Brian Mathew

Hooooray Henley!

2008-06-23T00:00:00-00:00

We have four more days to go to the Henley By-election, and it is really looking interesting. I have been along to help five times and the reception on door steps has been really positive.

A member of the armed forces I met, newly returned from Afghanistan, was seething over the BNP as they drove around Henley town playing military music, ”How dare they! We are out there fighting for freedom, they would take our freedoms away, I'm with you mate good luck".

Boris had the Boris factor, hugely popular in the area but suddenly he is not there any longer and instead the Tories have chosen a 'nowhere man. We on the other hand with Stephen Kearney, have a candidate who is vibrant, interested and experienced in bringing participation and democracy to life.

Have a look at the video on the following Youtube link (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=VDJUZYwNILE), better still come along and support for the last few days in Henley if you can, otherwise watch this space! The Lib Dems really have come of age and are the party of the future! if you want to know what we stand for then these three words say it all: Free, Fair & Green

Great things happening at Clevedon School

2008-06-01T00:00:00-00:00

(Photo Clevedon School Prospectus)

John Wells the Headmaster took the time to talk to me and show me around Clevedon School, a place that is clearly on the rise, to the great benefit of young people and the wider community in Clevedon.

John joined as Head at Clevedon three years ago. He explained in 2003 Clevedon School, then known locally as ‘The Comp’ received a poor OFSTED report narrowly missing ‘special measures’. There had been significant problems in management, and the school lacked both aspiration and expectation. Between 10% and 15% of children living in Clevedon were being sent to schools outside the town because of the school’s poor reputation.

John Wells explained he has introduced a radical system of ‘student centred education’. This has included the establishment of four ‘Houses’: Conygar, Marine, Valley and Walton, to help introduce a combination of traditional values and forward looking systems based on ‘positive relationships’ and ‘mutual respect’, with an emphasis on manners, etiquette, student responsibility and leadership. The ‘Houses’ system has also brought in a vertical pastoral system to help the students relate and feel a greater sense of community and comradeship whatever their age.

The ‘discovery’ computer centre with the schools own ‘learning bug’ software is popular and also starting to become an income earner for the school as other schools are starting to buy in to the system.

The wider community is also benefiting from the changes at Clevedon School, with 50 local people regularly attending foreign language classes and a further 70 members of the public signed up to online language learning via the schools website, the School’s new Specialist College Coordinator Tamsin Chambers explained.

The school is clearly working well under its new head, who also took the time to show me the new uniforms which have been designed with student involvement to promote ownership and pride, these are being launched for year 7’s in September and for years 7,8 & 9 from 2009.

(photo of Brian Mathew and John Wells with the new Clevedon School uniform)

The main problems at the school as outlined by John Wells are related to infrastructure and access. The condition of some of the buildings (Arts and Technology blocks), which are in such a poor state, that just a year and a half ago were burgled by thieves who managed to break through the walls to steal a number of computers.

(photo of Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate Brian Mathew pointing out the plywood wall to the technology block, where burglars broke in a year and a half ago)

Access to the school is through a single narrow residential street which becomes choked in either direction at the beginning and end of the School day. The obvious solution, a new exit road running along the edge of the playing fields to join the B3124 road to Portishead, has so far fallen on the deaf ears of the planning and highways departments. The school is also encouraging students to make their own way to and from school by walking or using bikes, which would not only help to free up the road and save on the production of greenhouse gasses, but could save those parents who use the car to bring their children to school as much as £535 a year (DfT 2006).

The future looks bright for Clevedon School, it is networking with the other (primary) schools in Clevedon over issues such as safety and bullying and its OFSTED rating has improved, with its specialist status in Languages restored. In short it was a pleasure to visit and experience first hand a school that looks destined to do great things for Clevedon and its young people.

(Photo Headmaster John Wells with students, from Clevedon School prospectus)

Free Zimbabwe!

2008-04-30T00:00:00-00:00

It was good to join Zimbabwean friends and Bristol Lib Dem MP Stephen Williams at the free Zimbabwe Demo in Bristol on Saturday the 26th of April. Good news also came on Monday the 28th with the news that the opposition is to re-unite to take on Mugabe and Zanu PF in the Zimbabwean Parliament. How long will it be before the old man goes?

