Benefit Culture

GMTV have been running a series of articles this week covering the benefits culture in the UK. They focused on Rochdale and the articles ran just after the 6.30.a.m. news (I’m normally making the children’s sandwiches for school). The theme constantly highlighted throughout the programme was one relating to a poverty of ambition. Faced with a global market place of skilled workers many people with good intentions felt disenfranchised, marginalised and unable to compete. 

Particularly depressing was the inheritance of a poverty ambition, passed down from one generation to the next (almost caste like). A very close relative of mine used to be on the Board of Visitors to prisons in the Midlands. Governors regularly remarked that prison was often the first time that inmates experienced a structure to their lives. Getting up on time, eating regularly, taking on a sense of responsibility.  Far too many children in the GMTV clips were falling into the same trap outlined above and consoling themselves with the thought that there were no jobs out there for the likes of them.

In the last ten years billions of pounds have been spent on addressing the issue of getting young people into work with the result that even more young people under the age 21 are now not involved in employment or education. The solution lies at home and in the classroom. The simple stuff of supporting the family, supporting school teachers, especially when they strive to impose discipline would be a huge step in the right direction. From these small steps we can release individual potential and ambition, because human aspiration is the most important tool in eradicating poverty and not the prosaic approach of targets and funding.

Paul

Outstanding results from May 1st

For the last two months the Conservative group and all activists have been focusing on the local elections, so apologises for me keeping quiet recently. The results speak for themselves:

1.  Council composition when I was selected 14 months ago, 40 Labour Councillors, 15 Conservative Councillors.

2. Council composition today, 28 Labour Councillors, 27 Conservative Councillors.

The Conservative share of the vote across Wolverhampton was nearly 49% of the popular vote, with Labour down on 34 %.  No spin, no hype, just plain simple facts.

Paul

Eric Pickles MP visits Penn ambulance station

Last week Eric Pickles (Member of Parliament for Brentwood & Ongar and Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government) visited the ambulance station on the corner of Penn road and Marston road. We had a chance to speak with Steve Perry and Mark Mclauchlan who described the difficulties that many crews now face in terms of dealing with members of the public who are often obstructive, even when they’re trying to provide aid to friends and family. We were joined by councillors Barry Findlay and Paddy Bradley.

Paul

Return Visit by Damian Green

Following on from the Westminster visit by Wolverhampton community leaders last April, Damian Green the MP for Ashford and Shadow Minister for Immigration visited Wolverhampton today as promised last year.

 

We met with community leaders and then had a quick chance to speak with businessmen and legal specialists. Damian stated, ”Today’s return meeting was promised when I met with Wolverhampton Community leaders in Westminster last April. We discussed the Government’s proposals on Immigration which will not address the real problems that all communities now face because Labour have allowed immigration to get out of control for the last ten years”.

Paul

The politics of the past

Sir John Rose, the Chief Executive of Rolls Royce Aero Engines, has once again drawn attention to the future of engineering employment in Britain. Many graduates are inadequately trained, and there are fewer firms now offering the opportunity to gain experience. The result is that Rolls Royce is forced to develop manufacturing capacity in Germany and the Far East.

There is an exception to this gloom. The mighty American aircraft firm, Boeing is so proud of Wolverhampton, that it is advertising  
“Boeing and the Wisdom of Wolverhampton” in the  international press worldwide. They have found a great partner in Smiths Aerospace, now a division of GE Aviation. The two firms have co-operated to produce trailing edge flaps which reduce the drag on the new 787 aircraft producing greater fuel economy: less by way of emissions, and of course employment for Wolverhampton.

More such firms are needed. If our nation is to maintain its standard of living  then we need industries actually making things. Again and again employers tell of the frustration caused by a plethora of regulation, complex taxation, and lethargic planning procedures. We must offer greater freedoms to business which in turn will enhance employment prospects. The rest of the world knows that and is welcoming enterprise with open arms. Only in the UK do we have a Government hankering back to the beer and sandwich socialism of yesteryear.

Paul

David Cameron in the Black Country

Just over a week ago I posted about the excellent work that Wolves are performing in the community in respect of the Dusk, Twilight and Midnight leagues. As a follow up David Cameron visited the Castle High School and visual arts college to see this excellent initiative in action.

David sat in on a workshop which focused on how alcohol has affected sporting personalities and specifically the strain it puts on family life. Wolves devised & developed the Dusk, Twilight & Midnight Leagues for youngsters at risk in areas of deprivation. The leagues have been operating within the Wolverhampton Area for over 6 years and just to briefly remind you of it’s aims :

To educate children and young people by developing their physical, mental, social and moral capabilities through participation in organised recreational activities.

To promote good citizenship and assist them in growing maturely as individuals and members of society.

To provide and assist in the provisions of facilities for football and project related workshops.

To provide and assist young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to gain a NVQ qualification in football.

 

Last time I met with Jeremy Hunt but this time I outlined the project to Hugh Robertson (shadow sport and Olympics spokesman).  The Project itself is a social inclusion project designed to provide free safe fun and friendly environment for boys and girls.

Target groups: Dusk league 9-11 yrs.  Twilight league 12-15 yrs. Midnight league 16+.

Workshops run by the project include diet, crime reduction, team building games, injury prevention and treatment, healthy lifestyles, self hygiene, drugs awareness, alcohol and smoking, sexual health and crime reduction.

David was presented with a Wolves number 10 shirt at the end of the day.  As a season ticket holder and with my oldest child being named Cameron, I wasn’t exactly going to pass on this photographic opportunity.

Paul

A service in Saint Peters

On Sunday I attended the fourth annual service of celebration for those who work in around the administration of justice which was open to the general public, attended by Her Majesty’s Judges and by Black Country Magistrates at Saint Peter’s Church. During the service we listened to a presentation by the Reverend Richard Moy, who is a pioneer Minister for young adults.

