A few of the “weaponised army” at Ottery Hospital – the strapline picture from the blog of tireless health campaignet Claire Wright – the picture shows 2 children, a dozen ladies of a certain age and two mem. Can anyone see any weapons! Do placards and peaceful protest constitute weaponising?
Added to which, Claire Wright looks distinctly unarmed!
or perhaps this is more appropriate:
or this:
and remember, Swire signed up to this:
“Dear Hugo Swire,
In a recent Exmouth Journal article you said: “Regrettably, Ottery Hospital has been weaponised by an anti-Tory coalition for nigh on ten years with them telling a naturally alarmed local community that it will be sold off or closed. I have spent 10 years trying to counter this scaremongering. …”
It’s hardly scaremongering when the hospital has lost its beds and this July’s Devon NHS Sustainability and Transformation Partnership report said, ‘We know a large amount of space in our community hospital buildings is underused. The revenue cost of our community hospital estates is in the order of £20 million; money the NHS could use to improve other services. Working with other public sector partners, as part of the One Public Estate initiative, we will review the space that is required to deliver care, and plan to consolidate the number of sites to free up estate and generate money, which can be re-invested in technology and infrastructure.’
It’s also rich for you to talk about ‘weaponising’ community hospitals. In Seaton we remember all too well when the Clinical Commissioning Group launched its consultation on the future of community hospital beds in 2016, with its preferred option being Option A which would keep the beds in Tiverton, Exmouth and Seaton. You said in Parliament that ‘option B, which sees the beds retained in Tiverton, and also in Sidmouth and Exmouth, is the option worthy of support. Sidmouth has an extremely high proportion of over-85s, with people increasingly living longer, and of people with dementia. Exmouth is the biggest town in Devon with more than 35,000 people.’
Four months later the CCG followed your recommendation, changed its preference, and closed Seaton’s beds. The reasons given for preferring Sidmouth to Seaton were specious – Seaton has an almost identical proportion of elderly. In short, Hugo Swire, you sold Seaton down the river because it was no longer in your constituency (having been removed due to boundary changes in 2010) and you needed to save beds in Sidmouth as well as Exmouth to fend off the challenge from Claire Wright, who even so ran you close in the 2017 General Election.
Today Seaton Hospital, like Ottery, Honiton and Axminster, faces an uncertain future. If it closes, it will be a knock-on effect of the beds decision, and it will be partly on your head.
Martin Shaw, County Councillor for Seaton and Colyton”
Owl says: so, no better candidate, Tories? Time for others to step up again, otherwise we get too many years of …. mediocrity is the nicest word Owl can choose.
https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/alison-hernandez-reselected-tory-crime-2133647
From the blog of DCC Independent East Devon Alliance councillor:
The question to be asked by former Mayor and Seaton Councillor Jack Rowlands:
“EDDC has recently decided not to list Seaton Community Hospital as an asset of community value citing that it does not meet the definition of “social wellbeing”. EDDC has now declined requests from 3 community hospitals in the district giving the same reason each time. Please explain why other district councils in Devon have agreed to list community hospitals as assets of community value e.g. Tyrell Community Hospital in Ilfracombe, Moretonhampstead Community Hospital, Bovey Tracey Community Hospital and Teignmouth Community Hospital.
Why is EDDC interpreting the definition differently to neighbouring district councils on this important issue where our community hospitals may be under threat of being fully closed and sold in the future by NHS Property Services?”
Owl says: Oh, the poor, poor darlings! We must set up a charity or a crowdfunding page for them. We could make the aim of the charity “To unite Tory developer donors to pressurise government to create other ways of making obscene profits”.
“Councils would be able to strip landowners of large portions of profits from the sale of their land, under proposals expected to be unveiled in the Budget, The Sunday Telegraph can disclose.
An official review commissioned by Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, is to endorse controversial calls for the state to “capture” more of the increase in value of sites when they are granted planning permission.
Sir Oliver Letwin, the former minister carrying out the review, is expected to recommend that local authorities should be able to seize greater amounts of landowners’ profits in order to fund the construction of local infrastructure such as roads and affordable homes. …”
Our council appears to be more interested in buying (presumably with loans) commercial property – not necessarily, perhaps even most unlikely within its own boundary
“Sixty local authority leaders have pledged an immediate drive to build thousands more council homes by exploiting new rules announced by Theresa May, it has emerged.
Dozens of councils across the country, led by both Labour and the Tories, have signed an open letter vowing to use new powers to borrow more money to build a new generation of properties. It has led to hopes of the biggest council house-building programme since the 1970s.
