EDL, Snoopers charter and reactions to the murder of Lee Rigby

Fire damage to Grimsby mosque (taken by Gerard Tubb)

The death of Drummer Lee Rigby on Wednesday was a great tragedy and my heart, and those of the nation goes out to his grieving family and the tragic loss of a partner, father and son. I cannot imagine the pain and grief that has rocked them and the void that cannot be filled.

The nation has greeted the news with shock and anger and in some cases violence.

Twenty five minutes after the news broke the Gillingham Mosque was broken into, property damaged and a copy of the Qur’an defiled by a local man who has now been held in the custody of Kent Police. There was also an 83 year old woman held after yelling racist abuse at Muslims leaving after prayer.

I’ve now read briefly through twitter, that the EDL are in Woolwich marking the spot where the murder occurred and there has been a spate of anti Muslim violence by members of the public.

Although understandable to a degree they cannot be condoned. It is unfair to punish innocent people for an act that they themselves are abhorred by. One picture that was doing the rounds was of a Klu Klux Klan meeting saying;

You cannot say that the views of terrorists are representative of Islam any more than you could say that the Ku Klux Klan’s were representative of Christianity.

The same can be said for the racists and petty criminals who come out of the woodwork at times like this capitalising on a horrific event like this with their politics and own vendettas. The EDL, as has been discussed elsewhere on this blog, are not the chivalric nationalistic order they’d like to think they are. There is a thin line between Nationalistic patriotism and racist xenophobia.

I’m sure that the NSDAP considered themselves patriotic and full of love of the Fatherland and Fuhrer but they were also racists xenophobes making Germany for the Germans – eerily echoed in making England English. It makes me nervous to think that people have not learnt from history, especially the most abhorrent period of modern history.

I hope that others do not judge the EDL, BNP or individuals are representative of the British people. After all, the majority of people were, like me, horrified by what happened and blame the individuals responsible rather than a demographic and religious community.

There are indeed questions that need to be asked, mainly as part of the Police and Intelligence forces investigations into radicalisation and the source and other groups need to wait for their findings. Indeed I would urge the EDL to crawl back under the rock they came from and stop encouraging violence and hatred against Muslims. Whatever they feel their input is in reality it isn’t helping the situation.

Within Government too, there is a sudden tack right from Conservatives who still back the "Snoopers charter" and Labour. Mr Miliband was quoted today on the BBC News website, as saying;

If he [the PM] wants a communications bill, we'll help him get it through.

There is a thin line between national security and police state too...

It has been acknowledged that such a charter would not necessarily have stopped the attack in Woolwich it might stop future attacks. However is this worth the rest of us having our personal freedoms curtailed?

Why should the state be able to look at my internet history, or know who I have been facebooking? It is of no one's business but my own if I am sending emails to either fellow Libdems, my family, my ex girlfriend or the King of Denmark until I've committed a crime.

Emma Carr of bigbrother watch hits the nail on the head for me with;

It is remarkable for politicians to be jumping to legislation to monitor the entire country when all the evidence to date shows this horrific attack would not have been prevented by the communications data bill.

The draft bill also prohibited the authorities from looking at the content of messages and surely we should expect people under the kind of surveillance possible in this case to be having their messages read?

Indeed the monitoring of emails only works if you know for a fact that one of the individuals is an extremist other wise how would you prove that an email sent from one person to another Might contain plans for an attack? Would it not be simple for coded emails to be sent so that only the sender and recipient would know what was the true nature of the message?

We wouldn't want our telephones to be tapped without a warrant and we would want our letters examined so why is an online message ok?

I do agree with cutting back on the Radicalisation of people in universities etc... Freedom of speech is one of the cornerstones of a Liberal society and human rights but with any freedom it must be curtailed if it is having a negative impact on other people's freedom - as in the case of racism or sexism.

This is something that can be restricted as preaching to kill or harm those who do not believe the same as you or are different is in fact incitement to violence or even to incite a hate crime and it has no place in any modern society.

In fact I agree with Nick Clegg's comments on Friday when he stated:

A religion of peace was being distorted, turned upside down and inside out, perverted in the cause of an abhorrent and violent set of intentions.

