Do you feel like you are not managing?

This course from the WEA might help.

If you are on means-tested benefits you may get it free. Details below:

General eligibility:

• You have lived in the UK/EU for the last 3 years 
• You are aged 19 years or older on 31st August 2001.
  

Eligibility relating to Income Related Benefits

You may not have to pay the course fee if you are:

1. Claiming Job Seeker’s Allowance (you must provide your NI Number)
2. Claiming Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) in the Work Related Activity Group (you must provide your NI Number)
3. Claiming Universal Credit and earn less than £338 per month or household earns less than £541 per month (you must provide your NI Number)
4. Claiming or are dependent on someone who claims Council Tax Reduction (not single occupancy discount)
5. Claiming Working Tax Credit
6. Claiming Income Support
7. Claiming Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) in the Support Group
8. Claiming Pension Guarantee Credit
9. Claiming Asylum in the UK.  As an Asylum Seeker you will need to have been a resident in the UK for six months or longer, have an Application Registration Card (ARC) or Standard Acknowledgement letter (SAL) and a current Asylum Support Agreement from UK Visas and Immigration.  
10. Unwaged and dependent on somebody in receipt of one of the above benefits (excluding Council Tax Reduction and Housing Benefit).

NB: If you are not in receipt of any of the above income-related benefits, but your household income is below £21,000, you may still be eligible to apply for some support: click on ‘can I get help with other costs?’ below.

If you are not sure of your status or need further information, contact our Student Support team on 0300 303 3464.

You can find information about all the WEA activities here.

Whilst the best US civics education is arguably to be gotten from a television series, namely The West Wing, there are a number of political books which provide insight into the US presidency and political campaigning in the States.

My choices show a leaning towards the Democratic side of things, but there are lots of chapters and essays about Republicans in these volumes as well.

I’m deliberately not writing about Obama, Biden and Harris’s books yet, partly because I haven’t finished them but partly because I suspect they will need a post on their own.

So, in no particular order:

The Way to Win: Mark Halperin & John F. Harris

Actually bought in the States. A fascinating ‘candidate’s manual’, introducing the concept of the ‘freak show’ as applied to the media, and the ‘trade secrets’ which candidates needed to follow to win. It praised Hillary Clinton as a seasoned operator who knew how to win. Then 2008 showed the opposite as she ignored the aforementioned secrets entirely! Very strong on the biography and abilities of Republican strategist Karl Rove.

Reporting: David Remnick

A superb writer and interviewer. I love this book for the introductory essay on Al Gore alone. Remember when presidential candidates used to accept the results? For UK readers there’s a witty piece on Tony Blair and the ‘masochistic’ campaign of 2005.

Assassination Vacation & The Partly Cloudy Patriot: Sarah Vowell

Sarah Vowell is a highly entertaining writer. She has an eye and ear for interesting facts, coincidences and historical rabbit-holes which she draws the reader into with ease. A Democratic-leaning pundit, Vowell is interested in all things presidential and the heart of America.

‘Assassination Vacation’ is a riotous tour through the four presidential assassinations, but is much funnier and lighter than it sounds!

Leadership: Doris Kearns Goodwin

No doubt President Biden will have read and be drawing on these lessons from four Presidents. He will especially need the wisdom in the chapters on FDR and how he solved the depression, but there is much to gain from the lessons of the other three, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and Lyndon Baines Johnson. Nimbly alternating by chapter between the two Republicans and the two Democrats, this makes for an engrossing read.

Our Revolution: Bernie Sanders

The face that launched a thousand memes, Bernie Sanders has much to say on where things have gone wrong and how to fix America.

This is the charming history of how Bernie got started, and his prescription for the ills of the country. Ultimately too left-wing and radical for the Democratic primary electorate, it’s interesting to think what might have been had Sanders got the nomination in either 2016 or 2020.

The Audacity to Win: David Plouffe

One for the nerds. This account of the 2008 campaign from one of Obama’s top lieutenants vividly conveys the drama and tension of the election race. Granular in its detail about spending decisions, messaging issues and where, frankly, Team Obama messed up, this book shows how and why Obama won.

What it Takes: Richard Ben Cramer

The original. ‘What it Takes’ is an exhaustive (and at times exhausting) history of the 1988 presidential election, told through the eyes of the front-runners as they fade in and out of favour. The book tracks back to the early biographies and even childhoods of the main personalities in 1988. I am still reading this one, as it is very long, but coincidentally I have just reached the account of the first Biden campaign.

The Presidents: Stephen Graubard

This is a riveting collection of essays on the twentieth century Presidents, not including McKinley (who was arguably the last of the 19th century presidents even though he lived until the first few years of the 20th).

Most entertaining is the essay on those Vice Presidents who went on to become ‘accidental’ Presidents through assassination or death. Be warned, there are some curious biases to Graubard’s portraits, but overall it is an interesting read.

Race of a Lifetime & Double Down: Mark Halperin & John F. Harris

In the same style as ‘What it Takes’, these two volumes cover the 2008 and 2012 presidential races. Based on hours of interviews, these books really get inside their subjects and create highly believable personalities. They are real page-turners, but beware the excessive alliteration especially in ‘Double Down’, and the sometimes obscure political jargon. On the plus side, it’s a good primer on the language of US politics.

