Global Warming - more than one swindle going on

As a recent letter to the South Wales Evening Post showed, almost as many people were taken in by Martin Durkin's Channel 4 documentary (also shown on S4C) entitled "The Great Global Warming Swindle" as believe entirely the word of Al Gore in "An Inconvenient Truth".

While virtually no climate scientist will state that all the global warming which started in the late 20th century is caused by man's efforts alone, few - unless they have a vested interest - will say that man has not contributed and is not contributing to the increase in greenhouse gases and thus global warming.

Al Gore may have over-simplified the case against carbon dioxide, but Durkin, through using misleading graphs, turning a blind eye to some data which came in after 1991 and selectively quoting a respected scientist (who considered suing as a result), presented a dishonest case for the defence.

Durkin has form. A previous documentary of his had been found to distort the truth. Chris Huhne, the LibDem environment spokesman, felt strongly enough to ask for Channel 4's comments on green campaigner George Monbiot's view that it was distinctly odd for Durkin to be commissioned again, in view of the ITC's earlier findings against him.

There is an even more trenchant criticism of the 2007 programme which suggests a far-left political motivation.

Those of us who can afford the time and money for broadsheet newspapers as well as watching TV are able to take in a broader and more objective view of the climate debate. Unfortunately, there has been no significant attempt on TV to put the various films and documentaries into context.

Carbon footprint

I am grateful to a scientist member of the Liberal Democrats for the following survey of carbon footprint calculators:

"I did some Googling on carbon calculators and came up with the following:

http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.html
covers household fuel usage and travel

http://www.carboncalculator.co.uk/
has both a carbon calculator and a shopping calculator but requires you
to register

http://www.mycarbonfootprint.eu/
is the European Commission's version

http://www.foodcarbon.co.uk/
just calculates the carbon from the food you eat

http://www.clevel.co.uk/homecalc.html
covers all the areas but fairly crude on food &waste

https://www.edfenergy.com/climatebalance/edf-energy/calculator.do
only covers house heating

http://www.resurgence.org/carboncalculator/
covers everything apart from food

http://www.esd.rgs.org/link6.html
links to 10 different calculators

http://www.safeclimate.net/calculator/
only covers travel and home energy use

Quite a few local councils have a link to carbonfootprint.com, and it
looks quite comprehensive apart from ignoring food; combined with
foodcarbon.co.uk it is probably the best for an overall estimate."

Anonymous allegations

Many people reading this will have received, in the mail, a well-produced printed statement of criminality directed against a potential candidate in the forthcoming Welsh Assembly elections.

These allegations are serious, and, if true, would surely disqualify the person concerned holding public office. They merit investigation by the proper authorities or, if the author believes the judicial process has failed, another investigative medium.

However, an anonymous attack is dangerous for public well-being in general and the political process in particular. That is why there are laws against anonymity in publishing printed material.

That is why, although my party would appear to be the main beneficiaries of this attack, I shall be referring my copy of the communication to the police.

- Frank Little

Housing and infrastructure

There is new housing going up all over the county borough. But can the infrastructure - sewerage and roads in particular - cope?

All the county borough's money appears to be directed towards the new Port Talbot southern distributor road. Ordinary scheduled maintenance is clearly suffering. Regular travellers remark on the poor quality of the road surface in Neath Port Talbot compared with the roads in Powys.

A Welsh national cricket team?

I trust that the Plaid Cymru AM who suggested that Wales aspire to a national cricket team which competes in the World Cup has had second thoughts after watching Scotland's dismal performance in the Caribbean.

(There is, of course, a Wales team which competes in English one-day cup and minor county competitions, but, reliant as it is on ex-county and club players, has not had much success)

Competing in the county championship, Glamorgan has done more for Welsh pride and reputation over the years than any separate national side would do.

- Frank Little (Glamorgan CC member)

The Budget - a first reaction

The biggest give-away was not the 2% cut in the basic rate. That doesn't take place until next year, and will in any case largely be paid for by the abolition of the 10% starter rate.

