Hang in there Alan!

Bob Ainsworth the MP for Coventry East was appointed Secretary of State for Defence and this could have major repercussions for Alan Whitehead MP in terms of his future preferment- for Bob is the first Cabinet Minister for over 40 years to have a moustache, that designer appendage sported by Alan himself!

"A man is not an orange. You can't eat the fruit and throw the peel away”- Arthur Miller (I think!)

“An orange on the table, your dress on the rug, and you in my bed, sweet present of the present, cool of night, warmth of my life.”
Jacques Prevert (French poet, 1900-1977)

Readers of this blog may have been hoping for some insightful political commentary or even (and rather more likely) some vacuous prose about politics or more generally Southampton affairs- unfortunately instead I have just spent the last half an our cleaning my desk after the bottle of orange juice I forgot to remove on Thursday fermented, exploded and then dried to a cement like consistency all over my desk!

And I thought the 'Orange Book ' was about Liberalism- post accident, the (now) orange book on my desk is a copy of 'Reach for the Ground' by Jeffrey Bernard!

A year ago...

the sweet taste of success...at last!

(the Conservatives last had majority control of the City in 1983!)

One year ago last Thursday the Conservatives took majority control of the City Council in Southampton as they gained 8 seats.

The results- certainly for the Lib-Dems and Labour were totally unexpected- the Lib-Dems lost every seat they contested, Labour managed to win two seats and the Conservatives won the remaining 15.
It has been an eventful and important year since for the City but as supporters of the short lived Lib-Lab coalition ponder on what may have been and the Conservatives allow themselves just a short moment to reflect on their election success, I wonder if the left and centre parties realise how lucky they are not to have had elections last Thursday (this year is a 'rest year' as Southampton currently elects in thirds with three members per ward, all serving a four year term).
I would guess on current opinion polling date (the Tories are circa 18 points ahead), that we would win every seat.
That would mean that the new political composition of the council would alter by the Conservatives having an additional 12 seats!
It will be interesting to see how the European elections go next month- personally I don't think it now impossible the Labour Party will poll below 20%.

£300k extra for new pothole repairs- but it is still a drop in the ocean!

The fabled 'Rhinopatch' machine

Good, great and bad news!

I have pressed the council to find more money centrally to help support the Highways Service reactive repairs programme (in English, that really means the gangs who repair potholes) and the GREAT news is the Conservative Administration has been able to find the extra cash. As anyone who drives or cycles in Southampton knows, the state of our roads is appalling after decades of underinvestment.

The GOOD news (and this is almost impossible to quantify), the money will fill anything up to 4000- 4500 pot holes which is by anybodies recognising, a significant amount. Since becoming the portfolio holder for Environment & Transport, I have worked hard to try and raise the productivity of the service. Morale was low, absenteeism high, the quality of repairs variable and productivity at times unacceptable. Our first step was to introduce a private sector partner, in the form of Colas, to work with us and crucially actually embed their staff into the management of the Council's organisation. They had access to all sorts of capital equipment and road treatments that a relatively small unitary authority could not afford (such as the Rhinopatch machine, pictured above). We commissioned gangs from Colas to work alongside our own crews to benchmark our own productivity- and help raise it. Our record keeping was shambolic. We have bought an off the shelf computerised system to ensure that jobs are not 'lost' rather than relying on paper based methods. We recruited dedicated Highways inspectors who would examine defects, arrange for the repairs to be carried out and then check the quality of the work post-completion. We sorted out our procurement so we were not over paying on materials. And with a near doubling of productivity, we have committed to spend an additional £700k p.a. each and every year for the next four years. So no one can say, despite the chronic underfunding that the Conservative-run Southampton City Council faces from central government, that we are not doing our bit.

The BAD news is, it is not enough. Some of our roads shouldn't be maintained by the city at all (such as the A35 and A3024). Despite being designated by the Highways Agency as roads of 'national strategic or economic importance', the HA refuses to fund their repair. Even more serious is that since about September last year, the government has been procrastinating on releasing a whole new round of PFI credits. From a Southampton perspective, it is vital that we get a slice of that government money to repair our appalling road network in Southampton. Central government should wake up to its responsibilities and fund local authorities properly to do this essential work.

Happy returns for the Duke of Boots

Tory Historian speculates that today might be the birthday of the great Iron Duke -I wouldn't know.

Pleasingly, part of his legacy is that two of Southampton's best pubs are named in his honour- the Duke of Wellington in Bugle Street and the Wellington Arms in Park Road. His birthday or not, it is always a pleasant experience to visit either hostelry as the beer in both in terms of choice and condition, is always excellent, the clientele convivial.

A good day for the Gurkhas- and parliamentary democracy.

Pic courtesy Peter Brookes, The Times 30th April 2009

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/cartoon/

The shock defeat of the government yesterday by just 21 votes over the issue of allowing Gurka former solders, their families and dependants to settle in the UK is great news; not just for for the Gurkas themselves of course (and surely they are the most deserving of groups?) but also a great day for parliamentary democracy. Parliament works best when backbenchers find their voice, especially over issues such as this and this is the first time a government has lost an opposition day debate since James Callaghan had a bloody nose in January 1978.

