If you want to finish the working week with a laugh (or possibly cry!) do read this:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-44047859
Category Archives: Neil Parish
“These are the MPs who voted to keep government Windrush documents secret”
… Parish, Neil
… Swire, Hugo
“LIST OF SHAME: THE 312 MPS WHO VOTED TO TAKE FREE SCHOOL MEALS FROM 1M POOR CHILDREN”
Of course, it includes Swire and Parish
“In the House of Commons on Tuesday, MPs defeated a Labour motion, moved by Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner, to block a planned government move that will take a free, hot school meal from the mouths of around one million children from low-income families.
Tory MPs have attempted to deflect blame for their callousness by selectively quoting a Channel 4 Fact Check article – which said it could not fault the Labour Party’s calculations – in order to claim they are actually giving free meals to an additional 50,000 children and not taking it away from the million.
But that pathetic deflection was laid to rest in the very first exchange of the debate around Labour’s motion:
Chris Philp (Croydon South) (Con)
Does the hon. Lady agree with Channel 4’s FactCheck, which says:
“This is not a case of the government taking free school meals from a million children”.
These are children who are not currently receiving free school meals, and in fact the Government’s proposals would see 50,000 extra children receive free school meals. Perhaps the hon. Lady could stop giving inaccurate information to the House.
Angela Rayner
The hon. Gentleman should know that his Government have introduced transitional arrangements, and we are clear that under the transitional arrangements, those 1 million children would be entitled to free school meals. With the regulations, the Government are pulling the rug from under those hard-working families.
In my own boroughs of Oldham and Tameside, a total of 8,700 children growing up in poverty are set to miss out. In the Secretary of State’s own area, the total is 6,500. So much for the light at the end of the tunnel that the Chancellor mentioned over the weekend on “The Andrew Marr Show”!
The UK has one of the worst rates of child malnutrition and ‘food insecurity’ among rich nations – with one in five UK children suffering food insecurity.
In spite of this – and the callousness of depriving hungry schoolchildren of food, with the consequent impact on their health and education – the government defeated the motion.
Not a single Tory MP rebelled – and of the ten DUP MPs, ‘incentivised‘ by a Theresa May pledge to maintain the free school meals for Northern Irish children – only one declined to vote away the provision for children in Britain.
The full roll-call of shame of MPs who voted down Labour’s attempt to protect poor children from hunger is below [includes Swire and Parish]”
Our MP tells his party (that caused the housing crisis) that they must fix it!
Good luck with that Mr Parish!
https://www.devonlive.com/news/news-opinion/need-fix-broken-housing-market-1340458
Will East Devon MP Neil Parish will benefit from Exmoor Brexit initiative?
Well, he should, considering he is a former Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee and for his entire career in the European Parliament he was a member of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (from January 2007 to July 2009 he was Chairman of the Committee AND he was appointed Conservative spokesman on agriculture and he was also the delegation’s deputy chief whip) …. and he farms from his family home on Exmoor.
Just a pity the test area isn’t in his Tiverton and Honiton constituency.
BUT what is it about East Devon that BOTH of our MPs choose not to have a home here (Swire’s second home is in Mid-Devon).
Still, on the bright side, at least his main interest isn’t the Middle East and, in particular, the Maldives!
“Exmoor’s farmers have received the backing of Cabinet minister Michael Gove MP.
Backed by the Exmoor Hill Farming Network, conservationists and local public bodies – Exmoor’s Ambition – aims to sustain and enhance Exmoor’s farmed landscapes and communities following the UK’s exit from the EU. …”
https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/exmoors-ambition-becomethe-test-bed-1312397
Swire sees the light on hospital beds (because it could be a big vote loser?)
Owl is concerned that local MP Hugo Swire is very, very slow in the uptake. After resting on his laurels by seeing community beds in his constituency staying while those in Neil Parish’s patch of EDDC have all gone (except for Tiverton – not part of East Devon which can’t be closed because it is a PFZi hospital), he finally wakes up and realises that it has left a black hole that will stop many people voting for either of them next time! AND result in people switching their votes to Claire Wright (Independent, East Devon) and maybe Caroline Kolek (Labour, Tiverton and Honiton)!
