Tory candidate claims Ipswich Labour have a special printing machine!

After being actually taken by surprise in that the Tories are delivering leaflets beyond Bixley, Rushmere and St Margaret’s – I thought I would take a quick look to see what the Tories are actually saying.

In the South West the Tory candidate (who is still failing to remove inaccuracies from his own blog) is claiming that he helped Ben Gummer in his successful campaign to get Chantry High School (Suffolk New Academy) re-built – funny that when I drove past it today whilst campaigning it looked the same as iit did last year. When researching the claim that Mr Gummer and Algar have been successful in their campaign, all I can find is a claim that it will be re-built in the future, but no start date.

Mr Algar then continues with one of his favourite topics – in that candidate’s should live in the ward, hypocritically in his next post he is promoting Cllr Judy Terry – who does not only live outside the ward she represents but seems hell bent on upsetting Rushmere residents. Mr Algar claims that Judy Terry and her Tory colleagues saved the Suffolk Library service, but forgets to mention that the mobile library service in Ipswich has been decimated. In Rushmere we have lost mobile library rounds in Meadowvale Close, Sidegate Avenue and Sidegate Lane. We also lost the service in Inverness Road – home of the Ipswich prefabs – what has Judy Terry got against our senior citizens who live in the North East of our ward? First of all she wants to build a care home on top of their homes and also feels they do not need a library service. So maybe I should ask Judy Terry why she thinks we do not need a mobile library service serving the prefabs.

As she has not answered my five previous questions, I will post them again and add a question about the mobile library service. I am sure if Judy will not answer the questions her personnel spokesman Kevin Algar will – if he can take a break away from claiming that he influences Labour candidate selection!

Over to you Judy Terry (or Kevin Algar)

1. Why did she say Colin Noble had not visited the prefabs?

2. Why did she make an incorrect statements about the attendance of Tracy Grant without checking the facts?

3. Who are the two developers, did they approach her or did she approach them?

4. Are Care UK involved with the proposed care home?

5. Will the replacement 220 homes be council owned?
And the new one –

6. Why does she think Rushmere residents do not need a library service but Bixley ward still keeps a stop?

Kevin Algar has now added a footnote to his blog posts, a common practice once you are declared as a candidate- but what someone also should have told him is that you are not supposed to print inaccurate statements when you are a candidate - though his claim that Ipswich Labour have a special printer to make our leaflets look cheap - is comedy gold!

Most people do not use council services?

Yesterday Tory run Suffolk County Council, made their ‘big decision’ – as expected a 0% Council Tax rise for 2013/14 but then they went further and said that tax will be frozen for the next four years! At first you would think residents would be happy with this – but what about services?

How do they know what the Government will give them in grants over the next 4 years? We did not even know this year’s settlement till a few weeks ago. Of course the County is fortunate that they will not face the uncertainty caused by bedroom tax and benefit changes that District Councils will.

So will the County just drain the reserves over the next four years or is the truth that New Strategic Direction is still alive and that the County will continue to sell off/ close down and cut local services?

So we are at the bottom of league tables for Education, but Tory run Suffolk are not intending to increase education funding over the next four years?

Highways – the plan to hand over to Balfour Beatty is in pieces – but the County still know that extra funding for roads will not be needed?

Libraries – Community Groups are already struggling to find the £100,000 they need to keep the library service open – will there be even less county funding over the next four years?

Mobile Library service – down to just one stop in Ipswich (in Tory run Bixley ward) – sign of things to come?

But as leading Tory Suffolk county Council Jane Storey stated yesterday;

"most people don't use council services" so why should they pay council tax?


This epitomises Tory selfishness! So no residents drive on roads, walk on pavements, send their children to schools, call trading standards (horsemeat?), have elderly relatives in care homes?

Maybe we should just be glad that it is Borough and District Councils that empty our bins, look after council houses and even though it should be a County task – in Ipswich run the museum service.

