Car must return to the role of servant rather than master if pollution is to be tackled

Standing at the point where Blakehall Road crosses over the M11 Link Road provides an excellent illustration as to why pollution has grown to the dangerous levels it has today.

I remember the protests against the building of the Link road, back in the early 1990s. The people living in a tree on George Green, the occupation of the houses on one side of Cambridge Park Road and further on down the route into Leytonstone.

The claims of the protesters then was that transport policy amounted only to building ever more roads – predict and provide. These roads would then fill with cars and cause pollution.

The car reigned supreme in those days, public transport ran a very poor second.

Fast forward 25 years to the present day and those predictions of the protesters have come to pass. The Link is a very busy stretch of road, often crammed with lines of traffic, emitting fumes, whilst moving slowly along.

Now, the Cambridge Park Road (above) is beginning to jam up at rush hour in the way that it did 30 years ago when the planners first dreamt up the Link Road.

And it is the humans living above who have to breath the polluted air belching forth from this high level of traffic. There are two primary schools and a number of care homes all sitting right on Cambridge Park road - all breathing in those fumes.

Scientific research suggests that living near roads travelled by more than 10,000 vehicles per day could be responsible for some 15-30% of all new cases of asthma in children, and a similar proportion of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and  coronary heart disease cases in adults 65 years of age and older.

There are some identifiable causes of pollution such as diesel cars, though let’s not forget it was not that long ago that people were being told these vehicles were a good thing. Now, the opposite has been found to be the case. People with these types of polluting vehicle need to be helped to make the change, not simply penalised.

The move to electric cars will improve the quality of the air. It will also cut noise pollution – the bane of many lives on roads like the A406.

The urgency of the situation is such that more draconian measures may need to be taken in the short term, such as restricting the number of cars on the road at any one time.

What is for sure is that action needs to be taken. The car has been a wonderful liberating invention for people across the world. However, the car needs to be the servant, not the master of humankind. This cannot continue, unless we are happy to go on steadily poisoning ourselves to death.

Over recent years, the rights of the car driver to drive pollute wherever and whenever has become sacrosanct – this cannot be sustained, unless we want to go on slowly poisoning ourselves to death.   

·        For details of pollution on your road, see: http://www.howpollutedismyroad.org.uk/hotspots.php

published - Wanstead Directory - January

 

Renewables revolution

The excellent expose on the appalling deal struck over Hinkley Point nuclear power station goes some way to explaining this governments outright hostility to renewables. The recent announcement in the budget of the removal of subsidies from renewables was a blatant act of aggression. However, if as renewable energy gets cheaper and cheaper ministers minds are clouded by the ridiculously high guaranteed "strike price" of £92.50 per megawatt hour for Hinkley generated power, who can be surprised? . 

The government should be looking to get out of nuclear power entirely and join the rest of the world in the renewables revolution.

 

published - 27/12/2017 - Guardian

Fans revolution coming at West Ham

^{A fans rebellion was in the air at the London Stadium before the West Ham game against Newcastle United on Saturday.}

^{Members of the self styled “Real West Ham Fans Action Group” were handing out cards around the ground titled “the revolution is coming.”}

^{Among the demands of the group are “a fit for purpose football stadium ..as promised by the board” and “more transparency with regards to why we sold out and left Upton Park and what the financial position of the club actually is..as promised by the board.”}

^{The group also calls for “more attention to detail for our disabled and elderly fans” and “better travel for our fans to away games.”}

^{Elsewhere the group are calling for the owners to be “more professional on social media,” which should include “removing the [David] Sullivan kids from speaking on the club’s behalf.”}

^{The group, which has formed a seven member committee are asking for fans views. via twitter@realwesthamfans or email - realwesthamfans@gmail.com}

One step forward, two steps back for West Ham, as Newcastle take all the spoils from the London Stadium

^{West Ham 2-3 Newcastle United}

^{West Ham manager David Moyes could not hide his disappointment at this defeat, which kept his side rooted in the lower reaches of the Premiership relegation battle.}

