Perhaps an unfortunate choice of name but still supporting independents:
The movement is DEFINITELY growing – REAL localism in action!
Monthly Archives: June 2016
Two more Independent groups in the south-west
Plymouth Independents:
A group of independently minded people who have their own individual ideas, attitudes
and personalities.
“The object of the Party is to have a central point for the “Lone Voices” who regularly stand in local elections to gather, get advice and plan strategies for PLYMOUTH.
We want ORDINARY people to join us and get involved with local Democracy, we are not being told what to do by some remote CENTRAL OFFICE, our Central Office is the City and its residents.
Not all of us will agree, not all of us will even get on! But, and it’s a big but, we will ALL work for the City.”
and
North Somerset First Independents
“We believe that the current administration within North Somerset Council is not democratic or transparent due to its majority stronghold. We want to break down this stronghold to make it a fairer and more balanced democratic council. We aim to reinvigorate local politics and believe localism is the key to this. But above all we want to renew your trust within local politics.”
http://www.northsomersetfirstindependents.org.uk/FAQs
Who “owns” Seaton Heights?
Lyme Bay Leisure Ltd is usually quoted as the owner of the property and has a (somewhat optimistic) website where it is currently advertising “off plan” opportunities to purchase units for a £1,000 deposit:
http://lymebayleisure.co.uk/seaton-heights/
However, there are four charges outstanding on the site, the two most recent on 17 and 23 May 2016 to Simon Oliver Developments Ltd (debentures) and two earlier ones (also debentures)to Stonesby House Developers Ltd:
https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/08513325/charges
No details are given of the extent of the charges involved.
“MPs criticise government over flood protection plans”
Of interest to those in Sidford, who are being let down by flood protection by inappropriate development.
… “Labour MP Ms Creagh said: “We know that flooding is projected to get worse and occur more frequently because of climate change, so it just isn’t good enough for government to react to flooding events as they occur.
“Communities at risk deserve certainty from government.”
The committee found that funding for flooding fluctuates year-on-year. Funding was initially cut during the last parliament and only increased after the winter floods of 2013-14.
The government has committed to spending £2.3bn on building new defences and to protect spending on maintaining existing defences – but the EAC warned they were “sceptical” the government would reach its target of protecting 300,000 properties, saying it was based on an optimistic forecast that assumed the greatest efficiency in spending decisions.
The committee also said it was surprised to learn the extra £700m funding for flood defences announced in this year’s Budget was based on a “political calculation” and may not be allocated with the same strict economic criteria as the £2.3bn.
The report said that could lead to inefficiencies in flood investments, poor decision-making and outcomes that were potentially unfair to some regions. …
… The condition of critical flood defences is in decline, according to the committee.
Ms Creagh said: “The government needs to put money into the upkeep of existing flood defences as well as investing in new defences. Failure to do so can have terrible consequences for residents and businesses when defences fail.
“Any decline in the condition of critical flood defences represents an unacceptable risk to local communities in flood prone areas. We urge the government to go beyond its current target and aim to have virtually all its critical assets meeting the Environment Agency’s required condition by 2019.”
The committee said it was concerned the government does not know how prepared local authorities are for flooding, with Ms Creagh adding that local authorities “are not receiving the support they need to prepare for, and mitigate, the impacts of flooding”.
Voting deadline extended to midnight Thursday
The deadline for registering to vote in the EU referendum has been extended, the government has said.
https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote
Cabinet Office minister Matt Hancock said the government would legislate to extend the cut-off until midnight on Thursday.
It follows a computer glitch which left some people unable to sign up before the original midnight Tuesday deadline.
The Electoral Commission urged people to sign up until the end of Thursday in order to vote on 23 June.
PLEASE do not leave it till the last-minute – do it NOW! With your national insurance number to hand (it is usually on payslips) it will take less than five minutes.
EVERY VOTE WILL COUNT IT IS SO CLOSE.
Moirai Capital Investments: a two-man band, or perhaps just one – and very strange coincidence!
