On Sunday, 17 August, I attended Valley Mills Allotment Society’s annual show at St. John’s Primary School.  I was extremely impressed by the exhibits of vegetables and cakes all grown or made by society members.  In addition, I was very interested to see that floral art is still very much alive and well in Nelson, with some truly excellent examples on show.  Also of particular interest to me, was the photography competition, with all entries being of a very high standard.  I was joined by Pendle’s Prospective Conservative Member of Parliament Andrew Stephenson and Cllr George Askew, both of whom were equally impressed by the very high standards being achieved and maintained by society members.  From my own standpoint it was very heartening to see that local people still take a very active interest in horticulture, floral art, jam-making and cake decorating.  My congratulations to society members for their continued hard work in growing such high quality local produce, and for the very warm welcome we received.

Full marks to Mr. Kevin Hey of Colne for his wonderfully witty letter about the current state of affairs in this country, I was greatly amused by much of the content of your letter Mr. Hey.  I found it very amusing that you should liken the Prime Minister, Deputy Labour Leader, Chancellor of the Exchequer and various East Lancashire MPs to the flight crew of a stricken geriatric jetliner (there are a few aircraft types which would fit the bill, but I won’t bore you with them).  For some reason, I thought back to the wonderfully emotive story of the heroic crew of Air Canada Flight 143 (aka ”The Gimli Glider”) when I read Mr. Hey’s letter.  The parallels between Captain Brown and First Officer Harman and Air Canada’s Captain Pearson and First Officer Quintal couldn’t be more marked.  The brilliant Air Canada pilots guided their crippled (and almost brand-new) Boeing 767 to a safe emergency landing after the aircraft had completely exhausted its fuel supply in flight, I somehow have grave doubts as to whether Captain Brown and First Officer Harman could do that.   

The debate opened by Pendle’s Prospective Conservative MP, Andrew Stephenson regarding the Post Office Card Account has me fixated at the present time.  I’m fixated by the fact that the secretary of Pendle Labour Party has taken it upon himself to oppose the continuation of a scheme which is of vital importance in rural areas, given that we have a large number of villages in Pendle, this perplexes me.  What exactly is Mr. Foat attempting to prove?  That he and his party are more out of touch with reality than we thought?  This comes at a time when we have already seen the closure of no fewer than 16 local Post Offices throughout Pendle. I’m in complete agreement with Andrew and County and Borough Councillor Mike Calvert when they say we must retain both the POCA and village post offices to help people in rural areas have proper access to financial and banking services.

The news that County and Borough Councillor Nawaz Ahmed has joined the Labour Party has further weakened the Liberal Democrats’ grip on power in Pendle.  Since January, the Liberal Democrats have been haemorraging members to both the Conservatives and Labour at what must be a horrendous rate for them. 

Pendle Conservatives have gained 10 new members at the expense of the Lib Dems, the most significant being Sajjad Karim MEP and former Whitefield Councillor Mahboob Ahmed, Mr. Karim has said that he no longer felt at home in the Lib Dems, and had no choice but to work closely with the Conservative group in the European Parliament in order to achieve his agenda of free trade for all.  The fact that Mr. Karim felt out of place in a party which would appear to be operated locally by one man, and one man alone brings everything home to those of us who have serious difficulty with much of the Liberal programme for Pendle.

The Labour Party has benefited from former Liberal Democrat Councillor Jamil Munir and now County Councillor Nawaz Ahmed joining their ranks.  It really does say something when County Cllr Ahmed laments that his former party spends more time arguing among itself than attending to the needs of Pendle’s residents.  It is of great concern to me personally when County Cllr Ahmed goes on to say that he is saddened that the Lib Dems are putting their own personal interests ahead of local people, I have held suspicions that certain leading members of the Lib Dems are placing their own interests ahead of those of the citizens of Pendle for quite some time, and County Cllr Ahmed has merely confirmed my thoughts by what he’s said to the local press this week.

Pendle’s Liberal Democrats must be feeling very sore at losing the number of members they have, but I must remind them that in politics, you reap what you sow, and what comes goes around comes around.

