Could Europe Finish Brown?

It used to be commonly accepted wisdom that there were no votes to be won on the issue of Europe only votes to be lost.

Brown appears to be proving the latter bit right. In my mind his decision not to call a referendum over the 'reform treaty' is helping to contribute to perceptions that he is deceitful and running scared. It can be no conincidence that an opinion poll in today's Independent gives the Conservatives an 8% lead over Labour, a week after he signed up to the treaty.

Also reported today is that the former French president Valry Giscard d'Estaing has ststed that key parts of the European constitution remain "practically unchanged" in
the new EU Reform Treaty, M. Giscard d'Estaing, one of the architects of the EU constitution, said that the central proposals of the rejected document had been retained in the new treaty.

We need a referendum on this treaty, and if Brown doesn't listen it looks like he will pay with his job (although possibly not until 2010)

East Surrey Hospital: Critical Condition.

For a good summary on the appalling state of East Surrey Hospital's management I recommend you look at the front page graphic of yesterday's Surrey Mirror.

The sooner local people can get more control from unaccountable quangos, the better.

Third Place not good enough for third party

Big words from Nick Clegg the Lib Dem leadership contender, who intends to come at least 2nd in the next General Election.

Given the Libs are currently polling at around 12% this seems to be fantasy land and in terms of managing expecations of his party an odd strategy. The main question is which of the main parties does he think they'll replace. Our local Liberal opposition certainly doesn't appear to have any realistic alternative proposals for running the council - assuming the national party is no different I can't see them managing to create clear yellow water between either the Conservatives or Labour Parties.

2 Years to fix a light

And counting.

There is a footbridge near my house which runs over the railway line. At night is is very dark and there are a lot of obstacles. According to one local resident, who asked me to take up the case, it has been broken for between 2 and 3 years. In that time he has been corresponding with the County Council to no avail. On his behalf I have tried to find out what is happening, but it still seems that it will take the County Council contractor and EDF Energy to be on site at the same time and seemingly that is an impossible task. A date has yet to be found.

Local residents will wait with interest to see if anything happens, but I for one am not holding my breath.

Hurst Green - What Concerns Us

So what are the main issues in Hurst Green at the moment? This was a question I was asked yesterday afternoon by a journalist new to one of the local papers.

Good Question. I didn't think that there was one overall answer but I said that the following are all subjects of interest to some local people:

The Ajax Fire and the proposals for redevelopment of that site are of interest, both to those living by the site and more generally as additional heavy traffic goods traffic along the Hurst Green and Holland Roads would be unwelcome.

Crime and anti-social behavior isn't too much of an issue, but big groups of kids hanging around on street corners can be intimidating and the riding of mini-motos on roads and in public spaces by a small minority is an accident waiting to happen.

Back garden developments continue to be an issue for those directly affected and the building of more and more homes without an consequent improvement to local infrastructure concerns many.

The extension of weekly recycling from the beginning of the month which now includes plastics has been positively received.

However, in terms of comments I am given, probably the biggest issue and this is common across the whole of East Surrey is the state of our local roads. Popes Lane remains a disgrace. It is an example that even when work is done the quality is sometimes substandard.

Ming Decides

You know when your party has become increasingly irrelevant when your leader resigns and it doesn't even make the front page of the Times. I feel sorry for the Lib Dems, but with the Iraq war no longer a big issue and resurrgent support for the Conservatives - there currently seems little point to a second left wing party in British politics and this is refelcted in their poll ratings 11-12% down from 23% in 2005. Perhaps a new leader will make a difference and give them a new direction.

Protecting Children from Harm

This was the reason Surrey Trading Standards gave for asking Tandridge District Council to add additional conditions to the Liquor licence held by Sainsbury's at Warlingham.

This followed a number of reports of children buying alcohol there, followed up by a Trading Standards 'sting' on the store when a volunteer under-age teenager was sent in to try to buy booze. The teenager was served.

We clearly need to protect our children from abusing alcohol, but reading the decision of the committee I was please to see the balance that was struck. Instead of taking away or suspending their licence the firm was forced to introduce a training programme to ensure staff know what to do - with proof required to be produced that the training has been completed. Hopefully this step will stop the under-aged sales without impacting on those who are old enough to buy it.

If local residents want to alert Surrey Trading Standards to any other shops that sell to children they can call 01372 371700

100 Day Premiership

Only with some distance from the events of Tuesday has it really dawned on me - Gordon Brown has no new ideas of his own and absolutely no new direction for the country. Tuesday's Comprehensive Spending Review should have been the opportunity to set out the strategic vision for the rest of his premiership (or at least for the next 5 years) - it being the result of a couple of years work in HMT and 10 years or brooding. Instead the main focus appeared to be on stealing Conservatives ideas on inheritance tax outlined only days before. The rest of it was just tinkering at the edges.

At the end of his first 100 days it looks like the Prime Minister has run out of steam. Labour look to be on catch-up for the rest of this Parliament with the Conservative Party setting the agenda.

The non-election fiasco was a mistake for Brown, but he would have recovered. In retrospect I think Tuesday's non-event CSR will be marked as the beginning of the end of his premiership.

