Well sadly not but it got you reading the post. I was out with Joy Mann in the Lower Road area of her Bedmond and Primrose Hill ward. (For the information of St Albans viewers, this is about as far west and north as you can go in the parliamentary constituency, next to the West [...]
Entries from March 18th, 2010
Councillor bites dog
March 18th, 2010 · No Comments · Sandy's blog
Tags:Bedmond·Hemel Hempstead hospital·Joy Mann·Lower Road·Primrose Hill·Sandy Walkington·St Albans
Campaigning for lower rail fares
March 18th, 2010 · No Comments · Sandy's blog
I have spent so many winter mornings standing outside St Albans City Station handing out leaflets to hurrying commuters that I ought to have a season ticket.
Today it was at least warm, the mornings are getting brighter, and I was there for the thoroughly worthy and non-political cause of promoting the Campaign for Better Transport’s [...]
Tags:Campaign for Better Transport·rail fares·Sandy Walkington·St Albans·St Albans City Station·Stephen Joseph
A new vision for our railway
March 17th, 2010 · No Comments · Sandy's blog
It was rather an irony that we had to slightly delay the start of last night’s public meeting on FCC’s lamentable performance and what steps can be taken to hold them to account or even remove their franchise. This was because main speaker Norman Baker’s northbound train was delayed. You couldn’t make it up.
The picture [...]
Tags:Chris White·FCC·First Capital Connect·goat pub·Norman Baker·Sandy Walkington
All roads lead to Hemel – or do they?
March 15th, 2010 · No Comments · Sandy's blog
Once upon a time St Albans had an A&E. Then the previous Conservative government broke their promise and closed it. So the slightly surreal sign pointing to Hemel was put up at the exit from St Albans hospital in order that the injured should know which way to turn – left down the hill to [...]
Tags:A&E·accident and emergency·Batchwood Drive·Sandy Walkington·St Albans·St Albans City Hospital
A larger audience than Nigel Farage… and an interesting debate on what makes a fair tax system
March 14th, 2010 · No Comments · Sandy's blog
On Friday I spoke to the St Albans School 6th form before rushing up to the Liberal Democrat spring conference in Birmingham. The school certainly has an interesting range of speakers. The previous week they had Nigel Farage, leader of UKIP. This week they are going to have Esther Rantzen. It is an intriguing progression!
I [...]
Tags:Esther Rantzen·Nigel Farage·pensions·Sandy Walkington·St Albans·St Albans School
“The End of an Era – Political Predictions”
March 11th, 2010 · No Comments · Sandy's blog
This was the title of a breakfast seminar organised at the Financial Times last week by Editorial Intelligence and chaired by BBC political journalist Jon Sopel. I was on the panel together with serial ex-Secretary of State John Hutton, shadow economic secretary Greg Hands, the wonderful Suzanne Moore commentator, and FT politics editor George Parker.
I’ve [...]
Tags:Editorial Intelligence·Financial Times·George Parker·Greg Hands·John Hutton·Jon Sopel·Sandy Walkington·St Albans·Suzanne Moore
Tackling abusive and antisocial behaviour
March 11th, 2010 · No Comments · Sandy's blog
Local residents in St Albans and the villages will resonate with today’s strong criticism by the chief inspector of constabulary of the way that police in England and Wales deal with complaints of anti-social behaviour.
At the time of writing I have not seen his individual “report card” for Hertfordshire because it has not yet been [...]
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“Should FCC lose its franchise?” – Public Meeting 16th March
March 9th, 2010 · No Comments · Sandy's blog
I am still being inundated daily with e-mails and telephone calls about continued erratic performance from First Capital Connect. And their mean and overly complex compensation offer is leaving people frustrated and angry.
The mechanism exists for rail franchises to be handed back if franchisees fail to deliver the promised service. FCC seems to have had [...]
Tags:FCC·First Capital Connect·Marlborough Road Methodist Church·Norman Baker·rail franchise·Sandy Walkington·St Albans
Here’s to well-run community pubs
March 5th, 2010 · No Comments · Sandy's blog
I joined CAMRA when I was at university in the 1970s and I remember campaigning for real beer in college bars. I even printed the first real beer guide for Cambridgeshire. Little did I know then that CAMRA had been founded in St Albans and that St Albans was to be such a mecca for [...]
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What’s the difference between the Conservative party and a banana republic?
March 4th, 2010 · No Comments · Sandy's blog
The Michael Ashcroft story is truly extraordinary and there must be more to come.
We all know that whoever wins the election will have to put up taxes and cut expenditure in order to bring the UK economy back into balance. The only questions are timing; how much comes from cuts and where they fall; and [...]