Curly's Corner Shop, the blog!

Why are other parties shying away from asking the public about Scottish Independence?

OK, let me lay my cards on the table, I do not support full independence for Scotland, I support the Union, I don’t wish to see these islands broken up into their constituent parts. However that does not prevent me from supporting the SNPs Leader and Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond from asking the people for their thoughts in an ‘advisory’ referendum. At least, unlike both Labour and Conservatives, he appears genuine in his wish to carry out a manifesto commitment (remember Lisbon anyone?).

I am in complete agreement with both Guido Fawkes and Iain Dale on this one, it represents localism at it’s best, is not binding, and will more than likely lead to politicians listening rather than saying. The likelihood, also, is that the Scottish people will not vote for complete independence and that would deal a serious blow to the SNP’s hopes at the next election for a Scottish Parliament. Just what the other main parties are dragging their heels about is quite beyond me, have the debate now and get the question out of the way, it might dispose of the main plank in Salmond’s platform!

Guido, of course takes the admirable libertarian position of devolving more and more power and decision making capabilities further down into local communities, what he does not articulate, of course is how a largely independent Scotland would affect The House of Commons. It might be a monumental struggle for Labour to ever form a government again without the ranks of their Scottish members sitting in London! (Probably as a good a reason as any for the Labour Party to oppose a referendum over independence, but the Tories current position is perplexing to say the least.)

Boris Johnson, The Conservative Mayor of London marks St. Andrew’s Day by announcing that the Scottish Saltyre proudly flies outside of City Hall (and London is even being asked to create it’s own tartan) as he makes an excellent plea for a total renogiation of the Barnett Formula:

This system is the subject of all sorts of Scot-bashing polemics, but seems unlikely to be fundamentally reformed because, after all, we have a Union and it is right that the richer parts of that Union should help the poorer parts. The real question, and the one on which I would like our beloved Scottish Prime Minister and Chancellor to focus, is how come we can afford to pay the Barnett formula? Where does the money come from?

I will tell you. It comes from London. There are only three regions of the UK that make a profit, in the sense of contributing more to the Treasury than they receive in spending, and they are London, the South East, and the East; and London is the powerhouse that drives the other two, with a net tax export estimated at £19 billion per year.

Perhaps by allowing the people of Scotland their referendum on independence we could then have a balanced debate about the necessary redistribution of fiscal resources and investment that Boris is looking for in the capital, and perhaps find a little more cash for the north-east!

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Johnson Press operates trail pay for web service

Johnson Press which owns over 200 regional titles in the UK, including The Shields Gazette, is to be amongst the first media outlets to try and gain additional revenue from it’s websites by asking viewers to pay to read it’s web content. A trial scheme is believed to be starting next Monday with six titles including the Northumberland Gazette where readers will be asked to pay a £5 subscription fee for a three month service allowing them to read content online, or at least the major in depth stories behind a headline.

Managers have told staff that JP intends to roll-out the paid-for model across the company in line with what they are calling “industry moves in this area to find a sustainable business model going forward.”

Rupert Murdoch’s News International has already made clear it intends to erect paywalls on its national titles from next spring, but JP is the first regional publisher to trial the model.

Managers will be keeping a close eye on sales of the printed editions which have been steadily falling for the past couple of years, as well as watching the effect on advertising revenue as they hope that visits to websites by subscribers make up the difference in lost sales on the streets.

One drawback is the huge amount of choice for news delivery on the internet, which does not necessarily replicate itself in newsagents.

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Tesco Value Photographer

Sorry Alan, couldn’t resist this.

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Picture special
I arrived at the Town Hall in Westoe Road, South Shields just a couple of minutes after noon today to find a small but growing band of enthusiastic locals who had braved torrential downpours and gusty winds to attend this event that marks the safe return home of six TA servicemen from their tour of duty in Helmand, Afghanistan. I’d already been thoroughly soaked through after a trip down to the supermarket and even the actions of getting in and out of the car would guarantee another soaking, but what the heck, it was a tiny sacrifice compared to that offered by our servicemen and women who do such a professional job wherever the country asks them to go.

