Bus leaflets in Ravenswood

I actually enjoy getting out, delivering leaflets, knocking on doors and meeting people. some members of the party do not like it, each to their own. But they are missing out on what is a vital part of local politics and also on what can be a quite enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours on a Saturday morning. I also enjoy working in different wards in the town, many have the same problems as Rushmere. it is often the same faces out each Saturday, but results in St Johns and Bridge Wards in Ipswich last year show that the more work you do the better the result will be.
Today over 10 of us were in Priory Heath, whilst other members also held a surgery in Westgate and Sue Thomas our Rushmere County Councillor was holding her own surgery at the Selkirk Road residents shop.
I was fortunate to be in Ravenswood (a new housing development on the old airport site) with Phil Smart. on top of meeting local people, whilst delivering it also give you the chance to discuss local and national political events. Phil is our "Mr Bus", who has been at the front of our campaign to stop possible cuts to the Ipswich Bus Service. This week the campaign took a nasty turn as the Tories (with Lib Dem support) ousted Phil as chairman of the Ipswich Bus Company. But as an Ipswich Party member told Phil, when it turns nasty and personnel you know you have won the argument.
The people from Ipswich have a great sense of pride in their bus service and it is up to us to get the message over that every Tory and Liberal on the council voted for a budget that will lead to a reduced bus service in the town.
We managed to get most of Ravenswood delivered, as it is a new build it can be slightly more difficult to deliver than the older estates but as well as being a fountain of knowledge on bus routes, Phil also is the ideal man when it comes to sorting out delivery routes, the use of a pincer movement was even thrown in to appeal to my military background.
Another good thing about going to Ravenswood it reminds you of what a Labour run Ipswich council achieved whilst in power, as Ravenswood is a great example of what a go ahead council can achieve with a builder if they get a chance or have the inclination to do so.

Northen Ireland elections

After serving in Northern Ireland on three occasions and on the last time actually living in Belfast with my family, I take a great interest in the political situation 'across the water'.
This week has seen elections that will hopefully lead to Stormont taking control of Northern Ireland again. I think Tony Blair and Peter Hain should be congratulated for their determination to find a political solution to the problems in Northern Ireland.
It is a mark of how far along the road to peace Ireland has come in that this election was almost like an election here in the UK and that is probably the first time that has happened for over 40 years.
I believe that we could have reached this point many years earlier if the main stream parties from over here had organised and got themselves involved in politics in Ireland. it could have helped stopped the voting by religion and replaced it with people voting on principles and real policies.
For those interested in politics in Northern Ireland I would recommend this blog: Your friend in the north blog and for a review of the election this post.

Patrick Mercer- an ex soldier's view

I was quite shocked when I read the copy of the full Patrick Mercer interview- shocked and very disappointed. Not because a Tory frontbencher had made the remarks but because a former senior officer in the Army had made such a statement.

To be honest I would expect many Tory MP's agreed with his view but it is, his position as an ex Regular Army Officer that concerns me.

I spend quite a considerable time defending the Armed Forces, for many people - since the end of national service - they do not have first hand experience of the Armed Forces or have had family who are or have served in the forces.

Mercer was right on a few points, the Army is no place for those with soft shells, the banter does fly but no sometimes it can go too far in most cases, commanders and instructors know where the limits are. True- ginger people do take the brunt of many jokes- but in the same way as the recent Catherine Tate sketch. what is not acceptable and I believe where Mercer gets it wrong is that the terms - "ginger bastard", "black bastard" and "fat bastard" are not common terms used by soldiers.

I served for 25 years in an Infantry Regiment like Mercer, and the army over that time became very aware that it was seen by many both inside and outside the black community as a predominately white organisation. the army set up a number of measures to counter this. To be fair to the Army, when I joined in 1978 there were a large number of black people in the Army, my regiment recruited from urban areas like East London and two of my first Sergeants were black. I never saw any overt racism but later in my career, serving black friends did say they had suffered at times. But the young black population did see us as racist- maybe due to the lack of black faces outside Buckingham Palace and that did keep recruiting figures low.

Mercer was speaking after the announcement of a black soldiers union- this is actually driven by those from the Commonwealth wishing to be represented- they have different problems with leave, culture, bringing wives and family to the UK and the subject of being granted British Nationality.

I totally refuse to accept Mercer's view of the Army- it certainly was not part of the regiment I was in, and certainly not the view of the Army that is currently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I actually was in my Regiment in Bosnia in 1998 when we handed over to Mercer's Regiment. To be honest then myself and other senior soldiers were shocked by the attitude of some his Regiment- not racist but it just seemed to they had views and acted like a unit that was stuck in days of National Service- stuck in some sort of time warp- I am almost certain that attitude has changed dramatically since Mercer left.

