Voting

The voting’s over for another year, with no Conservative losses but one thing’s for sure

The AV vote as united the people and the main Political parties of Sandwell with a definite No

Sandwell’s results are

YES                             NO

21,738                        54,355

The people have given PR or variants of it the cold shoulder in favour of the old

First Past the Post System

The old 

One Man (person)One Vote            sounds good to me  

Ed makes a “Policy statement”

After months of waiting ED has finaly made a policy statement

http://www.labour.org.uk/ed-milibands-speech-at-labours-local-election-campaign-launch,2011-03-31

When Ed Miliband started Labour's local election campaign he gave Sandwell Council praise, for being a model of efficiency.

A council we should look to as an example of  "reducing waste.”

Let’s look at how Sandwell helped to reduce waste

£1.4 million on the public, which is now, puts it about £72 million spent in total  Sandwell Labour say they have to save £67 million. If this grand plan had never materialised, even half of this massive amount of money would make their problems a lot easier.

What about other cost savings are Labour making? To help you

£3million on a wind turbine in Sandwell Valley, which will power 20,000 homes ? 
                  one little problem their test wind turbine produced £35 of electricity in 1 year

£½ Million for 10 new electric cars? 
Why does Sandwell need expensive electric cars when the same amount could buy 
                        40 zero rated vehicles and why does it need cars any way? 

      
 £700 Million in liabilities (debt) with interest payments of £35 million a year.

 which is the same as saying ever man, woman and child in the borough, is paying

£125 per year in debt interest

Yes Ed, but Sandwell has to do a lot to catch up your last Labour governments               

£1 trillion debt

but its having a good go 

Sandwell tory said "A policy, a policy we've finally got a policy"  

See also
http://www.taxpayersalliance.com/grassroots/2010/11/after-years-of-profligacy-sandwell-council-cut-jobs.html

Labour & the NHS

Who’s words are these

2010/11 is a pivotal year. The NHS still has a year of significant growth. The Chancellor’s Pre-Budget Report announced that between 2011/12 and 2012/13,

NHS frontline spending will rise in line with inflation.

As set out in my 2008/2009 Annual Report, the NHS needs to identify £15-20 billion of efficiency savings by the end of 2013/14 that can be reinvested within the service so that it can continue to deliver year on year quality improvements.

YES ITS LABOUR

Labour set out the need to make £15 – 20 billion of efficiency savings by 2014-15 (Department of Health, The Operating Framework for the NHS in England 2010/11,                 16 December 2009,       

(Click here link to see for your self).

The difference is the Coalition Government will make these efficiency savings and

reinvest every penny into frontline NHS care.

since 2009 there are an extra 2500 nurses 

under the coalition 

More Labour Spin on heating allowance

Labour latest claim is ‘in the past’ pensioners received a ‘bonus payment’ on top of the

normal heating allowance.

Labour claim that this additional payment for pensioner households was stopped by

the Coalition Government.

There is one little problem?? 

HOW CAN THE COALITION CANCEL A PAYMENT LABOUR CANCELLED

     

Yes included it was in Labour’s expenditure budget for one year, with a ‘nil’ figure entered for 2011-2012 onwards, it seems to be a blatant sweetener before last years general election.

You can check this out by checking Labour’s official budget figures, item 20

in table A1. 

 

This is undeniable proof that the Labour Government only intended to make

the additional payment for 2010-2011. There were no plans to continue

this payment in future years and therefore the Coalition cannot have

stopped it, in fact the new Government is determined to raise the state

pension and has already started by increasing the state pension to give a better standard of living for all pensioners.

Take a look your self and print a copy     

Sandwell blogger said "its a disgrace "

no AV in Sandwell

AV voting "Look at The Test Run"

A quick look at Labours leadership election tells a good story about AV voting

There were 5 candidates to start with

first round

Diane Abbott: 7.42%

Ed Balls: 11.79%

Andy Burnham: 8.68%

David Miliband: 37.78% Won the vote 

Ed Miliband: 34.33% 

David won but as did not get more than 50% overall, Diane Abbott was eliminated and her second preference votes distributed to the others.

Second round

Ed Balls: 13.3%

Andy Burnham: 10.41%

David Miliband: 38.89% Won the vote

Ed Miliband: 37.47%

David won again but as he did not get more than 50% of the vote, Andy Burnham was eliminated and his preference votes distributed to the others.

Third Round

Ed Balls: 16.02%

David Miliband: 42.72% Won the vote

Ed Miliband: 41.26%

David won yet again but as he did not get more than 50% of the vote, Ed Balls  was eliminated and his preference votes distributed

Fourth Round

David Miliband 49.35% Lost

Ed Miliband 50.65%

David lost after being the main choice in 3 rounds, yet the loser of 3 rounds Ed Miliband passed the 50% threshold and was the winner. put there by 2nd or 3rd level preference votes.

With AV voting this could happen in Sandwell

Is Red Ed confused?

On the subject of Petrol

Red Ed said

‘It’s the classic Tory con. And what about their decision on petrol? He’s done the same thing again. He’s cut duty by 1 pence. But he’s whacked up VAT on fuel by 3p’ (Budget Response, Labour Party website, 23 March 2011, link).

