VOTE PARVEZ AKHTAR FOR BEDFORD'S MAYOR!

PARVEZ AKHTAR - THE CONSERVATIVE MAYORAL CANDIDATE

Our Conservative campaign to elect Parvez Akhtar as the Mayor of Bedford is proving successful. Parvez outshone the other 5 candidates on the Sunday BBC Politics Show and at the Wootton Upper School Debate last Thursday evening. David Cameron, Leader of the Conservative Party, came to Bedford today to support Parvez' campaingn and Eric Pickles, Party Chairman is coming here tomorrow.

Parvez is a highly intelligent and well educated senior Ford Engineer. He is one of "Thatcher's children" whose father came to England to work in the Stewartby Brickworks. Parvex is a living example of social mobility, fostered by Margaret Thatcher in the 1980's, which has almost disappeared over the last 12 years under an incompetent and spendthrift Labour Government.

Parve is a modest, unassuming family man with a gentle charm and polite manner. He cares deeply about Bedford and its people and will be an excellent Mayor. As a father of 5 children, all at Bedford schools, he is passionate about education as the key to future success in life. It is time we had a fresh pair of eyes and brain leading Bedford Borough, instead of the same old politicians who have run Bedford Borough Council for 20 years and failed to solve our major transport, infrastructure, policing and employment problems.

I fully support Parvez' campaign and have worked hard over the past 10 days organising the delivery of 7,200 leaflets to the villages of Elstow and Wilstead. Election Day is in just 3 days' time........

Vote for Parvez Akhtar on Thursday for strong leadership and a vibrant Bedford Borough in which we can all be proud to live.

UNITARY ELECTION RESULT

Andrew Philips travels on horseback to vote in Wilstead

Well it is all over! I lost my seat after 7 years as a Bedford Councillor in spite of strong support from voters in Elstow and Wilstead - thank you to all those who voted for me and especially to my small dedicated band of campaign helpers.

I had a very tough election campaign against a well known Independent candidate, born and bred in Wilstead, who resigned from the Conservative Party in April. My vote was only 70 less than in 2007 but I lost by 153 votes, because 100 Conservative
supporters switched due to their anger over the MP expenses scandal and I was the victim of a 'dirty tricks' campaign just before Election Day from the Independent Councillor I defeated in 2005 and 2007.

No one can say I did not try hard enough - after knocking on 2,000 doors and distributing 10000 leaflets and letters, which led to the damage to my leg which will take some time to heal. At present I am having to use a walking stick and I could not possibly issue a rebuttal in time to the potentially libellous letter.

One Conservative voter, Andrew Philips, travelled to Wilstead Village on horseback to vote as a protest over his situation. His farmhouse is in Haynes, Central Beds and is accessed from Haynes High Street, but his farmland is in Wilstead, Bedford Borough Council. After the Unitary reorganisation, Andrew and his family were put on the Bedford Borough Council electoral roll. Andrew is Chairman of Haynes Parish Council and his house can only be accessed from Haynes, so naturally he wants the boundaries changed so that he can vote in Central Bedfordshire. I have supported Andrew's campaign for several months but the Boundaries Commission will not be able to resolve the anomaly until 2010, when the Ward Boundaries are reviewed.

TWO DAYS TO GO.......

I am still smiling although I can hardly walk after straining the Achilles tendon in my right leg on Sunday while delivering 300 letters to voters. Panic set in as my leg swelled up and I wondered how to continue my election campaign and deliver another 800 letters.

By Monday morning my fighting spirit had returned and I persuaded 5 friends to deliver most of the letters for me. Fortunately I can still drive as my right foot is unaffected; only the ankle and calf hurt. My leg is in a tubular support bandage and my doctor says it will take a long time to heal and there is a 6 week waiting list for physiotherapy - the joys of the NHS! In July 2004 I sustained a similar injury to my left leg which took nearly 12 months to heal completely.

Over the past five weeks, I have knocked on 2,000 doors and delivered thousands of leaflets in Elstow and Wisltead, and two other areas - Oakley and Castle Wards to help out fellow Councillors. Thank goodness it will all be over on Thursday.