No, the chancellor is rewarding the section of the population most likely to vote - the over-65s. He will take more pensioners out of taxation than any other section of society.

He figures that the pensioner population, who pay a larger proportion of their income in council tax than the richest ten per cent of the population, will be mollified by reducing their income tax burden. He has not addressed the inequity of the council tax as such, nor is Tony Blair bothered. Neath and Aberavon constituencies must have a higher proportion of pensioners in poverty than most of the UK and will suffer accordingly.

In reply to a question from Ming Campbell, the prime minister acknowledged the high marginal rate paid by the poorest in our society, because of council tax. However, his only response was to point to the Lyons Commission which, if early reports are to be believed, does not consider any alternatives to council tax.

Small Business

Once again Labour shows their love of big business and contempt for small business. Corporation tax is to be cut, but small company taxation is to be raised with virtually immediate effect. This is going to hit a large number of small enterprises in this borough and adjacent areas. I am particularly concerned about the effect this is going to have on those companies pioneering green solutions to our energy problems.

We would be interested to see any other views of how this budget will affect the local economy.
-Frank Little

Family health centre for Cimla and Pelenna

Pontardawe has a substantial, modern, health centre replacing the prefabs ruined by the floods of the storms of Spring 1998. There is to be a new
Dulais Valley Primary Care Centre. Why isn't there a health centre serving Cimla and the Pelenna valley?

A bit of history

In the mid-1990s, Councillor John Warman organised a campaign for a general practitioner to be located in Cimla. A massive petition was raised, and hard work was rewarded with a doctor prepared to make a go of a local surgery. Unfortunately, he was unable to build up a solid list of patients, as too many people, faced with a choice of leaving the list of a GP in Neath, and an untried practice (they couldn't register on two lists), preferred to stay with the doctor they knew. Therefore, the business (a GP surgery is a small business) failed.

So what has changed?

Well, a hundred or more extra households on the Cimla, for a start. But even in 1999, Cimla residents (as part of the Agenda 21 consultations) were again calling for a local health centre. They were fully aware of the earlier failure of the GP surgery.
Then there is the difficulty that Pelenna residents are facing: the ending of a regular surgery in the valley. Most are registered with doctors in Cwmavon. However, the young, very old and the infirm cannot drive there. If they can't get lifts, then they have to rely on two bus-routes with often a long lay-over between services.

A possible future

In the wake of the Harold Shipman affair, the single-handed GP practice is virtually a thing of the past.
There is a trend in the Welsh NHS towards salaried health professionals. A health centre does not have to run as a business, and can afford to take the long view. Modern equipment and computer facilities can be shared by nurses and doctors.
It makes sense to provide a health centre in the Cimla which is directly accessible from Pelenna.

Neath Port Talbot - fiscal respectability close

According to the Evening Post and the Neath/Port Talbot Guardian, the County Borough will shortly lose its lead in the most unenviable table in Wales, that of high council tax, to Merthyr Tydfil. (That is, for those areas of the borough which are not parished; I predict that those of us who live in Coedffranc community will still be paying the highest council tax in Wales in 2007/8.)

Let us give credit where it is due, to council leader Vaughan and his team. However, while we still suffer this iniquitous tax, further progress can and should be made, without cutting essential services. The continuing increase in high-banded housing in the borough, in particular Llandarcy village, will aid the process.

Manifestos in Morriston

If not the starting gun, then this weekend's conference is the final warm-up lap before the Welsh Assembly campaign starts in earnest.

Conference will endorse the 2007 manifesto, without, it appears, any dissension predicted. What a strange Welsh Liberal conference that will be!

Laura Norder (3)

In New Labour's surveillance society, protecting the interests of central government and multi-national utility companies is more important than keeping the streets and
the houses of ordinary citizens safe.

Maintaining a police presence at the Cilfrew protest against the siting of a gas transfer station caused officers to be withdrawn from local towns like Skewen, as Emma Denholm's report in the Neath Guardian explains.

Frank Little writes: "Let me be clear. I am in favour of the gas pipeline, as it reduces England & Wales dependence on supplies from an increasingly capricious Russian state-controlled utility.

