Surveillance state goes local

Scary stuff in the Telegraph this morning which reports that the government is to pay phone and internet companies to keep a record of every phone call, text message, email and website visit made by private citizens.

According to the article, “653 public bodies will be given access to the information, including police, local councils, the Financial Services Authority, the ambulance service, fire authorities and even prison governors”.

“They will not require the permission of a judge or a magistrate to obtain the information, but simply the authorisation of a senior police officer or the equivalent of a deputy head of department at a local authority”.

The government is pressing ahead despite getting little support for the proposals during the consultation stage.

David Hanson, the Home Office minister, said: “The consultation showed widespread recognition of the importance of communications data in protecting the public .. we will now work with communications service providers and others to develop these proposals, and aim to introduce necessary legislation as soon as possible.”

Hanson has signally failed in his other stated aim of providing a prison site for North Wales, wasting an estimated £18 million in the flawed selection process. Now he intends forking out £2bn for Orange, BT and Vodafone to maintain their records for a year.

Standards@Swansea

Listeners to a local radio phone-in will have been intrigued to hear that an unnamed Swansea council cabinet member recently appeared before a specially convened disciplinary hearing. An added eyebrow-raising factor is that despite pleading guilty to the allegation of personal misconduct, this senior member was apparently afforded London-based legal representation at public expense.

Our sources tell us that the councillor, who also serves on the Standards Committee, failed to mention that she was related to one of the successful school governor candidates that she had a hand in appointing. Matters were compounded by further allegations which led to two separate complaints to the Ombudsman. These were upheld leading to an appearance before an independent adjudication panel.

Strangely, the matter has managed to stay under the local paper’s extensive radar network and has gone unreported as a result. This also probably explains why no-one from the local press attended the public hearing. Of course, the situation is not helped by the insistence of the local Standards Committee to deal with all allegations in strict privacy, despite being urged by the Ombudsman to make its dealings more open and transparent.

Meanwhile, we are assured that the decision to provide the cabinet member with an external solicitor at a cost thought to be up to £5000 is entirely unrelated to the fact that the politician in question happens to have legal services under her portfolio.

Anti social approach to services

The reluctance of the Beans on Toast to put a reasonable amount of news on their website prevents us linking to two rather crucial stories about the state of social services in Swansea.

The first is the impending closure of the Earlsmoor elderly respite centre which has undergone the same slow-drip treatment that saw complex neurosurgery services shunted up the M4 to Cardiff. Unions and services users are convinced that the plan is to boost income by selling off the valuable Brynmill site which is situated close to the city’s foreshore.

The second are plans to dispose of two children’s homes deemed ‘not fit for purpose’ by managers despite claims by social workers that the action would be catastrophic for a referral service already on the brink of meltdown. Again, the overriding aim appears to be one of reducing costs rather than bolstering services.

Of course, appearances can be deceptive and there may well be an overall strategy at work. What is worrying however is that neither the political administration nor the opposition seem able to expound on what it entails and if it has their backing.

Update: This story has since been posted to the Evening Post website.

Confusion to the opposition

Things have finally livened up in the Labour leadership race as postal ballot forms drop through letter boxes and things get personal. According to the voting fodder, the campaign callers have developed a slightly feverish edge to their voices as earlier projections of vote allocations among the three amigos starts to look a little less certain.

Another factor that is bound to get added to the reported handbag-swinging among campaign teams is the apparent difference in leadership emphasis between that nice Mr Cameron who states that he won’t block a referendum vote and Carwyn Jones who feels that he will need to check with his party first.

Whilst he is doing no more than to repeat the views of another contender, there is just a bit of speculation as to why the self-proclaimed front runner feels required to appease the unconvinced among Labour ranks at just this moment.

The spectre haunting the tories

Events appear to be ensuring that the perennial issue of Europe is as likely to be an unavoidable banana skin in the path of the present tory leader as it was for his predecessors.

According to the Beeb, Cameron will say "later this week" what his policy is on a Lisbon Treaty referendum after the Czechs moved closer to ratification. His stance in 2007 was to provide a "cast iron" guarantee to hold a referendum on anything that emerged from EU talks. But the spin has recently changed to describe the possibility of the treaty passing into law as “a new situation" – albeit an entirely foreseeable one.

Despite enough hedging to build a respectably-sized maze, nothing can disguise that this is a major test for Cammers. He has to position himself with those voters who still see UKIP as an alternative without coming over as so xenophobic as to deter drifting Lib Dems. He also needs to square things with a membership who are not so much aghast at the prospect of federalised Europe as the possibility of who might get the job of running it.

It’s a big ask, but if he can pull it off - and survive a public flogging from the Telegraph and the Murdoch taliban in the process - then he might actually have the makings of a prime minister. Otherwise it's a case of Czech-mate, innit?

Update: Tories rule out referendum. The online story has a caption of William Hague - who announced the decision - as saying "it is a bad day for democracy". We assume he means the ratification and not his party's revised position.