They have decided on a 4 year council tax freeze – because they have an election in May – and are so happy with that they have sent a letter to Eric Pickles – to say ‘look at us, we are just like you’ – maybe they should write to another Tory Minister – Mr Gove – and tell him how they are going to improve education standards but at no extra cost to council tax payers!

Pembroke may no longer be leader, Andrea Hill may have gone, Mr Bee may be more PR savvy but that is just a smokescreen as Colin Noble, Judy Terry, and Guy McGregor are still pushing through the ‘New Strategic Direction’ and why not as Cllr Storey tells us – residents do not use council services!

Scrutiny call - in - Locality budgets

Ever since I was elected to be Rushmere Ward councillor, I have sat on Overview and Scrutiny. The first three years were as a member of the opposition. The first two years were wasted as the chair of Scrutiny used the committee for his own personal reasons. Then along with most of the Tory/Lib Dem Executive failed to turn up for training. Scrutiny improved in 2010 under the chair of Gavin Maclure. We saw the use of task and finish groups and we managed to achieve results and even undertook joint scrutiny with the County Council.Gavin even seemed as critical of the Tory executive as we were at times.

But much of scrutiny was taken up with call-ins. We, the Ipswich Labour Party Group found the call-in procedure the only way to get our message over as we were refused a seat on the executive (even though we were the largest party).

This week we had our first taste of a call-in by the Tory opposition, some may say time we learnt how it felt to have a decision called in, the difference of course is that the Tories were offered a seat on the executive but refused to take it up.

There is also another difference with Scrutiny under Labour, as is recognised 'best practice', we have given the chair of scrutiny to the opposition.

This call-in was about the Labour decision to stop the implementation of locality budgets for Borough councillors.

Tory councillor Nadia Cenci called in the decision and gave her reasons on her blog. Though they may no longer be in a coalition in Ipswich, she seemed to be supported by the Ipswich Lib Dems - here.

There main argument seems to be now they feel Libraries in Ipswich are safe and that we have also been told that we will retain all our school crossing patrols, the money Ipswich Labour put aside is not needed. They even got Tory County Leader Mark Bee and Ben Gummer to meet the press at Rosehill Library and plead for the locality money to be introduced as they never meant to close any libraries.

Well first off Mark Bee would have been better off using his talk with the press to call on his fellow Waveney Tory councillor Andrew Draper to resign after assaulting a police officer. But we still wait to hear him mention that but what Cllr Bee also forgot to mention is that we are still waiting for the re-introduction of school crossing patrols at Alan Road and also near Sprites School.

We will also not even know till November, when the Tory County Cabinet sits that the libraries have been saved.

But let's say that they are safe, of the £240,000 saved by not introducing locality budgets, £186,000 was to go into IBC reserves. That money is still needed as we have found gaps in the last Tory budget including not receiving as much money from the Tory Government in the form of the 'New Homes Bonus' as the Tory budget had us down to receive. So it is only sensible to keep that money in reserve.

Cllr Cenci gives her view of the meeting here, not so much a report on the meeting but just her opening statement. After she and Cllr David Ellesmere had given their views it was then a question and answer session. Big difference to Tory run scrutiny is that the questions came from both sides. Under the Tories only Cllr Debman used to ask questions with the remainder of the Tories sitting still then voting against Labour at the end.

Paul Geater from the Evening Star was at the meeting so Tories, Liz Harsant and Kim Stroet decided instead of asking questions to make prepared political statements. We did eventually get down to some serious questioning with Cllr Cenci creating some laughter with her answers about council reserves and Labour propaganda.

Then when that part of the meeting was over, and the press had left. We should have then debated the decision and there is a debate needed. For example, should even County Councillors still have locality budgets when the County is about to shut care homes and close Youth clubs?

But there was no debate, the Tories put it straight to a vote- with Liz Harsant stating, 'now the press has gone let's just get on with it'.

This statement more than any showed that the whole meeting had been a charade, they had no interest in debating the decision. The vote was lost and locality budgets will not be introduced this financial year.