The people of Zimbabwe have been incredibly tolerant, now things really need to change and change soon. The international NGO Human Rights Watch have reported a horrific situation with roving bands of Mugabe's thugs beating people and government camps being used to torture suspected opposition members.

I lived in Zimbabwe from 1996 to 2001 while working as an advisor with the British Government’s Aid programme. I was advising a rural district council in the South East of the Country at a place called Bikita, on the implementation of a water, sanitation and health education programme. Zimbabwe is a beautiful country and was revered as the ‘bread basket’ of Africa. The UK government will need to step in with much support to get this land back on its feet as soon as the legitimate government is allowed to take power back to the people!

La luta continua!

Lib Dem Post Office Survey for North Somerset - Results Revealed

2008-04-04T00:00:00-00:00

Over the past three months the Liberal Democrats in North Somerset, spear headed by local campaigner and Parliamentary Candidate Dr Brian Mathew, have been undertaking a survey of the use of the Post Offices in an effort to prove how important they are to village and town life in the constituency. With two post offices threatened with imminent closure at Barrow Gurney and Nailsea Kingshill it is hoped that this information may help to prove to the bosses of the Post Office in London that the Post Offices are needed in North Somerset.

In all 10,000 households were contacted in the survey and over 500 responded. This showed that on average householders visited the post office between 2 and 3 times per week, that the purchase of postage stamps (96%) and postage of personal parcels (90%) was the main activity with 37% of households using the banking facilities and 20% of respondents collecting their pensions from the post office. 17% of householders reported using the post office to send business parcels. Of the items most requested 51% said they wanted to be able to pay for their road tax at post offices and 26% wanted to be able to pay for TV licences again. 14% said they paid their household bills for electricity, council tax and phone at the post office. Other services valued included posting special and recorded delivery items, obtaining passports, foreign currency and buying premium bonds, as well as shopping locally for grocery and stationery items.

The lesson from this exercise is that the Post Office is still a vital institution, but one that has been devalued by the withdrawal of some services like TV licence renewal. However with fuel prices on the rise as we approach the tipping point for oil, it is doubly important to keep local services. Also with an aging population how can pensioners be expected to travel all day to post a letter or withdraw their pensions if they no longer have a post office near by? It seems obvious that post offices and local shops are going to become more and more important in the coming years as both a focal point for communities as well as to provide vital services. This is not something the Tories can be honest about defending, as they oversaw the closure of over 3,500 post offices under Thatcher and Major. The Lib Dems are meanwhile campaigning to keep every post office open in the country.

Members of the public are encouraged to keep up their own pressure in Nailsea Kingshill and Barrow Gurney by writing to: the National Consultation Team, Post Office Ltd, Freepost Consultation Team, or e-mail them at info@postwatch.co.uk

Brian Mathew with Marion Burlinson the Post Mistress of Barrow Gurney Post Office

Snouts in the trough on April the 1st?

2008-04-02T00:00:00-00:00

The image of councillors with their snouts in the trough was difficult to refute on the evening of the 1^st of April, as the Tory controlled North Somerset Council voted for large increases in their allowances, while just a few weeks before they had initiated massive cuts to social care for the young and the old, that will have a serious impact on the lives of North Somerset residents. Voluntary groups such as MYCON in Nailsea which do sterling work helping youngsters on the streets are to close because their funding is being cut. Increased charges are to be introduced for those using day care and meals on wheels services, and in the midst of this Councillors are to award themselves more money.

The Council Chairman David Shopland will have spoken for many when he said:

"You have all seen the letter from the Union (UNISON) which spells out the serious cuts we have had to make in the provision of necessary services to the vulnerable in our society.

We cannot now use the money we have taken from them to line our pockets, that would be reprehensible and totally immoral.

Be very careful in how you act and vote tonight. The Public will not forget in three years time and I remember an administration and councillors who fell because the public did not accept the monies they were being paid".

For whatever reason his words were not heeded in the Council, but in three years time the people of North Somerset will get their chance to speak with their votes.

