Nature nearby

How can urban areas have nature nearby?
Natural England have an inspiring answer  - they invite local residents to get together to create "doorstep greens". Exeter City Council calls these "pocket parks".
Whatever the name we're aiming to start up soon in the Whipton area of Pinhoe Ward.
If you're interested in getting involved come along at 10.15 a.m. on Friday 2nd December to Whipton Community Hall Pinhoe Road, near Whipton shopping centre.
I will be there, as will the  RSPB and  Exeter Wild City.

Fly-tipping gets worse - why?

We have two excellent recycling centres in Pinhoe.

First is the new, superb Pinbrook Road Recycling Centre

The second is the small group of bins in the corner of Sainsburys  car park 

So why do people still fly-tip? 

Almost anywhere, 

but also right beside the Sainsbury's bins.

I asked at Sainsburys enquiry desk how frequently tipping happened.

Far more often now - was the reply - it's since people have had to pay to recycle.

I tried to explain that it was only building waste which was charged for, but really, that explanation needs to reach everyone, not only the person at Sainsburys enquiry desk. 

Because he was right. 

Purely by making one category of waste chargeable it has some-how sent a message that recycling centres now charge for anything. 

As a result, many more people are resorting to fly-tipping. And clearing up the fly-tipping costs a lot of Council money that could be better used. 

I wouldn't be surprised if it costs more than the income  made by charging for the building waste. 

An own goal, Devon County Council?

Anti-Labour media buries our good news

Adam Boulton and Sly News showed everyone the media bias that Labour Party members have long recognised.

It is only newsworthy when Labour lose a national election.
But when Labour make substantial gains in local elections....?

The BBC buried the link to the bare statistics on their Elections 2010 main page.
Go compare - the lobbying group Urban Forum Untold Story Of The Local Elections.and the Local Government Chronical Labour encouraged by gains in local elections

Labour - 442 councillors gained. Control 15 more local councils

Tories - 119 councillors lost. Control 8 less councils.

Lib Dems - 129 councillors lost. Control 3 less councils

Most of the Labour gains were from councils that used to be No Overall Control.

So as our Country goes hang,

 locally people feel they've been hung out to dry too often

and are turning back to labour.

 Across England it is still the Tories who dominate the most councils.

But in the May elections next year

Labour is set to further regain control of local government.

Be part of the return to Labour values locally

Be liberated from zombie arguments. Vote Planet!

How dangerous is it to wear a T-shirt that says

"Global warming is a lot of hot air"?

I expect such a T-shirt exists.
If worn by a climate scientist on an IPCC working group, or worn on the high street by a global warming denier, its dual meanings couldn't be more opposed.

Do we laugh or despair?
If unchecked our planet will reach lethal temperatures well within the lifetimes of people alive today.
Yet we still behave (Kyoto, Copenhagen) as if the most important sustainablity is the acheivement of yet another moratorium event on the matter.

But there is no point in endlessly, politely trying to persuade a denier.

Ben Goldacre's succinct exposure of climate change denialists in his Bad Science column in the Guardian alerts us to the folly of engaging with denialists' zombie arguments, or as I've always thought of it -  "Never wrestle with a pig, You both get dirty and the pig likes it."

We don't need everyone to understand climate change. We just need enough of those people who set trends, make decisions, influence expenditure, etc.

What are the important decisions that need to be made?

Who currently makes them?

Are they getting the message?

If not, why not?

Vote Planet!

In May next year District and Parish council elections

will be held across Central Devon.

We need to start now to ensure that all those who stand for election

get the global warming message

and we need to campaign to make sure

that those with the most positive responses get elected.

Go Labour! Building on our result.

Factor in the tactical anti-Tory votes and we think our 6.9% vote share could mean as many as one in ten people in Central Devon hold dear the principle of progressive change towards a better, more equal and sustainable society: Labour values.

In Central Devon we have a crucial democratic role to play.

As I made clear at all the hustings meetings - being stuck with two-party, and sometimes single party, dominance of local councils risks a lack of accountability,  lack of transparency, and the quality of service provision.

What Labour in Central Devon now aims for is to increase our local impact. We need to challenge, scrutinise and improve local council decisions and services at parish, district and county level.

