Banning words and burning books at paranoid Brighton Council HQ

Brighton Council's minority Tory leadership is becoming increasingly paranoid and twitchy as its grip on power seems to slip away.

Last month we had the bizarre news that the council was using tax-payers' cash to sweep the corridors of its Hove HQ for bugs - and shuffle staff around to make sure no secrets are overheard through the walls (tip for worried Tory councillors: lower your voices a little!)

But the latest news to leak its way out of King's House is even weirder: apparently the word 'green' has been banned from council-speak so leader Mary Mears isn't constantly reminded of our presence.

It seems senior officers have been warned to avoid using certain words known to wind up Mary's flagging administration - or risk losing support for future policy initiatives.
It's not just 'green' that has been effectively banned - there's a whole list of words and phrases that will be missing from Brighton council-speak as long as the Tories run things: 'Europe' and 'Government initiative' also make the cut.

I wonder how the French cabbage likely to be served to councillors during our next official meal (as part of the Government's 5-a-day initiative) will be described? Vegetable matter of unspecified origin and appearance, perhaps? Or, more importantly, when will they start burning books at King's House?

Tories choose latest Brighton Pavilion candidate at poorly-attended election stunt

Charlotte Vere (pictured) has been selected as the replacement for TV doctor David Bull as the official Tory candidate for Brighton Pavilion by the less than 100 people who turned up to the party's so-called 'open primary' at the Grand Hotel last night.

I feel sorry for her really: she'll be giving up on a life in leafy south-west London (well hopefully she'll be moving to Brighton now) and work with eco-millionaire Zac Goldsmith to become the England's first Tory to lose to a Green MP.

But her heart's clearly in the right place, even if her head hasn't remembered the long-term social damage done to this country by Margaret Thatcher. I've never really understood Tory politicians, if I'm honest. I look forward to meeting her soon.

Spreading a little Christmas cheer on St James's Street

Regular readers of this 'blog will know that I believe many of the problems we face, the world over, from climate change and war to poverty and inequality, are caused by religion and commercialism.

So you might be surprised (if you're kind) - or think me a hypocrite - to read that I spent much of yesterday dressed as Santa Claus selling 'gifts' at a church Christmas bazaar.

But I agreed to dress up as the big man because I thought doing so would be an opportunity to bring some smiles to St James's Street - and that saying no certainly wasn't likely to either reduce commercialism or religious fervour, either here in Kemp Town or anywhere else.

And so it proved: trade at the Dorset Gardens Methodist Church wasn't that brisk, but almost all the children who came in made a beeline to my corner of the hall. They left with a smile, a photo - and a little Christmas magic on a stormy and otherwise depressing November day.

You could argue that the very presence of a man dressed in a Santa suit charging cash for 'gifts' in Brighton six weeks before Christmas merely provides evidence that the whole story is a myth so it would have been hypocritical NOT to have accepted the invitation! Discuss...

After all that: Starbucks to go?

Starbucks on St James's Street has certainly been responsible for some controversy.

After being refused planning permission to open in the conservation area, doing so anyway, and eventually winning a protracted legal battle to stay - despite opposition from Brighton and Hove Council, ward councillors, and regular demonstrations by residents' concerned at the multi-national's tendancy to threaten the viability of local, independent cafes - it is reported that the firm has now adopted a 'de-branding' strategy that could see it vanish from the street just months after opening.

In the face of collapsing sales around the world, the firm has decided that what most people really want these days is, you guessed it, coffee  from a local, independent cafe.

So the firm has, in a desperate bid to stay competitive, closed one of its biggest stores in its birthplace, Seattle, and replaced it with a '15th Avenue Coffee and Tea' shop instead - with no mention at all of Starbucks, and the style and design  copied directly from nearby successful independent cafes.

Don't be surprised then if, after all that fuss (and public money), Starbucks in St James's Street closes its doors soon, to be replaced by a faux independent coffee store that's part The Tea Cosy, part Red Roaster and part Metro-Deco.

Time to renationalise the railways - and get Brighton to London trains moving again

Rail travellers have been paying the price for failed privatisation again, in the face of hundreds of cancelled trains between London and Brighton - with all the attendant delay and inconvenience - over the last few days.