This small ceremony in South Shields today was meant to mark that sacrifice and to honour the men and women who do the jobs that we would choose not to, whether they are currently serving or have served in various conflicts around the world such as Bosnia, Kosovo, Sierra Leone and Northern Ireland as well as Afghanistan and Iraq. The rain continued to deluge us all and at times the wind turning it into a horizontal onslaught as the preparations were made to curtail the original length of the parade and the crowds grew a little larger behind a ceiling of umbrellas struggling to keep shape.

The pipe and drum band of the 101st. Regt. (Northumbrian) Royal Artillery (Volunteers) led the short march to the Town Hall forecourt followed by representatives of 205 (3rd DVA) Bty, RA (V) and 4 Platoon, 12 Company, 4th Battalion The Parachute Regiment (V) in Hebburn. There they joined assembled councillors and civic dignitaries as well as members of their families and general public in a short service conducted jointly by the Rev. Paul Kennedy of St. Michael and All Angels, Westoe, and Father Michael Wemyss of St. Bede’s, Westoe Road. The Mayor of South Tyneside Cllr. John Anglin was joined by the Mayoress and the Lord Lieutenant of Tyne and Wear Nigel Sherlock as he paid tribute to the returning TA volunteers from South Tyneside who have recently returned from Afghanistan, and offered our communal thanks, admiration, and pride to all those South Tyneside people who had served their country in the armed services throughout a number of post war modern campaigns.

Finally, the flag of the 205 Bt was lowered from it’s mast above the Town Hall where it has flown since their men embarked on their mission, neatly folded the Mayor handed it back over to Major Peter Winton, after the singing of the National Anthem the parade left the Town Hall forecourt with the peals of applause ringing in their ears.

It was a rotten day for weather but I’m glad I was there and glad that it went ahead against the conditions, I’m sure those who turned out found it an experience worth witnessing.

South Tyneside is proud of it’s young men and women.

Click the thumbnails to enlarge.

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The decision was not legal………..or it was!

The possibility of Tony Bliar being thoroughly grilled by Chilcott seems like good entertainment and The Mail will love it surely, but somehow one gets the distinct feeling that not an awful lot will come of it.

All rather ironic on this day when I will be standing outside of the Town Hall in South Shields to pay homage to those brave men and women who have served in various campaigns on our behalf. If you are joining us, remember to get there for 12:00 noon.

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Little Sarkozy is feeling pretty big now!

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry

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….you are likely to end up with too many suspects and criminals

It has always been the case, get rid of half of the stupid laws that have been introduced since Tony Blair and George Bush instigated The War Against Terror (which had “questionable legitimacy“) and you will get rid of more than half of the criminals and probably all of the suspects. This has always been the trouble with NuLabour of course they’ve spent too much time legislating in order to chase tomorrow’s headlines, with a paranoid urge to be “seen to be doing something” about problems which weren’t there in the first place.

Hence we end up with reams and reams of anti-terror laws, amendments, statutory instruments, orders in council, ministers using delegated powers without reference to Parliament, and millions of cctv cameras and under trained PCSOs, as well as a population living under suspicion.

Don’t believe such silly things happen in modern day Britain? Then go and read about the mentally ill man who has been jailed (probably indefinitely now) using anti terror legislation for believing that he had some silly right to silence! (Yes that has gone now). When you have finished with that one you will be glad to know that the photographer arrested for being too tall has now got Kent Police almost bending towards an apology:

The IO (investigating officer) apologised for the delay explaining that “special branch” had claimed that the burden of proof required to lawfully arrest under terrorist legislation was somewhat less than it is under other legislation, and that they believed Mr Turner’s arrest to have been lawful. For that reason, Kent Police had sought the advice of legal counsel.

According to Mr Turner, the IO said that he thought he had had a “raw deal” on the day of the arrest. He added that the arrest was in part a consequence of the strong message given to the police on the ground and council officers about being alert to potential terrorist threats.

However, as there were few terrorist activities in Kent, regular officers generally have a low level of knowledge of anti terrorist legislation, and Kent Police have now launched county-wide awareness raising training of anti-terrorist legislation to address this shortfall.

