It's Not The Message, Its The Medium

King George Hospital

I was taught that content and presentation were key to getting your message across, along with a thorough understanding of your audience and your product / proposition.

It is also clear that the medium has as much, if not more, weight in determining the response of the audience.

This week I tried to get a copy of the Care and Quality Commission Report on Maternity Serices in Barking, Havering and Redbridge.  Currently we have some of the worse outcomes in not just the UK, but Western Europe.  Put bluntly, Women and Babies are dying in a catastrophic failure of management.

The report was pre-released to a select few 48hrs before the embargo deadline of 9am yesterday.  However, it had failed to reach the website.  I confidently called the CQC and asked for a copy.  I was promised a call back.  No call back, no report.

I vented my frustrations today on Twitter, using the hashtag #CQCFail.  Within 2 hours I had received 2 sets of the reports. 

Yet again the digital world trumpets the analogue world.

It is Ed Balls who needs lessons in Finance - and History

Ed Balls, the Shadow Chancellor, gave an interview to a consumer website on Thursday during which he — quite rightly — called for financial education to be made compulsory in schools.


Here are a few questions that might be included on the syllabus, together with the answers.


Q: At what price did Mr Balls’s former boss, Gordon Brown, sell half of Britain’s gold reserves? What is the price of gold now?
A: Mr Brown sold at between $256 and $296 an ounce, compared with $1,574 last night.


Q: What was the United Kingdom’s national debt just before Mr Brown became Prime Minister and what was it just before he left office?
A: £497.8 billion and £760.3 billion.


Q: Treasury officials privately warned Gordon Brown that his tax raid of 1997 would cost Britain’s occupational pension funds up to how much?
A: The predicted hit to pensions was £75 billion, though it is now reckoned to have exceeded £100 billion.


Q: How much, according to the Commons Public Accounts Committee, was overpaid during the first three years of Mr Brown’s tax credits system?
A: £5.8 billion.

Labour are not innocent victims of a global financial crisis.  They plotted the course, piloted the economy, regulated the banks (badly), spent the tax billions, knighted the bankers and made the decisions that will cost the next generation billions.

If we are to start with Financial education, we should start with Ed Balls.

The Kenneth More Theatre

The supporters of the KMT have launched an extensive email campaign to keep the KMT in Ilford.

I have not seen any plans or written proposals to move or close the KMT. (It would appear somebody has!) I have however read the reports in the papers. I have also read hundreds of emails over the last few days from concerned patrons and performers (granted most were identikit “cut and Paste” emails, which has become the norm. I do miss real letter writing.)

It is the role of a politician to listen to his (or her) constituents. He should frame his response to policy suggestions and fiscal decisions against what they want, and what would be good for the residents, both now and in the future.

The power of social media and the internet has made it much easier for (some) groups to make their views known. (I think the supporters of KMT have sent over 5,000 emails)

So how much weight should a politician put on an email campaign? At our budget meeting we will be discussing a whole range of possible savings, to avoid increasing council tax to our residents.

Amongst them may be changes to care services, support for the elderly, mental health services, and support for the disabled, support for those with special needs. That’s before we get to roads, looked after children, planning services, grants to the voluntary sector and the countless other areas where we spend our money (Note to Lobbyists: Your spending plea is someone else’s spending cut)

Vulnerable groups don’t always have organised, articulate advocates fighting their corner. Funding a care worker to clean up excrement is not as appealing (to some) as funding an arts centre. Nor is funding a place of safety for an abandoned, abused ten year old.

It is our duty as councillors to consider the needs of all of those who we support, the articulate and the silent.

I hope we give as much weight to those without a voice as those with a voice. And I hope we find a way to serve both groups equally.

Redbridge Remembers

The conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq have brought the role of our military forces to the fore in recent years. The people of Wooton Basset memorably captured the mood of the nation when they paid their respects to those who had died on active service. Amongst the 348 who have so far died in Afghanistan are two local heroes, Tom Curry and Daniel Clack.

That has made our Remembrance services in Redbridge more personal and more painful. Seeing grief etched on the faces of those who loved them gives you pause for thought – there but for the grace of God goes my family. When I see the dignity they display when still wracked by grief, I feel somehow inadequate. I struggle to find the words to express my sorrow, my country’s gratitude.

I am sorry, sorry beyond description at their loss. And I am grateful, for it is only by the bravery of young men and women who follow orders without question and vowed to defend their country that my family and community can enjoy peace and freedom.

I was privileged to be at St Paul’s Church, Woodford Bridge, on Sunday for their Remembrance Sunday mass. It was the church where Daniel Clack was buried.

During the service pupils from Roding Primary School, who had been working on an Armistice Day project, read from their work. One read the Flanders Field poem. It was immensely poignant and moving and a testament to the pupils, parents and staff of Head Teacher Graham Alderton’s school.

St Paul’s Parish Priest, Reverend John Springbett, gave an excellent, moving yet simple sermon. All of our freedoms, he said, are not preserved by politicians, the press or the judiciary. They are preserved by the military.

It is men and women like Tom Curry, Daniel Clack and the 16,000 others who have died for our country since 1945 (I had no idea so many had died,) who allow us all to live our lives with freedoms we take for granted.

I hope we can honour their sacrifice by cherishing those freedoms, and using them wisely.

Marine Tom Curry RIP 1986 – 2007
Lt Daniel Clack RIP 1987 – 2011

Redbridge Youth Impress and Amaze

The avalanche of information from council officers, pressure groups, 24 hr media and the internet can sometimes leave you more confused than informed.
In the “political bubble” you tend to focus on what you think are the urgent and important issues, leaving strategy and vision for another day.

At my age of 51, (nearer grave than rave as an unkind wag recently put it), the “now” is even more urgent. Last night I met a group of Redbridge Residents who definitely have their pulse on the future.

20 young people from Redbridge Youth Council questioned and interrogated a small group of councillors with a focus and intensity that would make Jeremy Paxman blanche.

The format was “Speed Debating”, with groups of three young people questioning councillors for three minutes at a time. They chose the topics, researched the questions and put us to the sword.

The range of topics gives an insight into what is important to our young people in 2011.

Amongst the topics raised by our young people were safety on the streets, youth service provision, tuition fees, the voting system, paying down our debt and growing our economy, interest rates, the riots and relationships between the young people and the police.

I was genuinely alarmed that our young don’t feel safe on our streets. We are one of London’s safest Boroughs, but the fear of crime is as pernicious for this group as it is for the elderly, and I will pursue this issue.

Their frustration at the closure of the Downsall Centre was palpable, but they recognised that we needed to provide more school places. Their interest in the economy, and understanding of the growth v debt reduction debate was impressive. They also asked penetrating questions on tuition fees, the riot, young people and the police.

What was interesting was what was not asked. No questions on the debate around climate change and global warming. Whether this generation has “moved on” or regards it as axiomatic is a moot point. Our current economic challenge has moved “Climate change” further down people’s list of concerns. Perhaps our young people reflect this trend. There were also no questions about the conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya.

Are our young people are better at focusing on what is important now and tomorrow? Do they leave “navel gazing” to the older and slower!

My overall feeling after this invigorating session was one of quiet confidence. If these young people are indicative of those who will be making important decisions in industry, commerce, politics, the arts, health and science in years to come, my borough and my country will be in good hands.

(Well done and thank you to Redbridge Youth Service and Redbridge Youth Council for organising this event.)