Claire's Blog

2004-04-06T22:55:00.000+01:00

I've been caught out!
I have been very quiet on the posting front recently. The truth is, I have my assessment day date through - the 17th April.
This is the stage where the Lib Dems grill me for a day and decide if they think I'm good enough to be a candidate. So I have been spending every spare minute swotting policy etc. The basic principles come very easily as they are as much a part of me as the Liberal Democrats. But the nuances of the policies are difficult to take in en masse.
Plus I have been up to Scotland for three days to visit the nephew, who just happens to be the most handsome little man ever made. He's three months old and just starting to become aware the world around him. It's such a pity that we don't remember those days, being pushed or carried around, doing nothing but drink milk, unconstrained by the rules of society.

2004-03-25T10:07:00.000Z

I can't believe it - the end of an era.
I shall listen to the Biggest Show tomorrow with a tear in my eye and sadness in my heart. I have grown up with Mark and Lard and they have brought me great joy throughout the years.
When I was but a fledgling teenager, trying to learn how to be moody, aggressive, but most of all, cool, Mark and the boy Lard were there for me, 10pm every night, to tell me what the best music was. I shall never forget hearing Aquiesque by Oasis for the first time and thinking it was just the coolest thing on the planet. (Oasis went rapidly downhill from there, but that's a different story)
Through my student days they were there, mostly in their ill-fated breakfast slot, waking me up to another hangover.
I will never forget moving house, my friend driving a huge, furniture laden van, and M&L making him laugh so long and hard he had to pull over for a good 10 minutes.
And these days they soothe my afternoons at work with Great Moments in Pop.
I wouldn't be so upset if they were staying together. But the BBC has been cruel and sent one off to Radio 2 and one to BBC6. I shall listen with interest and hope that the shows live up to expectations. And thank God the boyfriend bought me a digital radio for Christmas!
This is nothing to do with the theme of my blog I know, but I just couldn't let this occasion pass without a mention. Biggedy biggedy bong.

2004-03-23T11:56:00.000Z

Wow, Southport was great.
It was my first Federal conference and I had no idea what to expect. I attended some useful training, sat in on some fierce debates, met some inspirational people and generally had a good time. (Whilst learning, of course).
I thought Charles Kennedy looked very ill and I felt sorry for him. According to the official line it's food poisoning, in which case I wholeheartedly sympathise. I had a similar thing about 6 months ago, lost a stone in a week and was generally very poorly. However, I could take a week off work to recover and carry out the unpleasant task of being violently ill in the privacy of my own home. If a Party leader has a similar thing, suddenly there's speculation that he's unable to lead! I think we need to take the explanation at face value. If it's not food poisoning we will soon find out, as he will still be ill in two weeks time - and then questions really need to be asked. In the meantime, I think we need to give the poor man time to get better. Politicians, Party Leaders, even Prime Ministers, are not made of steel. They are human, and human beings get ill.
After a long drive home and very little sleep I took it easy last night, to prepare for the week ahead.
Tonight we have the Licensing committee. We are discussing Worthing's draft licensing policy, in preparation for the change in law - this is the legislation which will allow pubs to open for 24 hours, if they so wish. Which will happen in October, next January, next October or next November. Whenever Mr Deputy Prime Minister decides it will happen. (It would be nice if he could choose a date and stick to it, as the start date has been pushed back and back, which is really annoying. I personally thing he'll wait till after the election as there will be a lot of adverse reaction when it's all put into place, and it's best to push through unpopular policies at the beginning of a new government.)
When the new policy becomes effective, it will be very, very interesting to see what happens.
It doesn't really matter who thinks it's a good idea or not, we just have to get on with it. But something is telling me, it's going to be a long night.

