Aug 31
Having been ill for well over a week I haven’t done much of anything. But finally on Monday I got the energy to dig up some of our potatoes. Merlyn proudly stood over the potatoes protecting them from the potato thief, but after a while like me he became exhausted and kept watch like a dragon lying on its treasure.
This is after his energetic defence of the Courgette/Marrow.
I recently had to go to the minor injuries unit at the John Radcliffe Hospital. The experience was frustrating and unpleasant and it wasn’t because of the staff who seemed calm, efficient and professional at all times. It is not that the experience was horrible, but bad enough when you are not feeling great, why else would you go to a hospital, and not in the best frame of mind in the first place, pain, worry or concern mean that you will already be rather anxious. None of this excuses visitors to the hospital getting aggro with staff or causing problems but I do think that an environment that is conducive to relaxing patients and visitors whilst waiting would help everybody.
Firstly there is a 2 inch gap between thick panes of glass through which you communicate with the receptionist. This made it very difficult to hear the receptionist, and we had to get them to repeat themselves multiple times and in the end we gave up and guessed at the procedure to follow to be seen by a nurse or doctor. Secondly the chairs are uncomfortable and after waiting for three hour my back was hurting. Thirdly the drink fountain was disconnected and after buying one bottle of water from the vending machine it was impossible to fill it up from the taps in the toilets.
Numerous people clearly could have done with access to a wheelchair rather than having to hop around the waiting area.
Small changes could improve things for patients, visitors and frontline staff but it would take hospital managers to do something about it, perhaps they should be forced to be both patients and frontline staff occasionally with the aim of making life more comfortable for everyone.
Lastly and not relevant to this visit the car parking fees at the hospital are extortionate. We no longer have a car so we took a cab, but I know this from previous experience. The John Radcliffe Hospital serves a large area of Oxfordshire and even getting to the John Radcliffe from some parts of Oxford by public transport is hard. Parking at the hospital should be free or at most a modest amount since for many people there is no other practical way to get to the hospital. I am normally in favour of increasing parking charges to discourage car usage and ownership but I believe that the need to park at the John Radcliffe Hospital is different and that the people who run the car park at the hospital have a captive market and they can ask any price they like.
My letter to the Oxford Times was published this morning. The original letter I sent them was changed slightly so you can read the original below.
The national budget cuts will affect Oxfordshire badly. The public sector job losses will have significant impacts on the private sector as the newly unemployed will have less money to spend and the employed will hoard their earnings whilst they remain fearful of losing their own jobs.
But Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council don’t seem to get it.
The County Council is only looking at cuts as the solution to its budget problems, whilst ignoring new revenue streams. This approach means that front line services like basic road maintenance and programs that support the most vulnerable will have to be cut deeply. Thames Valley police have already made it clear that they are concerned about the impact of the potential budget cuts and a quarter of County Council managers will have to go. I support the Green Party proposals for the introduction of evening and weekend car parking charges in central Oxford, plus charges for parking at the various park and rides around Oxford. These proposals would raise significant revenue that could be used to ameliorate the worst affects of the budget cuts. The County Council has so far ignored these proposals.
The City Council plan for copying the private sector with salary increases for top managers whilst keeping salaries for everyone else low or making staff redundant is madness. This is both morally and economically bankrupt. If we want to support the local community we should be minimizing job losses whilst at the same time making sure those employed on the lowest salaries have enough income to get by. I believe that reducing income inequality is essential throughout the economy and that a reasonably place to start is in the public sector, I was pleased to see that the Green Party have come out clearly in opposing these salary rises for top managers.
The Independent on Sunday reported that there has been a late surge for the Greens because green issues have been ignored by the main parties.
These results appear to be confirmed by the results of the Oxford Mail Oxford East poll.
Greens are looking strong in East Oxford and will give the Lib Dems a run for the money, Labour no longer appears to be in the running.
Apr 15
Myles Allen piece in the Guardian as to why he won’t be voting green in the upcoming elections misrepresents the Green Party. Chris Goodall gets it right and outlines nicely the reasons why if you are concerned about the environment, sustainability, equity and equality then the green party is the only one worth voting for or better yet being a member of.
whilst my local Lib Dem candidate is sending out flyers with a column titled “can’t win here” pointing to the parties who did worse than the Lib Dems in the last parliamentary elections.