“Sir Hugo Swire said the area’s demographics are 20 years ahead of the national average and it was ‘absolutely ridiculous’ the two services should have separate funding.
This comes after Dr Mike Slot raised concerns to Devon’s health watchdog that carers are not available to implement ‘care at home’ – the model the NEW Devon Clinical Commissioning Group’s (CCG) moved to after it closed 140 community hospital beds across the county.
Dr Slot said: “The loss of community hospital beds was intended to be offset by increasing the capacity of community care so that patients could be cared for in their own homes.
“This may or may not have been realistic since many of the patients in the hospital system cannot be managed in the community, even with excellent community services.
“However, with or without community hospital beds, it is an excellent idea to expand community services so that all those patients who can be cared for out of hospital can remain at home.
“Unfortunately, there is not sufficient capacity in the home care services to do this job.
“When GPs ring the single point of access number asking for rapid response or night sitting, the carers are not available.”
In a joint statement, the CCG and provider trust the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital acknowledged that recruitment had been ‘challenging’ in a few places, but the bodies were working hard alongside other agencies to address the issues.
A spokeswoman said more than £2.5million had been redirected into growing and strengthening their community teams so more people can be cared for at home.
They added: “A large part of the reinvestment has been to increase the number of nurses, therapists and support workers and in most areas we have successfully recruited the additional staff.”
Social care was brought under the remit of health secretary Jeremy Hunt in the last cabinet reshuffle – a move welcomed by Sir Hugo, who said: “I think in future there will be far greater use of hubs.
“We must look to do the same with social care. It requires brave, strategic thinking. We have to get it right.
“The East Devon demographic is where the country is going to be in 20 years’ time. Sidmouth is even ahead of that. East Devon should be a template – use us as a guinea pig for integration of health and social care.”
“Male MPs ‘seat-blocking’ safe constituencies in the Commons, says new report”
East Devon has two safe(ish) seats (though getting less safe by the day)!
Hugo Swire and Neil Parish are male.
Claire Wright is Independent and female.
Just saying …
“Male MPs are effectively “seat-blocking” safe seats in the Commons and holding back gender progress, according to new research that calls for an overhaul in the way politicians are elected to Parliament.
The new study from the Electoral Reform Society (ERS) claims that hundreds of seats have effectively been “reserved” by male politicians – forcing women to contest in marginal constituencies in order to enter public life.
The research, published on Tuesday, shows that of the 212 currently-serving MPs first elected in 2005 or before, just 42 are women. …
Jess Garland, the director of policy and research at the ERS, added that while Britain has experienced progress in gender equality at recent elections, it is being “held back by Westminster’s broken voting system, which effectively ‘reserves’ seats for men”.
She continued: “Over 80 per cent of MPs first elected in 1997 or earlier are men, with the one-MP per seat one-person-takes-all nature of First Past the Post leaving few opportunities for women’s representation once a man has secured selection. Sitting MPs have a huge incumbency advantage, and since open selections are relatively rare, we face a real stumbling block in the path to fair representation. …
Parish questions community bed closure figures – too little and far too late
Owl says: how come WE knew all this and FOUGHT it whereas Parish, seeing votes lee h away from him, only sees it when it is FAR too late?
Where was he last Saturday when hundreds of people protested bed cuts and underfunding?
THE PHRASES THAT HAVE COME FAR TOO LATE AND ARE FAR TOO LATE:
“situation reasonably good”
‘big concerns”
“figures not necessarily correct”
“overstretched”
“strong representation”
“being looked at”
“necessary resources”
“not convinced”
“a little bit worried”
“watching very carefully”
WHAT HE SAID:
“Devon MP has raised fears over the closure of beds in community hospitals across the county.
Speaking to Mid Devon District Council, Tiverton & Honiton MP Neil Parish said that although the situation in Tiverton was reasonably good, he had a “big concern” over the closure of beds in both Honiton and Seaton.
