Blog 23rd-29th April 2007
Westminster, Rodmersham, Sittingbourne, Ridham Dock, SCC, Sheerness & the Barbican
Monday was frantic. (I wonder how many times I have started my blog with that sentence). It started with a live interview on LBC; it was followed by a presentation on the Works of Art new web site; I then went on to witness the signing by HRH Prince Edward (Earl of Wessex) of the new concordant between Chile and the UK on university cooperation; I attended a Parliament and Industry Trust luncheon (I am a Fellow) and followed this with a discussion with delegates on who was responsible for voter apathy – MPs or the media (let me know if you have any clues)? I slipped into Works and Pensions QT and I asked about the unclaimed assets of pension funds and whether we needed primary legislation so that ex ASW could benefit. The Ethiopian Ambassador dropped by to talk about my plans for an online school for Africa and whether we could use his country as one of our pilots. We also talked through my idea for a conference for a carbon trading system for Africa. At the Public Affairs Committee (we meet twice a week) we quizzed the Chairman of the Income Tax and Customs & Excise. I asked why tax payers who registered online didn't receive an incentive; ditto those who paid their taxes early. I argued that if we penalised those who were late we should reward those who were early or even on time. Simon Clegg, CEO of the British Olympic Association, dropped by. He has lots of imaginative ideas to celebrate the centenary of our first Olympics next year.
Tuesday started with an Ofcom breakfast on their ideas for a public sector publisher to rival the BBC. I subsequently raised some questions on the Order Paper about how it was to be funded. Two years ago when Ofcom published its opening position on the PSP, mine was the only submission to call for a broadband tv response. Late last year, they asked for further submissions in the light of Web 2.0 and I suggested creating a hub for the public sector. I chaired the second Digital Inclusion Conference and suggested that we needed a £50 version of the Blackberry; I then went onto the InfoSecurity Europe exhibition at Olympia where I spoke on Security and the Olympics and suggested that the increased anti-terrorism costs should be funded by the IOC. In the evening, Zoe Rahman (a Bangladeshi-Brit) was our guest at the Parliamentary Jazz Awards. She sure can play the piano. The FT ran a small piece about politics and the internet and quoted me.
We walked the dogs slightly later this morning at 7am….and I had what I would call a "catch-up" day on correspondence and papers. I did an interview for www.guardianunlimited.co.uk on Premier Rugby's commitment to social responsibility in their communities (which is exceptional). At PAC select committee, we looked at the Heritage Lottery organisation and the poverty of awards to Sittingbourne and Sheppey. In the early evening, I went to the Institute of Mechanical Engineers to see their innovation projects which were brilliant. Later, we said goodbye to Simon Allen, our general manager at the RAC Club in Pall Mall.
BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Thursday featured our discussions on the paucity of awards to poorer constituencies which I had led on during our session yesterday. The vile emails and letters continue from ex-ASW and others caught in the scheme – none of whom have bothered to write to me over the past five years. I did an hour's seminar to Labour MPs and their staff on internet campaigning and was then asked to write an additional blog for the official Labour web site. Later, I met Microsoft officials to run through my projects for both London 2012 and Africa. I'm hoping they like the Olympic project…………….I drove home early to Rodmersham as we were on a one line whip.
I was at 5 London Road at 0830 on Friday. Barclays Bank has agreed to set up a hardship fund for those people who took out a Shared Appreciation Mortgage scheme. We have constituents caught up in this and I took one of them to see the Deputy Chairman of the Bank earlier in the year, so this was quite a result. I received two very kind emails from ex-ASW workers thanking me for my efforts to help them……which was a very welcomed touch. I have done my very best to represent them these past five years. I spent an hour at Ridham Dock filming two pieces for the Politics Show on Meridian before going onto Sittingbourne Community College to hand out the certificates from BRFM to four students who had completed their course work this week. I then dropped into The Foyer in Sheerness to give them a laptop so their young people can start to design a web site for their Open Day. I moved on to Sea Shells (Sure Start, Sheerness) where I presented the Investors in People award to their Nursery Staff – a first in Kent. It was then back to London to the Barbican to attend the Open University's Installation, Reception and Dinner for the new Chancellor, David Puttnam. I was a "C" student at the OU in 1973 and was awarded my upper second class honours degree in art and architecture at the beginning of 1979. It was this result which helped me win a place at Oxford in 1981.
Over the weekend, Jo and I went to see The Lives of Others (subtitled) about the destructive impact of life in East Germany under the Stasi; this is interwoven into a thriller involving writers, actors and playwrights; the film has a number of surprising twists; quite the best we've seen for years.
Derek Wyatt MP
www.derekwyatt.co.uk