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Written by Colin Breed and published in Lowdown Article on Fri 5th Feb 2010
The Democrats unexpected loss of the Senate seat in Massachusetts probably encouraged President Obama to announce more far reaching proposals in dealing with the aftermath of the financial crisis. Whilst it was international received wisdom that no one country could go it alone in introducing new regulatory and supervisory systems because of the risk of a "race to the bottom", with banks relocating to the least demanding location of regulation, he was prepared to apparently act unilaterally.
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Written by Colin Breed and published in Lowdown Article on Tue 26th Jan 2010
Earlier this month Parliament discussed the Second Reading of the Children, Schools and Families Bill, another hotch-potch of clauses and legislation that serves little purpose other than to add more weight to the statute book.
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Written by Colin Breed and published in Lowdown Article on Tue 19th Jan 2010
The Government's desire to push through as many Second Readings of Bills, knowing that they have little or no chance of being completed in Parliament before it is dissolved for the election, continues to amaze me. The latest is yet another Crime and Security Bill, in fact, the 60th criminal justice Bill since 1997. One might have thought they would have gotten it right by now, particularly as these Bills have introduced no less that 3600 criminal offences! One of the measures in this Bill even amends the Policing and Crime Act 2009, just 13 days after that Bill was given Royal Assent.
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Written by Colin Breed and published in Lowdown Article on Wed 13th Jan 2010
Last week the Health Select Committee produced another valuable contribution to Parliament in its report on alcohol and its effect on public health. Among a number of recommendations the one which gained most media interest was that which referred to the sale of alcohol based on a minimum price per unit. Apart from the relaxation of licensing laws it is the price of alcoholic drinks which has contributed most to the significant rise in drinking, particularly amongst young people. Two litres of cider in a plastic bottle can now be bought for around £1.20, the equivalent of 34p a pint. A minimum price would render such sales illegal. A figure of 40p for a 10ml unit of alcohol would increase this bottle's cost to £3.36 and save an estimated 1100 lives per year.
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Written by Colin Breed and published in House Magazine on Wed 6th Jan 2010
The Financial Services Bill seeks to address weaknesses in the regulatory system that were exposed during the recent banking crisis. It is obvious that parts were inadequate, uncoordinated and in some cases inappropriate to the challenges of an expanding Financial Services sector. When the Financial Services Authority (FSA) was established ten years ago the Government set up a tripartite arrangement with the Treasury, Bank of England and the FSA charged with responsibility for overseeing financial stability under a Memorandum of Understanding. Concerns were raised at the time that this arrangement was too weak and ill defined. In particular, it did not identify "who" was in charge (it now appears that all were responsible) and in practice it failed to meet the requirements necessary to identify emerging problems or take any meaningful decisions. This was a crucial finding of several reports most notably that of the Treasury Select Committee following the demise of Northern Rock.
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Written by Colin Breed and published in Lowdown Article on Tue 5th Jan 2010
I suppose it was inevitable that the start of the New Year and the return of Parliament after the Christmas recess would signal the commencement of what is likely to be a long drawn out election campaign. Whether or not it adds to the general sense of hostility to politics within the country, or conversely encourages more people to exercise their democratic right at the General Election, we will have to wait and see.
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Written by Colin Breed on Sat 19th Dec 2009
With so much activity in the political world the Chilcot Inquiry into the events leading up to the war in Iraq has been rather sidelined with only minimal coverage on television and in the press. Last Sunday in a religious programme Tony Blair was interviewed and made the startling confession that even had he known that Saddam Hussein did not possess Weapons of Mass Destruction he would still have thought it right to remove him and that Iraq and the Middle East region is better off without him. Whilst I am sure we would agree with the latter, the fact that he would have ordered our armed forces into Iraq, and worry about finding some justification later, is quite astonishing.
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Written by Colin Breed and published in Lowdown Article on Fri 18th Dec 2009
As usual during the run up to Christmas I have been visiting the Royal Mail sorting offices in the constituency. They seem as busy as ever but with considerably heavier bags of parcels due to the rise of internet shopping. I expect this trend to continue so we should be looking at ways of coping with new demands. Clearly, the size of letter boxes is causing some problems. Perhaps it is time for builders and architects to start designing secure boxes for the delivery of large items along the same lines as those created many years ago to enable external reading of meters.
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Written by Colin Breed on Mon 7th Dec 2009
The Climate Change conference in Copenhagen has of course dominated the political agenda and the Prime Minister is attempting once again to burnish his international credentials by trying to urge greater commitments from developed countries so as to provide more realistic contributions from poorer countries. First indications look far more promising than most people had hoped but it is very early in the process and it would be wise to avoid final outcomes. It seems clear that the world has been living beyond its sustainable resources for decades and it is time to recognise that this simply cannot continue.
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Written by Colin Breed on Mon 30th Nov 2009
Parliament debates the Queens Speech for a week taking in different subjects each day with voting held back until Thursday. In the end there were fifteen pieces of legislation including two draft bills and three bills carried over from the last session. Much has been written about what was not in the Gracious Speech, mainly MPs expenses and the draft Immigration Bill, which was published on the 12th November but not given a mention.