Maybe Mercer left because he was not suited to the modern Army- lucky for him he found a place where his 1960's type of views were welcomed with open arms- the Conservative party.

I fear that he will actually gain some support- from those that like to quote political correctness as the route of all evil. I just hope a few Senior Officers will speak up for the Army and put Mercer in his place.

Alasdair Ross

ex Sergeant Major in the Royal Green Jackets- and proud of it.

10 months since we saw a Lib Dem in Rushmere.

Now it is getting closer to the local elections it should not be long till we see those yellow newsletters arriving through our letterbox. 10 months since we saw the last Lib Dem leaflet in Rushmere. Not that we need a leaflet to know what they are going to say! (Or not say)

How they have saved culture in Ipswich
How they have saved the market (that is the market that now seems to be dying on it's feet)
How they are going to find somewhere for the Age Concern tea room
They will also boast that how with their Tory allies they have kept Council Tax below 5%

What they won't say is:
How Council Tax will be below 5% because they are going to raise the rent for the bus depot, which will mean a reduction in our excellent bus service
they won't explain why it has taken them two years to find a new place for the Age Concern tea room (and probably another two years before it is open- oh and they will fail to mention how they will have to share with about ten other community groups)
they wont explain that the market may seem to take more space up, but there are actually less stalls.

But what there leaflet will say is how they are campaigning for the people of Rushmere! In Lib Dem speak that means they are campaigning for six weeks and then won't be seen till March 2008.

316 days since last Lib Dem leaflet....and counting!

try this- Geography quiz

Try this countryquiz - not as easy as it seems!
You have to name (and spell correctly) the 192 UN member states in 10 minutes!

cheers to Andy Smith and Erik Wannebo

Bus campaign and the Lib Dems (a joke!)

Our Ipswich agent has now joined the Labour blog gang (look at the link on this page) and I must steal his joke about the Lib Dems.
The 'Save our bus campaign', has got quite nasty and Phil Smart one of our councillors and also Chairman of Ipswich Buses has taken most of the flak. But Phil has still kept his sense of humour and here is his joke:

Q. Why are the new buses on service 13 like the Liberal Democrats?
A. Because they change colour from green to blue as they go along.

The picture is of our Ipswich MP, Chris Mole as he boards a new Number 13 bus.

(note the 'Not in service')

Football and politics

Sheepshanks - time to go?


I was going to try and leave football off this blog, it is my great love but I wanted this blog to be about politics and the concerns of Ipswich and in particular - Rushmere residents.
But the last few results and our proximity to the drop zone, make it impossible not to mention Ipswich Town FC.
I have a ten year season ticket- (army pension- not spent that wisely!) so I am in for the long term and I am sure we will survive but Football and politics can come together.
I have been involved and a member of the Football Supporters Federation from it's start after the events at Hillsborough in 1989 and I also helped start the Ipswich Town Independent Supporters Trust and one of the reasons why I am involved in both is the lack of supporter involvement in the running of the game. It is hard to get fans to unite as if your team is doing well you can easily forget about the others but though it is hard you can get fans to share a common purpose as seen with the recent outcry about ticket prices. the trouble is as Premier teams think and in some cases actually cut prices, here at Ipswich we are about to see ticket prices go up!
The Trust had a good working relationship with the Club but after we were critical of Mr Sheepshanks and his bonus at the Club AGM, it seems we are no longer in the "in crowd", despite raising large amounts of money that have been used for the benefit of the Academy.
The Club seem to be happy to take our money- but only as long as we toe the party line.
Ipswich need a number of new investors but as long as Mr Sheepshanks is there, that will probably not happen. You can see they are desperate and last season got involved with a dodgy fellow, who seemed to have charmed Sheepy and the board, until the Trust pointed out that this new investor had a pretty poor track record when it came to running a football club.
Sheepy and his East Suffolk mafia were very vocal at the AGM in defence of each other and the large bonus, a number of Directors were still very critical of the Trust in the reception afterwards. But tellingly when a Club Director (who is a Chairman of a large company) was asked if he would expect to still be the Chair of his company if it was under a CVA, he answered he would not expect to be a Chair a week after going into administration let alone two years!
How come then when we say that football is not like any other business they argue with us that it is a business and has to be run as so. But then in hard times they expect to be treated differently and not like a business.
The only good thing that may come out of our recent slump in form is that more supporters may realise it is time for a change at the top of the board of Ipswich Town.