Richard Baum

Today is 27th January, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, and Holocaust Memorial Day. As happens every year on this day, Bury is holding a ceremony and tonight’s is at Radcliffe Civic Hall. The day and the event focus on the legacy of hope.

Today can be a particularly emotional day for those who survived the Holocaust or who lost relatives to the Nazis. I know that there are many such people in Prestwich, and you all have my good wishes and thoughts today.

My thanks go to all those locally involved in events to mark today, including the many schools which I know are holding events of their own today.

Holocaust Memorial Day continues to mark an important day to think about the wider issues that are related to the Holocaust. Genocide continues in the world today, and as the number of Holocaust survivors dwindles with the passing years, hearing their stories becomes all the more urgent. There is a short article, which I think is excellent, in The Guardian today about this which you might want to read here.

Rick

I mentioned the other day the new Bury Image Bank website (www.buryimagebank.org.uk). Here’s a great picture I’ve found of Prestwich Village taken in 1968. It’s interesting to see how the ward looked back then - lots of familiar sites like the Railway and Naturalist pub and the building that’s now Natwest (it may have been then too, I don’t know!).

Digital Image copyright ©Bury Archives Service. All rights reserved. 

Lots unfamiliar too, like the big bus shelter and the building to the left, now long since gone. And of course the virtually traffic-free road! Sadly that’s a thing of the past now as well!

I find it fascinating to look at pictures like this, and wonder what the streets around Prestwich looked like 40 years ago and more. This was a long time before I was born but my parents were alive as I’m sure were many other people still here in Prestwich today. I hope this picture brings back some fond memories.

Rick

I suppose politicians had it coming, but I really wish that Karma had a better aim. I think it was aiming for Mr Chaytor, but it’s hit me square in the face.

Courtesy of a cock-up at Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and an equally momentous one by the company handling the payroll at work, I have had more than double the normal amount of Income Tax removed from this month’s salary, rendering it virtually worthless and meaning that I am plunged into the type of “heat or eat” dilemma faced by lots of other people. It’s like I’ve been elected an MP and cast in one of those “live for a week on a fiver” documentaries on ITV1 already.

The sorry tale was started by my own honesty, or stupidity, or whichever word comes closest to the describing the good deed I did a couple of months back in informing HMRC that they’d probably been under-taxing me. For reasons which I don’t understand, the fantastically complicated tax system in this country can’t cope with simple complexities like me having two incomes (regular job and significantly smaller Councillor’s allowance). As a result I did a bit of a calculation in my head, and managed to compute my tax liability better than HMRC’s mainframe in the process.

Being the good citizen that I am, I thought I’d better tell them, and having been on hold for twenty minutes and then having spoken to a confused man-child on the other end of the phone who agreed with me, I thought it was all sorted.

Oh, dear readers, how wrong I was.

There was plenty of dawdling, cack-handed administering, and dim-witted dullardness between then and now, including three months of total inaction and one mis-posted letter. The sponge-brained inadequacy culminated yesterday in me opening this month’s pay-check and analysing the bottom line to find that something was amiss. In fact, several hundred things were amiss, each one gold coloured and with The Queen’s head on.

After finding the right HMRC office (no easy task given that it isn’t the one nearest where I live or the one nearest where I work!) I discovered that HMRC had sent a revised tax code to the payroll people. Unfortunately, it only contained some of the necessary information, leaving the payroll people to guess the rest in some sort of high-stakes quiz game where there are no winners and just one tearful and impoverished loser (me). Payroll guessed wrong, meaning that rather than take a little bit of the extra tax off each month until the bill had gone, it was all taken off in one go, leaving me penniless for a month. Thanks guys!

Unfortunately my mortgage, car loan, and utility bills won’t take kindly to not being paid this month, and although David Blaine can go that long without food, I can’t. But despite me explaining this to various people, in tones ranging from calm to Mount Etna, we have reached an impasse where basically they still won’t pay me the money I’ve earned.

HMRC are blaming the payroll people for guessing wrong, and the payroll people are blaming HMRC for making them guess in the first place. I can tell the moronic half-wits in charge of these organisations one thing - Nationwide Building Society, N-Power and Peugeot all want money off me, and they’ll be blaming me.

