FIDDLERS IN THE HOUSE

Sir Thomas Legg says 390 MPs must repay £1,305,000 for the expenses scandal.

In fact, all MPs, including the current MP for Mid Bedfordshire Nadine Dorries, share the blame, whether or not they individually have been caught fiddling expenses.
They were ALL responsible for the expenses system, which condoned fiddling.
They MUST all have known what was going on.
And none of them did anything about it.
That's Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat.

They share the blame for this scandal which has brought ridicule on our parliamentary democracy.
These were the people elected to take major decisions of war and peace.
You have an opportunity on 6 May (or whenever) at the ballot box to let your voice be heard.

Councillor Ken Lynch joins the Green Party

Today Mid Bedfordshire Councillor Ken Lynch has announced he has joined the Green Party. Ken represents Pinnacle Ward in Sandy. On the council he has been a member of the Independent group.

Today's news means that Ken Lynch joins his Green Party colleague Gareth Ellis on Mid Bedfordshire District Council.

Ken says: "Two Green councillors in Mid Beds means a better voice for Sandy now. Sandy can't ignore global problems. Hard times require strong action".

I spent today in Sandy, with Green Party activists from Bedfordshire, Norwich and Cambridge. We delivered thousands of leaflets to Ken's electors in Sandy. Rupert Read, the lead Green Party candidate in next year's European elections, and local European candidate Marc Schiemann helped get Ken's message to Sandy people.

Green Councillors Make a Difference !

Here's a short video clip about Norwich, where Green Councillors are having a major positive impact on the local council. It shows that voting Green does make a difference.

Norwich is in the same Eastern Region of the Green Party as Mid Bedfordshire. Here we have just one Green Councillor, Gareth Ellis, on Mid Bedfordshire District Council, but that still makes a big difference. In Spring 2009 we become part of the new unitary authority of Central Bedfordshire. A Green presence then will be even more important.

Marc Scheimann reports on Council Waste Recycling

Luton & Bedfordshire Green Party hold regular monthly meetings, which I try to attend.
There is always lively interesting discussion.

Last Tuesday evening Marc Scheimann, our 2009 local European Parliament Candidate, reported a study he is carrying out on local authority waste recycling. In what amounts to a scam, it appears that some 35% of Councils send their recycling waste to destinations outside the UK. Marc added that Mid Bedfordshire District Council seem to be in the clear. Although 2% of Mid Beds recycling goes abroad, it is for a specific reason, to known destinations.

Never the same again ....

It may seem far away from Mid Bedfordshire, but recent days have witnessed dramatic events in global finance markets. It's too early to be clear what's happening. We have a confluence of two global crises: this financial turmoil, and the world eco-crisis - oil, food, deforestation, global warming. One thing is quite certain. The world will never be the same again.