On liberty
June 28th, 2009It is a calm and balmy Sunday morning in Tenby; all our plans for the weekend had to be changed by a visit to Pembrokeshire to see Sian’s mother at Withybush Hospital in Haverfordwest and to help her father at home. As we were going into the hospital, I bumped into Capt Bill Phillips, who had helped me so much when I was the Parliamentary Candidate for Preseli Pembrokeshire in 1997. He is very elderly now, but I think that he was delighted to meet George!
On Thursday, I was a guest of the Oxford Branch of NO2ID at a meeting entitled “Nothing to hide, nothing to fear”, at Trinity College. It was a sultry 26 degrees, giving rise to the sort of torpor that one of my fellow guests, the journalist Peter Hitchens, described to me as typical Oxford summer weather. The other speakers included Peter Tatchell, who is now Green Party candidate for Oxford East and Glyn Wintle, of the Open Rights Group. Glyn and his colleagues are extremely knowledgeable about IT and have much to contribute about the dangers of massive Government projects. Although the discussion centred upon ID cards, a wider range of issues about data and about the increasing encroachment of the state into our lives were raised.
All of us were agreed upon the dangers of the national ID database, but each of us approached it from a particular perspective. Peter Hitchens, with his usual aplomb, talked about his love of the English idea of liberty, as opposed to statist control. Just before the meeting began, we had been discussing the decision of the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, to allow a trial to be conducted in England and Wales without a jury, invoking Section 44 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003. I was casting about for a word to describe the decision: was it reactionary? Peter described it as a “statist” decision, and I agree with him. On issues such as this, the division is not left or right, reactionary versus radical, but is all about the liberty of the individual versus the power of the state. Peter is a self-avowed reactionary, and made the point that the concept of human rights, defined as they are by legislators and judges, represents a curtailment of liberty, not its enhancement. He also warned about what he regarded as the vitally important EU dimension, which he sees as responsible for this statist, bureaucratic approach.
Peter Tatchell, in an impressive contribution, warned the audience about the dangers of inaccurate data being entered into a database, and the dire potential consequences of this. Having to prove your existence to the authorities represents a fundamental reversal of the relationship between citizens and the government, he said. He expressed strong concern for the potential misuse of data by government agencies, in ways that would be fundamentally illiberal.
Glyn Wintle was able to give us some examples of ways in which data held on Government databases could be horribly misused. He reminded us that powerful vested interests had been at work persuading Ministers of the merits of their particular projects, with an eye on the large profits to be made if a contract is secured. One scenario that Glyn offered made a deep impact on those listening. What if a disgruntled NHS IT employee was offered a large sum of money by an insurance company to leak the medical records of patients? The consequences for indiviudals seeking medical insurance would be enormous. At a stroke, the entire medical insurance market would be fundamentally altered, in a way favourable to that insurance company.
In my speech, I explained that the constant struggle between the liberty of the indivdual and the power of the state was my daily bread and butter. I warned about the “presumption of accuracy” that is contained within the legislation setting up the National Identity Register, making it even more difficult for people to challenge its contents. I said that it was ironic that this Government, which introduced the 1998 Human Rights Act incorporating the ECHR into English and Welsh law, has presided over the greatest contraction of liberties since the Commonwealth. The dangers of creating legally defined human rights meant that they were only as strong as the judge who interprets them, I said. The concept of liberty in this country had been defined by its boundaries - in other words, every piece of legislation that sought to prohibit something was scrutinised by Parliament and passed if there was a genuine public interest. The avalanche of criminal legislation since 1997 has changed all that.
I will post more later after I get to my judicial training course in Coventry.
Toast and Circuses
June 22nd, 2009It has been a topsy turvy few days, due mainly to a sudden crisis involving my mother-in-law, a fall at home and the need for Sian to be on hand to care for both her parents since late on Saturday night. I write this awaiting her late return from a few days spent sorting out how they are to be cared for at this difficult time. A trip to the Circus yesterday with Millie and George did much to raise our spirits, and I must say that George’s Father’s Day offering of toast on Sunday morning was a true champagne moment. The Circus was rather good. We particularly enjoyed seeing three motorbike riders battle it out within the confines of a steel globe. Even the clowns were funny.
