MPs vote 522:13 in favour of an early general election on 8th June

MPs vote 522:13 in favour of an early general election on 8th June                                      Yesterday in the House of Commons, the Prime Minister moved a motion for an early general election to be held on the 8th June. The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 required two-thirds of MPs (at least 434 MPs) to vote in favour … Continue reading “MPs vote 522:13 in favour of an early general election on 8th June”

MPs vote 522:13 in favour of an early general election on 8th June

                                    

Rt Hon Frank Field MP (Chair) left at a meeting of the Birkenhead Constituency Committee on the 8th October 2015
Rt Hon Frank Field MP (Chair) left at a meeting of the Birkenhead Constituency Committee on the 8th October 2015

Yesterday in the House of Commons, the Prime Minister moved a motion for an early general election to be held on the 8th June.

The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 required two-thirds of MPs (at least 434 MPs) to vote in favour of an early general election outside of the regular five-year cycle.

All four of Wirral’s MPs (Frank Field, Alison McGovern, Angela Eagle and Margaret Greenwood) voted in favour of an early general election. In total 522 MPs voted in favour of the motion and only 13 against.

Labour’s National Executive Committee ruled out local party members having a vote over who the Labour candidate in each constituency would be with the short timescale to select candidates given as the reason why.

Sitting Labour MPs have to decide by this evening whether to stand in the general election. If they decide not to, applications to become the Labour candidate in those seats can be made from tomorrow to Sunday.

High profile Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson has announced his intention to become the Labour candidate to become Walton’s next Member of Parliament.

If you click on any of the buttons below, you’ll be doing me a favour by sharing this article with other people.

Do Cllr Christina Muspratt’s election expenses add up (a councillor who is on Wirral Council’s Audit and Risk Management Committee overseeing £billions of public money)?

Do Cllr Christina Muspratt’s election expenses add up (a councillor who is on Wirral Council’s Audit and Risk Management Committee overseeing £billions of public money)?

Do Cllr Christina Muspratt’s election expenses add up (a councillor who is on Wirral Council’s Audit and Risk Management Committee overseeing £billions of public money)?

                      

I’ve decided to publish the election expenses by ward alphabetically. However these are only for candidates who got over a quarter of the vote.

There was a small delay in inspecting these returns due to the pressures on the election side at Wirral Council due to the EU Referendum.


The first one is for Bebington ward and that of Christina Muspratt (the Labour candidate) who was elected as a councillor.

Cllr Christina Muspratt sits on Wirral Council’s Audit and Risk Management Committee overseeing hundreds of millions of pounds of public expenditure and also (as Wirral Council is the Administering Authority) the multi-billion pound Merseyside Pension Fund Wirral Council runs (although the Pensions Committee also have oversight of the Merseyside Pension Fund)).

However her donations and spending don’t match in the pages below.

Her campaign lists £243.06 of spending (although some notional spending should’ve also been declared but mysteriously wasn’t as the printing of leaflets at Alison McGovern‘s office (the Labour MP for Wirral South) was done at below commercial rates)).

Indeed the use of taxpayer-funded resources at Wirral Council and at Alison McGovern’s office (the Labour MP for Wirral South) is odd as generally there is a bar on taxpayer-funded elements to party political activity during elections and indeed if people would like to leave comments explaining this it would be welcome.

As a general rule having the taxpayer fund elements of an election campaign (a party political matter) is seen as wrong.

There are however only £150 in donations to cover this spending though. I hope Labour aren’t applying this kind of voodoo economics to Wirral Council too!

The declarations signed by herself and her agent are also included. As she was well under the spending limit (even if you include what the notional expenditure should’ve been) of £1,456.16 it’s unlikely anything that this will result other than mild embarrassment as in future (hopefully) she will read things before signing them!

I’ve included the originals as a zipped file below, thumbnails of the return (which as a lot of it’s handwritten may be hard to read) are below that.

I’ve linked each thumbnail to a higher resolution image which should show if you click on the thumbnail.

