Happy Christmas

Happy Christmas to all (well, the few) who read this blog and to my Facebook friends.

Smashed out of sight!

The Greens, Lib Dims and Labour decided to merge their campaigns and support the Labour candidate for the by-election in Trench Ward, Tonbridge.  Fat lot of good it did them as the Tory romped home with  61% of the vote.  Labour secured 21% and UKIP 18%.

What price the 'progressive alliance'?

http://votingandboating.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/winning-elections-isnt-difficult-its.html?spref=fb

Abject failure of child protection legislation and organisations.

Over the years I have acquired enough DBS and CRB certificates to cover all the walls of my office.  Doubtless millions of such certificates have been issued to people working with children or vulnerable adults.  All most commendable one might be led to believe.   The reality is that all this paperwork has failed to stop children being assaulted in Rotherham et al, by churches, by Jimmy Savile  and sundry football and athletic coaches.  Add to this the well-documented failure of police forces and social services departments to deal with cases of child abuse.

The root cause of this sorry mess is political failure, failure to see that pen-pushing form filling is not the answer, failure to fund social services departments and failure to stop police forces from not acting for fear of upsetting minorities.  

Health Update

In late November I had an appointment with the cardiac specialist at Maidstone Hospital.  It has been decided I need a pacemaker and other bits and pieces.  Expect to have it fitted in February 2017.

BML2 Update

http://www.bml2.co.uk/the-news/211-department-for-transport-denies-indecisiveness-over-capacity-time-bomb.html

The government plans to spend millions on HS2, yet states GWR electrification is paused, does nothing about the Brighton line capacity issues, etc., etc.

Richmond Park by-election.

We await the naming of the English Democrat candidate for the Richmond Park by-election.  Surely the party is contesting the seat following the crowing of their chairman, Robin Tilbrook, after the Batley by-election?

Brain-dead idiots on the road

A road near me is closed for repairs.  Plenty of signs warning drivers, yet some persist in driving on beyond the signs and look surprised when their way is barred.  Cretins.

Rusthall Fireworks

Last night the annual firework  display took place on Rusthall Common.  Big bonfire, large crowd and plenty of rockets making very loud bangs.  And yet, somehow not as good as usual.  Maybe it was the lack of variety in the display.  We were 'treated' over the loudspeaker system to the annual rendition of Land of Hope and Glory whilst the fireworks were exploding.  If we must have music let it be an appropriate piece by Handel.

Health Update

I have a date to see the cardiac consultant at Maidstone Hospital - 29 November.  The consultation will determine if I am to have a pacemaker fitted.

What a load of old tosh

You can rely on the English Democrats to publish twaddle.  A good example is this article by the party's chairman:

http://robintilbrook.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/the-english-democrats-come-second-in.html

No mention of the fact that the ED candidate lost her deposit.  No mention of the decision of the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and UKIP not to contest the seat.  No mention of the abject result in Witney.

Shock, horror !!!

An MP who keeps his word.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/25/zac-goldsmith-quits-as-tory-mp-for-richmond-park-over-heathrow-a/

English Democrats - time to pack up.

What a shambles!  The English Democrats came second in Batley and lost its deposit.  The party gained under 5% of the vote.  UKIP, Lib Dems and the Conservatives did not contest the seat so one might have expected the ED to do rather better.

In Witney the result was a disaster.  52 votes and under 1% of the vote. Monster Raving Loony, Bus-Pass Elvis and Eccentric Party did better.

The bells, the bells.

From to-days  Daily Telegraph:

There is a right ding-dong going on in York, where the Dean of the Minster has sacked the entire complement of 30 volunteer bell ringers. The Dean and Chapter apparently want to appoint a professional chief ringer who will then appoint suitably trained and up to speed with health and safety requirements.

I concur with the following from the article:

This seems yet another example of the advance of corporatism over voluntarism.  Dedicated people who give of their time for the love of the task are shoved aside in the spurious pursuit of 'professional' standards.

