That was the budget that was

Well that is I assume Gordon Brown's last budget and as usual a large part of it was spent patting himself on the back. The most talked about aspect was his cut in the basic tax rate to 20p; funnily enough he was a little less vocal about removing the basic starter rate of 10p. Strange that! Although he has tidied up the tax system to a certain extent and that I welcome in principle he has been berated in much of the media and many blogs for producing a tax con.

Of course the budget reply has to be the worst parliamentary event of the year for a Leader of the Opposition. Gordon's 'tax cut' came right at the end of his speech - an old trick to wrong foot the other parties. I think Cameron was doing quite well but then the BBC cut him off in mid flow. I'm not a supporter of any one political party but surely for a sense of balance we should have been permitted to see the FULL response of David Cameron and also that of Ming Campbell for that matter.

I noticed that BBC political editor Nick Robinson was awestruck by Brown but was really taken to task by some commenters on his blog. In fact he made a second blog entry on the budget in which he seemed to retract his position a little.

As everyone thought the worst polluting vehicles are going to be clobbered with a hike in vehicle excise duty (VED). Superficially this sounds good but as I had explained previously it isn't in so far as people who need 4 wheel drive vehicles which might be more polluting in use don't have this choice. People like Brown produce these policies without thinking them through.

Funeral of Charlotte Shaw

Last Wednesday saw the funeral of teenager Charlotte Shaw. Charlotte, a pupil of Bideford's Edgehill College, sadly lost her life as a result of falling into the swollen Walla Brook on 4th March. As I blogged on the following day the weather was truly awful and an adult couple also died, in this instance as a result of a wave sweeping them off a sea wall in Cornwall.

Pictures of Charlotte and what I have read indicate she was a very happy and vibrant girl. The police investigation suggests that this was a really tragic accident and that nobody should be blamed. I believe I am right in saying that Charlotte was trying to retrieve her rucksack that had fallen into the torrent. There will be those now with a sense of guilt; well they really really shouldn't feel that way. It doesn't matter how prepared you are - a tragedy like this can happen in an instant, but that doesn't lessen the pain for her family and friends.

Will Gordon turn genuinely green tomorrow?

Tomorrow sees Gordon Brown presenting what will probably be his last budget. The rumour mill suggests that he might be substantially upping the level of vehicle excise duty on the worst polluting cars with 4WD vehicles very much in his sights. Such an act might be construed as Mr Brown showing his green credentials. That's absolute rubbish! He has shown no real interest in the environment during his stewardship at the Treasury and his measures are much more concerned with tax gathering than anything else.

Now I am a genuine green in my outlook on life, not a pretend green. And I'm also a realist. So let's examine any proposal to raise road tax on 4WD vehicles. Broadly speaking users of such cars can be split into two groups: firstly there are those who need a landrover, jeep or similar as part of their day to day work. Examples are farmers, foresters and coastguards. Then there are the rest, people who don't have any overriding need for such vehicles but decide for whatever reason to have one, these cars are typified by the phrase 'Chelsea Tractors'.

So looking at the first group, if you are one of the hundreds of family farmers in Devon and Cornwall for instance, the very last thing you need is an increase in overheads particularly when the government has let you down with the ill fated rural payments agency. A landrover is just as much a tool in their work as any other piece of machinery on a farm. So why should they be penalised? As to the other group of users are they going to be put off buying a 4WD? I don't think so somehow! For those who can already afford one with usually a greater purchase price and fuel consumption an extra £4 a week say for road tax is very small beer indeed.

To be fair Gordon may surprise us all tomorrow. But to my way of thinking he has no perception of the motivation of people purchasing 4WDs. Either that or he is looking to appear green. My anger is largely centred on the fact that he is prepared to increase the overheads of people such as farmers who already are very hard pressed financially. I do hope that people can see through his pseudo greenery.

...and Devon to hold a public enquiry

Devon County Council have just repeated that they will hold a public enquiry into the circumstances surrounding the Napoli incident. This is very welcome bearing in mind that our useless government won't be having one. But that runs to form; back in 2001 after the foot and mouth crisis it was again down to Devon to do the necessary, the government not wanting to risk criticism of their ineptitude in that particular situation. It seems that the Devon enquiry will be looking at the seaworthiness or otherwise of the Napoli, something I'm very pleased about.

Part of Branscombe beach reopens...

Good news time. Part of Branscombe beach, closed back in January when the MSC Napoli made its unrequested visit to East Devon's Jurassic Coast, has now been reopened to the public. It does seem that businesses in Branscombe are returning to some sort of normality and I heard a lady from the Masons Arms sounding quite upbeat about everything.

