Tweet Me Right

In typical knee-jerk fashion yesterday, David Cameron made the suggestion that BBM (Blackberry Messenger) and 'other social media' could, in future, be turned off in the event that services were being used to harm. Twitter is my drug of choice and I have given much thought to its role (and the role of similar instant messaging services) in the riots.

I acknowledge the role that it played in escalating the violence and focusing trouble. Throughout Tuesday there were mad rumours circulating. Some people claimed things were happening when they weren't and others said there was trouble in places where there was none. Social media undoubtedly made it easier for people who were up for it to know where to go thereby swelling the numbers of rioters, and social media also allowed the criminal element to communicate and organise. If Twitter, BBM and Facebook hadn't existed, would the riots have happened? Surely the answer is yes. Riots happened in the past, long before the invention of mobile phones, never mind internet and social media. If social media had not been available, the rioters would still have communicated, but it would have been word of mouth and by telephone, text message or email.

Furthermore, if it's important to recognise the role of social media in instigating and escalating the riots, it is also important to recognise the positive role it has played. For me, Twitter was something of a double-edged sword. On one hand it allowed me to keep up to date with what was going on but on the other hand knowing what was going on was frightening. I have wondered several times if I would have been better off without Twitter that night; if I hadn't seen the news and didn't monitor Twitter I would probably have been completely unaware of the scale of the violence. I follow a lot of local journalists and broadcasters on Twitter so I was getting a lot of updates and while the flow of information reassured me, it also worried me. On balance, however, I would much rather have information and be able to make a choice, than be cut off. In all likelihood, on Tuesday night, even without Twitter to keep me informed, I would still have been aware of what was going on and I can only imagine how much more terrifying that night would have been without a steady stream of updates.

In addition, we should also recognise how useful social media has been in the aftermath of the riots. The public clean up effort was organised almost entirely on social media. Over the past week, hundreds of people have turned up, broom and bin-bag in hand, to reclaim their media from the hoodlums and show how much they care about their cities. Let's also not forget how social media is now being use to catch the perpetrators. Greater Manchester Police have a constantly updated Flikr stream with photos of people wanted in connection with the riots and have actually been able to catch and charge people because of the information they have published on social media. Even Blackberry Messenger, which is an encrypted service, is considering handing-over details of those that have used the service to incite, organise or boast about rioting and looting. If social media had not been available during the riots, think of the wealth of evidence that would be lost to the police.

I do understand the argument that says shutting down social media would have made the task of containing and policing the situation much easier but it's a mistake to think that should take priority over the good that can come from social media and, I suspect, is a reaction based on a lack of understanding and perhaps even fear of something which is perceived by some as the province of youth. The fact is that millions of people of all ages use social media to communicate, debate and keep in touch. It is a tool and nothing more: A brick can be a lethal weapon but it doesn't stop us from building houses. Let us also be reminded about free speech. I for one do not want to start down the road that allows my government to control what I say, even via one forum. Who's to say that some time in the future a government wouldn't use these powers to stop a legitimate protest, or similar, because they simply didn't like it.

What we need now, instead of rash conclusions is a measured analysis. We need cool heads and clear thought and time to digest what has happened and we need to make sure that the steps we take now move us in the right direction, not towards a future more ominous than the present. If social media poses a problem to policing public order offenses, new tactics and new ideas are required, rather than the technological equivalent of a rubber bullet.

The Riots: A Resident's Perspective

I'm always in a hurry to get home - to see Hubby, to let the dog out, to eat, to sleep, to pee - but on Tuesday evening I came home from work in rather more of a hurry than usual. I had learned via Twitter and a text message from Hubby that it was 'kicking off at the precinct'. As far as I was concerned, the sooner I got home, the better.

Coming off the M602, I could see a mass of people gathered on Cross Lane next to RRG Toyota and my heart jumped into my throat. I have never seen that many people gathered for such a negative reason. Usually when you see a big group of people hanging about it's for a concert or some other similar event. The atmosphere is usually uplifting and positive as those gathered look forward to their dose of excitement or entertainment or pleasure. Coming off the motorway that day was a completely different atmosphere.

I have lived in Salford for almost five years. During that time I have got to know the area and the people really well and have never felt uncomfortable or uneasy walking the streets where I live, even at night on my own. On Tuesday I wasn't even walking; I was in my car and still felt unsettled.

As I turned off Albion Way onto Liverpool Street I locked my car doors and prayed that the lights at Cross Lane, where the crowd was gathered, would be on green. They were. And as I made my way down Liverpool Street towards home, although there were more people than usual milling about, there were thankfully no other signs of trouble. 

Throughout the afternoon and into the evening, we watched the TV news and monitored developments on Twitter. Salford precinct is only about half a mile from our house and there are plenty of shops and off-licences nearer than that, so we were rightly concerned. As matters got more out of hand it was easy to imagine rioters and looters driven away from the precinct by the police, only to spill out into residential streets to regroup. This was a pattern we'd seen in London on Monday night and a pattern which had resulted in homes being ransacked and torched, either deliberately or by accident.