“I’m not happy with it because I don’t necessarily think they’ve got the correct figures,” he said.
“I also think that the acute hospital in Exeter the RD&E is also overstretched. The community hospitals have enough ability to be able to take that strain, and so I have been making very strong representations.”
Mr Parish said that decisions had been made by the Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), but that strong representation had been made.
He added: “Of course, the social care services and health are being looked at by the Government at the moment to be combined more than ever to be able to look after people longer in their own homes. I think it’s a really good idea, but you do need the necessary resources to be able to do it, and certainly, that’s what’s been happening in many areas.
“So far from what I’ve heard in Seaton, Axminster and Honiton areas are that it’s worked reasonably well and I think we need to keep a watching brief on that. I think whenever possible people want to stay in their own homes, but of course, there will be those who need hospital treatment and care. That’s where community hospitals come into the equation.”
The MP considered that care packages in his constituency were currently providing services well and he had been assured that there would be an improvement. He asked that incidents of care packages not being put in place satisfactorily in his constituency be reported to him so that he could make specific enquiries. He added that although he considered being cared for at home was the right thing for some patients; he was not convinced it would save money and that enough people were needed to undertake the work. With an ageing population it was essential to ensure that the resource was in place.
“My representations I’ve had in Honiton, Axminster and Seaton where hospital beds have gone so far seem to be getting those care packages in place reasonably quickly. What I’m a little bit worried about is that they’ve put a lot of resource in now to get it right and they don’t take it away later. Therefore I’m watching that very carefully.”
https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/questions-asked-over-figures-led-1175794
Who fights for the NHS in East Devon? Your Independent councillors!
At today’s Save Our Hospital Services demo in Exeter today. East Devon Alliance and Claire Wright make their mark but not an East Devon Tory (including our two East Devon MPs) to be seen!
East Devon Alliance DCC Councillor Martin Shaw
East Devon Alliance EDDC Councillor Cathy Gardner
DCC Independent Councillor Claire Wright
East Devon Alliance Councillors Marianne Rixson with East Devon Alliance Councillor Cathy Gardner
One of the many interviews the independent councillors did on the day.
“Devon schools worse off than those in London by more than £500 per pupil”
When our MPs tell us that we in Devon are receiving an extra £7.5 for education, perhaps point this out to them:
“The Government’s new national funding formula will mean an extra £7.5million for schools in Devon next year.
But they will still be left £268 per pupil short of the national average, say Devon County Council. …”
http://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/devon-schools-worse-those-london-1067723
Fair?
Parish wants better-designed new homes – too late for Axminster!
Er, he seems to not have spoken out in Axminster which is in his constituency, where problems with new housing abounds! Owl noted it here:
https://eastdevonwatch.org/2016/09/22/poor-quality-of-new-housing-in-axminster/
“ …Not only do we need traditional designs in keeping with the natural built environment, we a need a new homes Ombudsman to focus on complaints with new build homes. The fact the Communities Secretary, Sajid Javid, has backed this proposal – will be welcome news to hundreds of thousands of new housing residents in the coming years. It’s vital we get both the design and quality of these new homes right – because we won’t get a second chance. …”
http://www.devonlive.com/news/news-opinion/its-vital-design-quality-new-879515
Stable … horse …
Swire’s donors and Parish’s lack of them
A recent comment got Owl digging into donations to out two MPs. Direct personal donations rather than those to the Conservative Party. All donations over £7,500 have to be registered here:
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmregmem/171113/contents.htm#P
This register was last updated on 13 November 2017 and covers only this current Parliament 2017-2019.
In the most recent list of donors to individual MPs, the largest donation to East Devon MP Hugo Swire is of £10,000 from a Mrs Rosemary Said.