Twerp of the Year Award 2016

A massive field this year made it difficult to select an outright winner. I have decided on joint winners: Michael Gove and Nicola Sturgeon.

Bridge Trust AGM

I attended the Bridge Trust AGM this evening.  It was held at a new venue - the Old Fire Station, Tonbridge.  Met up with old colleagues and friends.

The saddest part of the evening was the news that housing associations are applying an 'affordability' test to potential residents, thereby becoming associations which provide affordable as distinct from social housing.The effect is that some people on benefits do not pass the affordability test and are precluded from housing association property.

Fact follows fiction?

In 2012 I published this April Fools' Day article:

http://kentcommunityactivist.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/all-change-in-kent.html

This week the Times of Tunbridge Wells has the following story:

 Council split talks 

The splitting of Kent into eastern and western authorities will move a step closer on Thursday (October 6) when five local authorities will meet to discuss meeting to form one 'super council'.

Any moves to combine Thanet, Canterbury, Ashford, Dover and Shepway districts could result in the scrapping of Kent County Council.

It is an option supported by Thanet North MP Roger Gale, who wants to see the county council replaced by three unitary councils, with Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge and Sevenoaks likely to make up a West Kent authority.

Good news

As I wander in Tunbridge Wells I am drawn to planning notices: a must read as I am nosey so-and-so.

Such a notice has appeared outside Zurich House, an empty office block opposite Meadow Road car park.  A planning application has been made by Canterbury Christ Church University for change of use from office to educational purposes.

Unhealthy preoccupation with genitalia

The link below is to an article in the Daily Telegraph and features a Tunbridge Wells clergyman.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/08/28/church-of-england-parishes-consider-first-step-to-break-away-ove/

Why is it that some Christians are preoccupied with how some people, men and women, have homosexual relationships?  It is an unhealthy preoccupation.

The problem is with fundamentalists who have, at best, a simplistic view of biblical reading and interpretation.

Oxymoron

Best example of an oxymoron in the current political debate on the result of the EU referendum:

Liberal Democrat.

Health Update

Having completed all the tests at Pembury Hospital I am to be sent to Maidstone Hospital for consideration to be given to my being fitted with a pacemaker and defibrillator.  The kit is valued at between £40,000 - £50,000!

Miserable failure

Another English Democrat electoral failure.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/17/labours-rosena-allin-khan-wins-tooting-by-election/

Remain or Brexit?

Some of the cheerleaders for the Remain camp are the very same people who stated we had to shadow the
European Exchange Rate Mechanism and join the eurozone.

Otherwise, there would be dire consequences for the UK economy.  History tells us not so.  The credibility of such people is zero so why should we listen to them now as they peddle their propaganda about the consequences of Brexit?

Visit to consultant

Recently I had an appointment with the cardiac consultant at my local hospital.  I have been telling people that if I didn't know I was ill I wouldn't know I was ill.

The consultant has stated that my symptoms have improved dramatically and that I look fit and well!  That said, I have to have a cardiac angiogram followed by the possibility of having a pacemaker.  Could have been much worse.

Afternoon on Spa Valley Railway

Enjoyed a ride on the Spa Valley Railway yesterday.  First time I had been along the route all the way from Tunbridge Wells to Eridge.

At Eridge there is no run-round facility the consequence of which is that a locomotive has to sit in one of the two platform roads whilst a train makes a journey from Eridge to Tunbridge Wells and back.

The waiting continues....

Steve Uncles, he of the ban the burka in Kent and machine gun illegal immigrants notoriety, had this to say in a comment on my blog:

Still waiting for a statement on how he planned to ban the burka.  Still waiting to be exposed "on your Anna Cleves 'joke'".

The Great Central had to close.

Facebook has a number of pages devoted to railway nostalgia. There are opinions stated regularly that the Great Central should not have closed.  In particular many bemoan the closure of Nottingham Victoria station.

