Why the local PCC election matters
Posted: November 12, 2012 Filed under: Crime, Leicester, Leicestershire | Tags: Elections, PCC Comments Off on Why the local PCC election mattersYou can decide who will be in charge at Leicestershire Police HQ
On Thursday, over 700000 residents of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland will have the opportunity to cast their votes for the area’s first-ever directly elected police and crime commissioner (PCC).
However, local surveys suggest that fewer than one eligible voter in five will bother to take part. Campaigning has been very low-key and public awareness of the election, and the candidates standing, is somewhat limited.
The performances of PCCs have hardly been an unqualified success in the USA and there was minimal public demand for them to be introduced here.
But in view their forthcoming statutory presence as a consequence of this Tory-led government, we should act to limit, and maybe even prevent, the damage they could cause to the integrity, reputation and effectiveness of the force.
Some areas of the media, who might usually be expected to know better, have urged a boycott of the election. But opting out of the democratic process is unhelpful, and deeply self-indulgent, especially when our taxes are funding troops to fight – and occasionally die – in its defence.
The outcome of the election is of considerable importance to the local constabulary’s workforce of 1300 staff. The three local candidates have expressed radically differing views on how the budget, currently running at an annual figure of around £170 million, should be allocated.
During the hustings that have taken place to date, Tory candidate Sir Clive Loader has shown no inclination to distance himself from his party’s avowed agenda of widespread cuts and privatisation. Meanwhile, although rival Suleman Nagdi is a respected and admired community figure, he has shown little ability to attract support outside the faith group to which he has devoted so much of his previous work.
In contrast, Labour’s Sarah Russell, currently an assistant mayor at Leicester City Council, has gained significant experience in managing a large public organisation, serving in the last three administrations during challenging and often turbulent times.
Leicester Voice therefore has no hesitation in recommending Cllr Russell as the best of the three candidates. She is the one most likely to promote stability within the force – and its senior management in particular – thus protecting the quality of service it currently provides to the community.
Unlike many local and national politicians, Cllr Russell has regularly shown a willingness to engage with the people she serves instead of attempting to dictate to them. In addition, the perspective she would bring as a parent and inner-city resident, together with her specialist knowledge in chairing the inter-agency Safer Leicester Partnership, would play a significant role in determining her (and therefore the force’s) priorities in office.
The various high-level police investigations that are currently ongoing, into such issues as child abuse, phone-hacking, and the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, highlight only too clearly the need for the police to be protected from government interference.
The election of Cllr Russell as commissioner is the best way of ensuring that this happens.
In addition, a heavy national defeat for the coalition parties will also send an effective message of widespread public discontent with the government’s performance in general and this policy in particular.
Tigers pay the price of independence
Posted: October 10, 2012 Filed under: Leicester, Leicester Tigers | Tags: Rugby World Cup, sports Comments Off on Tigers pay the price of independence
Filbert Way – a bigger (and better?) venue for Rugby World Cup ties
The Caterpillar Stand at Leicester Tigers’ Welford Road ground is one of the city’s most imposing landmarks.
Built in 2009, it is by some distance the biggest at any purpose-built English rugby venue, often hosting over 10000 spectators on match days. It also serves as a monument to the club’s stature and aspirations.
However one of the club’s most cherished aims – to host future Rugby World Cup matches – appears to have been denied.
Although the next tournament – to be staged in 2015 – will be held in England and Wales, its organisers announced this week that Welford Road will not be included on the list of possible venues.
This decision came as a bitter disappointment to a club that has twice hosted World Cup games in the past, in 1991 and 1999.
But the establishment of the nearby King Power Stadium as a successful international sporting venue during the past decade has given the authorities another option.
In the past twenty years, the public profile of rugby union has risen substantially, helped by England’s 2003 World Cup triumph.
The authorities are seeking, understandably, to ensure that the growth of the sport is sustained. Widening the fanbase and maximising revenues are an important part of their strategy to enable this.
So it is no real surprise that a larger stadium, boasting over 32000 seats (all with an uninterrupted view), together with modern media, corporate and hospitality facilities, has been preferred.
