Councillor for Littleham Ward and well-respected local resident.
Monthly Archives: May 2016
Do voters use their vote to oust corrupt politicians and, if not, why not?
“Fighting corruption is a vital aspect of good governance. Yet, it is also a highly persistent phenomenon, indicating that tackling corruption is not always at the top of an incumbent politician’s agenda. One way to solve this problem is to engage in “corruption performance voting”; that is, to use elections to punish incumbent politicians for high levels of corruption.
But do voters actually engage in this kind of voting behavior? Alejandro Ecker, Konstantin Glinitzer and Thomas M. Meyer show in the linked post that while some voters do engage in “corruption performance voting”, the segment of voters that are willing to hold incumbents accountable is limited by their partisan preferences, their expectations about future government, and by the characteristics of the country they live in.”
Source: http://www.democraticaudit.com/?p=21766
In orher words, corrupt politicians receive a “get out of jail” free card from voters who put their allegiance to parties first.
Labour in battle bus expenses row
Now we know why they have been so quiet!
Fortunately, Independents run their campaigns on so little money, it’ probably almost impossible for them to overspend!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/16/labour-facing-questions-over-election-expenses/
French company Areva may have supplied defective materials to Sellafield nuclear plant
“Paperwork related to the manufacture of components for use in UK nuclear power plants by Areva’s Le Creusot forge may contain “inconsistencies, modifications or omissions”, the French nuclear regulator has advised its British counterpart. The Sizewell B reactor is the only UK reactor to feature such parts.
The Office for Nuclear Regulation announced on 13 May that it is “engaged” with the ASN (Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire) and EDF “concerning the reports of anomalies and inconsistencies in quality documentation”.
Earlier this month, the ASN said an ongoing quality audit at the Le Creusot forge – which Areva bought in 2006 – had identified “irregularities” in paperwork on some 400 plant components produced there since 1965.
The issues “comprise inconsistencies, modifications or omissions in the production files, concerning manufacturing parameters and test results”. About 50 of these parts are thought to be in service at French nuclear power plants, according to Areva.
The ASN asked Areva to provide a list of the parts concerned as soon as possible, “along with its assessment of the consequences for the safety of the facilities, jointly with the licensees concerned”. Areva said in early May, “At this preliminary stage, no information has come to light that would jeopardize the mechanical integrity of the parts.”
The ONR said, “Areva is in the process of completing the characterization of these historical irregularities and their consequences, and has committed to contact affected foreign customers by 31 May”.
The British regulator added, “We will await the conclusion of the Areva review before deciding whether there is a need for any specific intervention in the UK.”
The ONR said it believes the irregulaties in paperwork occurred before any procurement of forged parts for the two EPR reactors planned for Hinkley Point C.
However, it noted that the Sizewell B reactor is the only one in the UK that has a small number of reactor components supplied by the Areva facility. The 1198 MWe plant, which started up in 1995, is currently the UK’s only operating pressurized water reactor.
“This reactor is currently shut down for its scheduled outage and we will be seeking the necessary assurances for the reactor components before we permission the restart of the Sizewell B reactor,” the ONR said.
Areva’s Creusot Forge and Creusot Mécanique subsidiaries are specialized in the supply of big forgings and castings destined mainly for the nuclear industry. Creusot Forge is one of a few facilities that can produce the heavy nuclear-grade forgings required for large components such as steam generators, reactor pressure vessels and primary pumps. Creusot Mécanique, meanwhile, carries out precision finish machining on large components.
The upper and bottom heads of the reactor pressure vessel for the EPR under construction as Flamanville 3 EPR were manufactured at the Le Creusot facility in September 2006 and January 2007, respectively. A high carbon content in those parts prompted Areva to review the company’s quality process in 2015.”
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS-UK-regulator-advised-on-Areva-supplied-forgings-1605164.html
Greens pressurise West Dorset to adopt committee system immediately
“Campaigners are urging council leaders in West Dorset to immediately honour the referendum result telling them to ditch their one party Cabinet.
More than 25,000 took part in the referendum about the Conservative only Cabinet on West Dorset District Council. Nearly 16,534 of them — a majority of nearly two to one — voted to scrap the Cabinet in favour of a decision making group made up of a mix of parties.
But the council says the changes won’t happen until May 2017, a year after the vote. Cllr. Kelvin Clayton, chairman of South and West Dorset Green Party, says this delay is “a slap in the face” for grass roots democracy.
Kelvin, a Bridport Town councillor, said: “You could send a manned space mission to Mars in less time than West Dorset councillors say it will take to rearrange the seating around their Cabinet table.
