Back to the Army

Back to the Army and possibly Afghanistan!

Some of you may have read in the Ipswich Evening Star that I may possibly be off to spend 6 months in Afghanistan . Currently I am going through the process of mobilisation hopefully to join the Infantry Battalion, 2 Rifles in the new year.
The Battalion are currently in Northern Ireland but have been warned off for a 6 month tour of Afghanistan and if deployed will be spending the Summer in Helmand Province.
I left the army 6 years ago so it is with a sense of trepidation that I await to join the Rifles, I had previously spent 24 years in the Royal Green Jackets. The Green Jackets reformed into The Rifles in 2007.
I will hope to keep readers of this blog informed about the training and what it is actually like in Afghanistan, on the front line.


Little did I know when serving as a young 18 year old Rifleman in 1980 that in 2008, I would be preparing to go on another operational tour.

A young "Councillor -to be" in Cyprus on a UN Tour in 1980

I do believe we are making a difference in Afghanistan, we must not let that county fall back under the influence of the Taliban, you just had to read the recent news reports of the acid attacks on young girls to see why we must stay.
I am sure also that I am re-joining one of the best trained forces in the world and that coupled with the recent experiences of soldiers in Ireland, Bosnia, Kosova and Iraq will serve us well. one thing I know that will not surprise me, and that is the superb example young servicemen set for all the youth of this country.
It is not confirmed that I am going yet, and with army paperwork- anything could happen! Whatever happens I hope to be able to resume my council duties on my return, I will also hope to be able to go to local schools and organisations and give them an insight to life on the front line.

Fix My Street

You may have noticed a new link on the side of this blog to 'Fix My Street'. This is a website set up by 'My Society' and enables residents to report potholes, graffiti, street lighting not working and damage to pavements via the website to their local council. 'Fix My Street' then send an e mail to the local council and then you can use the site to monitor progress on that issue. and put on updates and even inform the site once the fault is rectified, you can also use the site to see what other issues have been reported in your area.
Now some councils are not too keen on 'Fix My Street' and there are those here in Ipswich who would rather see the back of it-why? well Ipswich has had the most reports sent to them recently by 'Fix My Street'. the current amount of reports sits at over 180, with only Falkirk and Kent County Council anywhere near that total. But Ipswich Borough Council should turn this round and see it as a plus point. A Council in Hampshire has linked 'Fix My Street' to their own computer systems and now can reply to the resident instantly and they use 'Fix My Street' as a public service.
Of course maybe the administration at Ipswich are not so keen as it shows that Ipswich does not get a fair deal when it come to money for road repairs from their friends at the Tory run Suffolk County Council!

Billy Bragg warns the cynical!

Last night my wife and some other Ipswich Labour Party members went to see Billy Bragg in concert. the gig was held at the Corn Exchange and it was over 20 years since the last time Billy played Ipswich.






The night started with the talented and funny American- Otis Gibbs, who was a great warm up for Billy and has also left me with the desire to go to Cawker City, Kansas to see the largest ball of twine. You had to be there to understand!

Billy came on after the break and was still going strong at 10.45pm. A good mixture of new stuff, some old classics, and interspersed with humour and political thought. His last bit left the audience in no doubt that Billy wants to see a 4th term for a Labour government, and in his eyes it is only our own cynical attitude that can stop it.






So as Billy said at the finish-"Keep the faith!"

George W Bush has left the White House

One sunny day in 2009 an old man approached the White House
from across Pennsylvania Avenue,
where he'd been sitting on a park bench.
He spoke to the U.S. Marine standing guard and said,
'I would like to go in and meet with President Bush.'

The Marine looked at the man and said,
'Sir, Mr. Bush is no longer president and no longer resides here.'

The old man said, 'Okay' and walked away.

The following day, the same man approached the White House
and said to the same Marine,

I would like to go in and meet with President Bush.'

The Marine again told the man,
'Sir, as I said yesterday, Mr. Bush is no longer President
and no longer resides here.'

The man thanked him and, again, just walked away.

The third day, the same man approached the White House
and spoke to the very same U. S. Marine, saying
'I would like to go in and meet with President Bush.'

The Marine, understandably agitated at this point,
looked at the man and said,
'Sir, this is the third day in a row
you have been here asking to speak to Mr. Bush.
I've told you already that
Mr. Bush is no longer the president and no longer resides here.
Don't you understand?'

The old man looked at the Marine
and said, 'Oh, I understand. I just love hearing it.'

The Marine snapped to attention, saluted,
and said, 'See you tomorrow.'

Hitler on BNP list!

And he is not very happy about it! As you can see here.

32 BNP members in Ipswich but 32 too many!

' Not many of these to be seen on the streets of Ipswich'

First of all I will say that BNP members should be angry that their details have been released by a disgruntled member of their party, and the Police should take action against that person.

But even so it is interesting to see how many members of this "Far Right" party are in Suffolk and Ipswich in particular. According to local papers we have just over 100 in Suffolk and 32 either in or close to Ipswich. First of all this is 32 too many. But compared to other towns of our size it is a low total. But we must not get complacent, within the last two weeks the BNP have held street stalls in both Colchester and Harwich and earlier in the year held one in Norwich. There are over 600 BNP members in Essex, though many seem to be in the south of the county, with Loughton a surprising "Far Right" stronghold!

The current financial climate is just the sort of opportunity the BNP will use to recruit more recruits- we must make sure that does not happen and to do that we must (and in Ipswich WILL) continue to campaign all over the town and to continue to offer a good service to our constituents. Maybe if the Tories and Lib Dems also got off their backsides and campaigned as well, there would be even less opportunity for the likes of the BNP or UKIP to get out on the streets of Ipswich and peddle their lies.

As an ex soldier I was not happy to see a number of soldiers on the list, when I served in the Army, I was led to believe that you could not be a member of a political party but it seems now you can be a member but not an activist. I wonder what the Fijian and other Commonwealth soldiers feel about having a member of the BNP in their section or platoon!

More old Labour pictures.

Two more pictures from the history of the Ipswich Labour Party,

The first is of Ken Weetch our former MP, campaigning in about 74, alongside him is Lord Elwyn Jones, the then Attorney General (I am led to believe). Behind them is the campaign camper van that my mum (Annie Ross) spent many hours driving.

The second picture is of my late father Peter Ross, holding the Ipswich CLP red flag at a May Day event in the 70's.