My letter to the Department of Health on maternity services

Dear Dr Barrett,

Re: Your current review of our PCTs decision-making on local maternity services

I am writing in support of the Save the DGH and Hands Off the Conquest campaigns to retain consultant-led maternity units in both Eastbourne and Hastings.

I am sure that you will be getting many letters and emails from local people. This is a keenly felt issue along our part of the South Coast.

I am writing not only in my capacity as parliamentary campaigner for the Liberal Democrats in Hastings and Rye, but also as a new father. In fact, I hope that it will be possible for me to come and talk to you in person about my (and my partner’s) experience of local services.

I became a father for the first time in November last year. My partner laboured at home as planned, but there were problems and we needed to transfer to hospital. You will appreciate that, having already been in labour for some hours by then, this transfer was traumatic. Thankfully, we were at the hospital in less than 20 minutes, and we live only a short distance from the hospital. I cannot imagine what it would be like to be stuck in the rush hour on the A259 – apparently the ninth worst road in the country – whether this be Eastbourne to Hastings, or vice versa.

The research that I have seen in the course of this campaign points to the dangers that increased journey times have in respect of risk in emergency situations. Also, to the dangers of decreasing numbers of senior clinicians.

I believe the respective campaigners when they say that this and other information that they have provided appears to have been disregarded by local PCTs.

And I feel strongly that the decision that has been taken by them is not in the interests of safe, sustainable and accessible local services. It is driven by cost.

When we are the fourth most successful economy in the world, it is right that local parents should have access to high quality essential health services. I hope your review will ensure this for the people of Eastbourne and Hastings, and will overturn the decision of the PCTs.

Many parents are counting on you.

[What do you think?]

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Be careful what you wish for

Maybe it’s because I have a six month-old that I have been thinking about fairy tales a bit more than usual…

There has been one story in particular that has stuck in my mind whilst we have had the results, and then the analysis of last week’s by-election in Crewe & Nantwich.

Little Red Riding Hood.

You remember what happens – Little Red Riding Hood goes for a walk to see her grandmother, and meets a wolf along the way. By the time that she arrives at Grandma’s house, the wolf has eaten the old lady, pulled on a nightie, and is lying in wait for the little girl.

But how could this possibly relate to Crewe, and more to the point, Hastings & Rye?

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin.

Readers should have no fear, the Little Red Riding Hood in my version is no Tamsin Dunwoody. She is, in fact, the playful spirit of the national electorate.

A little girl, just trying to get by, picking the flowers of daily life, and looking forward to listening to the wise words of her grandmother (the mother of Parliaments) and to see her governing well, and keeping things on track.

But along comes the wolf.

Who could it be?

It just has to be David Cameron.

It’s that same flashing smile!

If the Brothers Grimm had let the Big Bad Wolf talk politics, I bet he would have done a superb PR job: given you a warm feeling about yourself, but with no idea whatsoever about his policies. Just before he ate you.

And the thing about fairy stories is that they attempt to have a universal appeal and application – not unlike the Conservative Party A-list of candidates?

I would hazard a guess that the A-Team offer the same sort of Cameroonian package the country over. Affability, warmth, and a punch-on-your-arm friendliness. But not a commitment on policy between them.

That’s why although there was bluster and froth from Cameron about the 10p tax band, there is no commitment to restoring it when in government. Whilst a huge PR effort was made to coin the slogan vote blue if you’re green (or something like that), there are no environmentalist tax policies to go with it.

And let’s not forget that it was David Cameron who wrote Michael Howard’s manifesto for the 2005 General Election – widely regarded as one of the most right wing Conservative manifestos of modern times.

Whilst it is absolutely clear that the Labour Party has lost its way and its commitment to its founding principles, the electorate should be wary of those Conservative politicians posing as Labour’s harmless, cuddly alternative. We should be careful what we wish for.

Otherwise, a few years down the line, we might start to get pre-occupied with the size of the Prime Minister’s ears, his eyes, and his teeth…

Rother recycling scheme is rubbish

Dear (Rye & Battle Observer) Editor,

I would like to respond to the letter that you published from Pam Tomsett last week.

Pam is absolutely right that the recycling scheme in Rother is going from bad to worse.

This is also the view of Cllr Susan Prochak, Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Rother District Council.

It has been Liberal Democrats who have been attempting (across a range of issues) to get Conservative-run Rother to be more transparent in its decision-making processes, as well as to devolve power to Area Committees, so that local people, with local expertise, can shape local services.

