Privitisation of services just not affordable

A few weeks ago Libdem Council group leader Geoff Juby had this to say in his Party People column for the Medway Messenger.

I went on a day trip to France to visit friends living in a tiny hamlet in the countryside. What an eye

opener.

Britain is part of Europe but we don't enjoy the same economic benefits as our partners. First, utilities - water rates where they pay in a year what I pay in a month, and their equivalent of council tax is £140 per year (including TV licence).

As many of our utilities are now provided by French-owned companies, I wonder why there is such an enormous price differential - perhaps we are paying for cheaper service for the French.

It makes one wonder if privatisation has really benefited us, as both Conservative and Labour governments have pursued privatisation with enthusiasm.

Thirteen years of Labour Government forgot the working population as it created a cosy relationship with big business and multiple money-gobbling quangos.

Our NHS is wonderful for many things, but the dental service seems to be cheaper in Europe and much more patient focused - I know of cases where friends travel to Europe for dental treatment rather than pay NHS charges.
In France, electricity is cheap, with lots of wind farms serving small villages (the village is allowed to keep some of the profits). Planning is much easier, but i think this probably because local government MEANS local - a mayor for any settlement of more than 20 people, and has decision making powers.

Here, we seem to going for ever bigger councils and decision-making has to pass through so many layers of officialdom. Also, nobody seems to be accountable for misinformation, as purchaser of blue badges are finding out when they apply for renewals within the two months specified, only to find out it takes weeks longer and they are left stranded.

Indeed, privatisation is forcing average working families into a forced servitude. With ever increasing bills for utilities and even commuting to and from work and with the average wage rising by one or two percent people are getting priced out and have to wonder whether or not to put the heating on or draw a bath.

With the 40% cut to Council nurseries in Medway the fees ware likely to rise by a similar amount which will price many working families out of child care. It will become uneconomic for one partner to work part time as they're wages may not cover the bill of one child and especially not two. This will leave many working families in the Medway towns reduced to one wage and having to make some very real choices as to what they can and cannot afford including utility bills.

What will our Government or Local council do to help us or will we remain as indentured customers to big business.

Medway Council cuts negatively impact children and families

Ollie & Sophie

I've been becoming more and more disillusioned with the cuts and removal of services over recent years.

What started as efficiency savings and the trimming of dead and dying wood was necessary. However as time has gone by the cuts have gone to deep and with misdirection of the banner of attacking the "benefit scroungers" they are starting to attack those who genuinely need it.

Local Labour leader Vince Maple talked about governing bodies having different priorities in his recent article for the Medway Messenger and how they choose to act. He especially criticised the ruling Conservatives locally and nationally for their choices of where the axe should fall.

For example, and this is a personal example, Medway's conservatives have changed the way money goes into Sure Start centres which equates to a severe cut to their budgets.

Many of my regular readers will know that I have two children; Sophie (2 and 11 months) and Oliver (9 months) and my wife was getting ready to go back to work around the end of July. We'd put Ollie's name down and were waiting for the green light.

Last Saturday we received a letter saying that the centre would no longer be accepting children under two years old!

There has been talk of staff numbers being cut and the current staff, all of whom are excellent, having to reapply for their posts. A meeting has been called to discuss the changes and how it will effect services.

However, the big problem is, IF we can't get Ollie into a nursery then Sam cannot go back to work and our household income is cut by a third. It would be an impossibility for the four of us to exist on my wages alone what with utilities, council tax, rail fare and even food prices all rising.

Serious choices would need to be made and we might have to pull Sophie out of nursery all together, which could be bad for her development. Further to that choices will need to be made regarding power, water even food and heating in the winter. Our already cold house may have to become devoid of all heat in the winter save for low heat on the bedroom heaters which will impact all of our health, just so that we can get by.

In this times it would be reasonable to turn to the state for help but with the new welfare reforms can we expect much assistance?

What I am struggling to understand is that the Coalition are trying to get people back into work and supporting those who aspire and work hard. However thanks to, frankly, fiscal mismanagement, the local Conservative council have put a few people out of work and effectively blocking others from returning to their jobs and possibly forcing people to look at benefits?

It is nonsensical.

My family have always worked, we've never taken anything we haven't been entitled to and we live with in our means. The very epitome of what this Government is trying to encourage and yet we're being kicked in the nuts - and not just us but also the other families who have applied and the staff at the centre which will have a knock on effect on the development of the other children.

Thanks a bunch.

Government money to pay for childcare

Hopefully good news from today's budget.

My two monkeys - Sophie & Ollie

The Government are set to announce that working families, such as mine, will be able to claim money towards child care costs up to £1200 a year.