Politics and politicians have taken a huge knock in recent years, to lie in the minds of many at the bottom of society, and in the light of what happened last night, many may say “rightly so”. We who want to use politics to make a change for good in this land, must rise above murky self interest if we are to win the hearts and minds of the Great British People.

The principle of councillors receiving adequate allowances is not to my mind in question and I will be putting together a joint policy paper to the next Lib Dem Federal Conference suggesting the creation of a national allowance scale for elected holders of public office. What was in question however was the timing of the proposed increases in the allowances, when the Tory Council policies are threatening the welfare of the most vulnerable in North Somerset.

Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidates Mike Bell and Brian Mathew with the UNISON Lobby of Councillors on the 1st of April outside North Somerset Council

Welcome Clarion Readers!

2008-03-05T00:00:00-00:00

Welcome to all Clarion readers and those that have been adding their names and support to our campaign to stop the closures of post offices in North Somerset.

It now looks as if the Post Offices in Clevedon are safe, but keep filling in the post card survey when you receive it as we are building a solid case to keep all the post offices open wherever they are, specifically Nailsea Kingshill and Barrow Gurney Post Offices, that now have been told they have 6 weeks to appeal against closure. So far we have had over 250 letters of support, and many people have also added their signatures to our 'green approach to product packaging petition'..... which is on the 3rd page of the Clarion.

One of the big messages that we are getting out is that we are now the voice of the Centre Left in North Somerset and that together united as centre left voters we can actually win in North Somerset, and indeed would have done in the 2005 General Election, if everyone had voted together.

So friends who voted for either the Greens or for Labour in the past, please lend us your votes and vote with me and the Lib Dems next time round and lets make a change in North Somerset and a change for Britain! We are a truly democratic party, and the only one whose policies are made by the membership, so better still join us and make your voices heard in the Party of tomorrow, the Party that believes in being Free, Fair and Green!

Either e-mail me here at brian@brianmathew.org.uk or write to Freepost RRGY-XJYS-RAAE, Liberal Democrats, 12 Henly Lodge, Yatton, BS49 4JQ

CUTS CUTS CUTS ? Protest, farce, tragedy

2008-02-20T00:00:00-00:00

North Somerset Council meeting 19^th February 2008

Going to Council meetings is part of my learning curve as the new Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate for North Somerset and this was quite a meeting. On the agenda for discussion was the budget and what the Tory run North Somerset Council plans to cut.

UNISON and a number of other groups including the Save the Portishead Open Air Swimming Pool group, had gathered outside to protest against the cuts which threaten a range of Council and volunteer services including Sports Development, Community Development and Day Care for the disabled and elderly.

One NSC worker, who asked me not to use her name for fear of losing her job, said “Morale has never been so low”. Now it does not take a rocket scientist to realise that people with low morale do not perform well, and for the Tory run NSC to have allowed this to happen is a poor reflection on their management acumen and their ability to empathise with their employees.

ITV were there to record the demo live for the six o’clock news, and as the crowd chanted slogans to keep warm and make their opinions known to the Councillors as they walked in to the hall, shouts also went up to cheer motorists who blew their horns in support. Earlier another motorist, in this case a Tory Councillor, angered the demonstrators as he pushed his Japanese 4X4 into the crowd to park at the front of the hall. No matter… it was used as a place to put placards by tired and cold hands.

Inside the Council Chambers the meeting started with a number of petitioners arguing their case against the cuts. The case was put for the ‘All Star Sports Club’ a group that helps adults with learning difficulties find self respect through sport, for the Community Sports Network which brings in sponsorship from Sport England, and will have difficulty doing this if its funding is cut. A very hoarse Lynette McMillan pleaded the case of the Community Development Team saying “These people help us access funding, please do not take away these workers, they are our voices!” Even the Police were speaking out against the cuts, with Inspector Adam Jenner speaking in favour of the Community Safety Team and the Child Partnership Group, and their involvement of young people in sport “stopping things from going wrong”. He said our concern is that budget cuts would kill or severely restrict the work the Child Safe Group can do”. Helen Thornton Chair of North Somerset UNISON and a community regeneration Officer for NSC said 100 jobs in NSC were under threat and that this will affect the most vulnerable in society. She could not understand why despite a more generous than expected budget allocation from Central Government, the NSC were set on cutting services just to keep the council tax increase down. This would mean a marked increase in charges for those needing day care and community meals while a whole range of children’s services would be affected, the cuts impacting on the poorest and most vulnerable in North Somerset.

