It's Codswallop from Downing Street

What a total farce of a day; this is the government of the UK picking winners and loosers for its dead-duck Health Bill.

Lansley is a chancer. He lacks intellect and capability. Bring in Jeremy Hunt...

Big Airport Weekend

A very successful weekend with 25 activists from across Kent Young Labour, Labour Students and from the CLP itself. A couple of thousand leaflets delivered and for the most part; very dry indeed.

A number of the video's below from the weekend and the leaflet beneath:

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Flailing under Pressure

Tory Comms policy; lots of hot air and subject to sudden movements.

Have to say am a little bit bemused by the sudden ramping up of the rhetoric by the Conservatives in advance of the budget meeting next week.

I think we can all tell they are getting rattled under pressure.

We all know the Conservative group is in acrimony at the moment but lashing out in an uncoordinated and uncontrolled way makes a Group that is nominally in control, look like its out of control and desperate.

We have reached the point where the responses to our charges are either incoherent, disingenuous or on the spurious golf course claims; simply baffling!

This is the first indication that the controlled press and management is beginning to fall apart. A group, once proud of presenting a coherent message looks divided and weak.

Power is about projection and perception; getting either wrong can be fateful.

For an opposition the current babbles are an absolute dream; Tories underneath harbour views most salient and rational people would find concerning. Allowing them to express these openly; please continue...

Foot-in-Mouth this week

i) Releasing a press statement claiming that Labour were going to sell-off the Rochester airport and Deangate Golf course, on the same day your privatise and propose the sell-off of Council care home assets.

The press release was of course baseless, but the timing was very poor indeed. Not only does it look uncaring about the major issue of the day, but it also looked deliberately timed to change the media discourse. Of course it was not, but a sensible press person would not have encouraged the Tory blogosphere to go heavy on it; which they then did.

For fact; there no supporting Council documentation or recent Labour Policy to the claims. The two issues have not been on any agenda for at least a decade - indeed so long ago - I was in my late teens when the campaign in the airport was last considered

The press will consider it a political attack and badly timed given the news that day.

Dont let it stop the Peninsula Councillor's stand in front of a Council owned golf course sign; especially a couple of days before their voters are about to be canvassed.

Conclusion: Home goal based on a fiction; not good when you need to highlight fiscal credibility in less than a week.

ii) The statement taking credit for the 11+ Test movement

Of course there is plenty of independent commentary about how this issue has been a monumental failure of political leadership. Adding to my own timeline of events, we have also seen Conservative bloggers calling for the resignation of the portfolio holder who managed this farce.

The fact is Tory Councillors parroting out a line that all is well because of them is to be scoffed at. The Tories not only hashed up the enquiry process but they were the ones who sanctioned the move of the 11+ test into the 'Test Centres' in the first place in 2006/2007.

Conclusion: Claiming credit for an action you originally proposed and pursued year after year. Apologise, apologise, apologise.

iii) The claim that Free Swimming for Pensioners and Young People was a Tory idea

Alas utterly untrue; not only was it introduced by Labour but the Tories scrapped it in 2010, before undertaking a u-turn and re-introducing the Labour policy. Of course we are very happy to see it.

Highlighting opponents achievement was and can be clever. The problem is that once challenged with the truth it reinforces the notion you are being dishonest.

iv) Claim they are responsible for the lowest Council Tax

Alas utterly untrue; the Conservative administration inherited the lowest Council tax. The origin of this Council Tax was the creation of the Unitary Authority in the late 1990s which scrapped the borough and parish council system, so reducing our tiers of government to one level. For better or worse; the Unitary Authority creation was a legacy of Medway Labour.

Highlighting opponents achievement was and can be clever. The problem is that once challenged with the truth it reinforces the notion you are being dishonest.

v) Attacking the 'fraudulent claim'

I have since linked this to the Audit Committee reports which shows that fraudulent payments from Medway Council are amongst the worst quartile in the Country.

Incidentally; appreciating the free advertising to that particular list, it was notable none of the other salient points on botched projects, sell-offs, credit card payments and historic vandalism were challenged.

Conclusion: Never highlight your opponents argument; oops I think I just have...

Oh well.

Two-Faced Tories

A little sneak peek for Saturday...

The big No-Tory Airport event on Saturday is open to everyone who believes David Cameron and the Tories have fibbed about the Estuary Airport.

Do drop me an email tris.osborne@gmail.com even if you are not a Labour voter / supporter but are interested in opposing the Conservative government plans.

Lets send Cameron a message that he will not forget. No Airport.

