North Birmingham BNP meeting.

Earlier in the week I had the privilege of speaking at a meeting of the North Birmingham Branch of the British National Party.

I always enjoy speaking at meetings.  The one thing that does make me smile is that no matter who takes the photographs, from what angle or how often I always manage to have an unfortunate facial expression.  Look at this one for example.  I look like I am trying to suck an elephant through a straw.

This one is no better.  Have I just noticed that the aliens are coming for me or do I have neck ache?

You could be forgiven for wondering.

Regardless of the images the good news for me is that my speech was well received.

This is how to do it!  Nick Griffin was the main speaker of the evening.

At least Nick looks normal.

Nick undertook a very frank question and answer session.  He stipulated at the beginning that no subjects were out of bounds and that he did not want people to suggest the answers that they wanted to hear in the question.

Many new members were in attendance who have not previously attended BNP meetings and curious friends had come along as well.

All were very impressed and the night was a success!

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Camphill protesters potentially save a life!

I turned up at the demonstration outside the Co-op in Camphill today to find a group of people surrounding a man who was slumped to the floor by the kerb.

An ambulance had been called and was soon on the scene.

It transpires that this gentleman was talking who was waiting for someone was talking with the protesters about their progress when suddenly, in the words of the lady herself, “He looked at me a bit funny and froze up.  He fell over like a tree and his head took one hell of a bang right on the kerb”.

Protest leader Stephen Wilks and fellow protesters rendered immediate aid, stemming the blood flow from his head wound and helping the unfortunate fellow into the recovery position.

It transpires that the gentleman had suffered an epileptic fit and had certainly recovered consciousness when I arrived with the family.

The ambulance crew thanked protesters for their swift response and said that potentially, due to the severity of the fall to the kerb, they had saved a life.

Many congratulations to the protesters!

Technorati Tags: camp hill community demonstration

BNP budget for Nuneaton and Bedworth seems to have gone down well.

Press coverage of the first British National Party budget for Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council was accurate.

The Nuneaton News carried accurate coverage of the three budget proposals.

I have spoken to a few people, some of whom I do not know, about it and people are happy to see that we tried to save the 23 jobs.

Better luck next year seems to be the general view.

Technorati Tags: bnp,british national party,nuneaton and bedworth borough council,council budget

Fuel prices up again!

I have seen at petrol pumps this morning that the price of fuel locally has jumped by 2p per litre.

Not all local garages have taken this step but it is not usually very long after the first one raises prices that the remainder follow suit.

I believe that this is a rip off.  My evidence is as follows.  Take a look at the interactive graph at the oil prices website and you can see for yourself that the price of oil on the world markets has not risen for a while.  Nor is it immediately expected to.

Budget – Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council 2009/2010

Last night in the Council Chamber I had the honour, for the first time, of taking part in a full budget debate.  For me it contained some surprises and was contentious.

My sympathies go to the twenty three employees of the Council who last night saw the controlling Conservative group take their jobs away.

I shall first explain the general timeline of the meeting before I go into details:

Present in the chamber were: -

• British National Party 2
• Labour Party13
• Conservative Party 16

There were enough Conservatives in the chamber to carry their budget.

The order of events was as follows: -

1. The controlling Conservative group proposed their budget.
2. The main opposition, Labour, immediately proposed their own counter budget.  This was then debated at length and voted upon.  BNP voted against (for reasons see below).
3. The BNP alternative budget was proposed and voted down by both Labour and Conservatives (for this budgetary proposal see below).
4. The Conservative budget was then debated at length.  A vote was taken and this is the budget that was carried by only the Conservative members.  BNP voted against (for reasons see below).

Labour’s alternative budget.

This alternative budget was handed out in chamber.  I objected to: -

Item 1a and 1b) £40,000 savings in playground maintenance and property maintenance in parks.

Playgrounds and fences then mainly.  Vandalism is up and no-one believes that it will go down suddenly.  This item would make the playgrounds less attractive and possibly dangerous for the children.

Item 2) By reducing Town Centre management costs by a net £100,000.

This is pure aspiration.  No-one can predict in advance how much can be saved, if anything, when opening a renegotiation.

Item 4) A general review of fees and charges setting a 3% increase except for car parks. Raises £60,400.

This will raise business rates, market stall rents, licensing fees and planning fees at a time when business, especially small businesses, needs some support.  This will discourage town centre investment which we need in Nuneaton and Bedworth by way of regeneration.

Item 5) Raising the one hour charge for car parking and evening and Sunday parking to £1 and raising the two hour parking charge to £1.50. Raises £258,000.

Pure genius.  A 25% increase to the motorist for an hours parking.  The town centre car parks need more cars on them not less.  This proposal would drive shoppers to alternate shopping areas of which there are many.

Item 7) Achieving a reorganisation and efficiency savings target of 1.5% of net budget. Saves £300,000.

Again, pure aspiration.  To reduce this much from the net budget cannot be done without job losses.  I wish it could but I have to live in the real world.

In summary: -

The itemised paragraphs above are the things that I spoke on in chamber relating to this budgetary proposal.  The main objections.

The Labour Party alternative budget could not be said to balance because at least £400,000 of it was aspirational.  Even if these figures could be achieved it is only possible with job losses.

Regeneration is a big theme for the whole of the Borough at the moment (not forgetting Bulkington).  There are far too many empty shops in both towns and increasing both charges to businesses and motorists would stifle regeneration.

Preventing  job losses and helping regeneration were the main aims of the evening for me.  In conscience I could not support this alternative budget.

Controlling Conservative Party budget

The Conservative Party budget covers five full pages of the main agenda and a separate booklet.  I objected to: -

From section (a)

Item 1) Bulky Refuse – Set £20 minimum charge plus £3 for each item over 5.  Saving £5,000.

Several wards in the Borough, including my own ward of Barpool, are designated as super output areas (SOA’s) for benefit claims and low income families amongst others.  The £15 charge was too high as it was.  This 33% raise will not lead to a £5,000 increase in revenue because less people not more will use the service.  Against any increase I asked has any provision been made for costs for clearing away the extra fly-tipping which will undoubtedly result.

