This might bring some cheer... *Market is up for an 'oscar' award* 2:30pm Friday 10th October 2008 BURY Market has been shortlisted in the prestigious BBC Radio 4 Food and Farming Awards. The town's 'jewel in the crown' is up against Stroud Farmers' Market and Queens Market in Newham, London, for the title of Best Food Market in the UK. Described by Jamie Oliver as the 'Oscars of the food world', the awards were created in 2000 to celebrate the people who produce and promote the best of British food. The awards, nominated by listeners, set out to find the best local food retailer, best takeaway, the farmer of the year, the best dinner lady, the best food producer, the best retail initiative, the best food market, and the Derek Cooper Award. They also feature the BBC Food Personality of the Year, awarded in previous years to Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver and James Martin. The ceremony is held on November 26 at the Birmingham NEC, hosted by Sheila Dillon, presenter of The Food Programme, on whose show it will be broadcast. Taken from: This is Lancashire: http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/news/burytimes/3742652.Market_is_up_for_an__oscar__award
1. Patriotism and the American brand of nationalism are two very different things. 2. I took my affirmation of allegiance seriously and I see nothing wrong with it. In fact I champion it. 3. Turned to plain black and white, you'll find that green and red look remarkably similar. Add some champagne and you don't even have to render them B&W. 4. As for Galloway, I will forever remember him wearing a red catsuit, lapping milk out of an imaginary bowl. Total respect man! 5. 'Honour'? What a quaint little concept! 6. With an 36.21% electoral turnout, I think there is a stronger case for efforts to promote democracy in Manor Park! In any case, Cllr Ali will be letting only 1402 people down. A mere 5.6% of the eligible voters in Manor Park. I wouldn't call that abuse of a position. I wouldn't even call it a position.
Mike and All That may be so, but reading this link below (see responses after main story), I'm not too sure the good people of the Isle of White where too keen on the salary hike of ol' Joe when he took up Chief Exec position for them in 2006, nor were they thrilled by the exchange for Dave Burbage. But if you tell me that Joe is on the case of the live out councillors that Newham seems to be carrying, then thats no bad thing even if he is the highest paid local authority chief exec in the land. http://ventnorblog.com/island-chief-exec-joe-duckworth-to-leave/
Mike and All I think ID Cards for Newham residents is a whole topic on its own and we may well have a lot in common on that one whatever the political spectrum. Alas, I stood on the left hand side (though never a member of the SWP) of the 'George Galloway Appreciation Society platform' and got ceremoniously dumped like the rest of the comrades. In more recent weeks I have gone 'Green' - I'm not quite sure whose appreciation club that is, George Monbiot perhaps ? Main point taken, though I dont sign up to Citizenship ceremonies which always comes across as nationalistic clap trap to me, just look at where blind nationalism has lead the USA in recent years, ID cards aint the half of it ! It always seems crazy that I as a 'British Subject' can call for the abolishon of the monarchy, call for the downthrow of the government, not give two hoots about the law, not pay taxes or cheat the ones I do pay etc etc, and some poor guy from overseas who just wants to be a mere 'British Citizen' and earn enough to survive and bring up a family in peace has to pledge to monarch, government, country , laws and every other obligation the government can think of, and when they have said it, and presumably meant it, still get spit on as they walk down the street. All that said if you represent someone and have been elected to represent someone, then I do feel one has more that a passing obligation to do just that. As I said before, I would not go as far as saying councillor Ali has abused his position, but I do feel he needs to make a choice and make it quickly and with honour.
Hang on! I think he's offering up good value for money: 5 reviews of poorly performing Council departments resulting in the flushing out of dead Wood; Instigating a purge of council members who do not live in the borough; and, I understand (from my good friend on the Mayor's payroll) Wales isn't too keen on him as he has made it very clear from the start of his tenure where the lines are drawn between his role and the Mayor's. Considering the fact that he's getting less than a half of what Wales doles out to his advisor flunkies, I'd say he's doing a top-notch job.
