Curly’s Corner Shop, the blog!

Speaker Martin must go and go now

I’ve just a few minutes ago listened to The Speaker’s statement read out to the House of Commons and I was as shocked and angered as some of the MPs that he shouldered virtually no responsibility for his own part in the expenses scandal, did not recognise wholly the depths of anger being felt by the public, failed to recognise that the House cannot move forward whilst he is in the chair, failed to apologise for his outbursts against Kate Hoey and Chris Hune last week, and turned most of the blame on to other members. His reminder to the House of the Kelly Commission’s work and his promise to meet the Prime Minister and other party leaders was woeful and inadequate, he must recognise that he is part of the problem and not part of the solution. Douglas Carswell’s motion of no confidence in The Speaker will not be debated we were informed, MPs started to show their anger, a sunstantive motion can only be allowed in government time he tells us, yet seemed unable to advise David Davis on how such a motion could be framed and made available for the House to vote on.

Nick Robinson has told us that Speaker Martin had earlier met with Gordon Brown, oh to have been a fly on the wall during this old pals act!

One way or another the House of Commons must represent the true depth of feeling and the anger of the people of Great Britain, our body of representatives must surely wake up and repair the damage that they have done to this once great institution and to politics in general, the will of the people must prevail. I am confident that by hook or by crook MPs will either debate the no confidence motion, or The Speaker will resign, before the Whit recess.

Then they can start the rebuilding process.

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"Becky"

“No pictures” – sent to Coventry

So we have a new Asda in South Shields which opened this morning with much fanfare, a parade, and a celebrity appearance from Katherine Kelly who plays “Becky” in Coronation Street, Mrs. Curly and Missy, enjoying a day away from school as they have an ‘in service’ trainer, were mad keen to get a spot at the front to meet the actress and to ensure that I photographed the event. I’m beginning to think that they’ve been infected with this celeb culture and would have behaved in the same fashion if Jordan or Jody Marsh, Vanessa Feltz, or Posh and Becks were there.

Not being a great fan of TV soaps I had resigned myself to getting a few pictures to decorate South Shields Daily Photo with, we’d managed to get a good position, camera batteries were all charged and ready to go, and I thought I’d got some real beauties of Katherine as the balloons and tickertape and glittery things went flying into the air, and it was as I was chatting with the Mayoress and about to show her some of the pictures that I’d captured that the screen on the back of the Pentax informed me that there was  no memory card inserted. What a disaster!

I thought, well let’s see if we can grab a few shots as she signed autographs with the Minolta, but that had no memory card inserted either, I’d left them both next to my card reader last night and spare cards were in the camera bag in the boot of the car miles away. Not a very good start to the day. All we had to show for my lack of preparation was the autographed picture from Ms. Kelly, I’m now “sent to Coventry” for my sins.

The store, by the way, is quite superb, nicely laid out, well stocked, and with a restaurant so it ought to prove a big hit with South Shields shoppers. One consequence of the new building is the likely change in footfall towards the Market end of King Street, the Market Place and Station Road, so it may have a beneficial affect towards trade with other retailers in these areas and may help in finding retailers to take up the empty units at that end of King Street as they see an uplift in traffic. The next great thing that needs to happen is to build bridges, paths, routes and walkways that link retailing in King Street with the new units in Coronation Street and Waterloo Square, I think it will be important to make greater use of the Barrington Street/Chapter Row areas in the next few years to build these links by introducing more retailing but within the niche market sector. By this I mean encouraging the growth of independent retailers who specialise as we start to come out of recession, we still need the added vibrance of shops that do not make your town centre look like a clone of anywhere else, I look at towns like Morpeth, Sunderland, Hexham, Carlisle, Bishop Aukland, and Barnard Castle where they still have room for independent family businesses on the High Street and hope that at some stage we can do the same thing in South Shields. We still need bespoke tailors, high end fashion,  toy shops, model shops, bakers and confectioners, game butchers, electrical/entertainment suppliers, high quality shoe shops, cobblers, photographers and photographic suppliers, hardware suppliers, grocers, and candlestick makers to supply the neeeds that the new supermarket does not.  A small retailng village, reserved for low lease units, positioned between King Street and Coronation Street could provide the answers as to how we keep the town centre linked together.

I guess if “Becky” hadn’t have came to South Shields I wouldn’t have thought of these things, and I guess she thinks our Coronation Street looks a hell of a lot better than the one she came from.

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Recycled waste prices outperform gold, crude oil, and the FTSE 100

In an odd reflection of what is and what is not working so well during this recession the FT’s Alphaville blog informs us that the surge in prices for recycled waste (including PET plastic bottles) is out performing other commodities such as gold, crude oil, or even shares! Prices for plastic and waste paper have surged following a dramatic crash last year,languishing at £19 per tonne of material in November 2008, cardboard has trebled to a price of £59 per tonne in May 2009, above the 2004-08 average price of £53 per tonne. PET plastic, used in drinks bottles, has risen almost as strongly, more than doubling from £75 per tonne in November to £195 per tonne in May, well above the long-term average of £156 per tonne.