Item 6) Funding the Town Centre Management growth bids in Table 6 of the report, total cost £20,000, from reserves for 2009/10 but ceasing the Town Centre Wardens service. Saving £50,000

Most of the £20,000 will be spent on additional street entertainment.  We can live without that in these times.

Job Losses.  The Town Centre Wardens service provides a valuable service to both residents and traders in keeping by assisting with work against graffiti, nuisance behaviour, cleansing and putting on events amongst other duties.

Item 8) By ceasing the Security service and market testing the cash collection service from car parks.  Saving £80,000.

Up to 1,500 scrap vehicles were removed, community parks are patrolled as well as collecting the cash from the car parks and making sure that Council premises are secure at night.

Job losses.  If the contract personnel will only perform the cash collection and building security who will take on the other responsibilities?

Item 10) By changing the way in which cash is collected at Nuneaton & Bedworth cash offices during the year.  Saving £22,000.

Closing the collection points in the Council House and the Bedworth Area Office will lead to confusion for many residents.  Experienced staff who have displayed many years loyalty will be lost.  People will have to pay their rent and council tax at the main post office but they will not be able to ask any questions.  For that they will have to walk across to the council house and ask at the front desk.

God help the people of Bedworth and Bulkington.  No-one else seems to have considered where they will go!

Job Losses.  15 job losses identified to save £22,000!  This could easily be avoided.

Item 12)  By contracting out the Drain Clearance service.  Saving £24,000.

This essential and much used service can only be provided at a lower cost by paying cheaper wages and restricting the service available.  This is not acceptable.

Job Losses.  Again, unnecessary.  out of a budget approaching £20,000,000 we can find this money somewhere.

From section (b)

That the Street Cleansing budget be increased by £100,000.

Why?  The Borough is not badly cleansed.  The cleansing teams are rightly proud of their endeavours.  In better times more may be acceptable but in these times it is not.

In Summary: -

The itemised paragraphs above are only the ones that I spoke on in chamber.  The main objections if you will.

At least the Conservative budget balanced.

If the British National Party had voted for unnecessary job cuts we would not have slept well for a long time!

British National Party’s alternative budget

I would first like to say that as newly elected members in the chamber the BNP Councillors do not have the experience to write a full budget from the ground up.  Officers have been very useful and much has been learnt in preparation for next year.

My focus in writing the BNP proposal was to preserve the 23 jobs without it costing others later on and to encourage regeneration of the town centres.

To this end I decided to re-arrange the Conservative budget to our own ends.

I proposed the following changes to the Conservative budget: -

Item 1) £5,000 Cost	BNP would not increase the charge to remove bulky refuse to £20 plus £3 for each item over 5.
Item 6) £30,000 Cost. BNP would keep the wardens.	BNP would not fund town centre management growth bids £20,000 (entertainment mainly) and would not cease the Town Centre Wardens service. £50,000
Item 8) £80,000	BNP would not cease the Security Service and cash collection service from car parks.
Item 10) £22,000	BNP would not remove the cash collection offices from the council house and Bedworth area office.
Item 12) £24,000	BNP would not contract out the Drain Clearance service jobs.

So in total we have to find £161,000

We would not spend the additional £100,000 on additional cleansing which the Conservative leader said ‘may’ lead to four jobs.

This Council has more than enough unallocated reserves to cover the extra £61,000.

In Summary: -

There you have it.

The first budget presented by the British National Party for Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council balances and would not lead to any job losses.

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Atherstone, North Warwickshire by-election

Last weekend saw an excellent program of  BNP activity in Atherstone.  For a better update and some excellent photographs take a peek at the Nuneaton & Bedworth Nationalist blog run by our organiser and regional elections officer Alwyn Deacon.

Technorati Tags: bnp meeting,british national party,by election,atherstone,north warwickshire

‘The Independent’ – Newspaper Scumbags.

‘The Independent’ newspaper gouged new troughs in the world of left-whinger journalism today.  The author who penned the article is not necessarily the same person who supplied and fitted the photograph.  Sub editors often fulfil this role.

The image on the left is a screenshot of the Independent website as it appeared first thing this morning.

The image clearly shows a group of people called the nationalist alliance whose site I will not link to.

The Independent however claims that this is a photograph of BNP members in Leeds.

The British National Party has never had any links to this organisation.

Spot the difference!  This afternoon it has been noticed that after receiving many complaints from BNP members the Independent has taken action over the offending image.  You may expect this to mean that they have removed it.  You could not be further from the truth.

They have doctored it to hide the truth!

The image has been cropped on the left side to hide the fact that the image is not of the BNP at all.  The Independent newspaper is clearly happy to lie to the public.

All decent people who have not already done so should register their distaste at this action by following the advice on the BNP website and complaining to the Press Complaints Commission.  I already have.  Details of how are available on the website.

Technorati Tags: bnp,british national party

Need a job?..…get on yer bike to the EU and err…..come back to Britain!

So British jobs are not really for British workers as good old Gordon Brown promised us that they would be.  Boy do I feel let down.

Mandyson then suggested that lazy British workers should be prepared to get on their bikes and scour Europe for work.  Even Thatcher never went that far.

Now it appears that many many people who did run off to evade the Labour tax and waste machine who really did not want to have their telephone calls and e-mails recorded, their DNA stored and their freedoms curtailed are trying in droves to return to the good old UK.

The Daily Mail carries the story: - Au revoir le dream... British expats in 'Dordogneshire' are now desperate to come home as the credit crunch hits France.  How ironic!

It appears that the Europeans (French and Spanish in this article but I have read similar before) are rather nationalistic about who they allow to take their jobs.  European nations are only good little European integrationists when it comes to claiming money from the pot or gaining a trading advantage for their own nation.  Who can blame them for that?  Not I.

The British National Party is the only party that puts British interests first.

