http://www.rogerwhitfield.co.uk Tue, 26 Jan 2010 08:48:40 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I have signed and completed on a 99 year lease with North Somerset council for Portishead Open Air Pool, this secures the future of the pool for generations to come. It has taken months of long hard negotiation to get to this stage but finally we have a long lease, a commercial agreement ... http://www.rogerwhitfield.co.uk/?p=304 Lord Mandelson's new measures, are unworkable and will harm investment Entanet has today joined fellow internet service provider TalkTalk in condemning new Government plans to ban people from the internet if they persistently file share. The legislation, announced yesterday by business secretary Peter Mandelson, will give the state the power to order ISPs ... http://www.rogerwhitfield.co.uk/?p=301 MPs should be free to vote in line with their best judgment and not be required to obey any party whips. In the good old days (as far as they ever existed) Parliament was based on individuals in the legislature being representatives of their constituencies who could challenge and determine the ... http://www.rogerwhitfield.co.uk/?p=222 MPs, ministers and their political staff should be paid according to civil service pay scales, should have any expenses approved only in line with established civil service guidelines and must act according to the Nolan Committee on Standards of Public Life. Principles that apply to all public bodies. People believe in ... http://www.rogerwhitfield.co.uk/?p=224 An independent Politicians Complaints Commission, modeled on the Independent Police Complaints Commission, with its Board appointed by a panel of designated NGOs, should be established to investigate accusations about national and local politicians, basing its judgments on the Nolan Committee principles that apply to all public bodies. As a result of ... http://www.rogerwhitfield.co.uk/?p=228 The Hayden Phillips Report recommendations on capping donations to political parties should be accepted and enforced. The problems of funding political parties are a symptom of the problems which parties have in modern society. The great majority of people do not want to give money to a political party. They may ... http://www.rogerwhitfield.co.uk/?p=230 Members of Select Committees, which hold the executive to account, should be elected by all MPs and not appointed by party whips, and should scrutinise all departmental proposals for legislation. Parliament should scrutinise Government actions and proposals, cause amendments as appropriate, and, in extremis, change the composition of the Government. When the ... http://www.rogerwhitfield.co.uk/?p=236 No European directive should be enacted or enforced by secondary legislation in a stricter way than is the practice in any other European country deemed compliant for that directive by the European Commission. It is estimated that over two thirds of new laws and regulations are linked to European Union directives. ... http://www.rogerwhitfield.co.uk/?p=238 MPs should normally serve for no more than three full terms. Parliament should act in a similar way to the trustees of a charity or the non-executive directors of a major company. The Government is equivalent to the management of a charity or company which undertakes the detailed implementation of the ... http://www.rogerwhitfield.co.uk/?p=240 General elections will take place every five years unless a resolution of the House of Commons decides otherwise to reduce this period. Parliament is limited to five years but elections are typically held every four to five years. The power of the Prime Minister, based on the Royal Prerogative, to decide ... http://www.rogerwhitfield.co.uk/?p=242