"Fiscal responsibility with a social conscience"

This morning I sent an email to the office of David Cameron, this is what it said...

"A confusing weekend in politics. I have been saying for some considerable time that the public want to know exactly HOW the Conservatives will bring CHANGE in British politics, and what the conservatives intend to do with regard to tax cuts and public spending. Ken Clarke has really sown a seed of doubt in the minds of voters I suspect."

"One would expect the party to be united regarding their referendum especially on such a huge topic as inheritance tax which proved to be such an important policy when it was announced proudly at the 07 conference!!".

This afternoon i received an email on behalf of Mr Cameron saying that "in a speech in London, David Cameron explained how the Conservative Party intends to address Labour's debt crisis. He stressed that fiscal responsibility needs a social conscience, or it is not responsible at all".

We are of course clear about what the Prime Minister is delivering... A longer recession than the United States or the eurozone. The fastest rise in unemployment since records began. And the worst public sector deficit in British peacetime history. And so we now recognise the need for change! but what will the conservatives do and what will their prioroties be? I'm still waiting to hear How and When!

Tackling debt. Rebalancing our economy. Getting people back into work. Regulating our economy properly. If we do all these things, we can confront the fundamental weaknesses of our economy.

But this will not happen overnight. The old habits, the old philosophies, the old failed ideas are deeply entrenched. And this will not happen through government alone.

We don't just want to survive this recession... limping through to the other side, one notch down on a graph of decline. We need to get through it: stronger, better, richer and fairer.

I await a full response from mr Cameron in the next few days, I am interested to hear particularly about the inheritance tax u-turn, if that's what it is, and I am interested to hear Mr Cameron's thoughts about reaching the British public and outlining what change he intends to deliver and how he intends to achieve it. It's not good enough to be content that the public have had enough of 12 years of labour and Gordon Brown's mismanagement of the public purse, we also want to know exactly what the Conservatives have to offer as an alternative!

What exactly are the tories plans for inheritance tax?

Cutting inheritance tax would not be a high priority for an incoming Tory government, Ken Clarke has said. The shadow business secretary told the BBC its main economic goals would be to cut public debt and restore growth. The Tories' pledge to take millions of families out of inheritance tax in September 2007 was seen as a key moment in reviving their political fortunes.  Later, a Conservative spokesman said the party was still committed to its manifesto pledge to cut the tax. 

Recent indications that the Tories will not reverse Labour's planned tax rises for the rich have already caused internal ructions. Increasing income tax for top-earners to 45% from 2011 would be "difficult to avoid", shadow chancellor George Osborne has said - a stance backed up by Mr Clarke and foreign secretary William Hague. 

The Conservatives insist cutting the overall burden of tax for families remains a long-term objective and have pledged to freeze council tax bills for two years among other proposals. 

Mr Clarke told the BBC's Politics Show the priority was to stabilise the public finances and to do so in a way which hopefully did not necessitate tax rises for the majority of people. Tough choices would be required because of the "tremendous mess" the Tories would inherit if elected, he stressed, with debt levels "of a kind never previously seen". On inheritance tax, he said raising current thresholds was an "aspiration" which the party retained and hoped to get around to "sooner or later". 

At the 2007 tory party conference - at a time when a general election was considered imminent - Mr Osborne said the Tories would raise the threshold for inheritance tax from £300,000 to £1m - potentially taking nine million families out of the tax. But Mr Clarke stressed: "I don't think we are going around any longer saying this is something we are going to do the moment we take power. 

Surely it is correct to say that David Cameron must now state whether he agreed with Mr Clarke's assessment or not, and whether he is in fact effectively kicking this inheritance tax into the long grass.

More political (Election) preamble

Increasing income tax for top-earners to 45% would be "difficult to avoid" for any future Tory government, Shadow chancellor George Osborne has admitted as such this week.

The government plans to raise the top rate for people earning more than £150,000 from 2011. 

The Conservative Mayor of London Boris Johnson said on Friday that the move would stifle British enterprise. 

But Mr Osborne told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that he had never - and could not - rule out tax rises by his party. 

"If you look at the proposal to increase the rate of tax on people earning over £150,000 to the new 45% rate, that's going to be difficult to avoid." 

His comments came after party leader David Cameron said in a speech on Thursday that the rich would have to pay their "fair share" to rescue the economy.

Mr Osborne said his party would propose changes to the tax system so that companies relied on equity rather than debt and to encourage the public to save more. 