2004-03-17T14:07:00.000Z

Budget Day, oh what a laugh.
I see the average Joe (Jodie?) like me has little to fear but 8p on a pack of fags, which is fair enough. I'm trying to give up anyway. My tipples of choice - Cider or sparkling wine - stay unaffected, hooray! Fuel rises will come later, joy of joys.
I noticed that Mr Brown has offered 'help' to the over 70s to assist them in paying Council Tax.
Surely this is the best indicator yet that even Mr Brown thinks that Council Tax is unfair - if he admits that retired people can't pay it without help! What is the point in the exercise of giving 'help' from one branch of government and another branch of govermnent taking it away immediately?
So why not cut the crap and only tax people on what they can afford to pay in the first place? Local Income Tax. Then single person allowances, student allowances, and now 'help' for the over 70s would all be built into the system, negating credits and allowances and complicated systems.
As it would also cut down on needless administration, I fear this plan may be far too sensible for either of the two major parties to take up. Mind you, the Tories are good at nicking our policies, so maybe we'll see Michael Howard advocating LIT soon. At least he'd *have* a policy then.

2004-03-09T09:28:00.000Z

I'm really looking forward to tomorrow.
It's an LGA conference on young people and democracy. I was given the responsibility of last year's Local Democracy Week events - I'd never done anything like that before and I was new to the Council, so the organisation of it was pretty scary. Needless to say, our Local Democracy Evening, with local school bands (rock, not brass!), pizza and stalls for council departments was met with mixed reactions.
So i'm off to see how other authorities did it, get guidance for future events, and discuss the thorny issue of young people and democracy. So hopefully Worthing can expect something better this year for Local Democracy Week.

2004-03-03T23:21:00.000Z

Last night was a school governor's meeting, nothing much to report there except the school is doing well and putting on a lot of community events for parents and children. It's also interesting to learn about the ins and outs of school life from a teacher's point of view.
Tonight was our bi-weekly surgery - every first and third Wednesday of the month we go to the pub to talk to people about their problems etc. Not Dear Diedre problems, of course, but broken street lights, noisy neighbours etc, (and even noisy street lights on one occasion).
Tomorrow I finally get to go to the cinema. Huzzah!

2004-03-01T23:46:00.000Z

I've been asked what I'm doing to create a 'Cleaner, Safer Worthing', which is the promise by which the Lib Dems were elected in 2003.
Well there's no better place to start than today - the meeting I've been at this evening, whose purpose is to promote better recycling in the Borough. We realised that there were shortfalls in our recycling scheme, which is borne out by a 27% participation rate. So we invited Residents' Associations in to the Town Hall to seek their views on how we could improve the scheme so that more residents would be encouraged to recycle.
We had some productive discussions and came up with a number of avenues to investigate, including considering differences in the design of the free grey box (a deeper box, and a lid, were some suggestions), greater capacity for flats to recycle, and different types of material that we could consider recycling (toner cartridges, CDs and textiles, for example).
It's only a little thing we're doing to help create a cleaner environment for Worthing but with any luck it could make a real difference.
On a personal note, that's the first public meeting I've ever chaired. I was absolutely terrified! I think I was fortunate in that it was a meeting about a cause most people agree with - it would be hard to argue that recycling is bad. It's just how we do it that needs looking at.
Increased participation in recycling helps the town, the county, the country and the world environment, and I thank everyone involved for putting party politics aside and working for Worthing.
In the future I will bear in mind the comments of Anonymous, and try to keep a 'Cleaner, Safer' theme throughout my posts, when talking about local issues.

2004-02-24T21:13:00.000Z

Well made it back from LDYS in Orpington alive... just.
Met some lovely people, had some good debates, heard some good speakers.
Will NOT be sleeping on the floor in future. I am far too old:-(
Apart from that, three cheers to Ruth et al. See you in Southport!