Sally Clark dies

Sally Clark has died aged just 42. She was a mother found guilty of killing two sons, being sent to prison and then with the help of her steadfast husband having her conviction quashed. The torment of being convicted and then sent to prison must have been bad enough but it is too easy to forget how awful it would be to lose two young children in the first place. Although I think that the death was announced yesterday I noticed the story was the lead item on ITV's early evening news today.

It will be remembered that Angela Cannings and Donna Anthony were convicted of similar 'crimes' but eventually released on appeal. When I hear people clamour for the return of the death penalty in this country I feel like mentioning these three ladies names. Interestingly I heard Michael Howard say not so long ago that is now against capital punishment and I was quite surprised but pleased that he voiced that opinion.

Until a post mortem is carried out we won't know the cause of Sally's death; suicide has not been ruled out. The way we treat people wrongly convicted of a crime and the way we treat relatives of those who have been murdered is indicative of how civilised we are. I'm afraid this country is far from perfect in that respect.

Lifeboat news

A lot to write about at the moment regarding our lifeboat service, particularly in relation to Cornwall. Last Monday the RNLI celebrated the centenary of its largest ever rescue. Back in 1907 the White Star liner Suevic ran aground on rocks off Cornwall's Lizard in bad weather. Four lifeboats set out from the Lizard peninsula and rescued all 456 souls from the ship, including some 70 babies. One has to bear in mind that the lifeboats were rowing boats and that the rescue was effected in rough seas and darkness. Other folk helped by wading into the cold rough seas to assist the rescued to get ashore. There are always myths about Cornish wreckers shining lights to entice ships on to the rocks but this 16 hour long rescue is far more representative of what our local seafarers were about. It is such a shame that we seem to be so excited by today's celebrity culture yet these 'celebrities' are nobodies compared with the fishermen that were manning the oars of the Lizard lifeboats, truly giants in my opinion.

Fast forward 100 years to the announcement this week of a really wacky fund raising stunt to raise money for the lifeboat service. Roger Ryman, head brewer at St Austell Brewery, was pondering on a way to mark his 40th birthday. Now Roger is involved with the Charlestown Rowing Club just down the road from St Austell and mused that it might be fun to rustle up a crew to circumnavigate the county in a Cornish gig. Somehow he managed to get enough volunteers for the venture which is to take place in May (I don't know how much ale had been quaffed prior to them coming aboard so to speak).

They will row east from Charlestown to Plymouth and then go up the Tamar to Calstock. This is where things get really interesting. At Calstock they will haul the gig out of the water put it on its trailer and then manually haul it overland to Bude from where they will continue the circumnavigation! There is a website here that goes into detail about it all. The whole escapade will take a week and naturally the evening stopovers will be in St Austell Brewery pubs. It's amazing isn't it how these madcap ideas seem to be linked to alcohol consumption! I look forward to seeing them in May certainly for part of the overland push.

More lifeboat news with a local connection. The RNLI have just concluded a deal with DML at Plymouth for nine Tamar-class boats, the order being worth £12.6 million. This is fabulous news. Apparently they will have a range of 250 miles and a top speed of 25 knots - something of a contrast to those rowing boats they used on the Lizard a century ago.

Diversion problems

On Tuesday evening I had to go to a meeting at Mary Tavy, a village on the A386 about 4 miles north of Tavistock. Coincidentally a juggernaut had turned over at a bridge between Tavistock and Mary Tavy that morning. I'm pleased to say that there were no fatalities. However listening at home to the radio we were told that the road was blocked in both directions and it became evident that the lorry would take some time to be recovered.

I had arranged to be picked up in the village as parking at our ultimate destination was very limited. Being aware that we would be diverted I had looked at the OS map to check out the alternative route we would have to take; this was just as well as Esmond was unaware of the accident and didn't know the intricacies of the diversion. I was able to advise him so that we got to Mary Tavy without mishap. It was a route which I had used in the past which helped me to give the correct directions but I was glad to have viewed the map beforehand all the same.

When a major route has to be closed to traffic then the signposting of an alternative becomes a nightmare in our two counties with the country lanes being far too narrow for commercial traffic. Our committee chairman, approaching from the south, followed the signed diversion which took him many miles to the north. He was unaware of the accident or its location. Luckily he had his mobile with him and contacted us from which we ascertained he was about 12 or so miles too far north and confronted with a road closed sign. We were able to reassure him that he could drive round the barrier and with an empty road was able to join us in a short time.

It is a real dilemma for the police and highways department to sensibly sign these diversions and it does show how useful a mobile phone can be when out in the car (only used when you are parked up of course). We risked going home via the main road by which time both lorry and police had gone. Although the road traffic report I heard earlier in the evening suggested the road might be reopened by 7 o'clock (shortly before we would arrive there) it does take time for highways to remove the diversion signs when they are spread out many miles apart. Quite a logistical problem!