The Great Central was the last major route to be built.  Unfortunately all major centres of population it passed through were served already by existing lines.  Duplication of routes is not unusual in the UK  as private railway companies competed for traffic.  Most of the collieries and steelworks in Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire were served by two competing railway companies. Nationalisation of the railways in 1947 provided an opportunity for rationalisation and the end of duplication.  The downturn of the steel and mining industries took a lot of traffic away from the railways, as did the expansion of road transport.

So, the Great Central had to close.

Uncles wrong......again.

Mr Uncles regaled Facebook readers with this:

Some humiliation.  The Conservatives won the election.  Uncles came last and lost his deposit.  Time for a celebratory drink.

Twenty years

In 1996 I stood as a candidate at the local elections and managed to win.  In those days all the parties published and delivered election literature.

Fast forward to 2016.  Only one party  (Conservative) delivered election leaflets for the local elections and likewise for the PCC election. Poor show.

Awaiting election literature

The Conservatives have  delivered an election address for the borough council elections in Tunbridge Wells. Nothing from Labour, UKIP, Lib Dems or Greens.

No literature from any of the candidates for the Kent Police and Crime Commissioner election.

A late flurry of activity?

Health Update

Appointment with the heart failure nurse this morning.  Pleased with my progress - no fluid in the lungs, pulse rate down, heart beat ok.  Kidneys working much better.

Tunbridge Wells Borough Council elections

The election season is upon us. Nominations have closed for the borough council elections on 5th May.  Nothing of interest to get excited about.  Possibility of close results in Capel, Rusthall,  Pembury, St John's and Southborough.

http://www.tunbridgewells.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/119960/Borough-Statement-of-Persons-Nominated.pdf

Pathetic drivel

http://steveunclesenglishdemocrats.org/2016/04/03/2016-election-address-steve-uncles-kent-police-commissioner-candidate/

English Democrats in the news.

Two stories - Uncles trial deferred to let him contest the Kent Police and Crime Commissioner election.

http://www.kentonline.co.uk/dartford/news/political-leader-has-fraud-trial-93106/

Then a story about the London Mayor election.  A complete shambles.

http://www.mayorwatch.co.uk/twelve-candidates-vie-to-succeed-boris-johnson-as-mayor/

http://www.croydonguardian.co.uk/news/14398522._I_m_going_to_give_George_Galloway_a_heart_attack___Winston_McKenzie_reveals_plan_to_get_Mayoral_campaign_back_on_track/

Sauna and Massage in Rusthall

Rusthall was once the home of Easy on the Eye Productions, pornographic films for women produced by a lady who stood as the Liberal Democrat candidate in Gravesham at the 2010 general election.

Rumours are rife that members of the 'oldest profession' are plying their services at domestic dwellings in Rusthall.

However, the big news in that a sauna and massage parlour will be opening it doors soon at a prime location in the village. Some locals have become over-excited by this development, either as potential customers of the 'services' to be offered or in their role as self-appointed guardians of public morals.

BML2 Update

http://www.bml2.co.uk/the-news/205-compelling-case-for-bml2-expected-in-autumn.html

Health Update

Thank you for the supportive comments,  The Heart Failure Nurse believes I am making 'excellent progress'.  My weight is down to 13st 6lb (from 16-10), my pulse rate is slowing and I am walking much longer distances.

Keeping to my diet is so hard.

Groupthink

According to Christopher Booker the defining characteristics of those caught up in a bubble of groupthink are that, first, they no longer think for themselves but become absorbed into a collective mindset; and, second, they show irrational fury towards anyone failing to share their belief system.

Health update

Many of my readers know I have been unwell of late.  Heart problem resulting in lower than required oxygenated blood circulating my system.  My medication is bringing matters under control and I am walking a longer distance each day.  My weight has reduced from 16st 10lbs to 14.00 st.