Lifting people out of Poverty

There is an absoutely fascinating article by Frazer Nelson,which appeared in the Telegraph this week and is accessible on their website here, called

"Sticking with Gordon Brown’s flawed policy keeps people in poverty."

It begins with the inspiring story of Stephen Stubbs, a partially sighted 47-year-old living in Darlington, who was being followed by a television crew documenting how hard it is to find work. Stephen applied for 2,000 jobs rather than sit back and accept life on benefits.

But eventually his persistence was rewarded, and he did find a position. As the article saya,

"The idea of a 4pm-2am shift working for the Student Loans Company might dismay many of us, but Mr Stubbs spoke as if he’d won the lottery. “If I can do it, anyone can,” he told Channel 4’s cameras."

Nelson's article goes on to identify a problem with the definition of Poverty in the Child Poverty Act, an piece of law, incidentally, which the Labour MP for Copeland claims his contribution towards as one of his major achievements but which Nelson says has an agenda at it's heart which

"has arguably done more damage to Britain’s social fabric than any idea in modern history."

He continues,

"It is based on the Eurostat definition of poverty: an income 40 per cent below the national average. Someone who is nudged just above this threshold, with an extra £10 a week, is deemed to be “lifted out of poverty”, although the people concerned would be astounded to hear themselves so described. If they had a family, then their children would be described as being “lifted out of poverty”. So, by precision-bombing the right people with tax credits, you could claim to have lifted hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty."

Nelson's argument is that far too much of government policy is based on lifting the people who are just below this threshold to just above it, and not enough towards addressing the real causes of poverty - by sorting out "Education, Work, and Family."

He quotes studies such as that by William Galston

"a political theorist behind the Clinton-era welfare reforms. He identified three steps to escaping poverty: finish school, avoid teenage parenthood, get married before having children. Among those who did all three, only 8 per cent were poor. Of those who did none, 79 per cent were poor."

He concludes that

"In the last seven years of the Labour government, £150 billion was spent on tax credits. Never in British history had more been spent trying to tackle deprivation, which makes the failure to make headway all the more tragic.

"Labour fought poverty, and poverty won.

"Switching from the old, failed model of poverty to a newer one, with all of its uncertainties, is a shift that needs to happen across government. As Stephen Stubbs may well attest, successes in welfare reform deserve to be reinforced."

My latest Poliical Compass score

My score on 15th March 2012

Economic Left/Right: 3.75
(e.g. right of centre, but not anywhere near the extremes, on economics)

Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.41
(In other words the political compass site classes me as a social liberal)

Davy Jones R.I.P.

As a small boy I loved "The Monkees" T.V. show, and I am astonished to learn that their lead singer Davy Jones, a Manchester lad who made it big in the US, has died at the age of 66. He was a wonderful singer but I particularly remember him for his sense of fun his comic ability.

He leaves a widow and four daughters.

Rest in Peace

National Offer Day

If you told a hundred adults that today was national offer day, I suspect that eighty or so of them wouldn't have a clue what you were talking about.

Of the other ten, about five would be only too well aware of that today was indeed National Offer Day. They would be or parents of children aged about ten, or teachers or other staff involved in the process of "secondary transfer," e.g. assigning children in the present "year six" to secondary schools in the coming autumn, would know exactly what you meant and I suspect most will either be very pleased and relieved or extremely upset.

The ones who knew what you meant but didn't already know it was National Offer day would be the parents who had been through it comparatively recently but don't have a child going through secondary transfer this year: and they would all say something like "yes: thank goodness it doesn't affect us this year."

Certainly I and my wife, who had two children to worry about, were peering at the computer every few minutes from very early this morning until seven minutes past eight when the two emails from Cumbria County Council arrived to let us know what school places our children were being offered.

A position which will have been replicated in a million or so households.

If anyone reading this has children going through secondary transfer this year, I hope you had the news you wanted.

Radioactive Waste consultation - three weeks left

The latest phase of discussion about what we do about the long-term storage of Nuclear Waste, and whether a repository is a better solution than the present arrangements, continues for just over three weeks, until Friday 23rd March.

A series of Community drop-in events have been held around Cumbria, all of which are now complete.

However you can still respond and find out more online at www.westcumbriamrws.org.uk.

Media slant on Nuclear power ...

A year ago an earthquake and tsunami hit Japan.