It’s not all that bad - I have some savings, I don’t have kids to feed, and because of a generous employer (who has a stupid payroll supplier…) I have the time to ring round and chase this up. But for God’s sake, this would be a disaster if I didn’t have those advantages, and it is going to be unpleasant all the same. Most people in this country aren’t as lucky as I am. What would they do? Really, what would they do? 

There seems to be no system whereby in emergency situations, HMRC can with-hold excess payments under PAYE. There should be, so that people aren’t plunged into debt through no fault of their own. Grant an emergency month’s grace to sort things out, and even charge interest if needs be, but don’t just cut people adrift and let them sink. Similarly, there seems no compulsion (or even any will whatsoever) for the payroll people to make good what is obviously an error. Income Tax liability doesn’t just double in a month. They are providing a crucial service, and when they cock up they should have to put it right.

There are worse things than this in the world, sure. But there’s a principle here as well as my particular issue. This can’t be right, and I will have plenty of time to think it over whilst I eat cold baked beans this month, because I won’t have the money to do anything else!

Rick

Thanks to the Bury Times I have just been directed to an absolutely fascinating new website. Have a look at Bury Image Bank here and search through the thousands of photographs of Bury dating back from the Victorian era through the whole twentieth century to today.

I have just been fiddling around searching for “Prestwich,” “Sunnybank” (where I used to live) and various other things, and there are far more photos on there than exist on any other photo website I’ve seen. A really interesting glimpse back into the past. Just typing in “Butterstile” brings up ten photos of Butterstile Lane through the years, so there’s sure to be something of interest to anyone from anywhere in Bury.

There’s an amazing photo of how Unsworth Library looked in 1967 which I found personally very strange having grown up so close to it.

Take a look and enjoy this great collection of images.

Rick

Saturday night was another Bury Lib Dem social event, this time a “Pizza and Politics” evening which took place in the delightful surroundings of my house.

There was a turnout so large that people had to spill out of the lounge / dining room combination (where Tamsin and I had lain on a spread) and into various other rooms, but I suppose this was a good thing even if it did confuse Mac the cat somewhat.

The pizzas were excellently supplied by Shandar (your local Councillor’s favourite Prestwich takeaway), and were eaten by the assorted revellers including Bury south Prospective Parliamentary Candidate Vic D’Albert, Burnley Prospective Parliamentary Candidate Gordon Birtwistle, and former Lib Dem Blogger of the Year Alix Mortimer.

There was lots of discussion, primarily about the origins of the pizza and the reason for the cat only having three legs. But occasionally it also lurched towards the political. It was lovely to see a large Burnley delegation, as well as some Bury folk rarely seen at Lib Dem gatherings (like Tam…).

Any local members interested in repeating the fun, look out for information about the next event called “food beginning with P and Politics” which will be happening shortly.

Rick

Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor Vince Cable set out the Liberal Democrat plans for the economy today, is a speech to Demos. The full text of the speech can be read here (if you want to read it all, I’d recommend setting aside a chunk of time!), but Vince Cable was clear about the policies which mark out the Lib Dems as the only party of genuine economic reform.

Mr Cable set out key Lib Dem policy commitments designed to sensibly reduce the deficit whilst protecting public services wherever possible. These included:

• A tougher public sector incomes policy, limiting any pay increase to a maximum £8 a week, and requiring discipline over two years, initially. And scrapping bonuses.
• The first steps in fundamental reform of public sector pensions, which could have an early impact through contributions rates; though this is a complex area requiring an independent review along the lines of the Turner Commision.
• Some cuts in welfare spending: tax credits for higher earners and scrapping future Child Trust Fund contributions.
• Axing much of the superstructure of the centralised British state from the command and control system overseeing local government and NHS administration.
• Cutting much of the RDA budget.
• Serious and substantial reductions in defence procurement: in the long term for Trident and for shorter term choices, axing Eurofighter and instigating a rapid defence review – within strict financial constraints – to determine priorities.
• Scrapping expensive Home Office projects like ID cards and the intercept modernisation programme.
• Rejecting arbitrary targets for universities and over expansion with an emphasis on alternatives in vocational training in FE colleges that are more helpful in achieving employability, as well as cheaper.