I had spent much of Saturday being briefed at Conservative HQ about Project Umubano, of which you shall hear more in the weeks ahead. In a nutshell, I will be going to Rwanda late next month to help run a Justice project with a group of lawyers. This project, which is being run by the Conservative Party, will involve about 100 people in a range of different projects. The approach is to ask what is wanted, rather than to provide what we think is necessary. Already, a range of requests on matters legal has been received; I think that we can provide some positive answers.
I received some immunisation boosters and a lot of useful information about how this country that is the size of Wales and that suffered so much in the mid 1990s is trying to move on.
The Commons is trying to move on from what will be regarded as a very dark period in its history with the election of John Bercow as its 157th Speaker. Mr. Speaker Bercow and I have crossed paths on a few occasions in the past. I well remember him coming to the Durham Union as one of my guest Judges for an intervarsity debate we hosted in the week that the Berlin Wall came down some twenty years ago. We were fellow Parliamentary candidates in the late 1990s, he for the safe Tory berth of Buckingham, me for the precarious and ultimately unsafe foothold of Preseli Pembrokeshire. One of his children has special needs very similar to those of my daughter, so unlike many other members of my party, I immediately understood why he agreed to work with the present Government in the preparation of a report about speech and language therapy for our youngsters.
My advice, for what it is worth, is that Mr. Speaker Bercow avoids eyecatching iconoclasm and concentrates on the unglamorous details that need to be addressed if the way of working in the Commons is to improve. Much of what needs to be done is within the hands of the Government, but I suspect that this Speaker will look carefully at the examples of other presiding officers in other Parliaments and assemblies and seek to assert independence from the Executive in a more public way. His first ten months will, of course, be vital, because his re-election by a vastly different new House of Commons is far from being assured. If he performs in a sure-footed and dynamic way, then he will do much to ensure that his tenure will be extended well into the next decade.
Finally, I would like to share with you a short poem that I was told about by an Eldene resident last week. It was written by Arthur Kudner. I have never heard of him, but this is a salutary warning to lawyers and politicians everywhere:
“Never fear big words
Big long words name little things
All big things have little names
Such as dawn, day, night, hope, love, home
It is hard to do
But they say what you mean
When you don’t know what you mean -
Use big words
They often fool little people”
Immortal but Incompetent?
June 16th, 2009The twentieth anniverary of the demonstrations in Tiananmen Square that culminated in the massed tanks of the Chinese Army literally crushing the student protests brought back personal memories of the anger and hope that I felt in 1989 - anger at the totalitarianism of the faction within the Chinese Communist Party that prevailed after Gorbachev’s visit, and hope that the major changes to politics in the Soviet Union that I had witnessed at first hand when I visited in April of that year would eventually bear fruit. The dramatic events of Autumn 1989 in Eastern Europe came sooner than I dared to imagine, but twenty years on, China seems to have contradicted the maxim that with economic liberalism comes political freedom.
Perhaps it is wiser to view Tiananmen as an expression of Chinese nationalism, rather than one of ideology. The view that only a strong government can unite the country is one that holds great sway. The chaos of the Warlords in the 1920s is almost beyond the span of human memory now, but it is still remembered by those who control the Communist Party. Although the Chinese Nationalist Party under Sun Yat Sen and then Chiang Kai Shek lost the Civil War, the banner of nationalism is held very firmly by their Communist successors.
Similarly, we would be wise to remember the nationalist dimension when dealing with Iran. Events there are receiving a deserved amount of attention; this seems to be a deeply divided country, with a very significant population under the age of thirty and a deeply conservative religious establishment that controls ultimate power. The leading Presidential candidates represent conservative and liberal strands, but very importantly, they are both approved by the Guardian Council. Even if Ahmadinejad is defeated, his likely successor will not be able to achieve anything in terms of foreign policy without the approval of the religious establishment. As long as the current system prevails, Iran’s position in the politics of the region is unlikely to change. This does not mean that the West should refuse to engage with Iran, however. Disagreement with a regime should not mean that no dialogue. We may not like it, but that is the price we pay for a world of nation states, free to disagree with each other and prepared to work together only when there is a mutual self interest.