Lane, You're right, I did lose in Manor Park (even you beat me!) I'm not too sure of the "humorous" point you are making here... I think you may be commenting on the fact that I stood as a Tory - tell me how funny that is again when you have to pick up your ID card. I stood on a Conservative platform, you stood on a George Galloway Appreciation Society platform (sorry, I mean a Respect platform). The one thing I am fairly confident about is that you and I (and, I imagine, most of the other non-Labour candidates) had we won, would be doing our utmost to effectively represent the people of the ward we had the good fortune to get elected to. Banti's hit the nail squarely on the head. This is from the Home Office web-site: Citizenship ceremonies Oath of allegiance I (name) swear by Almighty God that on becoming a British citizen, I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, her Heirs and Successors, according to law. Affirmation of allegiance I (name) do solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm that on becoming a British citizen, I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, her Heirs and Successors, according to law. Pledge I will give my loyalty to the United Kingdom and respect its rights and freedoms. I will uphold its democratic values. I will observe its laws faithfully and fulfil my duties and obligations as a British citizen. Cllr Ali has abused his position. He should stand down.
Lane, I observe that the Prime Minister earns some £189K per annum which is much less than the highest paid official in Local Government, Mr Duckworth who is Newham's CE. John McNeill From: Lane Taylor [mailto:<email obscured>] Sent: 07 October 2008 10:24 To: Newham Issues Forum Subject: [Newham] Newhams Chief Executive is paid more than the Prime Minister Credit Crunch what Credit Crunch ? we read that Newham is paying its new Chief Executive, Joe Duckworth, top dollar. In fact Joes £240,000 a year (or £20,000 per month) is not only more that every other London Borough Chief Exec, its also more than the Prime Minister earns. Obviously running the Borough of the 2012 Olympics is more important than running the country ! And who pays for ol' Joes extravagant income ?... er... we do of course - Council Tax increases all round ! http://www.thelondondailynews.com/credit-crunch-newham-council-chief-%C2%A32 40000-salary-p-1487.html Lane Taylor Beckton, London Info about Lane Taylor: http://forums.e-democracy.org/p/lanetaylor This topic's messages may be viewed at: http://forums.e-democracy.org/r/topic/2ZapRGVBbkr03cBtW9drT
Credit Crunch what Credit Crunch ? we read that Newham is paying its new Chief Executive, Joe Duckworth, top dollar. In fact Joes £240,000 a year (or £20,000 per month) is not only more that every other London Borough Chief Exec, its also more than the Prime Minister earns. Obviously running the Borough of the 2012 Olympics is more important than running the country ! And who pays for ol' Joes extravagant income ?... er... we do of course - Council Tax increases all round ! http://www.thelondondailynews.com/credit-crunch-newham-council-chief-%C2%A3240000-salary-p-1487.html
Crikes, surely this is not the same Ayub Korom Ali that pipped one Michael Law to the post in the 2006 Newham local elections for Manor Park Ward was it ? Source: http://www.newham.gov.uk/Services/votingandelections/AboutUs/resultscouncillorsmanorpark.htm? Given the choice it seems the good people of Manor Park ward saw preference to having a man who would go on to spend considerable time re-establishing democracy in Bangladesh, rather than electing a Tory to represent them ! On a more serious note, and if I was still a resident in Manor Park, I would be calling on Councillor Ali to make a choice - and good luck to him whatever he decides to do.
http://tinyurl.com/3q3xm3 NEWHAM Council, working in partnership with Transport for London, has unveiled a ground-breaking new service where residents can access council services via their mobile phones. ... Mayor of Newham, Sir Robin Wales, said: "... There's no excuse to not know what's happening in the borough." What a wonderful quote :-) What a waste of money :-(
On the day the immigrant settler says, "I live here, I work here; this is the land that clothes me, feeds me and nourishes my family. The land of my forefathers is just that - my forefathers', not mine. THIS is mine." only then will he be the citizen and patriot this country needs. Holding an elected public position, voted in by people who expect to be represented is an honour and a priviledge, requiring a degree of loyalty to the nation no politician should take lightly. I took a solemn oath when I became a British citizen. I thought it was serious. Khyberman 2008/10/6 Mike Law <<email obscured>>
I hope this works. I've attached a photo that makes litter dropping seem trite... surely, the Council must be able to knock on this person's door and ask them to clean the mess up!
I'm interested to know what others think about Cllr Ayub Ali's efforts to become an MP in Bangladesh. I understand from articles in the Newham Recorder that he has spent a good deal of time there trying to get selected. His absence from his role as an elected representative of the people of Manor Park ward was explained away by a Labour Party spokesperson thus: "Ayub feels that whilst some have the expertise to rebuild the country’s infrastructure, the contribution he can make to a part of the world he feels very strongly about is to support the efforts to re-establish democracy in Bangladesh." What about the people of Manor Park? An interesting fact: although the spokesperson stated that Cllr Ali stopped claiming his special responsibility allowance since 31st July (say's a lot about the Mayor's grip on those he dishes out SRAs to!), when he was getting his SRA his total income from the council was 78.6 times the average annual income of a Bangladeshi citizen - even without the SRA he's getting 46 times the national average... and that's without taking into consideration what he must be earning as Tower Hamlets' Out of School Hours Learning Advisor! The Labour Party rank and file must be very proud of the fact that they've selected an individual who is so committed to his role as a LOCAL elected representative. You really couldn't make this stuff up...
