I was fortunate enough to visit both days of the Southend Airshow and what a fantastic event it was. Undoubtably the stars of the show were the Red Arrows but there were a couple of changes which for me helped the event.
Switching the days to the Saturday and Sunday from the traditional Sunday and Monday was a huge success as was having the aircraft displays from 2pm-5pm instead of over four and a half hours. For me it helped with the continuity of the event.
This was the 26th Airshow and hopefully still going strong.
Monday, 30 May 2011
Musings? More like Misgivings
Prominant Southend Labour Party activist Julian Ware-Lane's blog is always worth a good read and has some thought provoking posts like the excellent one on Anne Chalk. Like myself Julian is qualified football referee but where we differ is that he is an old Socialist.
Sometimes political dogma can get in the way of reasoned and sensible judgement. I mean, would any person not weighed down by dogma seriously advocate helping the lazy as Julian advocates?
Sometimes political dogma can get in the way of reasoned and sensible judgement. I mean, would any person not weighed down by dogma seriously advocate helping the lazy as Julian advocates?
The Missing St Lukes Councillor
A spat has broken out this week following Southend Council leader Nigel Holdcroft's revelation on his blog that newly elected Independent Party councillor Paul Van looy face will not be seen many times at the Civic Centre next year.
The story then went viral after it was published in an edition of last weeks Echo. With alarming predictability the Independent Party 'leader' Martin Terry rushed to his defence.
Without going over the rights and wrongs, I would like to pose one question to the residents of St Lukes, do they think Cllr Van Looy costing them approximately £840 per meeting is good value for his representation?
Thought not...
The story then went viral after it was published in an edition of last weeks Echo. With alarming predictability the Independent Party 'leader' Martin Terry rushed to his defence.
Without going over the rights and wrongs, I would like to pose one question to the residents of St Lukes, do they think Cllr Van Looy costing them approximately £840 per meeting is good value for his representation?
Thought not...
The hunt is Over
After 16 years the hunt for Europe's most wanted man is finally over. General Ratko Mladic was the Bosnian Serb army chief throughout the Bosnian war - and the man many hold responsible for the worst atrocities in that bloody conflict.
Along with the Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic, he came to symbolise the Serb campaign of ethnic cleansing of Croats and Muslims. Ratko Mladic was ferocious in pursuit of what he saw as the destiny of the Serb nation. He oversaw the siege and bombardment of Sarajevo, in which 12,000 died.
He was a pioneer of the technique known as ethnic cleansing. Hundreds of thousands of non-Serbs were driven from their homes in the brutal campaign to create an ethnically pure Serb state in Croatia and Bosnia and he commanded the men who murdered at least 7,500 Bosnian Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica in 1995.
When I worked for NatWest some years back I used to work with a guy who was part of the UN Peacekeeping Forces in Bosnia and he claimed that some of the acts that he witnessed were so horrific that they will haunt him for the rest of his life and he was powerless to stop it.
Let us hope that Mladic is brought to justice for war crimes quickly at The Hague.
Along with the Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic, he came to symbolise the Serb campaign of ethnic cleansing of Croats and Muslims. Ratko Mladic was ferocious in pursuit of what he saw as the destiny of the Serb nation. He oversaw the siege and bombardment of Sarajevo, in which 12,000 died.
He was a pioneer of the technique known as ethnic cleansing. Hundreds of thousands of non-Serbs were driven from their homes in the brutal campaign to create an ethnically pure Serb state in Croatia and Bosnia and he commanded the men who murdered at least 7,500 Bosnian Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica in 1995.
When I worked for NatWest some years back I used to work with a guy who was part of the UN Peacekeeping Forces in Bosnia and he claimed that some of the acts that he witnessed were so horrific that they will haunt him for the rest of his life and he was powerless to stop it.
Let us hope that Mladic is brought to justice for war crimes quickly at The Hague.
Resigning is an Honourable Thing to do....
It was sad to see my old stomping ground of Tottenham and Haringey Council hitting the headlines again this week for all the wrong reasons.
Sharon Shoesmith, the infamous director in charge of Childrens Services at Haringey Council at the time of Baby P's death won her case of unfair dismissal at the Court of Appeal when she was sacked live on TV by formoer minister Ed Balls.