Which is it guys, you can’t have it both ways. I’ll take Nick Cleggs advice and I’ll be voting for my local Green candidate Sushila Dhall.
At the last election the Greens did fantastically well outpolling every other party in the City of Oxford by a wide margin in the European Union elections. We have the spring board to win, we have got the candidate to win and we have got the student support. The vote is not going to fall the way the Lib Dems are trying to make you believe.
The solution to the problem with Labour is not the Lib Dems or the Tories. Just like Labour and the Tories the Lib Dem’s solutions for fixing the budget deficit is cuts cuts and more cuts.
Sushila Dhall
I was saddened that Peter Tatchell was forced to stand down from being the parliamentary candidate for the Green Party in Oxford East due to ill health.
I think the Oxfordshire Green Party has selected a dynamic and commited candidate in Sushila Dhall as the Green Party Parliamentary candidate for Oxford East.
She is well known in Oxford, has campaigned on many issues I feel strongly about and I know she will give Andrew Smith a run for his money.
I believe that Sushila will represent the residents of Oxford East well, her experience as a city and county councillor gives her a good understanding of the issues important to the residents of Oxford East.
I admire her social activism, standing up for the socially excluded, campaigning for affordable housing, opposing the expansion of the Westgate shopping centre and the planning proposal for the Northern Gateway development.
And I support her demands for getting better home insulation, promoting renewable energy and getting something done about the illegally-high particulate pollution in central Oxford that I have to cycle through every day.
Best of all she has a positive vision of a sustainable future based on local communities and active citizens.
I think Oxford Greens have chosen well, selecting Sushila as their parliamentary candidate for Oxford East.
Jan 31
To build a new big pool in Blackbird Leys the Labour run Oxford City Council is proposing to close the Temple Cowley Pool and the current Blackbird Leys pool. The problem is that though the Temple Cowley pool is old and in need of some proper maintenance it is one of the most used pools in Oxford. It is well served by numerous bus routes, the pool is easily accessed by walking or a short bike ride for a large number of residents. Other than this pool and gym Cowley is poorly served by local facilities. Oxford City Council has refused to countenance the idea of a skatepark near the Cowley Marsh sportsfields where there is plenty of room. Removing this facility will mean that there is even less for local teenagers to do. Cowley residents need access to better facilities, not cuts that mean the only way to access the equivalent is for parents to become regular taxi drivers.
What next, closing the local library, taking away an essential service which is especially useful to retirees.
Jan 8
My post on Oxfordshire County Council cuts youth services has caused the County Council to significantly reduce the cuts to youth services and David Cameron to cancel the plans for construction of an extra 5000 prison places.
Only joking of course.
Will the County Tories go for the original cuts after the general election. Oxfordshire already has one of the lowest levels of spending on youth services in the Country, even the £350,000 cut will be destructive on youth services.
There has been an ongoing rumble in the letters pages of local papers over the cuts to youth services by Oxfordshire County Council. So from this list of cuts, out of 18 four are in youth services. No other area is hit so hard. Louise Chapman from the County Council said.
Every youth club will be affected and it will mean some closures, but at this stage we cannot explain which ones.
Teenagers have lots of energy and interests. The best way for them to learn to direct that energy is to provide them with the opportunities to practise whatever engages them. Even activities like skateboarding or doing bmx riding stunts provides opportunities for teenagers to develop discipline and concentration so that they improve their skills. Many adults will not understand or like their chosen activity but as long as it does no harm I can’t see why teenagers shouldn’t be supported. Being able to discipline yourself and learning to concentrate are skills that help us in every aspect of our lives. Facilities like skate parks and youth centres are needed so that youths have somewhere to go and somewhere to practise what engages them.
Meanwhile David Cameron is talking about the broken society, and anti social behaviour. Yet the Tory dominated County Council which contains his parliamentary seat seems actively involved in taking away the services that deal with the causes of the problems leaving only asbos, fines, and imprisonment as the bandaid solutions. I suppose this also fits with the Tory plans for hugely increasing the number of prison places, because they know the effect that their policies will have.