Get over it.  Get used to it!

Technorati Tags: bnp,british national party

Common Purpose Tyranny

common purpose is the only political charity to ever be set up by a government in power at the time.

Its purpose is to promote the ‘common purpose’ of making certain, whilst remaining out of the public eye, that the socialist plagues of political correctness, internationalism and centralisation are spread further than ever before.

Only the British National Party stands against the Common Purpose threat.

Technorati Tags: bnp meeting,british national party,common purpose

Have you signed the petition? – if not, why not?

This is the scene on the inside of the threatened fruit and veg shop in Camphill, Nuneaton.

This thriving family operated community business is the location for the petition to save the small shops that are under threat if the terms and conditions of the leases offered to them are not sorted out by the end of March.

The 1,000 signature mark was passed mid-week and there have been pages added since.

Have you signed the petition?

If it is at all possible we would be very grateful to anyone who can get over to Camphill to support the shopkeepers.

The row of shops is located on Cedar Road, Nuneaton  CV10 9DN.

Progress is being made by the protesters.  Several deliveries have turned back, the cash machine has not worked since the shop first opened.  Nobody can accuse the protesters of being militant though.  There was a delivery of bread to the shop yesterday while I was there and though the driver fully supported the protest he was an agency driver who had to complete his delivery or he would not be required for work the following day.  These are the kind of levels that corporate bosses go to.  Protesters helped to steady his trolley on the sloped surface to help him complete his delivery.

Community spirit is running high.  Personally I find it very rewarding to see the broad spectrum of the local community pulling together.  Community spirit has been rekindled as never before.

As you would expect the British National Party has the only political representatives who are prepared to stand with the people on their protest.  On Friday I saw the local Warwickshire County Councillor (Labour) have a word with protestors before telling them that he was going into the co-op to buy what he needed.  Something which a local lady was quick to point out could be purchased at the nearby garage and possibly at a lower price!

British National Party stands with the people while ‘New Labour’ ignores the people.

I am curious to see how many of the locals will remember this action in the forthcoming County Council election in June.

Technorati Tags: bnp,british national party,camp hill community demonstration,warwickshire county council,petition

BNP Takes “Safest Labour Ward” in Kent

There is nowhere in the UK that is immune from a surge in British National Party activity.  The safest Labour party ward in Kent is now the newest British National Party ward in the country.

The heartiest congratulations from all at Nuneaton, Bedworth and North Warwickshire BNP have been passed to Paul and his election team.

If you would like to read more about the BNP Takes “Safest Labour Ward” in Kent; quite frankly I would not blame you!

Technorati Tags: bnp,british national party

Camp Hill community demonstration – Day three

Connection problems prevented earlier publication of this post. My apologies.

Interesting developments on the protest in Camp Hill yesterday (19th Feb)

The photograph (left) is an early one of the daily crowd gathering outside of the Co-operative shop.  The community is standing shoulder to shoulder with the local traders in a way that many thought that they would never see again.  One old boy said to me that he thought that the days of people standing by one another had long gone.  How very pleased he was to be wrong!

“We want freedom of choice” says the protesters sign.  This sums up the whole point of the exercise really.

Why should the family businesses who have traded side by side with the Co-op for literally decades be pushed out?  Obviously they should not but it is being allowed to happen by the powers that be.

The British National Party is of course supporting the protesters daily.

This gentleman drove to Camp Hill especially to sign the petition which he had the honour of making 1,000 strong.  This is on top of many hundreds of people joining the protest page on Facebook.

If you read yesterdays protest update you will remember that in the e-mail from Stephen Wilks, Chair of the Cedar Tree Residents Association, he says that there was information from the co-op that their regional management was concerned about the protest and that he “hoped that negotiations would start soon to resolve the problem”.

This is the interesting bit: -

The building is owned by Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council but the developers Camarge are arranging the leases.  The protesters have been quite surprised that the co-op manager who came to speak to them genuinely did not seem to know a thing about restrictive lease conditions being imposed upon the small retailers.

Somebody may have been naughty!

The development has as its centrepiece a shop which is three times the size of the previous largest shop in Camp Hill which was the old co-op.  How to tempt the co-op into larger premises that they thought were too big?  Obviously if the small shops went away, which the chemist already has, the co-op would be happy to step into the gap and provide the community with the services which they would otherwise have lost.  Restricting the leases on the other shops would have been the enticement necessary to encourage the co-op to take the larger shop.  Safe in the knowledge that having expanded to supply the local demand they would not have a new fruit and veg shop opening next door.

The protesters do have sympathy with the position that this would leave the co-op in.  They have taken on a new larger retail unit only to find out afterwards that their neighbours of several decades have been pushed out.  Not decided to withdraw as they had been told.  If this is the case then the protesters are prepared to work with the co-op to try to apply joint pressure on the developers to re-negotiate. 

Inaccurate press release

In the weekly free paper today there is a press release saying that the development is doing well and that they have secured a lease with the postmaster.  This surprises me but you have the right to make up your own minds.  I ask you, does the postmaster in the picture on the left look as if he is celebrating signing a new lease?

The mystery deepens but the resolve remains!

Technorati Tags: camp hill community demonstration,british national party,bnp,nuneaton and bedworth borough council

Principled BNP Councillors give immoral pay rise to local good cause.

A lot of people probably thought that I was just seeking five minutes of fame for the British National Party last year when I stood up in the Chamber at a Full Council meeting of Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council and claimed that the pay rise for Councillors was immoral and that myself and my co-councillor, Darren Haywood, were having none of it.  Our reward was the full front page of the local Evening News the following day and many congratulations from members of the public.

The immorality was in the fact that on multiple previous occasions the press had carried the fact that councillors would not be giving themselves a pay rise this year.  An announcement that a lot of residents were impressed by.  Instead they had an independent report commissioned which recommended that we have a pay rise.  Technically correct but immoral in our view.

The British National Party deals it straight!