^{An aggrieved manager was quick to highlight big mistakes on the first Newcastle goal and that the second was off side. “I’m disappointed but it’ll happen,” said Moyes. “We knew if we could win this today we could get away from the bottom.”}

^{The manager admitted that the team had missed their talismanic midfielder Manuel Lanzini, who was serving the second game of his ludicrous two match suspension for the diving charge at Stoke last week.}

^{Moyes identified the failure to convert a penalty when two one down as a pivotal moment in the game. “The penalty was such a big moment in the game, the chance to get back to 2-2.” We need to get a little bit more reliable when it comes to penalties,” said Moyes.}

^{The manager also revealed that he would be looking at the goalkeeping situation again, after this result, meaning Joe Hart maybe returning for the game at Bournemouth on Boxing Day.}

^{The game all started so well for West Ham, with just five minutes on the clock, when Marco Arnautovic intercepted a sloppy pass across the back by Henri Saivet. The Austrian striker then ran on to cooly finish under the advancing keeper Rob Elliot.}

^{The lead only lasted four minutes as Saivet made amends curling a free kick inside the post .}

^{The game continue to ebb and flow with first the visitors twice hitting the woodwork. West Ham’s Arthur Masuaku saw his long range effort pushed aside by Elliot, while Michel Antonio then nodded wide from an excellent Arnautovic cross.}

^{The game continue apace in the second half, with Arautovic seeing his shot go narrowly wide of the post. But seven minutes into the half Christian Atsu cutting in from the left laid the ball on a plate for Mohamed Diame to prod home.}

^{Two minutes later came the penalty as Antonio broke through the middle only to be pulled down by Ciaran Clark. Andre Ayew strode up to take the penalty but his body shape said it all, resulting in Elliot pushing the effort away.}

^{Another sloppy piece of football from the home side saw the ball given away in midfield, only for Newcastle to break at speed with three against two defenders – the move was finished by Christian Atsu.}   

^{West Ham clawed a goal back as Andy Carroll’s header from a corner rebounded to Ayew, who rammed the ball high into the net. The home side continued to press but in the end all to no avail.}

^{Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez was happy with the result. “It was a great day for our fans and for our players,” said Benitez, who felt his team had been hard done by in recent games, not getting the results their efforts deserved}

The growing influence of so called gamesmanship could destroy football as an entertainment spectacle

There has been much debate recently about diving to try to get an advantage in football matches.

West Ham’s Manuel Lanzini was deemed to have dived to get a penalty, when challenged by a Stoke defender, at the end of a 70 yard run.

The referee in the game awarded a penalty but the panel that oversees such matters ruled later that Lanzini had dived.

The panel decision seems to have undermined the authority of the referee. West Ham manager David Moyes made the point well when he said that the referee was only 10 yards from the incident.

West Ham are now without their influential midfielder for two games due to this retrospective action.

Don’t get me wrong diving to get an advantage, such as a penalty, is wrong. Certain players are well known for easily going to ground under challenge – Lanzini is not one of them. However, the approach of banning players after the fact appears to run against natural justice and undermines referees.

Diving is but one unsavoury element of the game that has become prevalent over recent times.

The importing of skills that really belong in the acting profession has been going on for some years. There are a number of players, who literally only have to be touched before they go down rolling around as if shot. They then usually, make an amazing recovery, once they’ve got the decision or it has gone against them.

These antics come under the heading of gamesmanship or as some of us prefer to call it cheating. The effort to fool the officials has reached such epidemic levels, that a player who stays on his feet under challenge, can now be seen to be at a disadvantage. Football seems to be heading toward the status of a non-contact sport.

It would be wrong to say these developments are new, though a few years ago when the game was much more about physical contact, a player left writhing on the ground after a tackle from Chelsea’s Ron “Chopper” Harris or Leeds United’s Norman “bites your legs” Hunter were unlikely to be feigning injury.