He specifically spoke about the roles of street pastors who get to know people in the community, particularly the young and those who have found themselves to be marginalised or disenfranchised. The role of a street pastor was one of not preaching but of caring, listening and helping to ease tension and create a positive environment. In Wolverhampton this involved providing enthusiastic but dehydrated revellers with water, putting young people in taxis to make sure that they got home safely and diffusing situations which could have resulted in violence.

Nationally the focus has been on gun crime and knife crime.  In London the effect of the street pastors presence has been extremely positive. In Lewisham the result was a 30% reduction in street crime within 13 weeks, a 95% reduction in Camberwell and a 74% reduction in Peckham. The five core values required from Pastors are the sanctity of human life, valuing and honouring the community, integrity, personal responsibility and the growth and development of the individual to their fullest potential.  These values are intrinsic to traditional culture, almost old fashioned, but sadly often lacking in contemporary society. David Cameron has spoken about the need to strengthen community and the family and it with these core values (traditional values) will we be able to face the challenges of a modern Britain.

Paul

Wolves in the Community

Yesterday I was at Molineux and met with Jeremy Hunt ( Shadow Secretary of state for culture, Media & Sport) and Will Clowes (Assistant Community Manger) and Paul Ireland who is working towards gaining a NVQ qualification in football coaching to discuss the dusk, twilight and midnight league. The league is a social action inclusion project, designed to provide a free, fun and friendly environment for boys, girls, teenagers and young men and women to participate in football related activities and educational workshops relating to drug awareness, personal health and hygiene and the dangers of alcohol abuse. The project also offers participants with somewhere fun and inviting to go and with something positive and constructive to do with their spare time.

The principal aims of the project are to educate children and young people by developing their physical, mental, social and moral capabilities through participation in organised recreational activities. From this will follow good citizenship and a growth in maturity, both as individuals and as members of society.  Specifically the project also aims to assist young people, particularly from disadvantaged backgrounds to increase their educational attainments and raise personal aspiration, which is something that Paul felt he had particularly benefited from.  I know I’m in a bit of a sport mode at the moment but this initiative is just full of positive action.

Paul

Sporting achievements

Recently I met with Peter Holmes from Sport England to discuss ways to promote sport in the city and increase levels of sporting participation.

Wolverhampton boasts a magnificent sporting heritage with three Olympic gold medalists from Kenneth Hunt in 1908 up to Tessa Sanderson in 1984 and Denise Lewis in 2000. We have also had eight Commonwealth Games Gold Medalists with fifteen medals in total (Kathy Cook in particular was an inspiration for me as a young sprinter). Within the city itself we possess over sixteen sporting clubs and bodies which have over a hundred years of sporting history from Wolverhampton Cricket club (established in 1835) to Penn Cricket club and Penn golf club (established in 1908). 

As some of you may know sport is something that I hold close to my heart, and I feel is invaluable in bringing communities together. Equally the pursuit of sporting perfection and excellence in all fields be they academic or in the arts should always be fostered. I passionately believe that competition and the pursuit of excellence should be instilled in our children at an early age. The fear of failure or the inability applaud others who succeed is causing many of our schools to pursue the route of noncompetitive sports. Drive, ambition and the will to win should not be shunned and stifled, for they alone are the engine of a progressive society and vital for individual human fulfillment.

Paul

Politics and Business in the far east

Recently we were graced with pictures of our Prime Minister visiting China and India with a coterie of business advisers, journalists and Richard Branson. He spoke about new trade links, historical ties and that Britain should grasp the new and exciting opportunities available to her in the far east. We do seem to have got into the arena of politics of the obvious. Tony Blair told us that he always did what he thought was the right thing to do and Gordon Brown said that he would always do his best (forgive me, this is the very least that I’d expect any of us to do) or perhaps I’m out of touch.

The visit to the new economic superpowers reminded me of a conversation I had with a very close friend of mine. We spoke about China in particular and he recounted a recent lecture that he’d attended. China at the moment is on best behaviour. She is anxious for the Olympic games to be a success. The eyes of the World will be on Beijing this summer and the authorities will not wish this great sporting spectacle to be blighted by any controversy. After the games it may be different matter and the sleeping giant may decide to stretch out those powerful limbs and flex some financial/political muscle. When he was chancellor the Prime Minister spoke about the plight of Africa and debt relief, maintaining that as Prime Minister he would make addressing Africa’s problems a central pillar of foreign policy. In the midst of this grandiose chatter, China is slowly but surely colonising the African continent, hoovering up resources and doing deals with Governments. I doubt that the Prime Minister highlighted this issue on his visit.

Herein lies the problem. Gordon Brown appears to patently out of his depth when dealing with the Chinese and Indian administrations. If you’re not convinced take a look back at the Rover story which broke during the last election. The Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC)  pulled the plug on Rover just as the government was at it’s most precarious ( during the election). The Prime Minister, the Chancellor and particularly the Trade & Industry Secretary at the time (Patricia Hewitt) were outflanked and made to look naive at best. SAIC chose the moment to strike, negotiated from a position of strength, got what it wanted and moved on. I’ve been involved with real estate transactions on the subcontinent and it’s nothing to get personal about. You just have to understand that business and Politics in China/India are played hardball and that any leverage your opponents have over you will be exploited. I may again be stating the obvious, but until you actually experience the negotiations, involve yourself in the horse trading, you are unprepared for this arena.

It’s often said that far too many people aspire for political office with no business experience, or any experience of real life if truth be told. I’ll let other people judge that but as the Rover story quite aptly illustrates, a lack of business acumen, not understanding different cultural attitudes and poor judgement has costs us jobs and continues to harm the prosperity of the West Midlands.

 Paul