We were prepared for trouble, half expecting a brick come through the window, or to hear our car windows being smashed. I spoke to my Mum, who lives in Scotland and had seen the precinct on the news. I told her we were fine and that the trouble was nowhere near us. I reassured her and made a few jokes even though I felt no reassurance myself; it had occurred to me that if someone decided to torch one or both of our cars we would be trapped, as the fire would block our escape route and would likely spread to the building very quickly. Afterwards I packed a bag with a change of clothes and a few of our most precious possessions that couldn't be replaced, which made me feel a bit better, and when I went to bed, the baseball bat came with me.

As it happens, we saw no trouble on our street at all. There were gangs of young lads moving about for most of the night and we could hear banging and general disturbance in the distance, but the next morning I actually felt a little embarrassed at how alarmed I'd been the night before. I took a quick drive around before I set off for work and saw a lot of damage, but nothing too extreme and the worst of it had already been cleared up.

I look back at it all now and I can be more objective. At the time everything appeared much worse than it actually was, but that's not to play down the seriousness of the situation or how it made me feel. In an article on Salford Online, Rev Hayley Matthews, the Chaplain at MediaCityUK, said this:

"as the drinking (‘free beer!’ (stolen from the aforementioned Bargain Booze)) got underway, cars screeched into the area that clearly were the organised element of the criminal culture... I watched teenagers loot an electrical good sole trader’s shop. Don’t get me wrong when I say this, but if they’d nicked the TVs and laptops I could almost understand it, but they simply brought them outside and smashed them to bits in the street. Young girls on alcopops ‘dared’ each other to go and nick something. Lads tried to break onto Lidl and set fire to it, and mothers sent small children in to fill shopping bags with food and beer because they are too young to be arrested.Suddenly a mass exodus: the precint had been compromised and there were shouts of ‘iPhones! Xboxes! Everything! You can get whatever you want!’ Hoodies went up and scarfs went over faces, in they went and more ‘respectable’ cars started arriving to collect the goods. Youths started arriving with hammers and the women and girls backed off. What appalled me most were the amount of families, and I mean kids in the back seat, involved in all of this. Like some kind of surreal supermarket sweep, winner takes all, what a larrrff! Children hung out of their car windows video-ing it all on their mobiles."


Now, looking back the whole situation makes me angry. I detest how that night made me feel. I resent that these people made me feel unsafe in my own home and that they have had their fun at the expense of my community, particularly as it becomes apparent that the perpetrators were by and large from outside the area. If I'm honest, part of me wants to take the baseball bat and wrap it around a few heads to see if I can knock sense into them. I am furious and I am outraged. I'm also worried because I don't know how to fix this and no-one else seems to know either.

In the short term, charging and prosecuting as many of offenders as possible will help to deter others but it doesn't deal with the underlying problem. These were ordinary people: someone's child, someone's mother or father, someone's brother or sister. They get up each day and carry on as normal, playing with their mates, having a pint in the local pub or going to school or work. What happened to make ordinary folk sink to such detestable behaviour?

If you were able to line up all the rioters across the whole country and ask each of them why they did it, you would get a hundred different excuses. We've all seen the news; we all know what people (rioters, observers, victims, police, Councillors and MPs) are saying and everyone seems to have a different opinion. Everything from bankers to Twitter, from police being too heavy-handed, to police being too soft, from the government cuts, to racism, is being blamed. What that says to me is that this is a riot with no Cause, a view that is further reinforced by the indiscriminate nature of the violence: A small business was just as likely a target as a major chain and a bank was no more likely to be hit than a supermarket or a post office. Businesses, offices, shops and even homes were all fair-game and the police only came under attack when they turned up to disperse the vandals and thieves. There's no ideology here except for a greed for material wealth and a lust for violence.

To my mind, the riots are a symptom of a society too rooted in consumerism, too hung up on ownership and too selfish to appreciate how well-off and lucky we all are. As individuals are charged, we can see few distinct patterns emerging; people who are middle class and relatively well off have been just as involved as council tenants who survive on benefits and the unemployed stand side-by-side with the employed in the dock. It's not about poverty (you cannot make this claim when you're on TV wearing designer gear and carrying a Blackberry and be taken seriously) or cuts. There is a deep seated attitude that has infected some individuals and sections of society. It's an attitude that wants whatever it can get for free and that says it's right if I want to do it and can get away with it and only feels remorse at getting caught. To highlight this, I use the example of the lads Hubby and I caught trying to smash a bus-shelter a couple of weeks ago, long before the riots. He picked up a concrete block and was about to use it on the shelter for no other reason than he felt like it.

We raise our children to think and behave like us, to share our beliefs and ideologies. Society moves and changes incredibly slowly and attempts to deliberately shape it have been known to back fire horribly. So how can we fix it? I don't know. I don't have an answer. And that terrifies me almost as much as the riot itself.

