No wind farms... but then again...

I could have blogged about so much this evening. Obviously, there's the Swine Flu 'Pandemic' which is no doubt scaring the socks off you by now. Alternatively I could've gone for something totally banal, like the fact that I left my glasses at home and spent the day working through a eye-strain and the resulting headache. However, just as I was about to blog, something was reported on the evening news that caught my attention.

It seems that there is a wind farm in Cumbria, which is only a few years old, that is under threat... by a nuclear power station. Residents are, of course, up in arms at the proposals. The replacement buildings would take up a much greater footprint and would tower above the height of the existing turbines. I can hardly blame them for their concerns - even ignoring the nuclear element, I would much rather stare at a flock of whirring windmills than a concrete box.

However, what amused me is the fact that all over the country people are campaigning against these things. Now it seems the community in Cumbria will have to campaign to keep their wind farm!

Fun Stuff

OK, so serious stuff is over and done with now it's time for the lighter side.

First, I am now inhumanly excited about the new Star Trek movie. I remained so sceptical for so long but now I simply can't wait. Simon Pegg was on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross last night, which only served to inflame my quiet hysteria. I think I might have to book us some tickets for the premiere - preferrably on IMAX! Oddly, after watching Friday Night... I also have a strange compulsion to go and see the Hannah Montana movie. I think Miley Cyrus has been exercising so sort of new hypnosis technique on me: The clue was probably the repeated shouts of "See my movie!" in hilarious fashion throughout Ross' show.

I recently found (or rather, was alerted to) a 'new' TV channel which I have been enjoying recently. Rocks & Co (Sky Channel 642) are modelled on the long running Gems TV (broadcasting on Sky, V irgin and Freesat) in that they offer a range of gemset jewellery in 'Reverse Auctions'. Basically they start at a ridiculous price and 'crash' to a lower, more realistic price and generally keep dropping until they hit the lowest price that they want to sell that item for. It's essentially a game of chicken: which viewer will 'blink' first and buy? If interested in something, the longer you wait the lower the price, but also the greater the chance that someone else will get there first. You can almost hear the masses reaching for the phone with one hand and the 'plastic' with the other! Whether you buy anything at any given time is up to you - I rarely purchase this sort of thing for myself, but tend to buy jewellery for my Mum - but what I'm loving at the moment is the 'window shopping'experience. Rocks & Co have some fabulous gemstones in sizes, quality and varieties that most people will rarely get the chance to see. I highly recommend it but make sure you lock the credit card away first. They have a ring resizing service, but much to my dismay have thus far been unable to resize my credit card! That 27ct Rubellite will have to wait.

Finally, Thursday nights is now music night for me. I have my piano lesson straight after work and then from there I head straight out to Bolton for choir practice! After careful consideration I decided to join SingLiveUK, who recruit amatuer singers for events that they organise all over the UK, and sometimes overseas too. (There is a group at the Vatican this weekend!) I'll be taking part in the performance of Sing The Music of the Big Bands at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester on June 28th. Tickets are available online from https://www.bridgewater-hall.co.uk or direct from SingLiveUK. Personally, I am very excited and can't wait to get back into singing after 12 years of musical silence! We'll be performing some of my personal favourites made famous by the likes of the Rat Pack and, more recently for the younger generation, Michael Buble and Robbie Williams. Incidentally, I will also be the third person in my immediate family to give a musical performance to a public audience: My Granny was a violinist for the Halle Orchestra many years ago and my Dad performed a few years ago at the Eden Court Theatre in Inverness.

Serious Stuff....

Dear Messrs. Brown and Darling,

I just wanted to take a moment of my time to personally thank you for all your effort over the last twelve months. This year has been quite an accomplishment: One I would not have dared thought possible. Allow me to elaborate.

I am a sensible individual, pragmatic and careful how I spend. However, I admit that in my younger years I was lured by the golden fleece of credit and consequently saught to live beyond my means. Over the years I am sorry to say I built up a reasonable cushion of debt, which, when faced with tough times, I was unable to afford. It has taken me several years but a couple of years ago I became virtually debt free. Thanks to you, I now realise the error of my ways.

There I was, mistakenly thinking that the way to be secure and able to survive any crisis was to minimise my personal debt. But I am thankful to you for showing me the light. Of course I should spend every penny I earn, and more. If I want a new car, I should buy one. That expensive Radley handbag? Why not? A Gucci watch , PRADA sunglasses, and the two week long haul holiday to go with them? Definitely! It makes so much sense now - the way to survive a recession is to spend, spend, spend. We can always pay for it later, right?

So thank you for showing me the error of my ways. And also thank you for helping me to 'hit the ground running' with my renewed responsibilities by ensuring I have a £22,000 personal share in the national debt. You two are bloody geniuses!

Yours,
Kat Middleton
No-longer a Labour voter

Speed Kills....