There was also a sub plot - big hitting Tory, Judy Terry is a member of scrutiny but a sub replaced her. Instead we expected to see Judy Terry be called to give evidence as a County Cabinet member with the responsibility for libraries. But she never turned up - I asked Cllr Cenci, why? The answer given was that she had been advised not to turn up. 'By whom?' I asked. Cllr Cenci said she did not know who by.

So Ipswich Conservative group, two questions:

1. Who advised Cllr Terry not to turn up?

2. Why did she take that advice, has she something to hide?

Same old Judy Terry, same old Tory County Council, same old NSD

So Mark Bee the new Leader of the Tories on Suffolk County Council declared 'New Strategic Direction' as dead.

The name maybe dead but the rest of NSD lives on, here is a quote from the non aligned Suffolk blog- Wordblog:

'One concern among campaigners is that Judy Terry, the cabinet member responsible for libraries sometimes gives the impression that she wants to get through a policy as close as it can be to the old New Strategic Direction idea.

It seems that we are still no closer to getting an answer to what exactly is going to happen to our libraries than we were when Mark Bee took power, it also seems to me that even though Mark Bee has stated that the new administration (but same leaders) will start to listen to the public, they are not - it is all a sham, even after the Tory chair of scrutiny remarked that: “We [the council] have got ourselves in a hole. Will you help us get out of it?”

Will Bee save the Tories?

This week Mark Bee took over as Leader of the Tory group on Suffolk County Council, his appointment has led to a number of posts in the local politics blogosphere and a number of pages in both the East Anglian Daily Times and the Evening Star.
Most seem happy that Bee got the nod over Colin Noble - that is all but Ipswich Spy who must have a mole in the County Tory ranks, many of us thought Noble would happily continue with NSD and work alongside/under Ms Hill but it seems that Noble dedicated much of his speech on how Ms Hill's days would be numbered under his leadership, where Mark Bee just said Ms Hill was an HR matter.
Now I am not a fan of Ms Hill, but feel she has become an easy target when it should be the County Tories (the whole group) who employed her, paid her and then let her lead on NSD that should take the brunt of the criticism. Unlike two certain Tory blogs, I do not just print rumours, but in this case I feel it is relevant, some Tories believe the recently called inquiry into the suicide of one of the County Officers will lead to the acting leader to be able to get rid of Ms Hill before Cllr Bee takes over as leader of Suffolk County Council.

But will Cllr Bee and his handling of NSD, save the Tories? Maybe too late for them in Ipswich and Waveney and the Labour vote will increase on most rural parts of the County but most Tories will hold onto their seats, but for all the good press Cllr Bee is currently getting on halting/thinking about NSD, the County still needs to make cuts, but any time they come under pressure (waste sites, school crossing patrols) they just delay it. I hope that Cllr Bee will force a change in the direction the County was going but I feel though many School Crossing Patrols will be saved, the threat to Suffolk libraries is still very real and for that reason I think Cllr Bee will have to pull quite a few hot coals out of the fire to stop the Tories losing a number of seats in 2013 when we vote in the next County Council.

Nationally the Tory vote is holding quite well but it is their coalition bed mates, the Lib Dems who seem to be suffering the most, it will be interesting to see how they fare on May 5th. In Ipswich it might be the start of the road to nowhere for the Lib Dems, 7 councillors at the moment by almost certain that they will not have that many come May 6th.

'Save Suffolk Libraries' March - Ipswich, April 2nd

The sun was out on Saturday and thanks to Abby Barker and friends, Ipswich witnessed hundreds of people walking peacefully though Ipswich protesting against the Tory County Councils plan to shut a number of Suffolk Libraries. The march saw hundreds of residents both young and old from all over the county converge on Endeavour House to start the march. they were joined by Trade Unionists, authors, and over 30 members of the Suffolk Labour Party, it even attracted a number of Lib Dem councilors and activists!



