A Cranford college got a step closer to its dreams of green energy this week when Hounslow Council said it could put up two wind turbines – reports the Brentford, Chiswick and Isleworth Times.
The 15-metre tall turbines planned for Cranford Community College will cost around £50,000 to install but should substantially reduce power bills and help the environment.
Julie Spiller, senior laboratory technician at the college, said that the turbines would also be a helpful tool to give pupils practical lessons in sustainable energy.
The machines will be connected to college computers so that youngsters studying geography or science can keep an eye on how much power is being generated.
If MPs weren’t going to vote £2.5bn extra a year away to the EU, 100,000 wind turbines like this could be installed on public buildings across the country every year, making a significant contribution to reducing CO2 emissions.
Surely if MPs were serious about tackling what they call the serious threat of global warming, this is what they’d choose to spend that money on.
Instead they choose to lecture us all about making drastic changes to our lifestyles, while throwing public money that could help combat the problem away on the EU.
There’s a serious credibility problem looming for MPs on climate change if they vote this £2.5bn extra every year away to the EU.
Friday, 17 November 2006
Keen MPs help victims of Farepak
Husband and wife MPs Ann and Alan Keen have visited Feltham residents hit by the collapse of Christmas hamper company Farepak – reports the Brentford, Chiswick & Isleworth Times.
The MPs visited Burns Avenue neighbours said to be worst affected in the borough, after losing £30,000.
The government introduced a Farepak Response Fund after the company went bust last month and Ann Keen has confirmed that she supports the idea.
"Seeing people on such low incomes being exploited really turns you inside. I am doing everything I can to support my constituents who are affected.", she said.
Adding: "On this occasion I can also confirm that Alan Keen MP will be following suit."
Alan Keen MP said: "The top priority is to get the best financial settlement possible for those families affected before Christmas, and every contribution no matter how small will help towards that."
However, the Response Fund, welcome though it is, can only hope to repay a fraction of the amount people have lost.
The fund currently stands at £4m, whereas the total loss to Farepak customers in the UK is estimated at between £60m - £80m.
Yet meanwhile, both Ann and Alan Keen intend to vote to approve paying an extra £2.5bn a year to the EU – a 60% ‘raise’ over the billions we already pay.
That’s money that could relieve the victims of the Farepak collapse at a stroke, if Ann and Alan Keen were really prepared to do "everything" they can.
What would the EU do with the money instead? No-one knows for sure how the EU spends the money we give it. Auditors haven’t been able to sign off the EU’s accounts as accurate for twelve years in row.
The MPs visited Burns Avenue neighbours said to be worst affected in the borough, after losing £30,000.
The government introduced a Farepak Response Fund after the company went bust last month and Ann Keen has confirmed that she supports the idea.
"Seeing people on such low incomes being exploited really turns you inside. I am doing everything I can to support my constituents who are affected.", she said.
Adding: "On this occasion I can also confirm that Alan Keen MP will be following suit."
Alan Keen MP said: "The top priority is to get the best financial settlement possible for those families affected before Christmas, and every contribution no matter how small will help towards that."
However, the Response Fund, welcome though it is, can only hope to repay a fraction of the amount people have lost.
The fund currently stands at £4m, whereas the total loss to Farepak customers in the UK is estimated at between £60m - £80m.
Yet meanwhile, both Ann and Alan Keen intend to vote to approve paying an extra £2.5bn a year to the EU – a 60% ‘raise’ over the billions we already pay.
That’s money that could relieve the victims of the Farepak collapse at a stroke, if Ann and Alan Keen were really prepared to do "everything" they can.
What would the EU do with the money instead? No-one knows for sure how the EU spends the money we give it. Auditors haven’t been able to sign off the EU’s accounts as accurate for twelve years in row.
Ealing: MP fears at police opening hours
Steve Pound MP has backed calls for Greenford Police Station to be opened for longer in the evening – reports the Ealing & Acton Gazette.
The Ealing North MP backed residents after a series of violent incidents left people feeling "insecure".
He said: "The station is not fit for purpose. It needs to be refurbished and improved so that it can be staffed throughout the night.
"There seems to have been an increase of crimes in the area and people would feel more secure if the station was opened longer."
Last month, a student was stabbed after getting off a bus in The Broadway, while gangs of professional pick-pockets have been targeting shoppers in the busy thoroughfare.
However, funding longer opening hours will take more money and Mr Pound needs to explain where’s that money going to come from. Perhaps he shouldn’t, as he intends to, vote to waste an extra £2.5bn a year on the EU – a 60% increase over current payments?