In September Japan's National Police Agency gave the number of confirmed deaths caused by the earthquake and tsunami as 15,850 with a further 3,287 people missing.

How many confirmed deaths resulted from radiation leakage or the other nuclear related accidents which the earthquake caused at the Fukushima Nuclear plant?

Zero.

92.5% of the fatalities confirmed by April as a result of the earthquake and Tsunami died by drowning, including both the people who died at the Fukushima nuclear plant.

Media coverage in the UK of the anniversary of the disaster centred entirely on the Fukushima plant, which might have been a legitimate story placed in context, but it seems bizarre that the way Japan is recovering from the rest of the disaster, or what the cost was in lives and money, was completely ignored.

When there is a natural cataclysm which kills well over fifteen thousand people, and the press coverage is disproportionately concentrated on one particular side-effect of that disaster which hasn't caused any confirmed deaths at all, you have to ask yourselves whether this reporting reflects at least an unconscious bias.

As a clear example of anti-nuclear bias, at one point on today's news the reporter said that people were worried about the effect a second earthquake or tsunami might have on Fukushima.

Really, talk about tunnel vision!

If there were another seismic event remotely like the 2011 quake and tsunami, the evidence of last year shows clearly that the damage and loss of life from the event itself would be vastly worse than the effects of damage to nuclear plants.

Yet another metal theft post - the courts crack down

Yes, another post about beating the metal thieves.

As any regular reader of this blog may well have gathered, I have strong opinions about this. Both I and two of my brothers-in-law work or have worked in industries which are particularly affected by the plague of metal theft.

And since thousands of homes in West Cumbria had their telephone service cut off for a big slice of a weekend late last year, because incompetent would-be metal theives ripped out a section of fibre telephone cable near Workington in the hope that it was copper, I've felt even more strongly about it.

Which is why I'm pleased to note that one of the things I called for in earlier blog posts is starting to happen - the courts are starting to hand out sentences proportionate to the damage the metal thieves could potentially cause - and where people steal cable from the railway signal networks or BT's network that can mean causing the death of innocent people - rather than the value of the metal stolen.

Keir Starmer, Director of Public Prosecutions, instructed prosecutors last month to take into account the full impact of metal theft crimes when those accused are brought before the courts.

Courts in Maidstone and Cambridge have recently acted on such recommendations from prosecutors and handed out prison sentences of up to three years for the theft of telephone cables.

​The Crown Court in Maidstone, Kent, heard how police were alerted by a dog walker who discovered the cable, with a scrap value of £4,180, which had been pulled up from two manhole covers.

It had been cut into sections and left in a field near Aylesford ready for transportation by the thieves.

Police spotted two men trying to run away from the field. Anthony Prebble was arrested nearby in possession of a pair of cable cutters, and Colin Wray was located in undergrowth by an infrared camera on the police helicopter.

Prebble pleaded guilty to theft and Wray was found guilty on the unanimous verdict of a jury. Both were sentenced to three years in prison.

Someone who rips a length of cable out of the BT network cannot know for certain what service they are cutting off. As we saw in the recent case in Cumbria, it it entirely possible that such an action can cut thousands of homes and businesses off for hours while BT engineers work round the clock to repair the damage. This could easily have resulted in deaths if a 999 call failed to get through to Cumbria Fire Service or the ambulance service.

I would have been even happier if the principle could be established that the general tariff for attacks on a communication or control network with potential to cause loss of life can carry a sentence of ten years inside. But at least a three year sentence, even with remission and parole, means a full year in prison and that sends the signal that this sort of offence is unacceptable.

In another case at Cambridge Crown Court, Arran Denzey and Richard Key were each sentenced to 18 months prison for stealing 180 metres of BT cable from alongside the A1. Cambridgeshire police found the cable, cutting equipment and a winch in the men’s van. Evidence gathered from the crime scene by the BT Metal Theft Task Force assisted the police to secure the convictions.

Luke Beeson, BT Security general manager for cable theft, said: “Courts are finally beginning to recognise the seriousness of this crime and are handing down stiffer sentences."

About time too, but this is welcome!

Beating the metal thieves, continued

Police working to beat the metal thieves have carried out a series of raids in various parts of Britain this year, including the North, and now a series of raids in WIltshire have produced a spectacular result.

Around one ton of stolen BT cable was recovered during a series of co-ordinated raids on scrap metal yards.

