An Almighty Clock-Up

Last Saturday the clocks went back...sorry, what did you say? It should have been Sunday? Well I know that, you know that. Unfortunately for some, Sutton Council's Parking Services didn't. Eighteen parking meters had their clocks turned back during Saturday resulting in at least one resident who had to spend extra on another ticket.

When the Lead Councillor for Parking Services , Colin Hall, was discussing the matter with two of our councillors on Tuesday in the Civic Offices, it had to be pointed out to him that the clock in the room had not been changed a full three days after British Summertime had finished.

The parking mistake is not the first. Fifty three parking tickets were issued on New Year's Day after Councillor Hall had assured residents that parking charges would not be levied on public holidays.

Salisbury Road Orchard Reprieve

As many residents in the Salisbury Road and Carshalton Park Road area will know, the site of 32a Salisbury Road was an orchard. I have written before how the open green space created by the layout of neighbouring gardens has maintained this heritage. The recent application to build four houses on it has been rejected. Although I wrote to neighbours a little while ago, it is worth detailing the reasons for refusal in order to combat similar inappropriate developments:-

(1) The proposals by reason of plot size, scale and building form would be out of keeping with the prevailing character of the surrounding residential area, and be harmful to its character and appearance. The application is therefore contrary to Policies BE1, and HSG1 of the Sutton Unitary Development Plan.
(2) The proposed development by reason of its scale and backland siting, would have an adverse effect on the amenities and outlook currently enjoyed by neighbouring residents contrary to policies BE14, BE18 and HSG1 of the Sutton Unitary Development Plan.
(3) The drawing no(s). relating to this decision is/are LBS01, SR-1-102, SR-1-103, SR-1-104, Design and Access Statement.
(4) The proposed development would provide a poor standard of accommodation for future occupiers through the likely substandard size of proposed bedrooms, bathrooms, and living/dining/kitchen areas, contrary to Supplementary Planning Guidance 7 - Internal Housing Standards.
(5) The proposed development would lead to an increase in traffic movements to and from the existing rear access with substandard width, inadequate geometry and layout, which would cause danger and inconvenience to all users of the proposed access. The application is therefore contrary to policies TR21 and TR29 of the Sutton Unitary Development Plan, and Supplementary Planning Guidance 12 - Design for the Layout of New Streets.

The applicants are able to appeal to the Planning Inspectorate in Bristol so the battle is not yet over. Thanks to everyone who sent their objections to the Council.

BBC Should Have Gone To Specsavers

In the week that Political Correctness came to Sutton, the BBC showed that they still had what it takes. The newspapers have been covering the story of the sacking of Peter Fincham, the BBC Executive who has been made scapegoat for the dodgy editing of the documentary about the Queen. Speculation suggestst that he has taken the rap for the most senior woman at the BBC, Jana Bennett, Director of Vision.

Why has no-one asked the obvious question which is what on earth is a Director of Vision? Since the BBC is still largely a television company, I would have thought the vision thing would have been a given. Oh well, someone ask the monkey.

Keynote Speaker at UKIP Conference

Whilst I'm enjoying some partisan party politics, someone sent me this clip from last week's UKIP party conference. Not sure about the bit when he claims that UKIP MEP, Godfrey Bloom stood on his head but at least he was allowed to say his bit. Hurrah for freedom of speech.

Save Our Seats

This table appeared on Electoral Calculus yesterday. This is a website that averages out recent polls to make a prediction on how many seats would be won at a General Election.

Maybe it was the dismal news for the LibDems that led to this

call for reinforcements?

Surely, I'm allowed a political free hit every now and again?

Totem Pole Caption Competition

You may have seen this competition featured on the front page of last week's Sutton Guardian or in my last ward newsletter.

Regular readers will know that the totem poles are my pet subject with £23,000 of taxpayers' money (via landfill tax credits not council tax, but taxpayers' money nonetheless) wasted on public art looking out of place opposite a hospital that is in danger of closure through a lack of cash. At the last council meeting we were told that we shouldn't refer to them as Totem Poles for fear of offending Indigenous North American natives.

Imaginary offence to North American Indians is not a reason to rename them. Maybe the fact that they haven't got a series of heads sitting on top of each other is reason enough. Let me know what they should be called. The best entry as judged by me wins a bottle of House of Commons Whisky signed by David Cameron. Send your entries to totempolesATscully.org.uk (substitute the AT for the usual sign, I don't want a whole load of spam in the meantime.) Leave a suggestion or two in the comments section as well.