This will be somewhat invaluable to those on low incomes.

Taking my family as an example, in July we'll have both of our children in day care for three days a week allowing Sam to go back to work and add to our income and then split our days off so that one of us will look after the kids on four days a week. The problem is that it will cost around £300s a month each.

With train fares, rising food costs and utilities that will leave us pretty much cleaned out at the end of the month. Child tax credits do help endlessly but if we could have extra money we could spend money on other things including much needed house repair (stop our bathroom ending up in our kitchen or double glazing or central heating that sort of thing). Without this we may have seen Sam have to give up work as it becomes more uneconomical to work.

This will be true for many across the country who are in a similar boat.

Though as Sam pointed out - it is ok to say people can go back to work but does that mean there are jobs to go back into...

Any way, here's what Nick had to say:

The Liberal Democrats set out in Government to help the millions of ordinary families that face crushingly high childcare costs each year.

Today I have announced that these families will soon be able to get up to £1200 off the cost of childcare for every child.

I'm sure you will agree that's much needed relief for many in these difficult times.
It will help parents make their own choices about how and when they return to work. Figures show that more than half of stay at home parents would rather work if good quality and affordable childcare was available. Many more would be able to increase the hours they work too.

That's the kind of fairer society we are fighting for.

The scheme is simple. The Government will pay 20% of your childcare costs – up to an upper limit of £6000 of total costs, i.e. £1200 per child per year. Parents simply need to open an online voucher account - For every 80p they pay in, the Government will add in an extra 20p to within the limits set. 20% is the same as the basic rate of tax – so we are effectively offering tax free childcare.

To ensure we help everyone – people on low as well as higher incomes – we've also announced that many working families receiving universal credit will have 85% of their childcare costs covered in future (up from 70% in the benefits system today.)  Those who earn enough to pay tax will be eligible for this extra support so we can make sure work pays. A great boost to help parents on low incomes back into work.

Don't forget, we couldn't have done this without you.

Together we are making the Liberal Democrat voice in Government stronger and more effective than our critics ever believed possible.

Whether it's on childcare, Ed Davey's work to cut energy bills, Steve Webb's work on a flat rate pension of about £140 a week or Danny Alexander cutting income tax bills by £600, we are making a real difference across Government.

Medals for Bomber Command



Wellington Bomber

 In 1941 the Third Reich was at the pinnacle of its power, the Luftwaffe was triumphant and controlled the skies over Europe, the German Armies still undefeated were pushing towards Moscow and a German victory was inevitable.

Within four years Germany was defeated, her roads and railways were shattered, her industry crippled and the once proud Luftwaffe blasted from the skies or hiding in woodland and under Autobahn bridges.

The RAF air offencive had played a massive part in this victory and was indeed the arm of the British forces that did the most against Germany.

To be fair to the other forces, the Royal Navy played an excellent part in protecting convoys, harassing German Shipping and Arctic convoys to Russia but its big battleships were fairly redundant in the new modern war.

The Army fought valiantly in France, Norway, North Africa, Italy, Greece, Crete and in the second push through France and the Low countries but the main strength of the German army was tied up and ultimately defeated by the Russian army.

In 1941 Stalin insisted that the British opened up a second front to draw German forces away from the Eastern front. British high command knew that landings in France were not possible and Scandinavia was too far for resupply. The only option was to launch an air offensive.

At this stage the majority of the air arm was made up of Wellington Bombers, Stirlings and medium range Anson and Blenhiem bombers. Without escort these planes were quickly turned away by the Luftwaffe and many Wellington's were chewed up by Messerschmitt BF 110 heavy fighters.

As larger bombers came into action the RAF still suffered losses by day as unescorted bombers travelled deeper and deeper into German territory and eventually they switched to night bombing.



Messerschmitt 110 Night fighter

 The Luftwaffe quickly adapted to deal with the night menace, and a belt of Radar stations stretching from Belgium to Switzerland nicknamed the "Kammhuber line" after the Luftwaffe General in charge of Night defence. This line had Night fighters covering and as the Bomber stream crossed it the fighters were vectored to intercept.
Even after the use of Operation Window to confuse the Radar sets Junker 88, Messerschmitt 110 and the excellent He 219 Uhu night fighters were soon equipped with their own Liechtenstein sets and able to vector themselves in.
The Nachtjagdgeschwader would also use a weapon called Schräge Musik which was a pair of upward firing machine guns. The night fighter would creep under the Bomber's blind spot and fire into the fuselage from below - effectively blowing it out of the sky.

Even now RAF veterans speak of "Scarecrows" shells that were fired and scattered parts of planes to scare them. In actuality they were bombers being destroyed by Schräge Musik.