MOIRAI CAPITAL INVESTMENTS
“Cash: £34,200
Net worth £2 million
Assets £123,400
Liabilities £1.2 million
Director: Nicholas David Lewis – 18 other directorships (8 active, 10 closed)
Director: Sarju (aka Bobby) Rach – 14 other directorships (6 active, 8 closed)”
https://companycheck.co.uk/company/07097957/MOIRAI-CAPITAL-INVESTMENTS-LIMITED/summary
Mr Rach describes himself as formerly of Moirai Capital Investments on Linkedin, saying he left in October 2010 and now saya he is now a “WHOLE OF MARKET INDEPENDENT MORTGAGE AND INSURANCE BROKER” at Mortgage Force London
“2010 – Present (6 years)
Whole of market mortgage broker offering competitive mortgage and insurance products.
Dealing with all the major mortgage lenders to achieve a successful outcome with a sympathetic and personal service.”
“Property Development
Moirai Capital Investments Ltd
2008 – October 2010 (2 years)
Part of the acquisitions team. Buying, developing and selling of investment properties.”
But maybe you can still be a director without working for the company – a sleeping partner, perhaps?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarjurach
It’s not a lot of money available to develop a big site like Exmouth Splash when Moirai is already having long-term problems with their investment in Swindon …
Other companies the directors run seem to be on a bit of a financial shoestring but Owl understands little (actually, nothing) about high finance and would be happy to stand corrected if misunderstanding the figures.
https://companycheck.co.uk/director/917062553/NICHOLAS-DAVID-LEWIS/financials
https://companycheck.co.uk/director/911112231/SARJU–RACH/financials
If anyone from Moirai would like to correct the above with suitable evidence, Owl will be happy to publish it.
Oh dear, and we now find in one of those one in a trillion coincidences that a Mr Sadhu Rach, with the same birth month and birth year trades/has traded on the internet and sells/has sold these:
and the company is about to be struck off (see comment on this post).
Hugo Swire – you don’t have to be smart to be a minister, just in a safe seat
Interesting how many old-Etonians were parachuted into safe seats, including our own Hugo Swire. But it isn’t looking quite so safe at the moment. What on EARTH would Swire DO if he was just a constituency MP (or possibly not an MP at all). No wonder he rants at Independents – more of a threat now than ever before!
“Voters elect their members of parliament (MPs) in general elections, but a large majority of MPs have very little to do with the day-to-day governing of the country. It is rather the ministers in government, as selected by the victorious party leaders, who do. Hence there is an obvious link between the general elections and government formation with regard to who selects ministers.
In a recent study with Elad Klein, we show that there is another—albeit a less obvious—connection in terms of who gets selected as ministers; MPs in electorally safe seats are more likely to become ministers.
This is based on an analysis whether the constituency results from the elections to the House of Commons over the period 1992–2015 influenced the likelihood of MPs being selected as ministers in the United Kingdom (UK).
The House of Commons provides the perfect case to assess the electoral connection of ministerial selection due to the single-member districts, large government size, and the relatively decentralised candidate selection process in the UK.
Electoral safety affects the ministerial selection because elections are a constraint over the preferences of MPs and their parties. MPs need to stay in the parliament by being re-elected to be able to pursue other goals, including attaining promotion to government ranks. On the other hand, party leaders need to maximise the number of their MPs in order to stay in the government to achieve their policy ideals.
Electoral constraints differ with the marginality of seats for each MP in Westminster systems. In single-member districts, it is comparatively clear to members and to their leaders how electorally safe their parliamentary seats are.
As the electoral marginality of a seat increases, or in other words as the number of votes separating success from failure to secure a seat decreases, re-election becomes the dominant motivation.
Our results show that there is indeed a positive relationship between MPs electoral safety and their probability of securing a ministerial office. …
… For an MP with 5% electoral safety, which is often considered as marginal, the probability of becoming a minister is one in 10. In contrast, a 35% majority more than doubles this probability for MPs.
Tesco Plaza, Seaton?
Pages 16 and 17 of the Midweek Herald today is a 2-page spread on the Seaton Cycling Festival on 19 June 2016, with some events described as taking place at “Thury-Harcourt/Tesco Plaza:
Is this Thury-Harcourt PLACE (Thury-Harcourt being Seaton’s twin town in France) and somewhere outside the Tesco Store (though where the Plaza is is anyone’s guess) or is there an insidious attempt to claim Thury-Harcourt Place as a Tesco advertising site?
