Jim Cousins

And this is how it went...

2004-08-20T23:02:00.000+01:00

I finally met Jim at his constituency office the other night. It was in fact one evening earlier this week so this post has been overlong in coming. Sorry. I'm not setting a very good example am I? This post has been a hard one to write - I didn't want to misconstrue anything said nor promise anything that I may have imagined in my eagerness to get this going. I've started and restarted this so many times. Here goes.

The meeting was very encouraging. Jim was very interested in the process behind blogging and I explained how easy it was to publish information and updates about issues and ongoing campaigns within the area, to link to other sources to help his constituents get a better understanding of those issues and most importantly the ease with which his constituents can initiate dialogue with him.

Because of the comparatively high numbers of students and graduates in the constituency Jim knows there is a fair percentage of his constituents having guaranteed internet access thus having easy access to the blog. We discussed the fact that more people are getting on the net everyday so the prospective audience was probably going to include a much higher number of his constituents than the groups mentioned.

While agreeing the blog would be a very useful and powerful means to communicate with his constituents Jim isn't prepared to take the blog over yet. He does however want to try a few things out with the blog as a means to gauge how effective it really is. We all know that the ease of communication the internet has ushered in has also brought with it information overload, masses of spam and various other timewasters. His main fear is that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages so wants to dip his toe in the water.

So what does Jim want to try out? First of all he's going to put something together on various new laws and more importantly their impact on the local area. He knows how boring press releases are so we won't just get a rehash of the latest Westminster communique. But the most exciting thing he wants to try is posting something on a local issue inviting responses direct to his email address via the blog. He will be garnering feedback for this through the usual channels as well so it will be a good test to see the quality and quantity of responses through the blog compared to the traditional means of cavassing opinion. To make sure enough constituents know about he will include the address of the blog in upcoming newsletters. I've been suprised at the relatively high visitor numbers but only a minority of them are local. Hopefully that should change soon.

The final details of what the actual content are to still be worked out but Jim seemed really enthusiastic about it so it shouldn't be too long before we get to see. Hopefully the trial proves to be a positive one and Jim will want to do more or preferably take over the blog entirely. Stay tuned for more soon.

I'm going to see Jim Cousins

2004-08-11T17:55:00.000+01:00

There was me thinking August was going to be a bit quiet on the Jim Cousins Blog with Parliament on their summer holidays. But there's been contact between myself and Jim.

Over the course of the last week I've been exchanging emails with his Research and Constituency Worker. The gist of them is that they've offered help with resource materials for this blog in the form of FAQs on Jim's views and copies of other materials on various matters. Jim is also interested in all forms of communicating with his constituents and is aware the internet is playing an increasing role in everyone's lives. Not quite a "Give me my blog please" but definitely a step in the right direction.

The upshot of these emails is that I'm going to see Jim soon to talk about blogging and the role it can play in an MP's communication tool box. Thanks Jim (and Jo!).

I've never mentioned it up until now as I wanted to wait until a concrete meeting had been arranged. Additionally ALL email to this blog will be, and has been, treated with the utmost confidentiality and not mentioned until explicit permission has been given to do so. So if you've been putting off contacting this blog over fears of my repeating anything said in an email - fear no longer. Some local peoples views on this whole business of MPs and the internet would be more than appreciated bearing in mind the upcoming meeting.

Update: And this is how it went...

Jim Cousins' Constituency Surgery Schedule for August 2004

2004-08-05T19:07:00.000+01:00

Jim Cousins' Constituency Surgery Schedule for August 2004 Here is the second installment of Jim's surgery schedule.

6th August , 1.00pm - 2.00pm: Customer Services, Newcastle Civic Centre Map
7th August , 11.00am - 11.45am: Wyndham Primary School, Wyndsail Place Map
13th August , 1.00pm - 2.00pm: Customer Services, Newcastle Civic Centre Map
20th August , 1.00pm - 2.00pm: Customer Services, Newcastle Civic Centre Map
27th August , 1.00pm - 2.00pm: Customer Services, Newcastle Civic Centre Map

Newcastle City Council's listing for his schedule can be seen here.

Alan Milburn, meet (NOT) Alan Milburn

2004-08-04T14:17:00.000+01:00

Mike, who is running the Alan Milburn blog, has moved one step closer to getting his MP online. His MP is very interested in the idea and he was invited to the constituency offices to discuss the situation with constituency works. Go on Mike!

Come on Jim - don't let Alan beat you to it! Click here to email me.

Read more here.