"However, it was wrong to divert police resources to what is basically a security company job. The implication that these respectable people now find themselves on a central police database of criminal suspects is very worrying."

South Wales Police Funding Shortfall

It is indeed worrying news that the South Wales Police Force are to face a £3.6 million funding shortfall. The situation in North Wales is even worse - they are to face a £5 million funding shortfall.

BBC News have reported that:

"South Wales Police Authority chairman Ray Thomas said front-line services would not be affected immediately because of savings, but he warned neighbourhood policing could be affected if cuts continued. "

This is particularly worrying news since The Telegraph has recently reported that there are as little as 3 Police Officers on patrol at night. How much worse can the situation become?

The stark reality is that the extra funding to meet this shortfall will have to be found from Council Tax increases - yet again, hitting those hardest who can least afford to pay. The Liberal Democrats have campaigned, and continue to campaign, to scrap the regressive Council Tax and replace it with a Local Income Tax, based on peoples ability to pay.

It is also the Liberal Democrats who have campaigned that the Billions of pounds the Government proposes to spend on introducing ID cards would be better spent to:

· Fund 10,000 more police on top of Labour's plans - as well as completing existing plans for an extra 20,000 community support officers to back them up.

· Equip police with new technology to cut time spent form-filling and help them tackle crime (e.g. handheld computers for beat bobbies so they don't have to return to the station so often).

· Support the inclusion of biometrics in passports only, as a means of combating cross- border crime, illegal immigration, terrorism and fraud.

· Establish a National Border Agency by bringing together the officers from immigration, police and customs who currently have overlapping responsibilities at our ports and airports.

· Crack down on illegal working by improving the way the home office inspects and prosecutes employers of illegal migrants. Allow the use of phone-taps and other 'intercept communications' as evidence against suspected terrorists in court, to make it easier to bring them to court.

Recently, we launched our "We Can Cut Crime" campaign outlining many new initiatives aimed at tackling crime, disorder and prison overcrowding.

Visit our We Can Cut Crime website for more details.


- Richie Northcote 23 Feb 07

Talbot Park vandalism goes on

We predicted that the sale of the Talbot Memorial Park lodges would end in tears.

Instead of improving the quality of the environment of the park, the Council's sale has aggravated yob vandalism. The Evening Post reports that the couple who bought one of the lodges were heartbroken and have had to give up in despair.

In Port Talbot and Taibach, as elsewhere, we need more police and support officers on the ground, as our regional AM, Peter Black, has demanded. In addition, Acceptable Behaviour Contracts, as pioneered by Islington Borough Council under the LibDems, reduce anti-social behaviour by increasing community involvement. For more, see our PoD 38.

Blair and Reid quick on the trigger

But not asking questions first.

Prime Minister Tony Blair and Home Secretary John Reid have announced moves to tackle gun crime with more severe sentences. However, legislation on its own does not work; the Firearms Acts of 1988 and 1997 have not reduced the number of firearms held illegally.

The answer is two-fold and simple: catch the people with guns (likelihood
of arrest is a better deterrent than draconian sentencing) and cut the
supply of guns.

Not easy, admittedly, but point one can be addressed by putting more
police on the streets and getting them involved in all the community.
There has been an attitude of letting sub-cultures sort out their own
affairs.

The second point is more difficult. There are some, including the Office of Legislative Affairs who say that "Striving to take guns `out of circulation' is probably a waste of effort and money, for illegal supply may be expected always to fulfil criminal demand." Surely, though, we should make the effort? There has been no serious attempt to do so

Nor has the government yet set up the firearms register, which it was committed to do under Section 39 of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997, rushed through after Dunblane.

Liberal Democrats demand more free ATMS

Citizens of many towns and villages in Neath Port Talbot are denied easy access to their own money from their own bank accounts.

Some places still have post offices, where it is possible to access accounts with some - though not all - clearing banks. But post offices are open only five-and-a-half days a week, and what about the times in the evening, or at weekends, when you need cash? Outside the borough centre, the only possibility is often an ATM (automatic teller machine) in a convenience store which charges £1.50 or more for you to get hold of your own money.