“People voted by a big majority to replace this unpopular single party Cabinet with a wider range of voices and opinions. So why don‘t they get on with it?
“I call on the Leader of the Council to explain why this implementation will take so long“.
The referendum was triggered by a petition from the non-political Public First Group. The council’s website says the cost of having to stage a vote is “regrettable”.
But Kelvin said: “Public First should be congratulated not criticised. If the council had listened to them in the first place this wouldn’t have gone to a vote. Local politics only works if local people feel they have a real say in the issues affecting their neighbourhoods. The latest decision to ignore the verdict of the referendum for the next 12 months is an insult to the 25,000 people who took the time and trouble to take part.”
The Green Party locally opposes Cabinet style government on West Dorset District and Dorset County Councils because it excludes other parties from real decision making and makes it harder for councillors from a mix of backgrounds and views working together for the common good.
Kelvin added: “How on earth can West Dorset Council’s leaders claim they want to listen to people when they behave like this. Some of the Cabinet appear to be living in the 19th. century. The rest of us are living in the 21st. It would be nice if they could join us.”
Straitgate Quarry inquiry: Councillor Claire Wright battles on
“Sadiq Khan warns ‘greedy’ developers as he outlines housing plan”
So easy when you have the will. Alas, our councils and our Local Enterprise Partnership put developers well before local people and pay lip-service to affordable housing, mostly letting developers off-the-hook to build the most expensive homes in the most expensive (green) places.
“… At the start of his second week in office, the Labour mayor told the Guardian he wanted more than 50% of homes on some new housing developments to be affordable. He said that did not mean 80% of market rent, as affordable is defined by the government, but far lower social rents or “London living rent”, which is pitched at a third of average incomes.
Khan also announced he was considering making it a condition of planning permission that new homes were marketed locally for at least six months before they could go on sale to foreign investors.”
What MPs think about their expenses watchdogs
“Furious MPs have lashed out at the ‘rubbish’ watchdog that handed them a 10 per cent pay rise in a serious of extraordinary private rants.
Staff at the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) were told to ‘grow some’, and condemned for publishing information that embarrassed politicians.
One MP lambasted the body for failing to increase their pay to more than £200,000 a year to replace expenses, and said they were preparing champagne to toast the departure of chairman Sir Ian Kennedy.
The messages have been released following a freedom of information request by MailOnline.
Ipsa handed MPs a bumper salary increase from £67,000 to £74,000 last year, despite the rest of the public sector being limited to 1 per cent.
They busted the cap again last month with a 1.3 per cent rise.
However, many MPs were angry about the timing of the increases and way they were handled, while the watchdog has also come under fire for publishing details of expenses debts.
Ipsa agreed to disclose the ‘free text’ responses from a recent survey of satisfaction levels among members and their staff, which was carried out anonymously.
One MP who was re-elected at the general election accused the watchdog of locking them in a ‘Kafkaesque nightmare’.
‘You are rubbish at acting on behalf of the Members of Parliament – you serve yourselves and are so far from ‘helping us do our job’ the complete opposite. Everyone feels the same – new and older MPs,’ they wrote.
The same politician insisted the expenses system should be ‘replaced completely by an allowance system rolled up with our salary’. That could see them handed around £140,000 a year on top of their current salary of just under £75,000. There would be no obligation to file receipts but they would have to fund their own offices.
‘No forms just £10-12k per month to go and do the job we want to do, freed up from your Kafkaesque nightmare of a system,’ the MP wrote. ‘Office/staff costs run as now but freeing us up from the bureaucratic bullying of Ipsa and allowing us to get on with doing the job we were elected to do – not form filling, looking over our shoulder and dealing with the media storm that Ipsa wonderfully conjures up for us…
‘And you wonder why you aren’t popular… ‘
Adding £12,000 per month to MPs’ salaries would leave them earning nearly £220,000 a year.
Answering a question about how communications from the watchdog could be improved, the politician replied: ‘Grow some and put your full name on there.’
WHAT MPS SAID TO THE WATCHDOG
‘You are rubbish at acting on behalf of the Members of Parliament – you serve yourselves and are so far from “helping us do our job”, the complete opposite…
‘Can’t wait till the discredited bully Ian Kennedy receives his marching orders – 650 glasses of self-funded champagne will be raised on that great day that can’t come soon enough.’
‘To be reduced to tears due to attitude and being ignored, left me very upset and vulnerable…
‘Just sort out basic incompetence and bad attitude. I have never used a more customer unfriendly service EVER.’
