City pays tribute to former Lord Mayor

Posted: January 10, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: City Council, Leicester, Leicester City FC, Leicester Tigers, Leicestershire, Politics, Sport | Tags: , , , , | Comments Off on City pays tribute to former Lord Mayor

councillor bhatti

Former City Councillor Culdipp Bhatti (pictured above), who represented the Rushey Mead ward for 32 years until his retirement last May, has passed away at the age of 80.

A long-serving member of Leicester East Constituency Labour Party, the Punjab-born Mr Bhatti achieved distinction as Leicester’s first ever Sikh Lord Mayor, a role he held from May 1996 to May 1997.

His year of office was particularly notable for the number of trophies won by local sports teams. Leicester City FC, Leicester Tigers and Leicestershire County Cricket Club all won national trophies during that period and were duly honoured by the Lord Mayor at the Town Hall.

In 2005, the then Councillor Bhatti, a teacher by profession, was awarded an MBE by the Queen in her Birthday Honours List in recognition of his services to Children in Leicester.

Friends and former colleagues of Mr Bhatti have spoken of their sadness and sorrow at his passing.

Local MP Keith Vaz described him as a “man of honour, integrity and dedication”, while city mayor Sir Peter Soulsby praised his “passion and loyalty”.

Leicester Voice editor, Colin Hall, who served alongside Mr Bhatti as a Councillor for 13 years,  also paid warm and and glowing respects.

Mr Hall, who himself served as Lord Mayor during the 2010-11 municipal year, said, “Culdipp made a phenomenal contribution, over many decades, to the community, the City Council and the Labour Party.  His record speaks for itself.

“As one of the first councillors of Asian origin in this city, he blazed a trail which others later followed.  He provided support and inspiration to so many of us. We could not have achieved what we did without the help that he gave us.

“During his long and distinguished public office, Culdipp received a wide range of honours, all of which he thoroughly deserved.

“But none meant more to him than the tribute paid by his fellow residents of Rushey Mead, by electing him to represent them on nine successive occasions.

“That’s an incredible achievement – which Culdipp was rightly very proud of.  It tells us everything about the esteem in which the community held him.

“My thoughts are with his widow and his family at this distressing time.”

Mr Bhatti’s funeral service will be held at Gilroes Crematorium, Groby Road, Leicester, LE3 9QG on Monday 11th January 2016 at 12.15 noon followed by a religious ceremony at the Guru Tegh Bahadur Gurdwara Sikh Temple, 106 East Park Road, Leicester LE5 4QB at 13.30pm.

Donations in Mr Bhatti’s memory can be made to ‘Oncology, Ward 40, Leicester Royal Infirmary’.

More sporting glory for Leicester in 2013?

Posted: January 1, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: Basketball, Cricket, Football, Hockey, Leicester, Leicestershire, Speedway, Sport | Tags: , , , , , | Comments Off on More sporting glory for Leicester in 2013?

For a city of around 300000 inhabitants, Leicester has often punched above its weight in sporting terms.

Indeed, the city has often taken great steps to promote and honour the teams and individuals who have contributed to such a rich sporting heritage. The sports statue near the Clock Tower is the most prominent example.

But as the new year dawns, what are the prospects of further honours for our local clubs?

The main focus will fall upon Leicester City, seeking to end the years of exile from the Premier League. Nigel Pearson’s side is currently well-placed to earn a playoff slot at least, but will be hoping for more.

A return to the top flight football would offer the global profile the club’s Thai and Chinese owners so keenly crave, as well as ensuring financial stability for years to come, with TV revenues set to rise sharply next season for Premier clubs.

By stark contrast, a further season of failure would incur yet another tour of some of English football’s less salubrious venues, with continuing attendant heavy losses threatening City’s long-term viability.

With these factors in mind, the 2013 playoffs will be particularly intense and frenetic, requiring considerable reserves of character, resilience and mental strength among players and management alike.

Unfortunately these are precisely the qualities which this City side have too often lacked in recent times. It is far from certain whether it would be able to withstand the burden of expectation to overcome this challenge.

On the other side of Aylestone Road, similar concerns arise regarding Leicester Tigers. Although the side secured victory in the LV Cup last year, the Premiership and Heineken Cup will again assume higher priority in the coming months.

At present, however, success on either front appears unlikely, with the side’s form away from Welford Road being more fallible than players, management and supporters would wish.