Attack, it is said, is the best form of defence…. .and this seemed to be the approach taken by Nigel Ashton the leader of the Tory group on the council. He launched into a strange attack on the leadership of the Lib Dems in the previous administration….. and went on to say “at some stage someone will have to say enough is enough, we are doing that”. Well I’m sorry Mr. Ashton, but if you go on like that, it is the good people of North Somerset who will say “enough is enough” and they will vote you all out at the earliest opportunity!.... A line of Conservative councillors then stood up to say their piece and pledge their support for the cuts, with Cllr Blatchford seeming to say that Children’s services was something of a ‘black art’…. I’m not sure what he meant by that I must say…. Cllr Ian Peddlesden talked of “a challenging year in adult social services, identifying savings”. It seems his answer is to cut these service to the bone and then to be surprised when they won’t work….All in all a shameful line up to defend the un-defendable….

Cllr Tom Leimdorfer of the Green party, valiantly put the case for the opposition group, commending the Tories for their clarity but not for their content, which he generously described as “the good, the bad and the ugly”. He started by pointing out that of the last 9 budgets 7 had been presented by a Conservative member, and the 3 star rating that the Council currently holds was achieved on the basis of the work of the previous administration. He asked “How can we hope to improve the life chances of vulnerable children when we are cutting Educational psychology to the lowest level in the South West? And “how can we defend increases in day care charges that will mean those people who are only just above the threshold for full cost charges, are hammered with an extra bill of around £600 per year?” He pointed out that by making these cuts now NSC could also lose money from Central Government for reaching targets in the future, and that there was almost nothing in the budget to help NSC reach its environmental targets.

Deborah Yamanaka (Lib Dem) also echoed Tom’s points that the Tories were themselves part of previous administrations and the irony of Nigel Ashton’s attack on something of which he had himself been a leading member.

Andy Cole (Lib Dem), Deborah Yamanaka (Lib Dem) and Nan Kirsen (independent) also objected to charging for day care, Nan pointing out that the social contact provided by day care was a lifesaver to families trying to cope with disabled or elderly members, and that even if 40% of those receiving day care would not have to pay, 60% would. She pointed out that contingency funds of £900,000 were available so why not use some of this money to continue to support day care in North Somerset?

And so the opposition group’s amendments were presented and went to the vote.

Amendment 1 to restore £100,000 to education psychology and £50,000 to educational welfare, was lost by 12 votes to 40 despite an articulate and well thought through plea from Independent Councillor Hugh Gregor, who from his personal experience as a teacher described the educational welfare service as being a vital link between schools and home.

Amendment 2 to stop the increases in charges for day care, giving North Somerset the 2^nd highest level of charges for day care in the Country. Lost by 13 votes to 40.

Amendment 3 to stop the cuts to sports development, defeated by 12 votes to 40, and this despite another intervention by Cllr Hugh Gregor who spoke movingly of the self confidence and sense of achievement that disabled participants received when participating in sport.

Finally Amendment 4 to reduce the Councils own carbon footprint, again defeated by 12 votes to 40, so much for the new ‘green’ Tories.

An interesting evening, though not an altogether pleasant one, the repeated twelve votes kept making me think of another twelve who broke bread together….. the 40? Well… ‘Ali Baba’ kept coming to mind…..

Otter Group Volunteers fear loss of support from North Somerset Council

2008-02-05T17:04:00-00:00

The Otter, one of the UK's favorite mammels, and a resident of North Somerset.....read on.....

The Tory run North Somerset Council are currently reviewing their funding on all external grants and the fear is that a number of volunteer run programmes and projects may find their funding cut in NSC’s attempts to trim £17 million from the budget over two years.

Brian Mathew, North Somerset’s Parliamentary Candidate for the Liberal Democrats visited Eleanor Phillips of the North Somerset Otter Group to discover what this may mean for efforts to protect one of Britain’s more popular wild mammals, the Otter.

