It is some time since I have posted on regional issues, so today’s Shields Gazette was studied with a fine tooth pick.
The Lisle Road fire still dominates, with a strong appeal from police for information. Clearly they believe that the solution to this horrendous crime lies within the community that surrounded this family. Hopefully who ever may have the answer will also have a degree of humanity and help bring the culprits to justice.
On a lighter note, apparently Asda Boldon has been the venue of an unscripted advertising jaunt featuring Victoria Wood. Ms Wood, who has never been unscripted in her life, is the new front of a million pound campaign to transform the company from the image that is Wal-Mart trash to some form of thinking mans Harrods. Sadly, as Ms Wood went to the Bank with her cheque she was seen to tap her back pocket and shout (unscripted) “that’s Asda price, and I pocketed the difference”.
Tucked away on page five of the paper is a Mills and Boon election exclusive. “Miliband wont run for leader” screamed the headline. David revealed that whilst he had been “approached” to be leader, he was “flattered” but was adamant “I am not going to be seduced”. The key words here are approached, flattered and seduced. Sounds like that silvery tongued devil John Prescott has been on the prowl again!
Stephen Hepburn’s weekly column covers the contentious issue of people who sell their homes to private housing investment companies due to finding themselves in a financial pickle. Six months later many of these people have found themselves homeless after their new landlords have terminated their leases and sold their houses on at increased profits. Whilst Mr Hepburn’s comments are in the main sympathetic, he has conveniently neglected to consider two points. Firstly, he states the actions of those companies involved are not illegal, but fails to mention that it is HIS government which allowed them to go unchecked. Secondly, the six month termination rule has been a standard codicil of private land lord contracts for decades, so if it is so bad why wasn’t it addressed years ago? With a total of £132,477 passing through Mr Hepburn’s hands in 2005/2006 alone, he has obviously never had the need to rent a home. It has also never occurred to him that the people who find themselves in a position whereby they have to sell their homes are also the element of society who have been hardest hit by his Chancellor colleague Gordon Brown’s stealth taxes! No wonder they are in a financial stew. Finally his advice for those who find themselves in difficulty to contact the Citizens Advice Bureau may fall on deaf ears. Could this be the same Stephen Hepburn who is part of a government which has not only slashed aid to the Bureau, but also through its own incompetence, placed a work load on the CAB which is draining its resources? Commenting on the said Chancellors decision to impose sweeping cuts on civil service administration, Citizens Advice Director of Policy Teresa Perchard said:
“Citizens Advice Bureaux deal with almost two million enquiries on benefit and tax credit issues every year, and our advisers spend large amounts of time trying to correct mistakes caused by poor administration. The prospect of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) having to make further substantial savings on top of those already announced is very worrying, given the problems already experienced by many thousands of our clients with the poor quality of benefits and tax credits administration. Only last week a committee of MPs accused Jobcentre Plus of ‘catastrophic failure’ to provide acceptable levels of service to vulnerable people. It is hard to see how the Government’s ambitious and resource-intensive plans for welfare reform, including moving one million people off incapacity benefit and into work, can possibly work when the departments and agencies responsible for implementing them are having to shed tens of thousands of jobs.”
Whilst the CAB may be able to give you advice, be prepared to wait in a queue. Meanwhile, your house has been occupied by somebody else!
www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/stephen_hepburn/jarrow#expenses
www.citizensadvice.org.uk/index/pressoffice/press_index/press_060322.htm
After this desperate piece of hypocrisy, I searched the Gazette to find some light relief; “The Chuckle Brothers return to the North East next month” heads a column of hot news. Believing this to be some sort of political tour comprising of Tony Blair and George Bush, the situation was further confused with quotes such as “clumsy funny men”, “madcap adventures” and “biggest and boldest show to date”. I assumed that this was some form of Gazette critique of the intrepid duos escapades in Iraq, but further perusal of the article revealed that it was in fact about two comedians who have the mentality of ten year old children. Hew, wait a minute, are you sure that isn’t Blair and Bush!
I wait for Thursday’s edition with baited breath.
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