While is possible that Tigers may yet reach a ninth consecutive Premiership final, few would be confident in its ability to defeat whichever London/Home Counties franchise emerges this time around to command the allegiances of the majority of the Twickenham crowd.

A fairytale script would demand that skipper Geordan Murphy caps a glittering career by lifting another title crown. But suspicions remain that the side is not the force it has been in seasons past.

Meanwhile, expectations are somewhat lower for Leicestershire County Cricket Club, as they prepare for the current season.

With new captain Ramnaresh Sarwan at the helm for four-day matches, the Foxes will hope to improve on last season’s 7th-place finish in the County Championship 2nd Division.

However, it is unlikely that the progress of the relatively young squad will be enough this time around to secure promotion. Instead, hopes will be directed, as in previous years, towards success in the T20 and 40-over competitions.

The club will also be anxious to see a drier and warmer summer to attract higher attendances and exploit the interest in the sport generated by another Ashes series.

It is in hockey and basketball that the city’s sporting hopes are most likely to bear fruit. The Leicester Hockey Club are well set to defend their Championship crown, currently lying 2nd in the Premier League, while Rob Paternostro has built the strongest Riders team for a decade, and will hope to secure at least one trophy during the current season.

In addition, the Leicester Lions speedway team will be serious contenders for the Premier League title in their 3rd season at Beaumont Park, having risen from a wooden spoon place in 2011 to the playoffs last year.

The fortunes of all these sides, and others flying the flag for city and county, will continue to be keenly followed by sports fans. We wish them every possible success during the next 12 months and beyond.

Why Leicester should welcome the Leveson Report

Posted: December 1, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Leicester, Leicestershire, Media | Tags: , | Comments Off on Why Leicester should welcome the Leveson Report
Leveson - report looks for reform not revolution

Leveson – report looks for reform not revolution

 

Local heart surgeon Gerry McCann launched a scathing attack on the Prime Minister yesterday – and rightly so.

David Cameron chose to reject the proposal for an independent regulator of the press – a key recommendation of the Leveson Report.

In doing so, Cameron demonstrated a clear contempt both for the inquiry process and for the vast majority of those that submitted evidence to it.

So it was hardly a surprise that Dr McCann, along with JK Rowling, Hugh Grant and representatives of the Hillsborough Justice Campaign, have been highly critical of him.

Dr McCann and his wife have suffered incredible grief in the five and a half years since their daughter went missing.

But when they looked to the press for help and support, too often they found intrusion and on occasion, open hostility instead.

They gave evidence to Leveson in order to serve the wider public interest and it is vital that their evidence is given due recognition and respect.

Leveson concluded that a whole range of practices – from phone hacking to covert surveillance, to harassment, to other wrongful behaviour – were widespread, and all in breach of the code of conduct by which the press was supposed to abide.

While few, if any, of these practices were followed at local level, their influence on editors and reporters, some of whom aspired to progress to national posts, was clear.

The industry regularly tested, and may occasionally even have breached, legal boundaries in pursuit of stories designed to undermine key public organisations and individuals associated with them.

As with its national counterpart, it looked to make the news, rather than merely report on it.

So what safeguards can be put in place to stop these malpractices from recurring in future?

Leveson’s recommendations may not have gone as far as some media critics may have wished. But others, including Labour and the Liberal Democrats, have accepted them as measured and essential. Opinion polls have shown substantial majorities in favour of increased regulation, in spite of determined and widespread resistance within the industry itself.

Some of the press’s worst lapses during the past thirty years have occurred when papers have colluded with the government of the day, instead of exercising their duty to challenge it.

The Hillsborough disaster was one notable example, as were the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and, more recently, coverage of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

The industry has made several assurances about its behaviour before. None of these have been honoured. All too often, “self-regulation” has proved to mean “no regulation”. That has to change.

The House of Commons indicated a willingness to defy David Cameron in July 2011, when he appeared to misread the public mood on the need for a public inquiry. He was eventually persuaded to change his mind and appoint Leveson.

Now the time has come for the House to demonstrate the same independence again and ensure that the Leveson recommendations are implemented in full.

Only then will Dr McCann, other victims of press intrusion and – crucially – the public at large, be satisfied that justice has been served.

Why the local PCC election matters

Posted: November 12, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Crime, Leicester, Leicestershire | Tags: , | Comments Off on Why the local PCC election matters

You 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.