For now, you can make the world a better place by helping to identify those responsible. GMP have photos of their 'most wanted' here. Shop a Moron now!

Does Politics Have the X-Factor?

Last Sunday I spent two thirds of my day hanging around in the cold at Old Trafford waiting for my one and a half minutes in front of an X-Factor judge. Yes, I succumbed to the temptation of bright lights, fame, fortune... not quite! I auditioned, safe in the knowledge that I am neither a good enough, nor bad enough singer to get beyond stage one, so it was never about any of that stuff! My interest was purely one of experience and exploration. I took it as an opportunity to get some audition practice for the one that really matters - for a Sing Live Beatles solo audition, which will be next weekend! It was an interesting experience. I had some fun and it has ended up being a surprising confidence booster, so I'm glad I did it.

While standing there waiting in the longest queue I've ever stood in, it occurred to me that if people paid as much attention to politics as they do to X-Factor, Britain's Got (So-called) Talent and Big Brother, British politics would be much better off. Mind you, the thought of Gordon Brown singing and dancing on a Saturday night for votes kinda makes me want to vomit! But seriously, millions of people that won't vote for free in an election will actually spend money to vote for contestants on these shows - and it's not just sixteen year old girls either! How many people talk about X-Factor on a Monday morning, compared with how many people talk about local or national government (except to have a moan)? It seems that people are quick to complain and slow to act.

I think one of the main problems is a lack of understanding. I have lost count of the number of times recently when I have had to explain the concept of two elections on the same day and I constantly find myself explaining the importance of local elections to people who only vote in parliamentary elections. So many people seem to think that when they vote they are doing so to elect the Prime Minister. They don't realise they are actually electing the individual that will represent them in Parliament and that the Prime Minister is never actually elected (except as the MP for his or her own constituency). With so little understanding of how our system of government works and why it has been set up that way, it's no wonder people think their vote doesn't matter.

So, what's the answer? Do we need to change the way things work? Well, yes, sort of. I support Lib Dem electoral reform policy in full. However, I do not believe it will promote understanding (who here knows how proportional representation works?) and consequently I believe it is unlikely to improve voter turnout or encourage people to engage in politics. Instead, there are three things I would personally like to see introduced.

First, I would like to see politics and citizenship taught in school. Obviously, party policy must be kept out of the classroom but that isn't what I'm talking about here. Our kids should be taught about national and local government, how it works, why it's important to vote and what the affect of non-voting might be. This is a factual subject that can and should be taught. I believe that understanding will promote engagement.

The second thing I would like to see introduced is compulsory voting. There are many that disagree with me, including my poor husband who gets bullied over the subject at regular intervals. There is a general concern that compulsory voting is like putting a gun to person's head, but if an individual doesn't want to vote for any of the candidates they still have the right to not vote by removing or spoiling their ballot paper. In recent years, so many people have said to me that they don't vote in order to 'send a message'. Indeed, in the Irwell Riverside by-election last year, voter apathy was particularly high as many electors stayed home in the wake of the expenses scandal. But staying home doesn't send a message, it just makes you seem lazy. If the vote was compulsory, by removing or spoiling the ballot you would be sending a much clearer message. There is a risk that compulsory voting would mean people would make an uninformed and random choice, but I believe that having to make a choice (whether that be to vote for a candidate or to not complete the vote) would encourage people to make themselves more aware of their options. Understanding does not fall in fairy dust (or volcanic ash!) from the sky; it is something which you must seek out and choose to accept. When you are 'forced' to make a choice (for example, from a restaurant menu) do you just pick something without knowing what it is or do you ask (the waiter) for information or a recommendation?

Finally, I would lower the voting age to sixteen. I was initially against this when it was put to me (how can a sixteen year old make an informed decision about something a thirty year old can't?) but on reflection, if politics was taught in school, I see no reason why not. At the age of sixteen an individual can serve in the armed forces, can get married, can work (and consequently pay taxes) and can leave home. If you are considered responsible enough to make these decisions about your life and future, you should be responsible enough to make a choice about your government representative. Furthermore, politics is just as relevant to young people as it is to adults and if you speak to young people, you can see that kids as young as thirteen or fourteen are already becoming aware of community, society and government. They know what they want and need in their community - just ask them; they have some great ideas. Sixteen year olds are becoming increasingly accustomed to voting, whether it is for their favourite Big Brother contestant or the best singer or group on X-Factor. Rather than look down my nose at that, I'd prefer to use it! Get people to start voting young and they will continue to do so as they get older.

Voter turnout has been slipping for years. I believe that fostering understanding of the electoral system and local and national government is the key to improving it. Alternatively, we can get rid of candidates and just have people vote for their favourite party by calling an 0901 number or texting at 25p per message... I am, of course, joking about this last part! :o)

Who's Fault is it Anyway?

