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

C0NSUMER DEBT

The total UK debt on credit cards exceeds £50 billion. The average adult in Britain now has personal debts (over and above any mortgage) of £5,330, most of it on our flexible friends. Meaningless figures? Well try this one for size: nearly three-quarters of all credit in Europe is taken up by the British!

We have become the nation of consumer debt, living on the never-never. And these figures do not include all of the re-mortgaging of recent years to purchase those goodies we simply cannot live without. Is this a problem or simply a facet of modern life?
For me the danger is sustainability. What happens if there is another recession and unemployment rises significantly; what if house prices tumble again; or have we really now conquered the laws of boom and bust? Drawing from the lessons of history, I somehow doubt it. In any event for thousands of people consumer debt is a problem now.

Speak to the hard-pressed heroes at the Citizens Advice Bureaux and you will quickly find that debt is the number one crisis facing their clients. I am certainly not in a position to lecture anyone. A few years ago my bank manager told me that if I ever became Chancellor of the Exchequer he would emigrate – hardly a pat on the back for my stewardship skills!

We are daily bombarded by adverts and glossy brochures from banks and lending agencies, begging us to borrow more money. Don’t worry if you have been turned down by others, or have a drawer full of county court judgments, the siren voices call, we can help you. Some call on the government to legislate to hold back this tidal wave of temptation.

Perhaps, but what about changing the culture. One of the most impressive books I ever read was called “The richest man in Babylon.” It described a man who from the day he received his first ever pay packet, saved ten per cent of everything he earned. He never touched this growing pot of capital, only the interest on it. Once the years and compound interest had done their job, middle age and retirement years were buttressed by significant security of capital. He never had a credit card.

No matter how little we earn in our first job, it is surely more than we had before we started work! Everyone can afford to save 10%. How about teaching this simple but life changing principle to all of our children.

posted by Nigel on Tuesday, July 27, 2004

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

SMACKING

Every few years something happens that re-ignites the public debate on whether the hundred old licence for parents to ‘reasonably chastise’ their children is morally acceptable today. This year, the government’s plans to tighten up, although not abolish that right has sparked off the discussion once again.

Child abuse is a terrible thing and we regularly hear of some of the most extreme examples on our local and national news. People who are convicted of such offences rightly receive hefty sentences and public opinion is normally united behind those decisions.

Any parent, grandparent, uncle, auntie, or anyone that has ever met a child abhors child abuse in any form. Likewise they realise that children need discipline. For most parent that involves, from time to time, a small tap on a part of the body that is not easily harmed.

This is not wrong, and the government are not intending to ban it. But there are problems in the legislation that they are bringing forward. One problem is that the legislation has a ‘one size fits all’ mentality about it. Children are classed as 0-16 even though any sensible parent realises that discipline is a very different issue with a five year old then a fifteen year old.

But there are more serious problems. Under the current plans parents would not be able to cause the child any physical harm such as scratching or bruising. This seems reasonable and I seriously doubt that anyone would object to the clarification of ‘reasonable chastisement’ in this manner. But the government also plans to make it illegal to leave any reddening of the skin – something that is almost impossible not to do when smacking the usual place of a child’s body.

As such, my fear is that this bill could bring in a smacking ban by stealth. This would do nothing to stop true child abuse, rather it would turn loving parents into criminals. Already overworked police officers would have to follow up reports of ‘abuse’ perhaps filed by nosey-neighbours, wasting their time and probably damaging the child’s upbringing.

One size does not fit all. For some children smacking is a useful form of discipline, for others it may not be. At the end of the day however, it is for parents, not governments to decide the best way for a child to be raised. I realise that this subject often provokes food for though and I would welcome hearing people’s opinions on this matter.

posted by Nigel on Monday, July 19, 2004

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 TOWN

All this week fresh discussions have been going on about the most controversial issue facing this constituency: the proposed new town at Sherford.

A quick recap. The government says that there must be 6,500 extra homes in our part of the South Hams and most of them must be in a new settlement close to Plymouth. The South Hams Council doesn’t want to build them, but it has no choice. It has brought forward imaginative proposals for four villages stretching from the Deep land junction on the A38 all the way down to Sherford and Brixton on the A379. The people have been consulted and the council is pondering what to do next.

Hardly anybody wants to see a new town carved out of green fields. At the same time we all know that there is a need for more affordable housing for local people. So what is to be done?

This week, the much-respected Princes Foundation is consulting widely with local opinion formers especially about quality and design issues.

That is important, but I think that the big picture first needs to be settled. Where should it be? How many houses? What sort of settlement and how will it plug into the existing infrastructure? In the end all these will be decisions for our excellent South hams councillors. I wish them well.

In the meantime, let me take a stab at what I think the least worst solution is (bearing in mind I don’t want it either).

As many homes as possible should be built in the centre of Plymouth to bring it alive.
But if that is not possible and we have to have a new town it should be clustered on the south side of the A38 around the Deep Lane junction. This will enable new residents to use the existing road structures that work fairly well rather than clog up the already choked A379. It would also leave the villages of Sherford and Brixton in peace and gobble up much less prime farmland.

The idea of four villages is great in theory but unrealistic. The new town should be modelled on Chaddlewood, which has been a very successful development, although more community facilities are required. There should be plenty of affordable housing just for locals, but some of this should be sprinkled throughout the existing villages as well to keep them alive.

posted by Nigel on Monday, July 12, 2004

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

IRAQ

As you are all aware on Monday of this week Britain and America handed over the Sovereignty of Iraq to the nation’s new government. As I was reflecting on this, that famous Maggie quote so often piped out during the eighties came to mind: ‘There is no alternative.’

Most people in the West Country had a range of feelings about the war in Iraq. We are a very strong military area and together we took pride in out armed services that bravely carried out the most dangerous job in the world with great skill. As a region and as individual families we also experienced great losses, a reminder that even a just war is a tragic thing.

People across the country - and Devon is no exception - had understandable reservations about the rights and wrongs of going to war in the first place. Even after the end of official hostilities many have been understandably critical of the way that America has lead the reconstruction process. I have long been calling for a greater role for the United Nations and I am very glad to see that finally happening.

It is easy to be too negative about what is happening in Iraq. Saddam, the tyrant, is gone and the Iraqis are in control. For the first time in years people are free to express their views. Children are going to properly equipped schools, a free market in goods is emerging and there have been steady improvement in energy supplies. But this is easily eclipsed by the regular news bulletins reporting the latest instalment of terror and tragedy.

Whether the war was right or wrong is now a question for historians. When we look at the rebuilding of Iraq we must join with Maggie and say ‘there is no alternative.’ If we allow the insurgents to succeed, the consequences for all of us could be cataclysmic. We must demonstrate that the principles of democracy and the rule of law can be established even in parts of the world where there is no immediate history of them. No time for grandstanding and “told you so’s”- the international community must pour in the support to help the new Iraqi government to establish a secure and prosperous nation.

Let us hope and pray that one day Iraq may be a place of peace and a beacon of democracy that can be a model to the rest of the Middle East. It will not be easy. But the alternative is too horrible to contemplate.

posted by Nigel on Tuesday, July 06, 2004