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Written by Colin Breed on Mon 30th Nov 2009
For very many years I have supported the concept of self regulation. This is the notion that businesses, individuals, professions and public bodies or associations should be subject at least to the minimum necessary formal regulation or legislation. This could be achieved through self discipline, professional bodies or trade associations, the relevant codes of conduct, rules of operation or just the reputation in market conditions, and that these would be sufficient to ensure proper standards and complaints procedures were enforced, so that costs were minimised but the objectives achieved.
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Written by Colin Breed on Fri 20th Nov 2009
The last session of this Parliament commenced this week with the Queens Speech. When I first entered Parliament the contents of the speech were a closely guarded secret whilst today the Government selectively leaks potential news stories to its friends in the press, so much was already known. Being so late in the year and only a couple of weeks in advance of the Pre-Budget Report, both will have the distinct whiff of a pre-election manifesto. It is expected that Parliament will actually sit for just 70 days before the likely date of the General Election and it is doubtful, therefore, if much legislation will proceed through both Houses and on to the Statute Book.
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Written by Colin Breed on Thu 12th Nov 2009
Last Sunday I attended two Remembrance Day services and on Armistice Day stood by the Cenotaph in Whitehall near my office. The number attending was the largest I have seen for many years. What did you think about during the two minutes of silence? I have not lost a close relative to conflict but this week a family member died suddenly and without any warning. She was a young mother of three very young children. The overwhelming sense of loss, grief and bewilderment grips mind, body and soul.
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Written by Colin Breed on Tue 3rd Nov 2009
The spat between the Home Secretary and the Chair of the Advisory Committee on the Misuse of Drugs highlights some fundamental problems at the heart of Government. Essentially, the current Government and to a lesser extent the previous Conservative administration have sought ways of separating themselves from difficult decisions.
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Written by Colin Breed on Wed 28th Oct 2009
The Government is intent on trying to create the impression that the financial crisis is over. They tried last week to get it into the public consciousness that the recession was over by "leaking" the report that the country had experienced modest growth in the economy. Of course, when the figures were formally published they indicated yet another quarter with a reduction in economic activity.
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Written by Colin Breed on Tue 20th Oct 2009
The news that five senior Prison Officers are being investigated after a number of vulnerable prisoners were quickly transferred from prisons that were just about to be inspected ought to be a real cause for concern. Not only did one of those transferred later commit suicide, it offers an insight into the lengths some public servants are prepared to go to in order to defeat the purposes of independent inspections. Although some inspections are undertaken unannounced they still require some organisation and preparation and it appears very few, if any, are actually "unannounced".
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Written by Colin Breed on Wed 14th Oct 2009
The first day back from the summer recess is usually rather hectic but this time even more so. However, perhaps anticipating the inevitable media attention on expenses the Government timetabled legislation it wanted to get through quickly before the Queen's Speech in November. So on Tuesday Parliament debated the Report Stage and Third Reading of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill - a rag bag of largely unnecessary and minor provisions which were a total parody of its title. Frankly, there was nothing to promote either localism or democracy and only minor tweaking of legislation concerning economic development and construction. Indeed, it was difficult to see why it was initiated in the first place and how it had taken so long in Committee to consider the Bill. However, there were certainly many opportunities to put in place some of what the Government has expounded in recent months.
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Written by Colin Breed on Tue 6th Oct 2009
The period immediately following the end of the Second World War was a hectic time internationally and we have been celebrating many 60th anniversaries recently, not least that of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees, commonly known by its acronym UNWRA. Whilst political leaders on all fronts have failed both the Palestinian and the Israeli people's right to live in peace and security the thousands of UNWRA employees have consistently made sure that millions of vulnerable refugees have received basic services and common decencies delivering education, healthcare, social services and basic protection for many of the 4.6 million refugees registered with it. However, some still live in appalling conditions, especially in Lebanon and Gaza, yet the continuing mandate of UNWRA and its adaptation to changing circumstances at least sends a message that the world see refugees as people who have basic human rights.
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Written by Colin Breed on Wed 30th Sep 2009
Last week Liberal Democrat party members descended on Bournemouth to discuss policy ideas and plan for the political year ahead. Our conference differs to those of the two main political parties in that we vote on our own policy in public, and those that do not tow the party line are allowed, even encouraged, to demonstrate why they disagree. Sadly, the general media attitude was to portray these discussions as bickering and in-fighting. It is a sad indictment of today's press that some media organisations value innuendo and mischief-making over reporting the facts. Sensational stories sell papers, but by sensationalising everything, we run the risk of losing the truth amongst the headlines.
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Written by Colin Breed on Mon 21st Sep 2009
The Party Conference season takes on a more important role within the life of our country with only a matter of months before the next General Election and the need to tackle one of the greatest economic crises for a hundred years. I still do not think the vast majority of the public realises just how big the Government deficit is, or how serious the remedies are for every man, woman and child in the country. The numbers are just too large to take in easily and the ramifications, in terms of public spending cuts and increased taxes, too fearful to contemplate. The old language of tax and spend seems almost curiously out of date. The competition between parties seems to be who can cut the most whilst at the same time assuring us "front line" services can be maintained or even improved. Of course they cannot. In order to address the huge debt accumulated over the past few months bold policies in all areas of spending and taxation will be required.
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