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmregmem/171113/swire_hugo.htm
Might this be the wife of arms dealer Wafic Said?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wafic_Saïd
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/nov/29/business.politics
“Syrian-born Wafic Said is reported to be a ‘former operator of a kebab restaurant who made millions in commissions on a 1985 British Aerospace arms deal to sell Tornado fighters to the Saudi royal family’.[1] Said’s chief Saudi patron is reported to be Prince Bandar.[1]
Rosemary Said has given the Conservative Party almost £580,000 and is reportedly a member of David Cameron’s Leaders’ Group of elite donors that enjoy direct access to the UK prime minister by virtue of donating more than £50,000 a year.”
and here:
http://powerbase.info/index.php/Rosemary_Said
and good to see a billionaire member of Swire’s family ( Sir Adrian Swire)
chipping in £5,000:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Swire
By contrast, Tiverton and Honiton MP Neil Parish declares zero donations:
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmregmem/171113/parish_neil.htm
MP travel and accommodation costs
Conservative East Devon:
Hugo Swire:
£9,201 in travel expenses
£8,324 in accommodation(including £3,000 buildings insurance, £2,778 council tax plus bills).
Neil Parish:
£20,580 in rent
£6,584 in travel
http://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/how-much-your-mp-claim-747380
Amazing that our MPs can claim against council tax and buildings insurance for a home they presumably own and even that they can claim travel expenses when people from their areas, earning much, much less than them, must pay 100% of their commuting costs.
Do tors question privatisation – no confidence in contractor Capita
Oh Lord, government says it is “holding Capita’s feet to the fire”. Would that be the same fire that MP Neil Parish said he was holding the CCG’s feet to, just before Honiton and Seaton hospitals closed?
Not much of a fire, feet rather a long way from it.
“Doctors raise alarm about controversial private company’s plans to overhaul cancer screening
GP representatives have raised concerns about the potential risk of delayed or missed cancer diagnosis from a new IT service being developed to administer smear testing for cervical cancer.
The British Medical Association’s GP Committee (GPC) has written to NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens to highlight the continued failures in key back-office functions from paying doctors to registering patients.
The problems all relate to a major contract for primary care “support services” that are essential to the day-to-day running of GP practices, dentists, opticians and pharmacists.
NHS England decided to contract for a single national supplier and awarded a contract to outsourcing giant Capita, starting in September 2015.
The BMA letter says major problems have persisted since NHS England commissioned the service two years ago, changes the letter says are “putting patients at risk”.
But it warns there are more changes planned for next year.
GPC chair Dr Richard Vautrey writes: “We understand that new systems for both cervical screening and GP payments and pensions are due to go live in July of next year.
“We are very concerned that preparations are not sufficiently advanced at this stage of the projects to guarantee a seamless transfer to the new service.”
“We have no confidence in Capita’s ability to deliver this service,” the letter adds.
A spokesperson for Capita told The Independent that a final date had not been set, but did confirm that a July deadline has been discussed.
They added that the new service was being developed alongside NHS England, NHS Digital and Public Health England.
Capita’s support services website shows it is responsible for updating and operating key elements of the National Cervical Screening Programme.
The programme invites women aged 25 and 64 years for a routine smear test every three years, and health chiefs warned earlier this year that screening uptake had hit a 19-year low. …
… A Capita spokesperson said: “This is a major transformation project to modernise a localised and unstandardised service, which inevitably has meant some challenges.
“This letter does not accurately reflect our involvement and responsibilities in PCSE, nor does it reflect our recent correspondence from NHS England who have recognised the improvements and significant progress being made across services in 2017, which has been demonstrated through improved and increasing customer satisfaction.
NHS England said: “We are holding Capita’s ‘feet to the fire’ on needed improvements”.
“Campaigners put pressure on government to improve ‘dire’ Devon education funding at national lobby”
As yet there appears to be no similar East Devon campaign group and our two MPs simply dole out meaningless platitudes without concrete follow-up action. Swire seems more preoccupied with who to back for next PM (or maybe ex-PM!) in order to regain a foreign office ministerial post while Parish’s preoccupations remain farmers and dualling the A303.