However, it leaves Philip Hammond with a major headache ahead of his budget later this month. The extra borrowing could add £1bn to the deficit and further constrain his room for manoeuvre, as he already needs to find money to fund the NHS. Tory MPs also believe they have won a battle for help to be handed to benefit claimants set to lose out under universal credit.
Reducing a popular jobs incentive, imposing a new digital services tax and curbing pension tax relief are all being examined as ways to raise funds. Hammond is attempting to deal with a shortfall in the public finances set to hit about £100bn over five years.
A major chunk of the shortfall comes from measures favoured by No 10 and imposed on the chancellor, who had been keen to keep his budget as unspectacular as possible due to the uncertainty ahead created by the Brexit negotiations.
Hammond is expected to press ahead with unilateral action on tech giants to raise some funds. A digital services tax will be designed to impose a levy on tech firms for the consumer data they collect and deploy. Treasury officials like the measure because they believe the companies will not be able to pass the tax on to consumers. ….”
“Brian Meekle’s caravan is parked beside the M32 motorway that cuts through the eastern half of Bristol. Meekle has been living there for the past two months because he doesn’t earn enough from the 33-to-45-hour weeks he works at a nearby retail warehouse to pay the rent for a flat.
“The rents in Bristol have rocketed,” he says above the roar of lorries and cars. “I am doing agency work but it could dry up on Monday. It’s all minimum wage stuff.” Meekle’s temporary home is in a ramshackle line of 16 caravans and vans. There are at least seven other vehicle encampments in the city, including in wealthy neighbourhoods such as Clifton Down. Bristol city council estimates that around 200 people are sleeping in vehicles across the city.
While some of them enjoy the freedom of life on the road, many are low-paid workers who have been priced out of Bristol, which has in recent years experienced some of the fastest-rising rents and house prices of any city.
Rents in Bristol have gone up by 33% over the past four years, according to the government’s Valuation Office Agency. A one-bedroom flat in the city now costs on average £795 a month. “There are a lot of people in this situation that don’t want to be,” says Meekle. “But it’s better to have a roof over your head than be out on the streets.”
He will soon be forced to move on to a new road because the council has served all the vans and caravans with eviction notices following complaints of antisocial behaviour. …”
In an extraordinary rant – no cancel that, Swire seems to be ranting much of the time these days so it isn’t at all extraordinary! – Swire accuses those campaigning for the retention of beds (gone)and services (some) remaining of “weaponising” Ottery St Mary hospital. By implication, he appears to include his arch-enemy, Claire Wright in this “weaponisation” (aka peaceful campaigning).
In a recent Exmouth Journal article (which they will presumably allow campaigners to respond to as a right to reply) he says:
“Regrettably, Ottery Hospital has been weaponised by an anti-Tory coalition for nigh on ten years with them telling a naturally alarmed local community that it will be sold off or closed. I have spent 10 years trying to counter this scaremongering. … “
He then goes on to puff up his recent visit to Ottery – well what do tou call a hospital with no beds? – let’s say “closed community bed building” with the new Secretary of State for Health, when said Secretary refused to meet tireless campaigner Claire Wright and other local people who are keeping up the pressure on him and his mates – though rumour has it that Sarah Randall-Johnson was somewhere in his vicinity. You know, the woman who thinks her DCC committee has no need to scrutinise these changes.
SWIRE MAKES NO MENTION OF THE FACT THAT THE MINOR INJURIES UNIT AND ALL INPATIENT BEDS HAVE ALREADY BEEN CLOSED AT THE HOSPITAL DURING THIS SO-CALLED 10 YEARS!!!!!!!
He says we must look to the future not back at the past and see how our changing needs can be met.
Owl has a suggestion: with the ageing population in East Devon how about a Minor Injuries Unit and Community Hospital beds?
First they came for the green field sites, then they came for the green belt, then they came for the national parks … and by renaming AONBS they came for them too ….. The developer lobby has now come for everything.
Sit back and watch those developers get even richer … while those who need affordable (TRULY AFFORDABLE) housing get shafted again.
“People living in the countryside have to accept a “steady supply” of new homes need to be built in National Parks, the Government adviser in charge of a major review has said.
Julian Glover, who is running a review of whether to add to England’s 10 National Parks, said more homes had to be built in these protected areas.
Mr Glover also raised the prospect that new national parks will be created on the edge of major cities like Birmingham so people who live in urban areas can easily access them.
Another idea is to find new names for England’s 30 Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. …”
There is a word in the middle of the top line of these notices but it has been printed smaller and in the lightest of colours so as to be almost invisible.
Can you guess what it is?
The word is: CONSERVATIVE!