Pendle Conservatives’ Colne Branch held a very successful and enjoyable Coffee Morning on Saturday, 16 August at the Crown Hotel in Colne.  The event gave everyone an opportunity to catch up with each other and discuss current events both nationally and here in Pendle.  The event raised £140, and was most enjoyable.  Members present at the event included Pendle’s Prospective Conservative MP Andrew Stephenson, Conservative Group Leader Cllr Tony Beckett, Pendle Conservative Chairman Cllr Linda Crossley and our Agent and Party Organiser Cllr George Askew.  Many, many thanks to the team at the Crown and colleagues in Colne for organising such a superb event.

The United Kingdom is a country where personal freedom is under threat as never before, under threat because the authorities and those in government wish to control us and dictate what we do, where we go and what we should think.  I write this as someone who stands on the libertarian wing of the Conservative Party, and as someone who believes that freedom of the individual is paramount in a modern democratic society like the one we are alleged to live in.

The sad reality is that the government’s legislative programme which is alleged to make us safer from terrorist and criminal attack has ended up infringing the rights of individuals to pursue their hobbies and leisure pursuits.  I read with dismay in a photographic magazine recently that an amateur photographer had been arrested for taking photographic images of fire and police officers in attendance at a cricket club fire in Harrow.  The photographer was arrested on the grounds that he was “breaching national security” in taking photographs at what was the scene of an arson attack.  Fortunately, the gentleman concerned has had the allegations against him swept away, and the police have admitted they were wrong to have arrested him.  One of my own hobbies is photography, and I am understandably worried to take photographs in public places or of public buildings heaven forbid that the state decides that I’m undertaking research for some sort of shadowy subversive or terrorist organisation and I end up being arrested on some completely unfounded and irrelevant suspicion of “wrongdoing.”

Similarly, freedom of speech and expression is under threat from the state-sponsored thought police as never before.  A friend was recently arrested for alleged harrassment for making one too many freedom of information requests to the offices of a cabinet minister related to the activities and funding of a charity run by a member of that minister’s staff.  Said member of staff just happens to be a borough councillor and the chairman of the District Assembly in the area that the charity claims to benefit.  It would apparently be quite inappropriate to request information related to the activities of an organisation being run by someone who holds public office, and it would also appear to be wrong of someone to attempt to hold a local councillor to account for his actions.  Admittedly, the friend in question writes a blog which has in the past been highly critical of both the member of parliament, council and councillor concerned, but is simply requesting information under the Freedom of Information Act a criminal offence?  I think not, the reality is that many of those who hold the reins of power in this country believe they are above criticism, and that anyone who dares criticise them or question their integrity is either a raving lunatic or more likely, an enemy of the state.

The stark truth of the matter is that the increasingly powerful state machine will stop at nothing to get what it wants, legislation is introduced to parliament in the alleged name of national security, the reality is that with each and every new piece of such legislation, the state and its protagonists seek to undermine and subvert basic personal freedoms.  The law is being manipulated by those in power to make the population as a whole live in blind servility to both the current ruling political elite and the system they have created.  We need to roll back the frontiers of the state, not further increase them.  We need a new and common sense approach to ensuring people’s freedom, I believe it’s time we had a written constitution complete with a full bill of rights in Britain, enshrined in law as inalienable and absolute, a constitution which sets out what the state can and cannot do, and most importantly removes the spectre of the police state from our lives once and for all.

The cost of living in Britain is becoming unbearable for a great many people in our society, and what makes it worse is that the government and the Prime Minister in particular appear to be completely oblivious to the perils caused by this critical economic issue.

Since the current Prime Minister took office, price rises can be summed-up as follows:

Butter                  +23p

Spirits                 +55p

Cheese                +99p

Eggs                    +22p

Wine                    +14p

Bread                   +14p

Milk                     +6p

Beer                     +4p

These are only examples, but with the huge rise in the cost of petrol and diesel, household energy bills and the fiasco over the 10p tax band, is it any wonder why ordinary working people are struggling to make ends meet?  Pay rises for the vast majority of local people are limited and jobs are under pressure owing to the uncertain economic climate, yet the government remains totally oblivious to the pressures household budgets are under.  The grim reality is that the government are planning yet more tax raids on the hard-working people of Pendle, this evil tax whack will be focused on family cars.  If you drive a car such as a Citroen Xantia, Ford Mondeo, Nissan Primera, Peugeot 406, Renault Laguna, Rover 75, Toyota Avensis, Vauxhall Vectra or VW Passat over 5 years old, then the government wants to double your road tax.  This retrospective tax hike will take the cost of taxing a family saloon or estate up to as much as £245 per year, quite how the Chancellor expects families already hit by the rising cost of living to fund this is anyone’s guess.  This move is grossly unfair and just another scheme that enables the government to rip off the hard-working and long-suffering British taxpayer.

