Dr Fox - 'Big Society Army' - soldiers on the cheap

Dr Fox, the Dr Beeching of the Armed Forces

Yesterday I was interviewed on BBC Radio Suffolk about the latest Tory plan for the Armed Forces, and I followed that up today by being interviewed by the British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) for their TV channel. The more I spoke about Dr Fox and his plans for defence the angrier I got.

It just adds up to an Army on the cheap, Dr Fox will destroy the Army like Dr Beeching destroyed the railways. The Territorial Army cannot replace the Regular Army, you can not model our Armed Forces on what they do in the USA or Australia.

Changes are needed, we do need to make cut backs, the Heads of the three services need to look at the bigger picture, rather than just look at it from what they think is best for their own service.

The territorials can do more, they need to create closer links with the Regular Army- the 'One army' concept.

The Tories state that a smaller Armed Forces is needed as we are pulling out of Afghanistan and that we will no longer try and 'police' the world. So where does our deployment to Libya, or the 'Arab Spring' come into their thinking.

Who will deploy on the streets, when their is a fireman strike, the bins are not being emptied in Glasgow, the Rive Trent bursts it's banks, we suffer a further foot and mouth crisis?

Morale is the lowest I have ever know it in the forces, troops in Germany are warned that they be moving back to the UK, somewhere in Scotland but no land has been found to train on yet.

Most of these troop movements will happen after the next General Election, Labour will be left with the mess that Cameron, Osborne and Fox are creating. So much for the Tories promising extra troops before the last election- we now have plans for 19,000 less troops.

Yesterday on Radio Suffolk an angry mother phoned in, her son was injured in Afghanistan and has just been told he is being made redundant, not sure he would be keen to be told the TA will replace him. She called Dr Fox an idiot, I am sure many members of the Armed Forces would have stronger words for him.

In East Suffolk, we have small towns and villages that still feel cut off by Dr Beeching and his cuts to to the Railway network that he forced through in the 1960's now We have another Doctor trying to implement similar drastic, ill thought out cuts to the Armed Forces. you do not cut the Army when you are at war- Dr Fox , a fellow Rifleman from my Regiment was killed this week in Afghanistan - we are at war Dr Fox.

My week ahead 18 - 24 July 2011

Monday 18 July 2pm North East Partnership Meeting
4pm Meeting Portfolio Holder for Culture and Leisure and Officers
6pm Ipswich Labour Group Meeting

Tuesday 19 July 1pm Meeting with Crown Street Swimming Pool users

Wednesday 20 July 9am Meeting with Crown Street Swimming Pool users
6pm Ipswich Borough Full Council Meeting

Thursday 21 July 10am Handover of the Needham Market Steam Pump, Colchester Road Fire Station




Saturday 23 July 10.30am Campaigning in Ipswich

Change their tune?

This week we have heard the Tory MP for Suffolk Coastal, Therese Coffey actually defend Rebekah Brooks, stating that the campaign against Rebekah was 'a developing witch hunt'. Not sure I heard her defend Andrea Hill in the same way when she was under attack from her fellow Suffolk MP's.

24 hours later and Therese Coffey MP is involved in a number of arguments on twitter as she attempts to distance herself from her earlier comment.

This is what she said in the House of Commons - "Therese Coffey, Con: “News International has not helped themselves… but they did finally act”. Calls the campaign against Rebekah Brooks “a developing witch hunt”

Seems like a defence of News International to me- a view that I seem to share with Helen Goodman MP and many others on twitter.

Now Therese, I would not worry too much, your fellow Tory, Boris Johnson has no problem attacking News International this week but only last year he had this to say on phone hacking (probably after being briefed by the friend of the PM- Andy Coulson)
Boris Johnson dismissed continuing concerns over the News of the World's use of phone hacking as "codswallop" that "looks like a politically motivated put-up job by the Labour party".

My week ahead 9- 16 July 2011

This week I will be away with the Military on a camp in North Yorkshire

Last week started with a meeting looking at the provision of sports facilities in the town, a very important matter to many. plenty of forward thinking needs to be done, we held a second meeting on this important matter on Thursday evening.

On Wednesday I found myself at Grafton House on a Planning meeting, good news for many in Rushmere Ward as planning permission for a phone mast close to Rushmere Hall school was refused for the second time.

Seen a bit of rain this week but it has not managed to spoil what has been a fantastic Ip-art festival- next year should even be more fantastic as we also have the Olympic torch coming to town.

Over the Hill?

Andrea Hill has gone- Suffolk is happy, but at what cost?

£218,592 pay off

Amount to be paid to recruit a new Chief Executive £??,???

Fee to be paid to the Legal firm, Wragge & Co investigating the accusations by the whistle blower £???,??? (Doncaster paid Wragge £100,000 plus)

All the Freedom of Information requests the Council will have to deal with after placing gagging orders on Ms Hill and asking Cllrs to say nothing on the matter.

And to top it all, most of the Cabinet who supported NSD and the way Ms Hill was leading on it, are still in positions of power.

NSD may be dead but we seem still to have a Council determined to press on with divesting services.

My week ahead 4 - 10 July

Monday 5 July - 4pm Meeting with IBC Culture and Leisure team

Wednesday 7 July - 9.30am Planning and Development meeting

Saturday 10 July - Depart for week long Military Training camp

This week the highlight was the Full Council meeting where I was proud to speak on the motion to give members of HM Forces free entry to Ipswich leisure facilities.

On Friday I was interviewed by both BBC Radio Suffolk and Heart FM, both interviews were to help promote the brilliant 'Music in the Park' day.

Saturday found me in St Margarets Ward, where I found myself delivering Finchley road for the first time ! Straight afterwards I was off to Sherrington Road, where I attended the Broomhill Pool Summer Fete. The week was finished off with a sausage and a kebab at the Ipswich Labour Party Summer BBQ.

Broomhill Swimming Pool

On Saturday I attended the Broomhill Summer Fete, organised by the Broomhill Pool Trust but now with the assistance of the 'Friends of Westbourne Library' and the Access to Nature group.

I have fond memories of the pool, spending many a summer day running, diving, jumping and swimming in the pool. As a kid they did look like the highest diving boards in the world - like something more at home in an Elvis film from Hawaii in the late 60's.




There has been plenty of political rhetoric, from all sides on the future of the pool. As the area was once the site of the first home of Ipswich Town, you could say the pool has become a political football. But now it has to be about action not talking. I would expect this year that we see an operator being chosen to run the pool and then a timeline set in place to get the pool up an running. But in times of austerity we need to be very firm that if the time frame does not hold we do not continue just to leave the pool as it is, costing money to be kept secure.




But back to yesterday, it was a well organised event, attended mainly by local residents (plus politicians from all sides) showing that both the pool and the library are well loved by those who live closest. The planned destruction of the Suffolk Library service by the Tories may actually help the Pool Trust as the future of the Library could now be included in any planned proposal for the future of the pool.