LAST WEEK OF ELECTION CAMPAIGN

CANVASSING TEAM IN CASTLE WARD

Yesterday I took 2 hours off my own Election Campaign to help my fellow Conservative Councillor Andrew McConnell and David Fletcher campaign against two Independent Councillors in Castle Ward in the centre of Bedford. Most people were surprisingly friendly on the doorstep on a lovely sunny afternoon.

In the present political climate it is hard to fight Independent candidates, as I am also doing, because the electorate are angry with the 3 main political parties. However, Nigel Farage, UKIP Leader, has just boasted that he has claimed £2 million in expenses since he was elected as an MEP. UKIP have achieved nothing since 2004, apart from expelling 2 MEPs including Tom Wise for alleged expenses fraud. As for their 2004 claim that UKIP would take Britian out of Europe - a small group of UKIP MEPs is no match for the other 700+ MEPs committed to the European Union.

Tom Wise, a former police officer and Leighton Buzzard resident, had the audacity to try to stand again this year as an Independent MEP candidate until he was advised that he had to face fraud charges in court in mid June for misappropriating £40,000 of expenses! Let's hope he receive a jail sentence and drops out of public life.

As for my own election campaign I have now knocked 2,100 doors, mainly on my own, and delivered 9,000 leaflets and letters, with another 1,000 to go out this week. Most of the hard work has been done by me, with a tiny band of helpers. I would love to see Esther Rantzen, David Van Day and other TV celebrities tempted to enter politics deal with all the walking and door knocking in blazing sunshine that I and thousands of other election candidates have done for several weeks in this Election Campaign, dealing with a lot of public hostility about MP expenses.

Last weekend I voted by post, as I have done for many years due to past business commitments. Be prepared for a long yellow sheet of paper listing 14 different parties and dozens of candidates. Voters will be confused by all the new fringe parties this time - Liberata, Jury Team, UK Democracy, Christian Party etc.

If you want to get rid of the worst Prime Minister in living history, just vote Conservative and forget all the others!

LABOUR GOVERNMENT SINKS INTO THE GUTTER

Damian McBride and Gordon Brown


If anyone doubts that Gordon Brown and his sleazy Labour Government are doomed, the scandal over Damian McBride's scurrilous activities in spinning poisonous lies about leading Conservative politicians, including my local MP Nadine Dorries, pictured right, has exposed its corrosive political culture.

Damian McBride was a senior civil servant, paid for by the taxpayer as Gordon Brown's Head of Policy and Strategy. In the middle of a serious economic crisis when the Labour Government was lending £10 Billion to banks and fighting two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, McBride had time to draft emails which aimed to assassinate the reputations of leading Conservative politicians including David Cameron and George Osborne. He invented a story about the mental state of George Osbone's wife Frances and told a pack of lies about Nadine Dorries who now plans to sue him for libel.

McBride's activities in briefing the media and starting a Labour Blog Red Rag to spread vicious lies about the Conservatives was exposed by Paul Staines in his popular Blog Guido Fawkes, which receives 100,000 unique visitors a month.

As a local Conservative Councillor I am now planning my campaign to be elected as a Conservative Bedford Unitary Councillor for Elstow and Wilstead on Thursday 4 June 2009.

Roll on 2010 when a Conservative Government will be elected and we can be rid of Gordon Brown and his incompetent and dishonest political colleagues and repair the economic damage caused by Gordon Brown and Tony Blair for the last 12 years.

BEDFORD UNITARY ELECTIONS JUNE 2009

LYNNE'S ELECTION CAMPAIGN TEAM WORKING IN WILSTEAD

Bedford Borough Council became a Unitary Council on 1 April 2009 but will retain its 54 Borough Councillors until Thursday 4 June 2009, when 36 Unitary Councillors will be elected to lead the new Council.

As the local Councillor for Elstow and Wilstead I keep in contact with residents via my Blog, emails, advice surgeries, newsletters and attendance at village events. Tonight I was persuaded to join Twitter as another modern way of communicating with voters of all ages.

Today I delivered 900 leaflets in the rain in Wilstead, ably assisted by my strong Campaign Team which includes four fellow Conservative Councillors - Mollie Foster, Peter Hand, Andrew McConnell and Jas Parmar. Afterwards we all enjoyed a well earned lunch in the newly refurbished Red Lion Pub, Elstow which provides an
excellent, fairly priced meal and good service.

