Denise Lloyd

Well he did take something to Press Complaints Office several years ago so perhaps they were being a little shall we say over cautious

Nice to see The Jess has now waded in on this there is quite a piece in the HT today. He has also written a letter of objection to HC. Good on Jess for this.

Jess Phillips takes a few more risks than the other journos perhaps she sneaked it in and good for her perhaps she should move over to Herefordshire Live as well. I quickly read it this morning and remembered the Mirror first published the list earlier this week. Don't forget a new editor has started at HT and perhaps he has been vetted on who to stay in with. Annoyingly this was an original story for HT and not one cribbed from other sources. Quite a few comments are also being removed. This is the article in the Mirror but it doesn't mention Wiggin David Cameron's gravy train scandal as ex-ministers join ... www.mirror.co.uk › News › UK News › Politics 3 days ago - The PM faces calls for a tougher crackdown after a Mirror investigation ... His successor as Minister for Water, ex-Lib Dem MP Dan Rogerson, ... Four of Mr Cameron's former Energy Ministers now work for energy .... Paper Subscription to theDaily Mirror · Paper Subscription to the Sunday Mirror · Irish Mirror. Then there is this which was published last January well before the election The Former Tory Whip Cashing In On Privatised Welfare JAN 2015 Friday 9TH posted by Morning Star in Features SOLOMON HUGHES introduces Bill Wiggin MP FORMER Tory whip Bill Wiggin MP is paid by a company running privatised welfare benefits. Wiggin gets “up to £5,000†on top of his MP’s salary, but the privatisation has driven the poor and vulnerable to foodbanks. Wiggin, who is MP for North Hertfordshire, was a Tory whip until September 2012. In September 2013 he became a director of Allpay Ltd, a firm that makes prepaid cash cards. Wiggin earned £2,000 from Allpay last year for two board meetings. It wasn’t a huge amount of cash, but at just 10.5 hours work, he is paid at a handsome rate of over £190 an hour. Allpay is cashing in on the “social fund†that jobcentres used to give claimants crisis loans, offering one-off sums for things like fridges or beds. Crisis loans were given to people who’d lost items through fire or damage or women who fled abusive husbands. One of Wiggin’s jobs as assistant whip was pushing through the 2012 Welfare Reform Act. This “devolved†the social fund, passing it from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) to local authorities. This devolution hit the poor hard — when the DWP devolved the fund, they also cut it. Local authorities had less money and were allowed to make up their own rules. As well as cutting the amount of money to the poor, the devolution opened the door to privatisation. The fund used to be run by DWP staff, but many local types of council, unused to the new duty, handed the work to private firms, including Allpay. Wiggin’s new employer proudly says on its website: “Following the government’s decision to abolish community care grants and crisis loans, local authorities are also using prepaid cards as a way of delivering parts of the social fund — which is being devolved to councils from 2013.†Councils like Surrey pay Allpay to run their emergency payments. So Allpay gets a profitable contract, Wiggin gets a job on the board, but the poor get fewer grants, leaving them poorer and hungrier and colder. Allpay relies on many other public-sector contracts alongside — it operates cashless cards for school dinner money, collects fines for the Ministry of Justice and does many other jobs that ultimately rely on the taxpayer. But Wiggin has another job helping rich people keep their money out of the taxman’s hands. Wiggin gets another £5,000 a year working for Banbury-based Philip T English International Financial Services. It helps rich people look after their money. The firm says it “can create offshore companies and form trusts for both corporate and individual needs. This may be of particular benefit to foreign domiciled or non-resident individuals who wish to ring-fence their assets from UK based taxation.†It also says its “financial and tax planning services extend beyond the boundaries of the UK in being able to provide advice to clients seeking to base themselves abroad or perhaps returning to the UK from non-resident status.†Philip T English is clear that Wiggin’s main attraction is that he is an MP — it says: “The company and its clients benefit from his experience gained through his parliamentary career in the House of Commons which spanned more than a decade.†So it uses his MP’s position to advertise its services, which include keeping rich people’s tax down. Wiggin got his jobs some time ago, but they appear in the latest report of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba), the watchdog which oversees former ministers’ — and former whips’ — private-sector jobs. Acoba is a toothless watchdog. It mostly waves through ex-ministers’ appointments. Before the last election David Cameron himself said that “the ex-ministers and ex-advisers for hire, helping big business find the right way to get its way†was part of the “next big scandal waiting to happen.†But he has done nothing to change it. Acoba sometimes bans ex-ministers from lobbying or using their “privileged information†for their new employers, but it has no way of enforcing these bans. Indeed some ex-ministers treat Acoba with contempt and don’t seek its advice until after they have taken their jobs — which the committee “note with concern,†in a rather embarrassed complaint in their annual report. Sorry that may all be a bit of a repitition but ho hey is he also a farmer or is it a landowner?