The news media is rife, today, with reports that the government is to enter into a consultation to reduce national speed limits on trunk roads (A-roads) from 60 mph to 50 mph, as well as making it easier for councils to reduce local level speed limits to 20 mph. It has been reported that "road safety researchers say people hit at 20 mph have a much better chance of survival than those struck at 30 mph" (Sky News). I'm sure, in a few months, the same road safety researchers will add to this blindingly obvious statement by telling us that those who are not struck in an accident have a much better chance of survival than those hit at 20 mph! At what point will they advocate that we all get out and push?

I'm not against speed limits as long as they are sensible, but to me, this plan seems the height of mediocrity: It's an ill conceived, reactionary proposal designed to do nothing more than appeal to the very shallowest of voter sympathies... because who would rather see some poor kid run over at 30 mph instead of 20? Of course, some roads do warrant reduced speed limits - reducing the speed limits around schools has been proven to be very successful in reducing fatalities and there are plenty of twisty rural roads (mostly B-roads) that should generally be driven at only 40 to 50 mph - but that doesn't make a banket speed limit reduction right.

Lower speed limits entirely ignore the root of the issue. We are constantly being brainwashed with the message 'speed kills' but the fact is, it isn't the speed, or even the car, it's the driver (or sometimes even the pedestrian!) that's at fault. A gun is a dangerous weapon but it can't pull its own trigger. I believe that irresponsible and inconsiderate driving is far more dangerous than speed, not only causing accidents but also contributing to congestion (which is a contributing factor in numerous other accidents). Reducing speed limits is also likely to result in more convictions for speeding, while poor driving will continue to go unpunished, I might add. Surely, the police have better things to do with their time?

I am in favour of lowering speed limits where those limits are justified but I am unwilling to support these proposals. It's yet another example of the UK government punishing road users and it will no doubt cost millions to implement. It's about time people took responsibility for their own behaviour. We don't need the nanny state to wrap us up in yet another layer of cotton wool!

No Pain, No Lane Gain

It's not often that local interests cross over into my work but current plans to widen the M60 between Jct 15 and 12 seem to be doing just that. Over the last few days I've been following the local backlash against the Highways Agency scheme which will see an extra lane introduced on the anticlockwise carriageway through one of the busiest and most congested sections of motorway in the North West. The concerns of local residents are, quite rightly, air and noise pollution, with a secondary concern about the 'accident blackspot' between Jct 13 and 12.

Firstly, these are genuine concerns and I applaud those who are campaigning on behalf of the residents. It's important that the resident's views are aired and not allowed to be ignored by the H.A. and those responsible for this scheme. However, it's also important that those same concerns are addressed, not merely pandered to. There are a number of ways to improve air quality, including planting and fencing, and of course, faster moving traffic will help dissipate emissions, and smoother flowing traffic means less braking and accelaration, which also means less emissions, so these improvements should improve air quality in the area as a matter of course. There are also ways of reducing noise pollution, such as noise reduction fencing and special surfacing and the improved junction layout should also reduce lane switching, which is the cause of most of the accidents in this location.

Any such measures will likely have a relatively minimal effect on the impact of the scheme, especially for those residents living closest to the motorway, as I understand the plans will virtually put the road in people's back gardens. However, the proposed improvements are essential to local, North West and national transportation and the decisions that are made now will directly influence the local and national economy well into the future. This scheme will go ahead because it is vital. The best that the residents can hope for, and what their representatives should be pressing for, is concessions that will minimise the impact of the work on the local area.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

This weekend, Steve and I were up at my Mum and Dad's for a nice extended weekend break over Easter. We flew up on flybe who offer an excellent low cost service out of Manchester. Despite this being Easter weekend we managed to get return flights for two people for just over £200: Bargain!

Conversely, a friend of mine who recently moved to Belgium has invited us to visit in July for a bit of a get together with a couple of other friends. As a result I have spent some of this afternoon (in between working, while waiting for the slowest database in the universe to respond) looking at travel possibilities. I've looked at a number of different ferry routes, driving our own car, hiring a car and using the Eurotunnel as well as combinations of the above. I haven't yet looked at flights, but this has made me stop dead in my tracks....

I'm hoping that you can read the above price on from thetrainline.com, in case you can't, let me fill you in... £253.00!

"Ah, but surely that's first class or business class", I hear you cry. Nope... if I wanted business class it would be a whopping £404.00! Perhaps it's a flexible fare? Nope... flexible fares come in at £393.00! OK, so maybe that's for two of us? Nope... just little old me! And that's just the fare to St Pancras - it doesn't even include the Eurostar part of the journey!

Even more amusing, the thing is that the site cheerfully suggests that two single tickets may be cheaper, so I check, hopeful that's how you get these great deals for train trips to London. So I go and check and it is cheaper... by less than £15. The total cost if booked as two single journeys: £194.70. And that's just for one person!