Bums get a kicking

Swansea University came in for some deserved stick this evening on Week In, Week Out (ITV Wales) - both for the deleterious effect of 'student life' on the communities of Uplands and Brynmill and the unwillingness of officials to recognise the scale of the problem.

Based on the footage taken by residents, neighbourhoods surrounding the Singleton campus are being forced to endure a brand of night-time yob-culture that goes beyond the norm. Locals made it clear that they see the preoccupation of university bosses with getting 'bums on seats' instead of better regulation as the key problem. They will not be impressed by the registrar who suggested that things needed to be put into perspective.

Somehow you can't imagine him being so dispassionate if someone was regularly pissing through his letter box for a laugh.

Headlines

Judicial review over badger cull

BBC Wales - 2 November 2009

Outside the tent, pissing in

Rockin' Rene Kinzett, tory group leader and erstwhile Lib Dem gives the ruling regime at Swansea Council a right roasting on his blog. Whilst no-one could fault his indictment of one-sided interests at work in Calamity Hall, it has to be remembered that the parliamentary hopeful wasn’t nearly so concerned about issues of accountability for the first two years in office when he occupied the role of a scrutiny committee chair whilst also acting as the official spokesman for the Lib Dem-led administration.

Headlines

MPs 'family firm' revolt continues

30 October 2009

Counting the acronyms

The media’s favourite self-appointed public spending watchdog - aka the Taxpayers Alliance - has recently published ACA-to-YJB: A Guide to the UK Semi-Autonomous Public Bodies (SAPBs) which is worth a scan.

Stated by the TPA to be “the only comprehensive and accurate guide to the UK’s public bodies sector”, it lists the 1152 quangos responsible for £91 billion of public expenditure. We managed to spot a few obvious Welsh omissions which tend to slightly challenge their research and overall claims of omnipotence. There is also a mis-match in a couple of sections which are either typos or evidence that the Audit Commission needs a kick up the accountancy section.

But such minor inconsistencies or even an undercover agenda are unlikely to bother the headline writers who clearly regard the Alliance as a tax-free gift and a lot less inconvenient than an FoI request.

Is anything else on offer other than bigger stilts?

It was interesting to read an item among all the otherwise expert analysis that it is possible to look at the referendum predictions from the YouGov poll from a different perspective and arrive at a further conclusion from the obvious one that the result will be tight. Despite claims published in the Western Mail that “42% of the Welsh electorate would vote Yes in a referendum on law-making powers for the Assembly”, the truth is that no-one is actually sure if that kind of percentage turnout is in any way achievable.

Whilst additional powers are naturally considered crucial among the political villagers of Cardiff Bay, pro-devolutionary forces - and their opponents – may have problems in convincing the tax-paying public that constitutional reform should also figure among their own priorities of employment, house prices and the cost of living.

Perhaps what we need are a few practical examples of how Wales - rather than the Welsh political establishment – would benefit. There is plenty of scope although we would probably not see control & construction of social housing returned to democratic local government control. It is unlikely that anyone will even talk about reversing the transfers. Waste management will probably remain under 'arms-length' control whilst economic development will stay a centralised under-resourced strategic function. Privatised utilities & services would stay that way and bankers would continue to get their bonuses.

Like we said, perhaps we need a few practical examples ....

Silly Burghers

We read that Swansea councillors earned themselves a ticking off from the presiding officer for twittering at a council meeting the other day. Wendy Fitzgerald felt that a group of individuals including Peter Black and Rene Kinzett should spend a bit more attention dealing with the issues they were elected to address rather than sending out obscure texts.

Council leader Chris Holley however disagreed with the ruling – but only, it seems, because his daughter Nicola was among the transgressors who apparently feel more at home with social networking than social services.

Thankfully, the small task-force of WAG appointed officials who are monitoring the council’s ability to turn-around its failing children’s services were on hand to witness the Administration's priorities in action.

Headlines

More NHS investment announced
26 October 2009

Trio con brio?

According to the local paper (no link available as yet), three defecting Swansea Labour councillors have formed their own political group - despite earlier statements that they only planned to remain outside the tent, etc. Their action is reportedly a 'proportional' response to expulsion letters they recently received plus the result of an oddball legal requirement for them to register either as a new group or join an existing one in order to take their seats in the chamber.

The new faction have decided to call themselves Communities of Swansea; a catchy title presumably intended to carve out a distinctive political niche whilst possibly drawing in other disaffected individuals. It apparently left their former Labour colleagues unimpressed. We're told that the only discernible reaction was one bank-bencher who was spotted doodling somewhat graphic alternatives for the COS initials.

Views are quite mixed on the ability of the three 'vetrans' to redefine local representation in Swansea as opposed to the chances of them succumbing to the Lib Dem osmosis that has successfully gathered in other such flotsam in the past. But if they can stay faithful to the principles embodied in their name then they might be just turn out to be what Swansea needs at the moment.