​Representatives of BT’s Metal Theft Task Force and 12 other agencies joined more than 100 police officers to serve warrants at dealerships in Wiltshire.

Sites in Melksham, Trowbridge, Swindon and Christian Malford near Chippenham were visited during the operation.

Ten people - including a 12-year-old boy - were arrested for offences including theft, handling stolen goods and burglary.

Property recovered included one ton of BT cable at the Melksham yard and more stolen cable belonging to BT at the Trowbridge yard, as well as stolen beer barrels, drain covers, water valves, metal pipes and around £10,500 cash.

Luke Beeson, BT Security general manager for metal theft, said: “The success of these police-led operations is critical to our success in reducing the number of cable theft incidents.

“Choking the disposal route for stolen metal is the most effective way of stopping it being stolen in the first place.”

A total of 45 traders delivering scrap metals to the sites were checked and 10 were served notices requiring them to produce evidence of how they obtained the items being delivered.

Acting chief inspector Pete Chamberlain said: “We are pleased with how the operation went and the way in which so many organisations came together to help tackle this crime which blights all our communities.”

The success of these raids is a welcome confirmation that the government and the authorities are taking the problem of metal theft seriously, but more still needs to be done. There are plenty of honest scrap metal dealers but the fact that so much stolen property was found on the sites searched in Wiltshire is a clear indication of the need for stricter licensing arrangements and implementation on the proposed ban on buying metal for cash.

We have to exterminate the trade in stolen metal before it causes deaths among innocent people.

Argentina goes to UN over Falklands

I see that the government of Argentina has complained to the UN over the Falklands.

Presumably, just as Galtieri's military Junta was trying to prop itself up during political difficulties when it invaded the islands, the present president is attempting to shore up her domestic political position with an equally childish appeal to the most xenophobic forms of chauvinism. I suppose we should think ourselves fortunate that this time the Argentinians are choosing forms of protest which only waste time and money rather than lives.

The latest ridiculous argument is that it in some way "militarises" the islands to have sent Prince William to the Falklands on a routine posting as a navy Air Sea Rescue pilot, and to have sent a modern destroyer, HMS Dauntless, to visit them. If Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner should lose the next election, she should be able to get a job as a stand-up comedian on the basis of her accusation that the British decision to send HMS Dauntless to the South Atlantic and to post the Duke of Cambridge on Air Sea Rescue duty on the islands posed a risk to "international security".

Well what do you know - Air Sea Rescue is a threat to International Security! Perhaps this might provide a retrospective justification for Bush and Blair's invasion of Iraq. Apparently it wasn't whether Saddam Hussein had WMD we should have been worried about but Iraq's Air Sea Rescue service!

While I wouldn't rule out the possibility that other UN members may take the opportunity to embarrass Britian over this, there is no way that most of them would actually accept the principle that a nation state can't move a military unit within their own territory - can you imagine what China or Russia would say to any other country which told them they could send one of their own destroyers to an island they claim and control? So although they may make us veto the complaint as revenge for the Syrian argument a few days ago, if we didn't have a veto Russia or China might well have blocked the Argentinian argument themselves. It just isn't the way the world works.

The irony is that if successive Argentine governments had wooed the islanders with friendship rather than threats some sort of joint sovereignity might now be in place. In the seventies and early eighties some sort of deal was very nearly put on the table by successive Labour and Tory ministers, although backbenchers in the House of Commons gave Ridley's proposals short shrift at the time and they were put on the back burner. But such a deal might have been a remote possibility until Argentina invaded and started a conflict which cost hundreds of lives.

At the moment the first British blood was shed in the Falklands war and lives had been lost in the defence of the islands, it became quite inconceivable that either the British or Falklands electorates would consider any compromise with Argentina while the events of 1982 remain in living memory.

The previous history of the islands is not actually all that relevant. Since about the 1920's the principle has been generally accepted by everyone who is entitled to call themself a supporter of democracy that self-determination is the only acceptable basis for deciding national boundaries.

The vast majority of the Falkland Islanders want their home to remain under the British crown and reject any idea of being put under Argentine sovereignity. Which, after what the Argentines did on the Falklands in 1982, is hardly surprising.

And for those who believe in democracy that is the end of the argument.

The big freeze continues

Another day to take care if you are out and about: temperatures in Whitehaven were below freezing for most of the day yesterday and is currently (8.00 am) about four degrees below freezing according to the air temperature thermometer in my car.

