They Blog For You

Typical of the media to focus on the damaging antics of a tiny group of anarchists during yesterday’s overwhelmingly good natured and peaceful march by students and others protesting against the Government’s higher education plans. Unusually for such a demo, the numbers significantly exceeded the expectations and early estimates of the [...]

The local government Minister, John Hayes, hinted strongly in my Commons debate on local enterprise partnerships in the South West that pressure is being applied to Devon, Plymouth and Torbay councils to get their act together and work with Somerset to form a partnership covering all 4 areas. If true, [...]

Devon and Cornwall Police warn Government cuts of 20 percent over 4 years will mean 700 fewer police on the beat and cuts of 300 in support staff. The reductions will take police numbers in Devon and Cornwall down to levels last seen in 2003 before Labour boosted police numbers [...]

The Con-Lib Government’s policies already appear to be having a highly negative impact on economic growth – notwithstanding David Cameron’s warm words to the CBI today. It’s widely predicted that tomorrow’s provisional growth figures for the 3rd quarter will show a dramatic slowing from the first half of the year. This will [...]

Devon and Cornwall will be among the worst hit counties in England by Wednesday’s comprehensive spending review according to today’s Financial Times. This confirms something some of us have been saying for some time, that because of our large elderly population, relatively low wages and higher than average proportion of public [...]

The Conservative-Liberal Government’s softening up exercise for next week’s budget continues without shame.  Although this week’s report from the new independent Office for Budgetary Responsibility reported UK borrowing to be lower and tax receipts higher than the Labour Government predicted in March’s budget, the ConLibs continue with their fiction that having [...]

Exeter’s 36 year campaign to have its unitary council status restored cleared its final parliamentary hurdles this week.  In a hotly contested debate on Monday in the House of Lords, an attempt by Liberal Democrat Peers to kill the legislation was overwhelmingly defeated.  A motion from the Cross Bench Peer Lady Butler [...]

The House of Commons voted decisively last night to support Exeter’s bid for self rule.  A motion tabled by the Conservatives opposing Government plans to restore unitary government to Exeter and Norwich was defeated comfortably.  Conservative MPs from rural Devon and Norfolk lined up to criticise the plans.  But the proposals were strongly [...]

Potholes and the state of the roads is one of the main complaints I get on the doorstep. Another good reason for Exeter to run its own affairs.  It’s ludicrous that councillors from Bideford and South Hams decide how much money to spend repairing Exeter’s roads and which roads to repair [...]

As Exeter’s bid to have its self-rule restored reaches the final lap all eyes are on the House of Lords.  A legal attempt by Devon and Norfolk county councils to thwart Exeter and Norwich’s aspirations was rightly put on the back burner by the High Court who said Parliament should take [...]

The narrowing of the polls, the better economic news and Tory turmoil over Lord Ashcroft and policy have all served to put a spring in people’s step. The bright crisp sunshine also helps.  The acknowledgement by the British Chambers of Commerce that both unemployment and borrowing will be far less than [...]

It seems just possible that as people take a long hard look at the Conservatives and begin to give the Government some credit for its handling of the global downturn, the election is no longer the foregone conclusion that some people, including most of the media, have been assuming for [...]

Exeter’s Northcott Theatre is in the headlines again.  It would seem the Trustees came across some past accounting problem that led them to declare the Northcott insolvent on Thursday.  I hope that with some effort and good will, the problem will be addressed and overcome. From what I hear the theatre management, [...]

Devon County Council’s decision to try to stop Exeter getting control of its own affairs is a staggering waste of local people’s money. After the huge sums Devon has already wasted on its own bid for unitary status, which it then withdrew, blowing yet more public money trying to thwart [...]

Gordon Brown is damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t. If he doesn’t reveal the genuine warmth and humanity of his personality that those of us who know him know he has got in spades he is branded “dour”; if he does it’s “cynical manipulation” of the media [...]

Conservative claims that 54 percent of girls in poor areas are pregnant before they’re 18 shows once again how cavalier the Tories are with the truth.  In fact, the figure is 5.4 percent, lower than it was in 1997 and the teenage pregnancy rate has fallen significantly as a whole.  The Tories [...]

The David and Goliath struggle between plucky Exeter and over-mighty Devon is entering, we hope, its end game. Since the Government announced this week that it would grant Exeter’s wish to run its own council – restoring to our city the status it enjoyed for 800 years until 1974 – [...]

The decision to grant Exeter unitary status is wonderful news. It restores the self- rule that our city enjoyed for hundreds of years until 1974.  All those in Exeter who have worked so hard over many years to this end deserve congratulation.  They include the business community, university, voluntary sector and all four [...]

Cabinet colleagues visiting Exeter and other places in the South West for yesterday’s Cabinet meeting were universally impressed.  David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, spent an hour taking questions on a whole range of foreign policy issues at Exeter University’s world renowned Institute for Arab and Islamic Studies. Subjects included Iraq, Afghanistan, [...]

The more Tory policies are exposed and scrutinised, the quicker they unravel.  Their major muddle now over the economy comes after climate change last week and marriage the week before.  In my policy area they have just announced their 3rd u-turn in a year saying they would use part of the TV [...]