Basically because anti terrorism laws require virtually no burden of proof, our tall photographer was arrested and detained in a van simply because the police could, not because he was remotely guilty of any offence!

Once this interfering government has gone and taken their last chattels with them, it is to be hoped that a new administration will repeal many of the hideous aspects of Labour’s control freaky legislation which has led to these ridiculous incidents.

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South Shields takes a lead in youth education and employment routes

It can be an overstated cliche that our future lies in the hands of our youth, but as many of us survey the wreckage of the Blair/Brown years and this recession which Chancellor Alistair Darling concedes is worse than he predicted, and indeed making a mockery of his Treasury forecasts, it is good to note that on a variety of fronts South Shields and those connected to the town are making some inroads towards a brighter future.

Education and training towards or in employment will be key to providing a successful drive to climb out of the depths of the recession. Future prospective employers are hardly likely to be looking towards employing those in the 40+ age groups unless they are looking for highly skilled and experienced managers, it is far more likely that they will be looking towards highly motivated hungry young people with a firm educational background as they plan to grow their enterprises.

To help provide the skilled workforce of the future the Edge Foundation is taking advantage of the partnership they have developed with the Department for Children, Schools, and Families and are pledging to provide a Studio School for South Tyneside in 2011. Andy Powell, Edge’s CEO says:

I’m proud to say that Studio Schools have been informed by extensive research and best practice from Britain and around the world. With a focus on business and enterprise, they will look and feel more like a business than a school. Students will participate in a range of enterprise activities, learning the majority of the curriculum through practical multi-disciplinary learning and participating in paid work. Importantly, on leaving Studio School, students will have a range of progression routes available to them including the potential to go to university.

The essential elements of Studio Schools very much reflect Edge’s ethos:
- Schools will teach the national curriculum but will have a very different style and ethos to most existing schools, with the majority of the curriculum taught through enterprise themed practical activities.
- Personalised learning and an innovative new staffing structure will ensure that students are supported to tailor the curriculum to their individual needs and aspirations.
- Students will spend a significant portion of their weekly time participating in hands-on, meaningful experience. Crucially, students will be paid for their work, with students over 16 earning a proper wage.
- On leaving their Studio School students will have gained at least Level 2 qualifications. They will have a range of progression routes available to them including apprenticeships, paid work, further and higher education.

So an education with working partnerships with prospective employers providing work based experience and training ought to go a long way to providing just the sort of workforce that will be required in the future. It also breaks the mould of some of the career advice strategies of recent years by instilling an ethos of being paid for hard work and providing the motivation to find employment rather than having to struggle on benefits. It is planned that the studio school will take over the building currently occupied by South Shields Community School in Brinkburn.

Meanwhile South Tyneside Marine College is to be the first in the country to offer a new foundation degree for Electro Technical Officers, a facility which allow them to be at the forefront of training pilots, something for which South Shields has a proud heritage. Various leading marine companies including BP, Chiltern Maritime, Bibby Line, ADNATCO, ACERGY, and Global Marine Systems have signed up and sponsored students through their degrees where they will graduate as fully qualified Electro Technical Officers.

This is once again an educational course mixed with on the job training, and in this scenario the training will be at sea for four and a half months before returning to South Shields to complete the degree.

As these endeavours go through their birth pains it is heartening to note that the Conservative candidate for South Shields Karen Allen, (pictured) has also been spending more time getting involved with young people, having spent time in the past as a teacher of English language abroad she has recently returned from a stint working with Conservative Party volunteers in the battle torn Rwanda, she has now devised a programme with her former school in Harton to pass on these experiences. She is also looking towards the future of politics in South Shields by reviving an institution that I was involved with in my youth. Back inthe 70s I was the Chairman of South Shields Young Conservatives and we had a lively and reasonably large group which somehow fell away after the local Conservative Association sold it’s HQ building in Westoe Road leaving nowhere for it’s younger members to meet back then. However Karen has plans to put that right now and has found a keen volunteer in local lad Phil Thornton and a few others to help her form a South Shields Branch of Conservative Future, CF aims to involve the under thirties in political, social, and community activities and will be a great way for youngsters with an interest in politics, civic pride, or community relations to get to know one another and take a more active role in local matters. If , like Karen Allen, you are under thirty and wish to get involved in helping the Conservatives in South Shields then get in touch with her now, her email address is karenallen@southshieldsconservatives.co.uk

Just don’t expect to find any plummy accents, silver spoons, Richard Bransons or multi millionaires, this is South Shields after all, just expect to find folks like you or I.