I've just seen a copy of the printed Newham Mag and the pictures are in there. It would be interesting to see how many of these individuals do get prosecuted or fined. I still stick with what I wrote in the Recorder: this is a cheap gimmick and more litter bins and a visible "warden" service (perhaps re-deploying the parks constabulary - in non-police type uniforms), used in conjunction with the CCTV, would be much better. And, why is it that the council cannot catch prolific fly-tippers on camera (vehicle registration numbers and the like)? I submitted a FOI request to the council and was informed that it costs £ 509.38 to purchase and install each litter bin on the street (there are no economies of scale, or so I've been informed). I worked out that, if the Mayor's appointed advisors all gave up one half of their special allowances (based on last years figures - £222,377.50), the Council would be able to purchase 436 extra litter bins to place around the borough. Go figure....
Is it my eyesight, or is there something wrong with page 10 of the PDF version of the very latest Newham Mag. This page is supposed to feature the much-trumpeted pictures of litter louts; I downloaded 3 copies of it and each has blank spaces where the photos should be. If my eyes are not deceiving me, this is most definitely one up for Newham Council's use of modern technology - no wonder no real criminals ever get caught via CCTV!
It would appear that Newhams Noo Labour Party, or their Tory opponents, are none too chuffed with one of their Manor Park Councillors at the moment. It would appear that Councillor Ayub Ali has let it be known publically that he is thinking about becoming an MP in Bangladesh. From a personal perspective, and having met Councillor Ali, I understand where he is coming from and wish him well if he decides to take that opportunity, but I'm not sure that all his constituents would agree with me, and it looks like the Newham Recorder is now on his case. Source: http://www.newhamrecorder.co.uk/content/newham/recorder/news/story.aspx?brand=RECOnline&category=newsNEWHAM&tBrand=northlondon24&tCategory=newsnewham&itemid=WeED30%20Sep%202008%2017%3A45%3A34%3A207
I am angry that the Council is colluding in this way. Even Boris Johnson, who does not want expansion at Heathrow is supporting expansion at London City Airport. And he announced this days after, launching his Climate Change document. It just proves that he does not care about people in East London. He just supports West London. The Councillors are milking it..... a bit like with the credit crunch and the bankers who made their banks bust.... If Climate Change is so hard to deal with... and reducing green house gases is so hard, then should we not by start to stopping an any further expansion at airports?. Newham will pay for the airport, parts of the Borough are in a flood zone. Even people in southern parts of East Ham, bits of Plaistow and Stratord (the bit near river Lee) are all at risk.....all we need is a bad combination...... though by then the councillors would be new pastures.... On Fri, Sep 26, 2008 at 3:21 PM, John McNeill
If your schedule allows this week, I encourage you to join other UK Issues Forum participants in Oxford this week. Details: http://pages.e-democracy.org/Oxford_meeting The main event is on Thursday, but there is also a pub gathering on Wednesday with the three neighborhood forums in Oxford. Cheers, Steven Clift E-Democracy.Org
The Newham Labour Party A leaflet posted through my front door and from Sir Robin Wales at Newham Labour Party 4 Garnet Walk E6 5LY invited me to join the Labour Party. Quote “”Labour is working hard to make Newham a great place to live. Why not join Labour and help make a diference. Would you like to know more about joining the Labour Party “”. Can somebody tell me, would my joining make any difference to the way Newham is heading. Would my lone voice be listened to by the Mayor, or would I be sidelined. I invite any present member of the Newham Labour Party to say why I should accept the offer. Finally, how many members are there in the Local Party.
I noticed this on the propaganda site: http://www.newham.gov.uk/News/2008/HundredsofresidentsbookaplaceattheMalayalamreadinggroup.htm Erm, isn't Councillor Omana "White Elephant" Gangadharan an author who writes in her native tongue? I wonder if any of her books have been promoted at this reading group. It's very much like the recent showcase for Green Street jewellers at Stratford Town Hall (which was given a huge profile in the Newham Mag); I did ask if Councillor Akbar Chaudhary's Green Street Jewellers was included in the promotion... I never got a response.