A two-inch thick block of ice which my daughter removed from the top of a water container yesterday morning was still lying beside it un-melted this morning, while a stick of ice, sticking up out of the water at and angle of about 45 degrees and looking for all the world like an ice sundial, had formed on the surface of the same container as the bizarre result of a very cold wind.

We can only assume that the cold wind created a wave in the water and then froze the top of it, and then more water was driven to the top of the ice-stick by the wind and then froze, so that the stick of ice gradually got higher until the surface of the water was completely frozen. By this time the stick of ice was about three inches high. I have never seen anything like it.

The Big Freeze

Take great care if you are out and about in any part of Cumbria or many other parts of Britain today - the roads and pavements are icy. Certainly they are lethal in Whitehaven this morning which alomst certainly means that many parts of the county will be worse.

Take particular care if you might be minded to do anything involving moving heavy objects outside, especially on a slope. The advice should probably be, don't!

It being brown bin collection day, I have just brought our brown bin round from the back garden and up our steep drive. Despite taking great care I could very easily have injured myself, was probably foolish even to attempt it and will not be trying anything like that in these sorts of conditions again.

DC clarifies positon re new EU treaty

Following an EU summit, David Cameron clarified his position on whether and in what circumstances has European Commission and the European Court of Justice can be involved in carrying out policies which do not apply to all 27 member states.

As a consequence of David Cameron's veto last year, there is a new treaty which was eventually signed by 25 of the 27 member states. Britain and the Czech republic refused to sign.

This leaves the question of whether the EU institutions can be used to service the new treaty in matters to which Britain and the Czech republic are not a signatory. The Prime Minister said last month that this would not be possible without the agreement of all 27 countries.

However after a further EU summit in Brussels, DC did not press his case against the use of the institutions in any circumstances, and said Britain would only make any challenge if our interests were "threatened".

The Prime Minister said: "We don't want to hold up the eurozone doing what is necessary to solve the crisis as long as it doesn't damage our national interests, so it's good that the new treaty states clearly that it cannot encroach upon the competences of the Union and that they must not take measures that undermine the EU single market."

He added: "The key point here for me is what is in our national interest, which is for them to get on and sort out the mess that is the euro. That's in our national interest. We will be watching like a hawk and if there is any sign that they are going to encroach on the single market we will take the appropriate action, if I may put it that way.

"The principle that the EU institutions can only be used with the permission of 27 (member states) has not changed. In as much as this (new treaty) is about fiscal union, fine: if it encroaches on the single market, not fine."

The leader of the Labour party, as usual, attacked the Prime Minister but failed to make clear whether he was accusing David Cameron of being too hardline or not hardline enough. First Ed Miliband said that the Prime Minister "seems to have sold us down the river on a lot of things so I’m going to be asking him in the House of Commons today what exactly has he agreed to, what protections has he got for Britain."

But in the next sentence he said

“I take a simple view – he would have been better off staying at the table and negotiating for Britain, rather than actually pretending that he had made great progress and then failing to do so.”

Does that mean that, contrary to what Labour leader said at the time, he thinks Britain should have signed the treaty? If this attempt to have it both ways is a simple view I shudder to think what he would sound like if imitating a corkscrew.

Britain cannot afford to act like a dog in the manger when the eurozone countries are trying to sort out their problems. If the Euro area suffers an economic collapse, the British economy will take considerable collateral damage. That's whey we should only put our foot down to prevent the eurozone or the 25 signatories to the new treaty from using EU institutions if what they are trying to do will damage the single market or otherwise harm British interests.

Have your say - either way - on capital punishment

The blogger Paul Staines, also known as Guido Fawkes, has put an e-petition on the Downing Street website calling for the return of capital punishment for murderers of children and of police officers killed in the line of duty.

Martin Shapland and other opponents of the death penalty have launched a counter petition opposing the return of capital punishment.

At the time of putting up this post the e-petition calling for the return of the death penality in those specified circumstances has 26,294 signatures, and the e-petition opposing the death penalty has 33,352 signatures.

There are a dozen other live petitions on the same subject, some supporting the death penalty, some against, four which call for a referedum on capital punishment and one which opposes such a referendum. However, the Paul Staines and Martin Shapland petitions both have many times more signatures than all the rest, apart from each other, put together.

You can read and support Guido's petition to bring back capital punishment here.