A massive thank you to all Labour supporters who voted - whether directly for Labour of tactically against the Tories. We now need to tackle the two-party domienence in Central Devon.
Already Labour members are making a difference locally.
And the Central Devon Labour Party is large enough and active enough to support those who step forward to keep local authorities under scrutiny and also to consider taking on council roles.

If you feel you have a contribution to make, whether as a supportive Party member, a local council watchdog, or going for council elections next year to represent Labour values then please email me on munyori@blueyonder.co.uk

Healthy Badgers, Healthy Cattle

Is it possible to reach a win/win

balance of nature

in the battle against bovine TB?

Speak to farmers in Central Devon, those who care as much about the wildlife on their farms as they care about their animals, and you will soon be directed to a group of people who beleive there is a way forward.

I've had the pleasure of meeting some of them.

As a result, at the NFU run hustings event in Okehampton I was given a DVD.

Bovine TB - A Way Forward

It makes for compelling viewing.

It costs only £4.99 including postage. You can see more details and buy it here

It features the work of the Healthy Badger Project to which not enough media attention is given, and not enough scientific credence.

Get the DVD, watch it with others who share your concern that there should be
a win/win for cows and badgers.
Spread the word.Thank you.

Robin Hood Tax wins by a clear margin

Lobbying emails are pouring in at this stage of the election.

But in the last two days one huge lobby has come crashing into my inbox - email after email asking will I support the Robin Hood Tax

Absolutely!

I've signed up.
I ask everyone who reads this blog to sign up too.

But we need to do more. The Robin Hood Tax needs to go along side the two proposed IMF bank taxes so that we have three ways of getting the banking system under control.

And by the way - compared to the daylight robbery of us, I don't think of the Robin Hood Tax as us robbing the banks back - I think of it as a kind of redistributive justice.

If we're ever going to save planet earth and the billions of us on her then this has got to happen.

Visible, vocal, going for votes

Ten weeks since our Central Devon Campaign took off and I'm overwhelmed by the superb welcome and support from local Labour Party members and supporters.

In particular I'm indebted to members who have walked miles delivering newsletters in their area, and to supporters who have put my posters up in their windows, or invited me to have a garden stake in front of their home.

Everywhere I've been, across Central Devon, there are Labour-minded people who greet me and are delighted to see a Labour candidate actively campaigning for votes.

There's an myth the Tory Party promotes that rural seats are 'naturally' theirs.

Not so.

Central Devon is a new constituency voting for the first time in the election. No-one knows how the votes will go.

But it is true that this country's antiquated first-past-the-post electoral system betrays voters up and down the country and often creates 'safe seats'.

That should never be so in any election. It has to be changed. Labour recognise that need and have pledged to do something about it. Everyone should be able to vote postively for who they do want, not negatively against a Party they don't want.

Central Devon has no track record. It is important that voters vote for who they want. If you're Labour, please vote for me - the many other Labour people in Central Devon, who are active in this campaign, would love to see their efforts rewarded.

Labour fields more women candidates than ever before

There are more Labour women candidates in this election than ever before.

And the last Parliament already had three times the number of Labour women MPs than all the other parties combined.

See more about this great news

With Labour back in Government there would be further progress made on making sure that all this country's legislation is looked at from both a female and male point of view.

Result - much better legislation.

For a Government that reflects everyone's interests - Vote Labour.

Cycling is wonderful when spring starts

It may be wet some days, but spring is on its way.

Snowdrops in their thousands near Crediton

The truth about Local Government Pensions

The Tories continually attack the public sector and intend to 'tackle' Local Government Pensions. So they're spreading a grossly distorted picture of the kind of pensions local government workers actually pay into.
After a biased letter appeared in the Express & Echo I wrote in correcting the anti-LGPS statements.
The Express and Echo published my letter last Thursday and it's now online at the This is North Devon website.
Read here the truth about the Local Government Pension Scheme http://www.thisisnorthdevon.co.uk/news/Pension-plan-attack-dangerously-wrong/article-1869390-detail/article.html

Selection as central Devon PPC

I'm excited and honoured to have been selected by the Central Devon labour Party as their Prospective Parliamentary Candidate.
I'll be using this blog so that anyone in this huge constituency of market towns and villages can find out more about Labour, about our campaign and can keep in touch should they wish to.
First off, a thank you to the friendly and knowledgeable staff at West Devon Borough Council, who were immediately available at the end of a specified phone line and have already placed information for voters on their website.