I was reading the comments made by Pendle’s Labour MP, Mr Gordon Prentice in last Friday’s Nelson Leader regarding the future of the Prime Minister as leader of the Labour Party with a great deal of interest.  Whilst I can understand the feelings expressed by Mr. Prentice, I would completely and wholeheartedly agree with the comments made by Pendle’s Prospective Conservative MP, Andrew Stephenson related to the issue of another Labour Prime Minister.  Mr. Stephenson hits the nail right on the head when he says that it’s not an issue of who leads the Labour Party and Labour Party members being given the right to vote on who should be their next leader and Prime Minister.  Mr. Stephenson very correctly makes the observation that it should be the public who decide who leads our country and not purely members of the Labour Party.  

Should there be another leadership change in the Labour Party, then that person should have the courage and decency to go to the country to seek a mandate to govern.  This is the only way the public will have the opportunity to decide who governs our country.  Come along Mr. Prentice, you can’t go further wrong than that, or are you becoming increasingly desperate to save your own skin?  Or is it a case of you thinking ”We’re all Doomed Captain” out loud?

The plans to build a nursing home on allotment land at the junction of Bracewell Street and Fletcher Street were discussed at the Town Council meeting on 29 July.  I, along with Cllr Latif raised concerns about the loss of more green space and allotment land and the pressure on the streets around the site with regard to access and car parking.  The issue of access is of particular importance owing not only to the significant amount of residential properties in the vicinity, but the relatively close proximity of the site to Walverden County Primary School and the potential increase in traffic levels in the Bracewell Street area.  Whilst I do appreciate the economic “benefits” of the scheme espoused by Cllr Mahmood, I believe the environmental considerations should certainly not be ignored, along with the potential traffic congestion issues on narrow residential streets.  I am greatly concerned by the continued desire to build on allotment land, as I greatly appreciate the pride and enthusiasm the plotholders take in the work they do on their allotments in growing fruit and vegetables.

Nelson Town Council met on 29 July, during the meeting, the council chairman, Cllr George Adam informed concillors that the process of selecting candidates for interview for the position of Town Clerk was well underway.  Cllr Adam also informed the meeting that interviews would take place on 11 August, and that these would be conducted by himself, Cllr Brian Parker, chairman of the working group and Mr Philip Mousdale, currently acting clerk and an executive director of Pendle Borough Council.  The committee structure already outlined has been accepted by members.

I personally will be a member of the Planning and Finance and General Purposes committees.  The next meeting of the Town Council will take place on 27 August in the Wilson Room at Nelson Town Hall at 7pm.

Interesting isn’t it how the Prime Minister goes on television again this week to remind the nation that he’s “getting on with the job”?  It’s also becoming a force of habit for Mr. Brown to use this comment as a diversion when his party have taken a beating at the ballot box.  Labour aren’t having a good time of it lately, first the local elections, when they polled the fewest number of votes of any of the main parties here in Pendle and elsewhere.  Then came the Crewe and Nantwich by-election, a wonderful win for Edward Timpson with a huge swing to the Conservatives.  Followed up by the Henley by-election where Labour trailed in fifth and lost their deposit.  Next came the Howden and Haltemprice by-election, Labour didn’t even manage to field a candidate against the highly principled and respected David Davis.  Then came the council by-election in Park Ward in Blackpool, a Conservative victory for Peter Collins with a majority of over 500 in what was previously a solid Labour area.   This week it was the turn of the good citizens of Glasgow East who voted for a Scottish Nationalist to be their Member of Parliament in what had been one of Labour’s “safest” seats. 

What is becoming increasingly obvious is that people all over Britain are becoming fed up with the current government, and they are looking for meaningful change.  The government are sending out signals of being in office but out of ideas and of being devoid of rational thought, things have become so bad that people on their own side are looking to replace their leader.  This isn’t a good long-term proposition for either the people of Pendle or the country as a whole.  People deserve a government with a clear and cohesive programme for the future, the general election can’t come soon enough.