He criticised Labour's management of the national finances and said the Conservatives would rein in public spending. 

Boris had warned that "clobbering the rich" would be bad for business and that City institutions would suffer. 

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Any Questions?, he said: "It sends out a signal to people who create wealth, people who are energetic... can generate new industries or drive large enterprises of one kind or another... that we want to take more of their proceeds away than before. 

one thing continues to concern me and that is that the conservatives do not appear to have got their act together with regard to the really important issues that matter so much to the electorate. I'm fairly sure that a strong majority have had enough of labour and much worse of Gordon Brown, but my concern is that the Conservative party still seems incapable of saying (in plain english) how they will deliver change, what their policies will be, what their priorities will be and until they can be consistent and transparent then we will not really know what we might be voting for!

Mr Cameron warns of "Tough choices ahead"

David Cameron has warned that an incoming Tory government will have to make "tough choices" on public spending. And he said cutting public debt - not taxes - would be his top priority, in a keynote speech on the economy. He criticised "quango fat cats" and said he would examine the system of tax credits - as some were reaching people earning more than £50,000 a year. 

In his speech Mr Cameron said a "credible strategy" to bring the public finances under control was essential for recovery. The Tory leader, who ditched the Conservatives' commitment to match Labour's spending plans in the light of the economic downturn, stressed that fiscal responsibility had to have a "social conscience." 

As official data suggested the UK's budget deficit had widened to £8.99bn in February, Mr Cameron said an incoming Conservative government would have to deal with the worst set of public figures in our peacetime history. He said without addressing public debt, confidence would be undermined and it could lead to a sharp increase in the cost of borrowing - meaning higher interest payments on mortgages and business loans. 

He was asked if schools or defence spending would be ring fenced but replied that while the Conservatives had announced what they would do this year they were not making detailed announcements for future years. He said social reform plans would not be abandoned but said he would "examine" tax credits as he believed the original purpose of the system had been confused to the point where tax credits can now reach people earning over £50,000 a year. 

I’m afraid Mr Cameron is going to have to do more, much more, if he is to maintain his 12+ point lead in the polls for what could be another whole year. We need to hear long term conservative plans to steer this country through this recession, but also to bring the promised “change” to education, to health and to defence, and if we don’t then we can expect to see the polls get tighter and tighter as we near the election that Mr Brown has avoided for so long.

The Conservatives "inner circle"

I read an article by Andrew Rawnsley in the Observer, setting out the "clique of four" at the heart of the Tory party - David Cameron, George Osborne, Andy Coulson and Steve Hilton - and the deleterious monopoly they have on decision-making. This passage outlines the extent of the perceived problem:

"Some shadow cabinet members report that their leader can be good at soliciting the views of colleagues and treating their portfolios with respect. Others complain that they are so frozen out of the inner gang that they have never had the opportunity for a one-to-one discussion with him about their policy areas."

The claims of the latter shadow cabinet members flag up something Cameron should fix - and sharpish. Not only will the current set-up foster internal resentment against the Tory leader, but it lessens the chances of the right decisions getting made and could create great vacuums in the party's thinking. Indeed, there are worrying signs that those vacuums exist already.  

We know that David Cameron has the Charisma, the charm and is ‘media savvy’ enough to be a successful leader of the party and he has the lead in the polls to suggest that an election now would bring a 90+ seat majority over labour but at some point, perhaps as Prime Minister, people are going to want to see how he will deliver the change he promises and how he will lead his cabinet team.

I leave you with a quote from a shadow cabinet member, told to Mr Rawnsley: "If you look at our legislative programme for the first year, it is a blank piece of paper."

British Politics gets back to “normal”

The Tory leader and MP for Witney David Cameron, talked movingly today about the death of his son Ivan, while thanking well-wishers for the comfort they had provided him and his wife, Samantha.

Returning to the Commons chamber for the first time since the loss of his six-year-old son, Mr Cameron looked forward to the day when he could think "happy thoughts" about Ivan's life, rather than feel "sorrow" at his death.

The prime minister, who also suffered the loss of his first child, Jennifer, welcomed Cameron back at question time, saying he understood the grief he had been going through. Cameron first told the Speaker, Michael Martin: "Can I thank you for the kind words you said a fortnight ago about the loss of my son Ivan. I particularly want to thank the prime minister for what he said.