‘The decision to name and shame MPs with written off claims with an Ipsa press release was disgusting, unprofessional and as it turned out erroneous in too many cases.’
‘The justification for the large pay increase was appalling.
‘In essence Ipsa took the view that at the time when some (perhaps many) MPs were submitting claims that were permitted but publicly indefensible, the total amount claimed was acceptable.
‘They therefore took the combined value of all the indefensible claims, averaged them out, and added them to everybody’s salary – thereby implicitly condoning what had happened before.’
The MP added: ‘Can’t wait till the discredited bully Ian Kennedy receives his marching orders – 650 glasses of self-funded champagne will be raised on that great day that can’t come soon enough.’
They went on: ‘Trust you have enjoyed reading the responses as much as I enjoyed writing them!… I wonder when they will be published…’
Other re-elected MPs were similarly scathing.
One wrote: ‘The decision to name and shame MPs with written off claims with an Ipsa press release was disgusting, unprofessional and as it turned out erroneous in too many cases.’
Another complained that Ipsa was not covering all the costs it should.
‘Your ‘cost neutral’ payrise will for all MPs do further damage to our reputation as no one in the media seems to mention that it is not a raise in the package at all,’ they added.
Newly-elected politicians did not hold back in their criticism either.
One commented: ‘Too complicated. Too bureaucratic. Sloppy administration of paperwork in support. Guidance unclear. Online system cumbersome and complicated.’
Another respondent said they had been reduced to tears by ‘abysmal’ treatment from Ipsa.
‘I have submitted five official complaints due to the attitude I have received,’ they said.
‘I find the Ipsa service extremely unhelpful, arrogant, and choose not to listen. The behaviour meted out towards me has left me very upset on occasion and highly stressed.
‘To be reduced to tears due to attitude and being ignored, left me very upset and vulnerable. Dealing with Ipsa has been a completely frustrating and upsetting experience. I just don’t trust them.
‘Just sort out basic incompetence and bad attitude. I have never used a more customer unfriendly service EVER.’
Among the new-intake MPs taking aim at the pay hike was one who said: ‘The justification for the large pay increase was appalling.
‘In essence Ipsa took the view that at the time when some (perhaps many) MPs were submitting claims that were permitted but publicly indefensible, the total amount claimed was acceptable.
‘They therefore took the combined value of all the indefensible claims, averaged them out, and added them to everybody’s salary – thereby implicitly condoning what had happened before.’
Another more experienced politician complained that Ipsa’s approach meant they were under ‘constant pressure’ to refuse the increase.
‘Ipsa announced MPs one off pay rise very frequently, against the wishes of the public we serve, and failed to highlight the offsetting savings being made elsewhere,’ they said.
‘As a result, colleagues were under constant media pressure to refuse their pay rises, as the public were unaware of the offsetting reductions. It did nothing to help the reputation of politicians.
A spokesman for Ipsa said today: ‘We recognise that there is room for improvement and we are committed to working with MPs and their staff to continue to improve our services and systems, to make them more efficient, whilst still regulating MPs’ business costs and expenses effectively.
‘From the survey feedback, we are developing a new website that will be launched later this year.’
Iceland’s “Pirate Party” by far the most popular based on recent polls
“The anti-establishment Pirate Party of Iceland has been awarded more funding for the upcoming general election than any of its rival parties as it continues to top nationwide polls.
The anti-establishment party, which calls for a 35-hour working week, direct democracy and total drug decriminalisation, has the lead in eight out of the last ten polls. They look set to form a crucial part of a coalition government in this autumn’s general election.
There is a pool of 290 million ISK (£1.6 million) available to fund political campaigning in the run-up to the election, divided based on February poll results. The Pirates were comfortably leading the polls at that time, and should scoop 35% of the funding pot, more than any of their rival parties.”
Sidbury Business Park plans – a test of sustainability
Possibly the most unsustainable development plans ever mooted for Sidford/Sidbury – and some very half hearted excuses about why it cannot be in Sidmouth (where, oddly, it was thought possible when Asda were interested).
“… Despite an eleventh-hour bid to remove it, the Sid Valley was allocated 12 acres of employment land north of the A3052.
Fords has its sights set on some 14 acres of agricultural land east of the A375, but the proposed ‘net development’ area is 9.3 acres. Its application argues that having no development of an employment site in Sidmouth over the Local Plan period is an ‘unacceptable conclusion’.
The company claims that developments that provide new employment opportunities are ‘well overdue’ in the area, as the disparity between wages and the cost of living is widening, particularly for young people.
