Bill Cawley's blog

It must have been around 1985 that Cllr Norman Rides from Norton caused outrage at a City Council Highways meeting by saying that middle class motorists driving through the City were causing death and injury to working class kids in the City. There were groans and comments that it was typical of Norman. However Norman may not have been too far off. I have just seen a report of Road Safety Analysis that looks at the accident data involving children.

There seems to be a backlash against people who are obese as evidenced by articles that have appeared nationally in the Express and Mail on the number of people who are taking stomach-shrinking surgery. Issued by the NHS Information Centre, new figures show the number of people having stomach shrinking surgery to help them lose weight soared from 480 in 2004 to 4,246 in 2009, costing the state an estimated £29 million.

Dear Bill I write as a fan. It must be about 18 years since I read your book on finding America “ Lost Continent” and later your books on the UK, Australia and a History of Science. I particularly like the Walk in the Woods” The anecdote about Bear attacks and how to avoid them, the answer being always take a travel companion who runs more slowly than you helps explain why Council leaders pick the cabinets they do.

Stephen Fry, himself a public institution, interviewed on Room 101 a few years ago, proposed an alternative to the cynical Room 101 programme by having a room fluffy where good things could be venerated which had made a positive contribution to the public good. In Fry’s opinion top of the list was the British Public Library. I share his enthusiasm. I also love libraries and I love the public libraries in Stoke because they largely introduced me to the world of Books.

I went to the public meeting held in Hanley tonight on the subject of fighting the cuts in public expenditure. It was well attended meeting chaired ably by Jason Hill. If anything there were too many speakers, but that is a personal view. I did think that they were more or less saying the same thing, with the possible exception of the Stoke Councillor who represented Hartshill.

It is not surprising that people have little regard for politicians- a feeling magnified by the news that Alan Milburn is helping the Government in looking at the question of social mobility. Milburn joins other former Labour Cabinet Ministers such as John Hutton who have taken advisor positions within the new coalition Government. In truth Blair was equally willing to embrace Tories into the New Labour camp.

There was an article in the Observer today by Nick Cohen on Labour rediscovering the issue of poverty mainly through the publication of the book “ The Spirit Level” which chronicles the impact of the growing inequality in Britain in the early 21st Century.

I went to a meeting held at the City Council a few weeks ago on the subject of community involvement and participation. There were two things that struck me about that meeting. Firstly the good will that existed in the room from a number of people many of them community representatives who were keen to explore new ideas.

I was talking to a friend about feelings to the new Government. I told him how impressed I was with the vigour in which a coalition Government had set about its task although having my ideological doubts about some aspects of the administration.

Like others I have doubts about the concept of the Big Society. But I am prepared to explore and develop ideas if I feel that they could be to the betterment of the people of Leek. I think that there is a great deal of potential in the town, which all too often is overlooked. And I believe that the Big Society could offer something to the locality especially if people in the town could be encouraged to support an idea that develops a service that used to exist in the town but was removed.