Terrorism has no religion because there is no religious conviction that can justify the kind of arbitrary, savage random violence that we saw on the streets of Woolwich.

We have a choice to either allow that powerful corrosive feeling of fear to seep into every second and minute and hour of our lives or we can make a choice that we're not going to change our behaviour.

To give in, to tack right and towards snoopers charters and ultra nationalism is to get rid of the very ideal that the terrorists abhor the most - freedom, our liberty to live and act freely. So, yes to curtailing hatred and those who preach it no matter which side of the void they sit, and no to curtailing the freedoms of innocent people on the off chance.

Rochester South and Horsted Focus and fairer Council tax for Medway

Vale drive on the Davis estate

One of the regular criticisms of the Medway Liberal Democrats is that their existence is limited to only Gillingham South and Watling wards in the Medway towns.

This however is untrue.

For example, one of our activists (Sid Kingman) has fought long and hard to convert derelect allotment space on Ottway Street (in Gillingham North ward) into a children’s play area. The opening will be tomorrow at 10:00 am if anyone wants to pop down there and see.

Then of course is Rochester South & Horsted ward where are activists are pretty active too. Last week Focus newsletters were dropped through letter boxes all over the Davis estate as Viv Parker and her team hit the streets.

The RS&H team have been working on several local issues including traffic safety. Having served a couple of Freedom of Information requests Viv has found that the junction of Beresford Avenue and Pattens lane, which was reported by a resident, has indeed been somewhat of a blackspot. Over an eighteen month period of June 2010 à January 2012, there have been three serious accidents, one including two children who walked out between parked cars and a three car pile up!

The Tigermoth roundabout has also been of concern and upon research it was found that between September 2009 and 2011 there have been five accidents with a serious injury to a motorcyclist.

On consultation with residents Viv will be pressing the Council further to improve road safety at these junctions for moterists and residents.

Viv has also been at full council asking searching questions of Medway’s ruling Conservative party.  As part of the Liberal Democrat Party’s aim to make tax fairer locally and Nationally, Viv has raised the concern that the removal of the Council tax benefit will be a return to the dark days of the Poll tax as those who cannot afford to pay are forced to. The fees are looking to be £15s a week, which doesn't sound like much but it does work out as 30% of jobseekers allowance!

Fuel poverty is considered to be spending 10% of your household income on gas and electricity so does this massive 30% mean there is such a thing as Council tax poverty?

  The Cabinet have ignored plans and suggestions from officers to use Council taxes to bring the 1400 odd empty houses back into use and instead opted for this (probably so they can blame the Government come election time). When asked by Viv if this would indeed be the case the response was;

It was down to the magistrates to send people to prison.

However this is ignoring the fact that Medway Council have to pay for the court proceedings in the first place and may end up paying a lot more to bring a case to trial than would be recovered in missing taxes from those who simply cannot afford it. More waste from Medway’s Conservative ruling body.

Indeed, on a national level the Liberal Democrats have cut 24 million people’s income tax by £600s a year and by 2015 it will be £700s a year meaning the first £10,000s you earn will be tax free which will make a massive difference in your yearly budgets in Medway – nearly an extra £58s a month which is the equivalent of two weeks food shopping!

We believe in fairer taxes for all be it locally and nationally and we are fighting for it.

If you are a resident of Rochester South & Horsted please do drop the party an email and we’ll do our best to help. Likewise if you want to help or join the local party.

Letter from the leader; Coming together and response to the attack in Woolwich

This was a week that put things in perspective. I know I speak for all Liberal Democrats when I say that our thoughts are with the family and friends of Drummer Lee Rigby – the British soldier attacked and killed in Woolwich on Wednesday. And I’ve made it clear, on the party’s behalf, that we are immensely grateful to our police, security services and armed forces, who do an extraordinarily important job.

That last few days have reminded me, and probably many of you, of a simple but important truth: when your values are under attack, you have to hold on to them even more firmly than before. 

Yesterday, at the request of some friends in the Muslim community, I convened a meeting, in London, of representatives from different faiths, community organisations and secular groups. Before the speeches I held a private discussion with a smaller group, and I wish I could have broadcast it across the nation. Just days after a brutal act of terror, men and women from across the faiths and political parties, gathered around the table, each calling for the same thing: unity. It would have made you immensely proud.

