Mark Foster

I haven’t posted for a week, I have been very busy over Christmas.  

2007 has been a good year for me personally, I am now back in a job I quite like, my bank balance has gone from being very red to being in the black for a few days of the month! On the political side of things, Bliar has gone, Littlehampton now sends four LibDems to Arun Council and the LibDems now have a fresh dynamic leader. 

Although I want 2008 to be the year that Gordy goes to the polls and the Liberal Democrats win a landslide victory, I don’t think that’s going to happen! So I just hope that the predicted recession doesn’t bite too hard for the long-suffering citizens of these islands and that the government finally kills off the ID database.

I went out for a Christmas drink (or three!) down the pub with the local LibDem team last night. It was great to have a social drink without any fundraising or agenda. The town was almost empty, I guess people were at home or something!?!? 

It’s great to see the Schengen zone enlarging in Europe and it being a complete success. I think it shows just how out of step Britain is with the rest of Europe. It always infuriates me when I have been from Bitburg in Germany to Calais in France and not even stopped for the borders or shown my passport then you get to Dover and get treated like a criminal by the UK authorities.

I have my work hat on now. I have only just heard of the death of Donald Frampton on 1st December. I had never met or seen Mr. Frampton but only heard of his legendary contribution to British Horticulture. Donald Frampton was a local entreprenerial pioneer who will be much missed in the Horticultural community.

It was great driving round Littlehampton today seeing houses covered in lights and decorations, even though I’m not a Christian or even have any decorations in my house, winter in Littlehampton is fairly miserable, the lights brighten it up. 

Congratulations Cleggy! I hope now we can move into a long period of stability with a real promotion of liberalism as a philosophy and not just a cynical PR campaign for personalities or individual LibDem policies. The true shocker for the poll was the turnout, just over half of eligible voters. It is absolute disgrace that a party which sincerely believes in political participation can’t even convince 90% of it’s own members to put a ‘1’ on a ballot paper in an envelope and post it. The only conclusion I have come to is that the membership really couldn’t see a difference between Cleggy and Huhne and didn’t mind who won, either that or there are 30,000 members who wanted someone else as leader?

I saw Sir. John Major on Andrew Marr this morning and agreed with about 90% of what he said. Something I’ve been saying for the past nine years or so, that he said this morning is that the Conservative sleeze scandals were always about induvidual MP’s lining their own pockets wheras Labour scandals are more institutional, about political party advantage which of course is worse and endangers democracy itself. Not that I have much time for the Tories. But I do for John! 

Gordy is really getting a reputation now for being a bottler. He bottled the Autumn election and now he’s bottled the controversial treaty signing ceremony.  We really need a referendum on the UK’s continued membership of the EU now. The Anti-Europeans want it and the Pro-Europeans want it.  

The only people who don’t want a Euro-referendum are the Conservative leadership and the Labour party, because it will smash the biggest two parties to shreds and split Britains cosy political consensus apart. 

There have been editorials in newspapers saying there might be a Labour leadership coup in the spring. BRING IT ON! 

Here we go again, another government initiative!  

This time it’s the ‘childrens plan’. It will be surrounded by fanfares and pumped with money for a year, maybe two (it will help take the heat off this rubbish government) Then as it fails, it will leave a trail of red tape in its wake. The associated targets and ministry memos will encourage more and more overruled professionals to seek other careers, maybe as tax collectors or national ID database staff, because these will be the only people with jobs when the recession starts to bite.  

This initiative has the smell of “back to basics” about it, a desparate attempt by a rotten government at the beginning of the end of the New Labour era. 

Vince Cable really is a great interim leader for us. I have never been a massive fan of Vince, but he has really proved himself by boycotting the Saudi leadership and his amusing questions at PMQ’s. He will surely be written into the Liberal history books as the man who humiliated Gordy. Well done Vince!

A bid to increase the turnout at elections is the stated aim of the recommendations in the government-sponsored Councillors Commission report. The report has also suggested ideas to encourage more diversity among local council candidates. These include lowering the voting age to 16, setting a three-term limit on council leaders and elected mayors, ‘all-out elections’ for all councils every four years instead of the mixed system of staggered elections in many areas, and placing mock polling booths at citizenship ceremonies. The commission also proposes that councils should be given the option of introducing proportional representation.  

 We need to revitalise local and democracy and strengthen its legitimacy and powers. The commission is absolutely right to recommend fair and proportional voting. However I am concerned about proposals to introduce term limits for councillors, it is fundamentally undemocratic to tell voters that popular councillors cannot be re-elected. 

 Local councillors need to be leading local campaigners and representatives NOT the states local managers kowtowing to every edict from Whitehall.  

 Some of the proposals will encourage some people to become councillors who will simply see being a councillor as a ‘good career move’ on their way to other jobs. I want to see passionate local campaigners, fighting for local residents being elected and proudly keeping their ‘day jobs’.  

Councillors should belong to their electors, NOT to the council or this rotten government.

I went to Worthing yesterday to do some Christmas shopping – WHAT A DISASTER!!! Crowded, Raining, Windy and Traffic jams.

There is a piece in the Gazette this week about a potential electricity generation barrage across the river Arun. The barrage would provide a flood defence, generate power and could provide a welcome added pedestrian link to the west bank.

Although it would cost millions, the Arun is one of the country’s fastest flowing rivers and if harnessed could help the environment. I’m sure it would also be a minor tourist attraction.

I certainly think that it’s worth looking into and would be a better use of money than all the creepy databases that the government seems to be obsessed with.

I, like most of the country I suspect am completely fed-up with the whole Labour donations row. Why is it that if the Labour party are involved in a row about themselves, they want to change the law?

There are more important things to squabble about. I just hope people realise that these are the people we are being asked to trust with the ID database.

I went to the local party AGM today, and I was elected Membership Secretary. I’m sure I can fit it around my other Littlehampton duties.  

The woman who asked about joining the party at the Christmas fair was signed-up by my good self on Thursday.

There is a piece on the BBC website comparing Flash’s problems with John Majors troubles as Prime Minister. The parallels are stark.

Gordy is actually quite a decent bloke in contrast to his predecessor but the media have turned against his government and everyone who is involved in campaigning knows that the media really control what the public think.

The economy is on the turn, which in itself is not the governments fault, but some of their policies are tuned to the amazing economic boom we have been lucky to enjoy over the past 9 years or so. When the economy starts to collapse the poorest and most vulnerable in society will be the hardest hit by the cuts which will follow. This will lead to a collapse in the support of the red management team.

 This government is now in terminal decline like John Major’s was in 1990. It may go on to win an election but it will probably be followed five years later by a landslide defeat where Labour may be wiped off the political map.