The independent report was accepted by cabinet and brought in front of the full council meeting as a minor item in a sub-section of a cabinet report.  As soon as we spotted it we were incensed.  Immoral, duplicitous, and sneaky were the politer words that we came up with.  My children read this blog so your imagination will have to suffice for the others.  No other councillor spoke in support of course.

Labour and Conservative councillors were conspicuous only for their uncomfortable silence because we had rumbled them.

We decided to wait a while to allow the pay rise to accumulate and keep an eye open for a good cause to donate it to.

The Galley Common Riding Centre for the Disabled relies on donations for its existence.  After flooding caused severe damage to their outdoor arena we were in agreement.  The picture above is of  BNP Councillor Darren Haywood and myself  Martyn Findley (complete with proud children) handing cheques to the value of £132.38 to Debbie Bradshaw, centre manager.

British National Party – Party of Principles.

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Community demonstration - Update

I have been on the demonstration again today (18th) along with activists that have turned up at differing times of the day.  Cllr Haywood stopped by after work to show support for his constituents in Camp Hill.

The following e-mail reached me this evening from Stephen Wilks, Chair of the Cedar Tree Residents Association.  I shall of course let him speak for himself: -

Hi Martin Thanks for this blog.

We have had a very successful day again today, we have had the secure cash vehicle turned away early this morning preventing the cash machine from being toped up for public use we also successfully turned another freezer lorry away from delivering goods to the co-op .

The protest went peacefully with local community members spending 3 to 9 hours demonstrating against the co-op monopoly over our much loved local vegetable shop, we also had the local telegraph turn up for more media coverage of the community that is so fed up with the way things have been dealt with over the last year regarding the development and new shopping area.

Again we had support from local BNP councillors who showed they fully back our community and residents and local business’s  all day long we had at least one member or councillor from the BNP present at all time’s of the day.

My heart goes out to the real pride of camp hill the residents that have show how they are proud and determined to support each other and their local stores .

We also received information that the regional headquarters of the co-op was concerned of the protest outside of their new shop and are making plans for a solution to the problem, so we are hoping that negotiations will start soon to resolve this important issue.

We also have had contact from a local TV news network team that have contacted the vegetable shop and maybe covering the protest from tomorrow.

Confidence is high with the community and very determined and this protest could go one for the rest of this month at least if negotiations do not start soon.

Save our local shops save our community the fight is on.

Stephen Wilks.

Resolve is not something that the locals are short of as you can see.  If I were in a position to have any say over these leases I would be making my way to see Allan at the Greengrocer and Brent at the Post Office forthwith.

The ransacking of local communities for the benefit of corporate greed has got to be stopped.

Technorati Tags: british national party,camp hill,demonstration,bnp,nuneaton

Community demonstration - Update

Yesterday there were two delivery vehicles that were successfully turned away from the new Co-op by the protesters.  This action was accomplished peacefully by talking to the drivers.

Protesters retuned to site early this morning and spoke to a delivery driver who rang his distribution centre to report the continuing community action.

The response from the distribution centre was that drivers are to make their own minds up.  Regional management are concerned enough about the demonstration that they are going to come out and negotiate.  They have not given details of who or when but this is a big plus for the protesters who remain in high spirits.

Leading the protesters this morning was Cedar Tree Residents Association Chairman Stephen Wilks.  Stephen has received regional and national awards for his good work in the community and only last year visited Buckingham Palace to be commended by The Queen.

The British National Party councillors and members will continue to show support for the protesters.

I shall continue to update as information comes in.

Technorati Tags: camp hill,demonstration,bnp,nuneaton,british national party

British National Party supports community demonstration in Camp Hill, Nuneaton.

It has been a late one but the day has been worth it.  Largely I am going to let the key players speak for themselves.  Community leaders contacted the British National Party councillors and asked for support.  It was of course forthcoming.

This is a community demonstration about the forced closure of family run businesses which have been serving the people of Camp Hill in Nuneaton for decades.  Forced out by terms in leases which have obviously been written to benefit the new high street names who have moved into a new multi-million pound development, chief amongst them, the Co-op.  Many suspect that if this had not been the case then they would not have moved into their new larger premises.

The business in the picture on the left is the current greengrocers run by Alan Mellor. 

Allan has been running this shop for decades and remembers it ever since he was a child.  Alan has been offered a shop in the new development but the terms and conditions of his new lease stipulate that he cannot sell… wait for it…

Fruit and Veg!

Alan wishes to make his own feelings known: -

First of all many thanks to Cllr Martyn Findley, his family & friends for their support on our first day of protest. Although I do have written support from local councillors and our MP, the BNP were the only party present at the protest. The first days trade at the new Co-op was severely damaged, and resulted in the cancellation of their grand opening, we await the next one just as eagerly. The biggest thank you must go to the local people who turned up to make their feelings known, young and old alike, they give you the will to fight on.

The big bosses in attendance for the Co-op's opening day were amongst the most arrogant people I have ever known, one telling me I can't afford to take on a unit in the new development, who the hell he thinks he is I don't know, but maybe the truth is hidden in that statement, in that the Co-op can't afford any competition following the huge investment they have made.

With over 800 signatures on the petition, and well over 300 on the facebook web site campaign we have the support, but the only way we can get the Co-op to change it's mind is through continued protest and more important, bad press. This is one thing the so called eco friendly, champions of fairtrade do not want. So until they relent, the fight goes on.

Alan Mellor

A J & J Mellor (greengrocers)

Alan is not the only shopkeeper affected as this picture of the inside of the post office clearly shows.

To comply with his lease terms the sub-postmaster is only allowed to make money from the post office.  Not a realistic prospect.  The post office is the service which drew trade into the shop.

Brent, the sub-postmaster has his own message which he was showing clearly at the demo.

The terms and conditions that he has been offered are so onerous that his solicitor has said that he will have him sectioned under the mental health act if he signs them.