Something is very wrong here. The distance to Inverness from Manchester is about 375 miles; the distance to St Pancras from Manchester is about 200 miles. How can it cost me more than double to go a shorter distance by train than it does to fly?

Furthermore, if I was to use a good, economical car (say, a Mini Cooper D, which does about 70 mpg with emissions of 104 g/km) to make each journey I would only spend around £48 return to Inverness and about £26 return to London! I could cover the return distance to St Pancras and back more than 7 times before I'd equal the cheapest possible train fare and could easily carry three further passengers for the same money. Even a gas-guzzler, which might have room for five or six people, or even a sports car, could do the return trip for less than the cost of the train!

We are always being told to use public transport and leave the car at home - save the environment, go green and all that jazz - we're even told that flying is an environmental evil, but where's the incentive? Why would I ever choose to make this trip by train, indeed, how could I afford to? This certainly brightened my day. I'm still laughing heartily at the absurdity of it all!

A Social Conscience

It's been a while since my last blog post - following a lovely weekend visit by my parents I fell ill with a throat infection so I haven't been spending much time at the computer. This weekend we are up at my parents in Scotland for a well deserved Easter break but I have a bit of time on my hands (with the boys out and Mum watching Holby City) and shock, horror, I have some political views to blog (or whinge!) about.

Wednesday saw hubby selected as the Lib Dem candidate in the local by-election for the Irwell Riverside ward. The recent Clifton and Pendlebury by-election results were disappointing for the local Lib Dems (coming fourth behind Labour, Tories and BNP) despite the current Labour council's insistence on insane spending that sees money squandered on 'tourism' (ice rink!) while essential services are cut back. However, I am increasingly amazed, esepcially while visiting the Highlands, by the widening gulf between the social conscience in England and in Scotland.

I am the first to admit that Salford Council does some things exceptionally well. The refuse collection in Salford is probably the best I've experienced in 10 years living in Manchester, and Salford is one of the few councils to offer energy grants, in the form of totally free loft and cavity wall insulation, to the over 60s. My parents would fall into this category and are far from infirm, but there are many over 60s that are already quite vulnerable, especially those with serious or terminal illnesses. It is a great comfort to me that older people living in Salford can take advantage of schemes like Heatseekers, even if they are not necessarily that vulnerable now. These schemes will allow them to stay in the homes in comfort as they do become more infirm and will hopefully help them to maintain financial and physical independance into their later years. However, Scotland seems to be doing so much more.

My Dad, SNP council member for Badenoch and Strathspey, is always talking up a storm about the great things the SNP are doing for Scotland. These days my political allegiances may lie elsewhere - it'd be pretty difficult for me to support the SNP from Salford - but I can't deny that he's got a point. Council tax has been frozen - a vital relief in tough times that I'm certain most Salfordians would praise - business rates have been cut to boost the Scottish Economy, prescriptions are free now and so is education. All part of a series of improvements that benefit every Scot while free nationwide public transport has been available to the over 60s for several years while. It almost seems, in some respects, that England has lagged behind while Scotland marches forward. There is still plenty of room for improvement in Scottish politics but there is a different air here. There is a freshness while English politics grow stale and stagnant. The difference is social conscience.

In our house, we have a running joke at Hazel Blears' expense. We never see her, we never hear from her, in fact, we often wonder what exactly it is that she does for Salford. And then we open the Salford Advertiser and see her face over and over in photo-op after photo-op. It seems that she has a sixth sense for getting snapped and comes running back to Salford only when an opportunity knocks (or snaps!). While this is only a joke, there is also a disturbing element of truth to it that isn't just limited to one woman, or indeed one political party. These days it seems like all Labour and the Tories care about is looking good on TV or in public. They carefully craft their public image. They are careful to say and do they right thing - not for their constituants, but for their political careers - all hoping one day that they might be... who knows? I have no problem with ambition, but in local and national politics, the ambition should be to 'change the world': to improve the lives of the people around you, not to make more money or be more popular or more powerful.

We live in a self-centred, target driven, money orientated, selfish society, where everyone cries out 'What about me?', usually while climbing all over someone else. Look to your left and you will see the benefit leach popping out kids to claim more benefit just so that they can have the new car or the big TV, while the rest of us have to work damn hard to earn it. Look to your right and you see the NHS and social care networks trying their best but unable to deliver really good care because they are targeted like sales people on how many people they can get through the revolving door. In front of you is the company you work for that has cancelled your annual pay review in the name of profit, while your food and fuel bills escalate (also in the name of profit) and the banks collapse and take your savings with them (in the name of profit). Finally, behind you is the politician, slyly weaving his propaganda and whispering sweet nothings and empty promises in your ear, more interested in his own position of power than in solving any of these problems.

We need a change. We need a breath of fresh air. We need honesty. We need to demand it - from our politicians, from our neighbours and more importantly from ourselves.