With all its flaws and limitations, the concept of the Nation State remains alive and well in the world - Douglas Hurd describes it as “immortal and incompetent” in an excellent article in today’s Guardian. He makes the point that nation states remain the one constant in a changing world, and that in a 24 hour news age, politicians need to find time and space to properly consider the course of international relations. The link is here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jun/15/nation-states-obama
Keep on Walking
June 15th, 2009I am pleased to report that the Walkely Midnight Walk was a success. About 150 people took part, leaving the Red Lion at Avebury at just before 11pm on Saturday night. After five hours and twenty-five minutes, we reached the True Heart Inn at Bishopstone and ate the saltiest breakfast imaginable. There was no rain, no fog and hardly any wind, so it proved to be pretty hot work. The greatest difficulty was in negotiating the often rutted path. There were several moments when we were unsure of the route, but thanks to my natural sense of direction, we did not err. One of our group, Louise, was beaten by blisters after 17 miles but the rest of us were in pretty good order.
Seeing the dawn break over the Wiltshire/Oxfordshire border was a beautiful sight. The walk took us North from Avebury to Barbury Castle, and along the southern boundary of the South Swindon constituency up to and over the M4. There were several difficult hills to negotiate. My language was not pretty at those stages, I have to confess. Our group, which included North Swindon Candidate Cllr Justin Tomlinson, will have raised over £1300 for the Swindon MS Therapy Centre. It was great to see Dave and Jackie Wray, who work so hard for the Centre, and who live very near to the True Heart and who regularly take part in the Walk.
My daytime preparation consisted of a day trip to Legoland, where we met some old friends with their young families. Rollercoasters do not bring the best out in me, it has to be said, but the Viking World Water Ride was something that I did really enjoy. The views of Windsor Castle and central London were excellent. As we were under the Heathrow flightpath, Millie had a busy day telling us all about the planes that she could hear before anyone else.
The corridors of responsibility
June 11th, 2009By popular demand, and thanks to my webmaster Tim, this blog now has an RSS feed. I do hope that afficionados will now tune in as and when things get updated here. My work as a School Governor took me to a training session at Swindon Council’s Civic Centre last night entitled “SEN in Mainstream Schools”. In reality, it was all about the Council’s newly-integrated childrens’ services and an end to the “silo mentality”, with teams of professionals working in the same place and covering a particular area, rather than separately in different pigeon holes (my apologies for mixing metaphors). There was much enthusiasm for the development of a new facility at Lydiard Park by Hop, Skip and Jump, the Charity that provides assistance to families and youngsters with SEN. As someone who has lobbied hard for this facility to come to Swindon, I hope that their planning application is successful and look forward to a time when Swindon families no longer have to travel up to near Cheltenham for this wonderful facility.
Swindon’s Council Cabinet was also meeting last night, which allowed me to air my concerns about future development on the north, west and east side of the town. Swindon, like every other council, is having to conform to a top-down planning process that imposes housing targets on areas. It will be only ten months to an Election, and a new Conservative Government that will immediately repeal those housing targets by amending the Statutory Instrument that sets them and then will scrap the Regional Spatial Strategy by repealing the primary legislation. Far from it being a foregone conclusion, we can do something to slow down or stop Labour’s juggernaut. As part of all this, the Council has had to produce a Core Strategy, that has now been put out to consultation until September. I am looking for a Core Planning Strategy that will be strongly worded, placing heavy emphasis upon the need for fully funded infrastructure before any further exapansion.
I was not at all happy with the decision to increase Residents’ Parking fees so steeply, however. Whilst some increase was probably necessary, I am not happy with the level of this year’s rise, bearing in mind current economic difficulties. Yes, I can and do sometimes disagree with the Council, despite the fact that it is controlled by my party. Being capable of independent thought is not a bad thing, I think.
