Well it’s that dreadful part of the year; not even the glorious weather can disguise the fact – it’s exam time. Mine are both revising in varying degrees. My youngest daughter has all her exams (AS levels) in two days – 6 hours on the final day which is way too much in my view.
I suspect all our children suffer an over abundance of tests and exams. Schools are under intolerable pressure to hit targets and “do well” in league tables and the like. Primary school teaching is apparently now geared to SATS which may not be a good way to ensure our younger children have a good all round education. I completely accept that initially they were a very good idea and undoubtedly assisted parents to get an understanding of the quality of their local schools. But I really am not convinced we now have a system that satisfies the needs of pupils, teachers and parents.
Anyway, the glorious weather succeeded in driving both my daughters to revise and get a tan at the same time. It seems the blue skies and warm sun has put everyone in a good mood though it has to be said that Gordon Brown and the rest of the Labour Party are far from enjoying sunny times.
I believe Labour has been rumbled. For years Conservative Chancellors and former Chancellors like Ken Clarke warned that Gordon Brown’s economic policy was fundamentally flawed. When times were good Brown claimed the credit; now things are tight he blames others. Gordon Brown should have saved up during the good years so Britain could weather an economic storm. The Government failed to discourage reckless lending by the banks and building societies and many people are seriously in debt having borrowed against mythical rises in the value of their homes.
I reckon a significant number of the electorate were prepared to give Labour the benefit of the doubt until the dreadful reality of the abolition of the 10p tax rate hit pay packets. Doubling the tax of the poorest paid workers is one of Labours greatest betrayals.
Well whatever the opinion polls I take nothing for granted and will continue to work for you and seek to represent you as your next MP.
Kimberley Brewery Site
There’s still no news from English Heritage on the listing of the buildings. However, it’s good to see that the ground floor windows have been boarded up and painted; this will improve security and doesn’t look too bad. Repair work to the roof was meant to have begun weeks ago and Kimberley Town Councillor, Shane Easom is checking on the progress (or otherwise) of that work.
Shane was selected last week as the Conservative County Council Candidate for Trowell and Kimberley. As well as being a town councillor , Shane is also a member of SOBS (Save Our Brewery Site) and was a main player in the revival of the Kimberley Pram Push.
He is Kimberley born and bred, went to school in the town and now runs a packaging business in Kimberley. He has done considerable charity work taking supplies to Rumanian orphanages and more recently helping build homes in Sri Lanka for victims of the Tsunami.
In short I am sure he will make an excellent County Councillor.
Crime Figures Fiddle
I went to Parliament the other week to meet the Shadow Lord Chancellor and shadow ministers responsible for crime and justice.
I am told that the police are not charging offenders who should be brought to justice; I know of numerous cases that have been “under charged”; too many cases are being dealt with in the magistrate’s court instead of the crown court and too frequently pleas to less serious offences are being accepted. I have no figures (as yet) to support the above but do having a growing number of anecdotal examples. I strongly suspect that what lies behind all this is Labours desire to fiddle the crime figures.
In my last newsletter I reported that my daughter had called the police to report two assaults she had witnessed but we discovered her initial call had failed to be recorded. That was sorted out but she was not asked to provide a statement for almost three weeks.
The officer in the case arranged to take the statement at 6.30pm but was called to a serious robbery which meant he arrived two hours late. He was a credit to our police force and job done, we had a short chat. It turns out he is the beat manager for the area where the incidents occurred. According to Notts Police “beat managers” are
“police officers that are primarily responsible for tackling the priorities identified by the community. This may include criminal activity but also includes anti social behaviour. It is their responsibility to not only make you safer but also make you feel safer in the communities that you live, work or socialise.” Our police force is plagued by meaningless jargon – long gone are the days when the police declared their primary function is to prevent crime, detect crime and nick criminals. So cutting through the jargon and based on my knowledge “beat managers” are responsible for their own patch, they work with residents and community groups and liaise with their superiors to ensure that policing on their beat is effective in tackling crime and anti social behaviour. They perform an important task – so taking my daughters case (and as this may result in a court case I can’t go into much detail) the beat manager is aware there have been a number of assaults on and incidents involving a large group of students in his area. As a result he has arranged for the police to step up patrols, meet with the head teacher and so on. The actual investigation into detecting and bringing to justice those responsible should (and in the past would) have been done by a detective or at least a number of other uniformed officers. But, like most beat managers the one I met is “up to his eyes” in work – hence the robbery incident and the investigation of my daughters incidents. The result is the delay in taking her statement and he has many more yet to take. On a daily basis I see the results of a police force that is struggling to work efficiently and effectively because they do not have the time they need because they do not have enough officers to tackle crime within our county.
Like every police officer I meet and work with, when asked whether crime was falling, the one that took my daughter’s statement – laughed.
A number of constituents have complained to me that the police have failed to attend incidents or investigate offences. As a result I have taken up those complaints with the relevant Local Area Commander (LAC) who have offered speedy explanations and full apologies.
If you have an example please send me an e-mail. The LAC’s I have dealt with have been extremely helpful and do an excellent job. On a political level I am working with Conservative shadow ministers to ensure that the crime figures are accurate and we have the policing we need to tackle crime and make our streets, homes and communities safe.
And finally – betting shock on local Labour MP as Prime Minister
A friend sent me the following courtesy of Ladbrokes. These are the odds they are offering on who is likely to succeed Gordon Brown as P.M. For reasons we can’t fathom they have included your local Labour MP and I promise you he really was their bottom of the list.
David Miliband 5/2
Alan Johnson 6/1
Ed Balls 6/1
Jack Straw 7/1
James Purnell 8/1
John Denham 10/1
Jon Cruddas 12/1
Yvette Cooper 12/1
Andy Burnham 14/1
Harriet Harman 14/1
Ed Miliband 16/1
Douglas Alexander 20/1
Hilary Benn 20/1
Caroline Flint 25/1
Jacqui Smith 25/1
John Hutton 25/1
John McDonnell 25/1
Charles Clarke 33/1
Geoff Hoon 33/1
Alan Milburn 50/1
John Reid 50/1
Ruth Kelly 50/1
Tessa Jowell 50/1
Alistair Darling 100/1
Des Browne 100/1
Frank Field 100/1
Hazel Blears 100/1
Ken Livingstone 100/1
Peter Hain 100/1
Sean Woodward 100/1
Tony Blair 100/1
Cherie Blair 200/1
Nick Palmer 500/1
Anyway! Thanks for all your e-mails, keep them coming and please feel free to forward this on.
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