In comparison, the price of gold has risen by 14 per cent, crude oil by 16 per cent and the FTSE 100 by less than 2 per cent in the same time period. And with the incentives in favour of recycling presented by the government’s landfill tax, it is no surprise that Nigel Aitchison of Foresight, the venture capitalists, considers the waste management sector a “timely place” to invest.

Seems a good time to start scouring South Shields Market to recover many of those “lost” recycling bins that South Tyneside Council handed out a few years ago, sure enough if you look under the stalls you will find that resourceful market traders are using them to store some of their stock! The most important point to note, of course is the more we recycle the less it will cost our councils in money (they have to pay a whopping Landfill Tax based on the volumes NOT recycled). So in the end it makes more sense to allow them to sell on our recycled waste and earn some extra revenue as prices continue to rise.

In the battle to control council tax rises, every little helps!

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Speaker expected to give statement today

The Speaker of the House of Commons, Michael Martin MP is expected to make a statement to the House today outlining his own plans for the future after coming under close scrutiny and immense pressure over his role in dealing with the MPs expenses debacle. Support is growing on all sides of the House for Douglas Carswell’s motion of no confidence in Mr. Speaker, but there are few precedents for forcing the MP’s “shop steward” out of the chair, it is far more likely that he will listen to small delegations of officials and Members before making his own mind up over whether to tender an early resignation or sit until the end of this Parliament (his preferred option, as it guarantees hin a £100,000+ severence package).

If politics in the UK is to be cleaned up after The Daily Telegraph’s revelations on expenses than the current Speaker cannot be seen as the man most likely to succeed in reforming a system that he has become so personally attached to, in reality the process can only be started on a fresh blank page with a new Speaker.

The Speaker now has his own blog, where he is sharing his thoughts in his familiar Glaswegian accent - here.

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Gordon Brown has been warned that Hazel Blears, the Communities Secretary has become “dangerously out of control” after featuring in the MPs expenses scandal and facing reports she will be sacked from the Cabinet. Continue reading…..

Don’t you just love some headlines?

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Why has this option not been taken, so far?

It is now seven days since I wrote this post concerning the council allowances claimed by South Tyneside Independent Alliance Cllr. Ahmed Khan, and I understand from comments on his Twitter page that he is not entirely happy with my words. I am, generally speaking, an amenable, adaptable, and cooperative sort of guy who in the past has offered to amend , edit, or even delete certain posts where subsequent information has proved me to be wrong or where my opinion has caused serious concern, these instances have been few and far between and Cllr. Khan in the past has contacted me to agree such actions. He knows that I am easy to contact, my telephone number and my email address is on the Contact page of this site, he knows my home address and has written to me in the past.

The comments on his Twitter page concern me, in as much as there are quick and easy remedies offered that enable him to put his side of the story and provide immediate “balance” to my points of view and opinions, I have copied these postings by Cllr. Khan which appear to indicate a far more hasty reaction to my original post:

Curly’s obsession with all things Khan continues. Now it’s coded messages & a plot to claim allowances. I’m flattered by his love for me.7:33 AM May 11th from web (137)

@Curly15 far from it. That’s why I will be the 1st Cllr in the borough to produce a detailed annual report for the people that elected me!8:21 AM May 11th from web (138)

@Curly15 garden path! I’ll leave the leading up to you. You’re more than capable of whipping up a few ½ truths, innuendo & gutter headlines.8:36 AM May 11th from web (twoosh!)

@Curly15 I see you’re not too ill to continue peddling you’re half truths & innuendo!8:56 AM May 11th from web (85)

Lengthy conference call with a specialist law practise Sahota Solicitors who come highly recommended, interesting times ahead!8:00 PM May 11th from web (126)

Plan to seek advice on copyright & intellectual property rights concerning a photography matter.8:20 AM May 12th from web (96)

2nd conference call @ 11am to discuss options & costs. No win no fee is an option if perpetrator owns property or is a newspaper.8:20 AM May 12th from web (129)

Hectic morning @ work, very constructive conference call with Sahota. Recent ½ truths & innuendo could prove extremely costly for someone.10:07 PM May 12th from web (139)

Delighted with proposals Sahota put on the table, they can offer insurance to cover my costs.10:12 PM May 12th from web (93)

Planning to travel to London next week to discuss next steps, Sahota want to go for the jugler.10:22 PM May 12th from web (95)

Apologies for the lack of tweets, other things have taken priority. Hard copies of all screenshots posted to London.4:35 PM May 13th from web (116)

They recover their own fees by putting a legal charge on the other party’s property.4:42 PM May 13th from web (84)

Some solicitors are keen to offer no won no fee where they know there is a high chance of success.4:43 PM May 13th from web (98)

Did you know that if you successfully sue someone you can either make them bankrupt or put a charge on their house?4:43 PM May 13th from web (115)