Compressed file of all 20 original pages in election expenses return for Christina Muspratt (thumbnails below)

Bebington May 2016 Wirral Council councillor candidate Christina Muspratt agent declaration Page 1 of 1
Bebington May 2016 Wirral Council councillor candidate Christina Muspratt agent declaration Page 1 of 1

Continue reading “Do Cllr Christina Muspratt’s election expenses add up (a councillor who is on Wirral Council’s Audit and Risk Management Committee overseeing £billions of public money)?”

Election: Wallasey (Labour hold), Birkenhead (Labour hold), Wirral South (Labour hold), Wirral West (Labour gain)

Election: Wallasey (Labour hold), Birkenhead (Labour hold), Wirral South (Labour hold), Wirral West (Labour gain)

Election: Wallasey (Labour hold), Birkenhead (Labour hold), Wirral South (Labour hold), Wirral West (Labour gain)

                                            

In the General Election for 2015 on Wirral the results are as follows.

Wallasey Constituency (declared at 3.41) LABOUR HOLD Electorate 65,495 Turnout 66.5%

Candidate Party Votes cast
Angela Eagle Labour Party 26,176
Chris Clarkson Conservative Party 9,828
Geoffrey Robert Caton United Kingdom Independence Party 5,063
Julian Charles Pratt Green Party 1,288
Kris Brown Liberal Democrat 1,011
     

Birkenhead Constituency (declared at 3.49) LABOUR HOLD Electorate 62,410 Turnout 62.9%

Candidate Party Votes cast
Frank Field Labour Party 26,468
Clark Edward Vasey Conservative Party 5,816
Wayne Anthony Harling United Kingdom Independence Party 3,838
Kenny Peers Green Party 1,626
Allan Brame Liberal Democrat 1,396
     

Wirral South Constituency (declared at 3.57) LABOUR HOLD Electorate 56,956 Turnout 73.7%

Candidate Party Votes cast
Alison McGovern Labour Party 20,165
John Bell Conservative Party 15,566
David Anthony Scott United Kingdom Independence Party 3,737
Elizabeth Jewkes Liberal Democrat 1,474
Paul Thomas Cartlidge Green Party 895
     

Wirral West Constituency (declared at 4.58) LABOUR GAIN Electorate 55,377 Turnout 75.9%

Candidate Party Votes cast
Margaret Greenwood Labour Party 18,898
Esther McVey Conservative Party 18,481
Hilary Jane Jones United Kingdom Independence Party 2,772
Peter Timothy Clifford Reisdorf Liberal Democrat 1,433
David James 274
     

If you click on any of the buttons below, you’ll be doing me a favour by sharing these results with other people.

Fire Brigades Union will strike for 24 hours from 0900 on 9th December 2014 to 0900 on 10th December 2014 over pensions dispute

Fire Brigades Union will strike for 24 hours from 0900 on 9th December 2014 to 0900 on 10th December 2014 over pensions dispute

Fire Brigades Union will strike for 24 hours from 0900 on 9th December 2014 to 0900 on 10th December 2014 over pensions dispute

                                                          

Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority Consultation and Negotiation Sub-Committee 2nd December 2014 L to R Unknown, Cllr Mahon (Chair), Dan Stephens (Chief Fire Officer), Phil Garrigan (Deputy Chief Fire Officer), Unknown, Cllr Robertson
Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority Consultation and Negotiation Sub-Committee 2nd December 2014 L to R Unknown, Cllr Mahon (Chair), Dan Stephens (Chief Fire Officer), Phil Garrigan (Deputy Chief Fire Officer), Unknown, Cllr Robertson

Present (Consultation and Negotiation Sub-Committee, 4 out of 5 councillors were present, quorum is two):
Cllr Jimmy Mahon (Labour, Chair)
Cllr Leslie T Byrom (Labour)
Cllr Linda Maloney (Labour)
Cllr Tony Robertson (Lib Dem opposition spokesperson)

Also present:
Dan Stephens (Chief Fire Officer)
Phil Garrigan (Deputy Chief Fire Officer)
Janet Henshaw (Clerk to the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority and Monitoring Officer)
Fire Brigade Union guy 1
Fire Brigade Union guy 2
Union guy 3
Union guy 4
Two members of the public (of which the author of this blog post John Brace is one)

Please accept YouTube cookies to play this video. By accepting you will be accessing content from YouTube, a service provided by an external third party.