No campaigning for me yesterday. I had other things to do (more on that subject later). However, I was out on Saturday afternoon posting letters around our ward. It was a gorgeous, warm, sunny day, which meant that a lot of folks were out and about or sitting in their gardens. The sounds of the Grand National rolled out of open doors and windows and kids were kicking footballs in the streets. On days like that it's a great opportunity to catch views and responses because, for once, people are not locked away indoors!

A couple of things were clear. Firstly, the level of awareness of the pending election is very high, which is great because I've campaigned in by-elections when no-one even knew there was an election due. Mind you... you would have to be living under a rock to not know about this one! The second thing that's clear is that there exists a group of people who insist on blaming it all on the immigrants... whatever 'it' is!

People are entitled to their opinion but this is something that thoroughly irritates me. It is a position that shows an utter lack of insight and a determination to bury one's head most firmly in the sand. There is no denying that immigration is an important issue; an incoming population can have both positive and negative effects on a society, but it is somewhat ridiculous to blame all society's problems on immigration - as some people seem so bent on doing.

Sometimes, immigration is undoubtedly a good thing. It allows us to employ the best and brightest and specialists in their chosen field. We should also welcome overseas students who come here to learn, because as well as skills and knowledge, they also gain an understanding of our society and culture. Many industries also rely on overseas workers for seasonal work like fruit picking, because it's something British workers are rarely willing to do. This is very good for business and for the economy. However, immigration can simultaneously lead to a number of problems, not least a loss of identity.

The human being is a social creature. We identify ourselves by groups that we belong to or are excluded from. How often have you asked someone where they were born or what they do for a living? How old are you? Are you a cat or a dog person? What's your favourite colour? Wheelchair-bound people are constantly and frustratingly defined by the fact that they can't walk rather than by their views or experiences; it isn't that unusual to hear people talk about 'seeing beyond the chair'. We seek out people who are like us, with whom we have a common ground, because it makes us feel comfortable and safe; we like to belong. Mass immigration, I believe, scares people because it threatens that feeling of safety and belonging. It threatens identity. This is particularly true because minority populations also want to belong so they often seek each other out too. Minority communities thrive within larger towns and cities. Is there a Jewish quarter in your town? Does your city have a 'China Town'? In the case of religious beliefs, there is the additional consideration that communities spring up in places where there is a church, temple or mosque, simply because it's convenient for the population that worships there. (It's really no different from someone moving to be nearer work, or a family moving to be near a good school.) The unfortunate side-effect of this is that 'native' people begin to feel like the minority, even when they aren't. Additional problems arise when the national sense of identity begins to erode too.

The British are a nation battered by negative phrases like 'Broken Britain', 'Yob Culture' and 'Brits Abroad'. We are losing what it means to be British and more specifically what it means to be English. The Scottish, Irish and Welsh are fortunate to each have clear national and cultural identities. They are nations within a nation that each have a proud heritage and cultural quirks that the majority both acknowledge and, in many cases, adopt. They are people that are proud of who they are. But what of the English? Bangers and mash and fish and chips have given way to Chinese Take-out and Curry Mile. Tea and Crumpets has lost out to Starbucks and Costa-lotta Coffee. Not that those things really matter - I love take out and curry and drink tea or coffee depending on my mood - but when people don't understand what makes them culturally unique, they are even more inclined to feel threatened by other groups. When you feel like you have nothing in common with your neighbour who looks like you, talks like you, has a similar upbringing, family and social status to you, of course you will be concerned by the fifteen people in the next street who - to you - all seem to be alike. It's because you feel alone.

Of course, none of this is the fault of immigration but people who are not like us are an easy target. It takes so much less energy to point the finger at someone with brown skin or a different accent than it does to acknowledge and understand the real sources of society's problems. The person who lives down the street popping out one kid after the next so they can live at home on benefits is more guilty of draining the welfare state than an immigrant who is entitled to no benefits at all, and the young men who ride around my area on uninsured bikes making a racket and putting the lives of others at risk are not from overseas but from right here, in Salford.

My point is simply that society is far more complex than the 'blame it on the immigrants' attitude permits. There a thousand nuances to consider and immigration is only one facet of this little gem. There are sixty-one million people in the UK each with his or her own combination of problems, perspectives and circumstances, and I promise you that 'the immigrants' remain the minority by quite some margin. So don't come bleating to me about immigration. At least not until you have taken a long hard look at the issue you're complaining about. Understanding is the key - and not just understanding of the person who is different from you, but understanding of yourself and why you feel the way you feel.

It's All About the Money

The General Election is finally upon us but judging by the media, anyone would think that campaigning only started this week. The truth of the matter is that many activists, like myself, have been campaigning since before Christmas. Across the country, evenings have been spent in meetings or at home preparing leaflets, envelopes or the letters to go in them. Weekends have been spent meeting the public in the street, or posting leaflets through doors. However, now the real work begins.