If that wasn't enough to contend with there was the Flak. The 88mm German Flak gun was one of the best weapons to come out of the war and they were concentrated in huge numbers around the Reich's cities they had search lights and radar control and were deadly in concentrated batteries. There was also the Flak tower, giant concrete structures that housed many concentrated AA gun batteries.

The whole affair must have been harrowing. Long hours of flight at night, death only a heart beat away from hidden enemies and when you got to the target the ground would open up with deadly Flak shells and once you'd done that you had to fly back through the Nachtjagdgeschwaderen with a possibly damaged aircraft or wounded crew.

Did Bomber command receive any real recognition?

No. A few VCs or GCs were handed out for extreme bravery - a notable example is Guy Gibson VC who famously led the Damnbuster raids and a scattering of others but as a whole no.
Fighter pilots always get glamorously decorated. As Oberst Werner Baumbach of the infamous Kamfgeschwader 200 wrote in his book Broken Swastika bomber pilots have a different mentality to fighter pilots and are generally more stoic. The Jagdflieger used to refer to their bomber pilots as "Bus drivers" for their slow moving chugging aircraft. A fighter pilot's success could be measured in the amount of kills he got, the same for Stuka pilots and ground attack aircraft. The Luftwaffe's highest decorated pilot, Oberst Rudel was a Stuka and ground attack specialist who destroyed many tanks and facilities. (he also lost a leg and escaped Russian capture returning to German lines!) However Medium and heavy bomber pilots could not measure their success - only by their longevity.

The other thing is it is hard to recognise an individual act of bravery in an aircraft as it is hard to recognise who was responsible. For example Eugene Esmonde received the VC for his attacks on Scharnhorst, Gniesnau and Prinz Eugen in the channel dash but no such award was made to his observer and gunner who perished along with him didn't receive the same medal.

The next thing is Dresden and Hamburg. My grandfather went through the city of Ulm post war and he said all that was left was the Cathedral and the rest of the city was flat. In Hamburg a firestorm burned bright and fierce started by British incendiaries. In Dresden ( three months before the end of the war) the bombing pattern was planned especially to start a firestorm. It burned so hot that German citizens hiding in their basement shelters melted and had to be pumped out. The death toll was catastrophic.
It is arguably a war crime - I know opinion is divided on this subject and I won't add my voice to either side merely make the observation that if you shot a civilian it was a crime but to blast them from the air as all sides did during the war it is OK. To me it doesn't add up.

This should not detract from the bravery of the crews and pilots who were following their orders and flew bravely into action, often to death, wounding and capture. They should be awarded something for their bravery, and I understand a campaign has been mounted to see these men finally get the recognition they deserve and who can fault it?

I'm Running for Medway council

Hi, my name is Chris Sams and I'm running for councillor on behalf of the Liberal Democrat party for the ward of Luton & Wayfield.

I was born here thirty years ago and spent the first few years of my life in Gillingham; although I moved away I maintained exceptionally strong family links and a love for Gillingham FC before finally moving back her in 2008.

I am married with a ten old month daughter and work shift work in London commuting by train every day.

I have been a member of the Liberal Democrat party for two years now because I believe whole heartedly in the freedom of the individual and that power should not be held in Westminster but be put back into the hands of people and local authorities such as Medway council. I also believe that we are the party that can make a difference; we are not tied down to the Unions or big business but to the principles of freedom, equality and working for you for what you want.

So why should you vote for me?

The quick answer is because I care about Medway and I want to improve things for you and for me.

Currently I work 45 hours a week of shift work in London on just under 20k a year, I'm married with a ten month old daughter who uses the local nursery and sure start centre and  my wife works part time for just under 10k a year in a local supermarket around looking after our daughter. I am a member of what Nick Clegg would call "Alarm clock Britain." but I would say that I am one of the many just like you.

I want our council tax and National Government money spent on good public services; I want parks that my daughter can play in, schools that will help her achieve her potential, a lower crime rate, decent roads and amenities for the elderly such as my 90 year old Grandfather who lives in Chatham. I want to be part of the solution and I want act as your mouthpiece with greater consultation as to what you the residents and tax payers want and don't want. I want to cut down Council waste such as the recently reported £2 million on stationary, try to make things more efficient and save money that can be ploughed back into our communities.

I'm not interested in the party politicking or blame game that the Conservatives and Labour seem hell bent upon, it solves nothing and who gets caught in the cross fire?

We do.

Please bear my candidacy in mind, I'm not doing this for power or money but for the greater community, a community that I am a part of and want to see improved and the things that we as residents want as protected as they can be.