And there have been other victories for our values this week. Getting the Equal Marriage Bill through the House of Commons was no mean feat and it’s something all Liberal Democrats should feel good about. Britain is now one step closer to being a country where all forms of love – gay or straight – are celebrated equally, and that wouldn’t have happened without our party.

The Coalition was also able to confirm that hundreds of Afghan interpreters who served bravely alongside British forces will have the chance to settle in the UK.  Paddy’s been heavily involved with this campaign for a while. At one point, it was suggested that Afghan interpreters might not be granted this right, but clearly that was something I – we – couldn’t accept. Don’t forget, it was under pressure from the Liberal Democrats that the previous Labour government extended the right to reside here to Iraqi interpreters. When someone has risked their life to help our servicemen and women, it seems so obvious to me that we owe them a debt.

So it’s been a difficult week, but it’s also been a week which has reminded us who we are. This is an open, diverse and generous nation, where, in our toughest moments, we come together. That’s something no act of hate or violence will change.   

thoughts are with the family and friends of Drummer Lee Rigby – the British soldier attacked and killed in Woolwich on Wednesday. And I’ve made it clear, on the party’s behalf, that we are immensely grateful to our police, security services and armed forces, who do an extraordinarily important job.

Failure at the top of Medway Council Cabinet

When a football manager loses vital games, no matter how well their team performed, they are

Over seeing failure - Cllr Rodney Chambers

sacked or have the decency to resign.

When a military commander is defeated heavily in battle, no matter what the odds were against them, they are replaced or have the good grace to die in battle.

When a minister screws up massively or a Party leader losses an election by a serious amount they are promoted side ways, replaced or resign.

Not so for the Medway Conservatives.

The ruling Medway Council have been in power for quite some time with quite a majority, which against the trend they increased in 2011. Yet despite this there have been some well documented clangers that have been dropped from a very high height.

The Medway Bus station over spend, the bridge to no where on the Isle or Grain, the budget that simply doesn’t add up, the Darley rail bridge enlargement, the Ofsted results, the Medway test failure, farcical consultation and privitisation of vital elderly care homes, roads in dire need of repair – the list is fairly expansive and I could go on.

Who has resigned their post as portfolio holder in this time?

Anyone?

No one.

There had been quite a substansive move by politicos and opposition parties to get Councillor Wicks to resign as portfolio holder of Children’s services after the debacle of the Medway test and the Child services that protect the most vulnerable in society were rated unsatisfactory by Ofsted showing that basic consultation and referals were up to twice that of the acceptable national average. Whether he was personally responsible or not is no longer relevant, he should have biten the bullet and resigned as public confedence in him was/is exceptionally low and that is not what you need in someone who is overseeing our children’s wellbeing. I use the past tense as last week he was rotated out and Cllr Mike O'Brien has taken his place but it took two years for this to happen and this farce should not have been allowed to continue publically for so long.

Then we turn to Councillor Jarrett the portfolio holder for finance. After this year's budget meeting with figures that did not add up, parking fees shown as incorrect, failure to come up with a financial plan to pay for Medway Tunnel other than to rob from the road repair funds he has shown that when it comes to financial wizardry he is less of a Gandalf and more of a Paul Daniels.

When you slot in the other mistakes and almost reckless spending on capital projects gone wrong like the bus station or the Hoo bridge at the expense of Sure start centres and elderly care you are forced to ask serious questions about his financial management. Yes he is doing a tough job with limited funds and I do not envy him in that respect but at the same time he is wielding the axe and purse like a drunk headsman on pay day and my daughter who is just shy of three can add up figures slightly more convincingly. Again public perception is that the Sherriff of Capstone is taxing the heart and soul out of Medway’s poorest to pay for Mayoral dinners, capital projects and regeneration when they want a more “back to basics” approach. Confidence is being lost.

