View from Westminster, 16th December
Christmas Cards
Having visited the Royal Mail sorting offices last week, I have been keeping them busy this week with my Christmas cards. As in previous years, the design of the card has been by a primary school pupil and as a change this year, the verse has also been written by a school pupil, this time from a secondary school. Some 12 primary schools entered the competition with nearly 300 entrants for a design based on the theme of 'giving'. The winning design of the 'Three Kings' was by Kitty-Mae Fallon of Trinity School with four runners up, George Choules of Oaklands Park, Ellie White of Kingskerswell Church of England Primary School, Alexia Morris of Stover School and Sophie Moran of Rydon Primary School.
The verse:
This Christmas I will give you:
A warm open fire,
A joyful snowball fight,
A choir of merry singers,
A daily opening of a door,
An angel watching from above,
A wreath hanging proud,
A room filled with the scent of mulled wine,
An excitable sleepless night,
A white bearded smile,
A house full of Christmas spirit,
A lazy after-Christmas dinner doze,
A tipsy uncle's dance,
A kiss under the mistletoe,
A merry Christmas!
And maybe even a present or two………..
was written by Emily Holding and Holly Sames of Stover School, also on the theme of 'giving'.
I am very grateful to them and some 2,000 cards are now in the post. Am Afifi, an international sculptor who lives locally, and Alan Gibbons an award winning children's author did the judging for me and again I am grateful to them. The cost of the cards and postage is always paid for by the MP.
RNLI Carols
As we get closer to Christmas, the carol services are racking up. One not to miss for me (though clearly not for some others) is the RNLI's, now yearly service at St Michael the Archangel in Teignmouth. Piped in, the RNLI crew and Ian Parkes Deputy Mayor with Eileen his wife processed through a packed church for the traditional seven readings and seven carols finished by the hymn,' For those in Peril on the Sea'. The Revd Gordon Stone, in his usual cheery manner, led the service and for a second year the dinghy sailing Revd Sue Asbury gave another thoughtful sermon. I always enjoy it partly because it contains some of my favourite carols but mostly because it is a true town event.
A Tax on Bankers
At last the Government has signalled that bankers should not get away with large bonuses whilst the rest of the country suffer as a consequence of their errors. In July I put down an early day motion (EDM 1847) calling for a 90% tax on excessive bonuses. On Wednesday Alistair Darling announced a 50% tax on bonuses over £25,000. However when I questioned him, he could not say how he would stop them simply raising their salaries or rolling it over till next year. Without such measures, it is a useless gesture barely better than the Conservative proposal that they should be paid in shares that they have to hold for one year!
Boiler Scrappage Scheme
One good measure from the pre budget statement, however, was the boiler scrappage scheme. Again a measure I had led the debate on in the House by tabling EDM 2070 on 19th October. This scheme will help us cut CO² emissions and help the construction industry by providing extra work for plumbers.