So now we learn that Northern Rock provided millions of punds worth of high risk loans AFTER being bailed out by the taxpayer and as if that wasn’t bad enough we are gradually finding out that Barclays was laundering £billions in overseas investments and accounts in a bid to avoid paying tax.

The more we find out about the murky world of banking the more its clear that if one good thing comes out this whole crisis then surely tighter regulation and controls over our financial institutions will be it.

However its a sorry day indeed when we see the High Court upholding a gagging order by Barclays to hide details of its murky dealings overseas. And by the way this is a bank that’s negotiating with the Government to borrow millions of hard earned tax payers  money. 

Yes, that’s right you heard right. They are prepared to take legal action to stop you finding out what they are doing with it , but would like some more please. I know what my answer would be. I may be an accountant but my response wouldn’t include any financial jargon! 

The more we find out the more I feel we need to properly nationalise the collapsed banks and start talking tough to the likes of Barclays. I dread to think what more scandals there are lurking.

Its like lancing a boil with the smallest pin you can find!

LIBERAL Democrats in Bury have slammed as ‘totally inadequate’ a government scheme supposed to help families facing the loss of their homes. 

The Mortgage Rescue Scheme was announced in November last year by the Government following an alarming rise in the number of people having their homes repossessed by mortgage lenders. But Labour ministers have restricted the scheme to only 6,000 homes across the whole of England.

That means only one in 25 households facing repossession claims in the courts – the first part of a process mortgage lenders have to go through to repossess a home – will get help under the scheme. 713 repossession claims were issued in Bury in 2008, and many more are expected in 2009. But only 29 are likely to have their homes saved under this scheme.

Vic D’Albert, Parliamentary candidate for Bury South said, “The Mortgage Rescue Scheme was launched with a great fanfare by the Government in the autumn. But it is totally inadequate for the tidal wave of repossessions that local residents are facing. 

“The idea behind the scheme is something Liberal Democrats have long been pushing – giving councils and housing associations the opportunity to help residents in mortgage arrears by buying a share in the equity of the home, or even buying it outright. The householders would then rent back their home, therefore avoiding eviction. “But Labour have taken a good idea and then failed to make it a reality. Only 29 families in Bury out of 713 facing repossession will get help. This is totally inadequate. “Labour are behaving like King Canute sitting on the beach hoping they can order the repossession tidal wave to roll back into the sea. At the same time, families are being engulfed in repossession orders and homes are being swept away. 

“Repossession is a terrifying reality for too many people in Bury. The Mortgage Rescue Scheme needs to be expanded urgently or else residents will face being thrown onto the streets.This failing Labour Government is failing people in their hour of need”

“I was disappointed to read Mr Palmers comments published in last weeks letters regarding the recent announcement of a Prestwich Festival. 

To my knowledge there has been talk of developing a Prestwich festival for some years, and certainly since the Clough Centenary event. The idea of broadening Prestwich carnival was mooted several years ago. Such ideas have not been exclusively reserved for local or national politicians. 

But to my mind, (and I appreciate Mr Palmer is a supporter of Mr Lewis), I feel that whilst any number of local people could probably claim to have thought of the idea first, that is irrelevant and misses the point completely. 

The Prestwich Area Partnership, which I am honoured to Chair, was early last year charged with updating the Local Prestwich plan following consultation with the Prestwich public and Council partners such as the Police, NHS Primary Care Trust etc. One of the tasks in that document was for the development of a Prestwich Festival.

Recent announcements are a direct result of that commitment to the Prestwich Plan.  Plans for this inaugural year were initially modest, due to limited resources. However I think it’s fair to say all those involved have been bowled over by the response so far. 

Clearly these are early days and no doubt the festival will evolve with time. But it is my fervent hope that Mr Palmer and the rest of Prestwich see Prestwich festival for what it is. An opportunity to further develop Prestwich community spirit, showcase Prestwich talent, bring back Prestwich success stories while raising funds for local charities and projects not to mention having a great time as well.