Axminster “Regeneration” Board
So, it now exists …. with senior members of the Conservative majority holding the reins …. the same members that let it get into a position where it needs a regeneration board …. headed by someone who already has two other day jobs.
And they boast of how the have regenerated Seaton and Exmouth …. anyone been to Seaton recently? Where a former mayor has just resigned because he says too much attention is being paid to “Seaton Jurassic” and the Tesco site and not enough attention is being paid to the dying former town centre or other concerns. And where Seaton Heights still sits derelict whilst its owners make fantastic claims about what might happen but show no signs of them ever coming to fruition.
And Exmouth – where “regeneration” has become a dirty word amongst most residents and where EDDC’s chosen partner appears to be floundering with other developments it is involved in – not to mention being unable to file company their accounts on time.
Good luck Axminster.
http://www.sidmouthherald.co.uk/news/axminster_is_the_next_regeneration_town_1_4566363
Royal Navy destroyers won’t work in warm water!
“The Royal Navy’s fleet of six £1bn destroyers is breaking down because the ships’ engines cannot cope with the warm waters of the Gulf, defence chiefs have admitted.
They also told the Commons defence committee on Tuesday that the Type 45 destroyers’ Rolls-Royce WR-21 gas turbines are unable to operate in extreme temperatures and will be fitted with diesel generators.
Rolls-Royce executives said engines installed in the Type 45 destroyers had been built as specified – but that the conditions in the Middle East were not “in line with these specs”. …
Sidmouth Neighbourhood Plan consultations
Throughout June and July in various locations, details here:
https://www.visionforsidmouth.org/calendar/2016/june/sidmouth-neighbourhood-plan-hits-the-road.aspx
Conservative devolution Mayoral candidate resigns from Conservative Party to run as Independent
Hot on the heels of former Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner Tony Hogg resigning from the Tory Party comes this spectacular defection.
Mr Swire – read and learn.
North East mayoral hopeful Jeremy Middleton has quit the “Conservative Party after becoming disillusioned with political point scoring in regional politics, he has said.
In a shock move, the former parliamentary candidate and former chairman of the Conservative National Convention has turned his back on the party after 30 years and said he wants to put the interests of the region first as he stands as an independent candidate.
North East mayoral hopeful Jeremy Middleton has quit the Conservative Party after becoming disillusioned with political point scoring in regional politics, he has said.
In a shock move, the former parliamentary candidate and former chairman of the Conservative National Convention has turned his back on the party after 30 years and said he wants to put the interests of the region first as he stands as an independent candidate.
Mr Middleton said: “This is not about party politics, it is about the North East. This region needs candidates focused exclusively on its interests and not people with one eye on their party careers.”
The businessman, who was awarded a CBE in 2012 for services to politics and charities, said the London Mayoral race and Andy Burnham’s announcement as Labour’s candidate for the North West showed the regional elections are being taken over by Westminster.
“I am disillusioned with Westminster squabbles,” he said. “It is clear the big parties will use these elections as platforms to fight national battles and internal arguments, but we need to put the people’s interests first.
“We need to end the factionalism and childish Westminster arguments that dominate our local politics.”
The North East has had a “raw deal” from successive governments for decades, Mr Middleton added.
“The political leaders in the North East have let the region down, the North East needs better leadership.
“Councillors have had to be dragged kicking and screaming to make a devolution deal, while Manchester has become a great success story.”
Mr Middleton also accused local councils in the North East of “empire building” and failing to put the needs of the area first.
He said: “Labour assume they will have a meeting and pick a mayoral candidate who will back their little empire and local leadership.”
The former Tory said the problems with the Labour leadership in the North East have not manifested themselves with the Labour party in Greater Manchester.
“The difference between the North East and the North West is that political leaders in the North West have realised they can do business with the exchequer,” he said.
“They have gone to the Chancellor with a plan on how to grow the economy and become self-sustained, an offer he couldn’t refuse. The North East has just gone to the Government with their hands out and asked how much money can we get?”