Jackie Radford, a Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Social Justice, and candidate for this region in the forthcoming Welsh Assembly elections, has called for more free ATMs. In government, we would make it easier for councils such as Neath Port Talbot to use the planning laws to ensure that everyone in the borough is within reasonable distance of a free facility to access a bank account.

(See Pick of the Day #35).

More Dental Shortages Feared

The Guardian is reporting, this morning, that according to a Government memo, many people will be unable to get treatment from their dentist as the financial year draws to a close since NHS Dentists are only paid for a set number of Units of Dental Activity (UDA) under their new contracts. The report goes on to say:

But a report in the Health Service Journal (HSJ) says that patients may have to resort to emergency care or find an alternative practice because their dentists have fulfilled their annual contracts too soon.

A memo from the Department of Health warns primary care trusts to have "clear lines ready in case of media interest" if patients are left without a dentist as the financial year comes to an end, the HSJ reports.

The letter says PCTs must "ensure patients know how to access urgent care, publicise any spare capacity in other dental practices locally, and have clear lines ready in case of media interest".

Several PCTs contacted by the HSJ said problems were arising in some practices, with plans to introduce "pooling" systems to farm out patients to alternative dentists.

This is going to be hard news to swallow for many individuals and families alike. It is hard enough finding a NHS Dentist in the first place let alone the prospect of finding out that after having found one you may not be treated because many have fulfilled their “Quota” of UDA’s.

Geoffrey Wheatcrofts' comments on Peter Hain in todays Guardian

Below is an extract from an article in todays Guardian by Geoffrey Wheatcroft:

Gordon Brown comes out of Iraq better than Peter Hain. It is a very long time since British politics has witnessed anything quite as abject and contemptible as Hain's recent interview in the New Statesman.

"The neocon mission has failed," Hain proclaims - now. "People have forgotten about [the government's achievements] because of the Iraq conflict," the Northern Ireland secretary tells us - now. The government found itself working with "the most rightwing American administration, if not ever, then in living memory", he observes - now, in the year 2007, just as he happens to be running for the Labour deputy leadership.

But really, what an utter wretch this man is! What a dismal, slippery poltroon! Like Molière's Monsieur Jourdain learning that he had been speaking prose all his life, Hain suddenly discovers that George Bush is a rightwing politician, something he evidently never noticed in the years when Bush was governor of Texas, and presided over the execution of 153 people - on one occasion publicly mocking a woman he had put to death - or indeed when he reached the White House.

It's quite true that we took part in the Iraq war in order to demonstrate our - or Blair's - absolute loyalty to that American administration. Like Brown, Hain was a member of the cabinet when the war began. Like him, he could have resigned. Like him, he decided, in Lloyd George's phrase, to perish with his drawn salary in his hands.

In fact, Hain went further. Two years ago he was still defending the case for regime change, or insisting that "an Iraq moving into democracy provides a better future for the Iraqi people". And he sneered at what he called the "tired old attack" which "questions the prime minister's integrity" - over the dossiers and claims about weapons of mass destruction, that is.

Tewkesbury Lib Dems Achieve a Massive 45.3% Swing in Recent By-Election!

By-Election Results: Thursday 1st February 2007.

Tewkesbury BC, Brockworth

LD Maureen Rowcliffe-Quarry 639 (45.3; +45.3), Con 343 (24.3; +6.4), Lab 237 (16.8; -15.1), Residents 193 (13.7; -27.7), [Green (0.0; -8.7)].

Majority 296. Turnout 28.8%. LD gain from Residents. Last fought 2003.

The Tories more or less flatlined and the Labour vote collapsed!!

Well Done Tewkesbury Liberal Democrats!

