WITH THE NODDING DOGS

Full Council tonight - my only real forum at County Hall these days, especially as I have missed the last two Cabinets due to holidays and then Vestas. Pleasant surprise to see Vice Chair Ian Stephens presiding, as the Chairman is in the Baltic, when I joined proceedings at 6.05pm - after prayers.

First motion from the Tories on the ferry companies, urging the OFT to make a reference to the Competition Commission, which built on my successful motion from last March. It went through nem con, though I also got a commitment to have a tracker of actions resulting from Motions in future as I wasn't convinced that much had happened after my last motion.

Then to Vestas, with my Motion calling on the Council to exert pressure on government to facilitate moving the Vestas plant into alternative ownership. I moved the Motion, got support from Cllrs A Whittaker, Barry and Howe (all Liberals), and then the Deputy Leader tabled an Amendment that made a 'more precise statement of aims". Basically more flowery language. Unaninimity then took hold and the Amendment was agreed nem con. Lets hold them to it !

Consensus then fell apart during Cabinet member questions, particularly when the matter of who actually controls scrutiny panel workplans was raised. No matter what the Leadership says, scrutiny since May 2007 has been entirely controlled by the administration and is pretty much a waste of time, with the nodding dogs majority all keen for advancement. Just look at the manoevures they used earlier this year to prevent a scrutiny enquiry into child protection services.

The meeting finished at 9pm having run its full 3 hours course and there are still 10 members of this Tory group yet to make a contribution to debate - none from the opposition side. Bet they were all going to be a 'strong voice at County Hall' on the doorstep !!!!!

TILTING AT WINDMILLS.....

Tomorrow night is Full Council and I will be proposing a Motion on the biggest national media story we have had on the Island since the Parkhurst prison break-out:

"In the light of the devastating loss of 600+ jobs at the local Vestas plant, the IW Council supports the view of the Island's MP that "it is important that public money is invested in businesses that are firmly rooted in local economies" and will work proactively to make that aspiration a reality in the future.

In the meantime and in the face of the current Vestas situation, the IW Council will exert whatever pressure it can to get the Government to facilitate moving the Vestas plant into alternative ownership as a way of not only saving the 600+ local jobs, but also of promoting its own policies to expand renewable energy sources, including wind power."

I hope that I get a reasonable level of support for what is surely uncontentious to anyone with the interests of the Island at heart..............

COOKING FOR THE VESTAS MASSES

A couple of bizarre vignettes from the Vestas protest today. Right is a photo of Liberal Ryde South councillor Adrian Whittaker 'cooking for the masses' outside the threatened plant. Rather a nice vegetable stew I am told. Considering the rest of his family, I fancy disownment can't be far away......

Not much later we witnessed one of the Council leadership's spin doctors chauffuering the Deputy Leader of the Council past the protest in a rather smart Jaguar car. No doubt a 'fact' finding visit that we will hear more about........

As for the protest itself it remains good-spirited and determined, and I have again spoken to a number of my constituents up there. Last night's rumoured injunction was actually a summons for one, issued to the occupiers tonight, and to be heard in the IW County Court next Wednesday 29 July.

Sadly I am not getting anywhere at the moment with my conversations with government seeking to rescue the plant, but nothing ventures, nothing gained. Something singularly absent from the leadership of the shameful IW Council. Adrian and I remain the only two councillors to visit, though both the Labour and Liberal parliamentary candidates have spent time up there over the last 3 days and the MP has been into see management and spoke to workers and protesters yesterday.

If you can get there at 6pm tomorrow we could have an even larger demonstration of support on what is a protest growing by the day.

VESTAS - SHAME ON THE IW COUNCIL

I have spent a good few hours at the protest camp outside the Vestas plant today talking to workers, trade unionists and environmental activists who are camped there in support of the workers occupation. Much of it brings back good memories of my own direct action days 25-30 years ago, but sadly it is most unlikely to turn round the government to a position of saving the plant through 'nationalisation'.

As I understand it Vestas have no intention of selling the plant. Why I wonder? So although I am keen to see some sort of takeover funded by the new government 'climate change' monies that were announced only last week, without a plant to takeover its probably a non-starter. However, IW Labour colleagues and I are lobbying government vigorously behind the scenes to get some fallback position for the 500 workers due to be laid off next week.

What is disapponting is that with the exception of Liberal Adrian Whittaker and myself there has been absolutely no support, or even interest, that I have been made aware of from the other IW Councillors. Indeed it seems to me that the only response of the IW Council leadership has been to ensure that the closure is managed well rather than to find employment alternatives. And as for the IW Economic Partnership.....I'm too polite to tell you what I think in print of that moribund organisation.

What is also very disappointing is the way our 'community' police force seem to be aiding and abetting the viscious Vestas management in trying to starve out the occupation. Probably illegal and entirely against the interests of the Island community and in the interests of big business. Vestas, a big business that is tied into two of the secondary school bids under schools reorganisation, whilst they lay waste to the lives of 500 families.

As I write the occupiers are rumoured to have been issued with a Court injunction to vacate the plant, so no doubt bailiffs will be doing their dirtiest shortly. Nonetheless IW Labour will continue to use whatever connections we have to find an alternative way forward for the plant before the end of the summer.

GLOBAL CAPITALISM LEADS TO VESTAS CLOSURE

Most fascinating thing to have caught my attention since my return from holiday - along with the secondary school bidder presentations this week (more of that later) - is the following comment from our Tory MP regarding the Vestas closure:

“I have had a number of meetings with Government Ministers about the work they had undertaken with Vestas prior to the announcement that they planned to close the factory on the Island. It was very clear to me that they had explored every avenue in order to work with the company to keep the factory open.

“I attended a public meeting on Friday 3rd July in the Riverside Centre organised by Cowes Trades Council and Workers Climate Action and a number of people there expressed the view that simply pumping yet more public money into the factory would keep it open.

“I understand how important this is to the Island but to be fair to the Government I do think they have worked hard to try to keep the Vestas factory here on the Island. It is easy to simply knock the Government as the Liberal Democrat spokesman has done (although to be fair he couldn’t have known what has gone on behind the scenes) but

when a hugely profitable multi-national company simply decides that it wants to close down a factory regardless of the consequences on it’s workforce or the local economy it seems that there is little that can be done.

That is one of the reasons why it is important that public money is invested in businesses that are firmly rooted in local economies.”

Its a summary of exactly what I learnt just before my holiday and is a marvellous exposition of how harmful global capitalism can be to local communities and local economies across the world, not just here on the Island. And what should perhaps be done by local authorities ?