"It came straight from the heart and it meant a great deal to Samantha and to me. We've had letters from right across the House of Commons and from thousands of people in the country and it has been a great comfort to know that others are thinking of us.

"A lot of letters have come from families who themselves have lost children. If there's a common theme in them it is that, while the loss never goes away, there does come a day where you look back at your child's life and think happy thoughts at their life, rather than feel sorrow at their death. "I hope that day will come for us too."

His head bowed, Brown murmured softly: "Let me welcome you back and I understand the grief that you and your family have been going through." Two weeks ago prime minister's questions was abandoned and replaced by brief tributes after Ivan's sudden death.

The Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, told Cameron: "On behalf of all of us on these benches, we sincerely hope that you and your family have the time and the space to cope with the terrible loss you have suffered."

The question on everyone’s lips now of course is “when will Mr Brown call that Election?”

Labour's rating has slumped below 30 per cent for the first time since last September as the recession bites, according to one poll yesterday. Gordon Brown's personal ratings have also fallen back to where they were when he launched an unlikely fightback last autumn after the Government rescued the banks. 

In contrast, the second bailout last month did not halt Labour's slide; its ratings have fallen by three percentage points in the 11 polls taken since. The weighted average of all the surveys in February puts the Conservatives on 43 per cent (unchanged since January), Labour on 29 per cent (down two points), the Liberal Democrats 17 per cent (up one point) and other parties on 11 per cent (up one). The figures would give David Cameron an overall majority of 92 at a general election, with 371 seats. Labour would have 217, the Liberal Democrats 31 and other parties would hold the same number.

The Government will struggle to persuade people that it is taking effective action unless people see its actions beginning to have a beneficial effect, and frankly that seems unlikely!

Yesterday, Mr Brown took responsibility "for everything that's happened" while he was Chancellor and Prime Minister but again refused to apologise for the economic crisis. Answering BBC Radio 4 listeners, he was asked to say sorry but replied: "What nobody reckoned on was a banking crisis that reverberated right across the world. I have said that the regulatory system was not good enough. I have said it has got to change. It is a global freeze-up."

Outlining a new round of public service reforms yesterday, the Prime Minister promised "no cuts" in investment in services in the coming year. He said: "This moment of economic change is exactly the one when people want to know that the public services are there for them. Where there is insecurity, we will offer security.

He defended plans to cut the length of teacher training courses from 12 to six months for high-calibre recruits. He said it would make a "huge difference" and give teaching a higher status. But teaching unions attacked the proposal. Christine Blower, acting general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: "Teaching is not a profession that can be picked up at the drop of a hat."

In the Independent this week we are told that Gordon Brown is considering a plan to hold a "double election" in June next year, with elections to Westminster and the European Parliament on the same day.

The idea was discussed in the margins of Labour's spring conference in Birmingham last weekend and has won the backing of some party officials. Although allies of Mr Brown said it was "very premature" to talk about the date, party sources said he did not want to delay polling until the last possible moment in the spring of 2010.

The Prime Minister is anxious to avoid another wave of speculation about when he might seek his own mandate after his political honeymoon came to a sudden halt as he scrapped plans for an election last autumn that had been talked up by key allies.

Let’s face it, Gordon Brown waited 10 years for the top job and he is not going to relinquish control until he really has to. Labour may suggest that a double election in June is a possibility; Tory sources tell me that November 2009 is more likely. I would be very surprised if this country finally gets the opportunity to elect a Prime Minister until March 2010.

Lions praise Carterton 'Young Ambassador' as an inspiration

A 15-YEAR-OLD has been described as a “credit to us all” by Carterton Lions Club after he went through to the finals of the Lions Young Ambassador of the 21st Century award. 

Matty Yallop, of Ashdeane, Shilton Park, Carterton, has been involved in a series of activities and organisations within the community. He was one of 13 candidates to get through to the final of the award, which recognises young people aged between 15 and 19 for their outstanding community service involvement, leadership accomplishments, public speaking skills and scholastic achievement. 

Carterton Lions entered Matty in the London and Home Counties regional final of the competition in recognition of his hard work and determination. He won — and went through to the national finals in Dudley, West Midlands. 

Lions president Maddy Radburn said: “He was outstanding and is a credit to us all. “He held his ground and did Oxfordshire proud.” 

The community-driven youngster, who attends Carterton Community College, is chairman of the local Youth Council, works at Allandale Youth Centre, and is the only under-18 member of the Neighbourhood Action Group. He is also part of Extreme Wheels – an annual skating event that takes place in Carterton. 

