SHOULD CHARITY BEGIN AT HOME?
The Prime Minister, David Cameron, visited Quedgeley to see how this county was coping with the floods and left telling us we're all doing very well – like 'young Mr Grace' used to do in Are You being Served?
Despite such window dressing, I wonder how the PM manages to look people in the eye whose homes and businesses have been inundated with water. It's all very well talking about insurance but what happens if insurance companies won't touch you with a bargepole?
Mr Cameron and his cronies are quite happy to see the UK's foreign aid bill rise to £12.6billion a year by 2014 but there seems to be no such thing as home-aid.
About £1.4billion of the UK's annual aid budget goes towards the £10billion that is spent by the EU on aid to counties that simply do not need it. A recent investigation showed that the EU spends about half of its £10 billion aid budget on middle and higher income countries - even though Britain actually believes those countries are too wealthy to merit support.
For example, Brussels has committed £30 million to 22 aid projects in China, a country with almost 150 billionaires. Other schemes we contribute to are; a Turkish television channel, a scheme promoting tourism in Iceland's national park and a hotel training waiters in Barbados. How about the EU funding flood-relief schemes in the UK? It's no wonder so many people, myself included, are sick of the sight of that European flag.
There was a time when the United Kingdom Independence Party was seen as a joke by all three mainstream parties but when UKIP started to gain momentum, it was smeared as 'racist' in a feeble attempt to drive it away. Now we are told that the Conservatives are looking to do a deal with UKIP because they see the party as a serious threat in the next general election. Too damned right it is!
People in Tewkesbury and the Forest of Dean, Maisemore and Sandhurst need help just as much as anyone in the countries that receive our money, and they need it now. If it's racist to say we shouldn't throw any more British taxpayers' money down the EU drain, call me racist. I won't lose any sleep. But David Cameron should.
HO HO NO
A Christmas card arrived for me, sent by 'Johnny', one of the group opposed to an incinerator at Javelin Park. It seems he's not impressed with my opinion on the subject but chose to let me know in a good-humoured way, even including a 'Stop Javelin Park Incinerator' leaflet. Because he went to so much trouble, I'm more than happy to mention the last of a series of meetings being held by the protest group. If you don't want a big chimney for Father Christmas to come down, go along to the Town Hall in Stonehouse at 7.30 pm on 4 December.
THEY THINK IT'S MALL OVER… IT IS NOW!
After an unpopular run as 'The Mall' – a name which few people liked - The Eastgate shopping centre returned to its original name. But that was a while ago, so if anyone visiting the city is looking to park and shop at The Eastgate, this sign in Brunswick Road could be confusing. It would be better to update it than to have shops in The Eastgate losing trade.
STORE WARS
Located on the corner of Calton Road and Stroud Road, here's a new local business that's fighting back. I don't know for sure whether it was intentional, but the idea of calling the shop 'Calton Express' is brilliant, as it sounds like it's one of a certain large supermarket's chain of stores. Even the colours of the sign are red white and blue, just like the aforementioned big player. I hope the shop does well – if only for its cheeky ingenuity.
