ConDem Cuts will damage development in our region

Good letter in the Stamford Mercury condemning the ConDem Government's dogma-driven decision to scrap the East Midlands Development Agency...

LibDem Ministers fear ConDem coalition could kill party...

The penny has finally dropped on the LibDums who sold their principles for power. Seems some of Nick Clegg's band are warning that the Liberal Democrat party could be destroyed if the public believe they are being used to front the Tory plan to slash public services under the guise of cutting the deficit.

What took them so long to realise what was plain to see from the start...?

Today's Indy splashes on the story.

Tory MEP suggests Con-Lab pact to stop LibDem 'zealotry'...

Right-wing Tory Euro-MP for the East Midlands Roger Helmer today suggests a Labour-Tory pact to stop the 'ideological nonsense' of 'LibDem zealots'...

Writing on Conservative Home, this morning, Helmer attacks Chris Huhne - the LibDem who is now Energy Secretary in the Coalition Government for promoting more wind-power rather than supporting a 21st century generation of nuclear power stations.

Citing the phrase 'criminally insane', Helmer believes Huhne is wrong to insist that not a penny of public money should be invested in a new generation of nuclear power to solve the impending energy crisis as the existing capacity is switched off at the end of its working life.

As a LibDem MEP in the not too distant past, pro-Euro Mr Huhne has no doubt clashed many times before with Euro-sceptic Mr Helmer who, by his own admission, 'hates' the European Union - probably more than he hates windfarms...

The fragile coalition demonstrates, modern politics makes for strange bed-fellows.

To use Helmer's description, Huhne as Energy Secretary in a Cameron Government may indeed be 'bizarre'...

But probably not quite as bizarre as Labour forming a pact with the likes of Mr Helmer...!

ConDems say public should fund prison parties...

ConDem Government Minister says the public purse must pay for prison parties - and described Labour's veto of them as "daft"...

The Daily Mail splashes on the story which they say undermines the Tory claim of being the party of law and order. And they have a particularly salacious picture of the sort of thing the Tories was the public to fund...

We always knew the LibDems were soft on crime. Now it seems they are influencing their Conservative bedfellows in a less than savoury manner!

Government cancels childrens' play equipment...

Our local paper, the Stamford Mercury, reports that the Government is refusing to hand over a grant apparently already agreed for childrens' play equipment.

I wonder if Alan Duncan, the children's MP, and a member of the ConDems, will be explaining to them that "we're all in this together"...

Will Deepings school project escape the ConDem axe...?

Hopes are high that investment to revamp Deepings School will escape the Con-Dem Government axe.

Last month, you may recall, the Con-Dem axe scrapped 719 school building projects across the country, including millions of pounds to rebuild schools here in South Lincs.

So far, the Deepings project has avoided the Con-Dems devastating cuts - which hits the building industry as well as hopes of children, teachers and parents!

The Deepings project will make a huge difference to our local school and cost just £1.5 million - small beer compared to the £55 Billion investment in schools scrapped when the Con-Dems tore up Labour's Building Schools for the Future plan to modernise secondary schools.

But after Michael Gove's gaffe-ridden flip-flop performance in being forced to release no fewer than five official lists of where his axe will fall, we'll all be on tenter-hooks until building is underway.

With friends like that...

Not every Conservative MP is as enthusiastic about the ConDem coalition as the leadership of both parties would like us to believe.

Here's how one Conservative MP publicises the dangers of Vince, Nick and their gang...

Jobless should seek joy in flower arranging says our MP...!

I missed this gem from the Daily Mail last month, as it was published on the first day of my holiday...but I hope you agree it is worthy of a wider audience...

An MP suggests that those thrown onto the dole should seek joy in er, flower arranging!

Not just any MP, but John Hayes, who, as well as being Conservative MP for my patch -is also now a Minister for Education in the ConDem Government.

John seems to have largely got away with what some might consider an insulting gaffe from a Minister whose Government is presiding over damaging cuts likely to throw hundreds of thousands on the dole.

One can only imagine the furore if a Labour Minister ever made such comments!

We save our phone box!

Well done to my fellow parish councillors Judy Stevens and Chris Pearce - and children from our local school - to save our traditional phone kiosk and give it a new lease of life...

See report and photos in tonight's Peterborough Evening Telegraph.

We're all in this together...

No wonder the Tory Leader of a city council didn't want voters to know where she was when workers were being sacked to save taxpayers money...she was in South Africa watching the World Cup as part of a £5,000 junket paid for by the same generous taxpayers...!

Same old Tories eh?

New Tory MP supports making museum history...

The Tory adviser who has become MP for the historic town of Stamford fails to support the campaign to prevent closure of the local museum in the next round of cash-cuts proposed by his mates on Conservative-run Lincolnshire County Council...

I can't help contrasting Labour's achievement of boosting attendance at museums and art galleries by making public access free of charge - and the Conservative plan to shut them down!

UPDATE: Lincolnshire County Council says Stamford is the 'finest stone town in England' and has a promo on its own website extolling the educational opportunities at the museum they are proposing to shut down.

Another teenager killed on local roads...

Shocked to hear tonight that Deepings Comprehensive School has been rocked by yet another road tragedy. A teenage girl was killed yesterday lunchtime when the car she was in flipped over near Maxey roundabout on the A15 road to Peterborough.

I understand she was in a car with friends following completion of a GCE exam at Deeping School earlier in the day.

From memory, I believe that's four Deeping students killed on local roads in as many years.

Thoughts are with the family and with head teacher Chris Beckett and all thosen at the school.

UPDATE: Tonight's Peterborough Evening Telegraph on the tragedy.

UPDATE 2: Spalding Guardian has named the girl who was killed in the crash - and reports that a male driver has been arrested on suspion of causing death by dangerous driving.

Local schools cuts hit those who need most help...

Jobs are being axed at a south Lincs school which says Tory-run Lincolnshire County Council has cut funds for children with additional needs.

Sad to see that jobs of seven teaching assistants and two support staff are being scrapped at Robert Manning in Bourne - a first-rate school which produces excellent results - despite seeing the most academically gifted youngsters creamed off by Bourne Grammar School.

Bourne Grammar of course also produces some impressive results too!!

But has anyone heard of cuts at Bourne Grammar...?

Watch this space....!

Dental Services face the Axe...

Too many dentists in South Lincs...? I blame Labour!

Not often I agree with anything in the Daily Mail but....

...I'll make an exception in response to Israel's latest arrogant murderous atrocity on the high seas http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1283051/Brutality-Israels-aid-ship-attack-lose-faith.html