• Truth:

o    Labour’s planned Fuel Duty Escalator increase on 1 April would have added 5p to the cost of fuel.

o    The Government has cut Fuel Duty by 1p with no increase for the rest of the year.

o    So Fuel Duty is 6p lower than under Labour this year.

o    Even with the VAT rise, the cost of fuel will be 3p lower from April than under Labour’s plans.

• Ed Miliband said Labour would have made cuts this year. ‘We would be halving the deficit over four years so there would be cuts if Labour was in power’
• (Ed Miliband, BBC News, 23 March 2011).

• Under the Darling plan there would have been £14 billion of cuts in 2011-12. As per Table 1.1 of the June Budget and Table A.2 of the spending review Labour’s spending cuts in 2011-12, compared to 2010-11, amount to £14 billion; while the Government’s spending cuts in 2011-12, compared to 2010-11, amount to £16 billion’ (Hansard, 3 March 2011, Col. 538WA). link).

• But today Ed Balls says he would not make £14 billion of cuts in 2011-12. He said this is a ‘Conservative lie’ (BBC Budget Live, 23 March 2011), but it is clearly printed in paragraph 1.13 of the Budget.

Sandwell Tory said

It seems Labours only Policy is to deny their own policy? and I have to ask did Red Ed forget his lot had put up the price of petrol, with the rise to go on in April 2011???

Such short memories tut tut

The Budget

Labours petrol Tax scrapped,

Petrol price Down,

Tax allowance’s up , by £630 to £8,105 – on top of the £1,000 increase we gave in the Emergency Budget last summer.

24, new Technical colleges

£300 for public sector workers

First time home buyers are to receive aid from the Government to the tune of £250m

Labours single policy was the response “ Oh Wow, Oh Wow  the world is doomed”

Sandwell Tory said

We will get Britain working again without moaning highlighting Labours mess on the way 

here's a start

    

Labour and Petrol

Labour has the audacity to tell us about the price of petrol, yet it was Labour's Mr Darling

That put in the fuel price rises in March 2010 that we are suffering from now.

We are at least we are looking at a Fair Fuel Stabiliser that would reduce fuel duty as oil prices rise but increase it when prices drop.

This is what Labour idea of a stabiliser did to the price of petrol when they were in office

 

12 rises, with plans for another 6.

When Labour came to power in 1997 the fuel duty on unleaded petrol stood at 36.86p per litre. When they left office in 2010 it had risen to 57.19p per litre

(HMRC, Hydrocarbon oils: historic duty rates, link).

1.      02/07/97 – fuel duty rose to 40.28p per litre

2.      17/03/98 – fuel duty rose to 43.99p per litre

3.      09/03/99 – fuel duty rose to 47.12p per litre

4.      21/03/00 – fuel duty rose to 48.82p per litre

5.      15/06/01 – fuel duty rose to 48.82p per litre (having briefly been 46.82p)

6.      01/10/03 – fuel duty rose to 50.19p per litre

7.      07/12/06 – fuel duty rose to 51.52p per litre

8.      01/10/07 – fuel duty rose to 53.65p per litre

9.      01/12/08 – fuel duty rose to 52.35p per litre (having previously fallen to 50.35p)

10.  01/04/09 – fuel duty rose to 54.19p per litre

11.  01/09/09 – fuel duty rose to 56.19p per litre

12.  01/04/10 – fuel duty rose to 57.19p per litre

Labour also planned for six further fuel duty rises after the election.

Labour’s March 2010 Budget, delivered by Alistair Darling set out six further rises

(HM Treasury, Budget March 2010, p. 8, link).

13.  01/10/10 - 1p rise

14.  01/01/11 – 0.76p rise

15.  01/04/11 – 1p rise in real terms

16.  01/04/12 – 1p rise in real terms

17.  01/04/13 – 1p rise in real terms

18.  01/04/13 – 1p rise in real terms

We are examining options, including a fair fuel stabiliser, and will take our decision in the Budget.

More Spin

Labour’s smoke screen of gloom & doom to hide their financial mess is at it again,

This time 1000’s of police are being cut, they say

One small little problem they forget to tell you

No front line police will be cut

No PCSO’s will be cut

Police efficiency will rise  

Yes police are going about 300 from the West Midlands force this year, the ones that have done over 30 years and usually in desk jobs are being retired off.

Do you want Police on the beat or behind a desk?

Academy status

Sorry for the break but we've been on Holiday

Time moves on and while Sandwell Labour continue to moan about the old Labour BSF programme, Sandwell Schools vote with their feet and continue to convert to new Academies leaving the LEA.

Our full congratulations go to   

Wood Green High School College of Sport, Maths and Computing which is  converting to academy status next month

Now our congratulations go to  

The Heathfield Foundation Technology College in Cradley Heath has applied for academy status and are having their applications processed by the Department for Education.

Sandwell Tory said

“Any school can apply for academy status and receive the new freedoms and extra money that comes with it and performance in academies is improving at almost twice the rate of other schools.

 This is a great example of how we can provide better services even as we deal with the massive debts Labour left behind and better still we hear more Sandwell schools are following”