YouTube privacy policy

If you accept this notice, your choice will be saved and the page will refresh.

The Chair started the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority meeting by stating in the event of a fire alarm sounding where the nearest fire exits were and people were to assemble at the assembly point across the car park in the event of a fire. Smoking would not be permitted during the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority meeting and the toilets were further down the corridor on the opposite side to the meeting room.

If anyone was requested to leave the meeting for whatever reason, recording was to not continue outside the room. He asked people not to leave on display anything that was private or confidential items on display.

There were no exempt items on the agenda for this meeting so the press and public wouldn’t be asked to leave. He asked if any of the two “observers” present had any objections to being filmed (one of whom is the person writing this). Neither of us (including myself) did. He asked people to have their mobile phones on silent, told people he was Councillor Mahon and declared the meeting open.

1. Preliminary Matters

An apology was given by Cllr Tony Robertson for Cllr Lesley Rennie.
An apology was given by the Chair for the Deputy Chief Fire Officer Phil Garrigan.
The Deputy Chief Fire Officer pointed out he was present.

No declarations of interest were made.

There were no items that the press and public would be excluded for.

2. Minutes of Previous Meeting

The minutes of the meeting of the consultation and negotiation sub-committee meeting of the 2nd September 2014 (the blog post Labour councillors blame government for strikes in 1st ever film of a Merseyside Fire Authority meeting refers to this meeting) were agreed.

3. Industrial Relations Update

The Chief Fire Officer, Dan Stephens introduced his report (CFO/124/14) on matters of negotiation and consultation with the trade unions since the last meeting on 2nd September 2014.

He referred to 45 service instructions issued since 2nd September, most had been agreed but nine were outstanding. Dan Stephens referred to the ongoing talks with the Fire Brigades Union and that the Fire Brigades Union did not agree with the health and fitness instruction as well as an ongoing national dispute. However there had been talks in London on the 10th and 11th of September and a further meeting in Liverpool on the 29th September.

The Chief Fire Officer on behalf of the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service thanked Phil, Mark and Kevin for getting to the point where they had reached an agreement.

He referred to paragraphs 10 and 11 of his report about 24-hour shifts, the impact of station mergers versus outright closure and the mitigation he had recommended to the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority. With regards to the pensions dispute it was outside his influence and totally outside his sphere of control, however he hoped to maintain constructive dialogue and Merseyside was testament to strong industrial relations between the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service and the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority.

There was notification by the Fire Brigades Union of a 24 hour strike from 0900 on the 9th December 2014 to 0900 on the 10th December 2014. An Early Day Motion by Hilary Benn MP had attracted 236 signatures so far. However the pension regulations had been laid before parliament and the 40-day period would conclude on the 11th December 2014, which was the reason for the timing of the notification of industrial action by the Fire Brigades Union.

If the pension regulations were agreed by Parliament they would come into effect on the 1st April 2015. He said he would take any questions.

The Fire Brigades Union representative referred to the service instructions and the enormous body of work it had entailed. They had put it forward to the national Fire Brigades Union to be recognised as a template. He agreed with the Chief Fire Officer that it was much better to have an agreed outcomes and agreed introduction.

He referred to the policies about aiding sick and injured firefighters rather than punitively punishing them and accepted the reassurances about the issue of 24-hour working. Rather than death by a thousand cuts, he wanted to deal with the issues now to give a relative period of stability moving forward. Finally he pointed out to everyone at the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service that it was a national pensions dispute and he wanted to reiterate that there was excellent industrial relations locally in that they could talk about thorny issues without either side finding it offensive.

Cllr Maloney said that as an Authority they hadn’t got a clue as to what was going to happen.

