First time I've been actually shocked by the coalition

Really disappointed and surprised by just how short term the Con-Dem coalition is being.  The scheme to build "extra care" homes for the elderly on the old Avenue school site has been axed by the Con-Dem coalition.

It's a cut that doesn't make any sense, as it is a one off capital investment - and would probably save money in the long term by allowing people to stay independent for longer.  We've been told that cuts are a painful necessity to cut the ongoing budget deficit but this won't make any difference to next year's deficit - and I really hope this isn't ideology about council homes being dressed up as necessity.

Whatever party you are in it's clear we have an ageing population who will need these kind of homes more and more in the future and

Only thing that is that might save the scheme is because the national government realise the scheme has merit (no kidding!) we've been told that the council can apply under a different scheme. 
Well we will of course push the local Con-Dems to jump through the hoops and try to get the alternative funding but even if this best care scenario happens would be a bizarre thing for a government who claim to want to reduce bureaucracy to force us to waste Reading's resources reapplying for a perfectly good scheme to go ahead - they could just have cut the budget of the alternative funding stream by an equivalent amount

Last chance to vote for the Ecoflap

I voted for the ecoflap in the barclay's "Take one small step" competition after they contacted my comrade Bet Tickner (although I didn't decide to do a publicity stunt on it a la Rob White) it's a great idea and deserves to win - it's in the final 3 I think now.

You've got until Sunday to show your support!  Vote here

Glenda Jackson rips into the budget

I think her final point about the debt from the 2nd world war is particularly true.