Cllr. Gavin Ayling

I would really like to have given a few more updates this week, but I really don’t have enough time!

So just a quick note: I am going into town later to do some shopping. I am literally a two minute walk from the railway station and, for all my differences of opinion with left-wing environmentalists, I do care about the ability of this planet to support humanity. I therefore decided to get the train in.

But then I was reminded that I have to go over to Ditchling tonight — I may have time to come back but I may not. Once again the lack of a genuinely available public transport system has caused me to burn unnecessary carbon. It is the responsibility of all of us to do what we can to protect the environment, but some of “all” of us have more capabilities to do that. Central government needs to make strong, clear policy announcements on public transport, and especially the railways, in the South East generally, and in the countryside specifically.

There are clearly not enough tracks between Brighton and London (fast trains must go sufficiently after a so-called slow-train that it does not catch the other train up — how pointless is that?) and there are absolutely no tracks (or buses in most cases) between rural towns and villages in Sussex.

[Cameron] held up the NHS as a “best of British” institution: “created by a Welshman and benefiting from the skills of doctors trained in the great medical schools of Scotland.”

… and financed by the poor of England to the benefit of the poor and wealthy of Scotland.

Last night the Policy and Strategy Committee of Adur District Council (ADC) had to make some tough funding decisions.

If you find your favourite project has been dropped or had its funding cut, write to the Prime Minister and copy in your local Councillor and explain that the burdens on Council Tax in the south of England imposed by central government are making life unreasonably difficult for Councils, for tax payers and for those who rely on assistance from the local Council.

The minutes of the meeting will show which projects did not make the cut and which projects have had their funding modified (reduced). In the meantime, you can see the choices we had to make in Annex 2 (the last page) of Agenda Item 5 of the meeting on 4 December 2007: Policy and Strategy reports and minutes

November has been a month of non-news.

Over the last few weeks we’ve been subject to so-called scandal after so-called scandal and yet none of them much matters. People don’t care, for example, whether a wealthy man gave a lot of money to Labour, only whether he sought to gain influence by doing so. To my mind, giving the money through friends suggests that no influence was so sought.

The same is true of Ian Lucas’ request to have a debate about a Welsh component to a revised Union flag. I suspect not a single academic child has grown up and not asked the same question. The absence of a Welsh flag can be explained by a little studying of history, but it still seems odd that it has not been added in retrospect.

Again, though, the Welsh flag issue is not the one that the MP for Wrexham ought to be worried about. What about Welsh people having to suffer the indignity of being represented by an Assembly which has lesser powers than the Scottish Parliament? Why do the Scots deserve preferential treatment?

And while we’re talking about constitutional settlements, what has happened to devolution for England? The Campaign for an English Parliament has been complaining for nearly ten years, the Labour party has been threatening to break England up for more than ten years and yet the BBC give news-time to a minor issue like what the flag looks like.

I completely agree, as I said, that the Union flag is an anomaly, but surely the bigger anomalies ought to be cleared up first — let’s give Wales and England the parliaments they deserve, and let’s cut the British parliament down to size (given it’s purely federal role after the institution of the Welsh and English parliaments).

It’s not by mistake that the Welsh calls for an Assembly upgrade are so largely ignored, though. The turkey chicken-politician isn’t likely to vote for Christmas Winterval unless the people who vote for them make them feel they have to.

And this latest return to form for the English football team will probably bolster take-up of rugby among school children and those aspiring to be stars. I have rarely commented about football on this blog but I feel that it is only too appropriate right now.

First, I think the commentary was wholly unfair when it came to David Beckham. Commentators and pundits all said that Crouch was the only player on form, but I believe Beckham, when he came on eventually, was outstanding.

Second, I must share with you this exclusive scoop from Southern Counties Radio just now. They know the name of the next England coach. Obviously it needs to be a safe pair of hands, someone the English can rely upon. Most of all it needs to be someone we can trust and someone who rarely makes a wrong move.

That is why it will be Alistair Darling.

What sort of patriot did not make time for the game this afternoon?

Congratulations England (my heart is still racing). Bad luck Australia

We’re bored to death of this, but I’ll harp on regardless. There is no such thing as the English Conservative party because, as with everything else in the UK, England is the default if you don’t mention Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. I think that’s a bad thing, but I don’t see it changing realistically.

But maybe it’s not that bad when you see crazy things like this:

Stifle the laughs, please.

Poor Scots, high house prices, high Council tax, too few dentists? Imagine, dear Scots, how you would be without the Barnet formula money!

Actually, they’d probably be better off because higher state spending doesn’t equate to higher quality services as the NHS vs. German Health Provision comparison should now show.