… “Tamsin Higgs, mother-of-three from Braunton, has been leading the parent-led and non-political Fair Funding For All Schools campaign in North Devon since the beginning of this year. For more information you can visit the campaign’s Facebook page here. Tamsin has also set up a campaign group in Torrington who recently met with Torridge MP Geoffrey Cox. …
… Tamsin said she regularly meets with the central school funding campaign group in London who, alongside the National Education Union, planned the national lobby at Westminster against school funding cuts. The group decided to take part in the lobby, which attracted more than 1,000 people, to apply pressure from all constituencies on the central government to increase funding and ensure schools are not losing out. …”
http://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/campaigners-put-pressure-government-improve-700472
Parish on our environment
I challenge anyone to take away one bit of useful information from this embarrassing exhibition of total pompous waffle!
The new way to stay in power – do nothing (and just one Tory rebels)
The new way to stay in power – abstain on anything important
“… Dr Wollaston, chairwoman of the health committee, at one stage threatened to vote against the Government unless ministers recognised they need to address a “fundamental flaw”.
… Dr Wollaston rebelled against the Tory whip by voting in favour of Labour’s motion.
She was the only Conservative MP to do so, according to the division list.
The result of the vote released by the House of Commons also said DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds voted in the aye lobby in support of Labour’s motion.
But Mr Dodds told the Press Association he did not vote in the aye lobby, adding: “They made a mistake.”
Labour MP Anneliese Dodds (Oxford East) was not listed on the ayes despite speaking out against UC roll-out in the debate.
Raising a point of order after the vote, Ms Abrahams said: “This is a major defeat for the Government on their flagship social security programme.
“Conservative whips and the Prime Minister have spent today strong-arming Conservative MPs to vote against a pause of the rollout of Universal Credit.
“While the Secretary of State has retreated on various aspects of his Universal Credit policy, in a panicked attempt to appease Tory MPs who know that the policy is not fit for purpose.
“Yet again, the Prime Minister and the Tories cannot command a majority in the House of Commons.
“The Prime Minister is in office, but not in power.”
Commons Speaker John Bercow said: “A resolution of the House of Commons is just that, an expression of the view of the nation’s elected representatives in the House of Commons.
“Constitutionally, and this is important…the House cannot direct ministers, and it is for ministers in the Government to decide how to respond to the clearly expressed view of the House.”
Mr Bercow added that he felt confident ministers would do so, having granted an urgent debate on the Government’s response to opposition day debates just two weeks ago
Tory MP Peter Bone (Wellingborough) said it would be helpful where a substantive motion was passed that the Government came to the House to explain what they intended to do about it.
Mr Bercow responded it was “a statement of fact” Labour’s motion was passed, adding: “I think it highly desirable that the Government, in the light of the result, should come to the House and show respect for the institution by indicating what it intends to do.”
Tory former minister Sir Edward Leigh questioned what the point of the Commons was if it merely expresses opinions “for the sake of it” as he made a point of order following the vote.
He said he had trooped through the lobbies to vote on hundreds of divisions on Wednesdays over 34 years as an MP, and that he was “under the impression that it served some purpose”.
And what worries me is that surely there is some sort of precedent here.
“This is not and should not be a university debating society, what is the point of the House of Commons if we just express opinions for the sake of it and surely when we vote it should have some effect?”
The division list was later updated, with Mr Dodds’ name no longer on the ayes list and Ms Dodds’ name appearing on the list of Labour MPs who supported the motion.”
http://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/totnes-mp-dr-sarah-wollaston-649637
Is there an election coming up? Neil Parish suddenly gets interested in new house design
Suddenly, as a bolt from the ( Tory bright) blue, Parish rediscovers his inner planning officer! Is there a new housing estate planned near his gaffe in Somerset? Or is he desperately seeking pre-election brownie points, aware that he has perhaps spent too much time on farmers and dualling the A303?
“ … when Parliament returns in September, I will be holding a debate on New Housing Design.
As a former Planning Officer at District Council level, I know just how terrified some communities are of new development. Not because they are NIMBYs. But because they have seen how previous developments in the last 50 years have left communities with homes totally unsuitable for their area.