Mr Cable went on to contrast Lib Dem policy towards the economy with the policies of the other two main parties, who I see as being less than up-front about the scale of the problem or their likely reaction to it. The Tories make great noises about protecting the NHS, but are never specific about how they will pay to do this, or what services they will cut to reduce the deficit. Labour meanwhile, the architects of the policies which led to recession, have responded feebly and only last week did nothing to stop the takeover of Cadbury despite forming the government which largely owns the bank paying for it.

Vince Cable has led the way in his response to the economic crisis. If only more people had listened before it happened! If you get a chance, read the speech as I have done and see what you think.

Rick

Prestwich Area Partnership met last night, the first meeting since the removal of Carran O’Grady from the post of Prestwich LAP Manager.

Carran was a true champion of Prestwich, responsible for making the Festival happen amongst many other things. Sadly, the Conservatives running the Council decided to remove her from Prestwich and swap her with the Whitefield LAP Manager. I’ve got nothing against Rose De, the ex-Whitefield and now Prestwich Manager, but she like Carran had no wish to move, and the people of both Whitefield and Prestwich are angry that this swap has happened with no consultation and no good reason.

Last night the LAP welcomed Roase, and paid tribute to Carran’s work over the past 8 years and then proposed the following motion which was passed overwhelmingly:

“Prestwich Area Partnership deplores the recent unwarranted interference in the management of Prestwich Area Partnership and believe the unnecessary rotation of Area Partnership Managers at this time will undermine the effectiveness of the Partnership at a crucial time.We insist that any future changes be introduced only after full and proper consultation with the Area Partnership.”

Once again, in acting completely without regard to the wishes of local people in this matter, the Tories in Bury have shown their arrogance. Their motives defy logic, which makes them all the more annoying. How anyone in Bury can consider voting for a Tory MP when the Tory Council is making such a spectacular cock-up of everything it touches is a mystery.

This is just the latest example.

Rick

I wrote to the Bury Times last week, criticising the Bury Conservatives for voting en masse to oppose the Lib Dem proposal that the Council sign up to the 10:10 climate change campaign.

If there’s one thing guaranteed to rile the Bury Conservatives, it’s some perfectly just criticism. So I expected a letter in response. I must say that what was published (read all about it here) was jaw-droppingly tame even by their standards.

The letter picks up on a mistake I made in claiming that all the Bury Conservative Councillors voted against 10:10. What I should have said was that all the Bury Conservative Councillors at the meeting voted against it, because as is correctly pointed out by the man himself, Conservative Councillor Bernie Vincent was recovering from a heart attack at the time, and wasn’t there.

I like Cllr Vincent personally. We’ve served on committees together and he seems a genuinely nice guy. But his letter doesn’t do that justice.

He doesn’t clarify which way he would have voted had he been present, but having weighed up the evidence I think I can deduce his likely intentions.

I suspect that he would have followed the line towed by every single one of his colleagues, and voted against 10:10. he would not have been the single Tory Councillor in Bury to recognise the importance of the campaign or the issue it supports. No Tories in Bury ever break rank, and he wouldn’t have done if he’s have been well enough to vote.

Cllr Vincent’s letter ends though with something which betrays the Tory view on Climate Change even more. He says “To finish on a lighter note, if Richard looks out of his window he will see global snowing, not global warming.”

Well Cllr Vincent, it’s not a lighter note, it’s a serious note. It’s serious that your Conservative Group has received a lot of criticism about the snow, and it’s even more serious that an elected Councillor thinks that the harsh weather disproves climate change.

The truth is the opposite. A symptom of climate change is more extreme weather, and the snow outside our windows was just such an example, as was the extremely hot weather endured at the same time elsewhere in the world. Just because it was cold here for a few weeks doesn’t alter the fact that temperatures overall have risen across the globe steadily for decades and particularly very recently.

