Jackie Pearcey

I have reported again to United Utilities the spring which seems to be popping through the pavement and road on Hyde Road near Reddish Bridge.  Every grid between this point and Sandheys Grove seems to be overflowing and then the spring is emerging at Sandheys and flowing down the hill.  I first reported this last November.

Meanwhile United Utilities have dug a hole opposite Far Lane, but this does seem to be missing the point.  What is worrying is that the point of emergence is the same as the piece of road which collapsed last year, which seems to have been linked to a long-standing leak at Debdale Park (in fact, opposite where the water is now currently emerging).

If United Utilities don’t act properly soon, we could be looking at another road collapse.  I have once more reported the original leak in the hope that this time action will take place, before the roads collapse.

It is appalling that the MPs which have been charged with fraud on their expenses appear to be wanting to claim Parliamentary immunity.  The point of having the rule of law is that everybody is subject to it (the Magna Carta was about forcing the King to acknowledge that the law even applied to him).  MPs who break the law should be subject to it as much as anybody else.

Parliamentary immunity is expressly intended to ensure that MPs may speak freely in the Houses of Parliament without fear of the libel laws or being arrested for their words.  Freedom of speech is not the same as freedom to invent a mortgage and make fraudulent claims.

MPs who make fraudulent claims should be treated like benefits cheats, not given immunity.

Another off-road bike tragedy, this time in Denton.  Except, I find my sympathy is more for the other drivers than the young lad who died.  Now it’s entirely possible that I am wrong about this, if it turns out that the bike was taxed, insured and being driven within its legal loading capacity by a driver who was driving it lawfully and with a proper licence, then the situation is different.  However as I am not familiar with many makes of motorbike which are designed to carry two passengers my first assumption is that this bike for various reasons should not have been on the road.

The other drivers involved now find themselves in a situation of having been involved in the death of somebody who (from first view of the available facts) should never have been on the road in the first place and it’s possible that the psychological side-effects could last for years.  Yet already there is talk about how much compensation the people on the bikes (or their families) should be entitled to!  Shouldn’t the system instead be geared to discuss about how much compensation the people on the bike should be paying to the others involved?  In all likelihood the other drivers probably won’t even receive an apology.

Off-road bikes, being driven without regard for the rules of the road are a serious menace.  If anybody knows where any of these which are being driven on the roads illegally are being kept, please let the police know.  Crushing these bikes saves lives.

The Pope’s attack on the UK Equality laws are interesting for several reasons, but the main one is the notion that discrimination might be reasonable if there’s a religious belief behind it.  There are many religions in the World, some of which hold views which might justify discrimination on a range of reasons.

For instance, is it acceptable for a school to refuse to appoint the most able candidate as a Headteacher purely on the grounds of their gender, if it is a faith school?  If that’s considered acceptable, what about racial discrimination if it’s a point of doctrine?

There are some sects of the Christian faith (some churches in the Deep South of the USA for example) which teach that the races are not equal and that racial mixing is against God’s will.  Is racism OK if somebody can claim that it’s part of their faith?  Until Vatican II, the view that the Jews should be held responsible for the death of Jesus Christ was considered a mainstream Roman Catholic belief and some individuals still hold those views.  Does that make anti-semitism OK provided it’s done by somebody religious who can quote the Bible, rather than a shaven-headed knuckle-dragging thug?

Attacking the very principle of equality whereby people are treated equally before the law leads to some very unsavoury conclusions.  Churches already have a huge amount of freedom to choose to discriminate against who is able to join priesthoods, but they should not be able to sack somebody from their jobs because of their gender, ethnic origin or sexual orientation.  The Pope should know better than to argue for intolerance and discrimination.

Some jobs that Councillors are asked to do are a joy.  Before Christmas, Gorton Market had a contest for local children where they had to hunt for well-concealed Santas on the stalls and in the communal area.  It wasn’t easy - I had a go (but not as a contestant, obviously) and couldn’t find half of them!  Today, the two winners Kyle and Chloe were presented with their prizes - a new mountain bike each.

It was clear that both were delighted to have won, as were their families, and Gorton Market put on a nice little presentation event.  I hope that they both get years of enjoyment out of their bikes.

The last couple of Council meetings have been enlivened (if that’s the word) by the Manchester Evening News tweeting the event.  It seems to be a sport where we can all join in, so various of us Councillors, in between speeches and votes were also attempting to tweet along.  However it struck me that many of the tweets (especially for certain individuals on the other side) amounted to little more than written down heckles, bearing little relation to the debate itself and more to do with simply trying to suggest that anybody who disagrees with the ruling group are idiots.  I’d rather be heckled out loud than via text, at least some verbal heckles are occasionally funny.

However, it does seem worth trying to pursue it.  Noticeably yesterday, the best behaviour took place whilst there was a group of primary schoolchildren in the gallery.  Maybe we should go the whole hog and webcast the Council meetings in full?  That might improve behaviour.

There’s a full Council meeting today.  Figures have come through which show that Greater Manchester Police have been deprived of over £81 million over the last 7 years by the Government’s formula for funding them, this year’s shortfall amounting to £15 million.  Meanwhile, GMP are having to look at losing 300 Officers due to a £5 million shortfall.  It is appalling that the Government blame GMP for not meeting targets while depriving them of the funds to do the job properly.  I’ll be proposing a notice of motion about this today.

Meanwhile, the budget round is about to take shape.  Any suggestions of how the Council might better use resources welcomed.

It seems that McDonald’s has decided to redefine our UK slang by telling us that a “bob” is another word for a pound.  When people have pointed out that where they come from (i.e. the UK) a bob meant a shilling (i.e. 5p in new money), instead of accepting their mistake they tell us that their marker research tells them that most of us now use the term meaning a pound.  Er, since when?  I have never heard anybody ever use that term for a pound.  In which Country did they do this research?

Now if they started offering their meals for a bob that would be a bargain indeed.  I wonder what English terms they will decide to change next?

There will be a bike marking opportunity on Saturday 23rd January at Tesco Car Park in Gorton.  This is an opportunity to get bikes stamped, making them much easier to reunite stolen bikes with their owners.  Just bring your bikes along.

Tonight is the night for the Advice Session which is held in Emmanuel Church, Blackwin Street, from 7:30 to 8:30.  All welcome, the streets have thawed so it should be possible to come along without risking a broken neck.