Blog
As part of the TA one hundredth anniversary pageant, I wore my military uniform in public for the first time. With my military colleagues we walked around central London on a busy Saturday afternoon.
Shoppers and tourists reacted with support (and surprise). It has been a long time since soldiers in the UK walked around in public in uniform due to the threat posed by the IRA. When on holiday in America I have always been envious of the smartly dressed US military walking around the streets of their cities. I feel that the events of today mark the start of that trend in the UK.
The pageant itself was an appropriate mix of both celebration and commemoration. Full coverage from the BBC can be found here.
2008 is the one hundredth anniversary of the Territorial Army. On Saturday 21 June, more than 1,000 Territorial Army soldiers will take part in a public pageant in London to celebrate the sacrifices its soldiers have made. I will be there and wearing my uniform with pride.
The celebration will see soldiers march down the Mall to Horse Guards Parade and salute a senior royal.
There are 36,000 TA soldiers nationwide who serve Queen and country while holding down civilian jobs. The TA has seen service in both World Wars. Today there are 150 reserve troops serving in Iraq and 540 in Afghanistan (8% of the total deployment).
Five TA soldiers have been killed in Iraq since 2003 and six in Afghanistan - most recently three members of the SAS reserve.
This weekend is part of the one hundredth anniversary commerations. It gives serving members of the TA, former members and the wider public the opportunity to celebrate and remember those that we have lost.
Please click here for a link to the TA100 website.
The Housing Minister Caroline Flint MP set out her vision; that eco-towns offer a unique opportunity to address the housing shortage, to tackle climate change and to trigger substantial economic growth. She made it clear that each of the 15 bids would be considered in detail and that there were no done deals.
Patrick Hall, the MP for Bedford and Kempston called for a strategic master plan to development, rather than the poor planning of the past where development was allowed on appeal without the necessary infrastructure. The example he gave were housing estates tacked on to towns and villages which put existing populations under considerable stress.
I agree with Patrick. Whilst my opponent has focused on the label of ‘eco-town’ and her ongoing squabble with the Minister, we do need to focus on good planning. But to do so, we need certainty and clarity. Patrick called for communities to be given precise information on the proposed number of new homes, and to let them know what is actually meant by the term eco. Only with this information can they work on the basis of that knowledge and discuss their future in a measured way, while being properly consulted.
The Minister made it clear that the second stage of the consultation which takes place over the summer would be a sustainability appraisal. This would be a detailed assessment of each of the locations, setting out the likely environmental, social and economic impact. A planning policy statement will produced shortly which will help to ensure that eco-towns are benchmarked against very high standards – providing tools to assess whether an application really is eco or green.
Nadine Dorries MP did speak briefly on the subject. Most of her time was used attacking the Housing Minister and Patrick Hall. She did however end on the following four points.
1) Local people are unhappy
2) We do not have an unemployment situation in Bedfordshire
3) We do not have the infrastructure to support a new town
4) The transportation is not only far from satisfactory, but entirely unsatisfactory to meet the needs of the proposal
The Housing Minister concluded the debate by saying that she had heard many reasons why we should not have eco-towns, but very few alternatives put forward that would allow housing needs to be met.
The full text of the one and half hour topical debate can be found by clicking here.
I am disappointed that the MP for Mid Beds has responded to the proposed eco-towns by attacking rather than engaging with the Housing Minister.
I was initially supportive of the eco-town proposals. They were billed as an innovative and ambitious concept, which would make good use of brownfield land and involve no house building on the greenbelt, tackling the combined challenges of climate change, the need for more sustainable living and a real shortage of housing for families and first time buyers.
It is becoming increasingly clear that this is not what is being proposed by the developers.
As you know from my letter in the Times and Citizen, I am deeply concerned by any proposed housing development, particularly where it is out of proportion to existing villages, facilities and infrastructure
For eco-towns, there is a four stage consultation process. Stage one is a three month preliminary consultation which ends in late June. Stage two is a further more detailed consultation over the summer. Stage three is the final short listing later this year. Stage four the submission of a planning application.
During stage two I will be campaigning heavily to ensure that the consultation is far reaching and that the views of residents and small business owners are heard. If they are not, I will work with action groups to launch a legal challenge to the consultation process, or a judicial review of the final short listing. Early indications are that residents feel poorly informed and poorly consulted. This is unacceptable.