Another development of recent years, to the cost of the spectator, is time wasting. Most clubs seek to time waste at some time, usually when running the clock down at the end of a game. But some will start time wasting antics in the first half of a match. Goalkeepers are particularly good at devising ways to waste time.
 

What has happened is that many of these nefarious ways of going on have combined to a ridiculous level, to the extent that the idea that the players are there to entertain the public seems to be getting lost.

The reaction of the authorities to these misdemeanours creeping into the game always seems to go over the top.

One way of seeking to outlaw some of these practices over recent years has been the liberal use of yellow and red cards. A player should only be booked if a foul is malicious with intent to cause harm. The number of times that a player simply mistimes a tackle or is simply a bit too physical, yet immediately the referee is brandishing a card in the air. The punishment benchmark has been altered to the extent that players are now booked for things they would previously just be warned for, whilst misdemeanours that would previously have attracted a booking, now merit a sending off.

This over penalising of players stops the flow of the game and thereby detracts from the entertainment value.

What is needed is a serious look at the winner take all culture that has engulfed football. Time wasting, diving for penalties and play acting to fool officials generally - none of these practices should have a place in the entertainment world of football. The referees have a difficult line to tread between asserting authority and not becoming the centre of attention themselves. Many fail to tread that line but are not being helped by some recent developments in the game. Failure to stem the tide of cheating and win at all costs mentality could in the end destroy football as an entertainment that people want to come to watch. It won’t necessarily take a lot of change to put things right but certainly the writing is on the wall if the problems are ignored or dealt with in the wrong way

*published Morning Star - 23/12/2017
 

Young Marx – a light hearted romp through the life of a revolutionary socialist in the mid-1850s

The play, Young Marx, provides fast moving entertainment, drawing on socialist revolutionary life in the migrant community around Soho in the middle of the 19^th century.

The cast, led by the excellent Rory Kinnear as Karl Marx, offer a quick skip through the life of the Marx family, with the ever dependable and supportive Friedrich Engels, in the mid-1850s.

Richard Bean and Clive Coleman’s narrative encompasses Marx role as father, drunk and genius. He has scraps with the law, duels with an opponent and suitor for his wife, impregnates the family maid - all whilst working on his master work Das Kapital.

This play entertains, whilst also informing and educating - offering a rudimentary understanding of Marx’s writings, set amid slapstick humour. The alienation of labour, commodification and the role of money all get a brief airing.

Set in Soho, mainly at the Marx family residence of the time in Dean Street, the play features insights into the refugee community, particularly the Prussians at this time, who lived in the area. The revolutionary meetings, the struggles to halt those who see a violent attack on Queen Victoria as the way forward.

Kinnear provides much of the energy, tipping over at times into his inner Michael McIntyre. Oliver Chris provides a great foil with his Engels.

In one telling moment of Engels frustration, he explains how he is an observer but Marx has the insight into how society works – the structures of class and exploitation that forces so many to live in abject poverty.  

Nancy Carroll as the long suffering Jenny Von Westphalen (Mrs Marx) and Laura Elphinstone as the maid and confidant Helene “Nym” Demuth also give excellent performances.  

Young Marx is the debut play at the new Bridge theatre, near to Tower Bridge in London. A great start for the new £12.5 million theatre, which has performance Julius Caesar and Nightfall coming up over the next few months.

*Young Marx plays at the Bridge Theatre until 31 December 2017

New swimming pool should be cause for celebration in Wanstead

The news that there will be a swimming pool in Wanstead has been greeted with much enthusiasm among the local population.

People living in this area have for too long had to travel miles to reach their nearest pool. The lack of a pool has further underlined, the sometimes heard view in these parts, that Wanstead is the forgotten part of Redbridge.

Swimming is an excellent and essential exercise. It exercises many different muscle groups, without the same wear and tear issues as say running. It also vital to be able to swim because, put simply, you could drown. It is surprising how many people around cannot swim.