Incredibly this petition has now attracted over 117000 signatures nationwide. Thank you once again to all those of you who has spread the word please keep pushing it around A new debate date has been set #WASPI understands that the NEW debate scheduled for the 1st Feb will take place at 4:30pm in Westminster Hall. http://www.parliament.uk/visiting/visiting-and-tours/watch-committees-and-debates/westminster-hall-debates/ … This is all down to the incredible work and effort the ladies from WASPI have put in. A huge thank you ladies

The consultation on No 1 Ledbury Road has started today and can be found here newsroom.

http://www.herefordtimes.com/news/14196205.Hereford_family_run_business_secures_expansion_space/ So Phillip Morris were planning this move in Spring 2015. Heaven and earth must have been moved for alternative premises to be found for FC to move into. How very fortunate that the old Odeon premises became available very lucky!

You are an absolute star Meg..... The payments might not relate to the smallholdings but I rather suspect they do. This makes it even more desparate that HC should decide to sell off the farms they would not get this return on any other asset. RIP DAVID BOWIE Sad day

Neither can I afford to do a weekly shop at any of those 3 places. In fairness to the supermarkets a lot of British food is stocked and as far as I am concerned their food is just as good as the ones you have mentioned. I buy foreign food but certainly not meat. For those of you who eat meat and buy it from a butcher when you buy your weekend joint of meat you can ask to see the register and it will tell you which farm the meat came from. It is called traceability.

This is off topic but not all payments to BB go through the revenue account road resurfacing goes through the capital account and is written off over 34 years so you can add on a fair bit more for the amount paid to BB. I am really surprised nobody has picked up on my comment on the subsidies paid to HC

Greenknight posted this on HC Farms "Thanks Megilleland for the last post which for me highlights the conflict many English farmers have regarding an EU exit particularly those that rely on foreign labour.This I believe is endorsed by the very fact that the NFU sits on the farm fence. You have to take a step back for a moment and consider where the bulk of grass roots Conservative support comes from in our rural English farming communities.Deep down many may wish to have better control and Mr Patterson raises som e credible points but would they really get the same level of financial support from said Tory government and at what cost after all one has to question how it is possible now to bring in food from around the globe and sell it cheaper than what Farmer Jones can offer down the road. Yes I know there are lots of corporates making money in this globalization food distribution model however my biggest fear will be that a move away from EU without an equivalent financial support package in place could mean a significant rise in food prices and although this affects all of us it will inflict serious hardship on those that cannot afford and in turn this will impact on every aspect of our lives..all of us." A lot depends on how discerning you are when it comes to what food you eat. I think I am correct in saying that the salmonella testing of eggs is only carried out in this country don't quote me on that but I am pretty sure I heard it said somewhere. Growth promoters(Hormones) are not used in this country on farm animals they are more than likely used in many other countries but they are definitely not used in the UK. Chicken production whilst there are many protesters in the way it is done in this country the standards would be higher than else where in the world. Caging of farrowing sows not permitted in this country but widely used in many other European countries. Force feeding of geese to produce foie fais again banned with a capital B in this country but used in France Having seen fruit and veg picked by foreign workers I would much prefer they picked it than some of workers in this country - they are generally a lot quicker hence they can pick more making it more cost effective etc

Greenknight because I felt this was straying off the topic and did not want to be on the receiving end of Colin's wrath I started a new topic/forum this morning entitled British food and farming. So I do want to reply to your comment but feel obligated to support my own cause so will reply on the other topic/forum!

HC has benefitted very nicely from farm subsidies. I asked the question on this forum a little while ago whether the tenant or HC were receiving the subsidy. With this in mind I find it very difficult to believe they were only receiving "gross revenue receivable from the total smallholdings estate was £400k" (ex Graham Powell) Whether they receive the subsidy for Holme Lacy College and some of the green space they own I do not know but I expect so. Anyway whichever way you look at it it is a considerable amount of money. This figure is for 2013 but it is a bit confusing it says for all years so perhaps Meggielland might have the time to translate it a bit. Herefordshire Council €5,762,981 This is in Euro Dollars but it is still a nice little sum of money that if paid on the Council farms will be missed and never seen again. Site info taken from FarmSubsidy.org: United Kingdom farmsubsidy.openspending.org/GB/ These pages list farm subsidy payments made in United Kingdom as published directly by the government of United Kingdom or sourced via freedom of ... Explore European Common Agricultural Policy farm subsidy ... farmsubsidy.openspending.org/ FarmSubsidy shows how much money farm. ... The European Union spends around €59 billion a year on farm subsidies. This site tells you who receives the ... If HC are receiving this subsidy it should be ploughed (excuse the pun) back into the land and farm so why has this not been spent on the maintenance?