The science is there, and it’s clear. Lib Dems in Bury gave the Tories ample chance to sign up to a campaign which would’ve put the weight of the Council behind combating Climate Change. The Tories blocked it, and despite his not being there to participate in that block, had he been well, I have no doubt that Cllr Vincent and his blinkered view on climate change would’ve contributed to that block.

Anybody in Bury concerned about the environment and climate change should not vote Conservative.

Rick

If this website doesn’t satisfy your craving to read what I write, there is now an alternative source, courtesy of the good people at ALDC (Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors).

They have hired a few “Councillor Columnists,” and I am one of the select band in the first cohort. A bit like the John Glenn of the Councillor world, I like to think.

You can read my first effort here, all about snow and grit.

For some reason the word “remains” is missing from the middle of the eleventh line, rendering one sentence devoid of meaning. But don’t let that put you off.

Rick

Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg will today use a new and social media initiative co-hosted by the UK Youth Parliament to launch the party’s youth jobs manifesto pledge.

On the day that new statistics show the number of young people unemployed for more than six months has doubled in two years, Nick Clegg will announce the party’s plans using Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

The proposals would ensure young people do not spend more than 90 days on Jobseekers Allowance before they get more training, education, an internship or a place on a work programme.

Today’s announcement forms the next step in the Liberal Democrats’ economic stimulus and job creation package. The plans will invest almost £900m in increasing the number of further education places, giving students financial support to return to college and creating a paid internship scheme.

Nick Clegg said:
“Young people feel cheated by this recession. Everyone knows someone who has recently left college or university with hopes of starting a career only to find they cannot even get on the lowest rung of the job ladder. We must help them now or they will be left behind in any recovery.

Our promise of more training, education, an internship or a place on a work programme will give hope to the nearly one million young people who currently can’t find a job. Facebook, YouTube and Twitter play just as important a role as TV or newspapers in young people’s lives. Politicians can’t ignore new and social media if they want to connect with the next generation of voters.”

More information on the plans below:

This plan forms part of the Liberal Democrats’ economic stimulus and job creation package. In our first year in office we will redirect over £3.6bn of spending to creating jobs and building up Britain’s infrastructure. In the following years this money will be redirected to other Lib Dem spending priorities and reducing the structural deficit.

We will invest almost £900million in creating opportunities to help young people who are unemployed gain the skills and experience to move back in to work.

The 90 day promise
Under our proposals a young person would not claim Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) for more than three months without taking up training, a job or an internship. If they did not, they would be fast-tracked onto a welfare-to-work programme such as the Flexible New Deal. At the moment a young person waits 12 months before being referred to a back to work programme which is too long.

Paid Internships
We will support young people while they get valuable work experience by paying anyone undertaking an internship a ‘training allowance’ of £55 a week (£5 more than JSA). This will help employers who want to offer young people work experience but cannot afford to pay them. We envisage that young people will do this for up to 3 months and receipt of the allowance will be dependent on attendance.

We will work with employers in the private and public sectors to ensure that there are a wide range of opportunities available.

More foundation degree places
We will fund up to 15,000 more college-based foundation degree places over the next academic year. Foundation degrees focus on a particular job or profession and are the equivalent of two thirds of a full honours degree. They are fully flexible qualifications which allow students to study part-time or full-time to fit their lifestyle.

Financial help to go back to college
We will increase the Adult Learning Grant which is a means-tested benefit for 18-24 year olds studying their first level 2 or 3 qualifications (GCSE or A Level equivalent). We will increase the payments by £15 a week to £45 to provide young people who are eligible with a real choice between improving their skills and claiming Jobseekers Allowance.

Funding
The economic stimulus package to create a fair and balanced economy with sustainable growth is funded by redirecting government spending. This includes removing Tax Credits from higher earners (£700m), scrapping the intercept modernisation program (£150m), restricting growth in the Train to Gain budget (£375m), scrapping the Child Trust Fund (£370m), cutting the Highways Agency Major Improvements Budget (£1,080m) and the introduction of a 10% banking levy (£1,000m). In the first year of the new Parliament, the party would redirect this £3.6bn of spending to create jobs and build up Britain’s infrastructure. In the following years this money will be redirected to other Lib Dem spending priorities and reducing the structural deficit.

Rick