I would finish by appealing to any talented Prestwich residents, if you would like a platform to showcase that talent then get in touch. If you would like to support Prestwich festival then we need sponsors, we need venues and we need you – the great Prestwich public to support the events commencing with the Clough day on May 17^th to the grand finale of Prestwich Carnival on June 21^st.”

if you would like to get involved in any way contact David Curtis on 07875 596713 or email d-curtis2@sky.com 

Manchester City Council are considering plans to cut two holes in the Heaton Park Wall opposite St Monica’s RC High School on Bury Old Road.

We’re assuming that the two new double gates that are proposed would be in place in time for the Oasis Concert, but the application seems to imply that the gates would be permanent.

I know that my colleagues who are Councillors for the Sedgley Ward of Prestwich (Ann Garner, Andrew Garner and Steve Wright) have already been asking Bury Council about its views on the issue and suggesting that the Council should be raising serious concerns with Manchester about the impact the proposals have on Prestwich, the School and on traffic.

You can view the full Planning Application on Manchester Council’s Website here.

So now there are proposals (apparently dismissed by the Government) to deal with the binge drinking culture by charging a minimum price per unit for alcohol.

Whilst the idea has some merit I think its failing to deal with the causes of the problem and fails to address the situation generally, merely adding a further complication to the mix.

Will raising the minimum cost of alcohol pro-rata based on strength solve the problem? I think not. The Government raises taxes on alcohol already, and it might be more appropriate to increase taxation in this instance which might also aid a public purse now considerably strained by bailing out numerous banks.

But there are other issues. One is the flow of dirt cheap and often illegally imported booze into this country. Raising prices for legal purchases may well only increase the flow of illegal imports and grow the black market trade in such goods.

Another issue is alcohol education. For too many years now we have concentrated on telling people its wrong to smoke and to do drugs. As a nation we’ve done our best to ban public smoking and warn of the dire consequences of smoking with considerable affect, but what about alcohol?

Alcohol has been shown to potentially as damaging as Cannabis but its not treated as such. Now I like a drink as much as the next man – so I won’t be advocating a ban by any means. But we need to start having a sensible conversation about how to deal with this issue. And what we don’t need is more gimmicky ideas or schemes to throw public money at.

Perhaps we need to consider raising the minimum age to 21? Stronger enforcement of underage drinking controls, Heavier penalties for drunk and disorderly offences, and I would certainly advocate stiff penalties for illegal imports.

There may well be other tactics and strategies available, I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but lets start talking sensibly and start tackling he problem rather than merely increasing the profits of the retailers or brewers.

I found much of the past weekend being pre-occupied one way or another with an elderly relative.

The relative concerned is an 83  year old man, and as with many of that generation is fiercely proud as well as private. Whilst he remains as mentally astute and lucid as ever, this weekend his weakened body caught up with him and he has had to be temporarily admitted to hospital.

But whilst myself and Mary sat with him at visiting time last night what was most upsetting was to to see the fear and anxiety in his eyes and body language. Here was a once strong man now weakened with age but fortunately (or unfortunately) so mentally alert still that he was all too aware of the situation and anxious as to the impending investigations and examinations he was about to face.

It really did bring home to me how we cannot pidgeon hole our elderly people and care provision really does have to be tailor made or we risk trampling all over their dignity and pride and perhaps hastening their deterioration rather than sustaining a quality of life in their final years that they should rightfully expect.

THIS WAS THE WEEK THAT…

·         House sales fell to their lowest level in at least 31 years [more]

·         The recession in the UK continued to gather pace [more]

·         A United Nations report declared that the UK had breached human rights [more]

·         Government divisions over the need to apologise for the economic crisis continued to grow [more]

·         A former cabinet minister publicly attacked Gordon Brown on Labour’s lack of ‘narrative’ [more]

·         Labour MPs rounded on the PM at Prime Minister’s Questions [more]

·         A business leader said that the government was focusing on ‘red herrings’ [more]

·         Government ministers failed to comprehensively reveal their financial interests [more]

·         A Tory MEP described climate change as a ‘media driven frenzy’ [more]

·         A Labour mayor resigned after his arrest over corruption charges [more]

OVER THE LAST WEEK WE LEARNT THAT….

