” of the peoples of Europe
giving national parliaments the ability to club together to block EU legislation

In work benefits are claimed by so few people it is not an issue
As we are not in the Eurozone what are we supposed to protected against? Just more nonsense
Not a single EU member states has ever asked for a United States of Europe.
The Lisbon Treaty already gives National Parliaments the right to both refer back, and reject EU regulations

So job done. Let's get the damn referendum out of the way - dump Farage on Rockall - and then the sane majority can get on with enjoying the benefits and freedom of being citizens of Europe.

Cameron must stop pandering to extemists

Cameron has won the General Election so he no longer needs to appease his right wing. Membership of the EU is good for our economy, our personal freedom and our national security, and the Government should take a position. UKIP and other extremists will cry foul when they lose whatever the rules are. They are however a highly vocal, dangerous and subversive minority who are only interested in taking away our freedom - so let's get this referendum out of the way - they can all go and live on Rockall while the rest of us get on with enjoying the benefits of being citizens of the UK & Europe.

Berwick-Upon-Tweed Needs a Plan

We need a Plan

The threat to move the Berwick Records Office away from the town is just another example of decisions being taken by Northumberland County Council, without local consultation or as part of a comprehensive plan. Yet Berwick is awash with plans, ranging from the “Spittal Point Development Brief 2004”, Gillespie's “The Future of Berwick A Vision & Development Framework” (2006) “ via the “Berwick-upon-Tweed Traffic Management and Parking Strategy Report 2009”, to the “Vision for Berwick’s Future Mouth of the Tweed Food Heritage Eco-museum Proposal 2011”. It is a bit like stamp collecting, and if anyone would like to read them my album now has 12 Berwick Plans, and can be found at http://www.gsitec.co.uk/GSI/KWIK/BERWICK_PLANS.html. I would love to add to my collection, so please let me have any other plans that I am missing, as I hear there is now a Berwick Plan 2012-2017 that has only been seen by the Arch Board, and a new offering from the County Council called the Blueprint for Berwick.

We are clearly very good at paying consultants large sums of money to write plans, but translating them into action seems to be where we fall down. However if you take the trouble to read them, and I warn you that they do vary in quality, there are some strong themes -

• Berwick has incredible assets – its People, its Architectural Heritage, its Natural Environment and its History
• Berwick has problems. We are the most deprived Market Town in Northumberland, we have no further or higher education, we have derelict buildings, we have seemingly unresolvable traffic and parking issues.
• We are in a fantastic location for the development of trade and tourism, to exploit the A1, the East Coast Rail Line and the Docks. We should be a major economic growth point for the Borders.
• There is a strong sense of community and cohesion

So do we need yet another plan? I for one do not want to hand over any more money to architects, self-styled development companies or consultants, so that we can be told yet again what we already know. So it may seem strange then that I welcome the decision by the Town Council to use the Berwick Eastern Arc Area Action Plan (AAP) as the basis for our new Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP). I can list many reasons, but would like to present just a few.

The Social & Economic Context

Gillespie's outstanding 2006 study includes a list of 54 development sites on both banks of the Tweed. Proposals were presented in a spatial context that aligned the development with the immediate surrounds, and had a policy objective or purpose, be it job creation, the promotion of tourism, or enhancing the provision of public services. Put simply the proposed buildings served the population of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and are justified in terms of their social and economic benefit to the people who live here.

Urban Initiatives 2008 Berwick Regeneration Strategy reduced this list to just 10 sites, mostly within the Walls, and shifts its focus to buildings rather than people. The Tweed & Silk plan (2009?) is aesthetically pleasing, but in the same way that Tweed is not manufactured in Berwick and Silk comes from China, this 'plan' is little more than a design guide that lacks depth, and fails to tackle the real issues that face Berwick. By 2012 just 2 sites seem to remain in the “Berwick Plan: a 5-10 year investment plan for property development and public realm improvements in the historic centre of Berwick-upon-Tweed” prepared by Arch, which has never been open to public consultation. It is little more than a wish list prepared by a local builder looking to make a quick buck.

As the list of 'strategic sites' has shrunk, so has any policy objectives associated with them. Rather than implementing polices, using development as part of the delivery strategy; all that is of importance is the use of public money to throw up a building.