The 2017 Conservative manifesto, for all its controversy, pledged to build “better homes which match the quality of those we have inherited from previous generations”. This is a must.”
http://www.devonlive.com/news/property/homebuilders-must-held-account-independent-322281
The Tory Party youth wing
Source: Private Eye
Don’t punish the bully, punish the victim, says Tory donors
This is extraordinary. In any other walk of life a bully would be punished and his or her victim given support. In this increasingly mad party, it is the other way round. In this case the bully is being joined by other bullies to force the victim out of a job.
And as for raising more money from “ordinary” voters – do people not realise that these donors are now desperately squirreling away their cash to cushion them against Brexit problems. With lots of it probably going to those tax havens they love so much.
As an employer – for that is what Tory donors are – these rich donors who are calling the tune – it should be ashamed of themselves. But alas, shame is something rich Tory donors have never and will never experience.
And every member of the Conservative Party shares in this – including our MPs Swire and Parish if they stay silent and join in bearing in mind Swire tweeted his support of bully-boy Johnson very recently, after his attack on May.
Tory party members – you are all complicit with the behaviour of these bullies. Pay your subs and be one of the rabble they will call up on their behalf – that’s your role. And take over paying for their share while they still pull your strings.
“Conservative donors have called for Theresa May to stand down because she is being “bullied” by colleagues including Boris Johnson.
Following an ill-fated conference speech and rumours of a backbench plot against the prime minister, two wealthy supporters said the party must act quickly and install another leader.
In a further development, the party is discussing plans to emulate Labour and widen its financial support away from large donations from a select group of wealthy donors to smaller donations from its ordinary members.
Charlie Mullins, the founder of London-based Pimlico Plumbers, said May must leave because she was being bullied and undermined by Johnson.
He said: “She has got to go for her own sake. It is getting embarrassing. If this was a boxing match, the fight would have been stopped. She has been put in a position where she is being bullied, she is being intimidated, they are making her life hell. These are Conservative people who are destroying this woman and it needs to stop.”
Mullins, who has donated £50,000 and spent £30,000 on a stall at this year’s conference, said the foreign secretary had been successfully undermining the prime minister.
“She is a broken woman. They are setting her up,” he said. “Boris is not a fool. He knows what he is doing. Boris is knocking her at every opportunity he gets because he wants to be prime minister. Boris has been a big part of destroying this woman. …
A second donor said May appeared to be too weak to fight the business community’s corner and should leave by Christmas if the party wants to retain financial support from entrepreneurs.
The businessman, who has given more than £300,000 in total, said: “[The party] is losing support in the City. People worry that the Tories are taking us over a Brexit cliff edge and May looks too weak to control her ministers.
“We need to act now. Whether she is replaced by an old guard member like Michael Fallon or new blood, I am not sure.”
The Conservatives have grown increasingly concerned about the party’s failing support from big donors in the business community.
While the Tories generated £1.5m in membership fees last year, Labour raised £14.4m, according to figures published in August by the Electoral Commission.
John Griffin, the founder of taxi firm Addison Lee who has given more than £4m to the Conservatives, told the Guardian that he has had preliminary talks with party officials about helping to widen financial support from a select few individuals to other less wealthy donors.
“I think the party has performed very poorly in that particular area, so I have a cunning plan and we will be having meetings about that this month. They have underperformed in the area of collecting money,” he said.
“We don’t really want donors to give large sums. We want lots of people to give smaller sums. That is the plan. The Labour party are making a better fist of it. We need to consider that and emulate them.”
Griffin declined to go into further details but said he raised the idea with May at a fundraising dinner at the Dorchester hotel in central London last month. “She supports the idea in principle,” he said.
Griffin, who gave £1m to the party before this year’s election, said he wantedMay to remain as prime minister and called for Johnson to be given a “smacked bum” for undermining her.
“Boris has been a naughty boy and needs a smacked bum. That’s where I stand. He is a nice bloke, but there is a time for everything and he needs a bit more dignity,” he said. “I have encouraged the prime minister to make sure that these people in the cabinet stand in line and she must exercise her power.”
East Devon Watch 