Author: John Brace

New media journalist from Birkenhead, England who writes about Wirral Council. Published and promoted by John Brace, 134 Boundary Road, Bidston, CH43 7PH. Printed by UK Webhosting Ltd t/a Tsohost, 113-114 Buckingham Avenue, Slough, Berkshire, England, SL1 4PF.

Road Safety & Cllr. Harry Smith – Facts not Fiction

I was going over a question Cllr Smith was asked on the 18th October by my wife (which follows on from a further question) the previous year. Harry said, “I understand from the Director of Technical Services that the investigations into the concerns raised by the petitioners are still ongoing due to a number of … Continue reading “Road Safety & Cllr. Harry Smith – Facts not Fiction”

I was going over a question Cllr Smith was asked on the 18th October by my wife (which follows on from a further question) the previous year.

Harry said, “I understand from the Director of Technical Services that the investigations into the concerns raised by the petitioners are still ongoing due to a number of factors.”

John says, “The petition about Brow Road/Boundary Road/Worcester Road/Hoylake Road was handed in on the 8th October 2009 at the Bidston & St. James/Claughton Area Forum (see section 5 Public Question Time). Are you seriously saying that 375 days after the petition has been handed in investigations are still “ongoing”?

This was a time when you were Labour’s spokesperson on the topic. However standing order 21 forbids you from speaking about the petition at all!

Moving swiftly on:-

Harry said, “I understand that whilst it was the intention of the Director of Technical Services to report the findings of his investigations into the petitioners concerns to a meeting of the Highways and Traffic Representation Panel prior to the formulation of the 2010/11 Road Safety Block programme.”

John says “Yes, but doesn’t this contradict the answer you gave on the 2nd November 2009 when you told a full meeting of the council that it would be considered as part of the 2010/11 Road Safety Block programme?”

Harry says “this was not in fact possible due to the fact that part of Boundary Road is included in Government’s requirement that each Highway Authority in the UK undertake a review of speed limits on all A and B class roads and implement any changes by 2011.”

Yes, a review of speed limits of all A, B and C roads was agreed by a Labour-led Cabinet many months before the petition. However this covered all roads. In fact what was agreed was that a list of petitions/public enquiries would be made available to those doing the study (which cost about £400,000). See 4.1 of this this report (which was agreed by Labour councillors).

Other factors such as fatalities on Boundary and Hoylake Road should’ve factored in too. I’ve read through the Department for Transport Circular mentioned in the report. It mentions many things, but there is no legal requirement on Wirral Council to implement changes by 2011.

The sentence in the document is “Traffic authorities are, however, asked to review the speed limits on all of their A and B roads, and implement any necessary changes, by 2011 in accordance with this guidance.”

Tuition Fees

I notice at a full meeting of Wirral Council next Monday that Labour councillors are tabling a motion entitled “Lib Dem Student Betrayal”.

Firstly it says tuition fees will triple. This is incorrect. At the moment there’s a cap of £3,000 so universities can charge anything from £0 to £3000. If the new proposals are accepted £9000 is just an upper ceiling for what they can charge. The way the motion is worded you’d think all universities will all charge the most that they can; the truth is they won’t. Universities were only allowed to charge tuition fees if they also gave out bursaries. If the bursaries stay in place, this should offset the tuition fees.

A National Scholarship Programme will mean university students from poorer backgrounds might not pay any tuition fees for the first couple of years.

The pledge was “I pledge to vote against any increase in fees in the next parliament and to pressure the government to introduce a fairer alternative”. A number of Lib Dem MPs have already agreed to vote against an increase in fees, such as the Party President Tim Farron. The party has definitely been pressuring for a fairer alternative to the current system which will be extended to part-time students for the first time.

Labour also have the gall to put in their motion “these cuts will reduce social mobility and create a system in which only those young people from affluent families will be able to go to university”.

However it was Labour’s introduction of tuition fees in 2003 & Labour’s wish that 50% of school leavers go to university that has led to this already. I was a student at Liverpool University in the years after tuition fees were brought in. The university population was not reflective of society as the prospect of student debt put people off from poorer backgrounds.

People from larger families were also deterred from going as having subsidised their older brothers and sister through university often their parents didn’t have the financial means to have more than one of their children at university at a time.

I do not have any problem with more young people going to university. Has our economy now or even in three years time got enough graduate-level jobs for them to pay off their student debts and loans after they graduate? In the last few years I have known many graduates struggle to find employment or in the case of postgraduate students turned down for jobs because they’re “over qualified”.

Vote rigging in Walsall – Son of Tory Councillor gets Prison Sentence

It seems the penalties for rigging an election are getting more severe with the son of a Tory councillor getting a custodial sentence for making false applications for proxy votes.

His father, a Tory councillor was charged too, but cleared. Some quotes from the article below:-

“It’s not enough for political parties to wait for the police to catch the bad apples, it is also up to those organisations to root out malpractices and any culture within their associations which condones or turns a blind eye to the corruption of our democratic process.”

“The court heard that Munir had used the names of real people and filled in forms to get them on the electoral register and then apply for proxy votes, but had used fake details and forged signatures.”

Although I realise that during elections many people working on a campaign are volunteers, not barristers (and not au fait with caselaw regarding elections and 200 pages of Electoral Commission advice) surely Ali Munir knew what he was doing was wrong (and if he didn’t why did he plead guilty)? Anyone he registered a proxy vote for would’ve been denied the chance to vote.

It’s the few “bad applies” in all parties that make the public think that all politicians are corrupt and on the make. There are many honest, hard-working councillors and MPs that do what they do out of a deep sense of public service and improving the quality of life for their fellow man.