The Marston Vale is an area where house building is inevitable due to its proximity to both Milton Keynes and Bedford. But now is our opportunity to shape the proposals into intelligent plans with respect for both the countryside and existing development. Endless columns of flats are neither the solution to our housing needs nor asthetically pleasing.
I will be increasingly vocal on this subject in coming weeks - my priority being to ensure that the voices of residents are heard in the consulation, and that any development has the input and support of the community.
We must also press the council to make better use of the 1.3% of existing homes in Mid Beds which are empty for extended periods of time.
The 2008 US Presidential elections have reached a crucial stage. As a former Gore campaign staffer, I thought I might take now as the opportunity to comment on where the parties stand and what the future may hold.
Democrats
Neither Obama nor Clinton will secure the sufficient number of elected delegates to win the race outright. The Pennsylvanian contest was significant because it will sway the super delegate voters; party officials who hold the balance of power in the nominee contest.
If Hillary secured a margin of less than 10% over Obama the super delegates would have backed Obama and quietly asked Hillary to drop out. If Hillary had won by more than a 10% margin, the super delegates would have backed Hillary as she has won all the big Democrat states. To confuse matters Hillary only won by 10%. This means that the period of uncertainty is set to continue right up to the Convention in September.
The Democrats use a system whereby the total number of delegates in a state is split in proportion to the percentage share vote. The Republicans however use first past the post. Hillary is now arguing that under the Republican system she would already be the Democrat nominee.
Obama has a greater number of victories, though in smaller states. He argues that he has won the popular vote. The issue of fairness is of greater importance to the super delegates. They don’t want a repeat scenario of the 2000 Presidential election where Al Gore won the popular vote but George W Bush won the Whitehouse.
However, the super delegates also have an eye to the November polls. Hillary is leading in the polls with both the older and female voter demographic. These two groups hold the balance of power in a November general election.
In the end I think Obama will prevail in the guise of fairness.
McCain
Born in 1936 and a veteran of Vietnam, McCain would be the oldest first term President in American history. Whilst age is not an issue, his health is increasingly becoming the focus of interest.
I met McCain in Iraq in 2003. He then appeared to be in excellent health. Today on television he appears frail. McCain is registered disabled and draws a Naval pension for injuries sustained whilst a POW in Vietnam. His injuries restrict his mobility.
It is now being asked what would happen if McCain died before the November election. In recent history a US Senator was re-elected, despite his death prior to polling day. The official position on this is that during the primary contests, state delegates are elected. These delegates are loyal to a candidate e.g. McCain. In the event of a death or incapacitation, the Republican party hierarchy would select a replacement candidate, and put it to the state delegates to approve/ratify.
This is slightly complicated by the freezing of candidate names on the ballot paper in certain states, weeks in advance of the polling day. If for example McCain was incapacitated after the freeze, his name and not the name of the new Republican candidate would appear on the ballot paper. In theory a dead president could be elected. This is worst case, and I hope does not happen.
Problematic for McCain would be if during a busy day of speeches and visits, in the heat of the midday sun, having not eaten, drunk or slept for a couple of days, he stumbles, shakes or fails to respond coherently to questions. In a 24hr news culture this would be beamed around the world immediately and his election prospects destroyed beyond hope. This may have nothing to do with health or age, but that does not matter.
Money
Obama has raised a massive amount of money over both McCain and Clinton. In America money wins elections – contests are fought out on the airways through the purchase of advertising time.
McCain needs to raise a lot of money, and quickly if he is to compete with the eventual Democrat candidate. Whilst the ongoing contest between Hillary and Obama could be divisive for the party, it does keep both Democrat candidates in the news.
Running Mates
I am putting my money on Obama selecting John Edwards, running mate to John Kerry in 2004. Both men were recently filmed together outside the home of Obama.
For McCain the choice of running mate is difficult and potentially politically divisive. McCain has been accused of being too liberal for the Republican party, and a natural choice would be for McCain to shore up the religious right through his choice of running mate. This is too obvious I think, and judging by his recent foreign trips and choice of right hand man in every camera shot, former Democrat now turned Independent Senator Joe Lieberman may be an interesting choice. Lieberman who was running mate to Al Gore in 2000 would appeal strongly to middle America – those who rarely vote but if persuaded would hold the balance of power.