You can read and support the counter-petition opposing capital punishment here.

Swimathon 2012

I will be taking part in Swimathon 2012 to raise money for Cancer care.

This will be the nineteenth consecutive year I have taken part. I plan to swim 5,000 metres at Copeland pool on Sunday 29th April.

The National Swimathon is 26 years old this year and will be taking place over the weekend of 27th to 29th April 2012.

Since the Swimathon was launched in 1986, well over £35 million has been raised for a host of good causes, and over half a million swimmers have taken part.

In West Cumbria you can take part at Copeland pool in Hensingham on Sunday 29th, with sessions starting at 9 am and 12 noon.

Other locations in Cumbria where you can take part include:

* Appleby Swimming Pool

* The Park Leisure Centre, Barrow-in-furness

* In Carlisle you can choose from Morton Pool & Fitness Centre,
Richard Rose Morton Academy, or The Pools Swimming Centre And Health Centre

* Cockermouth Leisure Centre

* Lakes Leisure, Kendal

* Keswick Leisure Pool

* Penrith Leisure Centre

* Workington Pool


Anyone who would like to sponsor me and support Marie Curie cancer care can do so at the swimathon website here.

Anyone who interested in signing up to take part in the swim themselves can do so at the Swimathon 2012 website at www.swimathon.org.

Genocide today

Further to friday's post commemorating Holocaust Memorial Day: the tragic fact is that although nothing on quite the immense scale of the Nazi genocides and mass killings has happened since 1945, mass murder and attempted extermination remains a major cause of death and suffering in many parts of the world.

Not all the perpetrators of mass murder are governments. For example, the Taleban/Al Queda are listed by "Genocide Watch." the International Alliance to End Genocide, among those responsible for massacres, and government officials, particularly honest ones, are at particular risk of being murdered in several countries.

Tim posted a comment on my "Holocaust Memorial Day" blog item pointing out that South African Boers have been listed as at category six risk of genocide (e.g. active preparation) yet the mainstream press do not seem to be taking much notice.

The really frightening thing is that, although Tim is quite right, South African whites are only eighteenth in the worldwide list of groups suffering massacres or at serious risk of genocide. The most recent list of countries on the Genocide Watch website (August 2011) gives twelve groups as currently being victims of massacres, and another eight, of whom white South Africans are sixth, at the "Preparation Stage," level six, which is the most serious stage of potential risk of massacres.


The top twenty countries and victim groups suffering most or at serious risk according to Genocide Watch as at August 2011, are

1) Democratic Republic of Congo: where women, civilians, and Congo Tutsis are at risk from ex-Rwandan genocidists and mineral warlords

2) In Sudan, Darfurese, Abyei,and Nuba people are at risk from the Sudanese army and Arab militias

3) In Eastern Congo, parts of Sudan and Uganda, civilians, women, and children are at risk from the organistion which calls itself the "Lord’s Resistance Army"

4) In Libya during the civil war, those suspected of being anti-Gaddafi rebels were subject to persecution from pro-Gaddaffi forces; there have also been rebel/anti-Gaddafi reprisals.

5) Syria: those suspected of being pro-democracy protesters or supporters have been massacred by the Assad regimes forces, Alawite loyalists and the army

6) Yemen: opponents of the Saleh regime have been massacred by pro-govt troops

7) In Somalia there have been massacres between opposing clans

8) In parts of Afghanistan, government supporters and anyone who does not support the "right" kind of Islam is in danger of attack from the Taliban and Al Queda

9) Pakistan - ditto

10) In North Korea anyone suspected of opposing the government is liable to persecution

11) There have been signs of progress in Burma over the past few months but the military regime which has run the country for decades has a history of severe repression against the Shan, Karen, Rohinga and against democrats.

12) Ethiopia: where government opponents have been persecuted by the Tigrean Army

All the above are listed at stage seven by Genocide watch indicating their view that genocide is actually taking place. The following are listed as stage 6 (preparation for genocide/serious risk)

13) Nigeria, where there is a serious risk of conflict between ethnic and religious groups:

14) People's Republic of China where the Falun Gong and Uighers are being repressed by the PLA and Chinese authorities

15) Colombia, where government officials have been murdered by drug gangs and FARC guerrillas

16) Equatorial Guinea, where the Bubi minority is oppressed by the Government and police

17) Zimbabwe, where the Matabele tribe and the Movement for Democratic Change have been oppressed by the ZANU-PF and the Shona tribe

18) South Africa: Genocide watch identifies whites and women (because of a high rape rate) as victims or potential victims of attacks by ANC Youth, black Marxist racists

19) Chad, where the Zaghawas have been attacked by Sudanese raiders

20) Central African Republic, where African farmers have been attacked by Arab militias


You can read more details at the Genocide Watch webpage here.