With 2,100 leaflets to deliver I rely on a team of voluntary helpers in Elstow and Wilstead. The official Election Campaign starts soon and there will be a lot of hard work to prepare and distribute leaflets and canvass local residents.

During the 2007 Borough Election Campaign my team and I delivered 20,000 leaflets and won my 8th Election Campaign, so let's hope June will bring the 9th success!

MOOT HALL AND SEALED KNOT LIVING HISTORY

Sealed Knot Living History Event and Moot Hall Key Handover Ceremony




On Sunday Elstow Village Green was the setting for a Sealed Knot Living History event with people in 17th century dress and Cromwellian solders marching across the Green. In the afternoon the ownership of Elstow's 15th Century Moot Hall was formerly handed over by me, as Elstow's former County Councillor, to my Borough colleague Councillor Barry Huckle who accepted the key to Moot Hall on behalf of Bedford Borough Council. In the photograph above you can see me with Clive Arnold, the Curator of Moot Hall and Barry just before the official key handover. The Sealed Knot soldiers paraded in front of us while the ceremony took place.

Moot Hall was originally a market hall and now houses a museum dedicated to John Bunyan a fine collection of 17th Century furniture. John Bunyan lived in Elstow most of his life and was baptised and married in Elstow Abbey. In 1644 he joined Cromwell's Roundhead Army at 16 years old to fight the King so it is appropriate that the Sealed Knot held their Living History event in Elstow.

Elstow is North Bedfordshire's most historic village with its 11th Century Abbey Church, founded by William the Conqueror's niece Countess Judith, Moot Hall and the 16th Century timbered houses in the High Street. In 1950 Moot Hall was given by Sam Whitbread to Bedfordshire County Council and was restored for the 1951 Festival Britain. Also in 1951 a special stone was placed in Harrowden near Elstow, to mark the birthplace of John Bunyan in 1628.

BEDFORD CELEBRATES UNITARY CREATION

Moot Hall


Today Wednesday 1 April 2009 Bedford Borough Council becomes a single Unitary Council. The new Council has published a 'One Council' booklet on all the services covered by the Council, with useful telephone numbers. Pictured above is Borough Hall, formerly County Hall, the new Bedford Borough Council HQ and the Council logo.

One of the new Council's strategies is to create a Healthy Bedford. Everyone aged 60+ is eligible for free swimming at all the Borough swimming pools. Also for one week 1-7 April free access will be provided for everyone to a range of Council run sports facilities, eg casual swimming, badminton, squash and football. For more information have a look at the Borough Council website www.bedford.gov.uk.

Bedford Borough has a history which spans over 1,000 years and I was delighted to see a photograph of Elstow village's Moot Hall in 'One Council'. On Sunday 5 April 2009 Elstow is hosting a Sealed Knot Civil War re enactment on the village green. In the afternoon at 3.00pm I will hand over the key of Moot Hall, fomerly owned by the County Council to Bedford Borough Council in a short formal ceremony. The Sealed Knot celebrated its 40th Anniversary in 2008 and this will be a real Family Fun Day from 11am - 4pm next Sunday.

THANKSGIVING SERVICE FOR BEDFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL 1889 - 2009

Today as County Council Vice Chairman I attended a Thanksgiving Service at St. Paul's Church, Bedford to celebrate 120 years of Bedfordshire County Council from 1889 until 31 March 2009 when the County Council is abolished. The Salvation Army played and we sang the famous John Bunyan hymn "He who would valiant be". The County Council motto "Constant Be" on the crest above is taken from this hymn which has a special meaning for me as I live in Elstow, home of John Bunyan. The Chief Executive gave an address on the Council's long history and the Bishop of Bedford preached the sermon.

Afterwards we had tea at County Hall before watching the Minden Band of The Queen's Division conduct a Sunset and Beating Retreat ceremony. Then the Bedfordshire County Council flag was lowered for the last time by Bedford Sea Cadets. It was an emotional occasion for County Councillors and staff, some of whom do not know if they will have a job after 1 April. Many senior staff are leaving on 31 March.

The Minden Band consists of 35 talented musicians including 3 women, and are based at Bassingbourn Barracks in Royston near Cambridge. The Band supports 3 Regiments of the Queen's Division - The Royal Anglian, The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers and The Prince of Wales Royal Regiment and perform at high profile civilian events.