I was there early along with Debbie and the children and Andy Ingram our leafleting coordinator.  We saw at least fifty people and were very warmly welcomed by all.  Passing motorists honked their support.  Independent witnesses have told me that there was a strong showing of support all day, total numbers must be well into three figures.  One old lady in a wheelchair even had herself wheeled out of the old folks home with a home made placard to join the protest.  Unfortunately I have no picture of her.

Today (Tuesday 17th) was the official grand opening of the new enlarged co-op.  Local press showed up to cover it but photographed the demonstration instead.  The grand opening has been postponed.  Protesters have no intention of going away and will be outside again in the morning.

Stephen Wilks, Chairman of the local Cedar Tree Residents Association kindly sent the following: -

Today I took part in a protest against the closure of a local Vegetable store, this was not a closure of a store that was in trouble financially or that the proprietor wanted to close, no this was our friendly co-op store that was forcing the closure of a local run Vegetable green grocers so they could have the monopoly in a new so called development area that is claiming to be working to strengthen the community with millions of pounds of funds spent each year.

The vegetable store has been in the heart of the community for well over 50 years and served the community very well all that time, and has been working in the same area with the co-op for just as long, but now with this new redevelopment it seems that the local long term served community shops are not required in the new build.

Negotiations where made firstly by the developers and council and redevelopment teams with the co-op before consulting with the other local shops all in the same area, they agreed terms of lease for the co-op without consulting with all other local shops. Once the terms were agreed the co-op had secured a deal that could only put the other shops retailers out of business. And none of the developers or redevelopment or councils seemed to have noticed what the terms were or the lot of them wanted the smaller community shops out of the redevelopment.

The craziest thing out of all this is that the developers and redevelopment and councils worked and appointed an advisor to negotiate with the remaining community shops knowing that the end result was to close them down or stop them trading as the restrictions that had been finalised with the co-op meant that they could not sell any goods that the co-op was selling meaning in some cases the local stores where losing 90% of the goods they have been trading with for the last 50 years, this did not stop them financing this business advisor to try to get the shops into the new build. Only to be told less than one week after months of negotiations that they had now received final notification to close shop or be removed from the existing premises due to the co-op not wanting the vegetable shop in the area as it conflicted to the sale of goods the co-op is selling.

A similar story is the same for the post office which was a news agents and post office but that to has been forced to sell off all the goods and just run the post office with no rights to sell anything but virtually stamps . Even though the post office is ready to move into a new build shop the terms of lease are totally out of order which still has to be rectified before the move can be done.

In my opinion the whole redevelopment stinks of bad management and it has failed the whole community who to this day have had no proper information of what the redevelopment is doing to secure our community shops.

That is what the protest is about saving the local stores mainly the post office and vegetable store from a co-op that believes its acting in the interest of a community.

Many thanks to the BNP councillor and members and hundreds of community members that turned up throughout the day to support the protest to save our shops

Stephen Wilks

Chairman, Cedar Tree Residents Association.

Is that the local chemist?  It is now.  ‘Penney’s Chemist’ was a family concern that served the Camp Hill Community for many years before being forced out by restrictive lease conditions.  The cumulative effect of which is to tear the soul out of this local community and replace it with greed.

It has been a talking point all day that the only political party which showed up to support the residents in their protest was the British National Party.  People will talk…..

Technorati Tags: camp hill,demonstration,bnp,british national party,nuneaton

Bank of England – ‘We are in a deep recession’ – You don’t say!

According to the governor of the Bank of England , Mervyn King, the UK is "in a deep recession" in 2009 and said rate cuts may no longer work.

Let us not forget that as recently as twelve months ago the Global Banking Crisis, which is still not over, was being described in the media as a temporary local difficulty.

The article goes on to say that, “there is a significant risk that the recession will be even longer and deeper than expected”.  Well I’ll be damned.

The bank of England is now predicting that all will start getting better soon.  Business leaders seem to disagree.

David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce said that the Bank's forecast for a recovery by 2010 "seems unduly optimistic."

And Graham Leach, of the Institute of Directors, added that "we are well into the financial crisis but the economic crisis is only just beginning."

Everyone who is anyone in government and finance wants to talk about credit availability and getting it back to its previous levels.  The previous levels of credit that they are chasing were part of the problem!

Until people realise that the only way out of a recession is to make things.  Invest inwardly in design and technology.  Invest inwardly in engineering and electronics.  People are noticing now that everything is made abroad.

The policies of nationalism offer the only way forward for the United Kingdom and The British National Party is the only nationalist party in Great Britain.

The sooner that more people realise this the better.

Technorati Tags: british national party,nationalism,bank of england

Cashless society – No thank you.

It is predicted that: -

Consumers in the UK should expect a revolution in the way they pay for things in the near future, according to payments association Apacs.

In the article Dying cheques mark changing times they talk about the dwindling number of cheques being used and the advancement of cashless payment.

Many people, including me, have thought for years that the government (Labour or Conservative, makes no difference) would like to see a cashless society.  Total accountability by society to the state.  The ultimate in police states.  A press of a few buttons and you are literally a non-person.

I don’t fancy that much.

There are practical problems too.  Damaged card, can’t buy anything.  A power cut is probably the nightmare scenario.  At the moment the shopkeeper makes notes and enters transactions later, but they can only do this for cash or cheque transactions of course.  No power, no financial system.  With the total mismanagement of UK power supplies and the lack of a viable energy policy for lets say; about the last twenty years, the nighmare scenario is actually more than likely.

All in all, not a good idea then.

Private Finance Initiatives – the latest swizz.

The government could have to bail out Private Finance Initiative projects to the tune of £4bn in the next 18 months, an industry spokesman has warned.

According to the spokesman for the Public Private Partnership Forum the recession is limiting loans.

A little explanation for the uninitiated.

PFI is the method by which Labour has been financing major public works projects.  Encouraging construction companies to borrow commercially to pay for projects which the government then repays, with arrangement fees, profits and bonuses of course, over twenty, thirty, forty years.  Basically mortgaging the nation to the hilt for the next generation or two.

The cash is drying up fast.  The proposal on the table is that the treasury should lend the money for the PFI contracts for the system to be maintained.