Holocaust Memorial Day

Today, the 67th anniversary of the liberation of Auchwitz by allied forces, is Holocaust Memorial Day.

Today we remember all the many victims of Nazi persecution - six million jews, millions of Russians, Poles and Gypsies, and all the other thousands of people who were murdered either for what they were or for standing up against the idea of killing people for what they were.


The estimated number of victims of the nazis and their allies includes about:

5.9 million Jews

2-3 million Russian Prisoners of War

1.8 to 2 million Ethnic Poles

A large number of Gypsies - estimates range from 220 thousand to 1.5 million

About a quarter of a million people with disabilities

Between 80,000 and 200,000 Freemasons

20,000 to 25,000 Slovenes

5,000 to 15,000 Gays

2,500 to 5,000 Jehovah's Witnesses.

Trade unionists and activists of any party other than the Nazis.


It's no good saying "this must never happen again" because, around the world, things like the Holocaust of on a smaller scale have continued to happen - you only need to look at former Yugoslavia.

But we must make it as difficult as possible for genocide and persecution to happen, and we start by remembering all that happened, and especially by remembering the victims.

Quote of the Day

"If there's one thing more pathetic than the Leader of the Opposition going on about chocolate oranges, it's the Leader of the Opposition going on about the previous Leader of the Opposition going on about chocolate oranges six years ago."

Hat Tip to "Ismael X" at Political Betting (and regards to Moby Dick).

Newt Shoots back

I have been following the U.S. Republican primaries with interest. If I were a G.O.P. member I suspect I would be supporting Mitt Romney, but I had some sympathy for the response Newt Gingrich made below to a question about his private life. (Hat tip to CNN for the clip and Mike Smithson at Political Betting for drawing it to my attention.)

It can be unhealthy for stories about the private lives of individuals, where these do not involve criminal behaviour or abuse of public office, to be given far more attention than how good those individuals are at their jobs. We have seen this culture in this country, as much of the evidence to the Leveson inquiry demonstrated and the same is true in the states.

It is possible, and appears to happen in some countries, for the press to be too subservient in failing to probe where an issue affects not just private lives but the allocation of jobs or resources provided by the taxpayer. If there are genuine reasons to suspect this, then the issue becomes one of legitimate interest to the taxpayer.

But in many cases I suspect that political debate in both Britain and America would be healthier if more public figures were prepared to respond to an allegation, true or false, with the words "None of your business." See what you think of Newt's comments here.

David Morgan R.I.P.

David Morgan, a senior partner at one of St Albans' prominent Architects' practices, Cannon Morgan Rheinberg, died last night in Lister Hospital.

I first met David as a planning councillor on one of the many occasions when he was trying to get a very well designed scheme approved and running into wildly disproportionate opposition.

I was to come to know David socially and he later became a very good friend, but I had already formed the opinion before we became friends that of all the architects in St Albans who ran into unreasonable political, NIMBY or planning purist opposition to perfectly good planning proposals - and that is a VERY long list - David was one of who faced some of the silliest and most disproportionate opposition. He usually managed to keep his temper and courtesy in dealing with that situation far better than most people would have or did, including some of the others who faced the same sitations

I'd better add that I did not agree with everything David proposed, and before any of the tens of thousands of people who ever objected to a planning application in St Albans while I was a planning councillor there might read this and think I am getting at them, I'd be the first to agree that there were also plenty of the two and a half thousand applications a year which were submitted to that council which richly deserved to run into opposition.

Like myself David Morgan was an old boy of St Albans School - in his case about thirty years before me - and he later designed a number of award winning schemes for the school.

He was a truly nice guy and all his loving family and many friends will miss him.

Rest in Peace.

Teaching children to use computers

Education Secretary Michael Gove has decided to replace the current ICT curriculum with a radically revised programme which puts much more emphasis on developing applications and using computers in original ways rather than simply using interfaces developed by others.

He suggested that the existing curriculum is a "mess" which is "demotivating and dull" and threatens to harm Britain's long term economic prospects.

