Recent News

Firstly, an apology. I never wrote up the last meeting of Full Council, which I think is a first. I decided to wait for the audio recording to go on the website, as it makes it much easier for me to do the write-up but, low and behold, the Council’s audio-recording system failed again and,…

Earlier this month I took part in elections to the Council of Governors of Basildon & Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the body that runs Basildon Hospital. Those of you who are members of the Trust (and, if you aren’t then you should consider joining – anyone can join their local NHS trust and…

There has been a lot of adverse comment, both on social media and elsewhere, regarding the recent cut to Employment Support Allowance (ESA) – much of it in the form of tedious memes about Tory MPs’ expenses claims (which now pass through an independent authority and, when looked into, usually account for paying staff). But such…

Unfortunately, due to the guillotine being reached, I was unable to deliver my backbench speech on the 2016 Budget for the Borough of Basildon but below is the full text of the speech I would have given: I cannot say I rise to greet this budget with the same enthusiasm I have previous budgets because –…

Below is the full text of my speech at the meeting of Full Council on 11th February 2016 on the Grammar Schools motion: Almost everyone but the most ardent Left-wingers generally acknowledge there have been problems with our comprehensive education system – they just haven’t been able, historically, to agree on a way to combat…

Apologies that is has taken me over a week to pen this blog about the budget-setting meeting of Full Council on Thursday 11th February but I have had a lot on. The meeting was preceded by an extraordinary meeting of the Council to vote on a proposal from the Deputy Mayor – Cllr Danny Lawrence…

This blog should start with an apology, as I realise it is my first one since November of last year. Happy belated New Year to you all and I hope you all had lovely Christmases. It means I did not write up the meeting of Full Council in December or January. I am not sure…

Those who follow my activities on social media will be aware of a lot of fast-moving developments at the solar farm site off Outwood Farm Road in my Billericay East ward and, as I received a lot of correspondence about this from numerous sources, I thought it would be prudent for me to post a…

As I come to write up last Thursday’s meeting of Full Council, I would just ask readers to bear with me, as this was a mammoth SEVEN-HOUR meeting that went on until two o’clock in the morning. The meeting started at 7pm, earlier than usual, with a special Extraordinary Meeting to consider two nominations for…

I was deeply saddened to learn of the death of former Conservative Chancellor, Lord Howe of Aberavon, at the age of 88. Geoffrey Howe was Margaret Thatcher’s longest-serving Cabinet minister and was one of the primary authors of her government’s economic revolution. Although best remembers as Mrs Thatcher’s first chancellor, he was also the second…