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

SUMMER BREAK

Hang out the flags! This will be the last article for a few weeks to allow the holiday season to unfold.

Jan and I will be off shortly with our bucket and spade for our annual fortnight’s break, this year to France. It will be a good time to recharge batteries, get things in perspective and make plans. As we sip our entente cordials by the Gallic pool I will no doubt be turning over next year in my mind.

Because it promises to be a big year on the political front both locally and nationally. Naturally, all taxpayers will be looking hard to see whether all of the extra money is going to produce markedly better hospitals and schools. Or will we need more radical reforms? A close eye will have to be kept on the economy and the spending and borrowing plans with many predicting difficulties. There will be anguished debates about the new EU constitution and the Inter-Governmental-Conference that will finally agree it. Will we get a referendum on it? On the global front, terrorism and security issues will remain at the forefront, with Korea a real worry. Skilful diplomacy is required.

But locally there will be some significant issues too: the closure of Haye road while the diggers bore a tunnel underneath to give access to the aggregate the other side; decisions about whether the new town at Sherford – or the airport – will go ahead. Few doubt that thousands of new homes will be built locally over the next 20 years, but where? Plans to develop the massive Blue Circle site will be taken forward and with it the impact on the local community, not least Billacombe Green. There will be plenty of lively public meetings on these and other hot potatoes over the next few months.

There will be changes close to home also, as Sally Dean, the person who runs my constituency office and her husband Martin are expecting their first baby in September. For six months the rest of the team will be valiantly holding the fort without the efficient and committed input that Sally provides. We wish her well on this wonderful new adventure.

Are these events unconnected? No. Decisions we take nationally and locally over the next twelve months will help to shape the kind of country and locality that young Dean will inhabit. Better get it right then.
Have a great summer.

TRUST

Unless you are a political junkie, absorbed with the minutiae of the Westminster hothouse, you will by now be thoroughly fed up, as I am, with the row between the BBC and the Government. Every news bulletin, every newspaper seemingly obsessed with the War of the Worlds Mark II.

It is being done to death. Sadly, the tragic death of a good man driven to an early grave by other people’s shenanigans. My heart goes out to his family who should now be allowed to grieve in peace. I am glad that a top law lord has been appointed to get to the bottom of this matter. Perhaps we could now quietly await the outcome of Lord Hutton’s inquiry and concentrate on some of the equally pressing issues facing the country, not least affordable housing, the rise in violent crime and the EU Constitution.

But I am not convinced that this will happen, so we are in for a tedious summer of navel gazing. Of course, there is one very real sense in which this tragedy is of great national importance. The real issue underlying all of this is: trust. Can we trust our leaders – not to be perfect, that is too much to ask – but at least to tell us the truth? Can we trust the media, above all the BBC, to be impartial and fair?

We have an unwritten constitution in this country full of subtle checks and balances. Ministers must never mislead Parliament, and MPs are there to hold them to account. We want an unfettered media in which the publicly funded BBC plays a central role. We need to be absolutely confident that this institution is not peddling its own prejudices or pursuing its own agenda.

We are going through an unattractive spell in British public life, where more and more people doubt the motives and integrity of those in the public square. We cannot go on like this.

Nor will we. History does not flow in a straight line. It is full of cycles and seasons; ebb and flow. To every action there comes a reaction. As the trust in public figures continues to run through our fingers there is a huge gap in the market for senior figures in public life to demonstrate that they are what they seem; mean what they say; tell the truth even if it hurts. That gap will be filled. The question is: by whom?

TRANSPORT

Close your eyes and think about it. You are summonsed to Number Ten Downing Street where the newly ensconced Prime Minister shakes you warmly by the hand and offers you a seat on the plush leather chair.

“I want you to be Secretary of State for Transport,” he smiles knowingly, “to sort out public transport in this country.”

With a bit of luck you will simply wake up and realise it was just a terrifying nightmare.

What is the solution to our transport difficulties in this country? The motorways are chock-a-block with cars, white vans and lorries. Too many trains are irregular, dirty and slow. The bus service is patchy and unreliable and if you live in a rural area: forget it.

Years of neglect and under investment in state owned railways and bus services over many decades and by all governments have led us to this sorry pass, combined with one overwhelming reality: the British people have chosen the car. Partly in response to the paucity of public transport maybe, but even so, the love affair with the car is now unstoppable.

It is madness, pure madness that I get in my car every Sunday night or Monday morning, often alone, and drive to the centre of our capital city rather than taking the train or plane. But years of flying on to Newquay and having to bus it back to fog-bound Plymouth, and the gradual discovery that House of Commons voting patterns and railway timetables are incompatible have persuaded me: my car is quicker, more reliable and more convenient. 75% of British people agree with me.

So what will you do to sort out the problem in your new ministerial post?
Get the lorries off the road? That would be great, but it will cost more and the consumer will have to pay. Introduce congestion charges in every major city? Good idea, but will the motorist thank you at election time? Build more stations? Marvellous – just stroll along to Ivybridge to see how often that new station is ever used. Pump billions into the railways and buses to get fares down and services up? Perhaps, but do you think the taxpayer wants to be clobbered again?

Don’t get me wrong – we can do better than this, but there are no pain free solutions.

Still want the job? No thanks, PM; could I have something simple like the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy?

posted by Nigel on Friday, July 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

NEW TECHNOLOGY

On Friday I met a man in a pub in Plympton. Not as sinister as it sounds: he was a university lecturer who lives in the constituency and we were there to discuss his PhD research on the use MPs make of websites. It was a thoroughly convivial encounter, but I left feeling heavy; pondering whether I really do make the best use of modern technology in the way I do my job.