Anyone would think the Sidmouth Conservative Club was ashamed of the word!
Oh, right …
THE state of Wirral Council’s finances has been revealed after staff were asked for expressions of interest to leave their jobs in a desperate bid to save cash. …
… It is a period of transition for Wirral Council at the moment, with leader Cllr Phil Davies having this week announced his intention to step down in May, environment cabinet member Cllr Matthew Patrick having left his role and politics with immediate effect, and Cllr Mike Sullivan having quit the Labour party to become an independent.
“19 October 2018
The Select Committee on the Rural Economy questions local authorities and Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) on their role in the rural economy.
Parliament TV – Rural Economy
Select Committee on the Rural Economy
Witnesses
At 9.45am
Cllr Sue Baxter, Chairman, National Association of Local Councils (NALC)
Cllr Bob Egerton, Cornwall Council
Cllr Mark Hawthorne, Chairman of Local Government Association (LGA) People and Places Board and leader of Gloucestershire County Council
At 10.45am
Richard Baker, Head of Strategy and Policy, North East LEP
John Mortimer, Chairman, Swindon & Wiltshire LEP
Cllr Louise Richardson, Chair, Leicestershire Rural Partnership, Leicester and Leicestershire LEP
Areas of discussion
Likely areas of discussion include:
Access to rural services
How the battle against rural crime is tackled
How devolution arrangements can be reformed to support the rural economy more effectively?
The impact of Brexit on rural economies and the role of LEPs
“The dad-of-one was given just 14 days to move the van from his property, because small print in the terms of his freehold said he couldn’t park ‘commercial vehicles’ outside his own home.
As he was planning to use the van for his delivery business, the jobsworth inspector said the vehicle was illicitly parked.
The order came just days after the 25-year-old handed in his notice to focus on his new start-up.
Reece, of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, told The Sun Online: “It’s pathetic – they’re saying you can’t have this house unless you’re an accountant or something.
“They have no respect for people who work 70 hours a week to provide for their families unless it’s the right kind of job.
“I paid £192k for the freehold, why can’t I park a van on my drive? It’s elitist.
“None of my neighbors have complained – they think it’s ridiculous that I’m being forced to sell it. A lot of them have vans themselves.
“I grew my side business enough to go full-time, and even handed in my notice at work – then Persimmon wrecked all my plans.
“Thankfully I got my old job back, but it was still a bit sour. I haven’t done any deliveries for ages, and I’ve had to go back to square one.
“I’m just trying to sell the house so I can move on with my life.”
Reece was eventually forced to sell his van – and temporarily shelve his dreams of becoming his own boss.
He insists he wasn’t told about the bonkers contract clause – and says even his solicitor failed to pick up on it.
He blasted: “There’s no way I would have bought the place had I known about it. Setting up a business has been a dream of mine for years.
“When we first moved in there were about 50 things wrong with the house. The build quality was shocking, I’ve had to spend £2k on really basic renovations just so I can sell it.
“The carpet is coming up everywhere, and the paint comes off the walls if it gets slightly damp.
“The door frames are the wrong size and the skirting boards are all wrong. It’s been a nightmare, I’m never buying a house from them again.”
It comes after Persimmon boss Jeff Fairburn sparked fury by walking out of an interview when pressed on his staggering £75m bonus.
When asked if he had any regrets about the furore, he sneered: “I’d rather not talk about that, it’s been well covered actually.”
He then stormed off, adding: “I think that’s really unfortunate actually that you’ve done that.”
Last year we revealed a couple in Newquay, Cornwall, plastered their windows with posters warning potential buyers to stay away from their Persimmon-built estate.”
“The government is to strengthen rules preventing people found guilty of serious crimes from serving on local councils, it has been announced.
Local Government Minister Rishi Sunak said the new rules would mean any person who is subject to an Anti-Social Behaviour Injunction, a Criminal Behaviour Order, a Sexual Risk Order or who is on the Sex Offenders’ Register, would no longer be able to stand for elected office in their community.
Current conditions make clear that anyone convicted of an offence carrying a prison sentence of more than three months is banned from serving as a local councillor.
The new measures will see the disqualification rules changed to include the alternatives to a prison sentence as a barrier to becoming a councillor.
They will require changes to primary legislation, in particular the Local Government Act 1972, the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009, and the Greater London Authority Act 2009.
The government will “look to identify a suitable legislative opportunity to bring the changes into law”.
Once the rules are implemented, councils across England will have the power to prevent individuals from standing as a councillor or mayor at the point they trigger the revised disqualification criteria. These proposals will not apply retrospectively, the government said.