Over the next few weeks I hope to try and blog regularly to give an impression of what it's like, as an activist, campaigning for local and national elections. I hope that you'll get some opinion, some insight and a feel for our constituency. I will try not to make it too dry. ;o)

So, the beginning of 'day four'. Where are we at?

Last night a group of us headed down to Salford Arts Theatre for a local 'Question Time' style debate. On the panel was the sitting Labour MP, Hazel Blears, Conservative candidate, Matthew Sephton, Liberal Democrat front-runner, Norman Owen, local journalist, Pamela Welsh and local TUC secretary, Alex Halligan.

There is a lot of ill feeling in our constituency (Salford and Eccles) towards the Labour party and Hazel Blears. During the summer of last year, it transpired that Hazel Blears had 'flipped' her home in order to avoid paying £13,000 in tax. She was far from the worst offender but has come out of this side of last year's expenses scandal very poorly. At the time, she showed up on TV waving a cheque, which she said would pay back the tax she had avoided. The reality of the publicity stunt was that the cheque was meaningless. Had she sent it to the Inland Revenue, they would not have had a mechanism to accept it. In addition, £13,000, the amount which seemed so insignificant to Hazel, is close to what many people in Salford get paid in a year. Thus, she came across as arrogant and effectively set herself apart from her voters. The only worse response would have been to stick two fingers up at the public on live TV. She followed this up by stabbing her party leader in the back and consequently losing her cabinet position. She saw an opportunity to progress her career and it back-fired. Needless to say, she is not a popular woman.

The event itself was very worthwhile and aside from a group of hecklers, served to genuinely engage the public. I think it was clear by the end of the meeting, that Hazel had done little to change the minds of those present, which is good news for our campaign! The event also served to confirm my worst fears about Labour and TUC politics.

Frankly, I have never seen so much ass-kissing in public. Throughout the event, the TUC panelist sucked up to Hazel at every opportunity. And the same was true in the opposite direction. There is a lot of back scratching going on and it couldn't have been more clear that the two organisations are in bed with each other if their representatives had stripped off right then and there! The TUC donates a significant amount of money to the Labour party, which in turn gives them a lot of power. I'm not saying the TUC dictates Labour party policy necessarily, but I do believe the Labour party is afraid of pissing off the unions for fear their funding will dry-up. Whether intentional or not, this will ultimately influence the behaviour of the party. At this point, you might be wondering what's wrong with that? Well, put simply, it's a conflict of interest. How can a government act in the interests of the nation when they are worried about their funding?

This is not a problem that is unique to British politics. It is a topic that featured in American politics time and again. Allowing unlimited donations to political parties and candidates means that it becomes possible to 'buy an election'. No-one really likes to admit it, but people are generally more impressed by a glossy full colour leaflet than by something produced in black and white on a Risograph, regardless of content. In also means that you can put more feet on the ground, stage more events and sometimes enables you to be more visible. Big money allows parties to campaign more aggressively over a much greater area and makes it more difficult for independents and smaller parties to compete. It's unfair and, in my opinion, undemocratic.

I think Lib-Dem policy puts it best:

"Politics should be a battle of ideas, not marketing budgets. No-one should be able to buy influence or buy an election. We will take big money out of politics by capping donations and spending throughout the electoral cycle."

Snow Business

Sub-zero Britain

After a chilly and snowy build up to the Christmas period, the weather has continued to bite. Here in Salford we had a six inch fall overnight on Monday night and daily sub-zero temperatures mean that is still lying now, five days later. The amount of snow combined with low temperatures are virtually unprecedented and conditions are causing chaos across the UK. I am fortunate that I am able to work from home, but millions of others have had to stay off work because they can't get there safely, or because their kids are home and they have no childcare. Yesterday was the first we had been out in the car since Monday and the short drive to the supermarket was easily the most terrifying drive of my life. Many roads have not been gritted or cleared of snow. Only the very busiest of routes around our area are completely clear and that is mainly due to the volume of traffic.

Snow in Salford - 4 days after initial fall

Of course, there are many other countries cope annually with conditions similar to, or worse than this. Consider the nations that sit much further north than us, like Scandinavia and Alaska. Even in Scotland, six inches of snow doesn't present too much of an issue. So why is the snow presenting so much of a problem for us now?

Firstly, the reality is that for the most part, England doesn't have to deal with this kind of weather on a prolonged basis. The usual snow fall here is a light dusting that melts quickly. This means that most councils don't have the infrastructure to cope with the conditions. It's a problem of resources, not a problem of will. Therefore unfair to compare Salford with Stockholm or even Strathspey! Of course, this lack of experience results in another problem: what few resources are available have not been used to their best effect.