Drivers employed by First Capital Connect - the private company that runs trains on the Thameslink line between Brighton and Bedford - have been refusing to work overtime in a dispute over pay. That's led to hundreds of cancelled trains - and misery for thousands of commuters.

Basically, the rail company is offering its drivers a 3% pay rise next year, but nothing at all this year.

That's a scandal. Inflation might be low, but it's rising - and it masks the reality that food and energy prices are rising fastest of all.

It's completely unacceptable to impose a unilateral pay cut - to ask anyone to work for less, effectively, than they were being paid this time last year.

And it's not as though First Capital Connect doesn't have the money: research has shown that Britain has some of the highest rail fares in the world.

First Capital Connect must sort this out by treating its drivers fairly - making a little less profit, if need be, but paying its staff a fair wage and not simply passing on the costs to commuters.

And in the longer term, the Government must simply renationalise the railways. If private firms are incapable of doing the job - as they have been on the East Coast mainline - then the state needs to step in to guarantee services and keep fares down by removing the profit margin from prices.

The Green Party has calculated that removing the profit margin, and a proper programme of Government investment in the railways, could reduce the price of a Brighton to London commuter season ticket by £110 a year.

Yesterday, Green Party Leader Caroline Lucas joined Green councillors at Brighton Station to discuss the issue with commuters - more than 100 of whom agreed that renationalisation was the answer.

Cheap, efficient public transport is simply too important to be left to the vagueries of the private sector.

Labour's answer to crime and disorder: less cash, but a new website

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending one of Brighton and Hove's most vibrant community meetings: the St James's Street Area Local Action Team.

Every month, residents, traders, local councillors, council officers and neighbourhood police gather to discuss ways to make the area safer - to find ways of working together reduce crime an anti-social behaviour in the area.

The packed agenda included heated discussions about cycling, whether or not to lock New Steine Gardens at night, the impact of Southern Gas's plan to close the street next year for weeks digging up the road, and the disturbance residents are suffering at the hands of those leaving the area's many pubs and bars late at night.

But I could scarcely believe my ears when a council officer informed the meeting that Brighton and Hove had been selected to take part in a new pilot scheme designed to improve community safety.

We were all invited to visit a new Home Office website and enter details of where we felt safe, and unsafe, and why.

It was explained that the information entered would be used by the Home Office and the council to help them better target resources - but that actually there weren't any new resources associated with the scheme at all, so it'll just be another tool for shifting around the cash that's already there.

Sussex's police chief Martin Richards has warned that we face cuts, effectively, of £35m -and that police officers might have to be laid off to make ends meet. Police stations could even face closure as the cuts bite.

Tory members of Sussex Police Authority have voted to make things even worse, by increasing savings: putting tax revenue in the bank 'for a rainy day' - in other words choosing to make the cuts even deeper, ignoring the rain streaming down the windows.

The council's community safety team is under intense financial pressure too. The Tory administration has pledged to make the lowest Council Tax rise in the city's history, just as the Government is, effectively, cutting the amount of money it gives us here in Brighton and Hove.

The City Council's budget for next is yet to be published, but there are bound to be cuts somewhere.

But we've got a new website to help us weather the storm of cuts. Great. What we need is more cash for neighbourhood policing: more community engagement, more uniformed patrols on the streets - and more neighbourhood empowerment. Not another chocolate teapot which will uselessly gather information residents have been giving the police and Council, to little avail, for years.

Madeira Drive events in 2010

Brighton Council has just published a list of planned events taking place next year - including the usual crop of car-based rallies at Madeira Drive, a handful of events for Brighton Festival, and, of course, the inaugural Brighton Marathon! It's an impressive list.

I am delighted that so many different events - to cater for all tastes - are planned. They provide entertainment for residents - and play a key role in making Brighton an attractive tourist destination. A busy events diary is one of the mark's of our city's vibrancy. It keeps our hotels full (well fuller than they might be without so much going on, anyway) - and provides a welcome boost to turnover in our shops, cafes and restaurants as they are surely the reason behind many of the 8m or so tourist trips to the city made each year.