So, there you are, the future is bright, the future is in the hands of the youth.

They aren’t all yobs with asbos!

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A reminder for South Tyneside folks

If you are planning on coming to South Shields to pay tribute and say thanks to our local service personnel who have been active in Helmand province, Afghanistan on Sunday, then you need to be outside the Town Hall before 12:00 noon on Sunday to see the homecoming parade. Six volunteers from South Tyneside have recently returned from a tour of duty in Afghanistan.

The troops will be assembling at the Register Office in Broughton Road before parading at 12:20 around the rear of the Town Hall and moving down Beach Road to pass along Westoe Road. The parade will be led by the Pipes and Drums of 101 Regiment, and will include 205 (3rd DVA) Bty, RA (V) and 4 Platoon, 12 Company, 4th Battalion The Parachute Regiment (V) in Hebburn.

The contribution, courage and sacrifices made by servicemen and women from South Tyneside who are currently serving or have served other conflicts in Bosnia, Kosovo, Sierra Leone and Northern Ireland as well as Afghanistan and Iraq will also be recognised.
The Mayor of South Tyneside, Councillor John Anglin is urging all serving or ex forces personnel, their families, friends and local people to come along to Sunday’s ceremony to welcome home the troops and remember those who have lost their lives.

The Mayor said: “While our troops have been away their flag has been flying from South Shields Town Hall. It will be lowered on Sunday and I will be honoured to return it back to their Battery Commander Major Peter Winton now that they are home.

The Last Post will be sounded as flag is lowered from the Town Hall and presented to the Mayor who will formally hand it over to Major Winton.

Major Winton said: “The support given by South Tyneside Council to the soldiers from 205 Battery who have deployed on operations in Iraq and Afghanistan has been second to none. We have been incredibly proud of the Council’s ground breaking decision to fly the Battery flag over the Town Hall and know it has been recognised far and wide as a mark of the close relationship between the town and its soldiers. Our soldiers will continue to serve on British Army operations in Afghanistan or wherever we are called upon to do so and it is heartening to know that we have the people of South Shields behind us.”

I would add, of course, that this event has not been designed solely for families or people with connections to the armed forces but is a great opportunity for all of us to become involved in expressing our thanks, admiration, and pride in the professional job that our troops do in very arduous circumstances wherever we send them. So come along, get down there, whatever the weather and give them all a good cheer!

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Will South Shields see some snow (and how would we shop for it)?

Tomorrow’s Met Office forecast for the north-east:

Starting dry and chilly before cloud and rain, and snow over high ground, arrives from the south late morning. Then remaining cloudy with spells of rain or hill snow. Maximum temperature 5 °C.

It is unlikely to last and unlikely that we’ll see any in South Shields, and if man made global warming predictions are to be believed then our winters will be warmer and probably wetter as the Met Office has predicted that next year there will be a 50% chance that that global temperatures will hit an all-time high. However it is not my intention to go on a climate change bashing exercise in this post, El Nino is not the cause of my discontent either, but looking back some 30 -40 years to my childhood in South Shields winter was welcomed as a stark seasonal change.