After a failed bid to become a Tory MP in the 2004 Hartlepool by-election, Mr Middleton said he wouldn’t have considered running for office again – until the regional Mayor role became a reality.
He said: “Do I think I can win it? I believe I can win it.
“My time will be spent fixing the problems our region faces not arguing with other politicians. People have told me they don’t believe that any party politician in the North East can or will deliver that.”
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/north-east-mayoral-hopeful-jeremy-11423859
Swire upsets Ottregians who disagree with him by calling them ‘a pack’
Ottery St Mary Town Council last evening unanimously agreed to write to Hugo Swire deprecating his description of Ottery people in his blog as a ‘pack’ when protesting at NHS changes that affect the viability of community hospitals.
So, that’s all independents, all Ottregians, all current and former Lib Dems, every candidate who stood as an independent in PCC elections, anyone standing for Parliament who does not belong to a mainstream party, anyone whose manifesto is not Tory – basically anyone who doesn’t view the world as he does comprehensively trashed in one blog post of no less than 2,254 words – around 2,500 more words than he has ever spoken about East Devon in Parliament!
Well done Hugo, keep up the good work … it’s doing independents no end of good!
Rotten apples in Parliament: more than you could ever imagine
“… For months, I’ve been investigating MPs’ money and business affairs for my book Parliament Ltd. But of all I’ve seen, one thing struck me the most: the level of transparency in Westminster is utterly pathetic.
There will always be some rotten apples, of course. No matter how honest and hardworking most politicians may be, some will always fall short. But if Westminster were more transparent, at least it would be easier to keep track of the finances. The truth is, however, that authorities actively help MPs to keep things under wraps.
How many of our representatives stand to gain directly from the decisions they push through? How many could profit from NHS privatisation, housing policies or even military action? We have no idea.
With the help of business intelligence firm DueDil, though, I began building a database of all the UK companies that had MPs and peers on their board of directors.
It was a mammoth task – and never done before – but the results were staggering. We identified about 2,800 active directorships, linked to almost 2,500 companies. Together, these firms employ at least 1.2 million people – equivalent to one in 20 of the UK’s full-time workforce. And they bring in more than £220bn of revenue annually. …
… This doesn’t necessarily mean MPs have broken any rules – although some have. But that’s exactly the point. The system itself fails to enforce transparency in politics. That’s why David Cameron can legitimately claim he didn’t break any rules when he failed to declare his stake in his father’s offshore Panama fund. The system allowed him to dodge transparency. Indeed, often the rules actually force MPs to hide information. One line says: “Members should not specify the value of the shares, or the percentage of shares in a company that are owned.”
The register of interests contains some of the most crucial information to our democracy. It doesn’t stop corruption in itself – but it does give a clue about whether MPs are speaking on behalf of voters or a private company they work for. Yet this vital document is scrutinised by no one. MPs’ declarations are only ever investigated if other people make an official complaint about someone. The whole thing is based on trust. And the result is that tons of stuff gets missed off – whether intentionally or not. …
… Because the system fails on transparency, it’s easy to see how financial controversies can brew undetected; not noticed until it’s too late. It’s a similar story with expenses. After the 2009 scandal we were promised a complete reform, yet the stories keep coming. For instance, one set of documents I found reveals how a peer claimed nearly £9,000 for a business-class return flight from New York, just to make a four-minute speech in parliament. Why had this not been discovered before? Because the files were buried in an archive, only retrievable through protracted freedom of information requests. What’s more, many of the worst abuses of the 2009 scandal would still be completely untraceable under the current system because key details are often redacted by the authorities.
We will never cut out financial controversies altogether – whether it’s business links, expenses or election spending. But if we’re ever going to clean up politics at all, transparency must be the first step.”
Martyn Green of “Free Parliament”
No wonder Hugo Swire is scared in his so-called “safe seat”!
Swire – many, many feathers ruffled!
Oh dear, Hugo really does have his tighty-whities in a twist with this (very long, very pompous, very verbose) rant on his website about independents (i.e. what he REALLY means is how much he is rattled by Claire Wright).