Bedfordshire County Council is handing over its services to Bedford Borough Council and Central Bedfordshire in excellent order. For example, during March the Highways Department have filled over 1,000 potholes across the County caused by the recent severe weather, investing £400,000 to put the roads in good order for the new Councils. Recently I visited Hertfordshire where the local paper said that Herts County Council was still surveying its potholes so Bedfordshire was ahead of the pack once again.

On 1 April Bedford Borough Council takes on 5,5000 new staff and responsibility for many new services - Children's Services including 79 schools, fostering and adoption and the youth service, Adult Services including residential care and mental health, highways, waste management, strategic planning, archives & records, libraries, etc.

The present 54 Bedford Borough Councillors will remain in post for two months until Thursday 4 June when Unitary Elections take place. Then there will be only 36 Unitary Councillors taking over the current 72 County and Borough Council roles.

THE RED LION ELSTOW and THE NHS

Elstow village has two fine pubs, The Swan, a traditional village pub and The Red Lion, which has just been refurbished by its new owners Mitchells & Butlers and reopened this week with a new Manager Edward White. On Sunday customers and local residents were invited to sample the new menu and I enjoyed an excellent and fairly priced Sunday lunch. It was a brief relaxation before a very busy week.

On Monday I chaired my last Borough Council Corporate & Resource Committee, and on Tuesday attended a BEAR Seminar about the Countywide Waste Management strategy after a school governors meeting and before an evening update on the new Bedford Academy, which John Bunyan Upper School becomes in September 2009.

On Wednesday and Thursday I had regional meetings in Cambridge and chaired my final County Council Redundancy Panel and on Friday had an Employment Tribunal in Watford, so I seemed to do a lot of driving around this week. In between meetings and dealing with various resident issues and numerous emails I managed to fit in 3 visits to my Fitness Club and two medical appointments.

On Tuesday it was my 3 yearly breast screening and on Friday I had an emergency dental appointment to replace a crown which fell out of my mouth when I was chewing an Opal Fruit sweet! My wonderful NHS dentist is a white South African who came to the UK 16 years ago and I travel 20 miles to see him because he is such an excellent dentist. This time I saw his colleague, another South African who is equally good. Many people complain about the NHS but I have only ever experienced excellent service from NHS doctors, surgeons, dentists, physiotherapists and nurses, especially in 2006/7 when I had 3 operations in Bedford and Cambridge within a year.

On Friday evening I met Hannah Miles, the Masterchef Finalist who runs a popoular Blog called Hannahscountrykitchen which attracts 150,000 hits a month. Hannah is a shipping lawyer with a passion for cooking, especially patries and desserts and lives in Podington, a small village on the edge of North Bedfordshire. Hannah gave a talk and a cookery demonstration to an audience of 100+ enthusiastic Conservatives. She charmed us all and made a delicious Toblerone Tiramisu, which takes only 30 minutes to prepare, a Lime and Ginger cheesecake and a delicious rose flavoured summer punch.

ELSTOW LOWER SCHOOL PUPILS CELEBRATE 'OUTSTANDING' OFSTED REPORT

Last week I announced the great news that Elstow Lower School has just been rated 'Outstanding' for the second time in 3 years by Ofsted. As you can see in this photograph our school children are as thrilled as the staff, parents and governors with this tremendous result as they play a key part in the school's success.

Despite heavy snow in February, Elstow Lower School was one of the few Bedfordshire schools to stay open so that the Inspectors could visit and assess the standard and quality of the education.

Recent achievements at Elstow Lower School include gaining 'Eco School' status and receiving the prestigious 'Green Flag' award. Many of our children do not speak English as their first language and each year the school has an International Week.

Highlights of the Ofsted Inspection report include:
1. Inspectors were 'wowed' by the young School Council Members and 'Eco Warriors' who talked enthusiastically about their roles and the decisions they have to make.

2. Parents said that their children 'always come home full of information and we could not ask for anything more'

3. The Inspectors considered the level of care and support for the children to be of the highest quality and a real strength of the school.

4. Recently the children enriched their learning with visits from 'Night Owls', re- enactments of historical events, becoming 'entrepreneurs', visits to London and other exciting projects.

As Head Teacher Jenny Winder says "We are delighted and proud of the result of this latest inspection. Everyone - children, staff, parents, partner schools and local businesses - works hard as a team and together we strive to provide our children and their families with the very best education which will give them life opportunities and allow them to live healthy and harmonious lives within the society of today and in the future".

