Gary's views

Gary's weekly views

Each week an article by Gary has appeared in the Plympton Plymstock and Ivybridge News in South West Devon. The articles are published here

SCHOOL CHILDREN SHOULD NOT DEMONSTRATE

I am going to upset a few people now, but it has to be said. Young school children should not be used to demonstrate against the war on the streets.

I sat on the first floor of Parliament Street last week and watched hundreds, maybe thousands, of screaming children. And they were children, aged maybe twelve to fourteen. They carried banners urging us not to attack Iraq, begging us to make peace not war and insulting the Prime Minister. One poster said: “Blair and Bush, out, out, out!” How profound.

They were larking about, jumping and joking, grinning and shouting, having a good day out. Some of them were rude to the police who seemed quite bewildered as to how to cope with such a youthful demonstration. What on earth were teachers thinking about, letting their pupils spill onto the streets in this way with their simplistic placards?

But I am even more horrified that a similar adolescent protest took place recently in Plymouth. If ever there was a place where wisdom should have prevailed over enthusiasm, surely it is in our garrison city.

Not just because children as young as twelve do not yet have the experience of life necessary to form judgements on this incredibly complex matter; not just because it can surely serve only to trivialise what is one of the most serious issues of our day; but also because there are thousands of school children in Plymouth whose mums and dads are in the armed services and for whom such crass demonstrations are just another kick in the teeth at a very difficult time.

The early casualties in the war illustrated the massive role this region plays in the front line of our military machine, with the tragic deaths of Plymouth Marines and helicopter pilots from nearby RNAS Culdrose. Most of us are rightly proud of the contribution these brave men and women make to our national and global security.

And most of them have parents, husbands and wives who get left behind when they go to war. And children. And if ever there was a time for us to close ranks and support these courageous families who are living daily on the edge of their nerves it is now.

Such is the valour and dedication of these service families that, however old we are, whatever our views on the politics of all this, they deserve our total and undivided support.

posted by Nigel on Monday, March 31, 2003

Gary's weekly views

Each week an article by Gary has appeared in the Plympton Plymstock and Ivybridge News in South West Devon. The articles are published here

THE WAR IN IRAQ

After a dramatic all day debate on Tuesday of this week I cast my vote in favour of military action. I did so for several reasons.

I believe that Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction that the weapons inspectors would not have found in a month of Sundays. I believe that he would be only too willing to make them available to terrorists who plan our destruction and – after 11th September - we could not take that risk. I believe that he would have played cat and mouse with the inspection process like the master of deception he has proven himself to be. I believe that it was important that Resolution 1441 was backed with force if the international community was ever to be taken seriously again by all the other dictators who are bound to come along. I believe that we have shown weakness in the past in the face of such terrorist threats and it is time to show strength.

In disarming him by force, or driving him out, we will be liberating the vast majority of the ordinary and innocent Iraqi people who have been oppressed by his murderous regime.

I would have preferred the action to have enjoyed the full support of the Security Council, but that hope was undermined by the unhelpful behaviour of the French Government. They are playing a dangerous game. It is imperative for future global security that the United Nations is strong and effective. Whether we like it or not, it cannot be so without the positive engagement of the USA. While we cannot give the White House a blank cheque, anything that drives the world’s only superpower away from acting collectively, only renders the UN useless.

Once this conflict is over, we must put an equal effort into helping a benign Iraqi government come into being and refocus our efforts on peace in the wider Middle East.

As we all know, many young men and women from this region have gone to the Gulf to do their duty. We know they will do it magnificently. They deserve and will receive our full support. But we should also spare a thought for their loved ones left at home, for whom this is a nervous and difficult time. Anything we can do to demonstrate that we stand with them through this agony of uncertainty is very important.