I am afraid that, whether your MP is the Labour MP for Hastings & Rye, or the Conservative MP for Bexhill & Battle, you will not find the kind of commitment to devolution necessary to make recycling work for everyone.

Moreover, over in Hastings, the Labour Group has been responsible for a massive overspend on recycling, introducing a scheme which has been wildly unpopular and which the Conservatives have now adopted wholesale.

I would like to assure Ms Tomsett that there is one party that is taking recycling seriously – both the need to increase our recycling successes, and for the scheme to be operated on principles of common sense.

Prior to coming to live on the South Coast, I used to live in the Lib Dem-run London Borough of Lambeth, where a mixed recycling scheme operated brilliantly.

As the Lib Dem parliamentary campaigner for Hastings & Rye, I am working in partnership with the Lib Dem Group on Rother District Council to make a difference.

Can I encourage local people to make use of their Lib Dem campaigners?!

[Please let me know your experience of Rother Recycling by filling in the form below]

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Mary Smith’s election will be good for Rye

I was very pleased to see that the Campaign for a Democratic Rye had another success at the Rye Town Council by-election last week, with Labour returned in a dismal third place.

The CDR, like the Liberal Democrat Group on Rother District Council is fighting for an Area Committee system, which will devolve power, decision-making, and most importantly, a budget, closer to the people.

Whilst I understand people’s cynicism about political parties, and the commitment of the CDR to be non-party political, I think it is important for people to know that there is a mainstream political party advocating devolution across a range of political issues.  That party is the Liberal Democrats.

Hastings Tories deserve the Birch

Dear (Observer) Editor,

Jeremy Birch (Letters, 16 May 2008) is right that the creation of an all-Conservative Cabinet for Hastings Borough Council flies in the face of the election results on 1 May.

But he has only got Labour’s Local Government Act 2000 to blame for this quirk of electoral fate.

It is about time that new electoral processes were introduced that value the votes that local people, in worryingly few numbers, cast.

The Additonal Member System which combines the first past the post, and party list systems, would be a welcome step forward in trying to revitalise our democracy. This is working well in other areas of the country.

I hope that our MP, Michael Foster, will be making this case at the Ministry of Justice and as part of the ‘Governance of Britain’ project.

We will have to see whether or not, in respect of electoral reform, Labour can deliver on their constitutional promises.

I suspect neither I, nor Cllr Birch, should hold our breath.

[What do you think?]

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Labour – the new Nasty Party?

By the time that this column is published there will be one day to go until we know the result of the by-election in Crewe & Nantwich.This is make or break time for Gordon Brown. He will be hoping against hope that Labour manage to hold on and avoid what will be a humiliating loss.

Of course David Cameron and the Conservatives will be hoping for a big win to confirm their trajectory in the national polls.

Being a St Helens lad myself, and knowing the Northern psyche, I am sure that the voters of Crewe & Nantwich won’t be fooled by the media circus. They will be well grounded, and will vote for the person who they believe is best-qualified to serve them at Westminster.

Despite the fact that the Lib Dems have had zero coverage in comparison to the other parties, I would not be surprised if our candidate, Elizabeth Shenton, does well.

One of the most interesting things about the by-election has been how a highly negative campaign from the Labour Party has been received by local people. You may have seen the top hat and tails gags – aiming to discredit the Tory candidate as a ‘posh boy’. I am told by Lib Dem colleagues on the ground that Labour’s shenanigans have gone down like a lead balloon with voters.

This is the kind of political campaigning that reinforces people’s dislike of politics and politicians. It is the kind of politics that results in electoral turnouts such as the 36% that we have just seen for Hastings Borough Council, on 1 May.

Since I have been in post as the local Lib Dem parliamentary campaigner for Hastings & Rye, I have been willing to speak out against our MP when I think he has been wrong, or when I think he should have acted, or voted, differently in the interests of local people.

It is imperative that our elected representatives are held to account.

But I have not been, and will not get, personal about it.

I believe strongly that parliamentary candidates must be able to demonstrate their understanding of the needs of local people, as well as the skills that they will bring to the job if they are voted in.

Inequality is as much an electoral issue here in Hastings and Rye as anywhere else in the UK. But New Labour’s dog whistle to class warfare is not the way to start the debate, nor find the solutions for this social ill.

