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Friday, 30 October, 2009 
During the run up to Remembrance Sunday, the BNP are trying their best to associate themselves with the good name and image of the British military. I agree with this campaign that enough is enough and that is why I am happy to promote this website and link.
http://westbourne.createsend5.com/t/r/l/hiiyyh/jylyjkiyk/r
Monday, 26 October, 2009
A few weeks ago I did an interview with the Mail for their ‘Inside the Mind of..’ series. This was published on 22nd October and below is my full submission made to the Mail. Occupation
I trained as an accountant and I currently make a living working as a project Accountant but I also worked as a SCUBA Diving Instructor in the past.
What part of modern life annoys you the most?
I am fairly comfortable with most things but I suppose I would say I’m not a huge fan of the ‘celebrity culture’ and the way in which their stories are plastered over magazines.
First record ever bought?
This is really embarrassing, it either something by Status Quo, I think it was called ‘Just supposing’ or ‘Stand and Deliver’ by Adam and the Ants.
Most recent record bought(downloaded)?
Lynne, my wife, has just downloaded the theme tune from ‘Hong Kong Phooey’ for our son. My CD purchases are mainly to replace the record albums I once owned so tend to be from the 80s and 90s.
What book are you reading?
I am currently reading ‘Holocaust’ by Gerald Green; this is a novel which was also a TV mini series in the 1970s. It tells the story of two interconnected families, one Jewish, one not, in the form of diaries from 1933 to 1945. Although a novel, it captures the way in which the Holocaust came about and how ordinary people got caught up in it and went along with it.
If you could choose, health or wealth?
Well it’s always been health and happiness to date, so why change now.
When and where were you happiest?
I am very much a ‘now’ person and am usually happy wherever I am. If I had to pin it down I would say I am happy on a long car journey, going on holiday with the family. We just spent two weeks in France in our camper van and driving along with my wife and son, when the sun is shining, makes us all happy.
Who are your heroes?
Douglas Bader – He was a pilot who lost both his legs in a crash before the war. He learnt to walk again, rejoined the RAF during the Second World War and became a fighter ace. He was shot down and captured and went on to try and escape several times before finally being sent to Colditz. His story is one of perseverance, optimism and never giving in.
If you could lock up one person for life, who would it be?
Being a Conservative, I am usually I’m not a supporter of detention without trial but I nominate the person who stole our power cable from the campsite when we were on holiday.
Favorite food and drink?
Food – It’s easier to say what I don’t like but the favorites are Steak and Kidney pie, Toad in the Hole and Chicken Tika Masala.
Drink – As my association knows only too well, tea, and coffee, and a whisky from time to time.
If your house was on fire what one possesion would you recover?
After the family, cats, guinea pigs and fish are safe, it would be either my signed Douglas Bader painting…or whatever Lynne said to get next. The painting was bought by my parents when I was planning to join the Navy as going away present.
What keeps you awake at night?
Well last Saturday it was toothache, but usually not much. I don’t really worry to this extent but occasionally if I have a lot to do the next day, I may lie awake wishing the morning would hurry up and I could just get on with it.
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be a Fleet Air Arm pilot. I was planning to join the Royal Navy straight after school but I was too young so they suggested I did my A Levels and came back two years later but things didn’t work out as I had hoped.
What's your biggest regret?
I don’t really regret the past but the one big disappointment was whilst doing my A Levels, my eyesight deteriorated and so I wasn’t able to be a pilot.
Who or what makes you laugh?
Most comedy, I especially liked the ‘Fast Show’ and ‘Goodness Gracious Me’. At the moment I am watching re-runs of ‘Yes Minister’ and having been involved in politics and worked in the civil service for seven years, it is only now I realise how clever the humour is.
What is your greatest fear?
None really other than the usual irrational fears all parents have about their children from time to time.
On fear in general
When I go cave diving, you can feel the apprehension and fear building up before the dive and a very experienced caver once told me he was scared the whole dive and I am the same. It is this fear that keeps you alert and safe. I once momentarily blacked out on a dive in a cave and woke up face down unable to breathe. I distinctly remember thinking ‘Well, if you get this wrong you are going to die’, too which my next thought was ‘No way’ (or words to that effect). Fear is just an emotion; you listen to it and control it so it doesn’t affect your life.
Best thing about living in Furness?
The people are friendly and the location makes it special. We have a small cottage just of the coast road so we are very close to the sea. Compared to other parts of the UK there is still very much a community spirit in Furness, evidenced by the number of parades and civic events and this community spirit I hope will continue into the future and its nice to be able to be part of this.
