Neil MacDonald

Sunny Jim

Why is Jim Callaghan remembered so widely with such warm affection? Tributes seem to be pouring in. I was still at school when he was Prime Minister but even then most people thought he was doing his best. As the years have passed we recognise more and more how he combined compassion and integrity.

There's a lesson there for every budding politician.

Ipswich Tories in Turmoil

Looks like Tory Turmoil is catching.  No sooner has Howard Flight been sacked for revealing the hidden agenda for more tax cuts, than the Tory leader of Ipswich Borough Council has resigned his post.  Cllr Jackson has been reported to the Standards Board of England to allow them to investigate an allegation of improper conduct.  Jackson is only leader because the previous Tory leader was suspended by the Standards Board last year!

What a shower.

The whites of their eyes

Hardened campaigners know that the best way to meet voters is to knock on their door and introduce yourself.  To get close enough to see the whites of their eyes, to mis-quote Sir Andrew Agnew at Dettingen.

This week I joined my county colleagues in their doorstep campaign for their elections, which are definitely on the fifth of May.  They started in a solid Labour area so we were hoping for a good response and I thought the response was good.  The issues raised here were more to do with local matters. "My roof leaks and the council hasn't fixed it" rather than in depth discussion about macro-economic policy.

However, while there was a degree of unhappiness with Labour there was no desire to vote Tory.  One bloke summed it up "It's Labour or nothing". He has an issue with the County Council which needs sorting so hopefully we can deal with that and he will be Labour this time.

Now we've got to get them to turn out on the day!

Bloggers4labour

My fame has spread - received an email from Bloggers4Labour, which I have pasted below.  More Labour blogs than you can shake a stick at!

The site is hosted by eblogger which presumably provides the advert for the LibDems!  That needs to be replaced with www.libdemwatch.co.uk !

Hi Neil,

Thought I'd let you know that I've added your rather fine blog to the list
at Bloggers4Labour and mentioned you in today's post.

Bloggers4Labour website

If you haven't come across Bloggers4Labour before, it's a project to bring
together all Labour-supporting bloggers under one roof, to get them more
publicity, and provide them with some useful resources.

Good luck with your campaign!

Blog of the Year?

I have been shortlisted by the Guardian for their political weblog of the year.  I nearly fell off my chair when I saw my name.  My fifteen minutes of fame start here!  Surely the victor will get their own column?

If you haven't voted on my behalf then please do so at Guardian weblog

At this point in time, it looks like it's between Peter Black, a member of the Welsh Assembly and me.  Peter has been blogging for a couple of years and has an extensive, well-established site.  Presumably he has an Agent and secretary - he has two offices anyway - which will make it easier to find time to write.

One of the other sites up for an award is LibDem Watch - I'm sure Peter is an avid reader!

Truth about the Tories cuts

Howard Flight has done the country a favour by being an unwitting whistleblower on the scale of cuts being planned by the Tories.  It is unfortunate for him that he has been fired by Michael Howard and de-selected by his constituency party already.  All he did was tell the truth!  The 21st Century Tory party moves fast.

Mr Flight said: "The potential for getting better taxpayer value is a good bit greater than the James findings".  What he really means is more cuts in services.

The gap between Labour and Tory spending plans is already a chasm.  More money needed in the NHS to treat an ageing population, in schools to provide pre-school and after-school clubs and to provide sufficient neighbourhood policing teams.  Tory cuts will mean an end many front line services.  Mr Flight will have opened many eyes.

Commision for Africa

The Commision for Africa reported back last week - on Red Nose Day. 

Tony Blair takes the presidency of Europe and the G8 later this year and he will use the report to drive change in Africa.  I think this passage from the report sums it up:

Bold comprehensive action on a scale needed to meet the challenges can only be done through a new kind of partnership. In the past, contractual and conditional approaches were tried, and failed. What we are suggesting is a new kind of development, based on mutual respect and solidarity, and rooted in a sound analysis of what actually works.  This can speed up progress, building on recent positive developments in Africa, towards a just world of which Africa is an integral part.

It's good to see "what actually works" is in there as surely this is the most important thing?  Africa is not the West and a different approach is needed. 

It was also good to see that Sir Bob Geldof is part of the commission - he will not put his name to some political talking shop.  I am really hopeful that the commission will bring positive change to Africa.

Dispersal Order

A Dispersal Order has been placed on some of the streets in my Ipswich ward. A group of teenagers have been hanging around creating nuisance and anti-social behaviour.  This was going on every night with groups of up to 40 people.  I am pleased the order has come into force because clearly the situation was intolerable for local people and the police needed to be granted the powers necessary to gain control. The police certainly give the area a higher priority now, and there is a rapid response to any incidents. The Order gives police the power to move anybody out of the dispersal area or to a place of safety, such as their parents' house.  Under normal circumstances, the police can only move on or arrest people who are committing an offence, so the order gives the police the teeth to deal with potential trouble before it becomes actual trouble.

Law abiding citizens have nothing to be worried about.  We must also remember that the majority of teenagers are not troublemakers.

The dispersal order is for six months and in that time the community, schools, police and council need to take stock of the situation and make sure that it cannot happen again. The Labour Government has provided Ipswich with Liveability Fund money to the tune of £3.7 million over 2 years to spend on projects related to cleaner and safer Ipswich.  I am pleased that the council's "Making A Difference" team will be in St Johns ward in April & May.  Hopefully they can make an impact on the cleaner and safer agenda.  They will definitely need a chewing gum removal machine in their toolkit!

The key lesson I have learned is that solid community policing is required to stop small problems becoming big problems. Ipswich police do have a plan to move to more community based policing and they need to be encouraged, and pushed if necessary, to take this plan forward.

Mr Incredible

This made me chuckle, Gordon Brown as Mr Incredible!

It's from the Daily Mirror - www.mirror.co.uk

Gordon Brown's Budget

There is a media frenzy over the budget so I'll just make two points which interested me:

Firstly the UK has a stable economy with historically low levels of debt.  Back in 1994, 75% of all new public spending went to debt interest and social security - paying the price of economic failure. Today, 75% of all new money goes to investment in hospitals, schools and public services. 

As Brown himself put it: "With living standards since 1997 rising on average by 3% each year, Britain has today the best combination of low inflation, high employment and rising living standards in a generation".

Secondly, I was very pleased to see the commitment to a free local bus pass for pensioners and even more pleased to see the treasury stump up £420 million to make it happen.

The key thing is that Brown has delivered a stable, growing economy - best in the developed world - and some sweetners for key voter groups.  An excellent  pre-election budget.