My Labour opponent has just been appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister. My congratulations, but with every such appointment comes a price. Whilst it will give her access to the corridors of power, she is now bound hand and foot to this discredited Government and its failing leadership. She is now officially the Government’s representative in South Swindon, and will stand or fall with it.
Plink, plink fizz…
June 9th, 2009The great soap opera that has been the Labour Leadership Question seems to have been resolved for now. How Labour MPs and members can tolerate their current dire situation is something only they can answer. Sunday night’s Count at the Oasis kept us occupied until after 10pm, and it was not happy viewing for Cllr Derique Montaut, the new Labour Group leader in Swindon. Whilst a Conservative win was always on the cards, UKIP’s 22% in Swindon put Labour in the shade at only 16%. In the South West, it was interesting to see that UKIP’s vote dropped in Devon and Cornwall, and that the move from Labour to Green helped ensure the election of Ashley Fox as a third Conservative MEP. Veteran Labour MEP Glyn Ford’s defeat means that the region will be sending no Labour MEPs to Brussels. Labour’s vote in the South West is dissolving.
An interesting chat with Gorse Hill and Pinehurst Labour Councillor John Ballman in which he revealed to me that his late brother lived in Tumble, a few miles north of my home town of Llanelli. John was intrigued as to my Toryism, coming as I do from such a traditional Labour area. Having joined the Tory Party during the Miners’ Strike, which polarised the community, I was able to give him some insight into my views about Labour and its failings. What I have learned from my many and varied experiences in politics, however, is my respect for individuals like John who come into public life because they want to achieve something for the community.
As a footnote, although we didn’t win Llanelli in the Euros, the fact that Conservatives got the largest proportion of votes in Wales this year is a welcome indication that there are more and more people who think like me.
I have been talking about the fundamental decency of many politicians of all parties. I do not include the BNP, who did not make any impact in Swindon or the South West apart from a bit of flyposting at Coate roundabout that has now been dealt with. With their new profile comes accountability. My prediction is that they will fail, but only if we ensure that those who registered their protest in this way are properly listened to.
Elections and all that
June 6th, 2009My first mobile blog; Millie, George and I are being driven by Sian through the rain and I am confident enough to try typing. My feet have recovered from a European Election day spent pounding the streets of Swindon, being joined along the way by Council Leader Rod Bluh, Deputy Leader Fionuala Foley and Dorcan Councillor Kevin Parry. There was plenty of Tory activity in West Swindon and my thanks go to everyone who worked so hard - particularly to Cllr Michael Dickinson, who had accompanied me on an eve of poll delivery session and an early morning leaflet drop. His cold finally claimed him at about 8pm.
The Verification process in the Oasis Leisure Centre was a poorly attended affair. I met the Labour team as I came in - they were on their way out. Apart from a group of Conservatives, the only other party representative present was Jenni Miles of Swindon Green Party, who will be one of my opponents in South Swindon at the next election. From our conversation, it seems that there will be several areas where we will be in agreement. There will be arguments about nuclear power, for example, but the development of renewable sources of energy, which is what the Greens want to focus on, has to be part of the strategy. A UK that is largely self-sufficient in terms of energy sources is what I am keen to see.
The key issue for South Swindon in the years ahead will be the scale and nature of development. Questions hae to be asked about the planning process, the role of developers and the problem of poor infrastructure investment. Whilst I certainly do not accept that the Green Party has the policies or the wherewithal to govern the country, their presence helps ensure that environmental issues have become an important factor in mainstream politics. I very much hope that despite the “hairshirt divide” between Tories and Greens, we will make real progress in this area.
