Monday 26 May 2008

Lord Mayor's Show

Sue and Keith have been to Cannon Hill Park to see the Lord Mayor's Show.
The main objective was to see the Longbridge and Frankley Kickz teams take part in a 6-a-side tournament which takes place in an inflatable pitch.
The weather was not too bad when we got there but after a couple of hours it really deteriorated. The lads kept at it full pelt, there is no mercy shown during the matches which last 6 minutes.
We bumped into the Lord Mayor and 2 former Mayors, Cllr Randall Brew and Cllr Mike Sharpe, all with their respective wives in tow. The ladies had a bit more sense that the men and enjoyed a nice cuppa in the refreshment tent.
We will bring you the result of the tournament as soon as we can.

Play

 
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Team talk.

 
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On the wing

 
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Inflatable pitch, behind the goal.

 
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Lord Mayor Cllr Choudry Rashid posing for photos.

 
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Friday 23 May 2008

And of course we get into the picture

 
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this is how a professional does it.

 
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Get them to smile and press the button.

 
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The Winning Crewe.

Congratulations to Edward Timpson for his magnificent win in Nantwich & Crew. This is a real sign that Labour voters are not just staying at home but now coming over to the Conservatives.
We were at Mondays meeting with David Cameron and he was really impressive. It is a problem about making policy announcements as they end up being filched by Darling & Brown within weeks but the "Living within our means" theme touched a nerve and will, we think, resonate with hard pressed families across the country.
To get back to our Diary,We told you about Keith and SWBCA and the Oddingley Hall event. This is a brand new building at Wychall which will replace the old hall which is past it's best. South West Birmingham Community Association will lease the hall in order to carry out its Development Agency role as well as managing the Hall. There are changing rooms attached for the use of local football teams and we hope it will become a focal point for the local community.
Keith's talk to new Councillors about Section 33 visits went down quite well. Section 33 requires Councillors to visit Children's Homes and Elderly peoples Homes once a year to check on conditions. We have been running behind on these this year and need to make an effort to catch up.
On Wednesday Sue was at the Fostering Panel for much of the day. We may have told you that this involves a grat deal of reading in preparation for what is a very important subject to a great many families. Keith went to a site meeting at Oddingley Hall followed by a tour of this wonderful building. That afternoon he was at the Council House for a meeting of the Central Technology Belt where there were presentations about a science park at Worcester and another one at Parsons Hill which would take £2.5 million to remediate the land. Guess who would be expected to cough up the loot?
We have forgotten to mention the Mayor-making ceremony at the Council AGM. Randal and Sandra Brew have been magnificent this year and have now given way to the new Lord Mayor Cllr Choudry Rashid. He is a really nice man and we are sure he will be a credit to the city.
Last Thursday Keith, Sue and Ken attended a Neighbourhood Tasking meeting on Frankley. This is where the Police ask local residents what their priorities are for the area. Keith was very disappointed that 2 minor problems of fly-tipping and tagging were selected. This can be dealt with without having a meeting with the police. After the selection a women in the audience complained about drug dealing on Arden Rd. This is the sort of thing the police should be dealing with and Keith asked why she had not raised this as an issue, the Police Inspector then intervened and told the audience that this was their meeting and they should not do as the Councillors tell them to do. Salt was rubbed into the wound when after the meeting the police sergeant said to Keith " you can deal with these can't you?" This seems like a typical piece of New Labour bulls..t.
The rest of the week has been taken up with more meetings, this morning we were at Frankley for a working party on the Frankley Summit to be held in June. This follows on from the Ward Meeting and is intended to come up with some ideas to cut the amount of ASB on the estate. Afterwards we went to Northfield Fire Station where there was a launch of a pilot scheme using fire-fighters on bikes to patrol arson hotspots and also contact local kids in an effort to cut hoax calls and other problems. As this is a joint Edgbaston/Northfield effort Cllr Deirdre Alden was there. Deirdre is a really hard working councillor and PPC and will be a great MP for Edgbaston when GB is dragged kicking and screaming to the ballot box. Photos to follow.
Keith has been involved in the tragic case of the young girl who died last weekend in Handsworth. As Chairman of the Vulnerable Children's Committee he has attended briefings and has been contacted by the press. One of the problems we have is that whilst there is an ongoing police investigation we can say nothing as it may prejudice any trial that may come of it. Thats why it is very unfortunate that the local MP has been so vocal about it. He may see it as an opportunity to bash the Council but we have processes which we must go through, processes laid down in law by the government of which he is part.
Have a good Bank Holiday weekend, we are going to Cannon Hill Park on Sunday to see local youngsters from the Kickz project take part in a footbal final at the Lord Mayor's Show.. Good luck to them.

Tuesday 13 May 2008

Sit Down! I can't see.

 
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What happens if I pull This?

 
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Hang on, this cheque is not signed!