Seeing Megielland's post on the HC Farms forum reminded me on something I meant to do earlier in the week. I will respond to Greenknight's question about anybody connected with farming on this site well I strongly suspect I am the person most closely connected to the farming industry on here but I am unable to answer the questions about subsidies. However subsidies are not something that were introduced after joining the EU. Subsidies were introduced after WWII when food was in very short supply and a great many farming workers had been killed or maimed and I believe subsidies came into force to kick start food production in this country. Prior to joining the EU there were the Milk Marketing Board Potato Marketing Board Egg Marketing Board Wool Marketing Board and there was one for cereals as well. These were set up by the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food employing experts in their fields without the endless tiers of Management and one of their purposes was to set quotas so that there was not overproduction of any one thing in a year so preventing food mountains (remember the butter mountain). Now we have DEFRA which is sadly is not dedicated totally to farming. As said on the other forum a tremendous amount of pre-prepared food is sourced from overseas. Pick up any premade chicken curry and see if you can see where the chicken is from in a lot of cases it doesn't say. When I asked a main supermarket many years ago I was told it came from Korea or Indonesia. The EU has set up all these guidelines which creates a lot of waste food - straight cucumbers parsnips not up to the mark. Cakes biscuits anything cooked and bought with egg in a lot of people would be very surprised to know that the majority of eggs used in the production are imported usually as dried egg. Ridiculous this country is perfectly capable of producing enough eggs for the need in this country. I do not know what effect coming out of the EU will have on agriculture but I do know British food production meets the highest standards in the world.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/pa/article-3386272/Almost-half-UK-food-sourced-abroad.html Yes I saw this earlier in the week and forgot to post it. Back British farming it is becoming more and more important to become as self sufficient as possible in food production. I do not know whether it is still the case but a lot of pre-prepared meals are sourced overseas. Selling this land the Council are also losing vital security when they want to borrow even more money - all in all a bad decision. However Graham Powell has defended the decision in a local magazine and assured the readers "that the mandate to use our assets for the benefit of all residents a decision was taken to undergo a structural sale of the estate." Note the words "all residents"

Perhaps the Site Foreman or whatever his job title is would to care to read the condiitons attached to the Decision Notice with especial reference to condiiton 22 or Informative 8 https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/documents?id=cf529b8b-63e1-11e3-af54-0050569f00ad It is not the public whinging and moaning it is a matter of safety to the public and I don't care if you Dilligaf are mates with site staff it is irellevant. Keepmoat are a huge concern throughout the country and should conduct themselves accordingly.

Cambo thank you once again for educating me. First find your 72 virgins! Still an insult to a pig and a waste of good meat

K Butt you say "This is a major building site" and should be treated as such

Thank you TWG. Reading through the comments on the FB it is an accident waiting to happen pedestrians all amongst the construction vehicles and such a prominent place unbelievable

Just had mine now too

That's an insult to a pig chuck him in the nearest incinerator and throw his ashes away with the rubbish

Sorry Colin yes Colin we all have a tendency to deviate from the topic

"It is an offence under Section 148 of the Highways Act 1980 to allow mud or other debris to be transmitted onto the public highway. The attention of the applicant is drawn to the need to keep the highway free from any mud or other material emanating from the application site or any works pertaining thereto." Taken from the decision notice for this PA

The bombing of Syria has gone very quiet of late but on the news this morning is this very desparate situation. In the name of humanity something and I don't know what has to be done with the greatest of urgency Madaya: residents of besieged Syrian town say they are being starved to death The Guardian‎ - 14 hours ago Image of a young child supplied by activists in the Syrian town of Madaya, which is under ... State Dept confirms 'working document' laid out timeline for Syria regime changeRT‎ - 8 hours ago Syria conflict: 'Dire situation' in besieged villages - BBC NewsBBC News‎ - 18 hours ago

Dilligaf it was me Denise Lloyd who brought up the Health and Safety issue on Facebook and clearly it is an issue if young Mums and their toddlers push chairs prams and all that travels with them are allowed to walk amongst the construction vehicles. Carry on ranting if it makes you feel better but do not take a side swipe at me!

It is really irritating unless you check on a regular basis you're not aware that there is a new article in Herefordshire Live. I imagined if you signed in you would be alerted to any new articles but perhaps it is a blip at the moment.