Category Archives: Articles

I don’t know whether you can stand another column on the Conservative party conference. For me it was overshadowed by the gathering gloom. Euroland came  close to acknowledging it has a serious banking crisis on its hands. The Chancellor had to fly out to Brussels in the middle of the Conference, to yet another inconclusive [...]

It’s been a frustrating week at home with no Parliament to go to. Parliament is taking a recess whilst the three main political parties hold their conferences. The trouble is the world does not go away for three weeks whilst UK politicians meet to mull over what they have done and need to do next. [...]

Last week was a hectic one in Parliament, after a needlessly long summer break. There was much to catch up on – the state of the economy, the Euro crisis, the aftermath of the looting, the advances in Libya, the changes in the NHS and even a vote on abortion counselling. I have been preoccupied [...]

There have been some well aired rows in the press over national planning policy. Some in the Council for the protection of Rural England and the National Trust have been implying the new planning rules coming in will make it possible for developers to build on green belt or to erode the other important protections [...]

I was pleased to receive an email from Wokingham police to confirm that no copycat violence had broken out in our area during the disgraceful wave of looting, arson and violence we saw on tv recently. I was even more relieved to see the police decision to put many more officers on the streets of [...]

Debt is easy to get into, but difficult to get out of. In 2008-9 the debt crisis was all about people who had borrowed too much on mortgage, and banks which had lent too much. On both sides of the Atlantic that is being sorted out. Gradually people are paying off debts, and taking out [...]

Last week Parliament felt better about itself. Parties and politicians who had been craven before the media suddenly found voices. They united to speak out against the Murdoch press. Labour and Coalition jostled to be the more demanding. By the end of the week Parliament had got what it said it wanted – an Inquiry [...]

In recent days politicians have had old age on their minds. The Commons turned down a proposal for tax relief for health insurance for people after they have retired during the Committee stages of the Finance Bill. That helped keep us debating high finance until 1.30 in the morning. The public sector held a series [...]

                  It was always going to take a long time to turn round the financial and economic mess this country was in. So far the Coalition government has put taxes up – VAT and National Insurance – to start to bring the deficit down. Now they are meant to move on to getting more [...]

This week I am writing to the company set up to develop Wokingham’s town centre. There is plenty of good will behind the idea that Wokingham needs a facelift. The town has attractive buildings around the Market Place, and it serves a well populated area. Today it does need some new retailers and some new [...]