 
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Grass cutting

On Sunday morning Keith started mowing the back lawn. So what you might ask, so do millions of others all over the country. The main difference is that this was the first time this year the lawn had seen a mower. The grass was 18 inches in height due to Keith's neglect and it will need about 3 cuts to get it into any order. This is what happens when you get involved in politics in general and elections in particular, everything else goes by the board and has to wait. If anyone is thinking about becoming involved in politics be prepared to be sucked further & further in. It is a fascinating subject, not boring as some would say but it can overwhelm your life if you are not careful especially if you are in a seat which requires constant focus and attention if it is to be held. Here is a little secret on winning elections, the campaign for the next election starts the day after you win the last one, not 4 weeks before. That's what our last opponent didn't understand, he had not put a leaflet out for 4 years and the great majority of voters did not know who he was.
Anyway, we should let you know about the match at St. Andrews. The event started in some disarray when we were suddenly informed that the presentation was to take place before the start of the match and not at half time as planned. We had to get pitch-side in about 2 minutes. Sue and Insp. Tim Thurlow walked on with a giant cheque, one photo was taken and they walked off again, all very perfunctory. Luckily Keith managed to get some photos which we will put up for you. It was all rather unfortunate as the Community unit are one of their success stories this season but the club does not seem to realise how good it is and fail to grasp the goodwill and favourable publicity it could bring for the club.
The match itself was quite exciting, the team played well and the pitch-side seats made it all a lot more personal as you could hear the grunts and shouts from the players and feel the impact as boots went flying in and appreciate the effort the individual players put in. All a bit different to being up in the stands where it becomes a bit more of a chess game when seen from a distance.
On Saturday night Keith was asked by some Bluenose friends if he wanted them to be relegated, here is the difference between the two sets of supporters. Keith was sat in front of two fans whose main concern, when they realised that they would be relegated was that Villa would not finish above Everton and gain entry to the EUFA Cup. One of them actually said that it might be better if Blues lost as it may help Blackburn finish above Villa. This is what we Villans cannot understand, we are not concerned about our rivals, only how our own team is doing. If we were relegated it would not make things any better if Blues failed as well but the Bluenoses seem to be able to take consolation in the slightest misfortune that befalls the Villa. Perhaps if they could get the chip off their collective shoulder and relieve themselves of their inferiority complex they would be better able to support their own side and contribute to some success.
Anyway, back to the politics, or at least Local Government. Sue stepped in as substitute on a Licensing Sub-Committee yesterday, the Officers refer to her as "Supersub" as she is always willing to step in if a Councillor cannot make it. Yesterday was all about errant taxi drivers. Past experience has shown that many of the drivers need a lot of supervision and enforcement, particularly private hire drivers. Keith was at an "Away afternoon" with SWBCA concerning the move into Oddingley Hall. More on that nearer the event.
This morning Sue is meeting officers on The Roundabout where she has asked them to inspect all the supposedly empty garages in order to get them ready to be let. We have too many which could be let but are standing empty and income-less whilst parking cause a lot of problems on the narrow roads. For Keith it is back to the grass until this evening when he will be helping newly elected Councillors to understand the reasons for carrying out Section 33 visits to Children's Homes and Elderly Peoples Homes. Wish him luck.

Garden opening

 
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Saturday 10 May 2008

Order from chaos

Alongside all the work involved during the election and Sue's broken arm domestic matters also have to run their course. You may remember us telling you about the re-wire we had to have done on the house. This week we have been doing the main bedroom. We moved into the spare bedroom whilst the room was stripped, old wardrobes dismantled and new ones installed, new paint job and wallpaper. A new carpet was fitted and a new bed purchased to replace the old one. No unsavoury jokes or comments please. Not necessarily in that order, or in fact in any order it seemed. Today it all looks almost as it should.
Timing is of the essence, Yesterday was Keith's birthday, he will not say how old he is but he was heard to mutter " so where the hell do I get this bus pass", tomorrow is Sue's birthday, a gentleman doesn't ask. During this 3 day period the following have or will occur: Keith attended a meeting of West Heath Youth Aware and conducted a Custody visit around the local cop shops. You realise how hot it is when you enter a cell where someone has spent the night after a belly full of beer the night before. Sue & Ken visited a local garden which was open to the public as a charity fund-raiser. Keith thinks " Hang on, I'm the senior Councillor round here, how come I get the ...... end of the stick?"
This evening the family gather for a celebration meal at a local Chinese restaurant situated in the former Tram Terminus toilet block, "hang on" says Keith, "How come......."
Tomorrow we are both off to St. Andrews to watch the losers, sorry, Blues attempt to retain their Premiership status and present them with a cheque for £25000. Keith reckons they can buy 2 strikers with that but Sue insists it is spent on Longbridge kids to keep them out of trouble.

Wednesday 7 May 2008

We're back!!!