According to the plans, the greenfield site is the ‘only available and deliverable’ option close to the urban edge of Sidmouth and there were no ‘realistic alternatives’.
This is despite the ‘adverse and direct, long-term effect of severe significance’ on the landscape character, according to the application. The impact will be mitigated by the planting of 3.7 acres of woodland, 400 metres of hedgerow and a ‘substantial buffer’ of trees around much of the site, say the plans.
The application states that the town centre cannot meet the demand because of the lack of parking and disabled access.
It also says it is unviable to create a new £1million access so the Alexandria Industrial Estate – home to Fords’ current HQ – can reach capacity as an employment site. The estate has been allocated Sidmouth’s remaining 1.2 acres of employment land in the Local Plan.
Fords’ application allocates 9,120 sqm for business use, 6,840 sqm for ‘general industrial’ use and 6,840 sqm for storage and distribution – a total area equivalent to three football pitches. …”
http://www.sidmouthherald.co.uk/news/business_park_plans_for_sidmouth_revealed_1_4533344
Let’s see where Councillor Stuart Hughes stands on this, having done the hokey-kokey so far.
Accountants gloomy – now the Church of England sells investments
See post below. Now the Church of England has announced it is selling investments even though it outperforms the market.
The Church Estates Commissioner writes:
“The nervousness of investors is explained by the feeling that governments have lost the power to reverse any slowdown in economic activity. In earlier times they would reduce interest rates, but now that rates hover around zero, that remedy is unavailable. And it’s hard to believe that negative interest rates can provide the necessary boost, or that governments would let the supply of money expand.
“In other words, the risk is that economic activity slows down across the world and remains stuck at a low level.”
UK “losing sight of the economy” say accountants
You know things are bad when chartered accountants complain!
“The Government is “losing sight of the economy” and using the EU referendum as an excuse for policy inaction, according to Europe’s biggest accountancy body.
In a letter to the Business Secretary, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) attacks ministers for having “no clear consensus” on how to boost growth and raise living standards.
It cautions Sajid Javid that the Government’s preoccupation with the referendum is causing ministers to neglect a pledge in the Budget to encourage investment and lift productivity. A lack of Government support meant businesses were more reluctant to make spending decisions, it says.
The warning comes as Britain’s biggest lobby group, the CBI, downgraded growth forecasts and data showed UK firms’ profits falling to the lowest level since the financial crisis.”
“Staff told to send work emails from home as Government admits 416,000 small firms do not have superfast broadband”
No working link to the story in today’s Daily Telegraph but the headline says it all.
Many of those businesses will be rural.
BBC castigated for poor coverage of non-mainstream parties and independents
Extract from letter to BBC:
… “It is deeply insulting that parties such as the Monster Raving Loony Party have been given television interviews instead. Even the Abolish Assembly party which is not constructive have been offered the opportunity.
We know that unfair coverage of this kind and the deliberate exclusion of Independent Candidates has a negative impact on the debate and adversely influence the actual election. It is essential for the sake of democracy that all candidates have the opportunity to appear at all hustings and in the media.” …
A long but fascinating (and chilling) article about how the Conservative Party set about winning the general election:
Just a few areas (and farmers) unhappy about devolution deals
This is by jo means an exhaustive list – just a random few picked out from mebdia this week only:
North East
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/decision-over-north-east-devolution-11331708
Hampshire
http://www.themj.co.uk/Hampshire-divided-over-devolution-deals/204042
East Anglia:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-36285239
Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire
http://www.machinery-market.co.uk/news/13904/Nottinghamshire-and-Derbyshire-risk-losing-out
Wourcestershire
http://www.malverngazette.co.uk/news/14484626.Worcestershire_may_have_to_re_think_devolution_deal__says_council_leader/
South Cambridgeshire
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/South-Cambs-leader-Ray-Manning-stand-blasts-City/story-29257354-detail/story.html
Latest news on Hinkley C
and none of it good:
You need an urban income to survive in rural areas
“Living the good life can seriously damage your wealth. Research suggests that anyone aspiring to live in the countryside, but wanting to climb the earnings ladder, should do so only after a lengthy spell of urban dwelling.
The first analysis of its kind, published by the British Sociological Association in the journal Work, Employment and Society, has found that people who grow up in rural areas earn less than their urban equivalents even after they move to cities for work.
Martin Culliney, of Sheffield Hallam University, tracked the income of 1,594 people aged 15-24 over a near 20-year period. He found that in 2008-09, net take-home pay for those living in rural areas was about £900 a year less than for those living in towns and cities.
