|
When will the buck stop? |
|
|
Written by Sandy Walkington
|
|
Tuesday, 20 November 2007 |
|
The loss of confidential details of all 15 million child benefit recipients by HM Revenue and Customs is an astonishing disaster. My wife's and my banking details will be among them.
Gordon Brown is at the heart of the matter. He was Chancellor in charge of HM Customs and Revenue when these dodgy systems were set up.
I totally agree with the NO2ID campaign's comment that: "This data disaster shows up the madness behind the government’s ID schemes… [W]ithin five years the Home Office could be leaking or losing people’s complete identity records.”
 Be first to comment this article |  Add as favourites (0) |  Quote this article on your site | Views: 154
|
|
|
Pass Go and collect £200 |
|
|
Written by Sandy Walkington
|
|
Tuesday, 25 September 2007 |
|
It's a brilliant coup for St Albans to win top spot on the new Monopoly board. We were the only political party to support this campaign – on this website and also standing in the rain in St Albans market to draw people’s attention to the Monopoly voting website.
It’s a bit of fun, it puts St Albans firmly on the map. But it also shows that people care passionately about our city and its distinctive identity. Government planners may want to lump us into the horribly named ‘London Arc West’ as part of the East of England Regional Spatial Strategy. All ghastly jargon to disguise their attack on the Green Belt.
This vote is yet another way that local people are just saying No.
Comments (1) | Add as favourites (0) | Quote this article on your site | Views: 40 |
|
|
Musing on party democracy |
|
|
Written by Sandy Walkington
|
|
Monday, 24 September 2007 |
|
I'm not the biggest fan of party conferences. I've being attending them for over 30 years and when I was Director of Public Affairs for BT and then for Transport for London, I had to attend all the major party conferences each year - and when I was really keen, the SNP conference too.
Three weeks on the trot is of course unbearable and by the third major conference - which by tradition is the Conservative one, everyone is faintly barking- and that's just the commentators and media. It's a function of being locked up in airless halls under artificial light and living off a diet of nasty canapes and too much late night alcohol.
And I find it slightly unnerving to be surrounded by thousands of people who think they have the sole route map to utopia. The real world is not like that.
Be first to comment this article | Add as favourites (0) | Quote this article on your site | Views: 26 |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Children short-changed by Herts County Council |
|
|
Written by Sandy Walkington
|
|
Tuesday, 11 September 2007 |
|
Young people in Herts get less than half the money per head spent on youth services that the Government recommends. And then we wonder why there are problems.
Be first to comment this article | Add as favourites (0) | Quote this article on your site | Views: 37 |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
The brilliant Herts County Youth Orchestra |
|
|
Written by Sandy Walkington
|
|
Monday, 03 September 2007 |
|
Of course I am biased because my son plays in the strings. But the latest programme of the Herts County Youth Orchestra was a knock-out. They took a programme of Czech music to Prague - Janacek and Martinu - and successfully competed with all the other musical attractions across the city to play to a virtually full Rudolfinum concert hall. Then conductor Peter Stark took them back to the Weston Hall at University of Herts as part of the university's innovative arts programme to give us the same treat last Saturday.
Be first to comment this article | Add as favourites (0) | Quote this article on your site | Views: 26 |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