I know they are not every one's favourite words but "mission accomplished" seems quite appropriate. Last Thursday was quite a day. We won the seats in Longbridge and Weoley, we know there were also 4 more gains but these were our own special targets.
We were really pleased for Eddie Freeman as he, Adrian Delaney and Peter Douglas-Osborn had worked like Trojans to unseat Jan Drinkwater. She was quite ungracious in defeat, making a remark along the lines of " I shall be watching to see you look after the community, not just yourselves". Why can't she see that this kind of poisonous and malicious attitude is the reason they have been so determined to get rid of her? Why do the socialists think that they and only they have the good of the community at heart? Perhaps when reality strikes and they start to understand how despised they are across the country then a small shard of contrition will enter their hearts and they can find the humility to admit that they got it wrong. Don't hold your breath.
Here in Longbridge we had an equally tough and, towards the end, a quite disgraceful personal attack on Ken Wood. You may remember our opponent using the BNP to strengthen his campaign. He also put out 2 quick leaflets claiming that Ken was unsuitable to be a Councillor because he is also PPC for Wolverhampton SE. He also alleged that being a first time Councillor would make Ken unacceptable along with several similar absurd attacks. As we have stated previously Labour always get vicious when they are running scared, we continue to find it strange that we were once called the nasty party. If you want to see nastiness, viciousness and a rat in a corner mentality watch a socialist under threat. The Longbridge/Wolverhampton thing even got into the Mail on the Wednesday evening, trust the Birmingham Mirror, sorry, Mail to back Labour up even when no-one else will touch them with a barge-pole. We also saw the attack on Len Gregory and Alan Rudge over bin bag clear ups during the strike. Disgraceful!
Up on Frankley things got even worse. When we talk about the elections for the parish council we are referring to the candidates and NOT the PC itself. When we found out about the BNP putting up 3 candidates we both went to the office and offered help and advice. The help was in the form of a leaflet drop. We were about to put out our election address across the whole of the estate and offered by put out the candidates leaflet at the same time. This was an unconditional offer, we expected nothing in return and did not ask for anyone to help us on a quid-per-quo basis. We have a policy when it comes to the BNP, we ignore them. We do not mention them in our leaflets as we believe it gives them publicity. We also had our fingers burned some years ago when we put out a leaflet urging people not to turn to them. The Birmingham Post got 3 headlines out of it calling us racists and our sensitive local mp raised it in the house of commons. He was swatted down by the speaker very quickly. So, we put our own policies and record to the voters and rely on this to get us through. It seems to be working as we have now won 4 elections in a row if you count the all-out in 04. We count it because it gave us the foot in the door and the opportunity to take the 2nd seat in 06, I think we all know what an immense impact Sue has had since her election. To get back to Frankley. We were contacted by Mr Bedser and asked to put our names to a joint letter calling on people to reject the BNP. We ignored this, firstly for the reasons already stated but also because we believed that this could appear to be an endorsement of Mr Bedser and would undermine our campaign to unseat him.
The next thing we saw was a letter to the people of Frankley from Ross Kemp railing against the BNP. At least this did not claim that only Labour could keep them out so we had no problem with it. There then followed a flood of literature, a leaflet called the Patriot, 2 leaflets from the candidates and some more leaflets from Mr Bedser criticising Ken Wood. There was also the Labour Election address with the red, white and blue banner at the top. It transpired that some of the "Independent" candidates were putting out Labour leaflets as well as their own. There was also at least one instance of other candidates being given Labour leaflets and being told to get them out. I am pleased to report that a lot of these were thrown away, even though Mr Bedser believed that they had gone out. As it was all this effort proved to be unnecessary, the BNP vote was down by about 200 across the ward and hardly made a dent in the PC Elections. Some might conjecture that it was all about the Labour vote more than anything else and we wonder if on reflection some people on Frankley may be feeling slightly used.
Thursday night/Friday morning was a joyous occasion for us and we went to the Council House in high spirits, even more so as the results kept coming in. The verdict from Stockland Green and then Oscott was a real bonus and adds to the weakening effect on the Labour team as they have lost some big names. It was a pity Gary Sambrook fell just short in Kingstanding but he will make it.
Just as an aside Keith saw Neill Elkes at the Council House on Election night. He is the reporter who ran the story about Ken on Wednesday evening. Keith thanked him for the terrific publicity he had given us. Gobsmacked or what?
The following night Ken and Barbara, Sue and Keith were at an Italian restaurant enjoying a celebration meal when we heard about Boris winning in London. Everything tasted marvellous.
On Saturday we took the campervan down to Stourport for a few days but it is now back to the grindstone. Today Sue was at a Fostering Panel. She has still got her arm in plaster so has to take taxis, Keith went to a Sub-group meeting for South-west Birmingham Community Association and we both have meetings tomorrow. Thursday evening will see all 3 of us together for the first time at a meeting of the Longbridge Consultative Group.
Sorry that this epistle is so long but there was a lot to say. Normal service will be resumed from now on.
Just one upcoming fixture. We will be at St. Andrews on Sunday when Sue will help present a cheque for £25000 to the community unit for the Kickz project. Keith will be wondering if he will see Birmingham's second club be relegated for the, how many times is this now?