It’s just too rambling, too illogical and too vituperative to quote, but read it if you must here:
http://www.hugoswire.org.uk/news/blog-how-independent-are-independents
Poor old Hugo, times are changing and he just can’t keep up with it.
Hugo: an Independent has one BIG, BIG, BIG advantage over you – he or she can actually SPEAK out for East Devon in Parliament and elsewhere, whereas you refuse to do so, citing you ministerial foreign office post as an excuse ( not a reason, an excuse).
It will be very interesting to see, if Brexit wins, just what you will then do.
Oh, and an independent is likely to actually LIVE in the constituency, unlike you!
Rome favouring Independent for Mayor
“Italy’s anti-establishment Five Star Movement (5SM) took a large lead in the first round of voting for the mayor of Rome, according to exit polls published on Sunday, in a possible blow to prime minister Matteo Renzi.
Some 13 million people, or a quarter of the adult population, were eligible to vote for mayors in around 1,300 towns and cities, with attention focused firmly on a handful of major centres, including the capital.
Victory in Rome would be a huge breakthrough for anti-establishment 5SM, which was founded in 2009 by comedian Beppe Grillo and has grown to be Italy’s second largest party.
A victory by the populist party in the capital’s mayoral election is considered to be a key marker of whether the 5SM could eventually challenge Mr Renzi for leadership of the whole country.”
http://nr.news-republic.com/Web/ArticleWeb.aspx?regionid=4&articleid=65928995
Time tunning out to register to vote in EU referendum
All you need to know to register here:
Exmouth Splash developer facing problems in Swindon
“THE COMPANY behind the North Star multi-million pound development has moved to allay fears about its accounts.
Moirai Capital has a lease for the Oasis and the surrounding land with plans to convert the site onto one of the country’s leading leisure destinations.
However, the organisation missed an April deadline to file its accounts and has been contacted by Company House over the issue.
Should Moirai fail to respond to the letter, winding up procedures could be started later on in the summer.
But the company’s directors say the issue is being dealt with and the missed deadline was due to circumstances outside of their control.
Bobby Rach, of Moirai, said: “This is something which will be sorted within a few weeks. We are aware of everything and the letter is perfectly normal business procedure.
“We are a fully functioning business so there is no chance of the company being wound up.”
Moirai first took control of the lease in 2012, with the promise of refurbishing the Oasis and transforming the surrounding land.
The new leisure destination will have an indoor ski-slope, an arena, sport-related shops and a hotel as well as restaurants and a cinema.
An outline application was submitted last year and while there has been frustration at the length of time it is taking, Bobby says progress is being made.
He said: “When this is completed it is going to be a draw for the entire region. Getting these things right does take time but we should be able to reveal who has been signed up in the coming weeks.
“A lot of negotiation takes place as we have got everything right but when we have the details that should push the planning application forward.
“It could be that we are on site by next year. When we reveal everything this is something the people of Swindon will be able to get really excited about.”
The two areas which have held the application up is the signing up of partners to run the various parts of the development and the traffic management plan.
Highways England had initially said more work needed to be done to examine the impact the development would have on the town’s roads, most notably junctions 16 and 15 of the M4.
This has now been dealt with and the organisation have said the planning application can be accepted with conditions.”
“Ben Ingham was born in East Devon. A chartered engineer by profession he has also worked as a district councillor for twenty years dedicating much of hie free time to issues that affect East Devon.
In recent times he has become increasingly concerned about the activities of the East Devon Conservative Group. So much so that last year he was motivated to mount an independent challenge to take over the control of the council. It was this that led to him becoming the leader of the East Devon Alliance of independent candidates.
Amongst his key motivations his top priority is to make sure that the East Devon Local Plan is adopted as soon as possible in order to protect the district from uncontrolled development.
He is also working to create a Development Strategy Committee to ensure that development can be managed in a sustainable and intelligent way.
He is also keen to abolish the cabinet system at East Devon District Council in favour of a committee system where all councillors become involved in making decisions on their constituents behalf.
The following interview was filmed when he visited a meeting of like minded people in Totnes on the 25th May of this year in order to discuss independent councillors in local democracy.”
http://www.educatingindependence.com/independence-in-democracy-interviews-ben-ingham/
East Devon Watch 