There have been those who have criticised the new swimming pool venture on the basis of cost. Most notably Conservative candidate for Wanstead Village, Scott Wilding has said in the past that the pool is likely to be “a white elephant.”

Critics often mix up the sums regarding how the pool is going to be funded. It will not be coming out of revenue funding, which accounts for the day to day services that the council has to provide. So, there will not say less be less bin collections or council funded social care because of the swimming pool.

Funding for the pool is coming from capital spending. So there will be £750,000 from Sport England, with the remainder of the funding coming from internal capital and borrowing at a preferential rate. The money will pay back in time from the admission fees generated by the pool and adjacent gymnasium.

Many will have been surprised to hear the likes of Mr Wilding talk about costs, given that it is the actions of his Conservative government with its failed austerity policies that are forcing a series of relentless cuts on local authorities across the land.

Redbridge has had to absorb £134 million of cuts since 2010, with more in the pipeline. It’s cuts for the mass of people, whilst a few of the very rich continue to get ever richer with tax breaks and other benefits. These are the type of policies that have created an incredibly unequal society, best exemplified by the sight of over 1 million people going to foodbanks, while over 140 billionaires enjoy a life of plenty.

The Labour Council has struggled to keep public services for all, whilst under pressure to constantly cut. The retaining, and indeed updating in Wanstead, of the library is one major achievement. Street collections have also been maintained.

The council has struggled to maintain services against a real from the Tory government that seems determined to drain the life blood out of local communities across the land.

Given, the aforesaid, it is all the more credible that a new swimming pool to improve the lives of the many people living here should be underway – a cause to celebration. 

 

See - Wanstead & Woodford Guardian and Wanstead & Woodford Recorder -   14/12/2017

The lesson of Christmas should be that charity is no substitute for justice, especially when it comes to foodbank welfare

Christmas is a time when charity is very much at the forefront but is it a distraction from justice?
Take foodbanks. Go to any supermarket and you will find a basket full of goods, bought and donated by the public for foodbanks. Meanwhile, the supermarket pays the staff such low wages that they themselves often have to go to the foodbanks. The supermarket also has another basket round the back that is filled up with food to throw away.
Yes, it is good to give but at the same time should we not ask why in the fifth richest country in the world more than a million people have to go to foodbanks?  Also, I pay my taxes to provide a fair welfare system that supports people when they fall on hard times, not subsidise bad employers, who don't want to pay living wages. Nor do I support the culture of the present welfare system which seeks to punish people for their misfortunes and helps push them toward foodbanks.

* published Evening Standard - 14/12/2017/ Ilford Recorder - 21/12/2017

Chelsea boss Antonio Conte concedes title, as West Ham secure first win under David Moyes

West Ham 1-0 Chelsea

An action packed derby game at the London Stadium ended with new West Ham boss David Moyes securing his first victory, whilst Chelsea manager, Antonio Conte, conceded the Premier League after their fourth defeat in 16 games.

A happy Moyes explained how his side had taken confidence from their spirited perfornance against Manchester City last Sunday, which saw the Hammers lose out narrowly to the league leaders.

“We had a good plan and organisation,“ said Moyes, who once again deployed Marko Arnautovic and Michel Antonio in free running roles up front to stretch the Chelsea rearguard. A similar tactic had been deployed against City.

“We tried to fill the middle of the pitch with power and pace,” said Moyes, who though pleased with the rising energy levels of the players, said that he would like to see Arnautovic and Antonio play 90 minutes, not having to come after after 75 minutes as in this game.

The West Ham manager proved once again that he is not afraid to ring the changes, with Adrian retaining his place at the expense of England’s Joe Hart, after an impressive game against City. Others missing out on the start were the clubs four main strikers Andy Carroll, Andre Ayew, Chicarito and Diafra Sakho, all of whom started on the bench. Sakho did get on for the last 20 minutes.