Friday, 16 October, 2009
John Rentoul (The Independent) is speculating that a Jedi Master is in charge of the Home Office. This is because the security warning in the reception reads: “HEIGHTENED the State of Response is”, which as everyone knows is the way Master Yoda would describe things. Maybe we should worry, maybe the Dark Lords of the Sith have infiltrated the British Government…and given the draconian rules they have fostered us with, from databases to overbearing CCTV, from banning policewomen sharing childcare to trying to extend the detention without trial period, it seems the Dark Lords are already at work.
Luckily for us, ‘A New Hope’* is just over 200 days away.
*Star Wars Episode 4
Thursday, 15 October, 2009
There have been several blog entries as well as articles in newspapers regarding the selection process for the Labour Party candidate for Barrow & Furness. There is a summary of this on Labour Home at: http://www.labourhome.org/?p=7875
The internal workings of the Labour party and what constitutes a fair selection process are a mystery to me and I feel unqualified to comment on them. People will have to make their own minds up if they believe the allegations made on this website and in other places.
What I can comment on is how I was selected, after all I was there, and I can offer it as a contrast.
Barrow & Furness Conservatives ran an Open Primary and selected me in June 2007. What this meant was that the Executive received applications from candidates and we were then interviewed by the Association Executive. The Executive then put forward four candidates to the Open Primary stage of the selection. Notice of this was given via the Evening Mail that it was open to any voter in the constituency to attend and help select the candidate.
At the event about 200 people turned up, split roughly between members and non members. We all then did our question and answer session, one at a time, and then the assembled meeting took a vote, whilst we candidates sat worrying in the next room.
I remember it was quite nerve wracking at the time but I did go away knowing that I had been selected fairly, and in an open manner, and that my answers did sway some people in the room, and surely this is what democracy is all about.
It seems simple to me, if you want to avoid accusations and allegations then let democracy work properly and trust people.
Anyway best of luck to all candidates at the selection meeting.
Tuesday, 13 October, 2009
I was saddened to hear of another death in Wastwater over the weekend. I have dived the ‘pinnacles’ here many times and it is a favourite site for deep diving. After entering the water you follow an underwater rope to an area called the pinnacles where the underwater cliffs drop from about 13m to 55m. On the pinnacles there are plaques left to the many divers who have lost their lives diving this lake. From here you follow the cliff down, past the famous Gnome garden in about 45m of water and then it is a slope down to the deepest part of the lake. I don’t know the reasons behind this incident, but many accidents here are caused by diving too deep on a standard air mixture. This exposes you to risks from nitrogen narcosis, oxygen toxity problems and decompression sickness. Nitrogen narcosis, or being narked, as divers call it, is like being drunk under water that means your decision making ability is compromised so you may make the wrong decision, such as not monitoring your air supply. At depth you also run the risk of oxygen toxity that can bring on a sudden convulsion, with the risk of drowning. Decompression sickness is caused when you surface without making the necessary stops to allow the nitrogen you have absorbed during your dive to dissipate.
I used to do deep air dives here and time always seemed to go quickly as I reached the target depth, had a quick look around and then started heading back up. Since then I have dived the same profiles using a helium and air mix (called a trimix) which because some of the nitrogen is replaced by helium in your tank you do not get nitrogen narcosis, and because some of the oxygen is also replaced you do not have the same risks of a oxygen toxity hit. The first time I dived it on such a mix I was surprised by how much time I had, and it was then that I realised just how narked I had been when diving on air.
My condolences go out to his family and for any divers reading this, keep safe.
Friday, 09 October, 2009
I have just returned from, what I think was a very successful party conference in Manchester. The overriding mood was one of a sober and honest assessment of the difficulties we will face if we form the next Government, but also of a determination to succeed and optimism that we will overcome these difficulties. It was a conference that looked to the future, setting out a positive vision for Britain and is in stark contrast to the previous week where the Labour Party just spread scare stories and did not confront the problems we face. I had useful meetings with various people including representatives from the financial services industry, the energy industry and of course Keep Our Future Afloat.
People from Barrow will be reassured by Liam Fox’s (Shadow Defence Secretary) clear commitment in his speech that a Conservative Government will maintain a continuous submarine based deterrent for as long as it is needed. People would ask themselves, who has a proven track record of orders to the shipyard, the Conservatives who ordered eighteen vessels from 1979 to 1997 or Labour who have ordered one since 1997?
Our record in Barrow is clear, our aspiration for our country is clear; we believe our best days are ahead of us, not behind us and now it is up to us to get out on the streets and ask people to give us the chance to govern.
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