Web of intrigue as 'blogger' tracks MP

2004-08-01T22:08:00.000+01:00

So goes the headline in this article in the local paper, the Journal, about Jim Cousins' blog which from my point of view is better than any number of mentions in the Guardian as it has more chance of reaching Jim's constituents. On the downside they didn't print the website address (at least in the online version - I'm yet to see the print version) which in this day and age when talking about a website is a very big downside. At the very least though this should have been read by at least a few local people who have managed to find their way here. Which is just as well as I don't think I'm quite up to a sticker campaign!

Apart from a few minor inaccuracies, like extending my offer of a few months technical support to a year (Which I'll honour Jim - it get's better and better.), the now obligatory 'web logger' reference, saying I update daily (I wish I had the time - that's where Jim comes in I hope), the fact I may reveal my true identity and the omission of my explicit statement that computer programming has nothing to do with it and is in no way required to write a blog the the journalist did at least do a bit of background on the reason for doing it including a mention for Tim at Bloggerheads and the Alan Milburn proxy blog, just down the road from here at Darlington.

Still no comment from Jim. If any of Jim's constituents are reading this and think it's a good idea then let Jim know.

Hello Jim, goodbye not the real Jim?

2004-07-29T17:42:00.000+01:00

I've had an email from Shane McCracken who has been doing some research on what MP's think of their blogs being run by proxy. After he had emailed Jim, Jim's constituency researcher telephoned him to ask him if he was not the real Jim Cousins. Of course he isn't - I am!

I've just had a call from his constituency researcher asking what my interest was in the matter and to find out if I was "NTRJC"

I think the researcher seemed a little panicked as though the idea of a proxy blog was a dangerous thing. I think you'll have a reaction from Jim soon.

About the same time I had a hit on pretty much every page from the same person so I'm guessing that was the researcher. So Jim are you ready to claim your free blog? No strings attached whatsoever except the promise to keep it updated so we, your constituents, know what you are doing. It'd also be a handy place for online surgeries.

So the current situation is that I know that Jim knows about the blog and offer. Now I've posted this the whole world knows that I know that Jim knows about this blog. As the Guardian pointed out today you are doing yourself a disservice if you don't bother. Talk to me Jim. I'll even show you how to post and give you some technical support in your first few months.

Jim Cousins' Blog gets another mention in the Guardian

2004-07-29T10:57:00.000+01:00

In an article titled "Falling through the net" the Guardian discusses MPs and blogging - or more accurately their lack of blogging and the fact the vacuum is being filled by proxy bloggers who may or may not be sympathetic to the MP they are proxy blogging for.

"'With the technology available, it's very, very easy for anybody to get online with a free weblog and to source all of the information they need to track their local MP,' says Ireland. The power of the blog can be illustrated by Ireland's blog dedicated to Tory MP Tim Yeo. Ireland's blog is the first entry in Google for the MP for Suffolk South, higher than the official profile on the Conservative Party site and the most likely place a prospective voter is likely to visit.

What's more, a number of bloggers have taken Ireland's suggestion. Now, MPs Jim Cousins, Sandra Gidley, Boris Johnson, Alan Milburn, Sarah Teather, Nick Raynsford and Lewis Mooney all have blogs dedicated to them and most are not friendly. The moral is: if you don't launch your own blog, someone might do it for you."

See the sidebar to the right for links to all the proxy blogs mentioned as the Guardian doesn't bother giving links for them as Chunter also points out. Luckily for Jim I'm one of the friendly ones. The offer in the profile still stands. Go on Jim - you know you want to.

In a somewhat related post it looks like Tim ~~Yeo~~ Ireland has come to the same conclusion - give it to them for free then they have no excuse not to take you up. If they do refuse they just look like the laziest luddites in the world. Wouldn't want one of those for my MP. ;)

See here for previous mention in the Guardian.

Jim Cousins backs congestion charges for Newcastle

2004-07-27T22:28:00.000+01:00

The Evening Chronicle is reporting that Jim Cousins is backing congestion charges for Newcastle. Jim would like to see residents exempt from charges as they are in London. In addition to charges Jim would also

like to see park and ride facilities at stations such as Almouth and Morpeth. By tackling long-distance commuting we could tackle the traffic congestion on roads like the A1 Western bypass, which is getting like the M25 around London.

The A1 Western bypass has obviously been on Jim's mind as he asked a question about traffic levels on it a few weeks ago. I still think if they sorted out the constant roadworks and building traffic it would be much easier to travel across Newcastle.

