A short film about our budget consultation

I've made a short film about the council's budget consultation events which are taking place next month. These events are open to all and I look forward to seeing as many people as possible.



Contrary to what some have suggested, these meetings are not the only consultation we are holding. As well as the 19 meetings across Cornwall, we are also holding discussions with staff and businesses and with local councils.

And we are going to use new technologies as much as possible with a webcast meeting from county hall, another online Q&A session and a website which sets out the options and lets you choose between them.

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Nick Clegg says sorry for tuition fees broken pledge (remixed version)

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Liberal Democrats pledge money back for missed bin collections

Cornish Liberal Democrats have today announced a manifesto commitment to refund residents who have their waste collection missed. If we are in control of the authority after next May's elections, we will commit to giving a £1 reduction on the next council tax bill to any household whose waste or recycling is still not collected 48 hours after they report a missed collection.

The move to a new waste contract has been a tale of incompetence from the current Tory-led administration. Residents across Cornwall have suffered from missed collections, new recycling containers not being delivered and the Council has failed spectacularly to deal with the number of calls and emails from an understandably exasperated public.

We know that picking up your bins is one of the most basic services provided by the council and one which every single household relies on. That is why we are determined to put right the failures of the current regime.

We pledge that, if you report your black bag or recycling collection has been missed, we will apologise properly and collect it within 48 hours. If we fail to do that, we'll give you £1 off your next year's council tax.

Cornish Liberal Democrats believe that delivering high quality basic services at an affordable price is the first priority of any local authority. Our manifesto, which will be unveiled over the coming months in the run up to next year's election, will put the needs of the people of Cornwall first.

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Pasty Tax protest march

It was horrendously wet today in Falmouth, but the pasty tax protest march went ahead nonetheless with between 500 and 1000 people marching from the Moor to Events Square in Falmouth.

The event was organised and compered by the comedian Kernow King - huge thanks to him and everyone who helped him out, especially local police sergeant (and fellow twitterer) Gary Watts. I can't imagine how many people would have been there if it had been a fine day - certainly a couple of thousand.

The march itself was led by the Falmouth Marine Band after a fine send off by the Deputy Grand Bard of Cornwall. At event square there were speeches from Ann of Ann's Pasties, myself, fellow councillors Loveday Jenkin and Bert Biscoe and MP Andrew George as well as the tax specialist John Endacott.

There were also performances from The Aberfal Oggymen, Porthleven Dinghy Club and many others.

There's a great series of photos on Facebook and I've attached a video of my own speech below.



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Friday Fun - the strange case of the mobile ballot box

A fun video with a serious message



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Is Newt promising Valhalla?

The US Presidential contest is hotting up and the Republican candidates are busy producing ads.

There's this from Newt Gingrich:



Forgive me, but every time I see the hand waving through a corn field, I automatically think of the film Gladiator when that image was used as a metaphor for death. Is this what Newt wanted to imply?

At the other end of the scale is this effort from Ron Paul, the ultra-libertarian. It's based on an ad for a truck and so, presumably, is designed to appeal to 'all American' men:



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90 seconds with Jennie Rigg

And in the final episode of my interviews with the declared candidates for the Presidency of the Liberal Democrats, here is what Jennie Rigg had to say. Apologies for the background noise.



Of course, if you know of anyone else who is considering standing, please get in touch.

Police in the news

This is Cornwall reports that Devon and Cornwall Police are to go on a charm offensive having seen their customer satisfaction ratings slip over the past year.

My own impression is that our Police locally are doing a pretty good job. Whilst crime rates here are, thankfully, very low, the major task the Police face, in addition to investigating the crimes that do happen, is to make sure the public is aware that they are very unlikely to be a victim of crime.

Also in the news is opposition from Devon and Cornwall Police Authority to the Conservative plan for directly elected Police Commissioners. Our local Police Authority - made up of a majority of councillors from across Devon and Cornwall but with independent members and magistrates as well - is fairly well regarded.

I fail to see how creating a single Police Commissioner would help. It will clearly be a political post (whether or not that is party political) and I suspect that elections, and the priorities of the winner, will be dominated by relatively scarce but high profile crime. The Police themselves will lose the ability to prioritise those areas they think they can do the most good in and will see resources moved about for political, rather than operational, ends.

Thankfully, however, we don't live in London where Police officers have again given the appearance of being above the law in their detention of a young photojournalist. The video below (actually a sound recording with some pictures attached) is a great example of how the Police should not be working. See some of my earlier posts on the lack of response from the Police when I lived in London.

Just for clarification, it is not against the law to take pictures of people in a public place for editorial (ie journalism) reasons. That includes children, the armed forces or the Police themselves. What's more, after numerous incidents of wrongful detention and heavy handed policing in the past, all Met Police officers have supposedly been briefed on what is and is not allowed. I'm very glad that in this particular case they are investigating.

Stonking video from The Independent

Nick kicks off his election campaign

Before Gordon Brown had made it to the Palace, Nick Clegg was up and running leading the Lib Dem election campaign.

This morning he gave a quick briefing to Party workers at Cowley Street - video below.

Later this morning he will be doing an interview in the back of a London cab for The Sun (as well as lots of other interviews, no doubt) and then he is off for his first constituency visit of the campaign proper in Watford.

Housekeeping note: During the campaign, I'll be spending a lot of my time on the road taking photos and video of Nick, Vince Cable and other leading Lib Dems around the country. I'll still be around in Launceston from time to time and available all the time on my mobile (07984 644138) and email (alexfolkes@gmail.com). So please get in touch if you have any questions or comments about Cornwall Council or Launceston.

I'll also be posting photos, video and news from the campaign trail as often as possible.

Exclusive: Nick Clegg's message to Cornwall

After his visits in Cornwall today, Nick Clegg recorded this message:



Oh and it's not just Nick who thinks the Lib Dems will win all 6 in Cornwall. Electoral Calculus is also saying we are most likely to win each seat.

Potholes in Cross Lanes

I've made a video about the problem of potholes in Launceston, particularly in Cross Lanes.

Whilst most potholes may have been made worse by the cold weather in the winter, these holes have been made far wider and deeper by the road lay out. With cars parked on one side of the road, all the traffic flow has to follow on the other side of the carriageway and there are deep ruts appearing. When lorries pass, and there are quite a few of them, the road crumbles even more.

I'm in contact with the Council about these holes and will press them to re-surface the road as soon as possible. But if you know about any more potholes in Launceston, please get in touch with me.

Brilliant spoof of Arnie's 'Come to California' video

This is just fantastic. It's one Cornishman's take on Arnold Schwarzenegger's come to California advert featuring David Beckham et al.

Taking the Kensey Valley Meadow fight to County Hall

I've just started experimenting with video and here is the first result...

Sorry about the squeezed format and the wind noise - I'll work on them!

All comments welcome