Cllr Byrom said that during the strike period relationships on Merseyside had been cordial. Other authorities hadn’t seen this so he was grateful. He said that they “stand on the brink of considerable change”. In the tours they had been doing of fire stations, he’d been able to say to firefighters and members of the public it’s not the cheapest way of working but a better way of working to retain a full-time method of operation.

If they lost control of the agenda, the way to save money would be to move to retained. He said, “We don’t want that.” However, working closely with the staff and the public they serve, he wanted to put forward the message that it was safe, a good speed of response, a good weight of response and that the crews when they get there were prepared and trained.

The representative of the Fire Officers Association referred to the financial difficulties, the staffing model and how everyone was integral to providing an emergency service. He too referred to the 24-hour shift system. On the pensions issue he said that the government wasn’t moving and that they had got to persuade ministers and civil servants as there were issues that hadn’t been fully considered by the government.

He wanted (in reflection of the 236 MPs that had signed an Early Day Motion) a debate, otherwise there was something seriously wrong with politics. The union representative suggested that they address their MPs and ask them to sign the Early Day Motion apart from the one who is a government minister.

Referring to the MP for Wirral West, the Rt Hon Esther McVey MP, he said that she, “certainly doesn’t seem to live in the real world, doesn’t seem to want to know the impact of the cuts that are happening on this [Merseyside Fire and Rescue] Service”.

Although the Fire Brigades Union had said not to respond to the Adrian Thomas review of conditions of service and questionnaire, he had seen a tweet from the Deputy General Secretary encouraging members to respond to this. He had retweeted it, because he thought it was important as it affects all members.

He wanted Adrian Thomas as the independent person undertaking the review to fully understand and appreciate the concerns and issues of members. Looking forward to the budget proposals in February, the mergers were the big issue, he wanted to make sure that any cuts protected the frontline.

Cllr Tony Robertson (Lib Dem opposition spokesperson) that he agreed over the fulltime issue. He referred to his union background as a branch secretary and how there was a huge amount of respect on both sides. Although he was only a recently appointed member of the Fire Authority, he had read about it prior to becoming a member. He said that industrial relations were a hugely important issue as poor industrial relations would lead to a poor service. Cllr Robertson also said he had “no enthusiasm for city region government”.

The Chair referred to the disputes from 2003 and the £100,000 cost of getting the Green Goddess and how in the past the trade unions had told them what to do and how bad it was in the past. He compared how it was in 2003 to the improved industrial relations in 2014.

The Chief Fire Officer said to respond to Cllr Hanratty, that all MPs on Merseyside, bar the MP for Wirral West had signed the Early Day Motion, which included the Rt Hon John Pugh MP for Southport who is a member of the coalition.

The recommendations were agreed. The Chair said that the next meeting would be the 24th March 2015, he thanked people for their attendance and wished people a safe journey.

=======================================================================================================

I’ve started a petition calling on the Mersey Fire and Rescue Authority to delete the part of its constitution that requires permission to film each public meeting following the legal change in August 2014. Please if you agree with it then sign it.

If you click on any of the buttons below, you’ll be doing me a favour by sharing this article with other people.

Marvin the Martian returns to talk about closure consultations involving Lyndale, fire stations (2) and libraries

Marvin the Martian returns to talk about closure consultations involving Lyndale, fire stations (2) and libraries

Marvin the Martian returns to talk about closure consultations involving Lyndale, fire stations (2) and libraries

                                                  

Marvin the Martian from Disney's Looney Tunes
Marvin the Martian from Disney’s Looney Tunes

The below is a fictional interview with Marvin the Martian about Lyndale School. Marvin the Martian is trademarked to Warner Brothers Entertainment. Our legal team point out their trademark doesn’t actually cover its use on blogs but in case they try to argue this blog is an “entertainment service”, it isn’t, so no laughing! Yes I mean it, not even a smile! We also point out it’s not an infringing use of class 9 of this trademark as that refers to its use on goods rather than virtually.

We rely on s.30 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and class this as “fair dealing” due to the acknowledgement above. As the The Copyright and Rights in Performances (Quotation and Parody) Regulations 2014 came into force earlier this month, we’ll rely on this too and the new section 30A on parody.