Hummingbird hawk moth seen

I've enjoyed the sunny warm weather of late but we are promised a cold blast from the north next week, with the possibility of snow showers on higher ground at least. I had previously mentioned seeing butterflies on the wing; I've noticed brimstones, peacock and red admirals in the last week or so. But yesterday I was particularly excited to see in a friend's garden my first hummingbird hawk moth of the year! Wow, this really was a totally unexpected pleasure!

Napoli - public can help at last

I've neglected this blog for a few days, the better weather tempting me out into the garden where there is so much to do.

This past weekend has seen a new aspect of the Napoli saga unfold: at long last the general public have been able to get involved with the beach clean up. One benefit of the publicity that surrounded the beaching of MSC Napoli was the desire of many many people to help clean up the beaches affected by the spilled contents from the stranded ship. Up until now the authorities have deemed it better and safer to let the contractors deal with this aspect. But with the bulky stuff removed this is the opportunity for the willing army of volunteers to move in and over 100 have started to remove the bits of plastic and other small items from Seaton beach. James Chubb from East Devon District Council is the guy coordinating everything and those who turned up plus the hundreds of others who couldn't make it this time have submitted their email addresses so that information regarding this and future clean ups can be transmitted efficiently. This is where email really comes into its own.

These volunteer clean ups are excellent; they cut right across the social, age and class divide. This first go at Seaton beach was relatively easy in access terms, later ones could be more tricky.

A couple of butterflies and lunch on the patio

A dry day today with some reasonable warmth and sunshine. Sunny enough in fact to see a couple of butterflies on the wing over the garden. These were a peacock and a brimstone. And although it has now clouded up somewhat (late afternoon) it was pleasant enough to take advantage of the weather and eat my lunch on the patio. Eating out of doors is a particular pleasure I find, memories now coming back of having tea in the garden when we were children. A good many pubs and cafes in this neck of the woods have outside seating facilities which is excellent to see. Maybe it's all these foreign holidays people go on but folk seem more inclined to eat outside these days or so it seems to me.

I managed to get some work done in the garden during the afternoon, of the general clearing up kind. On a previous occasion I had mentioned the abundance of moss in my garden, not too surprising bearing in mind the damp air so prevalent in Cornwall plus the fact that the sun is still low in the sky. Bramble is another species that thrives here! My primroses are well out and as usual the aquilegia (columbine) has self seeded - like forget-me-not once you have it in the garden you'll never be without it!

Horrendous weather - and 3 deaths

I have already referred to the awful weather we endured yesterday (Sunday). The elements contributed to the sad deaths of 3 people over the day, a man, a woman and a teenage girl. The couple were washed off the sea wall at Mullion Cove on Cornwall's Lizard, their bodies were recovered by helicopter and they were pronounced dead at the Royal Cornwall Hospital. The other incident occurred on Dartmoor when a teenage girl on a training expedition for the Ten Tors Challenge in May slipped into the Walla Brook near Watern Tor on the northern moor. She was with a group of other youngsters from Edgehill College at Bideford. She was flown to Plymouth's Derriford Hospital in a very poorly state and tragically died during the night.

Although the weather was appalling it is too easy to say that the team from Bideford shouldn't have been out there. (It should be said that there were many other teams of teenagers out on the moor either training for the Ten Tors or progressing the Duke of Edingburgh award scheme) The thing is that there is an incredibly fine line between a close shave with death and death itself and until we hear details of the circumstances I won't make a judgment. No doubt in my mind that it's good for today's youth to take on challenges but was this a challenge too far? I believe this is the first fatality either in the Ten Tors or in the training leading up to it.

As to the couple swept away by the waves sadly this is not an isolated instance in Cornwall. My own advice is to work out the closest distance you can be from the breakers and then multiply that distance by 20 say. Definitely do not walk on any form of sea wall in those conditions. The waves and the sea generally are so variable in nature and hit with such incredible force, people just don't understand.

I now hear that another persons body has been washed up near Padstow. All in all not nice news to report.

Napoli and oiled seabirds

There have been so many strands to consider in the ongoing Napoli story that I have omitted to blog about a particularly important aspect: the effect of Napoli's oil on seabirds. One hears about minimal oil pollution as a result of the Napoli affair, the problem seems to me to be that although in volume terms there was little loss of oil it is the nature of the stuff that it forms a thin sheen on the water and it's this that affects seabirds.