Especially given there’s no justification for handing the EU such a vast amount extra while auditors can’t tell us how the majority of what we already pay is being spent.
But if Mr Pound doesn’t like that idea, he needs to come up with a better one.
Demanding in newspapers that public services like the police do more, while voting to waste vast amounts of public money on the EU that could help improve their work, is surely simply posturing.
That's unlikely to go down well with Ealing voters, come the next election.
The Ealing North MP backed residents after a series of violent incidents left people feeling "insecure".
He said: "The station is not fit for purpose. It needs to be refurbished and improved so that it can be staffed throughout the night.
"There seems to have been an increase of crimes in the area and people would feel more secure if the station was opened longer."
Last month, a student was stabbed after getting off a bus in The Broadway, while gangs of professional pick-pockets have been targeting shoppers in the busy thoroughfare.
However, funding longer opening hours will take more money and Mr Pound needs to explain where’s that money going to come from. Perhaps he shouldn’t, as he intends to, vote to waste an extra £2.5bn a year on the EU – a 60% increase over current payments?
Especially given there’s no justification for handing the EU such a vast amount extra while auditors can’t tell us how the majority of what we already pay is being spent.
But if Mr Pound doesn’t like that idea, he needs to come up with a better one.
Demanding in newspapers that public services like the police do more, while voting to waste vast amounts of public money on the EU that could help improve their work, is surely simply posturing.
That's unlikely to go down well with Ealing voters, come the next election.
Ealing: Three groups make final list for community award cash
Three deserving groups have been shortlisted for a local community award that will see the winner receive a £1,000 grant towards their work – reports the Ealing & Action Gazette.
Mind in Ealing, the 5th Hanwell Cubs and the Holy Cross under 5s in Greenford are the finalists for the prize, which has been donated by Barclays Bank.
The competition attracted a flood of entries of a "very high calibre", from youth clubs to support groups for children with special needs.
Readers of the Gazette were asked to nominate the ones they felt made a real difference to people’s lives.
Jeri Appiah, chief executive of Mind in Ealing, said: "This is really great to be a finalist. We do give a very good service to the community, supporting people with mental problems, in employment and helping people gain access to services."
The popularity and high number of entries to this competition shows just how many "high calibre" small groups that people feel are "making a real difference to people’s lives" are in need of even small amounts of extra money towards their work.
Put this scramble among community groups for just £1,000 – with only one lucky organisation winning the cash – next to the £6bn a year the government is planning to lavish on the EU. The injustice and waste is glaring.
If Ealing’s MPs weren’t planning to vote pay that money to the EU, when the EU budget deal comes before Parliament for approval, several thousand community groups in each Ealing constituency alone could be given £1,000 to aid their work. Every year!
Sadly this abject irresponsibility with large quantities of public money by Ealing’s MPs means only one deserving group in Ealing will get support for their work.
And an organisation that hasn’t had its accounts approved by auditors for twelve years running is getting billions more to waste.
Is this what MPs think standing up for their communities means?
Mind in Ealing, the 5th Hanwell Cubs and the Holy Cross under 5s in Greenford are the finalists for the prize, which has been donated by Barclays Bank.
The competition attracted a flood of entries of a "very high calibre", from youth clubs to support groups for children with special needs.
Readers of the Gazette were asked to nominate the ones they felt made a real difference to people’s lives.
Jeri Appiah, chief executive of Mind in Ealing, said: "This is really great to be a finalist. We do give a very good service to the community, supporting people with mental problems, in employment and helping people gain access to services."
The popularity and high number of entries to this competition shows just how many "high calibre" small groups that people feel are "making a real difference to people’s lives" are in need of even small amounts of extra money towards their work.
Put this scramble among community groups for just £1,000 – with only one lucky organisation winning the cash – next to the £6bn a year the government is planning to lavish on the EU. The injustice and waste is glaring.
If Ealing’s MPs weren’t planning to vote pay that money to the EU, when the EU budget deal comes before Parliament for approval, several thousand community groups in each Ealing constituency alone could be given £1,000 to aid their work. Every year!
Sadly this abject irresponsibility with large quantities of public money by Ealing’s MPs means only one deserving group in Ealing will get support for their work.
And an organisation that hasn’t had its accounts approved by auditors for twelve years running is getting billions more to waste.
Is this what MPs think standing up for their communities means?
Saturday, 11 November 2006
Deep sense of mistrust over NHS cuts
Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Leeds to protest over NHS cuts, reports the BBC.