Burma Updated

On the day that people marched through Westminster to continue the protests against the atrocities against peaceful demonstrators in Burma, an article went up on the Sutton Guardian website about my experience at the Burmese Embassy at the end of September. I am very grateful to journalist Heather Darlington and the Sutton Guardian to diverting from their normal diet of local news to highlight such an event. You can read the article here.

I edited my previous video in a hurry before rushing to Blackpool so I have re-edited it with better sound. You can watch it here. Finally whilst I'm linking to everyone, have a quick scoot around the Burma Campaign UK website to see how you can add your voice.

Farage Joins Cameron's Conservatives?

Iain Dale reports that Sam Farage, son of UKIP leader and MEP Nigel, has joined Exeter University branch of Conservative Future. One sensible chap in the family then.

One Brown Bottler Sitting On The Wall

Gordon Brown hasn't exactly covered himself in glory this week. Having just published a book called "Courage", he chooses not to show any himself in ducking an election.

It has been an unedifying sight to see the Prime Minister allow election fever to continue in the media and in Westminster when he could have snuffed it out weeks ago. His trip to Iraq during the Tory Party Conference was nothing but electioneering as illustrated by the announcement that he was bringing 1000 soldiers home, depite the fact that 500 of these had already been announced and 270 were already home. The following day he "opened" a new medical centre in Basildon that had, in fact, opened three months earlier.

He has now alienated many journalists as evidenced by ITN's Daisy McAndrew telling viewers that GB had called his "pet interviewer" (Andrew Marr) into No. 10 to tell him that there would be no election. In this interview he assures us that he never meant to have an election all along and that the polls showing a 7% swing in a single week, had no bearing on his decision. These polls included one for the News of the World showing the Conservatives ahead in the marginal seats that will swing an election. He has spent the first 100 days trying to show himself as a Statesman, dealing with admittedly difficult situations such as the terror attacks, the floods and foot and mouth. However he has undone this work in a few crazy days, when he has shown that when push comes to shove, he is just another politico that wants to play party politics. Unlike the previous situations, his love of party politics meant that he found himself like a child in a sweet shop unable to resist the temptation.

Two things shine out from this debacle. Firstly, if the PM can treat the truth and therefore the public with such disdain and condescension what will he be doing when it comes to other serious state affairs. Secondly, he has confirmed what those in Westminster knew, that he is cautious to the point of losing his best opportunity to win. This happened in 1994 when he did not contest the Labour leadership after the untimely death on John Smith and haunted him through the Blair years. The Conservative Party now has plenty of time to complete its policy review and come up with a comprehensive plan for change over and above the excellent proposals for cutting Inheritance Tax and Stamp Duty. Things won't be getting any better for Gordon.

The Resignation Is In The Post

So, the postal strike by the Communication Workers Union (CWU) began today against modernisation of the postal service. The Royal Mail loses 5p per letter delivered but the unions want to keep their heads in the sand. Instead of efficiency savings, the net result is further cuts in Post Offices hitting the elderly and those in rural areas hardest.

I daresay, the same people will be selling copies of the Socialist Worker that I saw at the protest outside the Burmese Embassy. It was indicative of their headstrong failure to keep a sense of reality that they failed to see the irony of the fact that we were protesting against a socialist dictatorship.

Meanwhile Bob Crow is still flexing his muscles with his London Underground colleagues and the Local Government Pay award has not been agreed. Should be an interesting winter.

Picture: Beau Bo D'Or

Business Questions

Last Monday, I sat on a panel for a Business Question Time session organised by Sutton Council and Sutton Business Forum. The other panellists were local MPs Paul Burstow and Tom Brake, council leader Sean Brennan and Roger Mills, MD of Newsquest, the publishers of the Sutton Guardian.

Although it wasn't the bearpit of television's Question Time, there were clear differences in our approach to Sutton High Street. Tom Brake advocated taxing the pubs on the High Street. Whereas I believe that it is a good idea for the businesses to take on more responsibility in keeping their neighbourhood safe and tidy, simply taxing them smacks of the politics of envy. He explained weakly that the large pub chains make a massive profit, they could afford it. This fails to take into account that such a move only perpetuates these faceless corporations making our town centres identikit High Streets. How would a single landlord survive such a move? Back to the drawing board for that policy, Tom.