But as local councillors one of our roles is to defend the interests of residents - and that means doing the sometimes dirty job of holding event planners to account over the unintended negative side-effects of planned events.

For example, the recent White Air extreme sports festival held on Madeira Drive was fantastic - a real showcase for the city. I enjoyed it immensely, as did my five-year-old son (especially the glider simulator!) - but residents saw Kemp Town beach closed for three days, and disn't see a penny in compensation.

At last month's full council meeting I asked David Smith (the cabinet member responsible) whether he thought residents should be entitled to any payback for the loss of access to the beach for three days - even if only in the form of cheap tickets to future festivals.

He dismissed the idea roundly, claiming their was no loss of amenity at all. Well maybe being asked to pay £40 to walk on the beach outside your house for the day doesn't represent a 'loss of amenity' to him - but it certainly does to the thousand of Queen's Park and Kemp Town residents on low incomes.

And then there's the issue of air pollution and carbon emission generated by all the motor-based events. Surely the council could just adjust the way it charges event promoters so those events which generate more pollution are charged a little more than those which don't, creating a good old-fashioned financial incentive for events to clean up their act?

Any money raised in this way - and from a small levy on ticket prices, where these are charged - could be put into a 'Madeira Drive' fund to be spent on the regeneration of the area to everyone's benefit?

The full list will be discussed - and permission granted (or not!) at the next meeting held by the Culture, Recreation and Tourism cabinet member David Smith on December 8th.

Greens setting the agenda at Brighton Council

Yesterday I was invited to address members of Brighton Council's Environment and Community Safety Overview and Scrutiny Committee. Yes, quite a mouthful, I know.

I'm not a member of the committee, and therefore didn't have a vote or anything, but I was amazed really to find the meeting completely dominated by the Green Party's agenda - to see proof in action of how our 13-strong group is batting above its weight.

First there was the substantive stuff: the committee agreed to establish two separate scrutiny panels to investigate services for victims of rape and serious sexual assault (this was something I proposed myself, following conversations with victims, police officers and others, and discovering that rape victims in the city are taken to Crawley - as there are currently no round-the-clock support facilities available in the city), and one to look at whether following the lead of cities like Portsmouth and Bristol by establishing a blanket 20 mph speed limit would save lives and improve traffic flows - another Green Party campaign, this one led by Hove parliamentary candidate and St Peters and North Laine councillor Ian Davey (pictured).

And then there was the non-substantive stuff: a debate on roadworks (I've already blogged about this) sparked by Queen's Park Green councillor Paul Steedman. There was a discussion of the future of the London Road area which revolved around traffic congestion and the majority of residents' views that the last thing the area needs is a Tesco superstore. Although this was the clearly stated view of those living and working in the area - it tallies exactly with the Green Party's position on the issue, and a brief debate about the council's strategy for dealing with waste - and, perhaps bizarrely for such an urban authority, mineral extraction. There was wide acceptance of the view that we should do everything the law allows us to do to refuse to import waste from London, and that we need to boost recycling levels and find alternatives to landfill and incineration where we can. Again, exactly the Green party's position.

So it seems that the Greens' by-election win in Goldsmid is already making a huge difference. With 13 councillors, obviously we can't make any of the big, important decisions. But we can, and are, setting the agenda in which those decisions are being taken - that can only be good news for residents.

Tories announce Brighton Pavilion shortlist

According to The Argus, the local Tories have whittled the applicants to stand for parliament in Brighton Pavilion down to just six.

And it looks like, whoever is chosen, the party has already thrown in the towel.

Frankly I haven't heard of three of them at all - so I can't tell you anything about them.

But of the three I have come across, there's Andrew Wealls, who actually has some experience standing in an election locally and losing to a Green party candidate, Scott Seaman-Digby, a senior Tory national organiser, and Chelsea councillor Mary Weale.

Now it's up to the good folk of Brighton Pavilion to choose the final candidate, at an open 'primary' meeting next Wednesday. Anyone living in the constituency can vote, whether or not they are a member of the Tory party. Call 01273 411844 if you want to join the fun.

Of course it's all academic really: if this shortlist really contains the best candidates to Tories can muster it looks to me like they've already thrown in the towel.