Similar demonstrations have drawn enormous support at events across England, promoted by job losses and possible cuts in services.
Last month thousands of demonstrators packed the centre of Guildford, and there were also protests in Haywards Heath and Worthing. Another is coming up in Epsom.
Surrey has five major hospitals yet the local NHS trust is heading for a deficit of more than £90 million (less than one day’s worth of Britain’s contribution to the EU budget).
At a hotel in Guildford last week about 30 people including health managers, clinicians and activists met to exchange ideas and information ahead of formal consultation about NHS changes.
Similar demonstrations have drawn enormous support at events across England, promoted by job losses and possible cuts in services.
Last month thousands of demonstrators packed the centre of Guildford, and there were also protests in Haywards Heath and Worthing. Another is coming up in Epsom.
Surrey has five major hospitals yet the local NHS trust is heading for a deficit of more than £90 million (less than one day’s worth of Britain’s contribution to the EU budget).
At a hotel in Guildford last week about 30 people including health managers, clinicians and activists met to exchange ideas and information ahead of formal consultation about NHS changes.
Thursday, 9 November 2006
Darlington: MP criticises town police
MP Alan Milburn has criticised Durham Police for a dramatic rise in the time it takes the force to respond to incidents in Darlington – reports The Advertiser.
Statistics from Durham Police show that the number of immediate incidents that were attended by police within ten minutes have fallen from 82.8% to 62.9%.
Mr Milburn said the response times were a ‘real cause for concern’.
The revelation comes only days after Durham Police announced that up to 300 officers could be axed from the force to stop them sliding more than £10m into debt.
Mr Milburn said: "These response times are not brilliant, and people from across Darlington have contacted me about this. I am very concerned about what I have heard."
The MP was in the Lascelles area of his constituency, where many residents were outraged when their dedicated beat bobby patrol was axed last year, despite significant rising crime levels on their estate.
Isn’t it somewhat hypocritical of an MP like Alan Milburn to complain that his local police force is not responding adequately, when it has been forced to make cuts due to a lack of money – while quietly intending to vote billions of pounds extra that could solve such local policing problems away to the audit-failing EU?
Such behaviour would surely expose his ‘concern’ about shortfalls in local policing to be nothing more than posturing, as he would appear to be unwilling to prevent public money that could help being instead wasted on the EU.
Statistics from Durham Police show that the number of immediate incidents that were attended by police within ten minutes have fallen from 82.8% to 62.9%.
Mr Milburn said the response times were a ‘real cause for concern’.
The revelation comes only days after Durham Police announced that up to 300 officers could be axed from the force to stop them sliding more than £10m into debt.
Mr Milburn said: "These response times are not brilliant, and people from across Darlington have contacted me about this. I am very concerned about what I have heard."
The MP was in the Lascelles area of his constituency, where many residents were outraged when their dedicated beat bobby patrol was axed last year, despite significant rising crime levels on their estate.
Isn’t it somewhat hypocritical of an MP like Alan Milburn to complain that his local police force is not responding adequately, when it has been forced to make cuts due to a lack of money – while quietly intending to vote billions of pounds extra that could solve such local policing problems away to the audit-failing EU?
Such behaviour would surely expose his ‘concern’ about shortfalls in local policing to be nothing more than posturing, as he would appear to be unwilling to prevent public money that could help being instead wasted on the EU.
Wednesday, 1 November 2006
Thousands protest at NHS cuts
Oxfordshire health union representatives joined thousands of campaigners marching in London today to express their concern over NHS cuts and privatisation - reports the Oxford Times.
People from across the country were meeting in Westminster to lobby MPs over health trust deficits and hospital department closures.
The rally has been organised by NHS Together, an alliance of unions and organisations representing NHS staff.
Patricia Marquis, the Royal College of Nursing's area manager for Thames Valley, said 20 union leaders from Oxfordshire were attending.
She said: "The issues have not changed - we are talking about funding issues affecting the NHS in Oxfordshire and cuts to NHS services, including plans to downgrade the Horton Hospital.
People from across the country were meeting in Westminster to lobby MPs over health trust deficits and hospital department closures.
The rally has been organised by NHS Together, an alliance of unions and organisations representing NHS staff.
Patricia Marquis, the Royal College of Nursing's area manager for Thames Valley, said 20 union leaders from Oxfordshire were attending.
She said: "The issues have not changed - we are talking about funding issues affecting the NHS in Oxfordshire and cuts to NHS services, including plans to downgrade the Horton Hospital.
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