National politics is dominating the airwaves; whilst turnout in Swindon just edged above 30%, this does not mean that the public is not interested. Labour is crumbling, but it seems to have little to do with policy. When the Conservatives self-destructed in the 1990s, it was all about policy, but Labour’s crisis is all about personalities. I wonder whether the intense media interest in all of this has more to do with our voyeuristic tendencies, exemplified by Big Brother and Jade Goody, as opposed to a genuine interest in policy? The Blairites are divided, which probably means that Brown is safe for the time being. In terms of politics and the media, he will have to deal with continuing leadership speculation and increasingly fevered debate about the timing of the election. He can do something about the latter by doing a Callaghan style indication in early September. It is likely that by that time, he will have little alternative.
Setting an Example
June 2nd, 2009As 3,400 Honda workers go back to work this week, let’s remember that they have taken a 3% pay cut in order to try and save their jobs. This is an excellent example of workforce, employers and unions working together for the survival of their industry and a salutary reminder to everyone else that in these deeply troubled times, sacrifices are being made. I am sure that events within the Westminster bubble have only served to make MPs even more remote from the constituents they should be serving. The poor example set by many MPs has contrasted very badly with the conduct of Honda workers, for example. No wonder the public is angry and discontented. The desire for change is in the air, and is being felt by Labour MPs and Ministers who are choosing to stand down. A new Parliament may not provide all the answers, but it would be a very good start.
I do wish that Labour politicians would stop talking up the truly grim BNP during this Euro election campaign. Far better to treat them as an unfunny joke, rather than as a serious threat.
Eastward Expansion
June 2nd, 2009The spectre of huge and inappropriate housing development around Swindon grows ever larger. The current Council consultation process relating to their Supplemental Planning Document concerning development of twelve thousand new homes east of the A419 between Swindon and South Marston has brought together campaigners from that village, Wanborough and Covingham. I was delighted to be their guest at a meeting last week, where I was able to outline my opposition to this development and to hear views from a variety of residents and local parish councillors.
The main problem identfied by everyone present was the problem of lack of investment in infrastructure. Roads and water levels will be particular problems for this proposal, which is in an area of poor drainage and which adjoins a major road of national importance. The Council’s consultation process gives people the unfortunate impression that it is the policy of Councillors that this development occur. Having spoken to many local Councillors over the past several years, this is most definitely not the case. In short, there is little if anything that Swindon Council can do to stop such proposals, thanks to he top down approach embodied by the Regional Spatial Strategy, which is in its final stages before being approved by Hazel Blears. All of this has the dangerous side effect of making the process appear to be a foregone conclusion. I do not believe that any of this is inevitable, and neither do the campaigners. A change of Government will see an end to the RSS, and its replacement with a planning system that is far more accountable and far closer to local residents.
The construction of a development that will be the size of West Swindon, but with a much higher density, is not sustainable in my view. The campaign to stop the so-called Eastern Development Area has my full support.
The Midnight Walk
May 26th, 2009I am wearing my walking boots around the house as a precaution against disaster on the Wakely Midnight Walk, which I will be doing on the night of 13th and 14th June. Starting at Midnight from The Red Lion in Avebury, I will be walking twenty miles along the Ridgeway Path to the True Heart Inn at Bishopstone, with an estimated arrival time of about 5am. Joining me will be Justin Tomlinson and a group of other friends. We will be raising money for the Swindon Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Centre. I have set up a JustGiving website and have set myself a target of £250. So far, I have raised £120 plus £60 in other donations. Thanks to everyone who has been so generous.
One of my fellow Governors at The Ridgeway School, Eddie Sims, who will be taking part, has given me some handy tips to prepare my feet for the test. If you would like to donate online, please go to my fundraising page at http://www.justgiving.com/robertbuckland
I was greatly encouraged by David Cameron’s article in today’s Guardian. There is no doubt that the public will welcome Members of Parliament who are able to voice independent thoughts and who are not in constant thrall to the whips. A gradual shift of power to the Whips over many years has been followed by New Labour control freakery, which transferred massive power to special advisers and other shadowy figures in Number Ten and the Treasury. Our system may have looked democratic from the outside, but in reality it became a form of dictatorship. The expenses scandal has been the last straw for many people. We have not seen rioting in the streets, but how close to it have we come, I wonder?