Around our area tonnes of grit has been dumped on main roads over the past week and none has been used on any side road. In addition, it seems that the grit has been spread on top of lying snow - basically that the snow has not been cleared first. What happens in this situation is that snow turns to very slippery slush. This will be cleared by moving traffic. However, in a lot of cases, because side roads are not safely passable and because there is a lot of lying snow (and then slush), the traffic simply isn't enough to clear the road. Gritting on top of lying snow is therefore a false economy. The snow must be ploughed first for the grit to have the best effect - namely preventing the formation of ice. In addition, I think that it is reasonable to expect the majority of side roads to be ploughed, even if they can't be gritted. Clearing the roads of snow will make conditions easier to cope with and will therefore enable more traffic to get onto the main roads. The policy of only treating / dealing with main roads and ignoring everything else is bizarre and always be doomed to fail in these conditions.

Having said this, I do not blame my local council, or indeed any other local council. Decisions about where and when to grit and how to manage winter resources are being made by people who have little knowledge and experience of these specific conditions. If I were to point the finger at anyone, it would be squarely in the direction of central government. It has been clear since Tuesday that this situation has the scale of a national crisis; it is certainly of much greater significance than the so-called flu-pandemic, yet, the 'big freeze' has prompted very little public response. In my opinion, central government should have had plans in place to deal with disruption on this kind of national scale and should have begun issuing advice to councils and residents before the snow even fell. Had a few simple steps been taken in the early stages of this 'crisis', I suspect that large scale and ongoing disruption could have been more easily avoided. Local roads would certainly have been much safer!

Snow in the Highlands of Scotland.

A Reversal of 200 Years of 'Progress'

It's been a busy couple of weeks with a number of highs and not-so-highs.

Of the highs, the rehearsals for the Sing Live concert at the end of June are coming along nicely. Even the stress of a horrific day this Wednesday, when a simple airport pickup turned into a three hour nightmare, was very quickly eased by a few bars of 'It Had to be You'. My piano lessons are coming along similarly well - although I wish it was as easy to make my fingers move as fast as my mouth! Finally, Charly, survived a full service with no problems - what a relief!

In the not-so-highs category the top of the tree has to be the Irwell Riverside by-election. In case anyone has missed it, husband Steve was selected as the Lib Dem candidate. You can catch up on the events of the campaign on his own blog.

Being involved in his campaign - including helping to develop (or rather hone) the content of his leaflets and then 'on the frontline' posting those leaflets through the doors of the ward - has been a great experience. Watching the opening of the postal ballots was fascinating (I finally understand the need for all the bits of paper and those multi-coloured envelopes) while actually being able to attend the count in the evening was truly unique: not only because the media were circling like vultures awaiting the inevitable arrival of local political pariah, Hazel Blears, but also because so few 'ordinary' people get to see democracy up close and personal like this. In the end Steve came second behind the Labour candidate, Matt Mold.

All in all, it was a pretty positive result for the Lib Dems. This ward has traditionally been a Labour stronghold - last year they took a 51% share of the vote - so we were really taking the fight to them on their own territory. Steve attracted 18% of the vote (a reduction of only 1%) while the Conservatives and Labour lost out by 4% and 13% respectively. The recent Expenses Scandal has clearly taken its toll. It isn't just Labour that is paying the political price for the government's failure to set its house in order: every one of the major parties lost ground to the fringe parties (The Greens, UKIP and BNP all fielded candidates). Although we obviously hoped for better, given the circumstances losing only 1% share is an achievement.

So clearly I'm not disappointed with the result for the Lib Dems, so why am I not happy? There are two elements of the result that are extremely disappointing: The BNP and the voter turnout.

Until this by-election I have had few encounters with the BNP. I've been aware of them, of course, and will freely admit that I have always held a pretty low opinion of them as a political entity. However, it is not until I actually came face to face with them that I realised just how vile, deceitful and disrespectful they really are. Without going into a raft of detail (which would take me all day to catalogue) I was astonished by the sheer volume of lies and half-truths that they spouted in their propaganda and online on their own websites and particularly on those of others. Worryingly, they also showed absolutely no respect for democracy, even going as far as to suggest that some people should not be allowed to vote. If it's possible, they showed even less respect for the voting public talking openly in a highly derogatory manner referring to the voters as 'stupid', 'thick' or 'sheep' just because they didn't vote BNP. Finally, (and I speak from personal experience) they are downright nasty. Ignoring the disgusting abuse that their cohorts posted in comments on many local blogs, their behaviour at the evening count was akin to the level of school playground bullies. They were both puerile and venomous to other people present at the count as well as the returning officer. It is not just me that has noticed: Leader of the local Labour party, John Merry, has commented on Steve Cooke's blog.

However what disappoints me is not the BNP members or the party as a whole - I would expect little else from an organisation that has its roots firmly embedded in the fascist British National Front - it's the fact that the people of Salford appear to be falling for their rubbish. I don't mind if you choose to vote BNP as long as you understand who and what you are voting for (that is your choice and your right!) but I'm concerned that many voters may not be looking beyond the glossy surface of the BNPs leaflets or beyond their diverting but deceptive propaganda stunts. For goodness sake, if you are considering voting BNP in any election, please please please, make sure you are fully informed. A simple search in google or on reputable websites such as the BBC should reveal why so many people are set against their organisation.