Eleanor Phillips explained that the NSOG was set up in 2000 to monitor the otter population in the area. Since then 43 volunteers have been trained to help with the monitoring exercise, with the monthly monitored sites registering an average of 23% otter presence. Eleanor went on to explain that otters as creatures at the top of the food chain are not only important in themselves, but give a clear indication of the quality of the environment. Otter populations in the UK are on the rise again after progressive falls in their population from the 1950’s onwards due to poor environmental practices including the use of pesticides and chemicals in the environment. The otters of North Somerset are particularly important because they offer a link between the otter population of Wessex and those to the south west.

The Otter Group is one element of the North Somerset Levels and Moors Project, which receives just over £10,000 per year from NSC. Other main funders of the NSLMP are the Avon Wildlife trust, Natural England, and the Environment Agency. The element of support provided by NSC is around a quarter of the NSLMP’s yearly funding and on such a low turnover any reduction could be catastrophic to the survival of both the Otter Group and its parent organisation.

The Otter group though largely dependent on the work of volunteers, also needs professional support from NSLMP to provide training and to maintain research integrity. Services like these require long term commitment from all involved. With volunteers morale is vital and uncertainty over funding should not be allowed to cast a shadow over this important environmental work.

James Field, North Somerset Levels and Moors Biodiversity Officer who is based at Avon Wildlife Trust, explained about the volunteers that serve on the Otter Group, he says:

”We have housewives, an engineer, a retired naval officer, students and lecturers to name a few of those taking part. Not only do these volunteers provide important ecological data, but I believe that they find it a rewarding experience. One of my volunteers, who helps run the Group has just been offered her first paid, ecological job. Another used his experience of working with the Project to get back into full-time work after a number of years on benefits and is about to begin training as a teacher”.

He went on to say, “The recovery of otters nationally and their return to North Somerset is undoubtedly a conservation success story. However it should be remembered that the collapse in otter populations during the previous century went largely unnoticed for many years until the situation became desperate. The work of the NSOG and other similar projects around the country is vital and is the only way to make sure that this situation isn't repeated. Current threats to otter populations include road kills and the recent discovery of a foreign parasite that infects the bile ducts of otters. The eventual impact of this is as yet unknown. North Somerset is very much a frontier zone in the expansion of otters from one of their national strongholds; the southwest. Any future population trends may well be noticed here first.

Dr. Brian Mathew & Eleanor Phillips looking for otter 'spraints' at Backwell Lake

The Problem of Packaging? - Recycling and avoiding Plastic

2008-01-10T00:00:00-00:00

On a wet January day Brian Mathew the Lib Dems Parliamentary Candidate for North Somerset joined Cllr Yamanaka outside a well known supermarket to investigate the ‘problem of packaging’.

We all know the problem, almost everything we buy at supermarkets seems to be wrapped in plastic, ironically even when some vegetables are unwrapped organic veggies almost always are.

The prize of the afternoons expedition was a pair of ‘corn on the cob’, already wrapped by nature in leaves, but wrapped again in plastic (see picture).

Indeed observing the rows of vegetables on display one had to wonder as to the total quantity of plastic that must find its way on to landfill sites every day, for no useful purpose.

Talking to the store’s floor manager, revealed that more could be done to promote recycling from existing resources. It seems stores often routinely recycle their own bulk cardboard and plastic packaging, while recycling bins outside super markets seldom cater for cardboard and plastic, as these are emptied by the Council recycling services….. So why not add additional bins for cardboard and plastic packaging which the Supermarkets themselves can remove? Or…. just simply avoid using the packaging in the first place!

On another related problem, Tesco’s themselves estimate that 4 billion plastic bags leave their stores every year in the UK….. so what to do?

Many supermarkets now offer to take these bags back, and sell ‘bags for life’, some bags now claim to be bio-degradable…. but will these voluntary solutions work? Or is there need for something like the Irish Republic’s 7p tax on plastic bags?

It seems as far as North Somerset Council is concerned the plastic issue is to be referred to their environment scrutiny panel. Do they have the courage to follow Modbury? the town in Devon that has banned plastic bags ….. watch that space…….

Brian & Cllr Deborah Yamanaka at the supermarket recycling point

Save the Post Office!

