I do so very much hope, our American cousins are as observant as you are ‘Errol’.
. . Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity)
Hmm. . . . .Well I never thought I’d see the day when ‘Errol’ started to care about his environment. . . I must say though! . . . He has always cleaned up after his dog, which is more than you can say about alot of people.
. . Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity)
22nd. October 2005
Sir - Recent comments regarding North Somerset Council staff paying for car parking were interesting because more and more parking spaces at Carlton Street and Locking Road car parks in Weston-super-Mare are being taken over by council employees for FREE. This results in less income being received from the council tax payers.
In 2005/06, the relevant department budgeted that it would receive an extra £100,000 from car parking increases.
However, it neglected to publish these increases until May and it was therefore unable to implement them until June, by which time most pensioners had purchased their annual parking ticket for £37 instead of the outrageous increase to £125.
With the council’s rapidly increasing staff numbers, staff costs over the past three years have increased by £21million, not including pension costs.
There has been no improvement in front-line services and it is again considering closing Poppyfields (an estimated saving of £200,000).
Another interesting item is the process of selling off all our council housing stock (book value £375million) for £6.5million.
If this is the case, why are they intent on retaining a housing department of 51 staff and an executive council member who manages the council housing portfolio?
The council boasts that it operates 750 services. How many of these are essential to the taxpayer?
How many are non-essential and just provide a mountain of paperwork of no benefit or relevance to council tax payers but which contributes to staffing costs?
These, and many other examples of war on waste, will be investigated and highlighted by the Senior Citizens Forum over the months running up to the Budget.
We know the council tax system is unfair and wasteful. We know the system is bureaucratically top heavy.
We know it is indifferent to the needs of the people it is supposed to serve.
But, most of all, we know that we can no longer sustain ever-increasing council tax payments which are driving more and more people into poverty and despair.
Ken Lacey MBE, chairman
Weston-super-Mare
Senior Citizens Forum
. . Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity)
Your sagacity amazes me at times ‘Errol’. . I only hope they are both listening.
. . Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity)
Hmm. . A little confusing, . . but a noble sentiment nevertheless ‘Errol’.
. . Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity)
The Editor
Letters
Western Daily Press
Dear Editor,
I believe Jeremy Williams, Head of Corporate affairs Bristol Water, is continuing to be sparing with the actuality!
In referring to some sort of “competitive tendering” I presume, their Web Site quotes the following:
“The government weighed up the plans of the two groups, and narrowly came down on the side of the new group. On the 16th.of July 1846 the Bristol Waterworks Company was formally established by an Act of Parliament.” (No Less).
“Only fifteen months later, the first ’sweet clear waters’ travelled from Chewton Mendip, via Barrow and the engineering feat of the 16km Line of Works conduit, into the heart of Bristol.”
What he doesn’t tell us is; what juicy Government Contracts these two companies were competing for, to receive the benefits of ! The equivalent of winning the Lottery of the day, with a guaranteed fixed price customer base I suspect; just to supply a Free Natural Resource, as Mr Goodland first pointed out.
Presumably at the more recent ‘Privatisation Time’ ; any Monopoly Restrictions imposed on that ‘Private Company’ at the time of the Act; that had always kept the cost of water to a relative ‘pittance’ of it’s current level; and there must have been some; . . were then lifted.
What else explains the massive increase in our Water Charges we have all experienced since the general privatisation of the Industry that have been servicing the massive corporate debt; and which has meant a ‘killing’ for the shareholders?. . . An act of God?
I remain unimpressed.
Yours
Charles Henry
Published 21st. October 2005
Sir - Far be it for me, as a “pampered corporate minion” ("Hijacking of our resources", Your Say, October 17) to dare to contradict Mr Charles Henry, but I am not defending the indefensible, just pointing out plain facts. Mr Henry says “our national water resource was stolen from us at privatisation". Bristol Water was not privatised because, simply, it had never been state-owned in the first place.
It has always been a private company, with shareholders, ever since it began way back in 1846.
Since then, Bristol Water has busily enriched the national water resource - for example, by creating both the Blagdon and Chew Valley Lakes.
Jeremy Williams Head of Corporate Affairs Bristol Water plc
Why don’t you start supporting New-Labour instead ‘Errol’ ?
. . Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity)
Steady on ‘Errol’. . . I know your not happy and I’m inclined to agree with you. . . But I really don’t believe they will be so stupid! . . . . I suppose we can all vote ‘Ravin Looney’. . . . . It will be either that or The British National Party that’s for sure. . . . Of course ! . . I’d forgotten; I may have to go to jail over Council Tax now, with all the OAPs. . .
. . Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity)
Yes it is ‘Errol’. . . Fancy you remembering that! . . . (Luckily I don’t think he has realised the significance of the year).
. . Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity)
The Editor
Letters
Western Daily Press
Published 17th. October 2005
Dear Editor
Jeremy Williams, head of corporate affairs Bristol Water plc; well the title says it all, doesn’t it?
What a duplicitous answer he gave to Edmond Goodland’s quite justified attack in your columns recently.