The ARC reinstates the Social & Economic context. There is a purpose for the development strategies it presents. It seeks to deliver economic development by enabling people to get an eduction or a job. It showcases the town assets, being its historic, built and natural heritage. It is a servant of the Town, not a charter for random building that only benefits the developer. We need a plan that will deliver gains for everyone, have a purpose that are underpinned by credible policy objectives.

Geography

There is more to Berwick than what lies within the walls. There are vibrant communities and many people outside of the town centre who also deserve attention. We have two key Gateways, to South at Scremeston and to the North at the Marshall Meadows. We have opportunities to create economic growth points, at Berwick Ramparts, the Docks and Tweedside Industrial Estate. Why do we not have any designated Enterprise Zones like Blyth? Spittal is deservedly a Conservation Area. There is a lot more to Berwick than what lies within the walls, but that always seems to be the focus of attention. The ARC covers more than just the Town Centre, and the first stage of the NDP process is to define the Plan Area. I urge the Town Council to make that area the whole of Berwick, to the North, West and South.

Cost

There is no need to pay consultants to write yet another plan. The ARC encompasses all the previous plans, and extends them. All that is needed is for additional material to be produced to cover the expanded area, and to bring a few things up to date. It is almost ready for public consultation at minimal cost now at minimal expense.

Us

It is time to re-engage with Berwick's greatest asset – its people. The NDP process requires public consultation. It will mean an end to Berwick Plans being drawn up by self appointed committees, or developments being parachuted into the Town which we do not want or need. I look forward to their being innovative and traditional engagement with people throughout the Berwick Plan Area – From Marshall Meadows in the North to Spittal in the South and Low Cocklaw to the West. Local meetings can be held in all the Wards covered by Berwick Town Council, with means to feedback ideas verbally, by post on using modern social media. That's the job of Berwick Town Council.

Why have Plans?

So how does it work, and why are plans important. This is best exemplified by the varied ideas for Walkergate in the many incarnations of the “Berwick Plan” : a multi-storey car park, skills centre, youth centre, and multi-use community facility are just some ideas. All of these are linked to a clearly defined policy objective, such as enabling our kids to get an education, promoting our tourist trade, encouraging more people to use the shops etc. Whatever you may think of the end objective, in all cases the purpose of the building is to help deliver a positive benefit for the town's people or economy. However having stripped away all concept of policy delivery what is now proposed is a boring block of offices on the former Kwik Save site, in a Town centre awash with empty offices. Interestingly not a single Berwick plan has ever proposed using the site for offices, and the only beneficiaries seem to be the builders and architects.

What is happening now is that buildings are being proposed outside of any context. “NCC needs Offices, so lets build them on Walkergate” – forgetting that the policy context identifies the site as strategic for the promotion of Berwick as a tourist destination, and that we need a central site for Skills and Training. “Berwick needs a Coach Park – so lets put one on this car park” - ignoring the need for more long stay car parking to promote Marygate shopping and our hotel trade, and it ignores the environmental impact of juggernaut coaches trying to navigate narrow streets in what most plans identify as our 'Heritage Quarter'. Developers come and developers go a lot richer, but we have to live with the buildings that they leave behind.

Using a comprehensive plan that is evidence based, properly consulted, and focusing on People rather than Buildings delivers a different outcome. Here is my alternative to just throwing up a building – start with the evidence and the policy needs.

• Berwick needs Further and Higher Education
• We need to develop our Gateways at the A1, North & South
• The Berwick Ramparts and associated retail park is close to where a lot of people live, and could be a major economic growth point
• Berwick has assets, architectural, heritage and natural – which support our tourist industry
• Berwick needs more & better paid jobs
• Coach drivers are as important as the visitors that they bring to the town
• There is not much money about

Now we the have the basis to see how buildings can help deliver these objectives. The County want a new office for their staff, so they could move their back-office staff now into the 2200 square metres of brand new offices at the Ramparts at minimal cost. That will help to turn the North into an Economic Growth Point, locating skilled and well paid jobs closer to where a lot of people live. It also develops that part of Berwick as Northern Gateway, drawing people in to the town from the Borders & Scotland. Walkergate's eyesore buildings (Kwik Save, the Library and the Job Centre) have long been considered as a -ve contribution to our architectural heritage and should all be cleared. This makes way for a multi-use centre that will promote our assets and the town's tourist trade – a modern Heritage & Visitors Centre, built sympathetically in partnership with Northumberland College. The site can accommodate a credible coach park with facilities, public facing NCC staff, and house the Berwick's Records Office, which is where I started.