2004-02-18T15:33:00.000Z

Cynicism.
Riiiiiiiiihgt.
BBC News Online are carrying an interesting theme this week, along the lines of 'what make the British so cynical, why is it on the increase and is it right?'
It's a topic close to my heart. The professions that people distrust the most - and are therefore most cynical about - are journalism and politics. As a journalist by day and a politician by evening, this deep distrust obviously fascinates me.
The British cynic's views are fuelled by lying politicians and lazy journalists, yet it is us who have the most to lose when the public become disenchanted with us. Unfortunately honest politicians and hard working journalists get caught up in the generalised view that we are all dishonest - and I think this is the sort of cynicism that is destructive - an inability to differentiate between good and bad.
But it is that which lies at the heart of cynicism - a dangerous generalisation that is destructive rather than constructive. And the cynic doesn't care because, well, who on earth in their right mind would genuinely care enough to want to be constructive?
Except for the cynic himself, of course.
I have absolutely no doubt that the vast majority of politicians and journalists are honest, hardworking, genuine people. I think the reasons they are mistrusted are twofold.
1. They are both professions which involve having strong opinions. People tend to trust others that they agree with strongly, and mistrust those with whom they disagree.
2. In the past, politicians and journalists have been woefully inadequate in policing their own professions, meaning that the corrupt, the selfish and the greedy have been allowed to get away with their less than honourable actions.
There is a great need for a certain amount of cynicism, or those who take advantage, those who act only in their own interests and those who lie and cheat, will continue to destroy the country, the company they work for, their families or whomever they may be betraying.
There used to be a culture that people in power were trusted implicitly and that is just as wrong as mistrusting everybody across the board. The title of 'Honourable' Member does not always fit the bearer.
I guess the point is that there's no blanket, one size fits all approach. Cynicism weeds out those who deserve it, but also drags down many genuine people in the process.
The skilled cynic knows who is deserving of his derision, and is discerning in choosing who to target with his words.

2004-02-18T12:00:00.000Z

Well I couldn't agree more with Bloggy's comment saying, "forget what's on the box and get on with it," although unfortunately not everybody holds that view.
These thoughts on Thatcher came from a conversation I had with my boyfriend, who happens to be *cough* a few *cough* years my senior. We were watching the golf when Laura Davies was playing in the men's tournament and discussing the implications of this in sport etc. Being a political bod, I wondered if his perceptions of women in power were different to mine, as for many years I had never known any different than a woman in the top job. Whereas he (in theory) would have remembered a previous 12 years of men in power.
Turns out he only really started to take any notice of politics when he was a bit older than that so my thought experiment was invalid. But my Maggie train of thought had been started so there was no going back.
Let's hope it's a fair while until she crosses my mind again...

2004-02-17T11:28:00.000Z

A Post About Musings I Had At The Weekend Whilst On A Long Journey And Inspired By Laura Davies In The Men's Golf (Before She Lost)

I'm not usually one to make a big deal about gender, but I've been having thoughts about Maggie T (eek!) and her influence on gender perception in Britain.
Was the fact that she was an egomanical borderline-fascist almost a good thing, in that she proved that women can be ballsier, gutsier and nastier than the weak male of the species, leaving the rest of us ladies to get on with it and be ourselves, with nothing left to prove?
Or is she proof that to earn the same respect as a man in any field, women have to do it not equally well, but just that little bit better?
As with most questions the answer has to be a bit of both. In terms of smashing outdated and harmful conceptions about women, I'm glad Maggie happened.
But in terms of running the country, I'm also terribly glad she's gone.

2004-02-16T16:41:00.000Z

I wonder how many other girls went out for a kebab for Valentine's Day? And actually really enjoyed it?
It was the culmination of a pretty nice day, we went to the British Museum and I fell in Love with the Korean room. I may go and live there.
And then we went to Harringay, my old stomping ground, to one of the Kebab houses that I always thought looked far too garish and scary to go in to. I've only just realised that kebabs - when in a sit-down restaurant environment and not an on the way home from the pub scenario - are really quite tasty. Having had a cold for the majority of 2004 so far, jalapeno peppers are pretty much the only thing I've tasted all year!
Well it's a Youth Club management meeting tonight, the club has been looking for a leader for some time now and they've finally found one. At the same time a long standing National Lottery bid has fallen through, so there'll be no rebuilding of the club.
He giveth with one hand and Camelot taketh away with the other.

2004-02-12T13:36:00.000Z

I found the 'Magic Abbreviator For Bone Idle Lazy Sods' at www.sargent.com/lazy.php, which will condense down chunks of text to any size you wish. An incoherent summary of anything - in seconds!
(Is this what Tory Party researchers use?)
Vanity took hold and I couldn't resist copy/pasting my blog in - it returned this:

"Handled whinge exactly the blue, dems, happy director, some, its."