The RSPCA have an excellent facility for dealing with oiled birds at its West Hatch Wildlife Centre near Taunton and this is where their dedicated staff have been helping the affected birds. Last week saw the first of the rescued guillemots released back into the wild, hopefully to be followed by many more.

About 1900 birds have been rescued by the animal welfare organisations but they reckon that ten times that number could have suffered from the oil spillage. At this location it's mainly the guillemots that have been affected and because these birds lay just one egg a year then it is feared that their population could be markedly depleted as a result.

It used to be the case that some rogue oil tankers would clean out their tanks at sea and I use to periodically hear about oiled birds being washed up on the coastline as a result. I don't know if this still happens.

Forsythias in full bloom

As long ago as December 22 I had reported a forsythia that had shown a few flowers for some weeks. It seemed to stay like that for a long time but now this one and others in the village are at their best. I will explain here that not only is my garden detached from the cottage but it is also offset slightly so that I don't look directly over it. This may appear odd, just let me say that this is Cornwall and we don't always conform to usual expectations! So the forsythia whose golden flowers I enjoy looking across the road from my front window belongs to a neighbour. It certainly lights up what is otherwise a dreary day.

Should I decide to gaze out from the back of the house what catches the eye? Happily another two forsythia belonging to a different neighbour whose mimosa is also still exhibiting a few flowers.

Having a few bushes and trees nearby helps to bring the wildlife in. Seeing an estate with very minimal amounts of vegetation is a really depressing sight. Surely not the way one is meant to live!

I saw the lunar eclipse

"What a difference a day makes" as they say. I'm typing this on Sunday morning with the rain lashing down and a fair gale blowing. Fortunately yesterday was quite different, mainly dry with a good measure of sunshine. Taking advantage of the transient ridge of high pressure we had an easy 5 mile walk on the western side of Dartmoor. I do love contrasts and the wide open spaces on the moor are so different from the steep sided valley which is my home. Yet the two are but a few miles apart.

Luckily it was late into the night before the cloud rolled in and so it was possible to get a sight of the total eclipse of the moon. Nature and natural phenomena fascinate me, anything from the hatching of a dragonfly in my pond to observing an eclipse. The joy of a lunar eclipse is the fact that it takes place over a reasonable length of time unlike a solar eclipse which passes all too quickly. I still feel cheated over the total eclipse that occurred in I think 1999 when the weather was less than ideal in the south west! What was particularly frustrating then was the fact that the day either side of the 'eclipse day' was perfectly sunny!

Still on the subject of appreciation of nature I find it interesting that two labour politicians that I believe had an above average amount of integrity (John Smith and Robin Cook) were also great hill walkers and lovers of wide open spaces. Any connection I wonder. But for their untimely deaths I daresay there would have been no UK involvement in an Iraq war. Makes one think doesn't it.

Dr Kelly documentary was excellent

On the 25th February (ie last Sunday) I had blogged that there was going to be a very important documentary on BBC tv, one of the series 'The Conspiracy Files', about the death of Dr David Kelly. I felt it was well balanced and produced in a calm non-sensational way. All credit goes to concerned blogger Rowena Thursby and Libdem MP Norman Baker for their unremitting search for the truth. A couple of days ago Rowena put up a link to a video of the whole programme on her blog dr-david-kelly.blogspot.com I will be watching it again.

Free bus scheme running into trouble

Anyone in England aged over 60 and the registered disabled can travel for free during off peak times (for which read after 9.30). Under government rules the minimum area covered by the scheme is the local authority area in which you reside. As I understand it central government doles out to the districts sums of money that they assume will cover the costs. This may all appear very worthy but there is a fundamental problem - just how does one assess the number of people likely to take up the scheme, the number of journeys they are likely to make and the length of these journeys. Some local councils in our area are finding themselves overstretched paying for this initiative because of the popularity of the scheme.

To muddy the waters many of the councils are allowing the pensioners and disabled free travel countywide. In Devon for example up until now this has applied to all local authorities except Plymouth and East Devon. These two areas consider that a county wide scheme is not affordable. Today we learn that Torbay will be joining them with Mid Devon hovering in the wings to cut back the extent of free travel in the not too distant future. Give Torbay their due, they are extending the free area along the A380 corridor to Newton Abbot and bringing in a flat rate fare of just £1 (single) to places such as Exeter and Plymouth.

As happens again, again and again in this country it is a postcode lottery as to how much you can enjoy a government sponsored benefit. This particular nut is a hard one to crack because it's a victim of its own success and there has to be a lid on the pot of money available. Hindsight is wonderful of course but it seems that a more modest arrangement should have been initiated in the first place with a view to watching the uptake. Perhaps a very modest contribution from the user rather than completely free fares.