Confusion, consternation and plain anger tonight across the leafy suburbs of Bristol as the news comes in that the Bristol and South Gloucestershire Conservative Association’s events listing website is down.
Fear not. As part of the Bristol Blogger’s political inclusion remit we are happy to list those forthcoming Conservative events in full:
Stoke Bishop Tea Club
Monday February 18 2008
Stoke Bishop Village Hall
Guest Speaker: Mr Mike Brayley of the Rotary Club of Nailsea and Backwell
Contact: Noreen Billingham
Bunter Eddy’s Pie Club
Thursday March 16, 6.00pm
The Grand Lodge of the Church of the Latter Day Tories, Headley Park, Bristol.
Bunter’s monster monthly pie scoffing social. This month features a world exclusive with the official unveiling of the latest Pieminister pie aimed firmly at the mass frozen foods market – “The Bunter” (it’s full of shit!)
Guest Speaker: Major General Sir Bernard J Rufton Bufton Tufton, Esquire (Retd), MA (cantab), MBE (Hons), CBE, M.Phil, BBC, CBGB, OMG, HTML, WTF, LSD will talk at great length on “Me and my gollies”
Booking advised.
The James Barlow Lectures
Cabot District Girl Guide Hut, Westbury on Trym
The Chairman of Bristol West Constituency Conservative Party and leading local Conservative thinker presents an exclusive set of policy-related lectures. Not to be missed!
1 March 2008: Are a team of 200 Chinese coolies with rickshaws the solution to Bristol’s transport problems?
15 March 2008: The European Council of Ministers: they eat babies
22 March 2008: Is taxation the real cause of global warming?
These lectures are all FREE and are funded by SWRDA’s Sustainable Futures Policy Fund for the Promotion of Community Involvement in partnership with Bristol City Council’s Equality for All Diversity Challenge Fund and the Home Office’s Social Cohesion Quality Award Scheme for Inclusive Communities.
Annual Dennis Thatcher Memorial Golfing Day
Thursday 23 March 2008
Early start as usual. This year’s gin breakfast will be kindly hosted by Sid and Doris Bonkers in their garden shed, Sea Mills.
Golf clubs optional bring your own Gin!
Conservative Future’s Nazi Theme Ball featuring the Big Prize Herman Goering Look-a-like Contest
Friday March 21 2008
The Bristol University Vomitorium
£10 a ticket
Authentic costumes and top notch Nazi regalia available to rent at very reasonable rates. Contact Dennis Burn c/o Society of Merchant Venturers
Ordinary Dave’s Let’s Make the World a Greener Place Bristol to Bath Charity Cycle Ride
Sunday 16 March 2008
Join your fellow local Conservatives and help make the world a better place by cycling from Bristol to Bath.
For further details and the exact meeting place, please call Barbara Lewis at the end of next week when she hopes to have found out where the Bristol and Bath Railway Path actually is.
(That’s enough Bristol Conservative Events, Ed)
speaking of James Barlow, he’s taken a fancy to ‘debating’ street art…
take a look:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/bristolgraffiti/discuss/72157603881419556/
(I’m hoping for some Bristol blogger abuse of him…)
Rickshaws? Hmmm….
Anyway, in regard to web site problems – people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones:
Sort out your “What The Blogger’s Reading” section. You’ve bolloxed up the Del.icio.us feed.
James is a little coy about Bristol Conservative Group’s other budget amendment.
£265K from Bristol contingency funds (“our money”) spent on Parks and Youth Services.
Great stuff, I hear you cry! Er, well look at the named parks and services getting the money, and the political affiliation of the councillors for those wards 🙂 …
Develop four new Park Play Areas 215,000…
Canford Park, Westbury on Trym – Cllr Gollop & Cllr Fox, Conservatives
Cottle Road Park, Stockwood – Cllr Jethwa & Cllr Morris, Conservatives
Victory Park, Brislington East – Cllr Lewis, Conservative
Kings Head Park, Bishopsworth – Cllr Eddy & Cllr Quartley, Conservatives
Each gets £50K except Conservative leader Eddy’s park which gets £65K!