Mrs Radburn said she was delighted when Matty won the regional final last month. She said: “The quality of the final was exceptionally high and the judges certainly had a challenge picking the winner.” 

Matty was awarded £500 to spend on equipment for the Allandale Youth Centre. He has decided to buy a table football and an air hockey table. Matty’s mum Zoe Yallop and stepfather Dave Gillett said they were proud of him. Despite losing out in the national finals, Matty, said: “It was absolutely brilliant. Even though I didn’t win, it was a fantastic experience.”

Political Correctness

Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on Wednesday to get out of Australia , as the government targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks.. 

Separately, Rudd angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday by saying he supported spy agencies monitoring the nation's mosques. Quote: 
'IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave It. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali , we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Australians. ' 

'This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom' 

'We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society . Learn the language!' 

'Most Australians believe in God. This is not some Christian, right wing, political push, but a fact, because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture.' 

'We will accept your beliefs, and will not question why. All we ask is that you accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment with us.' 

'This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our Christian beliefs, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great Australian freedom, 'THE RIGHT TO LEAVE'.

'If you aren't happy here then LEAVE. We didn't force you to come here. You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted.'

How many British Politicians would dare to be so outspoken on the subject of immigration?

West Oxfordshire Forum

www.westoxonforum.com

This new forum has been set up specifically for the residents in West Oxfordshire giving them the opportunity to discuss local matters. 

Unlike many forums out there on the big ‘World Wide Web’, this one is moderated. That means there’s a team of Administrators and Moderators who roam the forum like benevolent aunties & uncles, helping to ensure this site stays an entertaining and educational place to visit on the internet. Sometimes this means posts get edited. 

Simply put, the Admin Team and Moderators reserve the right to edit posts as we see fit. This means the removal of offensive language (or the suggestion of it), as well as defusing arguments, occasional editing for clarity and deletion of anything that might be deemed offensive, or which could be seen to attack a particular individual or organisation. We also take steps to edit or remove posted opinions that could bring West Oxon Forum and/or the poster into disrepute. An example would be a post which we consider racist or sexist. 

If your post is edited there should be a note added at the bottom of it explaining which Moderator edited it. There won’t necessarily be any explanation. We try to add a note to the bottom of edited posts, but sometimes we just don’t have the time. If there isn’t, please accept our apologies. It’s not “stealth editing”, it’s a lack of time, an oversight, or a mistake. Sometimes for teeny tiny edits (like to change a mis-spelling, or to add a word which has obviously been missed out) we don’t even bother with the “edited by” message. 

We never edit posts intending to change context. Quite apart from the fact that that would be pointless, it would be contrary to the spirit of the forum. 

We often see people starting new threads that are duplicates of often-discussed topics. In these cases you may find that a Moderator will either direct you to a previous thread and close your one, or merge your thread with an older one. To avoid this please search before posting a new topic – it may well have already been covered. 

Finally, Moderators may choose to move a thread which you started to a different area of the forum. Typically this is because it either didn’t belong in that area to start with, or it has evolved into a thread that belongs elsewhere! Don’t take offence if it’s moved – this is just the Moderators keeping the place clean and tidy – you won’t usually be informed that your thread has been moved. 


If a thread starts to get out of hand to a point where it breaches forum rules, individual posts may be deleted. I know it’s frustrating to find that your post has just disappeared apparently without trace or explanation, and we do try to PM users to let them know this has happened, but it’s not always possible due to time constraints. 

If it gets really bad, then the whole thread may get closed and/or removed. In the case you’ll probably have already been made aware (in the thread or via private message) that your thread is for the chop! 

While we are very open to constructive criticism and positive feedback, we are consistently surprised when people complain that their posts have been moderated. You can throw the “free speech”/censorship argument at us, but as has already been explained, this little corner of cyberspace is moderated. Anyone not liking the rules of the forum is welcome to go elsewhere, it’s as simple as that. 

I think that’s pretty good for a service which is provided and moderated completely free of charge.

I had a forum of my once upon a time, it was included as part of adriancoomber.com but this new forum is open to all of West Oxfordshire and is a great place to discuss local issues and to raise concerns or questions on just about any subject. We hope that in due course, parish councils, neighbourhood police teams, residents groups and other community organisations will come on board with a common aim to help make West Oxfordshire a better place.