Back then we didn’t have gas fired central heating in the home most of us kept warm around coal fires (even in the doctors’ and railway stations’ waiting rooms), neither did we enjoy some of the fabrics which make make our coats, socks, and shoes these days, in fact a duffle coat and a pair of wellington boots might have been the order of the day for most kids, and ready meals bought at a supermarket ready to radiate in a microwave oven simply did not exist, and neither did the microwave, as mothers skilled in home cooking served up large helpings of soups made from fresh vegetable and left over roasts (prepared with stock using the bones) to warm our bodies. Most children spent many hours out of doors in winter weather that was far different to what we have become used to in recent years, a few days of constant heavy snowfall would blanket South Shields transforming our landscapes and bringing a whole new set of adventures. Despite copious amounts of snow on the lines, trains still managed to carry their commuters from South Shields to Newcastle, often with  ice forming on the inside of the windows, trolley buses managed to get around town with only a few minor mishaps as overhead contacts were lost, schools remained open and all sorts of scrap pieces of wood were collected from the waste that shops were throwing out. It has to be said that some would use the wood to burn on open fires, whilst others with skilled dads could watch as sledges were fashioned by hand, and even the metal bands that were stripped from wooden barrels (that’s how your Lurpack was delivered to shops back then) was cut and nailed to the bottom to make your sledge an efficient runner.

For those without a home made sledge, a bread board was an excellent substitute, upturned its two inch lip could be drilled to accept a rope for rudimentary steering and a place to wedge small feet against as we hurtled down some of the steepest banks in the riverside area of town, places like Reid Street, Bertrum Street, and Barnes Road became treacherous for pedestrians and cars as we wore the snow and ice down to a glass like skating rink guaranteed to upend the unsuspecting! Then there were the posh kids, they had their own shop bought sledges (wooden) bought at Rippons or Clarkes, they could afford bus fare, or their parents had a car, they lived in posh areas like Cleadon Park and Marsden, for them Cleadon Hills or Blackberry Hill on the Coast Road were the preferred destinations of choice. Places that had even more snow than we seemed to have, deep, thick, crunchy on top, but soft below. The sort of snow that dived over the top of your wellies and left you with bright red sore welts at the end of the day, and the likelihood was that your fingers would be the same colour too as woollen gloves or mittens became sodden after forming and throwing so many snowballs, but not to worry, mother would have dragged the “tin bath” from the back yard and boiled copious pans of water to fill it as you soaked in front of the open sitting room fire to thaw out.

Tomorrow, if we suddenly got twelve inches of snow, I wonder just how many kids would (a) be allowed to play outside in it out of sight of parents (b) know how to make a well formed spherical snowball, (c) know how to control a sledge (if they have one), (d) would be accused of anti-social behaviour for throwing said snowballs, (e) know how to make a giant snowman, or (f) know how to drag themselves away from the Xbox 360? (Well after all their future career might depend upon it).

But even these minor moans of a grumpy old man are not the reason for my discontent, forget the fact that children would probably not be allowed to make “slides” in the playground for fear of contravening some inane health and safety regulation, forget the fact that paranoid parents won’t let Mary or Johnny go outside into a world pervaded by paedophiles, forget the fact  that PCSOs and Community Wardens see them all as anti-social yobs these days, forget the fact that diets will be dictated by the multi-national suppliers of Tesco and Sainsburys, but instead think about the so called mini uplift in retailing in South Shields.

We now have a Poundland in King Street and a new chemist shop, and a new fashion retailer for women, but if Mary and Johnny really want to go out and play in the snow how do we prepare for a possible winter of fun?

We still do not have one specialist children’s clothes shop since the demise of Adams in King Street and we haven’t had a specialist toy shop in South Shields of note for many years (Woolworths was the closest we could manage), if you really wanted to buy a wooden or plastic sledge these days you would have to jump in the car and get out out of South Shields to find one, come to think of it winter wellies for kids would be a problem too. We still need a quality tailor or men’s wear retailer, we need more butchers, we need a specialist giftware shop, an additional soft furnishing retailer, a decent stationer, and a model shop too. That dear friends is the reason for my discontent.

I appreciate the difficulties facing those responsible for rejuvenating the retail experience in South Shields town centre (which is still not helped hugely by its cheaper parking) especially in the depths of this recession, but as units start to become attractive to entrepreneurs we must be encouraging them to risk providing for obvious markets which are no longer catered for here. Shoppers need variety, and that variety helps to stem the drain of revenue to places outside of South Shields, it doesn’t help much by adding to what we already have, we need to be filling the gaps in the market that have been ignored for years. King Street does not need to be populated with phone shops, pound retailers, and charities.

End of rant.

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