God speed and safe return!

posted by Nigel on Tuesday, March 25, 2003

Gary's weekly views

Each week an article by Gary has appeared in the Plympton Plymstock and Ivybridge News in South West Devon. The articles are published here

WHY LITTER BUGS ME

Am I the only one who thinks that this country is getting more litter strewn by the week? That is not intended as any refection on the efforts made by cash-strapped local councils who work hard trying to pick it all up. But every time I drive around the constituency, or up to London and back it is impossible not to be struck by the sheer volume of garbage in the verges and hedges of our green and pleasant land.

Few things irritate me more than to see a car window wound down and the scrunched up crisp packet discarded or the casual tossing over the shoulder of the Mars Bar wrapper on the way home from school.

Why does it matter? Well it looks horrible for a start. I have reached the stage of my life when I comment on how nice the flowers are looking on roundabouts as I drive past and the last thing I want to see is daffodils nestling stem by jowl with yesterdays chip wrappings. Secondly, just imagine how it looks to tourists who come to our part of the country to admire our stunning views. Would you come back twice if the image of Jennycliff you took away with you was one with fag packets cart-wheeling past? So there is an economic cost as well as a visual impact.

But most importantly, I subscribe to the “broken windows” theory that lay behind the massive progress made by New York in cracking down on crime in recent years. It goes something like this: if you let people get away with small incidents of anti-social behaviour, say dropping rubbish or scrawling graffiti, things quickly deteriorate. The character and quality of a neighbourhood then plummet resulting in many other forms of undesirable activity, crime and abandonment. It is about respect, and if we lose respect for our community we are on a slippery slope.

There are some practical things we can do. Wherever a new litter-generating outlet (takeaway etc) is granted planning permission to operate, they should be made responsible to clear up any litter emanating from their establishment within a given radius. We also have to change our cultural attitude to this and see the same improvement as we have with drink driving. This can be done at home, in school and on the media. Finally, we should enforce the by-laws that mean you can be fined for dropping litter. Maybe then we can start to reclaim our streets.

posted by Nigel on Wednesday, March 19, 2003

Gary's weekly views

Each week an article by Gary has appeared in the Plympton Plymstock and Ivybridge News in South West Devon. The articles are published here

WHAT’S WRONG WITH OUR HOSPITAL?

Last Friday I had an hour’s meeting with the top brass at Derriford Hospital. It was one of a regular series of briefings, but just happened to coincide with our hospital making the national press twice in the same week, and not for positive reasons. First, we had the bizarre revelation that ordinary dessert spoons are used in some operations and just a few days later we learnt an operating table had collapsed during a complex heart operation.

I know from my own advice surgeries and postbag that your experience has varied greatly over the past few years and of course some waiting lists remain stubbornly high. To be fair, many of you also praise the hospital to the hilt.

Given the importance to all of us of this massive medical centre, I have tried hard to get to the bottom of its recent run of poor publicity. We all know that the doctors and nurses and support staff are working very hard under enormous pressure. And although it is fashionable to bash the bureaucrats, I have to tell you that the senior executives are also impressive people who are clearly committed to producing a centre of excellence. So what is going wrong?

It largely comes down to capacity. Most hospitals operate at about 85% capacity level – i.e. running along nicely in third gear. So when a crisis comes along there is some slack in the system to cope with it. Derriford however pulsates at a capacity level of over 95% every day - sometimes over 100%. That means that it is running close to over-stretch all of the time. Unless we can solve that core reality, we will never get off the back foot.

Happily there are firm proposals in the pipeline to try and relieve the strain. A state of the art cardiac unit is to be installed in the next two years. Plans are well advanced for a new diagnostic and treatment centre on an adjoining site to deal with much of the routine surgery. There is talk of more local care centres scattered around the city so that many day patients will no longer even have to go up to Derriford. Each of these three schemes will divert patients away from the existing facility and help reduce the sheer intensity with which our angels of mercy struggle on a daily basis.

It should even reduce the pressure on that dreadful car park. And wouldn’t that be a prize worth having!

posted by Nigel on Tuesday, March 11, 2003