Remember David Bull? His departure was clearly prescient - it seems the Tories just can't find a big hitter who wants to risk being the country's first Tory candidate to lose to a Green MP.

Traffic nightmare coming to St James's Street

Do you ever get the feeling our city is mired in a permanent traffic jam of roadworks?

Probably. Members of Brighton and Hove City Council's Environment Scrutiny Committee yesterday learned that roads in Brighton and Hove have been dug up on about 20,000 separate occasions in the last year.

The council itself carried out about 9,000 roadworks, and about 8,500 were done by the utility companies. Oh and then there's Southern Water's main replacement project - which has, additionally, seen roads closed and traffic brought to a standstill while the firm has upgraded miore than 50 km of pipes.

A traffic engineer told members they were doing everything they can to get the privately-owned utilities to work together - cutting costs, disruption to residents and traders, and delays to all road users.

He gave one example of how they were able to persuade two utility firms to co-operate on works at North Road, cutting the length of time the road was dug up by about nine months.

But usually, we were told, that doesn't happen. The companies involved don't like it much - and they're under no legal obligation to play ball with each other.

Well, personally, I don't think that's good enough. The law of the land allows the water, gas, electricity and cable companies to dig up the roads, essentially whenever they like.

I think it should also require them to plan their work and do it all at once: if they really can't get their acts together they should face heavy fines - used to compensate residents and road users - or compulsory nationalisation, to bring them into public ownership and control.

Meanwhile, the never-ending road works look set to continue.

And if you live, work, shop - or just hang out - anywhere near St James's Street it's about to get a whole lot worse.

Southern Gas Networks have announced plans to 'relay a section of the Gas main and associated services' in St James's Street (whatever that means exactly), next February.

The St James's Area LAT will discuss the plans with the Southern Gas manager responsible at its next meeting, which takes place tomorrow from 7pm at Dorset Gardens Methodist Church.

It'll be interesting to see how we all manage during any protracted closures of the street: I guess the buses will have to be diverted along the seafront and Edward Street, giving us an instant experiment (whether we like it or not) in giving pedestrians priority for a while.

Preston Circus to 'turn Japanese'?

Last week London's Oxford Circus 'turned Japenese'. Taking their cue from Shibuya in Tokyo, the capital's transport planners have re-timed the traffic lights at the junction so they all stop at once, allowing pedestrians to cross in all directions, including diagonanally. It seems to be working well.


Here's a video clip of the original inspiration in full effect.



But the real question for me isn't can we export a brilliant Japanese idea into London, but can we import it into Brighton? Well, the answer is maybe.

Today Green Party councillor Ian Davey suggested to members of the council's environment scrutiny committee that the same principle might work well at Preston Circus.

Traffic officers said they were looking at the idea - personally I'm not sure if there are enough pedestrians to make it work at Preston Circus but I don't think there's a Brighton junction in need of a more radical approach to tackle congestion, air quality and pedestrian delays.. remember, you heard it here first!

Saving on the costs of democracy

I was amazed to read this on The Times website this morning - I had a proper cornflake splattering moment.

It seems Labour's latest depsperate wheeze to cling on to power could be to crack down on democracy itself.

Basically, it seems that the treasury could save about one hundred million pounds  by closing a few polling stations here and reduce voting hours there (making it harder to vote) - and make candidates pay even higher deposits (to make sure only the big parties' candidates can afford to take part - and so there are fewer people to vote for in the first place).

The moves would drive turnout down even further (a disastrous thought - especially as we've no way of knowing the extent to which the snouts-in-the-trough expenses scandal has turned people off politics for ever) and mean more voters opt to do so by post, both of which can be expected to benefit Labour.

The Government has denied any intention to tinker with the way votes are cast in this country - but I'm not sure if I believe it really. I'll certainly be watching.

Junk media tells is like it is: junk food can cause depression

Last week The Observer newspaper warned that eating processed, sugary, foods could lead to depression. The December edition of Zest magazine has a similar story on its cover: 'Boost your mood now with 60 feel-happy foods', in which is exhorts its model-wannabe readers to eat more fruit and vegetables.