Then you have the top of the structure. Councillor Chambers the Conservative and Council leader prosiding over them all. Again, he has not been personally responsible for the actions of his subordinates but he is where the buck must stop. Going back to the original examples, should a goal keeper play consistently poorly and concede goals left, right and centre it is the manager who will lose his post first. After the disasterous German invasion of Norway it was Chamberlain who stood down as Prime Minister not Carton de Wiart et.al as military officers. So why has Rodney Chambers still clung to his position? Should he not act and forcibly replace those who have failed so spectacularly as any good leader would do? Should he take the bullet himself or more likely cling to the map table to the bitter end moving phantom divisions whilst a Red (and Gold) steamroller relieve him of command at the next local election?
  No - the rumbling Conservative band wagon continues unabated here and the back slapping continues.

Letters to the editor on local child care.

My letter to the Medway Messenger that unfortunately didn't get published.

I would like to congratulate Councillor Mike O’Brien on hisappointment to portfolio holder for Children’s services but also to draw hisattention to this;

Due to funding cuts our local nursery is unable to take children under two years old. This is a bitter blow for my family as my wife has two months of maternity leave left and was preparing to go back to work with my son’s name down for the local nursery. We have two months to find a nearby nursery that will take him or my wife will have to give up work for at least a year cutting our already stretched household income virtually in half.

Many of my wife’s friends who, like us, were hoping their second child could go to the same local place as their first born are now faced with either giving up work or taking both children elsewhere, something that is not really an option for us.

The point is that both my wife and I have both worked our whole adult lives and paid all our taxes and now we find ourselves being persecuted for wanting to work. Had the Council really thought through this move before implementation and will they reverse it?

If not, it seems that they don’t care about hard working residents and will leave us contemplating which vital utility bill we have to live without.

Chris Sams,  Gillingham.

Game of Thrones: Strong female characters.

Last year I read something by Laurie Penny that really vexed me. I know that a lot of her columns do but this was one of the two that really got to me. It was about Game of thrones and the role of women and how it promoted negative stereotypes of women which stimulated a response from me that... Any way - it is here.

I'd thought nothing of it in a long while until I was browsing YouTube and found the following video with definite role model Brienne of Tarth.

I should really state *Spoilers ahoy* for anyone who has not read or watched the Songs of fire and ice but wants too.

There are several key female characters who are the antithesis of the naive maiden (Sansa Stark) or object to be bartered with (Sansa again and maybe Margaery Tyrell?) and i'll address them but I'm going to start with my favourite Brienne "The maiden" of Tarth.

Brienne of Tarth

Brienne is the complete opposite of Sansa. She is a warrior, always has been and has trained at martial skills from a young age spurning her father's attempts to make her a lady or to marry her off. As the books progress she shows herself to be more noble and chivalric than many of her Knightly counterparts.

She is often ridiculed for her unappealing looks and for the fact that she is a woman doing a man's job but the point is she does it exceptionally well, so well in fact that she is promoted to Renly's elite rainbow guard and is alone given the task of returning the Kingslayer to King's landing and returning the Stark girls.

A similar character is Arya Stark who goes against the accepted norm for women in Westeros and likewise learns to fight and actively despises courtly etiquette that Sansa so truly took to. Arya is the opposite of the quintessential Noble's daughter and that is probably why she has survived so long out in the wilds facing down opposing armies, mercenaries, murder and far worse, things that might have destroyed Sansa completely!

Daenerys Targaryen is another such character. No more than a girl of thirteen in the first book she is married of as a token by her brother for an army as so many women were throughout the middle ages. She soon discovers her voice after her brother and husband die and she leads what is left of her people through ruin to safety before carving out a kingdom of her own by the age of 15 or 16!

Though there are men in her life (like Mormont and Barristan) she knows her own mind and rules her lands as she sees fit often going against the grain. She is an inspirational character and one of my favourites.

Finally, it is often overlooked by people but the strong matriarch characters like Cersei Lannister and Catelyn Stark are likewise, very important roles. It is easy to want to see women hefting around halberds and getting elbow deep in someone else's entrails alongside their male counterparts but the point is the relentless scheming and ambition of Cersei's drives the first books. The strong maternal bond that turns to bloody vengeance of a mother left childless is a new occurrence that I'm looking forward to seeing develop.