Gove will begin a consultation next week on the new computing curriculum and on how we can train young people "to work at the forefront of technological change".

I don't generally regard scrapping an entire setup and starting again from scratch as the best solution, but there seems to have been an argument for doing so this time. ICT teachers and experts quoted by the press, while recognising that finding the skilled teachers to deliver the new curriculum might be "challenging" seemed to be more positive than not about the proposals.

Examples of quotes given to the BBC by ICT teachers attending an educational technology show in London included the following:

Sue Le Bas, from Boxgrove Primary in London, said: "I think this would be exciting for primary pupils but I would need a crash course to be able to do it.

"I think we could develop the skills. We need to prepare our children for the future and the current curriculum is not doing that. It's 15 years old."

Anthony Latham, from Heronsgate Primary, also in London, said: "Anything which makes learning more accessible is a positive thing.

"I am not always Gove's biggest fan but I agree with this. Too many ICT lessons are dull."

Graham Fee, a maths teacher at Hemsworth Arts and Community College in Wakefield, already teaches programming at an after-school computer club.

"Students are interested as I do a lot of computer programming myself. I produce a lot of maths games.

"ICT lessons seem to do a lot of PowerPoint and Word, but students are more motivated by more interactive things like programming.

"There's a lot of logical thinking involved. It's good for the students' thinking skills.


"If they have a vision of what they want to create, a little game or something, they can see how the maths applies to the game."

Mr Fee thinks that some of the software packages already available from companies like Microsoft will help train less specialised ICT teachers to teach programming.

"The new software out there is less focused on programming language and more on the logical thinking behind it," he said.

"Teachers will see this as an opportunity to move beyond the office skills - of course, many teachers have been doing this for some time” said Miles Berry of NAACE.

Managing Radioactive Waste Safely consultation

The latest phase of discussion about what we do about the long-term storage of Nuclear Waste, and whether a repository is a better solution than the present arrangements, is now under way.

A series of Community drop-in events are being held around Cumbria, details of which are as follows:

18 Jan, The Network Centre, Millom 1pm to 7pm

19 Jan, Civic Hall, Whitehaven 1pm to 7pm

20 Jan, Village Hall, Gosforth 1pm to 7pm

23 Jan, Town Hall, Kendal 1pm to 7pm

24 Jan, Carnegie Arts Centre, Workington 1pm to 7pm

25 Jan, St Herbert's Centre, Keswick 1pm to 7pm

01 Feb, Methodist Church, Penrith 1pm to 7pm

02 Feb, The Courts, Carlisle 1pm to 7pm

07 Feb, Dock Museum, Barrow 1pm to 7pm

08 Feb, Market Hall, Wigton 1pm to 7pm

09 Feb, Market Hall, Egremont 1pm to 7pm

10 Feb, Kirkgate Centre, Cockermouth 1pm to 7pm

In each case there will be discussion sessions at 2pm, 4pm and 6pm

You can also respond and find out more online at www.westcumbriamrws.org.uk.

County Council Budget consultation

Cumbria County Council is currently holding a consultation with the public about their forthcoming budget.

Items on the agenda includes issues like

* Should the council introduce a charge of £25 for resident's parking permits?

* Should the present level of subsidy for adult social care be reduced? (The proposal will not affect the poorest users, about 25% of the total, who will still get a 100% subsidy)

* Should the council accept the offer of a one-off grant payment from the government, approximately equal to an inflation increase in the council tax, to freeze the county council element of the council tax for one further year?

Cumbria CC have organised a series of six public meetings with residents, one in each district area: I attended the first of these meetings, which was the copeland one, last night in Egremont.

The Carlisle meeting is on 18th January in Richard Rose Academy

The Eden meeting is on 19th January at Penrith Methodist Church

The Barrow meeting is on 23rd January at The Forum

The Allerdale meeting is on 24th January at The Wave, Maryport

Finally, the South Lakeland meeting is on 26th January at Kendal Rugby Club

If this is more convenient, you can go to a meeting in another district or borough council area: for example, there is nothing to stop Keswick residents going to the Penrith meeting rather than the Maryport if that works better for them.

Attending a meeting is not the only way to have your say about these issues

* You can reply by freepost by writing to:

Budget Consultation
Freepost MWW6059A
The Courts
Carlisle CA3 8NA.