Shoulder to Shoulder with Burma

On Friday I went to the Burmese Embassy in London to stand alongside exiles and ex-pat Burmese to protest at the brutal treatment of those protestors in Rangoon, the Burmese capital. I have never been to a demo before. Despite the many campaigns that I feel passionate about that have held demonstrations, I have never got up off my comfy chair to join them. Regular readers will remember that one of my first articles was about Burma. As the son of a man who came to this country from Rangoon to make a future for himself, I simply must do everything and anything that I can to support the people that have helped shape who I am.

From the days when my grandfather was in charge of the "scorch and burn" policy on Rangoon docks, destroying the ships and infrastructure that he had worked on for so many years to keep them from Japanese control in the Second World War to the detention of a family friend in Insein jail for four years with no charge or offence committed, the stories that I have been brought up with would make some reading. This having been said, all of my uncles and aunts are united about one thing; their childhood was an incredibly happy one. The memories of the excitement of childhood in a pleasant and prosperous city just make the pictures of the destruction of their birthplace all the more distressing. Just remember that this has been going on for over forty years. Whilst most people only know Burma from war films, a country that is rich in resources previously with one of the most educated populations in South East Asia has been reduced to penury, declared as the least developed country in the world and suffers systematic genocide. Still the United Nations remains impotent and useless thanks to the Chinese and Russians who sell weapons to the regime and other countries like South Africa who voted against a UN resolution earlier this year. This cynical move was to push a point home about the United Nations in general rather than anything about Burma. Yet it condemned thousands of people to further torture, imprisonment and death. If only the South Africans could see the people from Chin State that have been repeatedly stabbed before being thrown into salt water or the Karen people that have been gang-raped in front of their families before the men were killed and their villages razed to the ground.

Please spend a few minutes to watch the video. YouTube, blogging and mobile phones have made possible the pictures that we see on the news. I have had contact from someone in Thailand about my previous article. This blog was started and the prime purpose remains to make Carshalton central but we cannot underestimate the power of communication reaching across the world from our small part of South London. Several of the people that I spoke to had heard from people in Rangoon over the last few days including one man featured on the film who could hear the shots of automatic weapons over the phone as he spoke. I am so pleased that I went. The impact that it made on me was enormous, witnessing at first hand the passion and solidarity of the campaigners there and the calm of the Buddhist monks who led prayers shook me to the core.

Go to the Burma Campaign website and see what you can do. A little time from you will make an enormous contribution to the people of this country that is so often forgotten. If you have a profile on Facebook you can offer your support here. I dearly want to visit Rangoon, there are still members of my extended family there. But I cannot until the military dictatorship is removed and Burma is reclaimed from the tyrants.

Blogging Award

Iain Dale has published a guide to political blogging. Thanks to your votes, I am featured as the 155th best political blog in the UK. Never have I been so chuffed at being 155th at anything. I'll keep on working at it and, who knows, might reach the dizzy heights of 154th next year.

Who Do You Think You Are Kidding, Mr Brown...

The Sun reacted to Gordon Brown's speech in their usual unmatched style and wit. This "Dad's Army" graphic says it all.

In case you can't read it, the "What They Said" section reads:-

'The substance of the Constitution is preserved. That is a fact.' Angela Merkel, German Chancellor.

'We have not let a single substantial point of the Constitutional Treaty go. This is a project of foundational character, a treaty for a new Europe.' Jose Zapatero, Spanish PM.

'90 per cent of it is still there. These changes haven't made any dramatic changes to the substance of what was agreed back in 2004.' Bertie Ahern, Irish Taoiseach.

'Only cosmetic changes were made and the basic document remains the same.' Vaclav Klaus, Czech President.

'There's nothing from the original institutional package that has been changed.' Astrid Thars, Finnish Europe Minister.

'The good thing is...that all of the symbolic elements have gone, and that which really matters - the core - is left.' Anders Fogh Rassmusen, Danish PM.

'The original treaty for a Constitution was maintained in substance.' Austrian Government website.

'The new treaty takes up the most important elements of the constitutional project.' Guy Verhofstadt, Belgian PM.

Despite this, Gordon Brown insists that the treaty is very different and is prepared to break his manifesto commitment by denying the British people a chance to have their say in a referendum. He insists that his red herrings lines were met. These happen to be the same red lines that were drawn in the original constitutional negotiations.