I'm sure there must be some significance to this - but what?

2004-02-11T19:25:00.000Z

After the shortest meeting in the world... ever! I am left with a spare (ish) evening. We were discussing the E-Government programme, which is being so deftly handled that it doesn't really need us members butting in, so the meeting was a record 20 minutes from start to finish.
So, what do I do with my spare time?
It's a choice between going to deliver some Focuses (but it's DARK! I whinge), getting on with the old PPC forms or chilling out with a video and a nice long bath (not simultaneously, obv). I'd really like to go and see School of Rock at the flicks, or ring some of my friends that I haven't spoken to for ages, or even just piddle about in the interweb.
Damn, it's gotta be the PPC forms, hasn't it.
*sigh*

2004-02-11T09:35:00.000Z

One thing has been dominating my time recently - the E word.
Elections.
Scary. We have four months to carry out our campaign, deliver a squillion leaflets, canvass what feels like the entire world...
Worthing has all-out elections this year, due to boundary changes. So each and every Councillor is fighting his/her seat. Plus we have a new ward and one new seat so things are a bit hairy. The only comfort is that it's exactly the same for the opposition.
We have a lot of legpower, and very committed members so I am sure we will carry out all our election strategies without too much trouble. We've got a couple of big guns to bring to visit the town which will help. It's going to be hard work but fun, and of course worth it in the end. But the thought of it all is a bit daunting.
Although we do have quite a few members, if there's anyone in the South Coast region, and your area doesn't have elections, I'd like to put out an official call for assistance - one morning or afternoon delivering Focuses would be a great help, so please get in touch.
Mind you it'll all be over one way or another by June 10th, so we can all get on and enjoy our summer!

2004-02-07T00:26:00.000Z

I've just got back from a dinner where Lord Dholakia (National Prez of the Libs) was speaking. I have only two comments:
1. The Lord is absolutely lovely and;
2. He had the best summary of IDS ever.
I know it's a bit out of touch to diss IDS, I mean why kick a man when he's not only down, but ... sorry, who was I talking about again?
Anyway: "Iain Duncan Smith is the only man in the country, who can be left alone in a room with a tea cosy, and not try it on."
Ithangyew.

2004-02-05T13:17:00.000Z

I haven't had much time for updatage recently as work has been crazy and I've had meetings every evening about the Budget - which of course affects council tax etc. It's very draining and all I want to do is go to bed at the end of the day! Honestly, young people today have no stamina blah blah blah.
Council Tax is a matter that I will surely touch on in later posts (Hooray! I hear you shout!) but there is a more pressing matter I wanted to rant about today.
In a public meeting about the budget a very nice young man stood up and pointed out that the horrific rises in Council tax are mainly due to the Government's pathetic lack of funding, and we should just spend what we need to and try to force the Government to pay up the rest.
What a lovely (but utterly impractical and very possibly illegal) idea, I thought, and made a point of seeking him out afterwards to have a chat. Anyway, it turns out that him and the group of people he was with are Socialists and probably intend to stand a candidate or two in the local elections in June.
My first thought was 'good on you' and I wished them the best of luck and went on my merry way. I truly believe in the spirit of competition and as long as people fight a good, honest fight then all's fair in politics.
But later on I got thinking to this nice bunch of people, most of them about my age, possibly younger. In an age where Labour is more blue than the Conservatives, I guess most true - 'Old' - Labour supporters have joined the Socialists. So maybe we should take the threat of a Socialist candidate very seriously.
Their literature was hard hitting but sadly naive. They are planning to stand a candidate at Council elections but their leaflet screamed 'Get rid of Blair!'. Although I agree with the statement entirely I think that they are sadly misguided in the role of a Councillor. We can do very little in the national arena - sometimes the Government asks us for comments etc, but Worthing Borough Council is not exactly in a position to depose Tony Teflon.
But, considering that Worthing has never had a Labour MP (or at least for as long as I've been alive) and hasn't had even one Labour Councillor for at least 30 years, I think it's fairly certain that Worthing has sent a very clear message that it wants no truck with Blair and New - or even Old - Labour.
So my suggestion is that us and the Socialists try and get Worthing to become a separate State of its own. We can set our own tax, and spend it as we wish, we can ignore Tony Blair and we can go to war only when we want to. Bliss.
I must stress that the above paragraph is just a flight of fancy and in no way is indicative of Liberal policy, Worthing Borough Council's views or even what I truly believe, in more sane moments. But everyone has their little fantasies and I'd love to see Wothing Borough State. But only as long as I could be President.