Dragons Den - Carterton - 23 April 2009

What is the Dragon’s Den?
The Dragon’s Den is a project for Primary schools in Carterton. It is designed to offer children in Key Stage 2 the chance to extend and develop what they do in Design and Technology at school. The project will also provide the opportunity to prove that the ideas children have can really work – by taking part in a new, locally sponsored community event which will be held at Carterton Community Centre on St George’s Day, Thursday 23 April 2009.

What is it all about?
• Using a simple base unit, which will be provided, children can build a mechanical dragon which may be able to flap its wings, snap its jaws and wave its tail.
• It is their job to use some of the four basic kinds of movement (linear, rotary, reciprocating and oscillating) to get the dragon to make as many movements of its wings, jaws, tail - or any other part – as it is pulled along.
• The design, use of materials, mechanisms, and final appearance of the Dragon (colours, excitement/interest) is all in their hands.
• The most successful Dragon, as judged by a Dragon’s Den Panel on 23 April will be the one which most successfully meets these requirements and will take away the prizes!

How will it all work?
• Each of the five primary schools in Carterton will be offered FIVE of the base units on which a Dragon can be built.
• The only set rule about how a Dragon will move will be that it has to be pulled along on the floor for a maximum distance of 10 metres. This is the only means by which the Dragon can be powered.  
• Each school can use any number of these units. So they could work on just one unit or any number up to five.

Schools can do this project in any number of ways, perhaps

• As a class project – which might use all five units;
• As an “after school or lunch time project” – which might use one or two units for interested children;
• As a special “technology” project for a group/groups of children which they identify.

Schools can of course support their children with teacher/parent input. This is, after all, an opportunity to extend and develop the Design & Technology which is done at school and guidance on the kinds of movement and general principles of making it all work are going to be very important.
• It is advisable that no more than 5 children work on each Dragon “unit”.
• The project will be offered to schools in late February. That means (including the Easter holiday), there will be just under 9 weeks to prepare.
• We will need to know from each school by Wednesday 11 March how many Dragons will be entering the “Den” on 23 April.


How did Dragon’s Den come about?
Simply, three organisations with a common purpose – Carterton Town Council were looking for an idea which would be interesting, useful for schools and enjoyable to mark St George’s Day. This is an important day for the Council as it marks the end of one Mayor’s time in office and the appointment of a successor. Isis Training Services Ltd is the operating company of The Engineering Trust. It aims to encourage interest in engineering amongst young people and manages the recruitment of apprentices in Milton Keynes, Oxfordshire and Buckingham. Carterton Community College is a Specialist Engineering School and it has a Community programme which supports young people and families in Carterton, especially to build skills and activities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

Awards and Rewards!
• A new award has been founded in Carterton which will be given for the first time to the team and school which is the most successful. This is the John Browne Award for Young Engineers and Innovators in Carterton. More details are enclosed on a separate leaflet.
• Carterton Town Council has agreed that £500 should be available for the successful school to purchase equipment and materials for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

AMA International Karate open day - 28 Feb 09

On Saturday 28th February 2009 my nephew took part in the Amateur Martial Association International Karate Open at Ponds Forge Leisure Centre in Sheffield. Laurence is 9 years old and has been training with the Links Karate Club in Clacton-on-sea, Essex for about a year and so is still considered to be a relative novice but he appears to have found a sport at which he can excel.

Last November Kerry, Nathan and I went across to Bristol to the National Karate championships to watch Laurence fight in the 9yrs and under boys Kumite and compete in the Kata competition. He did exceptionally well and won his kumite category easily, conceding only one point in the entire competition and winning the final match with a staggering score line of 9 points to Nil.

Unfortunately I was unable to make it to Sheffield on 28th Feb but from what I have heard and seen (see photograph) Laurence did extremely well again in both Kata and Kumite. This International competition saw fighters from no less than 20 countries compete in one of the most prestigious tournaments on the Martial arts circuit. Laurence fought his little heart out and was very happy to come away with a bronze medal.

It should not be underestimated what a fantastic year in Karate Laurence has had, as a relative newcomer to the scene he has competed at the very highest level and been successful against much more senior and experienced opponents. I have witnessed for myself how Laurence has grown in confidence and stature over the last year and I have every confidence that it won’t be long before we see him don the England team tracksuit!

A very proud Uncle,

Adrian.