![Zero Tolerance or Soft Touch?]()
by Paul Scully | Sep 5, 2007 | News |
A story caught my eye this morning about Merseyrail taking a young cub scout leader to court for putting her feet on a seat whilst on the train.
Although she pleaded guilty in court, 19-year old Kathleen Jennings was given an absolute discharge by the Magistrate who took the rail company to task for wasting the court’s time with such trivialities. Miss Jennings faced a £1000 fine and a permanent record which may have affected her work with children.
I don’t like people putting their feet up on the train, not even the ex-MP and captain of industry that I happened to share a carriage with to Mitcham Junction on Monday, but it does appear jobsworthy when she put her feet down as soon as the rail enforcement officer pointed out her transgression.
Merseyrail are the only rail company to prosecute such hardened criminals. I support a zero tolerance to anti-social behaviour but only if this is not in practice a putsch on soft targets to raise easy money. I’m sure a few anti speed camera and parking campaigners will have a view here. I don’t know what Merseyrail are like at following up on more serious crimes so it is difficult to have a view with only half the picture. Interesting that they have enforcement officers. I can’t remember seeing any on the London-Sutton trains over the years when I have seen school children beating each other up, trains with graffiti etched into the windows, free newspapers shredded and seats broken.
Now, a £1000 fine for people sitting next to me on a train, telling their friend that they are going to see in 20 minutes what they did last night whilst not realising that the beauty of this modern gadget is that the telephone does all of the work for you rather than having to bellow to be heard the other side of London; That’s my kind of zero tolerance.
BTW. The photo is not of my feet and yes, I do realise that it looks like two feet coming out of one trouser leg!
by Paul Scully | Sep 5, 2007 | News |
Back from hols and ready to go again. I went along to County Hall on Monday to see Boris Johnson’s campaign launch to become the Conservative candidate for Mayor of London. Not for nothing is he the runaway favourite. The campaign logo on the right capitalises on the fact that he is such a recognisable figure that you only need to see his silhouette.
The excitement caused by his bid is fascinating to watch. His supporters (of which I am one) feel that his instantly recognisable character give him a massive boost and adds genuine interest into a contest that was looking like a simple run-in for Livingstone’s third term. He is also frighteningly intelligent and incisive, which is oft-forgotten behind the cultivated shuffling haystack image. His detractors from the Left have started an extraordinary character assassination campaign, attempting to brand him a right-wing extremist, a racist and various other terms ending in -ist. He dismisses this by explaining that his genes are more diverse than the components of a modern motorcar and the ethnic background of his family is wider than a UN peacekeeping force.
This moves us nicely onto the charge of whether we should take him seriously. Boris stated that he reserves the right to make jokes in his campaign, but make no mistake that he is serious about acheiving a greater london. I totally agree with this. There are far too many politicians that appear as though they have trodden in something foul when having to “deal” with people that aren’t members of the Westminster political club, ie most voters. Boris is a breathe of fresh air in showing that although the issues are crucial to the future and quality of life of millions of Londoners, politicians don’t need to believe that they deserve high office just because of their own inflated self-regard.
Candidate Boris would be a risk, but politics is all about managing risk. Show me someone who has not stuck their neck out and I will show you someone who has acheived nothing. The media will be looking for anything that they can report as a gaffe. If Boris surrounds himself with the right people, he has shown that he has a passion for London and a vision to further improve the city that 8m people call home. Couple this with an ability to get a wide-range of people to listen to him, Boris is already making Ken Livingstone nervous.
Don’t take my word for it. Have a look at his site, Back Boris, for his message. Then have a look at his immediate challengers, Andrew Boff, Victoria Borwick and Warwick Lightfoot and you will appreciate that any of the four challengers will deliver a better London than the current Mayor.
Finally, you can have your say. The Conservative candidate for London Mayor is being chosen by an open Primary. This means that any London voter that registers with the Party can have a vote. You do not need to be a member or join the party to participate, just go to the Conservative website and follow the instructions. It does involve a premium rate telephone line but this is not television; we haven’t already declared a winner before you call.
by Paul Scully | Aug 25, 2007 | News |
I may be on holiday in Spain but there are a few differences which raise my political hackles sufficiently for a quick blog entry.
I leave it to you to decide which is worse; needing an I.D.card just to hire a locker at a water park or being able to circumvent the security/bureaucracy with a car park swipe card with my photo on? Ardent supporters of I.D. Cards will excuse the former by saying that the Spanish will have their cards with them in their wallets anyway. The same cannot be said for tourists I didn’t anticipate needing my passport to do my best impression of a walrus on a waterslide. I happened to have my swipecard in my wallet.
Isn’t this another example of why the introduction of identity cards in the UK would be an expensive and futile exercise. Now where is that suncream?
![Zero Tolerance or Soft Touch?]()
by Paul Scully | Aug 18, 2007 | News |
I’m sitting in front of my PC doing some last jobs before I escape the downpour that has just started by going to Spain for a fortnight. Blogging will be off the menu for a while.
In the meantime, I look out of my office window to enjoy the view (thanks to digital photography, you can too.) But I wonder for how much longer will I be able to look out on an unspoilt green oasis. A planning application has just been submitted to build four 3-bed houses in the long narrow parcel of land between the gardens of my neighbours in Salisbury Road and those in Carshalton Park Road. If passed, there will be a 7.5m brick wall just to the right of my garage shown in the photo. Fortunately the plans are somewhat optimistic since they show an access road passing straight through my garage. Suffice to say, I won’t be allowing any demolition work.
I hope that neighbours will send their opinions to the Council saying enough is enough. 41% of ‘brownfield’ development in Sutton is in fact on garden land, well above the national average. This proposal is the thin end of the wedge. Access is poor, irreversible damage will occur to the ecological balance of the area (I have had stag beetles, herons, woodpeckers and jays in and around the garden in recent years) and around 30 householders will be adversely affected. If any local resident is so minded to write, the planning reference is C2007/58001/OUT. You can write to London Borough of Sutton, 24 Denmark Road, Carshalton, SM5 2JG or comment directly here.
by Paul Scully | Aug 12, 2007 | News |
I thought I would do something different following the last full Council meeting. This short film is the result. It took a while, hence the delay. Let me know what you think and whether it is worth doing more.
As well as the points in the film, we spent a little time discussing the recent flooding, though it will be a few more weeks until we have compiled all of the lessons learnt from the experience.
by Paul Scully | Aug 11, 2007 | News |
Probably a bit late to get on the scoreboard but what the hell. If you feel so minded, it would be good if you could score me highly on your list. Instructions below taken from Iain Dale.
In September Harriman House will publish the 2007 Guide to Political Blogging in the UK. It will contain articles on blogging by some of Britain’s leading bloggers, together with a directory of UK political blogs, and a series of Top 20s and Top 10s.Instead of me picking my Top 100 UK political blogs (as I did last year) I’d like fellow bloggers and blog readers to send me their Top 20 UK Political Blogs by email. I’ll then compile the Top 100 from those that you send in. Just order them from 1 to 20. Your top blog gets 20 points and your twentieth gets 1 point.The deadline for submitting your Top 20 to me is August 15th. Please email me your list to iain AT iaindale DOT com and type Top 20 in the subejct line. Or you can of course leave your Top 20 in the Comments on this post. UPDATE: You don’t have to send 20, but try to do 10 as a minimum.
A story caught my eye this morning about Merseyrail taking a young cub scout leader to court for putting her feet on a seat whilst on the train.