Let me think about that for a moment.  Hmmm…..

We the taxpayers are being asked to lend our money at the lowest interest rates in history to construction companies who are going to use it to build our public works projects.  Then they are going to charge us (with arrangement fees, profits and bonuses) for the privilege for the next few decades and make massive profits.

Does not sound too popular to me!

Technorati Tags: private finance initiative

A couple of videos to start the day and something about Geert Wilders.

Freedom go to hell!

I neither know or care who this fellow is.  I recommend that you listen to what he has to say.

Nice presentation as well.

Ron Paul - WHAT IF... The American People Learn Truth!

A damn good question.  I do not normally bother with American politicians because they are irrelevant to us but if a few more American voices in the corridors of power listen to this message the world could become a better place.

This is my wish for the day.

Geert Wilders

Mr Wilders is a democratically elected member of the Dutch parliament.  He commissioned a film called fitna which you can view if you wish.

You all know the story by now so i will not bother you with it.  Mr Wilder has written a letter which I unashamedly include in full:

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much.

Thank you for inviting me. Thank you Lord Pearson and Lady Cox for showing Fitna, and for your gracious invitation. While others look away, you, seem to understand the true tradition of your country, and a flag that still stands for freedom.

This is no ordinary place. This is not just one of England’s tourist attractions. This is a sacred place. This is the mother of all Parliaments, and I am deeply humbled to speak before you.

The Houses of Parliament is where Winston Churchill stood firm, and warned – all throughout the 1930’s – for the dangers looming. Most of the time he stood alone.

In 1982 President Reagan came to the House of Commons, where he did a speech very few people liked. Reagan called upon the West to reject communism and defend freedom. He introduced a phrase: ‘evil empire’. Reagan’s speech stands out as a clarion call to preserve our liberties. I quote: If history teaches anything, it teaches self-delusion in the face of unpleasant facts is folly.

What Reagan meant is that you cannot run away from history, you cannot escape the dangers of ideologies that are out to destroy you. Denial is no option.

Communism was indeed left on the ash heap of history, just as Reagan predicted in his speech in the House of Commons. He lived to see the Berlin Wall coming down, just as Churchill witnessed the implosion of national-socialism.

Today, I come before you to warn of another great threat. It is called Islam. It poses as a religion, but its goals are very worldly: world domination, holy war, sharia law, the end of the separation of church and state, the end of democracy. It is not a religion, it is a political ideology. It demands your respect, but has no respect for you.

There might be moderate Muslims, but there is no moderate Islam. Islam will never change, because it is build on two rocks that are forever, two fundamental beliefs that will never change, and will never go away. First, there is Quran, Allah’s personal word, uncreated, forever, with orders that need to be fulfilled regardless of place or time. And second, there is al-insal al-kamil, the perfect man, Muhammad the role model, whose deeds are to be imitated by all Muslims. And since Muhammad was a warlord and a conqueror we know what to expect.

Islam means submission, so there cannot be any mistake about it’s goal. That’s a given. The question is whether the British people, with its glorious past, is longing for that submission.

We see Islam taking off in the West at an incredible speed. The United Kingdom has seen a rapid growth of the number of Muslims. Over the last ten years, the Muslim population has grown ten times as fast as the rest of society. This has put an enormous pressure on society. Thanks to British politicians who have forgotten about Winston Churchill, the English now have taken the path of least resistance. They give up. They give in.

Thank you very much for letting me into the country. I received a letter from the Secretary of State for the Home Department, kindly disinviting me. I would threaten community relations, and therefore public security in the UK, the letter stated.

For a moment I feared that I would be refused entrance. But I was confident the British government would never sacrifice free speech because of fear of Islam. Britannia rules the waves, and Islam will never rule Britain, so I was confident the Border Agency would let me through. And after all, you have invited stranger creatures than me. Two years ago the House of Commons welcomed Mahmoud Suliman Ahmed Abu Rideh, linked to Al Qaeda. He was invited to Westminster by Lord Ahmed, who met him at Regent’s Park mosque three weeks before. Mr. Rideh, suspected of being a money man for terror groups, was given a SECURITY sticker for his Parliamentary visit.

Well, if you let in this man, than an elected politician from a fellow EU country surely is welcome here too. By letting me speak today you show that Mr Churchill’s spirit is still very much alive. And you prove that the European Union truly is working; the free movement of persons is still one of the pillars of the European project.

But there is still much work to be done. Britain seems to have become a country ruled by fear. A country where civil servants cancel Christmas celebrations to please Muslims. A country where Sharia Courts are part of the legal system. A country where Islamic organizations asked to stop the commemoration of the Holocaust. A country where a primary school cancels a Christmas nativity play because it interfered with an Islamic festival. A country where a school removes the words Christmas and Easter from their calendar so as not to offend Muslims. A country where a teacher punishes two students for refusing to pray to Allah as part of their religious education class. A country where elected members of a town council are told not to eat during daylight hours in town hall meetings during the Ramadan. A country that excels in its hatred of Israel, still the only democracy in the Middle-East. A country whose capitol is becoming ‘Londonistan’.

I would not qualify myself as a free man. Four and a half years ago I lost my freedom. I am under guard permanently, courtesy to those who prefer violence to debate. But for the leftist fan club of islam, that is not enough. They started a legal procedure against me. Three weeks ago the Amsterdam Court of Appeal ordered my criminal prosecution for making ‘Fitna’ and for my views on Islam. I committed what George Orwell called a ‘thought crime’.

You might have seen my name on Fitna’s credit role, but I am not really responsible for that movie. It was made for me. It was actually produced by Muslim extremists, the Quran and Islam itself. If Fitna is considered ‘hate speech’, then how would the Court qualify the Quran, with all it’s calls for violence, and hatred against women and Jews?
Mr. Churchill himself compared the Quran to Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf. Well, I did exactly the same, and that is what they are prosecuting me for.

I wonder if the UK ever put Mr. Churchill on trial.