As Vice Chairman of Governors at the school I am pleased to endorse these comments, and also passionately believe in the importance of teamwork and partnership in my other role as the local Councillor for Elstow and Wilstead villages.

This week I attended a meeting to discuss the development of John Bunyan Upper School into Bedford Academy in September 2010. The meeting was held at Cauldwell Lower School, another Outstanding Lower School, located in an area of South Bedford with high levels of social deprivation. Elstow Lower School also draws 40% of its pupils from this area and the qualities that shine out of these two schools are strong, inspirational leadership and teamwork.

TREE PLANTING EVENT MARKS 120 YEARS OF BEDFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

WILSTEAD P3 WALKING GROUP





Last Sunday 1,000 trees were planted by staff and councillors to celebrate 120 years of Bedfordshire County Council. In total 24,000 trees will be planted at the Forest of Marston Vale forming Legacy Thrift, a new Woodland to help regenerate the Marston Vale and celebrate the 120 years of Bedfordshire County Council from 1889 - 2009.

For too long the Marston Vale has been blighted by clay extraction, brick making and landfill. The aim is to bring local communities together and create new wildlife habitats and "green lungs" in an area where 20,000 new houses are planned, so that local residents can enjoy their leisure time in beautiful Bedfordshire countryside.

This Sunday I joined 10 members of the active Wilstead P3 Walking Group on a 6 mile walk in Holwell, Hertfordshire. We then enjoyed a well earned drink in the historic Motte & Bailey Pub in the village of Pirton where I lived for 15 years. Then I returned to Elstow for an excellent Sunday roast dinner in my local, The Swan Pub.

It was a nice change to get some fresh air after a busy week looking after 2 lively small grandchildren, sitting on a complex 3 day employment tribunal and attending an interesting conference in London on "Championing the Older Generations".

Variety is the spice of life.....

BEDFORDSHIRE LEGACY CONCERT

On Sunday evening I attended a wonderful Legacy Concert at Bedford Corn Exchange performed by 200 Bedfordshire school children, celebrating the history and achievements of Bedfordshire County Council over the past 120 years. It was a fitting tribute from Bedfordshire Music Service and the award winning Bedfordshire & Luton Archive Service, both of which have well deserved national reputations for providing a first class public service .

Nigel Lutt, the County Archivist was the Narrator, telling us some fascinating historical stories, while we watched a series of old photographs and listened to a superb selection of music from each era from our very talented young musicians and singers. They had braved the snow last week to prepare for this special concert.

The Concert opened with Edward Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No.4 and Nigel described the era 1889-1902, when Queen Victoria ruled over 25% of the world and Bedfordshire's population was only 160,000. Next we had 3 lively Gilbert & Sullivan pieces. The Leader of the Council, as the Lord High Executioner from The Mikado, read out her "Little List" of people, none of whom would be missed, including some well known Bedford figures, local journalists, rogue bankers and talkshow hosts.

Nigel told us about the period 1902-1919 when Frank Spooner, the Director of Education ran off with £5k of County Educational Funds about the time the Titanic sank, so it did not make the main headlines! In 1904, 400 driving licences were issued, including 3 to intrepid women, and dog licences were introduce in 1908.

The Legacy Orchestra then played William Walton's Facade Suite and we moved into the next age 1919-1939. In 1922 Amy Walmsley was the first female County Councillor and in the 1920's the Library and Adult Education Services were started and the first school meals were provided at Sharnbrook School in 1925.

Then it was 1939-1953. Children were evacuated to Bedfordshire to escape the London bombing during the War and in 1944 the last Glenn Miller Concert was held in Bedford before he disappeared in a plane over France. During the 1951 Festival of Britain, Moot Hall in Elstow was restored and John Bunyan's birthplace in Elstow was marked by a stone monument. After the interval we had a Glenn Miller selection from the Legacy Wind Band, who also played a lively Beatles medley to mark the 1953-1970 period. In 1957 Harold MacMillan, Prime Minister made a famous speech in Bedford using his famous phrase "Most people have never had it so good" . In 1959 the M1 Motorway was opened and Mander College, now Bedford College, was built by the County Council. The New County Hall was opened in 1970 by the Duchess of Kent.