Additional Young People’s Development Work 50,000…
Oldbury Court Youth Club, Frome Vale, Cllr Alexander (Conservative)
Brislington East Respect Project, Brislington East – Cllr Lewis, Conservative
Henbury Youth Centre, Henbury – Cllr Weston (Conservative)
Manor Farm Boys’ Club, Horfield Cllr Kerry (Conservative)
St Silas Youth Club – presumably St Silas Club for Young People in Stockwood – Cllr Jethwa & Cllr Morris, Conservatives
Two others that may not fit the trend. Does anyone know about these?
Avon Young People’s Club, presumably Long Ashton based “Avon Club for Young People”?- previously “Avon Boys Club”,
and Blenheim Scouts, Whitchurch Park could that be there to embarass Helen Holland when she votes against their amendment?!
Strangely, nothing for Cllr Spud Murphy (Conservative) and his Avonmouth ward – could that be because he is speaking out against the PFI plans for a mass burn incinerator, which Labour and his Tory colleagues on council appear determined to push through?
Our man with the woggle writes …
Don’t know anything about Avon Young People’s Club but the Blenheim Scouts are the most active Scout troop in South Bristol, if not the city.
They’ve also had a good few years now courtesy of government regeneration funds – SRB (Single Regeneration Budget) and Neighbourhood Renewal – and from the slightly obscure and deranged eurocash pot for South Bristol – Urban.
All these funding streams have now come to an end however, which has left the Scouts with a serious funding shortfall.
So it’s unlikely there’s anything particularly underhand going on here. Much more likely is that noisy Blenheim Scout boss Alan Burnett has just bent Eddy’s ear about the situation so much, Eddy’s decided to try to do something about it for a quiet life (plus no doubt Eddy’s quite keen on boys in uniforms).
However should there be even a hint of an emerging Blenheim Scoutgate scandal, rest assured the Blogger will be reporting it.
To add to the comment about Blenheim Scouts. Just like to make it clear they have benefited from SRB and Neighbourhood Renewal – not through grants, but through bloody hard work. The organisation has been paid to provide delivery services and security, stewarding and first aid at events. Those providing the services (adults and kids) do so voluntarily, with the proceeds going to buy stuff like musical instruments, canoes, transport, and other equipment for the kids involved – nearly all of whom live in one of the most deprived parts of the city.
Much as I fear uniformed institutions, you can’t fault this group for their enterprise and hard work. I hope they do get some financial support from BCC – councillors ridiculously reflecting in the glory are an irrelevance.
The nausea inducing Labour & Tory “love in” on Bristol City Council continued tonight as Cllr Bees (Labour) praised then passed the Conservative amendment described above!
Surprisingly, Labour voted unanimously with the Tories to invest £295K in Tory held & marginal wards! This was enough to buy the Tory’s support for the Labour Council budget!
“A small price to pay”, said Cllr Bees.
They then clubbed together to deny any debate on the first Lib Dem amendment & Charlie Bolton’s amendment and to defeat both other Lib Dem amendments.
The LabCon party also made it abundantly clear that they supported the Avonmouth mass burn incinerator.
The Lib Dems unanimously voted to scrap the incinerator PFI plans.
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“They then clubbed together to deny any debate on the first Lib Dem amendment & Charlie Bolton’s amendment and to defeat both other Lib Dem amendments.”
Could this not last year have read:
“They then clubbed together to deny any debate on the first Labour amendment & Charlie Bolton’s amendment and to defeat both other Lib Dem amendments.” Hypocracy live and well in Ashley, eh Jon.
Not the same at all.
Last year the Lord Mayor was acting on legal advice that said if the money that funded in a budget ammendment had already been allocated, it could not be debated again.
City Clerk McNamara, following shedloads of complaints by Labour Councillors consulted M’Learned friends. They said that Bristol Council’s procedure was probably unlawful, so this year the legal advice was opposite to that given last year, ie. that such ammendments SHOULD be discussed.
To complicate matter, Lord Mayor Griffey is also a lawyer! He said this counsel’s opinion was no good, and he knew better. Of course ‘working class hero’ Royston Griffey from Hartcliffe ward actually lives in two stately homes this year, the Mansion House that goes with the job, plus his own home which is the immeccably proletarian Bishopsworth Manor!
New Labour Councillors – dontcha just love ’em!