The home side began as they meant to go on, not allowing Chelsea any space. The approach yielded early dividends, when, in the fifth minute, the impressive Arnautovic exchanged passes with Manuel Lanzini in  the penalty area, before calmly slotting home.

Chelsea then piled on the pressure with Eden Hazard seeing one shot go just wide, while Adrian turned another round the post.

Five minutes into the second half, Arnautovic was sent clear away by Antonio but Thibaut Courtois came out to block the resulting shot.

Fans wondered at this point whether West Ham would live to regret that miss, as Chelsea began to camp in the home team’s half.

The Hammers though held on, with Hazard and Alvaro Morata missing good chances for the visitors.

Moyes was again full of praise for the home fans for the way they got behind the team. “The fans have been fantastic since I came, it’s a great atmosphere,” said Moyes, whose never say die attitude runs throughout his players and staff. On one occasion, as the game reached  a climax, Stuart Pearce got involved, angrily kicking the ball away after a Chelsea player had tried to feign injury. The old West Ham favourite received loud applause as he returned to his seat - urging the crowd on.

Conte declared his desire to stay in the battle for the title but conceded that four losses, with two against sides at the bottom of the table really was not good enough. “You can lose once or twice,” said Conti. “I said it would be very very tough and that is proving true.”

published - "David's West Ham slays Goliath as Conte concedes title," - Morning Star, 11/12/2017 

Uber have an annus horribilis, as brand takes a bashing

Exploitation of workers, failing to abide by regulations in London, cover up of a major data breach and sexual harassment claims are just some of the features of the past year for beleaguered care hire company Uber

In the UK, the future of the car hire company has come under threat, as TFL refused to renew its license to operate in the capital. Uber were accused of a number of irregularities, including its approach to reporting serious criminal offences, its approach to how medical certificates are obtained and use of blocking software, stopping regulatory authorities getting full access to the app.

The company has begun an appeal in the courts.

Other towns are looking closely at what is happening in London and the operation of the company, with Brighton and Cambridge among those reviewing operations.

The company has also been seeking to defend its position as a main player in the gig economy. This has involved claiming that its drivers are self-employed, so not entitled to things like holidays and sick pay.

A tribunal ruled in favour of two drivers supported by the GMB, who claimed that they were effectively employees of the company. The company appealed the key tribunal ruling on worker’s rights but lost again in November at the high court. It is now looking to take its case Supreme Court.

There was more damaging news from the US, where Uber there have been revelations of a data breach and sexual harassment claims.

Uber admitted that it had failed to disclose a cyber-attack that exposed the data of some 57 million drivers and passengers. The breach affected 2.7 million individuals in the UK. The company then paid the hackers £75,000 not to release the stolen data.

The UK Information Commissioner’s Office said that Uber’s admission over the hack “raises huge concerns around its data protection policies and ethics.”

Also in the US, former Uber engineer, Susan Fowler alleged in a blog that she was sexually harassed at and experienced gender bias during her time at the company. She claimed that one manager propositioned her and asked for sex, but her complaints to HR were dismissed because the manager was a high performer. She said Uber continued to ignore her complaints to HR, and then her manager threatened to fire her for reporting things to HR

The New York Times then published further details of other abuses involving sexual harassment and drug use.

The company hired Eric Holder, former US attorney general, to lead an independent investigation, which saw more revelations and eventually 20 staff were fired.

In June, CEO and company founder Travis Kalanick stood down.

Further problems saw the Google self-driving-car group, now known as Waymo, accuse Uber of using stolen technology to advance its own autonomous-car development. The law suit, filed in the US District Court in San Francisco, claimed that a team of ex-Google engineers stole the company's design for the lidar laser sensor that allows self-driving cars to map the environment around them.

So it has truly been an “Annus Horribilis” for the car hire company, with its global reputation in the taters. The new management will certainly have their work cut out, not least the way it treats its workers, if next year doesn’t prove to be worse than this year.  

Published by Unionline