What a scam, National Express Trains want £223 for a return train journey to London. I don’t want to buy the company I just want a seat!12:46 PM May 15th from web (136)

BA want £312 for a return flight to Heathrow.12:49 PM May 15th from web (45)

My comments were justified with links and references to his own words repeatedly published in a series of leaflets and newsletters delivered to the residents of his ward in South Shields or published in The Shields Gazette, these were in my opinion “matters of public interest” (and I guess the issue of politicians words and claims on expenses and allowances still is), some of his posts on Twitter were made before I had finished contemplating and editing my thoughts and the picture illustrating my original post is not hosted here but merely linked to a thumbnail hosted on Google’s image servers, so any issue over copyright ought to be addressed to the internet’s biggest search engine who seem happy to “take” everyone’s images. This, of course, is not the first time that I have had to face overt threats of a legal nature from Mr. Khan, but we ought to be quite clear that I have offered him a very reasonable right to reply which would enable him to put his side of the story, thus balancing my thoughts both here and here. That offer remains open, he may post his rebuttal either as a comment or even email it to me and I will publish it as an individual  post.

I am just a little surprised that seven days later he has not taken this opportunity to reply.

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Katie Johnson shot at close range, but now back at work

I might bang on now and then about inappropriate policing methods at legal demonstrations, or Jacqui “Jackboots” Smith’s creeping politicisation of the police forces and the insidious building of a snooping police state under the NuLabour experiment, but I’ve made this point before, they are not all bad and we should all be thankful for the job they do for society, perhaps even more than thankful when they risk our lives to combat crime.

I saw this at Inspector Gadget’s place and felt that more people ought to know.

You won’t be reading pages and pages of national media coverage about Katie Johnson today. Katie has not hired Max Clifford, not sold her story or given her account pre-trial in the media. What Katie Johnson did do was nearly get shot to death by a violent gang of robbers.

Wayne McDonald shot Pc Katie Johnson, 29, with 12 shotgun pellets when she disturbed the robbery at the Hospital Inn in Bamber Bridge on New Year’s Eve 2007.

McDonald, 47, who was convicted of wounding with intent and robbery, was told he would serve at least 12 years. Yes, that’s twelve years. This story reminds me of the minimum 4 year sentence given to the youths who beat a man to death in the street last year.

Yes, that’s right, four years for causing a death! It does make you wonder about the ability of certain Judges to provide adequate protection to the public from those convicted of violent crimes, and also it makes you question just how fit for purpose Smith’s Home Office really is when there has been so little investment in the Prison Service and we fill our cells with little old ladies who have failed to pay their council taxes!

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Expenses row is overshadowing some nasty business

Whilst most of the news narrative continues to be dominated by The Telegraph’s lengthy exposures about MPs expense claims, I have to say that I’m now become a little weary and bored with it all, am I typical, and is it fair to say that “we’ve got the message” now?

Iain Dale sees the “horror” continuing for a few more days at least:

So, another day, another dozen allegations. It is quite clear that the Telegraph could keep this going for quite a few days yet. I can hardly blame them as they have now dominated the news agenda for nine consecutive days. And there will no doubt be more tomorrow.

As of now, all I want to hear is (a) news that a cross party agreement has been reached over new expenses arrangements that commands confidence with the public, (b) news that some of the worst offenders have been deselected by their local parties, (c) news that certain MPs have decided not to seek re-election, (d) news that one or two MPs may face fraud related criminal charges, (e) news that some MPs have decided to seek the Chiltern Hundreds and force one or two bye elections, or better still (f) news that Parliament is to be dissolved so we can have a thorough clean out. Not much to ask is it?

Because whilst the major news outlets salivate over the details of the freeloading lifestyles of some MPs other damning pieces of evidence about the NuLabour experiment are getting buried away deep within the inside pages, as a few more slivers of our personal privacy are stripped away by “Jackboots” Smith as she continues to improve the machinery of the snooping Stasi State.

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Joey Barton snapped doing community service

There was me thinking he’d lashed out at someone again.

(Some of the headline writers can be quite witty don’t you think?)

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More fan based “loyalty” from Labour Home

Shamelessly lifted from this post

“I’m getting increasingly sick of listening to Gordon get the line wrong at every opportunity. I’m really struggling now to find a recent occasion where he actually got something right.

He looks spineless compared to Cameron, and with the expenses row rumbling on the question isn’t will he get credit for suspending Morley but why didn’t he do so a fortnight ago when he found out about it? There is a reason why we are sinking in the polls. We’re adrift, rudderless, engine less. I fear its time for Brown to leave the stage and make way for another. If he stays then kiss goodbye to everything we’ve achieved as Labour suffers a wipeout to make Major 97 look like a good showing. Not that a change of leader won’t be messy. But what choice is there? “Rally round Gordon” I hear – to do what? Name one political call he’s got right recently? A policy direction to engage the public? A political strategy for the remaining 11 months to the election?”

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