I was under the naïve impression that having my own website would send a clear signal to the world at large – especially to the young people that all politicians are so keen to reach – that I am cutting edge and e-approachable. Not so – as my academic friend brutally pointed out to me. Any young person, now used to the all-singing all-dancing interactive websites of the largest corporations in the world, would come away from visiting my meagre website feeling distinctly disappointed, branding me a hopeless dinosaur.

I spent the weekend boring my family about it. Should I now make a major investment in cutting edge technology?

Some of my more “techy” colleagues do most of their post by e-mail; constantly update their gloriously interactive websites, peppered by unrelenting wisdom from every dusty corner of their constituency. Should I commit a huge chunk of my time and budget into constructing a website that seeks constituent’s views on every subject under the sun, publishes regular surveys and gives a blow by blow account of all of my opinions no matter how daft? Have I somehow been left behind by technology I did not understand?

“You don’t want to get too wrapped up in this new-fangled stuff,” my father loudly declared on Sunday as we tucked into my world famous barbequed sausages, “people still like to deal with a person. Pass the sauce.”

“Maybe,” I replied, but deep down I worried that I had simply inherited his Luddite genes.

But I thought back to the advice surgery that I had held earlier that weekend. 15 people, many in real need, having a one to one encounter with a fellow human being trying to help them. A handshake, a smile, hopefully a professional ear, with action to follow on Monday. It is why I came into politics. It helped me decide.
Yes, I must find ways of engaging with the thirty-somethings, but technology should be our servant, not our master. Not for the first time in my life, I am going to be guided by my dad.

posted by Nigel on Tuesday, July 15, 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

A YEAR OF BIG DECISIONS

Can we really be halfway through the year already? Where did those six action-packed war-filled six months go? Maybe the second half of the year will just trickle slowly by and go out with a whimper.

But for all of us who live in the shadow of the city of Plymouth, I suspect not. I can think of at least three major decisions likely to affect all of our lives just around the corner.

Later this year, the City Council will choose its next chief executive – the person who will drive the local authority forward for the rest of the decade. Does that matter? Yes, immensely. Leadership is vital in any organisation; and if it is right at the top it will – ultimately - be right all the way through. The Council faces many critical challenges over coming days and we will all benefit if the next chief is a Churchill not a Chamberlain.

Secondly, we will soon see the revised plan from the South Hams Council including the controversial new town for Sherford valley. Almost nobody thinks that concreting over this beauty spot is a good idea – but we must remember that the Council only included it into the original plan because the Government twisted their arms.

We certainly do need new affordable houses for local people, but far better, surely, to sprinkle them around the towns and villages. Not only for young people who want to live where they were born, but also to keep the villages alive providing new pupils for villages schools. I hope that sanity will prevail and the revised plan will fit the needs of the area.

Finally, and back to Plymouth again: this is the year when local decision makers will decide whether to buy into the Macky plan now being put together for the regeneration of Plymouth. From the glimpses I have seen this plan could be the catalyst for revitalising the city and take us into the twenty-first century. It could bring more people to live in the city centre, taking the pressure off green fields; could provide more attractive buildings where people want to live; could give us a vibrant shopping centre we can be proud of; could give us better access to the jewel in the crown – our waterfront, and much more besides. If we seize the moment, Plymouth could finally achieve its full potential.

2003, then is a year of big decisions. Fingers crossed!

posted by Nigel on Thursday, July 10, 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

SENSATIONALISM

OK, hands up, I surrender – you win. My suggestion 3 weeks ago that the bombed out Charles Cross Church might be demolished or moved has gone down like a lead balloon. This half-baked hare-brained ridiculous idea (whatever was I thinking of?) has provoked a massive response, almost entirely negative. I have been deluged with letters, e-mails and personal approaches suggesting that this was not the smartest idea since sliced bread. I have even met the last person who was baptised in that church before Hitler’s bombers did their work. She was not amused.

I have learnt 3 things from this. Usually my wife reads my articles before they go to print and for reasons unknown this vital safeguard did not happen that week. Never again.

Second, I already knew how attached Plymothians are to our turbulent but cherished history. This was a timely reminder.

Third, and here is the subject for this week, if you want to make a splash: be controversial. No wonder our national media has become so sensationalist: it sells. I sometimes wonder when I read reports in the national press about issues of which I have first hand experience. Were the journalists at the same meeting? Did they read a different document? Have I missed something in the translation? More often than not every possible opportunity is taken to exaggerate and push the boundaries of truthfulness to the limit to spice up and sensationalise. Readers react to being incensed rather than mildly interested; outraged rather than intellectually stimulated. It sells.

I read the opinion of columnists and ask: can they really believe that, with such excessive passion? Can any one person on the planet really hold all of these views with such unblinking vehemence? Probably not, but it sells.

To captivate the reader’s interest ever more titillating angles must be found. Papers outdo each other to be more and more provocative. The consumer gets used to one level of half-truths and embellishments and so a harder version must be served up. Even governments and political parties get caught up in the downward spiral to spin and go over the top. Is any of this a problem?
Yes because this is a dangerous slippery slope. Ultimately all objectivity gets left behind. Wisdom and balance get left on the shelf, and we end up with…well our current national media!
It sells, but is it any way to run a country?

posted by Nigel on Wednesday, July 02, 2003