Well done to England in winning the Ashes!

It was a great day (or night) seeing England win the Ashes. Many late evenings and drinks of coffee staying up through the night to see us move from an acadmeic chance of victory to the actual win.

Well done to England captain Andrew Strauss on his and the team's success.

When we had won I emailed my cricket team (includes those who did play and now live back in their native countries) - not a single Australian replied.

A New Year Message

The year has brought many positive things for our area – no increase in Heathrow expansion as well as a guarantee that Crossrail will be here to put investment into our wonderful diverse borough helping to bring investment to Acton and Ealing.

Liberal Democrats hope that the coming year sees investment into Gunnersbury Park so that it is an open space full of culture making visitors proud of West London. We have been campaigning for improvements for many years.

Acton, Southall and Ealing need transport improvements so that people are encouraged to walk more and use more public transport. Ealing Broadway needs to proper interchange and not just a simple reorganisation of the buses! Liberal Democrats believe that anything less will be a missed opportunity.

The Council needs to trust residents more by giving more influence to their community representatives in their so that they can bring what is required – whether that be better parks, road safety schemes or better recycling. Involving residents in decision-making is crucial. A good Council does this often without thinking about it.

In union, politicians and our residents, can really ensure that the Council will improve Ealing.

I think it is very appropriate in these times where people feels less safe because of the dark nights that we thank the local police force as well as our other vital services such as hospitals, doctors, nurses, teachers and those who bravely fight fires.

But sometimes in difficult times this is when we come together and help each other out. Perhaps a group that are often not recognised are those who care and look after others. You are also our community heros who deserve much praise.

I wish you a successful 2011.

Currently stuck on a tube

It is v sad that after years of investmestment that our tubes are still in such a poor state.

Ealing Council's Budget Cuts

On Tuesday Ealing Council agreed to cut about £55 million pounds from their budgets. Despite the Council leader stating this all the coalition government's fault only about 20 of the huge £55 million pounds figure is actual cuts. The rest a combination of efficiency savings or contractual changes to reduce the cost of the council pays companies.

Some areas are of concern:

I have some notes of what was agreed in terms of the budget cut and what it means: 

Councillor’s allowances - there are some special allowance cuts mentioned but no details. Apparently it means that a number of scrutiny committees will be cut leading to a less democratic Ealing Council. It means Ealing residents and opposition Councillors are less likely to be able to scrutinise what the Labour administration are doing or what mistakes they are making. The Lib Dem suggestion is to cut ALL the special councillor allowance by the same amount meaning no committees are lost but just the chairs (who get the allowance) get less. 

Park Ranger cuts – the cuts to the rangers are very severe (at over 50% of them losing their jobs). Liberal Democrats believe that these cuts (labelled as efficiency savings) will mean that our parks are left uncared for and in a poor state of repair which may lead to a future need for more costly spending on maintenance and upgrading. It is said that the police will patrol the (current) rangers’ areas but the police have not been asked so far as I understand. They would not wish to do the rangers’ job given they are stretched as well. In these cuts some areas cannot avoid cuts but these are very harsh.

Police & Community Safety matters – There are a number of PCSO cuts with a number of new PCs. This may appear to be helpful but it seems to contradict with the Council’s current pledge of Safer Communities. What are the implications of this cut on our parks and streets?

Given that many ward (SNT) teams are being moved to assist other wards (against the rules when they were set up) doing nationally related crime tasks Liberal Democrats believe more discussion is needed so that the police, enviro-crime officers and the police all know what each other will do so that things do not fall through the gaps.

I think a number of these cuts will hurt residents and so the policing ones need to be looked at in more detail with related areas of council so that we can be assured things will not turn out badly for residents. The administration didn't seem to want to discuss these later. They want to make the cuts now and hope things turn out okay. Not what most would call a useful approach.

A Mayoral charity event in Hounslow

Last night I attended a fund-raising event which the Mayor of Ealing, Councillor Rajinder Mann, was hosting in Hounslow.

The event started at 7pm and finished midnight! The recipients of the money raised (through ticket sales and the raffle) are to go to Age Concern Ealing and Ealing Association for the Blind. It was a great night where the (Indian) food was wonderful. There were bollywood dancers, singing and some speeches (an event with politicians usually means a speech or two!).

I was lucky enough to be on the table with Denyse Whillier, the Chief Exec of Age Concern Ealing who spoke about the great work their organisation do. In times where our country has been in financial turmoil, I think we all should try to help, even in a small way, others who are in more need than ourselves.

Ealing Council has no leadership on reducing waste

I attended Ealing Council's cabinet meeting tonight and two interesting things occured...

The first was that the Conservative party didn't attend. It wasn't obvious whether they forgot or went out to watch the football in the pub, but certainly the Labour party had a laugh at their expense.

The more inportant point was that when I asked a question about how Ealing Council was to reduce the amount of waste (household waste) that is created so less landfill is needed, the portfolio holder Bassam Mahfouz seemed to show little leadership or ideas.

It is good to recycle waste but better to stop waste being created in the first place. The Liberal Democrats believe more emphasis should occur in this area working with local businesses and other industry in the area to reduce waste like plastics and cardboard. They need to work on this area for sure.

Go and see comedian Mark Thomas

If you like comedians who not only make you laugh, but have a real ethical set of principles then Mark Thomas is for you.

I have been lucky to see him live over the years but tonight the gig took place in a tiny, dark location in Camden. However it made the event even better. The topic was about a ramble in the Middle East where he walked the entire length of the Israeli Separation Barrier crossing, between the Israeli and the Palestinian side. As Mark said: "It is a story of 300 000 settlers; a 750 km wall; six arrests, one stoning; too much humuus and a simple question...can you ever get away from it all with a good walk?"

It is wonderful to see a comedian making you laugh at what is a complex political issue. Comedy is about the funny things we do or say and he gets across a serious, important message while making you laugh about events along a journey.

Free up an evening and make a visit to see him. Check out:

http://www.markthomasinfo.com/