Although the majesty, splendour and prestige of the Caterpillar Stand cannot be denied, they do present a very stark contrast to the main stand on the other side of the ground.
This structure, ageing, rust-ridden and decrepit, may still be fondly regarded by those who have gathered within it for decades.
But it can no longer be described as fit for the purpose of hosting the planet’s premier rugby tournament. The row of portakabins that currently adjoin it only enhance the air of decay.
Would this really be an image that the sport or the city would wish to present to the rest of the world?
The redevelopment of the stadium, of which the Caterpillar Stand was the first phase, should now have been close to completion. But economic pressures have forced the club to delay plans, and the effects of such uncertainty are now being felt.
There may also be a sense of chickens coming home to roost. Eight years ago, Tigers held talks with Leicester City on becoming joint-tenants at Filbert Way, with a view to eventual purchase of the stadium.
However, these discussions fizzled out due to wrangles over primacy of tenure, and associated sectarian tensions between elements of the clubs’ respective fan bases.
So the clubs became competitors, rather than co-operators, and in this particular battle, there was only ever going to be one winner.
When the wailing subsides, it is to be hoped that the clubs will work together, along with the City Council to secure the city’s role in the World Cup.
We cannot allow continued sniping to place the interests of the city at risk.
Why Keeping Quiet is a must-read for all-sports fans
Posted: July 7, 2012 Filed under: Cricket, Leicester | Tags: Book reviews Comments Off on Why Keeping Quiet is a must-read for all-sports fans
Paul Nixon (above), who enjoyed a distinguished career as a wicketkeeper and batsman (and occasional bowler) for Cumberland, Leicestershire, Kent, Delhi Giants and England, was no ordinary cricketer.
And his autobiography, Keeping Quiet, produced in association with Jon Colman, is no ordinary book.
As anyone with the fortune and privilege to witness “Nico” in action will confirm, there is a certain irony in the title.
Whenever he took to the field, before his playing career ended in 2011, he could never be described as a shy and retiring type. Indeed, he was one of the most vociferous English players of the modern era, perhaps of any era.
For one of the all-time cricket legends to pen a foreword to the book would be regarded as a great honour. The fact that TWO – Steve Waugh and Sir Vivian Richards – have chosen to do so is an indication of the respect with which Nixon is held throughout the world game.
Both of those giants recognised, from an early stage in their careers, the importance of mental fortitude at the highest levels and used this knowledge as a springboard for their achievements.
As Nixon acknowledges, he took somewhat longer to come to terms with such demands, but once doing so, he was successful in prolonging his career well beyond the standard retirement age.
The pride with which he recounts the 2006-07 tour of Australia, where he made his international debut (at the age of 35!) and helped to inspire England to a remarkable one-day tournament victory, shines vividly throughout every word of that particular account.
As a cricketer, Nixon was renowned for his passion, commitment and honesty. It is a delight to report that this book bears the same positive traits.
Throughout his career, he played hard and by his own admission, partied even harder.
This led to many adventures, many of which may have seemed amusing at the time (and perhaps even more so in hindsight), but also others which were downright scary.
He reaches the conclusion that a guardian angel is watching over him. The evidence presented to back this idea certainly gives pause for thought.
The author featured heavily in Leicestershire’s County Championship triumphs of 1996 and 1998, together with the three T20 titles in 2004, 2006 and 2011, and gives his role in those successes the attention it richly deserves.
Lesser authors may have focused on them exclusively. But Nixon also covers the darker sides of his two spells at Grace Road – from the divided dressing-room which blighted his early years in county cricket through to the bitter political in-fighting which prompted a recent player exodus and has weakened the county’s performance at four-day level for several seasons.
In addition, he tackles, in typically-direct style, some of the global challenges currently faced by the game. As a close friend of the late Hansie Cronje, and a leading player in the equally ill-fated Indian Cricket League, Nixon was already well-acquainted with the damage inflicted by match-fixing scandals. So it is little surprise that an attempt by an “acquaintance” offering a £5million bribe, to persuade him to rig a 2010 T20 game at Durham proved to be unsuccessful.
