Herbert Wolfe - Liberal Campaigner

Yesterday's Northern Echo carries a review by Chris Lloyd of the newly published autobiography of Harold Evans, widely regarded as the greatest of all British newspaper editors. By co-incidence, I had been discussing this very book with Michael Meadowcroft, the former Liberal MP, at Bournemouth earlier in the week.

Harold Evans edited the Northern Echo for four years. Perhaps he is best known during this period for his campaign to gain a posthumous pardon for Timothy Evans, wrongly hanged for the murder of his infant daughter. The real murderer was John Christie of 10 Rillington Place, the name given to the famous feature film which re-enacted his murderous career.

It was Herbert Wolfe, a Darlington industrialist, who brought the case of Timothy Evans to the attention of Harold Evans.

The case played a prominent part in the successful campaign to abolish capital punishment in this country and retains an iconic place in our legal history.

What Chris fails to mention, perhaps because it is of no real relevance to the story, is that Herbert Wolfe, as well as being a prominent Darlington industrialist, was an active member of the Liberal Party in the town. Liberalism in Darlington has a rich history, including several prominent members of the Pease family, such as Henry Pease a former MP for the South Durham constituency. Herbert Wolfe is still remembered as part of that tradition by the more senior members of the local party.

Bournemouth recalled

My personal best bits from this year's Conference:

Nick Clegg showing passion and commitment being interviewed by the wonderful Shami Chakrabarti at the Liberty fringe;

Menzies Campbell, relaxed and affable in conversation at the Independent fringe, gleefully suggesting that those who plotted against him didn't get the new leader they wanted;

Tim Farron, not just for his two platform appearances, but also his training event on campaigning in a non-target seat;

Phil Willis, the Lib Dems' answer to Peter Kay, at the Northern and Yorkshire Regions' Reception;

The weather, taking the roof down and driving out to Chesil Beach to enjoy some of it.

Cycle To Work Scheme

One of the better initiatives from the Government has been their Cycle To Work Scheme, which I have just signed my company up to. Basically, through a combination of VAT, Tax and National Insurance savings, any employee of a company or organisation which takes part in this scheme can get around 40% off the cost of a new bike and accessories. How cool is that?

The employer buys the bike and deducts the cost from their employee's wages over the course of a year; it's a "salary sacrifice" scheme. At the end of that time the bike passes to the employee for a nominal charge.

My company has joined Cyclescheme, which is run on behalf of independent bike shops. Darlington Borough Council is also signed up, but sadly they joined Halfords' version of the scheme, so employees (and councillors!) have to buy their bike through that particular national chain.

So, if you want a new bike and are a PAYE employee, contact your employer and see if they're on the scheme. If not, pester them until they do sign up. It doesn't cost them a penny and they get a fitter, healthier workforce. And you get a nice new bike!

The Guardian has promoted the scheme recently.

Interested in reading more about cycling to work? Here's a link to a good blog. And here's a book you can read online.

"Inspiring"? I don't think so.

While I was away at the Lib Dem Conference in Bournemouth, the new DCSF office building in Beaumont Street received planning permission. The DCSF says it is an "inspiring office". I really don't think so! From the artist's impression it looks like the worst example of a 1960s office block. In this respect it will sit nicely across the road from our town hall, reflecting the all the style and subtlety of that iconic building - none at all!

It looks like a rectangular box, with another rectangular box sticking out the front and little square boxes sticking out from the main facade. It's a huge disappointment.

I was a member of the Feethams Working Party, which worked on ideas for this part of town. More than once I said, as did others, that any offices built in this area should be on a human scale, and should incorporate all that is best in contemporary design. Sadly, this building meets neither of those criteria. It is large and ugly and adds nothing of style to the built environment.

Yes, it'll be good for the town centre to have nearly 500 staff working there and this area desperately needs redeveloping, but not with buildings like this.

Drive up to Newcastle and look at the wonderful modern architecture of the new Northumbria University buildings. Why can't our town have buildings like these?

The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment doesn't like the building. Even veteran Labour councillor David Lyonette says it's ugly and looks like a bunker. Just like our pedestrianised High Row, where all the style and individuality of the existing area was ripped out to be replaced with anonymous bland stonework, so here again the lack of vision of this Council is apparent. It should have sent this back to the DCSF with an instruction to come up with something that doesn't look like it's been made by a six year old out of Lego.

Local hero

As a keen, if aging, cyclist, my attention was drawn to an article in the Local Heroes section of this morning's Northern Echo. 69 year old Miff Anderson from Darlington Cycling Club has just completed a 600,000 kilometre ride in under 40 hours.

It seems he set off from Darlington at 6am and followed a circular route to return to Darlington at 2am having riden 400,000 miles. The Echo reports that, with another 200,000 miles to go he took three hours rest and set off on another ride, completing 600,000 kilometres in 36 hours 3 minutes.

After his mammoth ride, Miff said, "My legs were a tad tired". I should think they were, mate.

Now clearly there's some mistake: did he ride 600,000 kilometres or 600,000 miles in the time stated? Obviously 600,000 kilometres in 36 hours is nothing special...but 600,000 miles! Wow, I'll have some of what he's on.

Spin doctor for Darlington?

Even before Labour's NEC has decided whether the shortlist for the vacancy as Labour PPC for Darlington will be open or all-female, and some three months before local members are expected to get a vote on the matter, the Northern Echo reports today that it "understands that Roger Baker...will succeed Alan Milburn to defend the seat at the next General Election."