2004-02-03T16:33:00.000Z

Two Very Improtant Developments...
1. Manic has set up a page on which to support the BBC, and you can get a nice logo like the one I now have. (God, that was awful grammar but I'm a bit excited you see). Please go to http://www.bloggerheads.com/bbc/ for details of his campaign.
2. Bloggy has made me his 'Personality of the Week'! He sent me some fun questions to fill out which made me have a good think as well. So clicky linky on lefty to see the interview, and don't forget to check out his blog when you're there.

2004-02-03T15:13:00.000Z

There's been three inquiries announced today.
One: George has a inquiry into Weapons of Mass Destruction intelligence. Which directly leads to Two: So Tony must do exactly the same. Honestly, we went to war because Tony's best mate did and now we have to dissect the reasons, because Tony's best mate is too.
The problem with WMD is that it's very hard to prove that someone HASN'T got something. If they are in posession of something, and you find it, you have then proven that that thing exists and that someone has it.
However, at what point would George and Tony have let Hans Blix and his team stop searching, to be satisfied that Saddam didn't have weapons? At exactly the point that George got gun hungry and trigger happy, and he couldn't wait any longer. "Are we there yet Daddy?" I can hear him saying.
The Liberals are not taking part in the Inquiry, although Mr Straw believes that some 'wiser counsel' will come to regret that course of action.
Yet another case of a politician speaking of the Lib Dems as if we are a bunch of rowdy teenagers who don't know what we are doing.
The Lib Dems do not believe that the remit of the inquiry is wide enough. After Lord Hutton's findings, can you blame anyone for feeling wary of any inquiry that Mr Blair commissions?
The third inquiry? Oh yes, why on earth did Janet Jackson get her norks out at the Superbowl? Clue: She has a new single out, and it's as bland and tuneless as ever.

2004-02-02T09:50:00.000Z

Well the weekend was great, catching up with a few friends in London that I haven't seen for ages. I went to one engagement party and one leaving party for a friend who's off to study in Australia... a big fry up on Sunday and I'm a happy girl.
My work colleagues are very happy because I've lost my voice! I sound like I'm on death's door but I feel loads better than on Friday. I may have to play on this one a bit:-)
I have some kind of meeting this evening but I forgot my diary so I'm not sure quite what. Whatever it is I'm sure it will be most exciting.

2004-01-30T10:12:00.000Z

<--- Haha! Got these links sorted out at last. It just goes to show the importance of reading the help files.... duh.

2004-01-30T08:57:00.000Z

I had a trip to London and back last night, to meet some people about a Younger Councillors Forum. It was supposed to be a cross party initiative but the only people who turned up were Lib Dems! Just goes to show how caring and sharing we all are.
We're trying to work out ways to help and encourage younger councillors (the definition of which is anyone under 36, incidentally). It will be a really valuable resource when it gets up and running, providing training and advice and ways of younger councillors to get together, both online and in person.
Top marks to Islington Councillor, PPC and general human dynamo Laura Willoughby for being the brains behind it.
But today is not a good day: I got home in the wee hours of the morning so I am absolutely knackered, I woke up with an evil head cold and my work day is shaping up to be another frustrating one.
Thank goodness I'm on a promise for a nice spicy curry tonight:-)

2004-01-29T15:10:00.000Z

I'm just blown away by the Hutton fall out. Blair has emerged as the Teflon Prime Minister and the BBC has been completely discredited to the point that its Director General has resigned!
I'm very upest about the BBC's fall from grace. The BBC is a proper British institution! If I ever see a news flash on, for example, Channel 4, I won't believe it's true untill I see it on the BBC. So I have a lot of loyalty for Auntie and hope that all will be well very soon.
Our Beloved Leader and His Government came out of all this almost too clean. I'm not a paranoid nutter or a conspiracy theorist but I think there must be some muck to spread around. If the Government had come out of this with even a little criticism, I might have been more inclined to take the findings at face value.
They did well in their choice of referee.