Planning gain, efficiency loss

We’re told that Richard “Sticky Dick” Lewis is the subject of a few f-words within Swansea Council’s planning department as a result of his new found zeal. Having ‘forgotten’ to intervene a while ago so that an application for a modestly sized mansion in his own ward could be decided by committee rather than by officers, the Gower councillor is now attempting to make amends big time.

In fact, of the 24 schemes to be decided by the committee next week, Lewis is personally responsible for making sure that half of them appear on the agenda - even though many of them are not in his patch. Officers are narked that Lewis’ actions are working against improvements introduced after auditors pressed for changes to speed up the process.

As one member of staff put it, “the p---k thinks that he is covering up his tracks but he is just screwing up the system for everyone”.

But who is going to stop him? Especially as the newly-incarnated Lib Dem is also the committee’s chairman and considers himself fire-proof - thanks to Holley & Co.

What does the right care about rights anyway

The story goes that David Cameron was advised by his strategists some time ago to single out the Human Rights Act 1998 as a harmless and relatively inexpensive sacrificial offering for the law-and-orderites and Europhobes within his party. He is said to have been rather luke warm about the suggestion at the time. However, his reservations did not stem from being unconvinced that the Act impeded successful deportation of criminals but that the idea was too closely linked with earlier speeches by leadership rival David Davis about the need for a British bill of rights.

But when the former shadow home secretary won a by-election and screwed up any future chance of senior office in the process, ‘reform’ of the HRA quickly became main opposition A-list platform material.

It may be that Kier Starmer, DPP director has heard the same story or that like many others in the judiciary he is just aghast by such apparent tory willingness to put the UK’s legal standing out in a limb for the sake of a legislative make-over to produce a ‘British law for British people’ – if that is actually possible.

As one academic put it when the idea first surfaced as a Cameron-backed proposal three years ago, "Either this is going to look very much like the Human Rights Act or it's going to look very different, and if it's going to look very different we will still find ourselves falling foul of the Human Rights Act if we stay in the European Convention on Human Rights." And as far as anyone is aware, no-one in CHQ is suggesting that particular split – for now.

Ming Campbell, then Lib Dem leader, also pointed out this contradiction in that repealing the act would mean people having to go to Strasbourg in order to vindicate their rights under the European Convention – but only if they were sufficiently well-off or had access to the necessary resources.

“Essentially what he's doing is taking away from ordinary individuals the opportunity of challenging decisions of government where they believe their individual human rights have been infringed”, he said.

The fact that an establishment figure like Mr Starmer is standing up to be counted in defence of human rights and that tory MPs are demanding he is sacked for his actions probably says all that needs to be said on the matter.

Stupid is as stupid does

Whilst Cammers does his utmost to shatter some shibboleths on inclusiveness so Nick Bourne effortlessly re-establishes the party's inflexible image in Wales by rejecting the proposal for an independent pay panel for AMs. Not exactly terrific timing considering the present public mood about freebies and stuff - something which he of all people should understand. It also contrasts badly with a more acceptable stance established elsewhere on expenses.

All in all, we have agree with Che Grav-ara on his assessment, i.e. the man is plain stupid.

BNP in Swansea - still a concern

Whilst there appears to be some doubts expressed about the accuracy of leaked BNP membership details, the breakdown for the Swansea locality is interesting. According to the spreadsheet, membership across the city's three constituencies has dropped slightly but whilst local trends show a decline in the east by a third, numbers have almost doubled in the west during the same period.

A total membership of 51 may not sound very great but it probably stands comparison with even some of the mainstream parties in the area - especially when it comes to putting activists on the streets or leafleting. The level of protest that greeted the WDL march over the weekend is a credit to all who took part but these figures should serve as a reminder that fascism is still at work in the community- and still gaining credibility.

How many weeks to go?

More paranoia in the Hart4Labour camp - and some of it probably justified - as a critical health spending story by Shipton (who else?) appears in today's Western Mail just as an "I Love the NHS" message is sent by Carwyn to all party members.

Edwina's campaign team are pissed that the Bridgend AM make more references to problems within a devolved health service rather than to successes achieved since 1999. Carwyn's assertion that "no-one has a monopoly on good ideas" and stating that its time for "common-sense solutions – particularly where red tape seems to get in the way of patient care" all chimes a little too neatly for some with the comments of unamed auditors about a wasteful and badly planned reorganisation.

There are no outright accusations of collusion (yet) but you cannot help but feel that it's only a matter of time before someone makes sure that questions are raised elsewhere about the levels of competency demonstrated in delivering the LCO process - or rather the lack of it.

Huw must be loving it.

Bad day for the BNP

First come the accusations from a group of former military leaders that the reputation of the armed forces is being tarnished by right-wing political "extremists".  Then a document apparently listing thousands of British National Party members gets posted on the internet – which includes the names of former senior members of the military, doctors and professors.

A BNP spokesman said he could not confirm that the list was genuine, and accused the "whole establishment" of trying to "derail" the party.

Let’s hope so.

Update: Ve vas only joking - BNP claim threat to hang generals was a bit of 'black humour'.