The Court’s decision and the letter I received form the Secretary of State for the Home Department are two major victories for all those who detest freedom of speech. They are doing Islam’s dirty work. Sharia by proxy. The differences between Saudi-Arabia and Jordan on one hand and Holland and Britain are blurring. Europe is now on the fast track of becoming Eurabia. That is apparently the price we have to pay for the project of mass immigration, and the multicultural project.

Ladies and gentlemen, the dearest of our many freedoms is under attack. In Europe, freedom of speech is no longer a given. What we once considered a natural component of our existence is now something we again have to fight for. That is what is at stake. Whether or not I end up in jail is not the most pressing issue. The question is: Will free speech be put behind bars?

We have to defend freedom of speech.

For the generation of my parents the word ‘London’ is synonymous with hope and freedom. When my country was occupied by the national-socialists the BBC offered a daily glimpse of hope, in the darkness of Nazi tyranny. Millions of my country men listened to it, illegally. The words ‘This Is London’ were a symbol for a better world coming soon. If only the British and Canadian and American soldiers were here.

What will be transmitted forty years from now? Will it still be ‘This Is London’? Or will it be ‘this is Londonistan’? Will it bring us hope, or will it signal the values of Mecca and Medina? Will Britain offer submission or perseverance? Freedom or slavery?

The choice is ours.

Ladies and gentlemen,

We will never apologize for being free. We will never give in. We will never surrender.

Freedom must prevail, and freedom will prevail.

Thank you very much.

Geert Wilders MP
Chairman, Party for Freedom (PVV)
The Netherlands

Geert Wilders website

Love is in the air!

Today there will be no further blog entries.  If you really try you can cope without the blogosphere for one day.

You will cope.

Voluntary and Community Sector working group.

An informative initial meeting of a working group that has to perform its task within a very short period of time.

It would be unfair on client groups, officers or indeed members (not to mention possibly against the code of conduct) to give details of progress in the creation of this report to cabinet.

I will say that I was pleased with the involvement and enthusiasm of the other members of the group.

Technorati Tags: nuneaton and bedworth borough council,cabinet,working group,voluntary and community sector

Individual Cabinet Member Decision – Positive Operational Drop-in units (PODS).

Earlier this afternoon I attended the individual cabinet member decision of Cabinet member and Portfolio holder Des O Brien.

Four PODS exist within the borough.  They are operated by Warwickshire County Council on ground owned by Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council on a licensed agreement.

Since their closure the PODS have been much missed by the community.  There benefits are much further reaching than merely exercise and occupying youngsters to distract them from mischief.

I am pleased to say that there were no speakers against the granting of the licenses.

Portfolio holder Des O Brien passed the single member decision.

Technorati Tags: individual cabinet member decision,positive operational drop-in units,pods,nuneaton and bedworth borough council,cabinet

Social Scrutiny Panel – Overview and Scrutiny Commission – 11th February 2009

Last night I attended a very interesting Social Scrutiny Panel meeting.

Rent Arrears

One item which is of great concern to me is the percentage of tenants in arrears who have had ‘Notices Seeking Possession’ served: -

This currently stands at 20.5%

I am appalled that in the current economic climate we are already serving orders on one in five of our tenants who are in arrears.  There is a lengthy process to be gone through, I understand that, but with the calamitous effect that this must have on people who by definition are already struggling and living with the worry of their situation my sympathies go out to the tenants.

If you are a Council tenant and you are in arrears with the rent do not hesitate.  Get in touch with the Council House immediately and talk to them.  If you do not feel that you want to talk to us directly then please seek advice from either ‘Advice Rights’ or the ‘Citizens Advice Bureau’.  Do not ignore the problem, it will not go away!

Nuisance motorbikes

Chief Inspector Adrian Knight, the Borough Commander for Nuneaton and Bedworth was in attendance.  The Chief Inspector told us that he has secured funding for purchase of two off-road bikes for the borough and training for six officers to ride them.

In all wards of the Borough there is a persistent problem with unlicensed motorcyclists making a nuisance of themselves.  Come the summer this should be a problem which will be much easier to control locally because we will not now be reliant on officers from outside the borough to ride over from other areas.

Domestic Abuse

Domestic Abuse is a very emotive subject and one which is responsible for an average of 30% of the violent crime statistics within the borough.

Chief Inspector Adrian Knight launched an initiative earlier in the year, which received coverage in the local press, to take preventative action in cases where persistent offenders can be identified.  This initiative has proven successful with the offenders that were targeted and as their levels of offending are reducing so the next persistent group are picked up.

Unfortunately the overall figures for this are not going down.  The ‘credit crunch’ has brought new offenders to the attention of the police.

My own thoughts on domestic abuse are too strong to be aired on a blog.  There is no excuse for this behaviour!

On street drinking

The ‘Designated Public Place Order’, often referred to as the ‘Alcohol Exclusion Zone’ is borough wide.  This means that the police and PCSO’s can, and will, be confiscating alcohol from anybody of any age who is seen drinking on the street.

As a society I do feel that we let ourselves down when I see people drinking alcohol whilst walking through the town or on residential streets.  There are plenty of bars still open who would welcome the trade.  If this is not to your taste, or if your pocket will not allow, I am sure that you can wait until you get to the comforts of your own home.

Cemetery land purchase

There was some discussion about the purchase of a piece of land to enable the borough to increase its provision for burials.  After some discussion it was voted on and agreed unanimously that recommendation be passed to Cabinet that this should go ahead as swiftly as possible.

Technorati Tags: nuneaton and bedworth borough council,british national party,social scrutiny panel,rent arrears,nuisance motorbikes,domestic abuse,on street drinking,designated public place order,alcohol exclusion zone,chief inspector,borough commander,cemetary land purchase

Camp Hill Opportunities Centre – update.

On Tuesday the 10th February I met Lynne Wilson, an officer of Warwickshire County Council, at the Camp Hill Community Centre.  Lynne is a Development Officer for Employment and Training.