Read Evening Chronicle article here.
Read BBC article about the Government's plans to reduce congestion here.
Read the Guardian's Editor briefing on the Government's plans here. See the BBC site about the congestion charge in London here and case studies elsewhere.

Bloggerheads is back!

2004-07-20T20:09:00.000+01:00

Not exactly a Jim thing but Bloggerheads is the blog that inspired this blog. It was also the first site to link to to this one. Thanks Tim! Anyway the point of this post was that Tim had given up on his blogging but now he's back with a vengeance. I'm very pleased about that as I only found the site just before he decided to pack it in.

Will the real Jim Cousins please stand up?

2004-07-20T11:42:00.000+01:00

"People felt the national government had slightly lost its way, that it was interested in things that weren't terribly Labour. I'm not saying that these were fair judgments, but that was what people felt."

The above quote was Jim talking about the spending plans that Gordon Brown launched last week a few days before the release of the Butler Report in an apparent bid to boost Blair's battered popularity ratings. That's since been followed up with a new crack down on crime announced. Presumably next week will see the announcement of an increase in the number of public holidays every year in Britain.

The Butler report was exactly as expected - just down to a few misunderstandings and no harm meant by anyone so how could blame possibly be attached to anyone? Just like another report released slightly earlier in America. It's a curious phenomenon this groupthink thing they're on about. Since the release of the Butler report we've had a stream of Labour politicians on the news saying how Tony was vindicated by the report and anyhow all's well that end's well because Iraq is rid of that nasty man. And all is groovy in UK because we're spending money, catching criminals and giving you more holidays. Hooray!

Which brings me back to the quotes from Jim. I think, and I hope that Jim thinks, that those judgements about Labour not being Labour are very fair judgements. He'd be naive to think that is a view that wasn't held by the majority of Labour supporters.

So what's groovy in the UK? Manufacturing in decline, siphoning of jobs abroad, widescale layoffs in the civil service, creaking health service, schools swamped with one daft initiative after another, higher education being priced out of the reach of many people, widespread poverty, old boy network scandals, lack of low cost housing, poor transport infrastructure and rampant yob culture. Sounds a bit Tory to me. In fact it's like the 1980s revisited.

And then there's the small matter of Iraq. Wanton slaughter of civilians, torture, show trials, people deprived of basic amenities, profits from oil not being spent on the people and mad displays of power and cruelty by the head of state. And that's all since we've liberated Iraq! Did I mention children being raped? So how Labour is it to go to war for nothing and side with one of the most right wing governments ever to be in power in the USA?

Still don't think our judgement is fair Jim? Regardless of the fairness it is our judgement that will elect the next government. The simple truth of the matter is Labour have had two massive majorities in a row for the first time I can remember and yet the popularity of the party seems to be at an all time low. For that alone the leader of the party must be held responsible. Tony Blair's personal popularity has plummeted recently mostly due to the war in Iraq and he is tarnishing the image of Labour. The man is a liability. If you want your seat in the next election Jim you are going to have to get rid of the millstone around the Labour Party's neck. Heed the warnings from the local elections or bury your head in the sand. Your choice Jim.

Jim Cousins calls for tougher sentences for dangerous drivers

2004-07-14T09:00:00.000+01:00

Jim Cousins has met the family of local pensioner Harry Thompson whose killer received a paltry 18 month sentence for leaving him "dying in the road like a dog" and has pledged to them to try and bring in tougher traffic laws for road offences.

The Newcastle Journal has a leader on the story saying that if a driver gets arrested in a case like this it is the relatively minor road offences he gets tried for and not the death caused. In their opinion the death should be the focus of charges. I'll go along with that. However the fact he should not have been on the road at all due to being banned from driving, had 19 previous convictions for road offences as well as another 14 for driving without insurance surely meant he should have got much longer than 18 months anyway?

Read the Journal article about Jim Cousins here.
Read the Journal leader here.
Read the Journal's reporting on the case here.

Jim Cousins' Constituency Surgery Schedule for July 2004

2004-07-11T20:11:00.000+01:00

Here is the first installment of Jim's surgery schedule as promised. It looks a bit sparse but we've missed a few as they were in the first week of the month.

16th July, 1.00pm - 2.00pm: Customer Services, Newcastle Civic Centre Map
17th July, 10.30am - 11.30am: Caring Hands, Wretham Place, Shieldfield Map
23rd July, 1.00pm - 2.00pm: Customer Services, Newcastle Civic Centre Map
30th July, 1.00pm - 2.00pm: Customer Services, Newcastle Civic Centre Map

Newcastle City Council's listing for his schedule can be seen here. To save you the bother of working out the dates I'll publish a list like the one above near the end of each month with the dates for the following month. I'll also put a link into the sidebar which will always point at the latest list.