The Devil Problem: David Remnick

A sparkling collection of portraits by the editor of the New Yorker. The most intriguing to me was the essay on Gary Hart, democratic presidential candidate in 1984 and 1988. Hart’s came close second to Walter Mondale in 1984, and was the frontrunner for the nomination in 1988 until his campaign collapsed amidst scandal. The piece shows a complex and flawed character.

After it was damaged last year, I met with a council officer to look at ways to restore the grass at Scott Avenue, and to preserve it in future.

We discussed options including railings and rocks. It looks like it will be too expensive for a cash-strapped council to implement any of these measures.

In the meantime, though, I am pleased to confirm that this grass will be re-seeded.

I went to check on a highways issue I had reported at Barron Way, off Bristol Road.

This is part of the Earls Park development.

The broken kerb stone above has now been fixed.

The new roads on the estate will be topped off once the development is complete. The developers tell me this will be in 9-12 months.

In times of heavy rain fall, blocked drains and gullies can cause additional flood risks, as any blockages place extra strain on the network.

In recent months I have reported many blocked drains as I see them, and several get reported to me.

This one in Newark Road has now been cleared. I work with the city and county council and local developers on flood issues in the ward. If you have spotted any blockages to drains, streams or rivers, please let me know.

Seymour Road is currently closed for works to install Cityfibre broadband, and will be again in February and March for resurfacing.

Please see below a message from Stagecoach about the bus diversions during this time.

Message from Stagecoach Buses

Closure of Seymour Road

Diversion of Service 10

We’ve been advised that Seymour Road will be closed for two separate projects as follows:

18th January to 13th February 2021 (24/7) For fibre installations by City Fibre and

16th February 2021 to 1st March 2021 (not including weekends – 09:30 to 15:30) For resurfacing by Gloucestershire Highways.

During these closures, Service 10 will be diverting as follows:

The service towards Lower Tuffley will continue along Bristol Road instead of turning left at Kwik-Fit into Stroud Road. When it reaches the traffic lights at Lidl it will turn left into Tuffley Avenue. It will then rejoin the normal route by continuing along Tuffley Avenue and turning right into Podsmead Road. 

The service towards Gloucester City Centre, Brockworth and Cheltenhamwill use the same diversion route in the opposite direction. 

Service 10 will serve all of the bus stops on the diversion route.

We thank you for your understanding.

Having promised, in October 2020, to plant 35 million trees by 2030, Gloucestershire County Council today reached the unenviable milestone of falling one million trees behind its necessary schedule.

Having declared a Climate Emergency in 2019, the County Council finally acknowledged the critical importance of acting fast to dramatically reduce our county’s carbon footprint.  Planting new trees across our county is one incredibly important measure which can slow climate change by sucking carbon dioxide from the air as they grow.  

Last year, on 14 October, the Conservative Cabinet committed to planting 35 million trees by 2030.  Gloucestershire Liberal Democrats wholeheartedly supported this challenging ambition, which would require 10,000 trees to be planted every day for ten years.  

Since that commitment, however, the County Council has yet to oversee a single tree being planted in Gloucestershire, while also presiding over the chopping down of nearly 3,000 trees, with no replacements.  On that basis, Gloucestershire County Council is now already one million trees behind target.

Commenting on the milestone, Cllr Paul Hodgkinson, leader of Gloucestershire Liberal Democrats said:

“This Conservative Council loves to write press releases about its green credentials, but when it comes to fulfilling their promises they consistently fall short.  

“Tree planting in Gloucestershire is going to be critical if we are to meet our climate commitments.  This is why I have consistently sought reassurances that we are on target since the promise was made last October. Unfortunately, they have let us all down once again, and now an incredibly challenging target has become even more difficult to hit.  

“Gloucestershire deserves better than warm words and unfulfilled promises. Gloucestershire residents deserve an administration that would make the tree planting pledge a reality.”

During lockdown, people are rightly trying to get their daily exercise and this includes dog walking.

As the days are dark early, it is sometimes hard to see the mess that pets leave when out on their walks.

My Lib Dem colleague Cllr David Brown has asked the following written question on this issue.

I have also raised this matter with council officers. The council has a part to play and so do dog walkers. We all need to be able to use our parks and open spaces safely.

First published on Facebook

A resident contacted me concerned about the lack of working streetlights in the Bristol Road area of the Earls Park development.

They also asked about the poor road surface and whether it could be improved.

Even though the development is not yet complete, all occupied houses should have working streetlights.

The developer have told me that the road surface will be topped off when the development is completed, in approximately 9-12 months.

I have raised the lack of operational streetlights with the developer, and asked that the lampposts which are already installed are made to work.

Streetlights and good road surfaces are integral parts of a safe neighbourhood, and I will continue to press for these on behalf of Podsmead residents.

Update for 16.1.21

I am pleased to report that the developer have agreed to check the streetlights on 18.1.21, with a view to activating any that are not working. They will also see what can be done about the worst potholes and defects as an interim measure before resurfacing can take place at the end of the development.