Sunak said: “Elected members play a crucial role in town halls across the country, and are the foundations of local democracy. They are community champions, and have a leading role to play in building a better society for everyone.
“With such an important role comes great responsibility, and these changes will protect residents while upholding the values and high standards of behaviour we all expect.”
The move follows a consultation. The government’s response can be found here.
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/disqualification-criteria-for-councillors-and-mayors
“The first council in the UK has said it is planning to tell residents to stop recycling mixed plastic, sparking fears that years of progress on reducing black bag waste is on the verge of going into reverse.
It comes as the Environment Agency is understood to be investigating the plastics recycling industry over claims that millions of tonnes of plastic is never actually recycled, meaning consumers may have been wasting time separating plastic waste.
Plastic recycling waste has been building up in the UK since China stopped importing it last year, with the situation now so bad that councils have now started cutting plastic recycling services.
Swindon has said it wants households to put mixed plastic items, such as yogurt pots and plastic trays, in the bin with regular waste.
Instead of recycling it is proposing to incinerate it along with other household rubbish. The Environment Agency is said to be investigating claims that plastic meant for recycling is being left to leak into rivers and oceans.
The problem has led to Basingstoke Borough Council taking the decision yesterday to close all 29 of its mixed plastic “bring banks”.
And in Southampton, plastic left over in the bins will be removed in the next two weeks and incinerated to generate energy for the National Grid.
Geoff Quayle, sales director of Printwaste Recycling and Shredding which provides 19 banks to Southampton City Council and 29 to Basingstoke and Dean as well as other local authorities, said the company has already stockpiled around 40 tonnes of plastic since July.
… Julian Kirby, plastics campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: “We can’t burn our way out of the plastic pollution crisis.
“Incinerators belch polluting, poisonous fumes and ash into the atmosphere. “The ultimate solution is to avoid the use of unnecessary plastics in the first place. This is why we’re campaigning for legislation to end the use of all but the most essential plastics.”
It’s hard to criticise a country on which our arms dealers are so dependent.
See here what the Conservatives Middle East Council (Chairman, Hugo Swire) thinks of “brand Saudi”
“Firstly, it needs to be said that Saudi Arabia will survive this crisis. Global politics are as they are, and the world will not stop buying Saudi oil, nor will Western nations abandon their decades old defence relationships with the Kingdom. Riyadh will not be any less secure as a result of the crisis, and with oil approaching $100 a barrel Saudi coffers will not be too adversely hit.
….. Whether Saudis want to admit it or not, the allegations of an horrific death of a journalist in a Saudi Consulate have resulted in the Crown Prince’s reputation taking a battering. Private sector companies have fled from the Davos in Desert conference scheduled to take place in late October. Ministers from foreign governments may still turn up, the cost of losing Saudi Arabia is too high. But the Ubers and JP Morgans of the world have calculated that the cost of being currently associated with brand MbS is higher than the cost of losing out on taking a slice of Saudi Arabia’s economy.
Like all brands, brand MbS might be able to resurrect itself, but it will take time. …..”
https://cmec.org.uk/depth/news-analysis/michael-stephens-cmec-what-next-house-saud
Here is what the Daily Mail has to say
“Crisis-torn Saudi Arabia has been lavishing hundreds of thousands of pounds on British MPs, the Mail can reveal.
The kingdom – under fire over the suspected state-sponsored murder of a journalist – has been pouring cash into a charm offensive.
In just two years it has tripled the amount of money spent on MPs to pay for luxury hotels, business-class flights and magnificent feasts.
Campaigners say 38 MPs who got freebies over the past five years are ‘accessories’ to a cynical bid to brush up the oil-rich Gulf nation’s tarnished image.
Saudi Arabia’s slick PR offensive comes as it battles international condemnation over the suspected murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Screaming Mr Khashoggi, 59, is said to have been recorded in his country’s consulate in Istanbul apparently being chopped up while alive – as the chief Saudi government hitman listened to music on earphones.
Saudi Arabia is also under intense scrutiny for staging bombing raids across Yemen that have killed thousands of civilians.
In 2016, British parliamentarians accepted £35,062 of junkets, gifts and other benefits from the authoritarian regime. But this year the figure is more than three times higher at £106,418 – and it is only October. The total since 2015 has been put at £208,000.
….. Last night Andrew Smith, from Campaign Against the Arms Trade, said: ‘At the same time as the MPs were enjoying luxury flights and hotels, human rights defenders were being abused and Yemen was being bombed.
‘MPs should be speaking out and taking action, not accepting gifts and hospitality.