Jim Cousins' Surgery Schedule Scheduled Soon

2004-07-08T18:31:00.000+01:00

Sorry for the number of posts recently but I've been busy and Jim doesn't seem to have been. I have however got hold of his local surgery schedule but it's in the format of '2nd Wednesday before the full moon except August, February' that these sort of schedules always seem to come in.

I intend to knock it up into a proper schedule with actual dates on it and map links for the locations and post it within the next couple of days. Novel idea I know but it might just fly.

Jim Cousins advocates death penalty for financial industry fraudsters.

2004-07-05T10:50:00.000+01:00

OK so maybe he didn't but he got close! Jim is quoted in an article in the Guardian and he reckons the current penalties for dodgy dealings in the City are nowhere strong enough to discourage the fat cats from doing what fat cats do best. In fact he reckons the "rattle of tumbrils" is required to to provide an effective deterrent.

Mr Cousins said that while the committee had been focusing on retail financial products, "back in the wholesale financial markets we have soft commissions, improper connections between analysts, late trading, share ramping, insider dealing ... We have got a market that makes kickboxing look like bells on Sunday. What is being done about this? Where have we got a successful prosecution of these things?"

Ms Kelly replied that the FSA did have a very clear enforcement strand, but Mr Cousins said that the UK's systems "simply don't produce the rattle of tumbrils necessary to change behaviour".

The article goes on to say we are 'behind the curve' compared to America's handling of financial irregularities. We'll have to catch up so we can have our own Enron style scandal although Shell seem to be doing quite well in that direction.

It's all very well advocating stiffer penalties but if you are rich enough to get a good, expensive doctor you can be diagnosed with Alzheimer's, which enables you to cut short any sentence you may have received. It's an even bigger bonus when you suddenly find yourself cured of an affliction which was previously thought to be incurable. Shouldn't we be doing medical experiments on Ernest Saunders considering he is the only person in the world to have recovered from Alzheimer's?

Read the full article at the Guardian.

Newcastle Lib Dems say hello

2004-07-01T11:24:00.000+01:00

Well Jim, your most dangerous opposition at the next General Election has popped in to say hello. And no I'm not talking about the irrelevant Tories. The Lib Dem PPC (Prospective Parliamentary Candidate) for the Central Ward, Greg Stone, has sent this email to me:

Hi there

Just thought I'd drop you an email congratulating you on your Not The Real Jim Cousins weblog - very good! I am a Newcastle Lib Dem councillor.... and Jim's main challenger as Lib Dem PPC for Newcastle at the next election.

--more snipped--

Cheers
Cllr Greg Stone (Lib Dem, North Heaton)
Newcastle City Council

He also let slip that once the dust settles from the Lib Dem's election victory in Newcastle he fully intends to have a PPC page up and running. You really need to set yours up very soon Jim or come and get this one as it looks like the battle for the Central Ward may well be played out, in part at least, on the web.

Jim Cousins Defends Roman Wall

2004-06-30T12:24:00.000+01:00

A section of the Roman Wall has been unearthed [map] in Newcastle during the building of a student hostel near the City Centre a few hundred yards from Jim's constituency office. As far as I am aware there are only three bits of Roman wall known about in the built up area between the Wall's start at Segedunum (modern day Wallsend) and the start of the more well preserved wall once you get past Newcastle's western boundaries so this is a very important discovery. The other three parts are the bit that was recently discovered near Byker Library [map] (since covered back up for protection but marked by a bit of a Roman design to the square in front of the library.), the bit at the top of Crawhall Road [map] (nothing visible here - just a plaque and coloured bricks on the ground denoting the route) and the bits above ground in West Denton [map].

Obviously the developers will want to just fill it in and carry on building. Luckily Jim is on the case and has been asking Estelle Morris if it can be made accessible to the public. It sounds like the developer's could be stopped altogether though as she has admitted it is a new find on an existing World Heritage Site and as such has to be protected.

I would link to a story in the papers or the BBC news but no one else seems to be covering it. Sorry.

Beith predicts heartlands victory

2004-06-28T18:42:00.000+01:00

Lib Dem MP Alan Beith has been talking about their recent council election success in Newcastle. He reckons Jim's seat in Parliament could be in the bag too.