However, no matter what my personal feelings about the BNP (or the mafia that they sent to the count) happen to be, the far greater disappointment in this by-election was the turnout. Only 17.5% of those people who are registered to vote in Irwell Riverside actually went to the trouble of doing so - that's less than 1 in 7 people! As a result, a little over 600 people chose the councillor for a ward of more than 9000 registered voters: that's less than 7% of people in the ward choosing who dictates the policies that directly influence the lives of everyone else. This kind of apathy means that decisions are made by a tiny minority of voters and it also opens the door to the fringe parties making extremely limited public support seem much greater than it actually is. This is not democracy! I'm sure that there are many people who didn't vote that would say 'my vote doesn't count' or 'I don't know who to vote for' or 'nothing will change so what's the point' or any number of similar excuses but the fact is by choosing to not vote you willingly reverse almost 200 years of progress.

Less than two centuries ago only 1 in 7 men could vote. Just 125 years ago less than half of all men could vote and women didn't have any voting rights at all. It wasn't until 1918 - less than a century ago - that any woman could vote in this country and it was only 81 years ago that we achieved universal suffrage. Two world wars were fought to maintain our sovereignty and democracy. Even now there are thousands of British troops protecting our democratic rights against terrorists who would like to see their religious and political views forced upon us, and all around the world their are millions of people that still have either no voting rights or can't vote freely.

Therefore, to those residents of Irwell Riverside who did not vote in this election my question is this: what response could you possibly give me that would justify allowing less than 7% of your community to make this choice for all of you?

Charly Charly

Sad news.... my poor little beaten up motor, named 'Charly Charly' after the last two letters of her reg number, has suffered a severe battering this evening at the hands of mindless thugs. The little bar-stewards smashed the front driver's side and passenger side windows and the rear windscreen in an effort to make off with my valuables. Fortunately I am not daft enough to leave anything of worth in my car so they got away with only a couple of bags for life, a bottle of water and my sunglasses (worth about £20). They did lift my work security pass, OU course book and my music score for the upcoming concert at the Bridgewater Hall this June, but a local resident spotted the culprits dump the stuff at the top of the car park and returned it to me safe and sound.

It all happened this evening in the visitors' car park at the Royal Apartments while I was having my piano lesson. The apartments are a stone's throw (or perhaps a brick's throw) from Encombe Place, the current site of the Salford Youth Offenders Service. This office is currently the subject of a hotly contested restricted document that has found its way into the hands of local residents in the Blackfriars area of Salford - where the council proposes to resite the Youth Offenders Service office. I understand that the document notes that within a half-mile radius of the YOS office there is a significant hotspot of crime - particularly opportunist crime like theft from a vehicle. Local Labour councillors are trying to suppress the document as it is a clear indicator that such a service should not be sited in a residential area. They have even tried to skew the figures (reported in the Manchester Evening News tonight) by saying that these crimes are the fault of vehicle owners for not carrying out basic security. I would like to ask Councillor Lancaster if I deserved to have three windows smashed in my car for the sake of a bottle of water and some books?

Fortunately, the fateful tale of Charly Charly has a happy ending. Thanks to the angels of Autoglass who came out at midnight, my car will be fixed and returned to me in a matter of hours. In the meantime I remain grateful to the two separate residents of the Royal Apartments that witnessed the crime and reported it to the police. Also a big thank you to the police that attended the scene - they were friendly, helpful and professional. And finally a huge thanks to hubby Steve for fetching me a dustpan and brush and doing all the ringing round and fetching and carrying for me. Because of him I was still able to make it to a very successful rehersal for the June concert. Yippee!

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.

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.

Sucks to be Proven Right

It's at times like this that I really feel like a bit of a doom-sayer. I distinctly remember, on 9/11, standing in the TV lounge of a hotel in Tunisia saying that the twin towers were coming down. I'd seen enough movies and 'Seconds from Disasters' to know that the buildings, already compromised by the force of the impact of the two aircraft, we weakening by the second because of the intensity of the blaze. Aircraft fuel burns very hot and it was inevitable that this would eventually heat the buildings' metal sub-structures to the point that they could no longer support the weight of the floors above the blaze. Sometimes it sucks to be right.

A little over a year ago I left First Choice Holidays in Salford following the merger of the two package holiday giants, First Choice and Thomson. Like most people, I have bills to pay and even though my hubby works full time too, my salary is needed to supplement his income. I didn't want to be left in a position where I was made redundant with no job to go to, so I jumped long before I was pushed. When I chose to leave there were many people that questioned my decision: I'd been there over 5 years so was in line for a decent redundancy payout. In response, I distinctly remember saying that I was certain the call centre would close. Even after the company said that they were going to maintain the presence of a customer service department in this location, I was still sure that, ultimately, the office would close... maybe not in a few days or weeks or months, but in a matter of years, Salford would be robbed of a key employer. I had seen it happen before: In the 5 years that I worked for First Choice I saw the closure of the Kilmarnock call centre; I saw the closure of the closure of the call centre up near Teesside; and finally the closure of the airline customer service centre at Manchester Airport. Each closure brought more pressure and longer hours on my colleagues in Salford, and they continued to work with crappy pay and little complaint.