So then it was 1970-1996 and Local Government Reorganisation in 1974 and the creation of the new Bedford Borough Council. Frank Branston, now the Mayor of Bedford, started his Bedford on Sunday newspaper in 1974. In 1983-86 a long, fierce and successful campaign was fought to stop NIREX from dumping nuclear waste in Elstow. In 1993, Bedfordshire Archive & Record Service received its 1st Charter Mark. Our next musical item was from the Dhol Drumming Group from Kymbrook Lower School - a small but very enthusiastic group of very young musicians.

So finally to 1996-2009 and we had the Legacy Choir and Rock Band performing Eric Clapton and a very emotional rendering of Josh Groban's "You Raise Me Up". In 1997 Luton Borough Council became a Unitary Council, and Bedfordshire County Council went through a difficult period, rated a Poor Authority in 2003. However after the appointment of a new Chief Executive in 2004, the Council was transformed in 3 years from Poor to Good, moving from 0 Stars to 3 Stars. Its success was described by The Times as "A comeback of Lazarus proportions".

The Legacy Concert ended with a rousing rendition of the Queen Bohemian Rhapsody by the combined Legacy Orchestra, Wind and Rock Bands and Choir who received a standing ovation from a very appreciative audience. Bedfordshire Music now engages 50,000 children and adults in a range of musical activities, quite remarkable when you note that there are only 63,000 school children in Bedfordshire.

As a result of the latest Local Government Reorganisation, the Labour Government has decided that the County Council will be abolished on 31 March 2009, to be replaced by 2 new Unitary Councils, Bedford Borough and Central Beds. However, fortunately both Bedfordshire Music and the Bedfordshire and Luton Archive & Record Service will be retained as "Shared Services" and will continue to provide an excellent service.

FREE PARK AND RIDE FOR CHRISTMAS

ELSTOW PARK AND RIDE SERVICE FREE DURING DECEMBER

Just to remind you all that you can use the Elstow Park and Ride Service free during the whole of December. Also Christmas shoppers can park free in Bedford Town Centre car parks on 19, 20, 22 and 23 December. These measures have been introduced by Bedfordshire County Council and Bedford Borough Council to help Christmas shoppers and small businesses fight the Credit Crunch.

BEDFORDSHIRE POLICE

My blogging colleague Andrew McConnell has criticised Bedfordshire Police in Blogging for Bedford over the recent crime wave in Bedford. While I agree with much of what he says, I must praise our local Police Beat Manager, Guy Steel-Jessop and his 2 PCSOs Lisa and Emily for providing a good local police service to the residents of Elstow and Wilstead.

Recently we have had a spate of rural crime, with thefts from farms and sheds in Wilstead but after some good detective work, drawing on local information, 2 men have now been arrested for the thefts, so we hope the thefts will now stop.

ROAD SAFETY - DO YOU KNOW YOUR RULE 243?
A new Road Safety Campaign - '243' - was launched yesterday in a bid to warn motorists that parking in dangerous places can cause accidents and is often illegal.

The Highway Code - Rule 243 states that No driver should park in the following places:

* near a school entrance
* at or near a bus stop or taxi rank
* opposite or within 10 metres of a junction (except authorised parking spaces)
* near the brow of a hill or hump backed bridge
* opposite a traffic island
* in front of the entrance to a property
* on a bend
* where the kerb has been lowered to help wheelchair users
* where you would obstruct cyclists' use of cycle facilities
* anywhere you would prevent access for Emergency Services
* on the approach to a level crossing

243 signs will be put up soon at sites where drivers are particularly abusing these rules. £70 fines, under the Traffic Management Act 2004, will be imposed where vehicles are parked inappropriately.

You have been warned!

'BABY P' REPORT PUBLISHED

Today the OFSTED 'Baby P' Report was published, highlighting a 'catalogue of failings' by Haringey Children's Services Department and its senior management. Action has finally been taken to dismiss 3 senior Haringey Managers, including Sharon Shoesmith, the Director who claimed that her Department was 'effective' - but totally failed to protect a tiny child from being tortured to death in spite of 60 official visits by health visitors, social workers and the Police.