I admit that the majority of A song of fire and ice are men but in a medieval society it was the men who did the fighting, the dying and the majority of the courtly duties. Seriously pick up a history book on the War of the roses and count how many influential women there were in comparison to the number of knights, lords, Dukes, Princes etc.

I know it isn't history, I know that compared to men, the number of strong female characters is low (especially when you throw in the amount of peasants and prostitutes.) but it is a period piece and I don't see many people kicking up a stink about Lord of the Rings or Pride and Prejudice so why attack Game of Thrones - other than it is topical? If you just watch the trailers and read the reviews you will miss out on characters like Brienne who in many ways is a role model and someone that can definitely be admired in their outlook and way they are bucking the trend.

Medway MPs and the right side of the party



Turn Right or stay put? Chishti, Crouch and Reckless



Yesterday I read Tristan Osborne's piece on Medway's MPs swinging right. Definitely worth reading and Medway could be a UKIP target.

concur there may be a shift right by Conservative elements. I've already postulated that

The Coalition was easily formed as both the Liberal Democrats and liberal centre ground Conservatives had similar aims and yearnings for change - albeit with different approaches and maybe different outcomes. Both parties have had their problems. We've lost good people because they are unhappy with us joining the Conservatives, others because we broke our pledge and/or signed off on policies that we've deemed as illiberal. It is a relief that Nick has started saying No more these days and reasserting the Party's will a bit more.

There have been divisions within the Conservative party who were upset about them joining the old enemy the wishy-washy Liberals. Ofcourse there was always a stigma about going further right as there lay the BNP and UKIP. One, a fairly disorganised rabble of racists and the other was seen as a one trick pony where Kilroy and Neil Hamilton went. Serious Conservatives fearing bad press wouldn't go near them. Instead they have held out haranguing the Government leadership and waiting for the Coalition to fail/end whichever happened first.

However the recent UKIP surge has got many Conservatives questioning their position. In 2010 many got in because they were simply not Labour, or from those who wished to see a return of a true Blue government like Thatcher and they have been disappointed. UKIP is suddenly an acceptable party to vote for and have talks with. Nadine Dorries, often seen as some what of a loose cannon made the step of trying to run on a joint ticket and I wonder how many other disgruntled Conservatives felt the same way. Suddenly many Conservatives who were happy to sit on the benches and not rock the Coalition boat too much have found their voices which would explain the 130 MPs, which had risen from 60 earlier in the week, who voted for an EU referendum.

What will that mean for Medway's blue team? Well, for the first time, the normally ultra loyal Rehman Chishti, who voted against a referendum in the past, found himself rebelling. Is this a move to recapture possible lost ground in Gillingham and Rainham? Ground support for him would be tough enough in 2015 with many flocking back to support Labour Candidate and former MP Paul Clarke, and to try and stop the right vote splitting it could be considered that he is trying to cut of UKIPs head before it starts. I think we could see more such moves from Rehman so do keep your eyes on him in the future.

Mark Reckless is unlikely to swing right. He's already been exceptionally vocal on his belief of pulling out of Europe and has been consistent in his voting and considered at one point the most rebellious! It would be pointless for UKIP to stand a candidate and split the vote which would allow Labour in through the backdoor.

Tracey Crouch also recently rebelled but this hasn't been a sharp turn right for her. Tracey has always stood with the Prime Minister's position that powers need to be recouped and has voted accordingly. Chatham & Aylesford could be an exceptionally close run thing in 2015 and I think there will be concerns that a UKIP surge could cost her the seat but I don't think that she will knee jerk right as Rehman has done so and depart from her normal voting position. If anything Tracey will continue being Tracey but again, we shall see.

The Conservative party has evolved a lot since the fall of Thatcher and still looks like it needs to find itself. It'll be interesting to watch where they settle and how our MPs in the Medway towns will shift and whether it will preserve them in 2015 or if I'll see them down the job centre in Chatham in June 2015!

Also, as a brief aside. Tris ends his piece with;

Alternatively, if they are too weak to speak out, then the choice is clear. Labour is the only moderate, centrist and socially liberal party in British politics.

I'm moved to ask... What about the Liberal Democrats? The quintessential Middle ground! Whilst Labour go left and the Tories right... Is it possible for us to be more central?

Also who is more liberal than the Liberals?