Abby, the brains behind the march

A Tory Council candidate also watched the march but there was no sign of Cllr Stewart and Harsant or their Tory colleague Jan Rawlings, who are meant to be campaigning hard to save Rosehill Library?? Ben Gummer also missed the march, this may be because he had handcuffed himself to the railings at Rosehill Library like he promised.




Best bit of the march? When the hundreds of protesters, walked through Ipswich Central Library, with banners flying but to the sound of hushed whispers.

Well done to Abby Barker and also the 'Save Libraries' groups at Rosehill, Whitehouse, Stradbroke, Leiston and the many more in Suffolk villages that have been hit by these severe Tory cuts.


Tracey Grant - our Rushmere candidate - looking angy about Tory cuts!

Lock up your books, the Yanks are coming!

The Suffolk library saga seems to get more confusing by the day, but what is clear to see is the strength of the opposition to the plans that the Tory led Suffolk County Council have for our libraries.

To be fair to the County Council it is not just the future of libraries that is confusing the public, the whole 'New Strategic Direction' seems to be a mish mash of ideas.

But it is the future of the Suffolk Library service where confusion reigns supreme. Judy Terry (our own Rushmere Ward Tory councillor) has called for more responses to the library consultation, now she has had over 1,300 responses - which I think is great, but maybe the problem is that the Suffolk public are not giving Judy and her Tory cronies the answers that they were after! It is obvious that most responses have called for the County Council to continue to run the Suffolk library service.

On the excellent James' Blog, you can read a more in depth look at how it is quite plain to see that they Tories always had a long term plan for the libraries that did not include them continuing to be run by the County Council or even saved by local groups or run by Parish and District Councils.

We now have come to the position where the County Council are now seeming to rule out any sort of conversation with any group that just wants to save libraries and leave them in the control of the County Council. The reason why? It seems we are well on the way to having the Suffolk Library service run by American firm LSSI.

We first heard from Judy Terry that LSSI and one other unnamed group were interested but the very next day we are told that Suffolk County Council had met LSSI four times already. It seems that the consultation was a waste of time from the start.

I am sure no other group has even had more than one meeting with the county, but though we have had Ben Gummer MP threaten to chain himself to Rosehill Library and Dr Poulter is intending to join a 24 hour 'read in; at a Suffolk Library this weekend, we have had no open criticism of the way the County seems to have already decided that LSSI are the way ahead.

Will either of the Ipswich MP's join the planned Suffolk march against the the Suffolk plans for the Library service? I know that Ben Gummer visited Rosehill last week, but he seemed to forget to sign the petition. If LSSI take over Rosehill does that mean he will not see him pretending to be David Blaine in Tomline Road?

Again for all those interested in the future of the Suffolk Library service, I urge you to take a look at James' Blog

These are some of the examples of ' saying one thing but meaning another' that James has unearthed (all from the mouth of Judy Terry!)

'However, should responses to the consultation prove disappointing, it is imperative that we make the necessary savings, meaning that we may have to close 39 libraries.'

Then the next sentence is: 'The prospects are exciting for a library revolution, and I look forward to hearing your views.'

Now where does this leave 'Big Society?' - or has Mr Cameron forgot to tell us it is now called 'Big Private Company?'

The County do not seem keen to talk to the various 'save Libraries' groups, but I thought that is what 'Big Society' was all about - I always knew that most Tory Councillors either did not understand 'Big Society' or if they understood it, were dead against it - well here in Suffolk they seem to have totally blown it out of the water - and an American private company is likely to be offered the chance to run the libraries rather than any 'friends' groups.

Now again it seems rather strange, that in the local paper when we have all these stories about LSSI, that we have not heard from Lib Dem Cllr Inga Lockington (who wanted to start a 'friends' group at the Westbourne Library and Tory Cllr Stewart who chaired the public meeting about the future of the Rosehill Library.

Maybe it is because it is their fellow coalition Borough Councillor, Judy Terry who is leading the way in destroying the Suffolk Library Service.