As Vice Chairman of Bedfordshire Children's Services Committee, I questioned our Director of Children's Services at a recent meeting about our Bedfordshire child protection procedures. He issued a detailed statement which reassured Councillors that the Bedfordshire child protection system now operates to a very high standard, having been radically reformed during the past 3 years.

The Labour Government imposes endless performance targets and central controls on local Councils so strategies, box ticking and management speak dominate. Whatever happened to simple common sense? Also in today's world top politicians and highly paid public sector managers happily take high salaries but refuse to take the blame when their flawed systems go badly wrong.

ARE WE NOW LIVING IN A POLICE STATE?

Now in an even more sinister turn of events the Government has lost control over the flow of information, in spite of its own constant information leaks to press, eg information on the Pre Budget Report realsed before Alistair Darling's Speech.

Damian Green MP, a Shadow Conservative Miister, was treated like a terrorist and dragged off to a police station at dawn by an army of police officers for 9 hours' questioning, simply for receiving information from a disillusioned civil servant, in exactly the same way that Gordon Brown did as a young politician!

Whatever happened to civil liberties? The Government's hypocrisy and Metropolitan Police 'overkill' are mind boggling and the Home Secretary, Jackie Smith denies all knowledge of what is going on in her own Home Office! If this is true, who is really in control?

Arresting Opposition MPs for spurious reasons is a tactic used by police states across the world, especially by Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, but until now I believed that England was a civilised and democratic country accountable to its people.

WHAT DO COUNCILLORS ACTUALLY DO?

D Jones has criticised me for attending concerts and asks if I do anything as a Councillor. If he read ALL my Blogs he would see that I am a very active Councillor but my daily routine makes dull reading.

Today I met with my local Police Team, replied to dozens of emails and telephone calls from residents and am organising some small grants for village organisations. Tonight I will chair a Borough Corporate & Resource Committee and attend another meeting.

Contrary to popular belief local Councillors do not receive a salary, but an expense allowance and their role is only part time. As a County and Borough Councillor I work 30+ hours a week on Council duties and related activities, daytime and evenings.

I attend many Elstow and Wilstead village social functions including concerts, so that I am free to talk to residents. I hold regular surgeries, attend evening parish council meetings and reading endless Council documents. Also I am involved in other voluntary activities - I am a school governor at Elstow Lower School and chair the Trustees of the Friends of Elstow Abbey Church, raising funds for church repairs.

At present I am one of only 2 Councillors out of 220 across Bedfordshire who bothers to write a Blog which I use as another form of communication with local residents.

My main income comes from pensions and a 3rd part time job as an Employment Tribunal Member. In truth I am far more active than many other Councillors and the majority of people of my age and hardly ever sit at home and watch TV in the evening.

DROPPED KERB IN ELSTOW

Bunyans Mead is a sheltered complex for elderly residents in Elstow village. There was no dropped kerb at the entrance to Bunyans Mead, creating mobility problems for wheelchair users. Earlier this year it seemed that residents would have a long wait for a dropped pavement due to other highways priorities.

However I met County officers to find a solution and we found some DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) money which could be used. The pavements on both sides of the road have now been dropped, making life much easier for wheelchair users and young parents with babies in pushchairs. Recently I met a father out walking with his baby in the High Street. He is very pleased with the new dropped pavement and is shown in the photo above.

Re my Indian Wedding, I had a nice comment from James Lucas:

"Lynne great to see you were at an Indian wedding the other day. Bedford is a great place to live because of its diversity of different nationalities and races, which gives us the opportunities to attend the kind of event you described.

It's good to see a prominent politician who is so proud of our local diversity in Bedford, but does not patronise your readers in the way some other bloggers do. At least you don't treat us as idiots!!"

Thank you for the compliment James. I must confess that the Indian wedding was in Broxbourne and my Indian friends live in Luton. However like you I am very proud to live in Bedford - the most culturally diverse town in England with residents of 60+ different nationalities. Many of my neighbours are Indian, Italian, Chinese, Polish, German etc. and I really enjoy Bedford's rich cultural heritage.

As the child of a naval family I lived in 3 continents, speak 3 languages and have visited or lived in 80 different countries. I still travel overseas regularly and so far in 2008 I have been to Poland,Greenland, Denmark, Malta, Italy, Turkey, Greece, Madeira, Croatia, France and Ireland - just after their NO referendum in June.

I'M COUNCILLOR GET ME OUT OF HERE!

