Cllr Ap Rees calls me “childish” for saying he should get the sack for the latest Tropicana collapse. What do you think? Should heads roll?

Weston Carnival tonight – good luck to all participants, hope its not too cold! http://ping.fm/OemId

Tropicana redevelopment plans scrapped as North Somerset Council admits defeat. Leading councillors should resign in shame. http://ping.fm/Ud6Wh

Visited Priory School in Worle today with Lib Dem MP David Laws. Impressive students, dynamic teachers and no rain!

Dimbleby to miss Question Time in Weston after accident with bullock! Get well soon David … http://ping.fm/32UHn

Petrol prices – action is needed

Today hauliers nationwide are leading a protest against the increase in petrol prices which have been prompted by the surge in worldwide oil prices to record levels.

Petrol prices in and around Weston-super-Mare are pretty much in line with the national average, unlike many south west towns, where the price per litre is higher still. However, since January, local petrol prices have on average risen by 8% for unleaded and 14% for diesel.

When you take into account the fact that oil companies have continued to make enormous profits running into billions of pounds and the Government continues to take around 60% of the at the pump price in tax – it is difficult to see how such continued pressure on motorists can be justified.

We have not seen improvements in public transport locally. Nothing has been done to make commuting to work easier and little to create local jobs to diminish the need for thousands of Westonians to out-commute in the first place.

The Government needs to continue its efforts to increase oil supplies and reduce crude prices – but it cannot hide behind international factors indefinitely. They must also take a lead and show that they are hearing the legitimate concerns of people across the country. The proposed 2p increase in fuel tax due later this year must be cancelled.

The oil companies must be made to share their profits with motorists through reductions in fuel prices at the pump and the Government must show that the taxes they take from motorists are truly being used to improve public transport and protect our environment.

Eight greedy councillors join pension scheme – but who they are is a secret

Eight North Somerset Councillors have so far joined the Local Government Pension Scheme following the authority’s decision at the beginning of April to allow elected members to join.

But their identity remains secret after Town Hall officials refused to provide the names of those who had signed up.

I’ve been challenging the decision to award councillors an inflation-busting pay and pension rise and am really disappointed that many have already started lining their pension funds with taxpayers cash too.

Not content with awarding themselves pay rises of up to 50%, they want their pension funds stuffed with taxpayers’ cash too.

Taxpayers will be paying 17.7% of these councillors allowances into pension funds – that will cost us all somewhere between £100 and nearly £500 a month for each councillor, depending on their position. It is disgraceful at a time when council tax bills are going up and services are being cut.

I asked the council’s director of finance, Phil Hall, to confirm the identity of the councillors who have signed up to the pension fund. He declined to provide the information, saying it was “personal to the councillors involved and I cannot therefore disclose it”.

Local residents have every right to know the identity of these councillors. How can we hold them to account for their money-grabbing ways if we don’t know who they are? I have submitted a formal request to the council today under the Freedom of Information Act for details of those who have joined the pension scheme.

Is the cost of democracy too high?

The story of Tory MP Derek Conway and his family is probably not typical of MPs. I am sure that they aren’t all fleecing the system for all it is worth.

However, it does raise a few serious questions.

Surely MPs should not have a total free reign to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds of cash employing their family, friends and goodness knows who else at our expense? Surely there needs to be much improved arrangements?

As I understand it, MPs get their pay regardless of the hours they do. So the dedicated public servant who works in their constituency, in Westminster and elsewhere hour after hour gets the same pay as the guy (and its usually a guy) who turns up now and again because he’s got a safe seat and another job as a barrister or businessman or whatever. How can that be right?

So first off, surely it is possible to establish some kind of job description for MPs that would cover public expectations of them in terms of hours of work, commitment and so on. And then the pay packet could be comensurate with that. It works for almost every other working person in the world, why should MPs be different?

Second, MPs clearly should not be setting their own pay, pensions and allowances terms – however much they are supposed to be ‘independently’ advised (by people they appoint of course). Is it beyond the wit of us to have a genuinely independent pay review body who could determine pay and allowances for MPs?

Third, should MPs be allowed to employ their family and friends at all? Doubts about the nepotism will always abound. But there may be perfectly sound reasons why an MPs husband or relative is absolutely the right person for the job. Should they be disbarred just because they are related to their would be employer? Again, it should be perfectly possible to have independent oversight of recruitment of staff to ensure that job descrptions (not just standard ones that mean nothing) and hours etc are clear. And perhaps independent House of Commons adminstrators could sit in on interviews (maybe as part of a system of spot-checks) to ensure fair play.

Fourth, all of this must be out in the open. Public servants have to accept that their dealings are of concern to the public and we have a right to know where the money goes. MPs must not, as some of them have, seek to restrict access to their mileage claims and so on. I accept that the great majority have nothing to hide, but the point of principle is that they should be prepared to disclose this information – and in some detail – to their employers – us!

I want to get elected to Parliament. But I do not want to be part of a system where the public feel that we are only in it for what we can get.

If may well be that with genuine independent oversight our democracy is comes pretty cheap – but we need to get confidence back, and fast. You don’t trust a dodgy car salesman because you fear he is always out to diddle you. Do we want MPs to end up like that too?

Barrage – a fight for Weston

The Government has given the go-ahead to a two-year study into the possibility of a Severn Barrage.

This is good news for Weston – up to a point. If built in the right location and in the right way, a barrage has the potential to be a huge force for good for our economy, tourism and for our sea defences.

But we must not make the mistake of believing that all this will all necessarily work out to our local advantage. No one in this London-based study group will be looking to do Weston any favours.

Already campaigners in Burnham-on-Sea want the barrage built further west, others may well argue for a more easterly location.

There will be those who will make the case for a smaller barrage or a series of tidal lagoons. They will be cheaper and easier to construct. They may see Weston missing out on local benefits altogether.

We must not let that happen. The community must stand together to argue our corner and make sure that a barrage, if built, doesn’t just deliver wider economic and environmental benefits but delivers real change for Weston.

This is a once in a generation opportunity to create jobs, generate investment and transform Weston bay. We must not let it slip by through complacency or because the doom mongers say it will never happen.

EU Treaty Referendum

A few people have contacted me to ask my views on the Lisbon EU Reform Treaty, and more particularly the decision of Lib Dem MPs not to support a referendum on the treaty.

<>Personally, I am disappointed by the decision made by Liberal Democrat MPs to vote against a referendum on the EU Reform Treaty because I disagree with it. I have written to Nick Clegg today to express that view.

There should be a referendum on the EU Reform Treaty, in my view it is insufficiently different to the EU Constitution which the then Prime Minister Tony Blair (and the Lib Dems and Tories) promised a referendum on.

If I was an MP today, I would not have supported my party’s line and would have voted for a referendum on the treaty.

That said, I do agree with Nick Clegg that what we really need is a full referendum on Britain’s continuing membership of the EU – in or out. We have not had any national vote on the issue since 1975 and I believe it is time for a proper national debate on our continuing membership of the EU.

For me, politics is about determining principles and then arguing your case in favour of them. All political parties and politicians need to start having the courage to make their principles clear and having the courage to argue for them.

Those who are enthusiasts or sceptics where the European Union is concerned should not have any reason to be fearful of a democratic debate and vote. They must set out their stall and argue their case. I fear that semantic arguments about what means what and whether a treaty is a constitution or vice versa help no-one.