At the time of writing, 99,332 people have signed up to the Daily Telegraph petition demanding a referendum on the EU Constitution Treaty. You can join them here.


7,683 have joined in with the Sun's version here.

No New Hospital for Sutton

Recently, councillors and MPs received a letter from the NHS explaining the fact that having spent millions on deciding where to build a new hospital, we wouldn't get one after all. Instead St Helier will see more buildings crammed on the fast disintegrating site. It looks as though maternity will move wholesale to St Helier with improved women's and children's services. A redesigned A&E is far too vague for my liking.

Conservative Parliamentary Candidates, Ken Andrew (Carshalton & Wallington) and Philippa Stroud (Sutton & Cheam) have called for:-

• Clarity in stating when the Trust will be free of its current crippling debt, so that it can concentrate on having a new hospital built in St Helier.
• An absolute commitment that Sutton Hospital will continue to provide community healthcare.
• Support for the Royal Marsden to develop their site and enable them to continue to be respected as world leaders in the care and cure of cancer patients.

Here's the letter in full.

Dear Colleague,
We are shortly to begin the next round of stakeholder briefings on the progress the programme has made over the summer and what the next steps will be. I wanted to give you advance notice of the position we shall be setting out to stakeholders, and Mark Easton, the Better Healthcare Programme Director, will
be following up this letter with telephone calls to your offices to book a conversation with you.

As far as the development of the general hospital is concerned, we have received a report demonstrating that a totally new built hospital on either the Sutton or St Helier sites now looks to be unaffordable under the NHS capital regime. The margin of unaffordability is such that there is no prospect of bridging
the gap.

We have also looked at a mixed new build and refurbishment option at St Helier, moving most bed and outpatient facilities into a new building replacing Fergusson House, and upgrading the main building. The cost of this option would be less than new build, and while there is still an affordability gap, it is much less than other options we have looked at.

All these options have been modelled on the assumption that Epsom hospital becomes a large local care centre as previously envisaged by the programme. However, Surrey Primary Care Trust has confirmed its intention to go to public consultation on its Fit for the Future programme in late September, subject to
South East Coast Strategic Health Authority's quality assurance. As a result of the Fit for the Future acute commissioning intentions, Surrey PCT will not be formally consulting, at this point, on any changes at Epsom hospital.

In addition, at its recent board meeting, the PCT took the decision to join the forthcoming London-wide consultation on Professor Sir Ara Darzi's report Healthcare for London: A Framework for Action which is expected to begin this November. The board took that decision to ensure that the views of Surrey
residents, in particular those around the Epsom area, are heard in regard to
London's healthcare services.

In parallel with the work being taken forward on A Framework for Action Surrey PCT, Sutton and Merton PCT and Epsom and St Helier NHS Trust have agreed to work together to develop options for changes to maternity and paediatrics on both sites, in an open and transparent way with staff, patients, members of the
public and yourselves.

While questions remain about patient flows from Epsom the final size and content of both sites will remain uncertain. We are therefore following the principle of moving forward as quickly as we can on the elements of the Better Healthcare Programme that we can progress.

We are not commissioning further work on the new build options for the general hospital and we are concentrating on coming up with the right solution for improving St Helier hospital. This would need to be phased and have a number of elements: a short term investment of £1.45m to upgrade women and children's services; the development of a local care centre on the site (which would include outpatient services and a re-designed A&E department); and a new ward block within the affordability envelope we have established, subject to confirmation of its feasibility.

We have also established there is sufficient space to develop a new inpatient mental health facility on the site. This is an option which forms part of a wider assessment being undertaken by SWL & St George's Mental Health Trust for the location of mental health services in Sutton and Merton.

Regarding the four local care centres proposed at St Helier, Nelson, Wilson and Wallington, we will now finalise the business case for them so that we can move as quickly as possible to the next phase. We also want to explore the feasibility of developing new community and primary care services on the Sutton site, in
conjunction with the Royal Marsden Hospital.

These developments will be subject to NHS business case requirements. We do not believe that anything we are currently proposing will require formal consultation as it builds on earlier proposals that had already been subject to consultation, but we will discuss this further with the JOSC. Meanwhile, we are keen to continue to engage with all stakeholders in the development of our plans.

I hope this has made the position clear. Mark Easton, Programme Director, will in any event be contacting your office to arrange a time to speak to you.