Many of the people that I worked with have already been made redundant. I know several that are still out of work and, although it's more luck than anything else, I am thankful every day that I didn't agree to hang on for the sake of a bit of cash. Choosing to leave means that I was able to pick and choose my employer and as a result I managed to get a really good job that is essentially 'recession proof'.

This time last year Tui Travel PLC made the decision to operate a customer service centre at the Salford site, making hundreds of local people redundant, but effectively securing the jobs of hundreds more. This week, Tui Travel PLC have announced that they are closing the First Choice Holidays call centre in Salford altogether, effectively pulling the rug from under those people who have stayed loyal to a company that has done them know favours. These people have been through a lot in the last 12 to 14 months and must've thought that they were safe.

I think the words of one First Choice employee on the Manchester Evening News website sums the situation up entirely:
x
"They put us through this last year, then announced in October that due to a business reshuffle they were closing down Coventry and creating a dedicated customer service centre in Salford, covering all aspects of holidays, weddings, cruise etc. Thinking our jobs were safe we all pulled together migrating all bookings on the old system onto the Thomson system. Now this has been completed they say that Manchester Ops are closing and everything is being relocated to Coventry. It stinks, they used and abused our loyalty, getting us to do a job nobody wanted to do or was not capable of doing down there. Some of the girls in CS [customer service] received 30 sacks of mail just before Christmas from Coventry, now that its done, we're surplus to requirements."

These are the people who look after you before and after your holiday. The bosses don't give a hoot once they've got your money, but the people who work in this call centre do care - otherwise they wouldn't do the job. TUI's actions are shameful.

How Much is a Billion?

Gratefully received from my Dad!

The next time you hear a politician use the word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about how much that actually might be... A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective:

• A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
• A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
• A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.
• A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.
• A billion pounds ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government [or local council!] is spending it.

Also, a billion years is how long it is likely to take to pay off the country's national debt!

Roads? Where We're Going We Don't Need Roads!

Ok, enough of the frivalous fun stuff... the cow story and my iTunes whinge were the blog equivalent of chocolate. Today is time for the meat and two veg.

This week has been a most frustrating week for me politically. And surprisingly (or unsurprisingly?) my frustration is not with national government! Hubby has recently become politically active. I suspect that this is partly inspired by my Dad, who became a local councillor last year, but mostly inspired by his ongoing crusade to address the shocking condition of Salford's local roads.

To provide a little background, anyone who lives outside of Salford and has cause to regularly travel into our area will be able to identify the border based solely on the condition of the roads. Salford's roads are a mixture of potholes, exposed cobbles and surface defects interspersed by speed bumps. Urban Vision, who are responsible for maintaining Salford's roads claim that they have a regular programme of inspection and repair but our road has been seriously pot-holed since the day we moved in (over two years ago) and the only repairs that they have carried out were the ones that we complained about in July last year. It took 3 months or more of complaining before they were eventually patched - poorly! This week hubby went to a local community committee meeting to see a presentation of 'Salford's Draft Integrated Transport Strategy'. He returned shaking his head.

It appears, from what he has seen, that the purpose of the so called 'strategy' is to make travel a living hell for anyone heading into central Salford and Media:City... unless they are travelling by bicycle! The plan includes the narrowing of Langworthy Road - already a slow moving artery into Salford Quays - by introducing cycle lanes and 'traffic calming'. Langworthy Road is already quite congested in the morning and it seems that the Integrated Transport Strategy will not only direct more traffic down this route, it will also reduce the traffic flow. This is a ludicrous plan tantamount to closing a lane on a motorway in rush hour. There also appears to be little consideration of the local economy in this plan, since the introduction of heavy congestion combined with increasing thru traffic will only harm the businesses on the road.

As if this wasn't insult enough to local residents and road users, we also found out this week that Salford Council intends to increase our Council Tax this year, while reducing Council spending on education and social care. They have already terminated a community policing trial that was universally heralded as a success. So what are they going to spend all this extra income on? If national government is anything to go by - on themselves!

Don't get me wrong, I believe that we should adequately reward people who work in local and national government, but at a local level, I expect and demand a certain service for the money I pay in. I want police on my streets, schools for my kids, my bins emptied every week, and maintenance of public property, including parks, council housing and offices, and our streets. I don't think that is too much to ask. Instead I get a community policing service canned, schools being closed and consolidated with little regard for the problems that might create, houses demolished around me, roads that are in such a poor condition that you find yourself doing a slalom down the street and a crazy 'plan' that will cause traffic chaos.

The most frustrating thing is that in the midst of this I don't have the time to commit to trying to make any of it any better!