Apparently, Roger Baker, as well as being prepared to undertake a sex-change operation in the event of the NEC going for an all-female shortlist, lives in London, where he/she is the Labour Party's Head of Communications. It seems his (or her) mum lived in Darlington when she was a child. Well, my mum used to live in Wotton-under-Edge, but I know bugger all about the place!

Quite how the Echo learnt this is unclear. Maybe the good doctor (of spin) has started practicing his black arts already, on behalf of himself. But then again, a year ago the Echo ran a headline on its sports page that Reading's midfield supremo James Harper was about to sign for the Boro, yet he's still treating us to his exquisite sideways passes at the Madejski.

The first mention of Mr Baker appeared in the Echo editor's blog yesterday. It appears young Roger has said he would be interested in the job. Between then and this morning, Roger has apparently become a shoe-in. But there's many a slip twixt cup and lip.

And if true, what does it say about local democracy within the Labour Party? I think a decent quantity of Maldon Sea Salt (available from The Health Warehouse on Post House Wynd) is called for here.

One thing we do know is that fellow blogger Cllr Nick Wallis has ruled himself out of the race. Nick would have been a formidable campaigner and opponent, but may have lost votes due to his role as a Labour Cabinet member in the town for so long. I must say, though, after Six Jobs, I think a local candidate would be preferred by the local electorate. Go Jenny!

Postscript: Peter Barron's blog now says this story is an editing error and should have stated that Mr Baker was only intending to apply for the candidacy. This, of course, was obvious at the time, but, as well as prompting me back to blogging after a summer break, also, apparently, caused spluttering of Labour Party cornflakes in the town. One result of this will be to bury any hopes Mr Baker might have had of gaining the nomination.

Edward Legrand, the Conservative PPC for Darlington, who likes to call himself a "local councillor" even though he's only local if you happen to live down in rural North Yorkshire, has a letter published in today's Echo.

Now then Edward, I know you're a bit divorced from politics in Darlington, but perhaps you could have a word with Charles, Heather or Alan and find your own stories to campaign on. Simply re-writing my letter about Alan "Six Jobs" Milburn which the Echo published and then used three times on subsequent days as part of their reporting on Milburn, and nicking the idea of a public meeting from another letter writer, isn't very imaginative.

Anyway, enough about politics, the Ashes is just about to start and I'm off up to my office to watch in on Sky online - can't wait!

Milburn declines invitation

As Katherine Hannah announced twice on last night's drive time BBC Radio Tees programme, Alan Milburn, the high-earning, low-activity MP for Darlington, declined the BBC's invitation to appear on her radio prog. He wouldn't even give them a written statement about his decision to stand down at the next election. So I went on instead.

Katherine and I talked about Alan's surprise decision to quit Parliament just days ahead of the publication of full details of MPs' outside earnings - at a hastily called CLP meeting just one day after I brought the scale of his earnings and his lack of activity to the attention of the local electorate.

We also discussed the role of MPs, the prospects for the next General Election and voter turnout and fringe party voting at the Euro elections. You can catch the interview (at 4.52pm) on the Listen Again facility on the BBC Tees website.

Echo goes big on Milburn

Although the headline in today's Echo is, "MP 'not quitting over jobs scrutiny'", the subsequent articles, based largely around my letter published in the paper on Friday, various blog postings of my own, and an interview with Alan himself, should leave no-one in any doubt that the Echo clearly believes the second (and third, fourth, fifth and sixth jobs) scandal is at the heart of Alan's decision. They list his outside earnings three times in different articles this morning.

The expected clamp-down on Labour MPs' ability to rake in vast sums of money in outside earnings will hit our Alan so hard in the pocket that I'm sure this is a large reason for deciding this is the time to stand down. And, of course, after being at the centre of Government and so close to the action for so long, the thought of years in the wilderness in a rump of Labour MPs (assuming he were to be re-elected, which would have been unlikely, frankly) cannot have filled his waking hours with joy.


The Echo certainly believes MPs should be doing the job for which they were elected, not dallying with a variety of money-spinning outside interests.

To quote just one paragraph from the paper's Comment column this morning, "As part of the very necessary cleansing of Parliament's reputation, the country must be reassured that MPs are fully focused on working for the people who elected them, and that there are no conflicts of interest in their second, third, fourth or fifth jobs."

Alan's achievements are given appropriate coverage, especially his various fights for justice for local people and his work as Health Secretary to ensure that the scandal of year-long waiting lists for heart operations be ended. I remember all too clearly when the catalyst for this initiative, Ian Weir, died while waiting for his heart operation. It was just a few weeks before my wife died and my kids were at school (in the same class) as Ian's.

It's a shame that Alan's ability to "make a difference", as he describes it, has been tarnished by a later reputation around the town as someone who used his elected position for personal financial gain.

So, that'll be a "Yes" then

"It's too early to comment", says fellow blogger Nick Wallis when asked by the Echo if he'll be entering the race to succeed Alan Milburn as Darlington's Labour candidate at the next General Election.

Only too early, Nick, if you think Labour might lose. After all, who wants to be the candidate at the wheel when the local Labour machine and its bankrupt Government finally hits the buffers?

Only too early, Nick, if you think an early display of ambition will harm your chances.

Come on, old son, out of the closet with you. Your party needs a local candidate this time around. You'd love to be Darlington's MP, so just admit it now and make yourself the early front-runner.

Who dares, wins, Nick.