Enough has been said and written about the Baby P case which I do not want to go over but can not help feeling that the case of Sharon Shoesmith should never have gone this far.
Like the leader of the council and portfolio holder did at the time, Sharon Shoesmith should have done the honourable thing and resigned.
Sharon Shoesmith, the infamous director in charge of Childrens Services at Haringey Council at the time of Baby P's death won her case of unfair dismissal at the Court of Appeal when she was sacked live on TV by formoer minister Ed Balls.
Enough has been said and written about the Baby P case which I do not want to go over but can not help feeling that the case of Sharon Shoesmith should never have gone this far.
Like the leader of the council and portfolio holder did at the time, Sharon Shoesmith should have done the honourable thing and resigned.
Saturday, 21 May 2011
The Past Week
As a belated birthday present, Mrs Cox and Miss Cox treated me to a week away at my favourite holiday destination - Cornwall.
Whilst I have been away, I am delighted to have been asked to serve in the cabinet for another year as portfolio holder for Public Protection, Waste and Transport - a position that I have accepted.
During our stay, it is always nice to visit my favourite place St Michael's Mount but also spent a few hours in the surfing capital Newquay. This was an interesting visit for a number of reasons but also for its new shared space area in the High Street.
It was busy and the scheme resembles the new City Beach and Victoria Circus schemes. Newquay is a vibrant resort which attracts many young revellers as well as many day visitors.
It was interesting to observe the behaviours of both the pedestrians and motorists in this area. The shared space idea seemed to working very well and some of the locals that I spoke to were very receptive to the scheme which has been in place for nearly two years.
It seems that the shared space concept is an idea which is being implemented by many local authorities. There has been many column inches written about City Beach and Victoria Circus. As these are new schemes in their infancy it is important to let them bed in. As the new portfolio holder for transport I am aware of the issues raised about these schemes and will be monitoring these over the next few weeks.
Whilst I have been away, I am delighted to have been asked to serve in the cabinet for another year as portfolio holder for Public Protection, Waste and Transport - a position that I have accepted.
During our stay, it is always nice to visit my favourite place St Michael's Mount but also spent a few hours in the surfing capital Newquay. This was an interesting visit for a number of reasons but also for its new shared space area in the High Street.
It was busy and the scheme resembles the new City Beach and Victoria Circus schemes. Newquay is a vibrant resort which attracts many young revellers as well as many day visitors.
It was interesting to observe the behaviours of both the pedestrians and motorists in this area. The shared space idea seemed to working very well and some of the locals that I spoke to were very receptive to the scheme which has been in place for nearly two years.
It seems that the shared space concept is an idea which is being implemented by many local authorities. There has been many column inches written about City Beach and Victoria Circus. As these are new schemes in their infancy it is important to let them bed in. As the new portfolio holder for transport I am aware of the issues raised about these schemes and will be monitoring these over the next few weeks.
Thursday, 12 May 2011
New Civic Year
Today was the annual council in which the mayor is elected into office and the leader of the council is elected.
Southend has a tradition whereby its Mayor's are decided by length of service which allows opposition members to become Mayor and not a privilege of the ruling party.
The outgoing May was Cllr Ann Holland who had a successful year by raising the profile of Southend locally, nationally and internationally.
The incoming Mayor is long serving Labour Victoria ward councillor David Norman. David is a rare type of politician who is by far the best speaker in the chamber and a real gentleman to. It is a tragic that a politician of David's calibre did not not make it onto the green benches of Parliament.
I wish David every success as Southend's first citizen
Southend has a tradition whereby its Mayor's are decided by length of service which allows opposition members to become Mayor and not a privilege of the ruling party.
The outgoing May was Cllr Ann Holland who had a successful year by raising the profile of Southend locally, nationally and internationally.
The incoming Mayor is long serving Labour Victoria ward councillor David Norman. David is a rare type of politician who is by far the best speaker in the chamber and a real gentleman to. It is a tragic that a politician of David's calibre did not not make it onto the green benches of Parliament.
I wish David every success as Southend's first citizen
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