If you are reading this from the UKIP party and are planning to leave a comment questioning the immigration status of Marvin the Martian or disagreeing that he should have any say whatsoever about British politics, we humbly point out that although is not British, he is a fictional character and figments to people’s imagination do not have to have permission to come here.

MARVIN THE MARTIAN: The Martian High Command have asked me to survey the Wirral to try to understand its people and politics and write a report back but I find it all very confusing.

JOHN BRACE: Good luck with that! Even I don’t fully understand the Wirral people and its politics.

MARVIN THE MARTIAN: Well we have a few areas we are unsure of. Let’s start with Greasby.

JOHN BRACE: Yes, Greasby, I know where that is.

MARVIN THE MARTIAN: Well, we are very confused. We hear reports on your media of a consultation meeting in Greasby about fire stations, but people turned up but weren’t allowed to go to it? What sort of consultation on closure is that?

JOHN BRACE: I wasn’t there, I was covering a public meeting of Wirral Council at the time. Had I turned up I wouldn’t have been allowed in either as the place has to be able to be safely evacuated in case of a fire so has a set capacity. There is however a little irony there as it’s the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service who are doing the consultation. However the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service have informed the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority before that not many people at all turn up to their other fire station closure consultation meetings. So maybe they’re not used to large numbers of people turning up to public meetings?

MARVIN THE MARTIAN: Well don’t Wirral Council own the land in Greasby that has the library, the Children’s Centre and other well-loved buildings on? Haven’t they offered (subject to the outcome of the consultation, a further decision and planning permission) a lease?

JOHN BRACE: Yes it does and that’s the Chief Fire Officer’s currently preferred site for the new fire station if Upton & West Kirby close. Yes, they have offered them a lease (subject to the outcome of the consultation, a further decision and planning permission).

MARVIN THE MARTIAN: So why do the people of Greasby have a problem with their library closing?

JOHN BRACE: It’s historical, see your historical files on Earth. The Labour government minister at the time requested a public inquiry into library closures in 2009 so Labour councillors and the Lib Dems councillors were forced into a U-turn. Wirral people seem to still remember that and libraries for a number of years after libraries became a sacred cow of Wirral politics. However Cllr Foulkes said in the recent past that libraries shouldn’t be spared from the cuts and scrutiny.

MARVIN THE MARTIAN: And what else is happening on libraries and children centres?

JOHN BRACE: Well on libraries there’s a proposal to reduce opening hours at certain libraries. The decision to consult on the closure of children’s centres has been “called in”, the committee met to consider the “call in” then got adjourned. The committee is planning to meet again on the 12th November 2014 at 6.00pm. However its Labour Chair Cllr Moira McLaughlin was cheered up by some news.

MARVIN THE MARTIAN: What news would that be, a U-turn on closing the children’s centres?

JOHN BRACE: No, the news that Cllr Chris Blakeley (Conservative spokesperson) has left the call in committee and been replaced by a different Conservative councillor.

MARVIN THE MARTIAN: Why would she be pleased?

JOHN BRACE: They have a history of, well how do I put it as diplomatically as possible without taking sides, arguing passionately with each other in public?

MARVIN THE MARTIAN: So let me get this straight, they had a public inquiry into Wirral’s library closures which had been driven through by the then Leader of the Council Cllr Steve Foulkes at the Floral Pavilion chaired by Sue Charteris?

JOHN BRACE: Yes.

MARVIN THE MARTIAN: Then a few years later Wirral Council made Cllr Foulkes Mayor in exactly the same room Mayor, also at the Floral Pavilion?

JOHN BRACE: Yes.

MARVIN THE MARTIAN: Wow. This Cllr Foulkes guy sounds interesting. However back to Greasby. Which political party has the three local councillors in Greasby, Frankby and Irby?

JOHN BRACE: The Conservatives.

MARVIN THE MARTIAN: And the MP in Wirral West?

JOHN BRACE: The Conservatives.

MARVIN THE MARTIAN: And political control of the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority is in which party’s hands?

JOHN BRACE: Labour.