The party's top target seats at the next General Election include the City of Durham and Blaydon.

And Jim Cousins' Newcastle Central seat has been added to that list in the wake of their triumph at council level.

He could well be right if Tony Blair is still in charge of the Labour Party by the time the General Election comes around. There's still time to do something about that Jim.

Read the full article at The Journal. You'll have to scroll down a bit as the page contains a few articles.

Written Answer to Jim Cousins re Traffic Levels in Newcastle

2004-06-24T18:16:00.000+01:00

Jim has been asking about the traffic levels for the last few years on the various A1 interchanges around Newcastle. Unsurprisingly they are rising.

If Jim wishes to involve himself in local transport matters perhaps he could look at the problems currently happening in Newcastle city centre. Due to simultaneous roadworks appearing in and around the Swan House roundabout, Redheugh Bridge & the Quayside in addition to the huge amount of construction going on means that a journey that previously took 5-10 minutes from the West end of town to my house in the East end has averaged about 45 minutes each time. Multiply that time by the amount of people on the road in cars and buses then it's a lot of time being wasted, with the knock on effect of all those extra car fumes.

My suggestion would be to station a couple of traffic police at rush hour on the Swan house roundabout which would at least help to keep the traffic moving as it is absolute gridlock with vehicles abusing the rules on the yellow grids.

Read the Q & A here.

Written Answer to Jim Cousins re Hazardous Waste

2004-06-23T21:28:00.000+01:00

Jim's been asking about the quantity and size of hazardous waste disposal sites.

Read the question, and written response from Elliot Morley (Scunthorpe, Labour), here.

Jim Cousins on "Why life's looking up in North-East"

2004-06-23T21:21:00.000+01:00

The Office of National statistics have revealed that the North East has improved housing, cleaner rivers and lowest crime rates. However we still have the highest unemployment rates and shortest life expectancies in the country. It seems all is not lost on the health front though as our life expectancy is growing fastest. Jim has a few words to say on this in the Newcastle Journal:

"Newcastle Central MP Jim Cousins said last night: 'Some of the industries which had life-shortening consequences in the past are no more and the impact of them is slowly declining.

In addition there has been a policy of targeting resources at areas where health inequalities are greatest and there is no doubt the North-East has been a big beneficiary of that.'"

And if that's not putting a positive spin on the rape of the North's industries in the 80s I don't know what is! It's good to see we are getting healthier and no doubt the decline of heavy industry has played a significant part in that. What will be the long term health impact of the call centres that have replaced them? I'm predicting a wave of cubicle induced mental illnesses to surface fairly soon. Give us our yards back. Pretty please. I know Swans is in Nick Brown's patch but keeping the yards open help Newcastle too with the knock on effect of all those men's wages being spent in the local economy. It may be that Jim is already doing something about the yards - I'll try and find out.

Read the "Why life's looking up in North-East" article at The Journal.
Read the Swan-Hunter article at the BBC.

How To Run a Weblog on Behalf of Your MP

2004-06-23T00:44:00.000+01:00

This blog was set up after reading this at Bloggerheads yesterday. I decided to set a blog up for my local MP, Jim Cousins, as I thought it would be an interesting project and shouldn't take much effort to keep updated once I get everything set up.

I have a load of links including contact details for Jim (or should we call him Mr. Cousins?) and will be putting that online within the next day or two so watch this space.

Jim Cousins questions Government spending with Big Four accountancy firms

2004-06-23T00:33:00.000+01:00

In an article at Accountancy Age, Jim was quoted:

'I am concerned about the degree to which government has become dependent on the Big Four for advice and the extent to which that sets up possible conflicts that might affect decisions on issues like tax avoidance schemes and auditors' liability.'

Read the full article here.

Jim Cousins reserves judgement on Euro Constitution

2004-06-22T23:20:00.000+01:00

In an article about north MPs backing Blair on the EU constitution it appears Jim Cousins isn't quite so fervent in his backing.

"But Commons Treasury Committee member Mr Cousins said: 'I think the Constitution is basically less important than trying to reform the Commons Agricultural Policy and the stability and growth pact: the economic framework within which all European Union countries are expected to work. That has harmed the British economy even though we are not in the Euro.

'Whether the new constitution will help or hinder such reform is the crucial question.

'MPs will start to study the document line by line later this year and I shall decide whether to oppose or support it on the basis of what I have seen then.'"

More on the Euro Constitution at the BBC.

Read the full article at the Evening Chronicle site.

Coming soon

2004-06-22T21:44:00.000+01:00

watch this space...