The Record of Shame

Meanwhile; whilst we talk about a lack of respect for the people of Medway the list continues. Lets look below at the alleged Medway Tory record

• £86,000 on Council Credit card bills. Poor financial control
• One of the poorest Local Authorities for fraudulent payments in the UK. Lack of financial control over procurement
• £5.9m un-collected Council tax. Worst in South East
• £1.2m Woodlands School fiasco. Poor financial control.
• £35m under-investment in Medway roads. Lack of investment
• Chatham bus station balls-up. Full cost £10m on public purse
• Lodge Hill consultation a sham and had to be extended. 5,000 homes proposed in an area with lack of transport capacity
• Sell off of Nelson Court, Platters Farm, Robert Bean Lodge and Shaws Wood Care homes
• Medway Tunnel fiasco purchased behind closed doors and potential for Tory Toll. Time bomb left for residents
• The 11+ Fiasco caused by incompetent management in education
• 'Better for Less model' with 'over-egged' savings according to Unions
• Closure of the centuries-old Rochester Market to provide income generating car parking
• Closure of Dickens Centre in Rochester highstreet
• Sell off Tourism Information Centres
• New taxes; vulture car, Allottments tax, charges up.
• Bus route cuts
• Strood Market threatened
• Destruction of Aveling and Porter building to provide income generating car parking
• Destruction of riverside wharves to provide thusfar non-existant development
• Vandalism (tree felling etc) of The Paddock and overspend on the Brook regeneration
• Vandalism of Riverside Gardens (tree felling etc) for "Dynamic" Bus Station
• Sell off land opposite Rochester Airport for development
• Failure to ensure the refurbishment of Pentagon toilets despite allegedly wasting £200,000 earmarked.
• Medway Magna allowing to submit proposals for the destruction of Capstone Valley
• Selling off parts of Watts Meadow for development
• Selling off Copperfield Green Space for development
• Stoke Crossing Fiasco over run
• Walderslade School cost over run
• Proposed closure of St John's C of E Infants and St Peter's Primary School
• Closure of Ridge Meadow Primary school

The list goes on and on and on and on and on.

Dont let the Tories distract you; incompetence comes as standard with the Medway Conservatives.

Tory spin hides real story

Whenever the Tories whip up a head of steam on a non-issue you know they are trying to conceal a real story or when something going on behind the scenes.

The fact we got so much of it today suggests both. A concealment of the real story and something behind the scenes.

The suggestion that anyone wants to flog off Rochester Airport or a random golf club on the Peninsula is absolute rubbish. The point made today was clear; instead of focusing on non-issues the Council should be focused on the matter at hand; the care homes closures.

The fact the Tories tried to spin a story on safeguarding Council assets on the same day as they privatised three cares homes is about as brazen as you get.

This is three publicly owned care homes, which care for hundreds of residents, privatised after a consultation which was quite frankly an utter shambles. And the Tories then complain about a sell-off of private land that happened when I was a mere teenager, from 1997-2002.

Clutching at the proverbial straw

Instead today we witnessed the shameful positioning of Tories trying to change the story.

The story today is simple; the Tories agreed after 8,000 signatures and significant public anger across the entire towns to privatise our last remaining care homes.

The consultation behind these closures was a sham; pre-budgeted in outcome and without considering all the options on partnership models it was all but decided before it even started. The fact it was in the budget for this year says everything about the intent of the Tories.

The big question I posed in the winter was why the Council had not considered social partnerships like the Norse Group. Social partnerships which are owned by and established limited companies in the ownership of the public sector. I was given short shrift but the question remained on my mind.

It is now interesting that Medway Community Healthcare - a NHS sponsered social partnership - is now putting an interested enquiry into the Balfour Centre.

My question then and it is now; why has it taken this long for a social-partnership to be looked at as a viable alternative to pure privatisation? Why was this not considered from the outset?

In addition, have significant questions about the timing of this bid. Why has it taken so long - indeed an 11th hour intervention - for MCH to submit a bid?

The timing is very interesting; whether any Council officers had previous conversations on an MCH bid prior to a formal application would be of public interest. It is very likely that conversations must have been had for them to make a business case for the service.

The Tories today have been remarkably loud; they are only ever thus when there is internal instability. I suspect that the decision to privatise homes must have weighed heavily on the more decent of back-benchers.

Whether there was a wobble in the ranks remains a mystery, but them jumping at Cllr Maple today suggests to me there was and whats more it was serious.

A reshuffle of Cllr Brake may be on the cards...

There remain significant questions about the timing and nature of the new bid for the Balfour Centre but let us not distracted; the last of our public care homes were sold off to the highest bidder today

End the Big 6 Energy Fix

We all know that the big six Energy companies have an effective oligopoly over the market and are pricing the poorest into the cold.

Since the Compass launch of the ‘End the Big Six Energy Fix’ campaign on Friday they have had over 5000 signatures – a fantastic start.

On its front page on Saturday The Independent revealed that the big six energy firms are due to make a £15bn windfall.

As someone who hasn’t yet signed they need your help in turning up the heat on the big six energy companies. Will you now sign the petition?

Today the true cost of energy profiteering really hit home, when it was revealed that deaths from hypothermia have doubled in the last five years.

And whilst millions of Britons struggle to make ends meet with 5.5m households in fuel poverty, the big six energy companies are struggling with a very different dilemma – what to do with all their windfall profits. Sound like a fair deal to you?

This is exactly why we want the Government to impose a levy on the big six energy companies to help insulate people’s homes and make their gas and electric bills more affordable. They’ve already imposed a levy on the North Sea oil companies – so why not the energy companies too?

They want to get to over 10,000 signatures by the end of this week, so that in the run-up to the Budget in March they can pile on the pressure for the Government to take action.

So sign the petition now and then share on Facebook, Twitter and email everyone you know:

Let’s work together to End the Big Six Energy Fix and try to ensure that next winter nobody has to be left in the cold.