MARVIN THE MARTIAN: Ha, ha, ha. So Labour want to close a few fire stations in Wirral West to cause trouble?

JOHN BRACE: Labour will say they blame the Conservative/Lib Dem government or alternatively they’ll let the unions say roughly the same thing. However the unions have already gone on strike.

MARVIN THE MARTIAN: I thought politicians weren’t allowed to be “party political”, however isn’t Esther McVey some type of government minister too?

JOHN BRACE: Yes. She’s currently the Minister for Employment so you can imagine how the public sector unions such as the Fire Brigades Union and other unions feel about that.

MARVIN THE MARTIAN: Isn’t she facing a General Election in about six months time in what is a marginal seat?

JOHN BRACE: Yes, the unions/Labour Party are already trying their best to replace her with the Labour candidate. See fracking and other issues.

MARVIN THE MARTIAN: That’s enough about Greasby, libraries, children’s centres and Esther McVey though, what’s happening in Birkenhead?

JOHN BRACE: The Rt Hon Frank Field MP is telling people that antisocial behaviour is a bad idea.

MARVIN THE MARTIAN: Really, is he referring to Cllr Phil Davies and his plan (currently out to consultation again) to close Lyndale School?

JOHN BRACE: Don’t be silly! He’s doesn’t mean it like that! He doesn’t mean his own Labour Party! By the language used in press articles he’s referring to young people.

MARVIN THE MARTIAN: Ahh so the Rt Hon Frank Field MP isn’t picking on the disabled but he’s picking on young people, why do politicians always scapegoat young people? Isn’t Alison McGovern MP, MP for Wirral South in fact younger than you are?

JOHN BRACE: Now you’re making me feel old! Yes she is. Politicians scapegoat young people to play to their base. Politicians of all parties do it. Political parties have a history of having major political disagreements with their own party’s youth wing. See Lib Dems and tuition fees as a recent example of that. However the youth wing of political parties also represents the future of that party, so annoying them can be very short-term thinking.

MARVIN THE MARTIAN: And Alison McGovern is the MP where Lyndale School is?

JOHN BRACE: Yes. She’s MP for Wirral South, another marginal seat.

MARVIN THE MARTIAN: And as a Labour MP, if the Labour Cabinet decide to close Lyndale School before the election in May 2015 does that harm her chances of reelection next May?

JOHN BRACE: It would make it look (to some voters) if that happened like she had little influence over her own political party’s decision-making process (which isn’t entirely true but that would probably be how it would be spun in the press by her opponents).

MARVIN THE MARTIAN: Ahh, but I thought officially the Labour Cabinet on Wirral Council had an “open mind” on the subject of closing Lyndale School?

JOHN BRACE: Please don’t get me started on that topic. There is a second consultation on it now, but I doubt Wirral Council would accept consultation responses from fictional characters.

MARVIN THE MARTIAN: So to sum up, there’s an election coming where everyone that can vote will get two votes, one for councillor, one for MP?

JOHN BRACE: Yes, “vote early and vote often (but no more than twice)” I could write if I was being slightly flippant!

MARVIN THE MARTIAN: And in the lead up to elections you get election promises, vote for me and I’ll do this (or my party will do this)?

JOHN BRACE: Yes, even promises they know they can’t possibly keep after the election.

MARVIN THE MARTIAN: Are you implying party political candidates would deliberately lie about themselves and their own political party?

JOHN BRACE: I’d probably get sued or face an injunction if I answered that honestly! However you can’t libel a political party or a local council. Elections at their heart are a popularity contest and a battle for hearts and minds, so political parties will tell people what they think they want to hear.

MARVIN THE MARTIAN: Oh dear. So after the election a lot of people will be disappointed?

JOHN BRACE: They always are, before, during and after. Some of them have even given up on voting or being engaged in the political process.

MARVIN THE MARTIAN: That’s sad really. Well I’ll put all this in my report to the Martian High Command. Thanks for the interview!

If you click on any of these buttons below, you’ll be doing me a favour by sharing this article with other people. Thanks:

Privacy Preference Center

Necessary

Advertising

Analytics

Other