The Farage Tax - UKIP's threat to Britain's economy

My company has just imported £800 worth of components from the Far East to be used in the manufacture of electronic products to be built in Leicester. UK customs have issued me with no less than 13 pieces of paper, and I have been charged £35 import handling fees. Had I imported the same components from the EU no paperwork would have been issued, and no charges would have been levied. That is because the Maastrich treaty, delivered by a Conservative Government, created the Single Market that has abolished swathes of regulations, removed trade barriers, pointless paperwork and costs. I have now paid a surcharge of almost 5% of my costs because the country of origin was not in the EU. I call this 5% surcharge the Farage Tax – it is a cost burden that every business in Britain will have to bear on every transaction with a company in EU the minute that UKIP get their way. The same charges are levied on trade with Norway and Switzerland, so a Free Trade Area would make no difference. UKIP want to impose costs, bureaucracy and taxes on British Business. UKIP are a threat to Britain's economy and British jobs, which is why every credible business organisation does not want Britain to leave the EU. Thankfully The Conservative Party, The Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats are all committed to Britain staying in the EU, as are the majority of the British public.

We are all up to it together - Tax Avoidance in Greece and the UK

If it is "normal" to avoid paying tax in the UK, what right has George Osborne to condemn Greeks for doing the just that?

Labour are the Party of Business

I lost my job as a Chartered Engineer during the savage years of recession created by the Thatcher Government, when so many of our wealth creating industries were undermined and destroyed. But I had a skill, and set up my own small engineering design business. It benefited greatly from Gordon Brown's time as Chancellor, who recognised that small businesses are the back bone of UK enterprise. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) represent over 50% of UK GDP, are almost wholly British owned and offer a wide range of employment opportunities. Being small, SMEs are able to move quick to secure new markets, and make this country more prosperous. I was able to grow the business thanks to Labour's low Corporation Tax levels for small businesses; now abolished. I had assistance from my Regional Development Agency, who provided advice and helped me build supply chains; now also abolished. We export to many EU countries, which has been made so much easier thanks to the European Union which has slashed red-tape for exporters and reduced the cost of selling overseas; which UKIP and many Tories want us to leave. I also work part-time training the engineers of tomorrow at a University. We need skilled engineers and technicians to create wealth, but how many people can afford the £9000 a year fees imposed by the Coalition Government. Why has the Government undermined the enterprise culture in our schools with policies that downgraded the 'value' of 'Design & Technology' and removed practicals and course-work from exams. Businesses need people who can work throughout the year (coursework) and apply their knowledge to create wealth (practicals).  My business is certainly not 'big business', but I am proud to pay my fair share of British taxes. I am backing Labour like many, many other small business owners.

The Conservatives are not the Party of Enterprise

The perception that Labour is anti-business has no basis. I set up my business when Gordon Brown was Chancellor which benefited greatly from his low corporation tax policies for small business now abolished. Labour's recognises that Small and Medium Enteprises (SMEs) are the bedrock of UK PLC. SMEs are almost exclusively British owned, represent over 50% of UK GDP, and offer a wide range of flexible and skilled employment opportunities. In contrast the Conservative Party has shown total disinterest in SMEs, preferring to offer substantial tax cuts to Large Enterprises. I now pay a higher tax rate on my profits than many well-known multinationals, and am proud to pay my correct share of income tax, unlike some of Labour's critics. As an engineer I am also appalled by the dumbing down of our education system to remove any credit for the skills that are essential to support our innovative base. These include punitive fees for higher education, forcing highly skilled overseas post graduates to leave the country, and in our schools downgrading the value of key subjects such as Design and Technology and abolishing coursework and practicals in assessments. We need a skilled workforce, well practiced in technology and innovation, and demonstrably able to apply those skills to create wealth. The abolition of Regional Development Agencies, who played a major role in promoting the interests of SMEs was the Tories greatest folly. Finally, but not least, the Conservative Party's threat the UK's continued membership of the EU threatens our export markets and demonstrates their total lack of business credentials.