It was clearly choreographed with help and instruction from the New Labour handbook of national statistics.
In the first instance, Mr Williams, it is not ‘their’ facts, it is ‘the’ facts. Facts belong to no one; they simply exist - but when is a fact not a fact? When it’s a statistic being quoted by a pampered corporate minion, to defend the indefensible.
We all know our national water resource was stolen from us at privatisation, making millionaires out of many previously very ordinary salaried operatives. All this funded by a corporate debt to the banks, that is serviced by a massive increase in our water charges.
Mr Goodland is a well-respected community commentator, which is more than can be said for any those who have hijacked most of the national resources we all depend upon, and in many cases then sold them to foreigners.
Yours
Charles Henry
Is that so ‘Errol’. . Well you can tell him the membership won’t be at all happy about that. . . In fact without him there may not be a membership worth talking about. . . .There is no point having a gun if you don’t have any bullets ! . . . Ken Clarke is the best bullet we have. Half the rest are complete duds. . . Ken Clarke is the only one those deceitful beggars don’t really want to have to face. . . . How does the song go?. . “PAPER ROSES", . . “PAPER ROSES", . . “THEY WERE ONLY", . . “IMMITATION” . . . . It’s time they all woke up and ’smelt the mould’.
. . Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity)
Kenneth Clarke. Daily Telegraph 13/10/2005) (Now today’s date)
“Labour won the 2005 general election with fewer votes than the Conservatives received when they lost the 1997 election. This tells us two things. First, the Tories can win the next election if they re-engage the voters of Middle Britain who have been so alienated from us over the past decade. Second, we need to set out our stall for a new political generation: the landscape of politics has changed dramatically and the old tribal loyalties no longer apply.
This puts even more weight on the leadership of the parties. I believe I can deliver three things as leader: destroy the myth of Labour’s economic performance and, with it, the credibility of Gordon Brown as Prime Minister; stop the Liberal Democrats in their tracks and pull the core professional and managerial middle-class vote back to the Tories; and enlarge our total appeal to people who have never voted Conservative. This simple arithmetic cannot be repeated often enough: unless we bring new voters to the party, we cannot win an election.
So why do we want to win? I believe we need to address two essential groups of issues. The first is about opportunity; the second is about insecurity.
We desperately need to enlarge opportunity. It is perverse that under Labour the gap between rich and poor has widened. It is shocking that many school leavers do not have the skills to find and keep jobs. It is scandalous that millions of people find themselves in a housing no-man’s land where they earn too much to claim social housing but far too little ever to be able to get on the housing ladder.
There are millions of young couples who want to start families but have to face huge financial commitments to fund a mortgage, pay back university tuition fees, perhaps pay for child-care and set aside income for a pension. We need to think creatively about how to ease this burden - for example, by having transferable tax allowances between husband and wife so that families where one parent stays at home to look after children are not punished by the tax system.
Above all, we need to deliver smaller government so that people can keep more of their earnings. I am committed to reducing the state’s share in national output/income to 40 per cent. It is a demanding target but will set a strategic framework for management of the economy which is the key to prosperity. Immense new demands for spending are certain to occur - for example, growing opportunities for preventative health-care.
But the world has also to live with new insecurities. The terrorist threat screams from the headlines every day - but there are other insecurities which gnaw at people in their daily lives. For the older person it is: will pensions be adequate to ensure modest wellbeing? For parents, it is concern about the quality of education, especially if Labour interferes even more in the name of social engineering.
For everyone it is concern about safety in the streets and the plague of anti-social behaviour which Labour meets with the single weapon of anti-social behaviour orders. We need to combine Asbos with positive incentives to encourage young people to seize opportunities to improve their chances of success in life.
People are aware that they are citizens of the world more than ever before. Inescapably, we have responsibilities beyond our shores. The Make Poverty History campaign engaged hundreds of thousands. Awareness of the degradation of the global environment, vividly illustrated by melting ice-caps and the thinning of the ozone layer is increasingly rooted in our consciousness. These issues require a long-term political response based on cross-party consensus.
These are hugely challenging agendas. If I am Prime Minister, they will be addressed by straight, no-nonsense, honest government. I detest the disfigurement of government by Tony Blair’s reliance on advisers who are accountable to nobody and treat the people of Britain with arrogance.
I will restore proper collective decision-making and a civil service free from political interference. I will publish honest accounts free from Gordon Brown’s Enron-type off-balance sheet concealments. Honest government is the birthright of a nation with such deep roots in parliamentary democracy. It has been taken away from the people under Labour. It is about time they got it back.
To me, a One Nation Conservative Party is a party that wants a society based on opportunity and a government that tackles insecurity. It is also a party that restores integrity to government and authority to Parliament. I believe that that kind of Conservative Party would win the support of the British people and enable us to win power again. That is why I am standing in the leadership election.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And why I, one of Margaret Thatcher’s greatest admirers and most loyal supporters, am giving him my whole-hearted support in his endeavour to become the next party leader.
. . Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity)
I think ‘Errol’ is worried that David Cameron will be ‘bullied’, rather like Gordon Brown bullied George Osbourne on his debut in the House as Shadow Chancellor. Neither of them are as articulate as Willian Hague. . . . . ‘Errol’ grew up being bullied by his brother who really loves him ! . . But there’s not much ‘love-loss’ in the House of Commons now is there ! . . Can he take care of himself ?. . Kenneth Clarke is a proven ‘bruiser’.
. . Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity)
Yes it is a little worrying ‘Errol’, . . because I don’t feel any of the younger generation really understand what was going on in the years leading up to ‘Black Monday’. They seem to believe only what the propagandist tell them. They should talk to real people who experienced it without a ‘State Salary’; all the ones who payed the price and financed these boom years; . . the ones who threw them out! . . . Michael Hestletine told us we would hand it all to the Labour Party. . . It’s a great pity he won’t now admit to the failures of the EU. . . A ‘Union’ that nobody has voted for. . . It’s no better than an ‘Arranged Marriage’.
. . Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity)
Well it’s pretty clear what ‘Errol’ thinks about all the speeches; but I think he wants to be be on the winning side after the next election, so I believe he’s still supporting Ken Clarke.
. . Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity)
Those are are strong words but it is sound logic. . . .
. . Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity)
Anuvver mumf. . . It’ll soon be Crismus. . . da werlds not a ‘appy place is it. . . Ar anty Lil’s bloke reccons it never ‘av bin. . . He reccons dere wus awways sum poor sods sumwer ‘avin it bad. . . ‘cept now we aw yers abowt it aw da time. . . Wass it taday?. . . Bali agen init?. . . dey sick buggers wonts summut up em. . . . I’ll giv um bleedin parradice if dats wot dey wonts. . . deyll be too nackered fer no vergins! . . . An you don’t see dey in charge of um killin umselves do ee ! . . Oh no not dey. . . deym too busy avin’ Erfly Pleassers. . . .
Tory confrence agen. . . ut leest deyll be to busy tryin’ ta choose a leader ta go beetin’ up on any awd age peshunners like dey Laber gits. . . . I spec awd two jags gave um aw tranin’. . . An aw dey gits is in charge up Lundon ! . . . Dey bleedin’ rools us ! . . . . Aw you daft sods voted for um ! . . .
It’s startin gettin cawd out yer wen da sun don’t cum out. . . I wunder if da bosses wife ull let I work part time agen? . . . It ud stop ‘er moanin’ at I aw da time . . . trubble is she expects I ta do aw da jobs da boss can’t do no more. . . an nen sum! . . . Me bruvver cum rownd stirrin’ it up tovver day. . . . ee reely ‘ates me ya no! . . . ee wer aways tryin’ ta get I in trubble it scool. . . eev tawd er I’ve bin down da market floggin cheep biros. . . ee wer tryin’ ta make out I must a pinched um aw ! . . . . I DINT ! . . I only ad free an I got dey up da bettin’ shop ! . . . dat aint steelin’ ! . . . sum days ee yoosed ta pinch me toofbrush ta clean ‘is deraler on is racin’ bike! . . . an if eed yoosed Gunk it ud make aw me brissaws cum out! . . .
Diss is gettin depressin. . . dey poor sods out Pakistan an India in dat erf quake. . . dass reel bad. . . we don’t no nuffink! . . . . Da next time I yers sum git moanin I’ll stick wun on um. . . . Wees got undreds uv iddaw gits takin’ millions off da social. . . . an aw dey poor sods aint got nuffink. . . deym bein’ left ta die in da bleedin cawd. . . . Eevin me bruvvers got a job an ee don’t clame ! . . . . .
Iss Maggee Fachers berfday taday! . . eightee ! . . . crikes ! . . . still we unt be avin nun a diss travler luvvin an baggjer uggin if she wer still in bleedin charge. . . Oh NO! NO! NO! . . . Sheed ‘av ‘aff dey up lundun werkin fer a livin’. . . . not keep finkin up nu ways ta skiv off cos deys stressed. . . sheed giv um aw bleedin stress ! . .
Ken Clarke uv ad da boot. . . an eevin ol Freddie Flintoffs lots been gettin a kickin in Ozz. . . . nuffins goin’ rite lately. . winters cummin an aw. . . I’n finkin a emmegratin’. . .
Grate innit! . . . . No bugger ull ‘av I! . . . . Wees got scrotes frum aw arownd da bleedin werld, aw cummin yer. . . Aw uv um ‘avin ar elf servviss an aw dat. . wen dey an’t payed in nuffink! . . An’ dey own’t evin let I join da bleedin’ army! . . . Leest I wer born yer! . . . It aint no point goin ta Yorup niver. . dey aint got no jobs anyow! . . Looks like I’ll be ‘angin arowd yer a bit longer. . . I’ll av ta get a bigger ‘at I reccon. .
Content ©1998-2004 Charles Henry | Powered by WordPress | XHTML | CSS | « doorway illustration by John Paice »