My apologies for not giving you an update earlier this week, but I have been out every night and busy all day. Technically I am a pensioner but have 3 part time jobs and various voluntary activities, eg school governor which sometimes all clash!

Monday/Tuesday I had a 2-day employment tribunal, Tuesday I had a breakfast HR meeting at Elstow Lower School before the tribunal and in the evening Elstow Parish Council meeting. On Wednesday I had to chair the County Council Children's Services Committee in the absence of the Chairman. After lunch I dashed to my dentist in Lethcworth 20 miles away for an emergency repair of a tooth broken on a sweet. Then I went to an evening Borough Council Full Council meeting, where I made a speech on an Olympic Games/free swimming motion. Thursday I had a new hair cut and went to more meetings and answered dozens of emails.

I'm A Councillor ... Get Me Out of Here update
Somehow I have managed to answer 63 on line questions from Upper School students in 4days - more than any of the other 5 Councillors in the Contest. The questions were on a wide range of topics including crime, buses, recycling, social facilities for young people, drugs, local politics and what did I do when I was a child!

I did manage to squeeze in a Monday evening theatre visit to see a fantastic performance of "Evita" at Milton Keynes and a Mid Beds Conservative Conservative Dinner last night, hosted by Nadine Dorries our MP, with an excellent speech from Greg Hand MP for Hammersmith/Fulham.

Today I have been to 2 County Council meetings, one for Bedfordshire Music. On Saturday morning I will conduct my regular surgery in Elstow before heading north to the Midlands to babysit my 2 small grandchildren.

Never a dull moment!

LOCAL DEMOCRACY WEEK 2008

Next week sees the start of the run up to 2008 Local Democracy Week, encouraging young people to engage in local politics. Throughout next week I will be involved in an Internet based dialogue with young people in 9 schools across Bedford.

Make sure you visit my Blog regularly next week to find out what I am doing to engage with the young people of Bedford Borough.........

SAVE OUR GREEN FIELDS CAMPAIGN

Today I met the Mayor of Bedford with six other Conservative Councillors to raise our concerns about controversial proposals to build 1,400 houses on 19 areas of Borough Council land including Elstow. On Wednesday I had a private meeting with the Head of Economic Development to discuss the proposal to build 15 houses on the narrow strip of land separating Elstow village from Bedford.

The Mayor was generally sympathetic to our concerns but he declined to remove any of the controversial sites from the proposed Bedford Development Framework.

Elstow is an historic village with its 11th Century Abbey Church, its 16th Century Moot Hall, housing a museum of John Bunyan memorabilia and old timbered houses. John Bunyan, author of Pilgrims Progress, was born and married in Elstow. This proposal threatens the very existence of our tiny historic village (300 houses) which would disappear into urban Bedford (pop.80,000).

I shall continue to campaign to remove the Elstow site from the Bedford Development Framework before it goes out to public consultation in August 2009. Your comments are welcome.

SAVE OUR ELSTOW HERITAGE

Bedford Borough Conservatives have launched a 'Save Our Green Fields' Campaign to challenge controversial proposals to build 1,400 houses on 19 areas of public land.

Elstow is one area earmarked for housing. The proposal is to build 15 houses on the narrow green strip which divides historic Elstow village from urban Bedford. It is totally unnecessary when sites are already earmarked for 16,270 houses, many of which will not be built for years due to the current credit crunch.

If housing is built on this green space Elstow village will vanish into urban Bedford, destroying an historic heritage which stretches back over 900 years to the building of Elstow Abbey as a Benedictine Monastery in 1098.

John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim's Progress and Bedford's most famous son was born in Elstow in 1628 and married in Elstow Abbey. We also have the famous 16th Century Moot Hall shown above and wonderful timbered 16th Century houses in Bunyans Mead. John Bunyan would turn in his grave at this shortsighted proposal to submerge tiny Elstow with just 300 houses into urban Bedford with a population of 80,000 people.

Bedford Borough Council is not due to commence formal public consultation on its proposals until August 2009. However Bedford Conservatives have already forced the Council to withdraw its plans to build houses on Mowsbury Golf Course and reduced the original number of land development proposals from 20 to 19.

Please join me in my campaign to stop the Council ruining our beautiful village and persuade the planners to withdraw these housing development proposals immediately.