‘The Saudi regime has one of the most appalling human rights records in the world, and MPs should not be supporting it. …”
“A Tory backbencher has criticised the government and said he would not have stood as an MP “if the situation was like it is now”.
Johnny Mercer told The House magazine he was no longer sure that his “set of values and ethos” were still “aligned with the Conservative Party”.
The party had “lost focus” on fighting for what it believed in and instead was focused on “technocrats and managers”.
Mr Mercer, an ex-Army officer, has said he never voted until he became an MP
The MP for Plymouth Moor View has been critical of the party before, telling the Telegraph in 2017 it was “in danger of losing credibility”.
In his interview with The House, Mr Mercer – who was first elected in 2015 – was critical of Prime Minister Theresa May’s response to a questions about investigations into Northern Ireland veterans, saying “she did not answer in a way that made me proud to be a member of the governing party”.
And, of her Chequers blueprint for post-Brexit relations with the EU, he said: “That is your classic professional politicians’ answer because it’s right down the middle. It doesn’t make anybody happy. It’s the ultimate in not making a decision.”
He said, “under this chief whip, under this prime minister, there is no role for people like me” but added: “That’s fine because nothing lasts forever.” He admitted he would like to be defence secretary – Mr Mercer has campaigned for veterans, including those with mental health problems.
Mr Mercer said that while his “set of values and ethos” had been aligned with the Conservative Party, “I’m not as comfortable that that’s the case anymore.”
And he added: “If the situation was like it is now, I can safely say there would be absolutely no chance that I would try and be a member of Parliament.“
“CIPFA is to work on fresh guidance over concerns councils in England are putting public funds at “unnecessary or unquantified risk” when borrowing to invest in commercial property.
In a statement released today, the insitute suggested local authorities were investing in commercial properties disproportionately to their resources.
This would be against the requirements of the CIPFA’s Prudential Code and Treasury Management code, the joint statement from CIPFA chief executive Rob Whiteman and chair of CIPFA’s treasury and capital management panel Richard Paver, said.
Whiteman and Paver said that “in some cases these investments have been financed by borrowing” and CIPFA shared concerns there had been an “acceleration of the practice of borrowing to invest in commercial property”.
They warned councils the “prime policy objective of a local authority’s treasury management investment activities is the security of funds, and that a local authority should avoid exposing public funds to unnecessary or unquantified risks”.
CIPFA’s code and the government’s Statutory Guidance on Local Government Investments were “very clear that local authorities must not borrow more than or in advance of their needs purely in order to profit from the investment of the extra sums borrowed”.
The institute will “issue more guidance and will make it clear that these investment approaches are not consistent with the requirements of fiscal sustainability, prudence and affordability,” the statement said.
Government figures released last week showed an increase in local authorities’ commercial activities.
English councils’ acquisition of land and buildings rose by £1.2bn (43.1%) to £4bn in 2017-18 from £2.8bn in 2016-17, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government data revealed.
Total borrowing by councils in England had risen from £4.4bn in 2013-14 to £10bn in 2017-18.
The guidance is expected to be published before the end of the year.
Until it is released, CIPFA advised local authorities to refer to the government guidance, which cautions local authorities against:
– Becoming dependent on commercial income;
– Taking out too much debt relative to net service expenditure; and
– Taking on debt to finance commercial investments.
The MHCLG figures out last week showed the largest investors in commercial property were Spelthorne Borough Council at £270m and Warrington Borough Council with £220m. Eastleigh Borough Council also spent £194m.
In 2016, Spelthorne took out 50 separate Public Works Loan Board loans to fund the purchase of a £360m business park in Sunbury-on-Thames.
PF understands that MHCLG and the Treasury have expressed concern about the scale of commercial property investment.
MHCLG has been contacted for comment.”
Owl says: one way to get more officers on the beat is to abolish the post of Police and Crime Commissioner and the 20+ staff that work for her. But would you believe (you would) that it is impossible to find out exactly how much she and her staff cost? Accounts are (designed to be?) impenetrable. AND there is no central register of the overall cost of the 40+ Police and Crime Commissioners in post!
“Devon and Cornwall’s Police and Crime Commissioner has said she is committed to “securing more funding for front-line officers” – as new figures show a rise in recorded crime.
Between July 2017 and June 2018, recorded crime was up 17% in the Devon and Cornwall force area, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.
Nationally there was an increase of 10%.
Alison Hernandez said she was “concerned” about a rise in violent offences, although she said serious violent offences “are still very unusual in the peninsula”.
“It’s clear to me that more money is needed to support greater officer numbers,” she said.
She added she was working with her office to help tackle the increases.”
East Devon Watch 