·         Continued systematic failings in the social services are leaving vulnerable children at risk [more]

·         Almost one playing field a day was sold in 2008 despite government commitments to reverse this trend [more]

·         Many elderly people are looked after by untrained staff in unclean care homes [more]

·         One in six children did not get into their first choice secondary school [more]

·         New Royal Navy destroyers will be delivered £1.5bn over budget and two years late [more]

·         The private sector pension deficit is at a record £219bn – and is still growing [more]

·         One in four of the world’s CCTV cameras are in Britain [more]

·         Gordon Brown is the country’s most boring public speaker! [more]

OVER THE LAST WEEK THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATS…

·         Revealed that over 1000 serving police officers have criminal convictions [more]

·         Said government economic proposals were “shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted” [more]

·         Visited Google to discuss internet privacy issues [more]

·         Called for dirty care homes to be closed down [more]

·         Demanded a public inquiry following revelations of heavy-handed policing at a protest last year [more]

·         Called for a tougher government response to reduce knife crime [more]

·         Exposed a huge decrease in the amount of domestically produced food consumed in the UK [more]

·         Attacked the government’s insubstantial approach to tackling domestic violence [more]

·         Accused the Home Office of being “illegal, immoral, and ineffective” for keeping the DNA of a baby on record [more]

Vic D’Albert, Lib Dem Parliamentary candidate for Bury South, has called for a revival of the spirit of the blitz to help people through the recession. 

“People recount to me how during the war there was a tremendous spirit amongst neighbours and communities. People supporting one another, looking out for each other and generally helping each other through difficult times. And those days have become an example of how in tough times the British people find inner strength and determination to carry them through. 

“Well thankfully we are not at war, but we have been hit by an economic blitz with many losing their jobs and even homes, and generally people finding things much tougher.  

“So I think it’s time for people to stop “looking after no.1” and hiding in front of the TV of an evening and instead to keep an eye on their neighbours and offer support and help in these times of need. 

“The authorities have already warned of rising crime and illnesses such as depression and stress related illness. But if we can only summon up the spirit of the blitz I believe many potential problems can be averted and we can help get people through this recession.”

The words of the old Chuck Berry classic sprang to mind when musing the meeting of Area Partnership Chairs I attended last night. 

Area Partnerships are Bury Councils Area committees. The six Bury Townships ie Prestwich , Radcliffe, Bury East etc all have a committee containing councillors, Partners(NHS, police etc) and co-opted local residents representing aspects of the local community ie Council tenants, elderly etc.

Last nights meeting of the Chairs of the AP’s was notable for a report into an AP’s – review document.

Sadly I found the proposals did little to take forward the Area Partnerships. I feel local people are crying out for local committees that can deal with local issues proactively, that can take responsibility for a limited range of local services/facilities and that can have limited control but real influence that aims to meet local needs and demands.

This report achieved none of this and worse still failed to address key concerns about tieing into the Councils decision making process, ensuring appropriate officers are at meetings and just plain getting things done.

Dissapointing, unambitious and another missed opportunity.

I’m beginning to think this Conservative administration (despite noises from some) doesn’t care that much for Area Partnerships. Perhaps they fear they would be losing control to opposition parties and worse still give too great a say and influence to local residents. Heaven forfend!

Local people are rightly growing in frustration over the lack of action from Bury Council on the problem of graffitti.

Last year the current spate of graffiti flared up and was met with the incredible sight of local residents , some elderly and retired, being threatened with court action and fines if they (the victims) didn’t clear up the mess.

Since then the Police have done tremendous work trying to catch culprits and through restorative justice have managed to get some of the perpetrators to clean up the mess.

As for the Area Partnership, due to a lack of resources, we have only been able to offer the gesture of free clean up kits for those that want. Nevertheless people have been community minded to take up the offer.

What we are crying out for now is a) A council policy for dealing with this issue, b) People within the authority with the responsibility to clean up the mess and c) Action.

The council have been supposedly working on a policy for months, meanwhile seemingly every day there is another example of graffiti to put up with.

Bury Conservatives have got to get their act together and respond faster to local problems.

Its taken nearly 2 years for an alley-gating policy (and we’re still waiting), We’re approaching the 1st anniversary of the graffiti policy ( and still waiting). It’s hardly surprising Radcliffe Riverside school has taken so long to get built!

Its just not good enough.