Lynne updated me on the budget situation which is that the previous funding from the County Council for the I.T. suite has been withdrawn in the budget but sufficient funds have been found from other County Council funding to ensure that the people and staff who are already participating in education on the site CAN finish their courses.

If you remember the situation was that the courses would come to a complete halt at the end of February.

British National Party working for the community!

The Camp Hill Opportunities Centre received many e-mailed and telephoned messages of support but only one Councillor from either the Borough or County level bothered to actually do anything!

British National Party - Working in the community,

for the community!

To say that I am delighted that my efforts to help save these otherwise wasted courses have helped out, in however small or large a way, would be a complete understatement.

I am delighted.

Lynne is now arranging a meeting with other funding sources to see if the I.T. suite can continue on a full time basis.  The C.H.E.S.S. centre in Camp Hill has a fully functioning and under used I.T. suite.  Hopefully some accommodation can be made so that the fantastic work which began in the Opportunities Centre can be continued.

Technorati Tags: camp hill opportunities centre,warwickshire county council,british national party

Watch this NOW!

Take my word for it, you can spare ten minutes for this.  I have come across this on the internet.  If this does not wake people up then I do not know what will.

Turn on your speakers, turn them up, watch closely and think!

Job Seeking – ‘On yer bike’, ferry or plane.

After reading a story entitled As unemployment hits 12-year high of 1.97million, Jobcentres tell people: Go to Europe and earn 31p an hour in the Daily Mail today it has set me wondering.

The relevant piece for me is this piece: -

The Jobcentre Plus website is advertising almost 200,000 posts in Europe - many paying paltry wages - compared with only 61,905 jobs in the UK.

A job as a sous chef in Greece, for instance, is advertised at 31p an hour, while auxiliary jobs in Poland are going for 77p an hour.

Meanwhile, a job as a housemaid in Portugal pays £2.45 per hour.

The search by the Daily Mail follows Business Secretary Lord Mandelson's suggestion this month that those protesting against foreign workers could go and work in Europe.

In our local newspaper the jobs section lists a small and diminishing number of jobs in different counties but very few, and usually none, around the Nuneaton and Bedworth area.  Jobseekers are expected to show that they have been looking for work to be able to claim their benefit.  Foreign nationals in Britain claim our levels of benefit after twelve months residency so looking for work here is not financially painful for them.  British nationals abroad would similarly be entitled (amounts and times vary wildly) to claim but it would be far less than here if anything at all.

My question is this.

Now that there more than three times more foreign jobs than British jobs advertised for British workers to apply for.  Will benefit be withdrawn from British claimants if they refuse to apply for foreign jobs?

Answers in the comments section please.

Home Education = The next generation.

Our oldest two are home educated as you will know if you visit this part of the blogosphere with any frequency.

We firmly believe (which we accept does not mean that we are right and others are wrong) that the infant schools provide things which home education struggles to match.  The only way for young ones to learn how to cope with a room full of their peers, and all the attendant benefits and problems, is to be in a room full of their peers.  Infant schools generally do not create too much of a ruckus or fill their heads with claptrap, though this is beginning, so our youngest two attend a local infant school.

This week though a delivery of CGP books has arrived at our house.  It has been brought to our attention that James (6) is behind is his studies.  The school did not like to make much out of it apparently before.  Aimee, who is in reception, is doing ok so far.

James needs our help so the books were sent for, time will be given from somewhere, and home education will begin as a back up to state schooling.

We have not decided what will be best for the youngest ones yet.  They will try the next school we feel, as the eldest ones did, to see if they like it.  They may be home supported in their education or we may pull them out with the their elder siblings.

I draw no conclusions at this point but for me the pattern is slowly repeating itself!

Technorati Tags: home education

Residents Executive Committee – Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council.

Last Saturday I took a trip into the Council House to meet with the representatives of the Residents Executive Committee.  This meeting was open to all elected members of Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council and residents.  It is a shame then that only three out of a possible thirty four councillors bothered.

I was warmly greeted and shown through a whistle-stop presentation of the works program for the Residents Executive Committee for 2009.  Comprising residents, this committee does valuable work throughout the council.

To quote from the website: -

The REC work at a strategic level looking at all aspects of the Housing Service.

• Why do we do it?

• How do we do it ?

• How much will it cost?

They want to ensure work gets done on time, that it meets the agreed standard, and tenants and leaseholders get best value for money on all housing services. They work together with contractors and housing services to ensure the best job is done.

Members of the REC do not take or report repairs, or deal with complaints. We have complaints forms that are monitored and the REC only get involved if they feel the system has failed in some way.

Publicity is always a problem for such groups.  Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council could do more to help.  Their website page is hardly inspiring.  I shall be making representation to I.T about this.  Surely we can do better than that for our primary residents input group.

The Residents Executive Committee exists to represent tenants and leaseholders of the borough council within council meetings and to make sure that their interests are put across to members and officers of the council.  They do ‘mystery shop’ council services as well, sometimes with interesting results.

Technorati Tags: residents executive committee,nuneaton and bedworth borough council

Frosty the Snowman – Goodbye dear friend.

It was only a few days ago that we built frosty.  Rolling up three large snowballs, stacking them up and compacting snow into the spaces to form the body.  With the help of a few extra handfuls of snow splattered and shaped where appropriate the ears and nose took shape.  The blue eyes are decorative stones from a garden feature, placed within small finger imprint holes.  A small stick was used to carve out the mouth and with lots of sympathetic smoothing and patting all over our new mate Frosty was created.

A Snowman’s life is a short one in the Midlands because we are mercifully spared the worst ravages of the weather.  This particular one however will be missed.

The ‘creation crew’ for Frosty included children aged 4, 6 and 10.  He has been played around, watched and talked about quite extensively.

His condition at present I will not describe.  It is certainly not the fresh faced look of the photograph above.  With all the best will in the world he will not be with us as much more than a snow-stump tomorrow.

Goodbye dear friend.

Technorati Tags: frosty the snowman