So, if they're right, the NHS spends millions each year treating people for depression brought on by junk food sold, at a profit, with adverts promising a happier, more relaxed, lifestyle, to anyone who succumbs to temptation.

I think the polluter pays principle should mean food retailers stump up cash to society - in the form of increased taxation - to compensate the NHS for having to nurse their customers back to health when it all goes wrong.

If that means junk food prices go up, but healthier food prices come down, so total food bills don't rise (hard to work out but that's no reason not to try), there'll be probably be a fall in the high numbers of Brighton residents suffering from depression.

Of course, Labour's friends in big business won't like it much, so don't expect any Government action on junk food anytime soon - but Green MPs will keep the issue on the agenda, whoever forms the next government.

Latest Labour assault on science: Gov't sacks drugs advisor

Unbelievable, really. The Home Secretary Alan Johnson has sacked a scientific advisor on drugs for observing that alcohol is more dangerous than cannabis, and that horse-riding is more dangerous than taking ecstasy.

Is it any wonder we have such a problem with alcohol use when the Government is refusing, yet again, to take seriously the advice of scientists?

Nationally, alcohol is a disaster for the health of both people and wider communities.

Recent reports say alcohol will directly claim more than 90,000 lives over the next decade. The figures don't include drink-related accidents or deaths from illnesses which have been exacerbated by alcohol consumption.

Here in Brighton and Hove things are even worse than average: five children a week are admitted to casualty as a direct result of alcohol abuse.

Earlier this year I joined forces with Sussex Police to take part in a Government consultation on the rules governing alcohol sales.

We argued for a ban on supermarkets selling cheap alcohol at below costs price (a recent study showed that cheap strong alcohol was being sold for as little as 17p a unit) - and a prohibition of drink promotions that saw prices fall the more you drank.

But of course the Government ignored us entirely.

Last year, I persuaded Brighton and Hove Council to investigate the extent of alcohol-related harm to children and young people in the city, and why it seemed to be worse in Moulsecoomb, Whitehawk and Kemptown than central Brighton or Hove.

A scrutiny panel was established, and we heard from doctors, teachers, parents, landlords and off-licencees - and, of course, children themselves.

We made a number of recommendations - particularly that schools should provide more information for parents about the extent of teengae drinking, that substance misuse efforts should concentrate on alcohol use rather than cannabis (a casualty doctor from the Royal Sussex told us he'd never heard of a cannabis-related hospital admission), that the council should fund more services for young people, and that the city centre's 'Cumulative Impact Area' - in which the presumption is against saying yes to any new off-licenses or pubs - should be extended to cover Hanover, Elm Grove and Preston Park.

Our full report is available here.

I hope the local Tories have a slightly more evidence-based approach locally, and stop banging on about the bogeyman of cannabis, and we might just be able to buck the national trend and try and reduce some of the ill-effects alcohol is having on kids here in Brighton.

New push-bike parking spaces coming to George Street

Finally, provision for cyclists in the St James's Street Area looks set to increase, with ten new designated parking spaces for pedal bikes in George Street.

Green councillors have long argued that the council simply must fund secure parking places for bikes, both so cyclists have somewhere to leave their bikes, and to make cycling a more attractive option as an alternative to car use in the town centre.

Finally the argument has prevailed - for the St James's Street area, anyway.

Next stop: a proper, mandatory, physically marked, cycle-lane for Edward Street so cyclists aren't tempted to choose going against the traffic - and pedstrians' expectations - in St James's Street over a dangerous, busy dual carriageway!

A classic 'lose-lose' policy...

I've just read a news item that so turns received wisdom about copyright on its head I just had to share it with you.

The Pirate Party UK are reporting that people who 'illegally' download music are, in fact, the music industry's best customers!

On average, according to the results of a study carried out by left-leaning think-tank Demos, people who share digital files are likely to spend more cash on copyrighted materials than those who don't: so misguided Labour plans to stamp out file-sharing are not only bad for Internet freedom and music, it seems they could hit the music industry where it hurts too. I think that's what you call a 'lose-lose' policy.