Look to Scotland for NHS reforms that work

2015 has started with a crisis in the NHS, with politicians of all sides claiming they have the solution. Instead of looking at promises, it would be better to consider the effectiveness of Scotland's Community Health Partnerships established by the NHS Reform (Scotland) Act 2004. In contrast to the chaotic and wasteful reorganisation of the NHS in England & Wales, Scotland implemented a geographic based reorganisation, focusing on a Region not a budget head. An important reform was the transfer of Adult Care services from Local Government to the NHS, delivering for the first time a single organisation offering care, be it in hospital or the home. Repeated studies have demonstrated that investment in patient orientated adult care, delivers better health outcomes and costs less.

The NHS Scotland reforms were implemented by a Scottish Labour Government, and have been adopted by the SNP. In the 2010 General Election Labour committed to extend the proven success in Scotland to the whole of the UK with a manifesto commitment to create a National Care Service. That proposal was lost when Labour lost, instead we have the chaos unfolding today in the NHS. Yet it is a policy that would have delivered better health at lower cost.

There is no need to look at promises. Labour created the NHS, and are the only credible political party that can be entrusted with its future success.

Waterloo - the Government air brushes our European Allies from history

The Government has decided to waste our money, during a time of austerity, on minting and giving away 500,000 Waterloo replica medals. Done at a time when the NHS is collapsing, our schools are declining, and National Debt has spiralled out of control under George Osborne.

I wonder if they will they mention on the medal that the winning side was an alliance of British troops and a Prussian Army commanded by Gebhard von Blücher? Von Blucher troops had been defeated by Napoleon only 2 days earlier, but managed to regroup and march to Waterloo - Wellington decided only then to join them in the battle that this medal commemorates. The other allies were Russia, Austria, Spain, Portugal, The Netherlands, various German States, Sweden and Switzerland

I doubt if Cameron will recognise or mention the Allies who fought with Wellington - his spin doctors have decided to air brush all these nasty Europeans out of our history.
 

Conservative Claims to have halved the Deficit - a fake claim on a fake road

The latest Tory poster shows a wonky road ahead, with the claim that they have halved the deficit, and created 760,000 new businesses.

In 2010 all major Parties, with the exception of the Tories said that they would halve the deficit over a single Parliament. The Tories claimed they would eliminate it totally. Their latest claim is wrongly based on measuring the deficit against GDP not the actual cost. In fact the deficit has only gone down by 1/3 in cash terms. But even if their figures are a bit skewed they have failed to achieve what they set out to do - and simply matched what both Labour and Lib Dems said was achievable.

I would also like to know how many of the 760,000 'new businesses' are self employed people who have been forced out of secure work, and instead scrabble for contracts with no job security.

In online comment on this dubious claim by Osborne, it is still being contrasted to the now discredited claim that Labour caused the deficit in the first place. I had hoped that the statement by Mervyn King last week, that this was not true would be the end of that nonsense. Clearly not, as many people still think that Gordon Brown personally sold sub-prime mortgages all over the USA, and caused the collapse of Lehman Brothers. The Conservative Party stubbornly sticks to its prejudices on this matter, and that is why they have failed to tackle the true cause of the defeicit - which is a failure of the banking system.

Like all major advanced nations the UK borrowed heavily to prevent world-wide financial melt-down. In 2010 the UK, thanks to Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling, had a lower National Debt than all our major competitors, including Japan, The USA, Germany, France and Canada. That is because for most years national debt fell under Labour, so we started from a position of financial strength.

A brief look at the ONS figures will show that. That is why Gordon Brown is a World Statesman, was short-listed to head the IMF which Cameron blocked, and worked for the world bank. In contrast Osborne and Cameron have no international status at all.

City Link's grand tax avoidance scheme funded the Conservative Party

By making the City Link work-force 'self-employed', Jon Moulton avoided paying millions of pounds of Employer's National Insurance. Now his liquidator is expecting tax payers, whom he short-changed, to pick up the bill for redundancy payments for those staff that he did legally employ. As a major donor to the Conservative Party, who indirectly benefited from City Link's tax avoidance scheme, it is David Cameron's Party who should be picking up the bill.