31/10/2009 by Steve Barclay.

In Wisbech on Friday evening for the book launch of Servant of Empire by local author Martin Gibson, held at the Wisbech & Fenland Museum.  The event is packed with a great atmosphere and the book is very well reviewed.  I am looking forward to reading it.  To order a copy from publishers Hayloft Publishing go to http://www.hayloft.eu/servant.html

Also worth a mention is the room where the drinks were held - it is an ideal venue for such gatherings and, as the museum needs our support to help with funds, I hope more people will make use of it for such occasions.

After the book launch, a dozen of us moved on for a curry at the Alishan Tandoori Restaurant.  The place was packed which was not surprising as the curry was excellent.  Also on the subject of food in Wisbech, on Saturday we tried the new W Four for lunch (it is just near to Wisbech rugby club).  We had an excellent lunch and were made very welcome - a great new addition and well worth a visit if you have not yet been.

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30/10/2009 by Steve Barclay.

Meet up with Graham Chappell of the Fenland Road Safety Campaign in Westminster today to discuss progress with the Campaign over a coffee, and to help ensure the delivery of his campaign letters and progress review.  Reports are being sent to Gordon Brown, David Cameron, the Transport and Shadow Transport Ministers and Roads Minister and Shadow Roads Minister.  Graham has done a fantastic job and with well over the 500 signatories required for a Number 10 Petition to receive a formal response from the Prime Minister, we look forward to the Government’s response.  There is still time to sign the petition so if you have not done so please go to the link and add your support

 http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Fenland/

 A huge amount of work has gone in over the 12 months since Graham last came to Westminster to petition, and momentum behind his campaign continues to grow.  The review is well worth reading and to do so click on the attached pdf here.

Graham Chappell & Steve Barclay in Westminster.

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26/10/2009 by Steve Barclay.

Out and about in March and Manea this week-end.  Give the after dinner speech at our March branch Harvest Supper on Friday evening, followed on Saturday by one of my regular coffee meetings held in Manea, and then pop over to March Rugby Club on Sunday morning to watch March Under 17s play a local derby match against Thorney.

The Harvest Supper was held against the backdrop of yet more worrying economic news.  It is now the longest and deepest recession since records began with the sixth quarter of decline.  Despite Labour spending like there is no tomorrow, printing money, and cutting VAT, the economy has still fallen again.  France and Germany are now out of recession - so much for Gordon Brown‘s ridiculous claims that the UK was best placed to weather the storm.  The drastic fall in sterling shows how false his claims are.

The coffee cluster in Manea highlights a range of issues.  It is frustrating that whilst the local GP made a saving of £36,000 last year he only received £8,000 of this to spend in the village.  The rest of the money disappeared once again into the PCT central pot - to be spent in the more affluent areas of South Cambridgeshire.  When are we locally going to get a fair share of health spending? 

Fenland has the highest number of teenage pregnancies, diabetics - especially in March, and heart disease in the County, yet we still receive less funding per head than South Cambridgeshire.  It is typical of the top down command approach of Labour that when savings are made locally we are not rewarded by keeping this money.  Last year of 42 dieticians in the County, only 3 of them were in Fenland and East Cambridgeshire.  Such figures highlight the poor deal residents here receive.  The PCT needs to move much quicker to address health imbalances between the North and South of the county.

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06/10/2009 by Steve Barclay.

At the Conservative Conference I catch up with Kevin Shinkwin and Charlotte Tailby of the Royal British Legion.  They have set out a manifesto for the next Government to improve conditions for the British Armed Forces past and present and their families. It encourages MPs and Candidates to “do their bit” for Service Personnel and their families, the bereaved, veterans and dependants.  It is a chance to add my support to their campaign.

The Royal British Legion is a tremendous force for good.  The sad reality is that Gordon Brown has never been willing to pay for Tony Blair’s wars.  Troops have been sent to war without all the equipment they need.  Attempts to fight on the cheap - like the mad decision to cut £1.4 billion from the helicopter budget in 2004 whilst the army was fighting two wars - have cost lives and left many more young men and women with serious injuries.  The Royal British Legion does so much to help young and old veterans and their families faced with hardship.

The need to respond to their agenda will get greater I expect in the years ahead.  More service personnel from the Falklands campaign have committed suicide than were killed in action.  There is likely to be a hidden time bomb of mental health issues from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  In Liam Fox we will have a Defence Secretary who is also a GP, and who both understands the challenge this will pose and has the will to address it.  It will not be cheap, and with the economy in such a mess money will be short.  However it must be a priority.  Care for troops cannot stop when they are no longer in uniform.

As Kevin said, the entire Armed Forces family needs the support of politicians from all parties.  I hope all candidates will back their campaign.  You can find out more by visiting their website -www.timetodoyourbit.org.uk

Steve is pictured with Charlotte Tailby of the Royal British Legion

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