The Gurkhas have quite some connection with with Southern Hampshire as the King's Royal Rifle Corp, which later became the Royal Green Jackets, fought with the Gurkhas in the Indian Mutiny of 1857 and Winchester is home to the Gurkha museum. while just down the road, in Ampfield is the Sir Harold Hillier Garden and Arboretum where the Gurkha memorial garden which commemorates the Gurkha soldiers who have given their lives in the service of the Crown (not even their country) is situated.

How did our local MPs vote? As usual, a depressing story. In thrall of the whips, Denham and Whitehead voted with the government to keep the Gurkhas out, while shockingly Lib-Dem MP Sandra Gidley missed the vote as did even more amazingly did Winchester MP Mark Oaten. Perhaps Gidley and Oaten didn't feel it a matter of significant importance to warrant their attendance? If so, a damning indictment of their political priorities.

It will be interesting to see if this is the beginning of the political end-game for Brown now. Personally, I doubt he will be able to recover not least due to today's almost certain humiliation over his proposals regarding MP's expenses. And as Labour MPs peer into the political abyss after Labour's meltdown of the forthcoming European elections, they will surely strike?

P.S. There are some fairly good Gurkha restaurants locally for people that like mainly dry, Nepalese curries;the first two are both run or owned by Gurkha veterans.

The Gurkha Kitchen in Canute Road is probably the best of the bunch, situated in an old 'beer house' off Ocean Village and pleasingly decorated with a varied menu and good service .

The Gurkha Chef, is just down from the Railway station in Winchester and while a little faded, is always busy but you are at the mercy of which staff are on duty as the service can be a bit variable.

A third, untried (by me) is the Gurkha Kitchen in Parchment Street in Winch.

Chris, I don't know about dragons but a leopard never changes its spots!

Echo letter.

Dear Letters Editor,

'Let's celebrate St George and Englishness' says Chris Huhne.

Good idea but could this really be the same man who wrote 'The Arguments for the Euro' and as one of our most federalist MEPs, led the campaign locally to scrap the pound and erode British sovereignty?

If I was a cynic, I would be tempted to suggest Mr Huhne's new found patriotism may have something to do with him having to submit himself to a general election within the next 11 months in a highly marginal seat rather than a change in his political views!

You would have to ask St George about dragons, but I suspect that Lib-Dem MPs, like leopards, never change their spots!

Yours sincerely,

Matthew Dean

What's worth reading at the moment?

I had a (relatively) pleasant afternoon walking around Southampton's IKEA (no recession there- as busy as anything), pondering which bookcases to buy and purchasing the obligitory Swedish meatballs.

Purchases at the nearby Border's bookshop were as follows;

Austerity Britain by David Kynaston

Nixon and Kissinger; Partners in Power by Robert Dallek

The Storm;the World Economic Crisis & What It Means by Vince Cable

and the optimistically titled

The Rotton State of Britain by Eamon Butler

I am not sure that Dr Butler of the Adam Smith Institute will agree with doyen of the Liberal -Democrats, Mr Cable's anaysis but I expect they will be a good read. My only frustation is that with running my own business and being a portfolio holder at the Council, I never seem to get time to do any serious recretional reading any more!

Still, worse things happen at sea as they say!

Seen and not 'herd' !

moo...ved in- Aberdean Angus Cattle

As SKY report, a small heard of cows are set to become the guardians of part of the Monks Brook site - at least for the time being.

Longtime readers of this blog will recall Monks Brook is a site in the ownership of two local Authorities, Southampton City Council at one end and Hampshire County Council at the other. The Southampton end was proposed for a Gypsy and Travellers transit site by the last Lib-Dem administration and this was supported by the Labour despite a huge campaign by locals and the Conservatives as the site is unsuitable for a plethora of reasons despite being granted planning approval.

The new Conservative Council are strongly committed to saving this important area of green open space. In the short term, while BTC conclude their discussions with Hampshire County Council to determine if they may or may not use the site recreationally for sports pitches, the County Council seem to have taken pragmatic measures to deal with an ongoing problem.

Good for them!

Farewell Sir Clement

Cranberry Terrace today,

one-time site of the Berkley Hotel in Southampton.

I was sorry to hear of the death of Sir Clement Freud, dog food advertiser, wit, cookery expert, one-time Liberal MP and as Keith Hamilton reports, director of the Berkley Hotel in Cranberry Terrace (now, in a microcosm of what Southampton has become, a mix of private flats and social housing...).

As well as running great gastronomic feasts there, Sir Clement also ran one cookery demonstration at the Southampton Guildhall that attracted over 500 people as well as making a number of TV programmes from the old Northam TV studios.

He was a regular of the long-running BBC comedy radio programme 'Just a Minute' the Panel game in which the contestants are challenged to speak on a named subject for one minute without hesitation, deviation or repetition.

As the Daily Telegraph note, Freud was a brilliant joke teller. Some of them can be seen and heard HERE.

my favorite was on 'Just a Minute' he told a joke about how he had been asked to address a public meeting. One particularly bad tempered old Socialist barked out from the back of the room, 'Why are you so fat?'
'Because every time I sleep with your wife she gives me a biscuit.' Clement Freud replied.

Classic!