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The best paid were those who had started off in a town or city and then moved to a rural area. Net take-home pay for those working full-time was about £23,400 a year. Those who stayed in rural areas or moved from rural to urban areas had the lowest net take-home pay, about £14,400 to £18,400 a year for full-time workers.
“Young people who remain in rural locations earn less money than their urban peers,” said Culliney. This is perhaps unsurprising. Rural areas offer fewer jobs and a limited range of careers. But the fact the gap persists even among those country dwellers prepared to move was concerning, he said. “Simply being of rural origin brought respondents less pay across the whole 18-year observation window,” said Culliney, who warned that the findings could be interpreted by young people as “conveying a rather fatalistic message” – that they will suffer a “pay penalty into adulthood”, even if they relocate to towns and cities.
The economic plight of young people in rural areas is in marked contrast with older countryside dwellers, who tend to earn more.
The research suggests that the countryside risks becoming unaffordable to younger generations. “If young people remaining in rural areas face greater living costs while their earnings increase at a slower pace than other groups, what can be done to ensure that they do not suffer?” Culliney asked. “Less disposable income in rural locations surely acts to the detriment of local services such as shops and pubs, which also perform important social functions in the communities they serve.”
Another U-turn: Government now begging people to register to vote!
After totally ignoring those who pointed out that too few people were registering to vote at the last election after electoral registration rules changed (particularly here in East Devon where our Electoral Officer “lost” around 6,000 voters from the electoral roll) David Cameron is now begging people to register to vote in the EU referendum:
“Twenty-eight million UK households will be targeted this week in a mass campaign to encourage people to vote in the EU referendum, after David Cameron warned of “terrible” economic consequences if the country votes for Brexit.”
At the time of the General Election, many political pundits pointed out that those who did not register were thought to be most likely to be Labour supporters and speculated that this was the reason a major campaign had not been organised by the Government.
Now that the EU referendum appears so close, the government has done yet another u-turn and started this drive to urge registration!
Bet they are now rather annoyed that they didn’t give the vote to 16-18 year olds, most of whom are said to favour remaining in the EU. But, at the time, the reason given was that they were not politically sophisticated enough!
East Devon Alliance takes its PCC election concerns to south-west region
“Too many PCC voters left in dark
Following the elections for Police and Crime Commissioners (PCC) we feel two key lessons must be learned, one negative and the other more hopeful.
The first, sadly, is the negative. After the 2012 P&CC when the turnout was a miserable 15% the Electoral Reform Society (ERS) said:
“From the start the PCC elections were marred by controversy, with the government shirking its responsibility to provide voters with even the most basic information that the elections were taking place.” One of the ERS’s three key recommendations was: “Never leave voters in the dark about who or what they are voting for – ensure information on candidates is provided in mailings to voters.”
In Devon and Cornwall the 2016 turnout was a lowly 22.8%, artificially boosted by elections held on the same day in the major settlements of Exeter and Plymouth. Outside these areas the percentages were still mainly under 20%. We consider it has permanently damaged the reputation of the Cabinet Office (that little understood organ of control at Downing Street’s right hand) that they simply refused in the four long years between 2012 and 2016 to consider the ERA’s urgent suggestion for even one single mailshot. Why?
However, on a more hopeful theme, there is an immense positive to be found by digging a little deeper into the voting numbers. The Conservatives polled roughly 69,000 and Labour roughly 66,000. But the aggregate vote of the two Independent candidates (Devon’s Bob Spencer taking about 41,000 and Cornwall’s William Morris about 22,000) shows us that even at an election when the party machines were cranking hard a similar share could be gained by two independent individuals working entirely from their own initiative, with slim resources and having to operate across an immense area including no fewer than 16 Parliamentary constituencies.
The country knows that we are stuck now with an increasingly divisive party political context until the general election fixed for May 2020. However, the more extreme parts of the Conservative agenda – from academies to planning, junior doctors to refugees – are being repeatedly confronted now by collective independent voices uniting outside the Parliamentary system. Last week, in our part of the country it was showed that even on a low turnout, the independent cause more than about just protest – we too can score in substantial numbers at the ballot box.
The question we now ask the West is this: how for the sake of the next generation do we harness all this Independent goodwill and spirit to convert sentiment into candidates and candidates up to office at county elections in 2017 and for Parliament in 2020?
It seems to us that without an organised coming together of all independent minded reformers as soon as possible the Conservatives will “get the vote out” in 2017 and 2020 too. Surely if ever there was a time for the Independent minded to take up the challenge it is now.
Paul Arnott, Chairman
Ben Ingham, Leader
East Devon Alliance”
East Devon Watch 