Many faced with such a massive temptation may well have succumbed. It is a tribute to Nixon’s character, evident in his report of this episode, that the question of him doing so never even arises.
Another disquieting note occurs when a snide tabloid comment by an ex-England colleague, concerning Nixon’s role in an alleged incident during the 2011 T20 final, was picked up by the England and Wales Cricket Board and led to an official letter of censure being sent to both player and county.
Nixon, who denies the incident even occurred, is rightly aggrieved at never being given the chance to present, let alone defend, his case at any official hearing. However the tale illustrates to a disturbing degree the craven subservience of the national cricketing powers-that-be to the demands of the media, and in particular, one (lately somewhat-discredited) area of it.
As throughout much of its history, Leicestershire are enduring some difficult times at present. But many fans will hope that Nixon’s service will continue for many years – not only as a coach and mentor to the present squad. In the long-term, Nixon is ideally suited for a community/club ambassador role, similar to that which Alan Birchenall has performed with such distinction for those Foxes on the other side of Aylestone Road.
He has been, over many years a credit to both his native Cumbria and his adopted city and county. Long may he continue to be so!
Keeping Quiet, published by The History Press, is now available at all quality bookshops and also via http://www.amazon.co.uk. An e-book version for Amazon Kindle is available at http://ow.ly/c4ZqC
Colin Hall’s first e-book, We Were The Quarry, will be published by LeicesterVoice in August 2012.
The fight for Glenfield must go on
Posted: July 5, 2012 Filed under: Health, Leicester | Tags: Glenfield Hospital Comments Off on The fight for Glenfield must go on
The plans to close the children’s heart unit at Glenfield Hospital are a sickening blow for staff, campaigners and the East Midlands alike.
Many parents openly wept when health bosses broke the news towards the end of a five-hour meeting, streamed online, in London.
Hundreds of children across the region, and parts of East Anglia, will now be expected to travel to Birmingham if the plans to close the unit are accepted by the government.
But grave doubts persist on whether the facilities there can be expanded quickly enough to cope with the increased volume of patients.
It is also particularly distressing to learn that the Bristol Children’s Unit, whose continuous and sustained failings during the 1990s prompted the original national clinical review, is being recommended for retention.
The closure, if implemented will have a severe impact on existing heart care for adults at Glenfield. The internationally-renowned Extra-Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) service, based at the hospital and credited with saving the lives of hundreds of children and adults, would be placed at immediate risk. In turn, such uncertainty will clearly undermine existing high standards of care, as highly-qualified staff with years, even decades, of service seek to move elsewhere.
Meanwhile other regions, who have also lost out under the review, have signalled their determination to continue with their struggle.
All five political groups at Leeds City Council have already indicated their intention to submit an appeal to Health Secretary Andrew Lansley against the plans to close the Children’s Heart Unit at Leeds General Infirmary.
Their immediate response, which has engaged, mobilised and united all sections of the community, has set an example which other authorities in Leicester, Leicestershire and the rest of the East Midlands would do well to follow.
There are legitimate questions to ask about the role of the University Hospitals of Leicester Trust, and whether recent uncertainties about its management and financial planning may have been a factor that counted against Glenfield.
However, now is not the time for detailed public recriminations. Instead, local councils and the Trust must hold urgent talks to consider a co-ordinated response and contemplate their next move in a saga which may yet still have some way left to run.
At present there are many questions, raised during the extensive public consultation process that took place during the review, which remain unanswered. Unless and until they are resolved to the satisfaction of concerned families – whose interests should remain the driving force behind any changes – the question of closing ANY children’s regional heart unit should not arise.
Furthermore, as the recent furores over the budget have shown, the government can be forced to change its mind if the political tide dictates this. With dozens of Tory MPs already indicating a willingness to defend the interests of their communities on this issue, there must be a significant doubt whether the recommendations can survive unscathed. This gives rise to the possibility that at least one of the units now under threat could be reprieved.
The campaign to save Glenfield must therefore continue, for the sake of current and future heart patients.
Leicester Voice 