And let’s not forget that although the Margaret Thatcher’s Conservatives started the rot, levels of inequality have got worse under Labour’s watch.

The Labour Party should be ashamed of its campaign in Crewe & Nantwich. It not only does damage to their electoral prospects, but also to our national political life.

Lib Dems act to curb unfair hospital parking charges

Nick Perry, Lib Dem parliamentary campaigner for Hastings & Rye, has thrown his weight behind Lib Dem colleague John Pugh MP today.

John Pugh, MP for Southport, a seaside town in the North West, has put down an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons in an attempt to get hospital trusts to change the way they manage parking facilities.

The EDM highlights “the additional financial strain put on patients and their friends and relatives by increasing parking charges” and calls on hospital trusts to take action against excessive costs.

Nick said:

“I work in mental health services and am well aware of the exorbitant costs of hospital parking locally.

“Patients, visitors and staff are paying through the nose at the Conquest. It makes me sick. This is not quite an NHS free at the point of delivery.

“I hope that John’s motion is the beginning of a step-change in the way hospital parking facilities are organised.”

John Pugh MP added:

“These parking charges are out of order.

“It is unfair for local people to be forced to pay hundreds of pounds just to visit sick friends and relatives.”

[Please sign our petition via the button at the top of the blog!]

Hastings Tories stick two fingers up at the electorate

I can’t believe today’s news that the Hastings Tories have voted themselves in as a one-party Cabinet despite failing to achieve a majority in the recent elections.

Lib Dem Group Leader Cllr Richard Stevens was absolutely right to back the Labour motion seeking to establish an all-party Cabinet – reflecting the voting of 1 May.

The Tories are obviously taking liberties with their new-found popularity in the national polls.  But pride comes before a fall.  Hastings Tories had better be careful.  There is nowhere to hide now.  Bad governance won’t be anyone else’s fault. 

Watch this space. 

Vince is spot on about 10p tax compensation

Commenting on the Chancellor’s plans to compensate low paid workers who lost out when the 10p income tax rate was abolished, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, Vince Cable said:

“This Government’s tax policy has descended into a complete farce.

“The abolition of the 10p rate was designed to help Labour win the election that never was. Now this by-election budget is designed to help them cling on to Crewe in next week’s vote.

“The Chancellor is desperately trying to backtrack from the disastrous decisions of the Prime Minister but has still hasn’t managed to get it right. This u-turn leaves 1.1 million of the lowest paid workers losing up to £100 each.

“We can have no confidence in either a Prime Minister or a Chancellor who continue to make tax policy on the hoof, while still leaving the poorest out in the cold.”

Shouldn’t we get free Green Waste collection?

Sunday was the first day since November when I have managed to get my act together and try to do something about our garden.

The grass, to my shame, was nigh-on waist high. So I went to the big home care store at Bexhill industrial estate and got myself a strimmer.

When I had broken three of the six ‘extra strong lines’ that came with the strimmer, I decided to revert to the trusty old shears that my neighbour generously lent me and set about hacking my way through the lovely meadow flowers that I couldn’t convince my partner it would be a shame to get rid of!

Why am I boring you with my domestic arrangements?

Well the point I am trying to elaborate is that once I had given a bag of grass cuttings to the same lovely neighbour for his composter, and realised that all the ivy I had cut back from the fence doesn’t compost anyway, it began to dawn on me that what I really needed was a garden waste collection service and I wondered (and then researched) what Hastings Borough Council offers in this regard.

What I found out is that (if I am not able to compost for myself, and I am welcome to buy a discounted composter from East Sussex County Council) then I can join the local Garden Waste Collection scheme for the privilege of a £35 annual payment.

I know that not everyone is lucky enough to have a garden of their own. I do realise that to have one is a bonus. But with the rates of Council Tax locally, I had hoped (a wild hope possibly) that there might be some sort of scheme that would enable me to dispose of my garden waste in an environmentally friendly way without having to pay extra, or to travel to Pebsham Tip.

That this is not a service that is covered by my Council Tax is a matter of real disappointment. And having done some Googling today, I see that Lib Dem councils in Bournemouth and Eastbourne (from 2009) offer free green waste collection services. There may be others too.

If you have had any recent difficulties with issues of this kind, I would be glad to hear from you. Maybe we can lobby the Hastings Borough Council together to get a different outcome? There’s no more powerful way to change local policy than by a group of committed residents getting together and arguing their case. If it happens elsewhere in the country, then why not here?

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