Yours sincerely,
Caroline Taylor
Programme Sponsor
Better Healthcare Closer to Home

Part of the Union

An excellent video, highlighting a ridiculous imbalanced embodied by a Scottish Prime Minister who cannot affect Healthcare or Education in his own constituency but deigns to tell us what we can have. I fear that the English Parliament that the campaign calls for will be an extra layer of bureaucracy, but we must have at the very least a situation when English laws are voted on by English MPs.

BBC Socksgate

The Sunday Telegraph has a feature article about the latest phone-in 'scandal' at the BBC. Is it me or are they acting like rabbits in the proverbial headlights? With the recent editing problems, they seem to be taking reality television to new levels by beating themselves up about the fact that not everything in TV is exactly as in real life.

People have lost their jobs because they ignored the winning entry in a competition to name the new Blue Peter cat and called it "Socks" instead of "Cookie". Management have been quoted as saying that it is unfair on youngsters to ignore their wishes. Further examination suggests that it is because there was a suspicious late surge for Cookie and that this might have lewd connotations for some youngsters. Sounds like a biscuit to me, but then I haven't been a child for a while. Nonetheless, I would have thought that this would be easy to investigate. In 1962 Blue Peter introduced a dog called Petra. The dog that eventually died in 1970 was not Petra as the original had died soon after its first appearance and was replaced by a near-identical dog. The BBC did not see fit to sack Peter Purves or anyone else at this time.

What is more of a issue to be clamped down on is why children were still able to telephone and be charged after the decision was made. Surely it is not beyond the wit of the production team to close the line, making it impossible for people to get through. This is incompetence that simply plays on the latest craze of phoning into every television show possible, thus enriching the telecoms companies that handle the calls.

Now, unless the BBC can tell me how they got those hippos to swim in a circle, I want a refund on my telly licence!

Boris Johnson in Sutton

Boris Johnson came to Sutton this week as part of his continuing campaign to become the Conservative candidate for the London Mayoral elections to be held next year.

I have never seen such a warm welcome for any politician to Sutton. People were thrilled to meet a man who is so familiar to many that his campaign logo is his distinct silhouette and needs no surname. Ken Livingstone has visited Sutton once since he was elected last. He did not speak to a single resident, instead choosing to surround himself with journalists and lackeys. In stark contrast, Boris ensured that everyone that wanted to meet him aired their views thoroughly. Camera phones were the order of the day as people of all ages wanted a photo to show their friends. He visited Pearsons cycle shop and discussed bike theft and then willingly allowed himself to be pulled into Sussex Stationers to sign their entire collection of Boris books.

After the speech that you can see in the video below, two members of the Sutton North Safer Neighbourhood Team kindly took Boris and a small army around Manor Park discussing anti-social behaviour and policing methods. The visit showed Boris at his best, his jokes and bumbling image balanced with a sharp mind and an openness to listen rather than pontificate in an uninformed manner like too many other poiticians.

There are four candidates for the nominations, Boris, Andrew Boff, Victoria Borwick, Warwick Lightfoot. The result will be announced on Thursday.

Tea Ban in Manchester

Mums visiting a council-run nursery in Manchester have been told that they cannot

have a cuppa due to Health and Safety fears.

Alexandra Park Community Centre will continue to serve juice and water but will not make hot drinks in case children are scalded. In reality, the Labour-run Manchester City Council are worried about being sued.

For goodness sake, the nanny state seems to move ever closer to running every aspect of our lives, taking away all decisions that we might make for ourselves. Will there be nurseries across the City with mothers huddled up outside with flasks, in much the same way as we see smokers outside pubs?

A council spokesman said: “Like all other children’s centres across the city, it is considered good practice not to have hot drinks in areas where children are playing in terms of health and safety and the potential for accidents. Parents are very welcome to make a hot drink in kitchen areas as long as they drink it either in the kitchen or in another appropriate designated area away from the children in order to eliminate any risk to children or indeed other adults.” I'm glad that cleared that up then. As a parent of two, I'm not sure that I needed a jobsworth being paid by the taxpayer to tell me that I shouldn't spill tea on my children. Full story on the Daily Express website here.

Have you seen any political correctness closer to home? Let me know in the comments section.

Eurosceptic Barroso?

Jose Manuel Barroso addressed the LibDem conference in Brighton this week. His English is excellent, though I did have to listen again when he concluded by saying that "The more the UK lead the debate, the more they will get out of Europe."

Isn't that what the Better Off Out campaign have been saying for a while now!