2008-01-04T00:00:00-00:00

The Governments imminent destruction of much of the Post Office network is a big issue and one that is going to get bigger over the coming months. With 2,500 post offices to be closed during 2008, this looks like the biggest shot in the foot that Prime Minister Brown has made so far. The policy is not fair and its not green. How can pensioners be expected to travel all day to post a letter or withdraw their pensions? So definitely not fair….. and thanks to the state of rural transport this will be the case for an increasing number of people who don’t have the luxury of their own cars, and for the rest of us it is also going to mean longer queues and further to travel….. so definitely not green either.

This is not something the Tories can be honest about defending, as they oversaw the closure of over 3,500 post offices under prime ministers Thatcher and Major, and according to Private Eye their own policy guru Oliver Letwin is in the pay of Rothchilds, the same firm that is doing the Government's planning on Post Office Closures.

Post Office managers in North Somerset will know later this month whether their office will be closed, the rest of us will be informed in March. The word on the street is that the West End Post Office in Clevedon is likely to be on the list of those for closure and so a group of eleven brave Lib Dem members and supporters joined me on a cold January day to raise the issue and protest against the coming closures of the post offices across the constituency.

The ability of people to access the essential services that are on offer, or could be on offer, at every post office, makes the decision so short sighted it beggars belief. Talking to users who were coming from near and far to the West End Post Office revealed people sending items for ‘ebay’, using the service as a bank, sending Christmas ‘thank you’ letters and even using the office to send out mailings for the Clevedon social services office.

What’s the answer? Join us the Liberal Democrats in North Somerset and help defending the Post Offices and work for a Free, Fair, and Green Britain!..... Remember we were also the only major party to campaign against the war in Iraq..... and with a great new Leader in Nick Clegg, the future is Gold if we go for it!

Previous Labour voters, Green voters, people who have given up on politics, please lend us your votes and let’s win North Somerset for the 'Green Centre Left'. United we can win, divided we won’t……….the ball is in your court…….

e-mail me brian@brianmathew.org.uk and I’ll help you to do something for our communities, you can do as much or as little as you feel comfortable with doing. Whether its delivering campaign newsletters, or standing for Council. Come and join us and stand up for your rights and help build a Free, Fair and Green tomorrow!

Happy New Year 2008

2007-12-31T11:54:00-00:00

Dear Residents of North Somerset

Young or old, working or retired, in work or between jobs, at school or at University. Here's to a Happy, Free, Fair and Green, Liberal Democratic New Year.

It was great to be selected at the end of November as parliamentary candidate for the Lib Dems in North Somerset, and now the real work begins. We know that if we can unite the centre left here, and bring people that have voted for the Labour and Green Parties in the past to vote with us, we can defeat the Tories and give the majority the voice they deserve. We believe in many of the same things and we can start to achieve them together. To paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, 'United we can win, divided we won't'.

It is an important time, for us locally and nationally.

In North Somerset the cuts that the Tory run council is threatening to bring in will hit education and care for those in need, and hit the environment, and it does not even look like they are needed.

Nationally with our new leader Nick Clegg in place we have a popular rising star to lead us, so log on to his YouTube site by following the link below and hear what her has to say in person:

http://c.cminteractive.com/?1nqhPkffY=1944405

Once again Have a Happy and Safe New Year, and as the Centre Left lets WORK TOGETHER TO WIN IN NORTH SOMERSET!

Dr. Brian Mathew

Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for North Somerset

About Brian

2007-12-07T18:23:00-00:00

Brian grew up in the West Country and went to school in Somerset. While researching in the Middle East he witnessed first hand the pointless destruction of war.

After University his post-grad diploma in Agricultural Engineering launched him on a 20 year career in water, sanitation and health programmes in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. Working with WaterAid in Tanzania, he helped to bring safe water to over a million people.

When studying for an MA he won a scholarship to the Liberal Summer School and joined the Lib Dems. In 1999 he married Clare, a fellow Aid worker. His PhD thesis for Cranfield University was published recently. He has written a number of publications, made films, and broadcast on radio and TV. He has helped in by-elections from Hartlepool to Southall. In 2005 he stood in a local by-election in Westminster. This year he co-wrote and presented the new Party Policy on International Development, passed unanimously at Harrogate.