A short one tonight I'm afraid, it's been a five period day including my threshold observation (scary), then Scrutiny committee and then Norwich Area committee to thrash through unitary (again). I pity the deluded attitude of my Labour, LibDem and Green colleagues who really think that one day we'll all get together and thrash through a deal on unitary. As the sensible Labour Councillor Sue Whittaker said, "pigs will fly". The fact that we disagree is good for democracy - it means we can have a fight, vote and then get on with the majority. If we all agreed, they'd be no point in elections!
The scenes on TV on my return home were more of a shock - Gordon and Maggie! Is this a cunning plan for Gordon to alienate the last left wing voters into not supporting him? I can't imagine why he thought this was a good idea - it won't win him a single Tory vote to see him with Thatcher but it may just lose a bucket of Labour ones! He should have stayed well clear, because it has taken the heat off Cameron after the publication of a difficult policy document.
Similarly the decision to use Saatchi&Saatchi for their adverts is rather more "gimmick Gordon" than "flash Gordon". This hasn't been a bad day for Gordon, but it could have been better ... by not even getitng out of bed!
2 comments:
Gordon and Maggie was a great touch. Maggie left crying from Downing street having been stabbed by her Tory colleagues. So it takes a Labour Prime Minister to extend her the courtesy of inviting her back to Downing Street and extending her some of respect and dignity.
It was obvoius to see this was not a show of tribal party loyalty, but rose above this of strong politicans honouring one another. Both might not again at the policy level but share common conviction politics and leadership.
Certainly the "Flash Gordon" brand is tenfold better than the slippery "Chameleon Dave" brand. No one knows whether Dave will appease the Thatcherites like John Redfern or have conviction and bank of the QoLC One Nations. The Tories are starting to look divided again without the front bench and Cameron conviction. Will his leadership be strong enough is what many voters are judging or mid term will gang warfare breakout?
Norfolk County County 4* rating must be questionable as a tick box and fancy logo exercise. What a cock crowing sham. Education and school buildings, one of its main expenditure areas and one most council tax payers money is failing badly in classroom quality. 90% of schools have sub standard classrooms. Is this part of the problem behind Norfolk's and especially Norwich's educational lag. Since 1974 Norfolk County Council has been at the helm and has not invested enough in school infrastructure. The fact are plain. How many classrooms are still portable, have paint hanging off the windows and without modern whiteboard. At the same time the County are cashing in Capital receipt for surplus school property sales but without any major reinvestment impact on the 90% substandard classrooms.
EDP 17/9/07 School Audit 90% of Norfolk classrooms as sub standard.
"More than 100,000 Norfolk children are being taught in sub-standard schools, with just one in every 36 in "good" condition, according to a shocking survey.
An audit by building experts found more than nine out of 10 of Norfolk's 450 schools were in a "poor" or "bad" state of repair - and the situation has got worse in recent years."
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