I hope many of you can join the 'Save Suffolk Libraries' march in April- wonder if Gummer and Poulter will turn up?

What to cut next?

What to cut next?
Libraries, School Crossing patrols, Day Care Centres, Front Line Police, Forces Pensions, Nimrod, and now forests and woods.
No one thinks there should be no cuts, we are in debt as most of the world is – but it is the severity and speed of the cuts that is so shocking.
It is also seems that every level of tory government is happy to join in, coming up with there own list of cuts.
Now some Tories in Ipswich are saying, ‘well what would Labour cut?’ It is hard to answer that as John Carnell the Deputy Leader (Deputy in name but the real leader) of the Tories in Ipswich keeps the budget very secret, so secret that most Tory portfolio holders have not got a clue how much their own departments will get. This was highlighted last week when Cllr Cenci was not her usual happy self when the Scrutiny committee asked he to go back to Cllr Carnell to ask for £90,000 towards a project that all 3 political groups agreed deserved to be supported by the Council now Government money has ceased.
If all Councillors had been involved in the budget planning (as they are at many other Councils) the Labour Group may have been able to offer advice, alternatives, and ideas – but no it is all down to one man.
The other thing that I have noticed about the cuts (or out sourcing, or some other new-fangled name the Tory County Council has come up with) is that the cuts are being made to projects that the Tories would have liked to seen cut/sold off/privatised even if we were awash with cash. That is the point most of these cuts are being made on ideological grounds combined with the Ipswich/Suffolk Tories (Carnell) mantra of low council tax, no matter how much the Council services are need by many of this great town.
This path being blazed by the national Tory Party with Pembroke and Carnell following makes it hard for me to understand how Cllr Harsant the Tory leader in Ipswich can tell a local paper that Ipswich is not doing enough for homelessness when she knows that the problem will get worse thanks to the likes of Osborne, Pembroke and Carnell.

Why do the Tories hate young people?

Rosehill Library - under threat from our own Mrs Terry

The Tories (with the help of the Lib Dems) seem to be on a crusade against the youth of today. So many of the first Tory cuts seem to be aimed at the youngest in our community - EMA, Building schools for the Future, Explore Card, Road Crossing patrols and now libraries. The Tory run Borough council in Ipswich also seems to want to get in on the act with Maidenhall Sports Centre also under threat.

It seems a systematic attack on the youth of today by National Government, the County Council and Ipswich Borough Council.

I was amazed during my time in Afghanistan in 2009 by the bravery shown by many British soldiers, many of them under the age of 20, and it is that same youth the Tories now want to attack. It is good to see youngsters not just siiting back but organising peaceful protests in Ipswich and this Saturday will see another protest march from the Regent to the New Wolsey in Ipswich.

The Tories may seem to not care but we have seen here in Rushmere Ward, Ipswich that the public are very upset that the Road Crossing Patrols outside our schools will be removed (or already have been as in our Ward, outside Sidegate Primary school). They might have just gone one cut too far this time with their latest plan - shutting Suffolk libraries.

This is an attack on all our communities, but it is mainly the young, the old, the unemployed that use and rely on the Suffolk Library Service. The Tories and the Lib Dems on the Ipswich Borough Council cry out that we should not blame them as it is Cameron's government or the County Council that are imposing these cuts but it is Mrs Terry our own Tory Borough Councilor in Rushmere Ward, Ipswich who is the person responsible for the Library service in Suffolk, ask her when she knocks on your door before the election - 'why is she shutting Rosehill Library?'

You may have heard about the attempt to shut the Stoney Stratford Library in Milton Keynes by the Lib Dem run council (see here), this led to the locals drawing out all the books in the library on Saturday, causing the campaign to save that library even to be mentioned in the news media in New York.



No books left in Stoney Stratford

So Mrs Terry, we will fight you as you attempt to close Suffolk Libraries, in particular the Rosehill Library in Tomline Road, Ipswich. The Nazis burnt books, the Tories (and Lib Dems) just aim to hide them!