Tandridge Council Tax Payers to Pay for Brown's Mismanagement

Buried within the documents produced by the Treasury this afternoon are some figures for local government spending. Despite giving councils more responsibilities, such as paying for free Bus passes for the elderly, Government grant will only go up by 1% (and that is in total). For councils like Tandridge where Government settlements have normally been worse than the average, we are looking at real reductions in Government funding - which will have to be met with higher taxes locally, cuts to services (or even more efficiency savings).

I think the - non-partisan- local government association put it best:
”This is the worst settlement for local government in a decade. Councils will continue to work hard for the people they serve but they face tough choices. The Chancellor’s announcement will mean above inflation rises in bills for council taxpayers and businesses, and there remains a black hole in funding for the care of the elderly.”

We are now all paying the price for the Prime Minister's profligate spending when the economy was doing well.

New Chancellor - Stolen Ideas

Two of the Chancellor's big pre-budget ideas were stolen from the Conservatives. The idea of taxing flights rather than passengers come straight from the Quality of Life Report while the move to increase the inheritance tax limit (albeit for married couples only) seems particularly hypocritical given Labour's reaction to George Osborne's more ambitious proposal last week.

Rockfield Road Flats - Appeal Dismissed

Local residents will be interested to know that an appeal by a developer who wished to build 20 flats on the site of West Heath on Rockfield Road has been dismissed.

While clearly the owners of West Heath will be disappointed with the result, I am sure that most of its neighbours will agree with the planning inspector's findings that the proposal was too large to be appropriate to the surrounding area and would adversely impact on quality of life of its immediate neighbours.

This is a good result, with an inappropriate back garden development being prevented form harming the character of Oxted and Hurst Green.

End to Brown Bounce

With the conference season over, and the PM's humiliating climbdown (see his interview with Andrew Marr) on the timing of the General Election we now seem to have seen a return to business as usual. With the News of the World reporting a Conservative lead of 6% in marginal seats and today's Sunday Times reporting a 3% lead overall, Labour's post Brown poll lead has evaporated. The Conservative Party are again setting the political agenda

With May 2009 likely (in my view) to be the date of the next election, I am now sure that this will be accompanied with a change in Prime Minister.

Fire 2

I called the Fire Brigade myself earlier this afternoon, but fire was out before they arrived!

Having taken my daughters to the playground off Mill Lane in Hurst Green we spotted smoke billowing from near the skateboard park on the King George Playing Fields. On investigating I found a bin was alight and some kids playing nearby on the skate ramp although they reported that it had been some older boys who had done the deed. At that point the bin was hot and smoking so I thought the only responsible thing to do was to call for help. Of course as soon I had done so the smoke started to subside so much that by the time the engine arrived complete with lights and two-tone horns there was not much to see.

In retrospect I still think I did the safe thing - even though it was a waste of time for all concerned. Should I have done any differently?

Fire 1

It was good to see reports that someone has been charged over the fire that destroyed the Ajax Factory in Hurst Green on June 17.

A 17 year old from Battersea has been sent by Redhill Magistrates for a Crown Court hearing. I hope this sends a cear message that those committing Arson will be caught.

Broken Promises

By announcing a cut in UK troop numbers deployed in Iraq, Gordon Brown has already broken one of his promises on becoming PM - to announce major policy decisions to Parliament before briefing the press.

You wouldn't have to be too much of a cynic to conclude that the timing - drawing the Conservative Party conference wasn't coincidental. An autumn election appears to draw ever closer.

The Fightback Begins Now

So said David Cameron yesterday at the start of the Conservative Party conference in Blackpool. And it wasn't just empty words - today George Osborne annouced that under a Conservative Government the threshhold for Inheritance Tax will increase to £1mn and first time buyers will not have to pay stamp duty on homes worth under £250,000.

I hope this will start to answer those critics who say that the current Conservative Party has no policies and is not Conservative enough.

Back to School

Weekly recycling in Oxted and Hurst Green starts tomorrow and as part of an awareness campaign Tandridge DC's recycling officer is touring local schools and talking to their pupils. I, along with other local councillors, was lucky to see him in action this morning at Hurst Green school where he took the assembly- together with two volunteers, dressed as Tandridge Ted and Tandridge Pete, who managed to be very energetic despite the warm costumes. The children appeared to love it, especially when they got to put into practice squashing plastic bottles to ensure that they could all fit in the blue bag.

Hopefully this new generation will help encourage their parents to get involved.

Any Tandridge resident who doesn't have a Green Box (for cans and glass bottles and jars) or a Blue Bag (for paper, card and plastic bottles), or would like an extra one, should contact Amenity Services on 01883 732988 or 01883 732982, e-mail Amenityservices@tandridge.gov.uk.

Warning - Distraction Burglars about

Oxted South residents should make sure that they do not let unexpected callers in unless they are very sure of their identities. Last week an elderly woman in Holland Road was burgled by two me posing as Water Board employees. When faced by a stranger on the doorstep always ask for ID, double check their authenticity with their employers and if in doubt refuse entry.