* You can email yoursay@cumbria.gov.uk

* You can respond online at cumbria.gov.uk.

Freeing nurses to care for patients

A new drive to free up nurses to provide the care patients and relatives expect has been announced this week by Prime Minister David Cameron and Health Secretary Andrew Lansley.

The Prime Minister announced the following priorities:

Patients not paperwork: getting rid of a swathe of bureaucracy that stops nurses from doing what they do best.

Regular nursing rounds: to systematically and routinely check that patients are comfortable, are properly fed and hydrated, and are treated with dignity and respect, with the Royal College of Nurses (RCN) helping to make it happen.

Leadership on the wards: people want to see a figure of authority on the ward. To help do so, a Nursing Quality Forum of front line nurses and nursing leaders will be set up, charged with taking a national leadership role in promoting excellent care and ensuring good practice is adopted across the NHS.

New patient-led inspections of hospital wards: local people will go in as part of teams assessing cleanliness, dignity and nutrition and their findings will be published.

New 'friends and family test': this will ask whether patients, carers and staff would recommend their hospital to their families and friends in their hour of need. The results will be published and hospital leaders who fail this test will be held to account.

The Prime Minister said:

"We know the vast majority of patients are very happy with the care provided by the NHS. And I've seen the NHS at its very best. But we have heard recently that in some hospitals patients are not provided with the level care or respect they deserve and I am absolutely appalled by this.

"If we want dignity and respect, we need to focus on nurses and the care they deliver. The whole approach to caring in this country needs to be reset. And it needs to start with this simple fact. Caring for patients is what nurses do. Everything else comes second."

Hawking - "a wonderful time to be alive"

Prefessor Stephen Hawking, one of the most amazing human beings who has ever lived, and the most distinguished former pupil of my old school, St Albans School, marked his 70th birthday this weekend with a speech sent to a symposium at Cambridge University in which he said that it has been "A wonderful time to be alive."

Hawking spoke of his early life growing up in St Albans and gave the highlights of his scientific career. But his main message was to "be curious" and never give up, however difficult things might seem.

"Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet," he said.

"Try to make sense of what you see and about what makes the universe exist. Be curious. And however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. It matters that you don't just give up."

If there is anyone who should be an inspiration to all of us that however great the challenges you face you can and should always try to acheive something, it is Stephen Hawking.

Measures to boost Business and Jobs announced

Prime Minister David Cameron has announced a series of measures to tackle the compensation culture and free small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from the stranglehold of health and safety red tape.

Speaking to an audience of small businesses and entrepreneurs at Intuit UK in Maidenhead, David Cameron announced that:

* to tackle the compensation culture and address the fear from businesses of being sued for trivial or excessive claims - we will extend the current scheme that caps the amount that lawyers can earn from small value personal injury claims, and reduce overall costs in cases funded by 'no win no fee' deals. This will help bring down the cost of many cases and deter the speculative health and safety claims made against good businesses that would appear not to have done anything wrong.

* the health and safety law on strict liability for civil claims will be changed so that businesses are no longer automatically at fault if something goes wrong.
we will investigate the demands made by insurance companies on businesses to ensure that levels of compliance do not force businesses to go far beyond what is actually required by the the law to secure their insurance cover.

* We will write to the Chief Executives of all major insurance companies, asking them to set out what they will do to deal with this problem - and they will be invited to a meeting at Downing Street next month to set out their plans.
The Prime Minister has also announced that next month we will ask organisations to bid to manage the £1bn of Government funding available through the Business Finance Partnership. This fund will help businesses access the finance they need to grow.

David Cameron added that:

"I am determined that we do everything possible to take the brakes off business: cutting taxes; slashing red tape; putting billions into big infrastructure projects; making it much easier for British firms to get out there and trade with the world.

"And there is something else we are doing: waging war against the excessive health and safety culture that has become an albatross around the neck of British businesses.

"Talk of 'health and safety' can too often sound farcical or marginal. But for British businesses - especially the smaller ones that are so vital to the future of our economy - this is a massively important issue. Every day they battle against a tide of risk assessment forms and face the fear of being sued for massive sums. The financial cost of this culture runs into the billions each year.

"So this coalition has a clear New Year's resolution: to kill off the health and safety culture for good. I want 2012 to go down in history not just as Olympics year or Diamond Jubilee year, but the year we get a lot of this pointless time-wasting out of the British economy and British life once and for all."