Greens and Pirate Party lead EU charge for Internet freedom

Sometimes something unexpected happens in politics which re-affirms your belief in the political bedfellows you keep - I came across a small but heartening example of this yesterday, while musing over the Government's latest draconian attack on Internet freedom and discovering that the Green Party has been resisting it at EU level.

Last week, Busimness Secretary Peter Mandelson, fresh from holidaying with media mogul David Geffen, announced that the Government will be pressing ahead with its ideas of banning internet users who 'share' even little parcels of copyrighted material from using the internet at all.

God what a draconian response to a request from his rich mates to protect their markets - the truth is that it's the David Geffens of this world that have most to gain from enforcing out-dated copyright rules on digital files.

Banning file sharers from using the internet at all? That's like banning people who use adverts in magazines to break the law - those who promote cleaning services by illegally trafficked women, for example - from reading.

So I was delighted yesterday to discover that Mandy's plan looks set to breach the rules of a new EU telcoms package - and leading the charge for Internet users' rights have been the Greens and the Pirate Party.


It turns out that Green MEPs have been working closely with their coalition ally and  Pirate Party MEP Christian Engström, to fight attempts to introduce the‘three strike’ rule for people who illegally download material.

Green Party leader and MEP Caroline Lucas, describing the proposals as “excessive”, said the proposal had been rejected by the European Parliament, but warned that the struggle for Internet freedom was far from over.

Speaking after the debate, she said: “Lord Mandelson’s draconian anti-piracy measures, which mirror the French ‘Hadopi’ internet piracy bill, are excessive – especially given the complex dynamics behind filesharing. The European Parliament must continue to stand up to the Council's blatant attempts to erode citizens' rights and deprive people of an essential service."

New Brighton-based online book review site goes live

Last week, I launched a new website: Ben's Bookshop. The idea couldn't be simpler:

1. Launch a free blog

2. Post reviews of books I read on it

3. Make money from commission when ever anyone, inspired by the review, decides to buy a  book there and then

So there you go then: Ben's Bookshop was born.

But the trouble is, enthusiasm to write the first few items - the one's no-one is ever likely actually to read - is in short supply. A week's gone by, the site boasts just two posts, and so far has had just 12 visitors (none of which, needless to say, has actually bought anything).

It looks like I'm going to have to be busy if I'm going to build the site into a useful web resource: a source for reliable and informative book reviews, concentrating especially on the fields of popular economics, politics and psychology. Guest posts and reviews are, of course, always welcome.

Meanwhile, while I build the content up a little, please consider making any Amazon-style online purchases via my site - not only are most prices discounted, but the commission I make will help fund my time to do entries on this site too.

Thanks, and sorry for selling.

Brighton Greens are here to stay - 'a force to be reckoned with', says Morning Star

The Morning Star - rabble-rousing paper of record for the left leaning - has dubbed the Green Party 'a force to be reckoned with'.

In a profile of newly elected Hove Green party Councillor Alex Phillips (pictured), the paper finds an 'articulate, well presented, striking and passionate' socialist who was attracted to the Green Party by its human rights and social policies - not the environment at all.

The Morning Star has long been supportive of the Greens, up to a point, and carries regular news and columns from Caroline Lucas and Derek Wall.

But this is the first time, to my memory, the paper has accepted that we are an organised, left-wing, alternative to the Labour Party - and that we are here to stay.

I should really renew my subscription!

Why Gordon Brown won't resign

There are many reasons why Gordon Brown won't resign before the General Election.

He's waited so long for the top job that now he's got it he can't bear let go so soon - and no-one in the Labour Party wants to make him.

Every player knows perfectly well that leading Labour into next year's General Election will mean presiding over a disastrous defeat - and no-one, not Mandelson, Harman, neither of the Milibands, wants that hanging round their necks.

This week we heard what the Prime Minister himself has to say on the subject.

In recent weeks more than 70,000 people signed a petition simply calling on the PM to resign. In answer, he said simply:

The Prime Minister is completely focussed on restoring the economy, getting people back to work and improving standards in public services. As the Prime Minister has consistently said, he is determined to build a stronger, fairer, better Britain for all.

Hardly a straight answer then, but I think that's a No. Simon Burgess will be pleased.