Laura Norder (2)

Andrew Stunell (Liberal Democrat, Manchester Hazel Grove) yesterday asked a pointed, if lengthy, question of the Prime Minister at Question Time:

"The Prime Minister will know that there has been a drop of a hundred and seventy-three police officers across England and Wales in the first six months of this year. He will also know there has been a cut of two hundred and sixteen police officers in Greater Manchester. Bearing in mind that his staff believe that there has been too much police attention to his area, and my constituents believe there has been far too little attention to policing in my area, will he arrange for a transfer of resources so that both he and I can have a good night's sleep?"

The reply was classic Blair. First, he did not answer either the direct question or the implied ones. Second, he attacked the Tory record (after ten years, that is becoming irrelevant). Third, he reeled off a set of statistics. Finally, he lied about Liberal Democrats' voting record on crime legislation.

"Well, first of all, let me remind the honourable gentleman that actually we've got record numbers of police - over 140,000 - that is some 14,000 more than we inherited in 1997. In addition to that, of course, we've got thousands of community support officers and in addition to that of course as a result of the anti-social behaviour legislation that in areas such as his we're now able to take action against those people making life hell for people in their communities. And what have all three of these things got in common? The Liberal Democrats voted against every single part of it. So, I am delighted if Liberal Democrats ask about law and order."

The Prime Minister could have confirmed or denied the accuracy of Mr Stunell's figures. (Incidentally, they have worrying implications for the city which will host Britain's first super casino. Academic comparisons between casino locations worldwide show that success or failure depend on regulation and policing.) He could have said that he could not comment on an ongoing police investigation.

For the record:
- we voted for the 1998 Crime and Disorder Act, which incorporated the ASB provisions;
- we value community support officers, though not as replacements for trained police officers;
- we have continuously pressed for more police officers, and would never vote against an increase.

The government, on the other hand, is in effect cutting community support officer posts and civilian support staff, while removing police officers from the street, by cutting its annual support in real terms. For the explanation, see the blog of the Chief Constable of North Wales.

He writes: "Our 2006/07 budget was reduced by £2m. In 2007/08, a further cut of £3m is anticipated. This has required me to reduce staff because about 85% of my budget of £125m goes on people, and any cut inevitably means employing fewer people. In order to cope, I have to reduce both police officer and civilian staff numbers. This just cannot be done without severe impact on frontline services, and upon neighbourhood policing in particular, because we simply cannot stop answering the phone, or refuse to deal with serious crime - but we can do less neighbourhood policing, even though this is clearly contrary to the loudly expressed wishes of the public. A real dilemma."

NHS in Wales

Some of us suspect that the "announce a policy a day" campaign mounted by Bayview House has a significant resemblance to the posters of a certain Yorkshire-based supermarket chain.

However, Reason Number 24 to shop at - sorry, vote for - Liberal Democrats in May is one which will appeal to many people.

The headline about a minimum standard of service may not mean much, but the detail will strike a chord with contributors to the Evening Post in recent weeks:

"Welsh Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Jenny Randerson, said:

"The Welsh Liberal Democrats will put patients first in improving our national health service. That means that when the NHS is taking care of you, you should be entitled to a certain standard of service.

"A minimum standard of service would include what can be expected at hospital and patient access to information. Putting patients first means delivering healthcare when it's needed and to a guaranteed level. That doesn't mean burdening health professionals with more targets - instead we must shift the focus onto the actual service that the patient receives through their pathway of treatment.

"A minimum standard of service would mean raising the nutritional standards for hospital food and ensuring that assistants are there to help elderly patients at meal times. It means involving patients more at every stage of their treatment, such as copying them into correspondence between GPs, consultants and other specialists relating to their pathway through the NHS.

"We will develop and promote better schemes to reimburse payment of hospital travel and parking costs. This would include a review of hospital charges. We would also expect to develop good practice such as patient-NHS agreements on the course of treatment, where and when patients are treated and what other help they need."

- Frank Little

Job losses in Neath Port Talbot council

Instead of the ageist policy of encouraging early retirement, why doesn't the council leader take an axe to superfluous junior posts, at present seemingly filled by young people who spend much of their day sending YouTube videos to each other via the net?

Peter Black AM: Getting the vote out

Peter Black AM: Getting the vote out