2004-01-29T10:21:00.000Z

In true British style The Weather is the hot topic of conversation at vending machines across the land. For those who've actually managed to get into work of course.
Down here in Worthing we don't really get Weather. Protected by the South Downs to the north, anything blowing down from Greenland or Nova Scotia or wherever, stops at the hills and doesn't get to us. So we have a glorious sunny day, no ice, no snow, no nothing. Well a tiny bit of ice maybe. I'm not sure if I'm glad about it or not. I feel a bit left out, to tell the truth, but glad that travelling is pretty straightforward.
As an introduction to the Blogging world, I think yesterday was pretty nice. Manic at Bloggerheads was really helpful with some advice about getting started, and then a lovely man called Bloggy gave me some words of encouragement too. His site is at www.blogman.co.uk and is a good mixture of political comment and general stuff. So, with friendly people like that around, I think I'm going to like being a blogger:-)
I'm having trouble getting these links at the left here working (404 when I click 'Edit Me!'), so if anyone has any advice please leave a comment.
Last night was technically a night off from the endless round of meetings etc. However I have a small matter of some MP applications forms to fill out. It was all going OK until I came to the section where I had to fill in hobbies and interestes. HOBBIES??? I haven't had time to even watch a video for about a year, let alone develop hobbies.
Between official Council meetings, community fora, advisory groups, sub-committees, local Liberal meetings, leaflet delivering, canvassing etc, etc, ad nauseum... I barely have time to feed myself! This is NOT a complaint, I hasten to add. I love doing what I do, and have actively made myself as involved as I possibly can be, because I enjoy it. It's just that being a Lib Dem and a Councillor IS my hobby, and I wouldn't have it any other way at all. And it's far more interesting than stamp collecting.

2004-01-28T16:10:00.000Z

Hooray, I managed to add a comments button. The nice people at Haloscan made this more easy than I could ever imagine.
Now I don't have to guess that nobody is reading this, I know for sure!
At lunch I bought some thank you notes for the five people who have sponsored me to become a Prospective Parliamentary Candidate (PPC).
Lib Dems who want to apply to be a PPC need five sponsors from within the party, who can be Councillors, or fellow members who hold other types of office. I have to say, the stipulation on the PPC form of who can sponsor you or not is, quite frankly, gibberish. But I guessed some likely victims, smiled at them a lot and, amazingly, they agreed to sponsor me. Whether they are the right combination of people or not, we shall wait to see.
The process of finding five people that think you'd be a good person to help run the country - and are prepared to declare that publicly - is a daunting task, and having to approach them about sponsoring me was nerve racking. These five are my friends, colleagues, and fellow campaigners. What if they didn't want to sponsor me but felt pressured to say that they would? How embarrassed would I feel if any of them said no outright?
But, the story so far has a happy outcome, as I received the last of my sponsorship forms this morning.
It's only polite to say ta, don't you think.

2004-01-28T11:23:00.000Z

'My Brain on the Web'... how terrifying.
Welcome to my Blog. I hope you will be able to expect:
General politics comments
Life in Worthing
My quest to become a parliamentary candidate.

I am a Liberal Democrat Councillor on Worthing Borough Council - at 25 (24 when I was elected) I am the youngest female ever to serve the Borough.
When I realised I enjoyed my evening Council duties more than my nine - to - five work (I am a trade magazine editor), I decided to seek to further my career in politics.
Inspired by Sarah Teather in Brent, I saw no reason why I shouldn't try to become an MP. It feels like a natural progression. I was only elected onto the council in May 2003 so I realise I am very new to all this, but everyone has to start somewhere - right?
After a visit to www.bloggerheads.com, where Manic urges politicians to create blogs, I have begun my own blog.
I will try and update regularly, I promise. But since when was a politician's promise worth a dime? :-)