This is John Peel's Typepad Profile.
Join Typepad and start following John Peel's activity
John Peel
Recent Activity
Never read it, but my friends in the Countryside Alliance and the Country and Land Business Association tell me about its hysterical, dishonest and nasty campaign agin the draft new planning policy framework.
I guess I'll continue to ignore it. Life's too short.
Tim Montgomerie: Why The Telegraph is "sh*tbagging" me
I don't know if many ConHome readers have noticed but I seem to have got a regular slot in The Daily Telegraph's Mandrake gossip column. I can't believe I'm as interesting to the newspaper's readers as Pippa Middleton, Jennifer Saunders and Nancy Dell’Olio but I've featured in three of the las...
From what I can see, read and hear - as a Cumbrian Farmer - the Telegraph has been running a misguided and dishonest campaign. Moreover it has been very selective in its reporting.
A pal of mine was at a Tory conference event organised by the Telegraph where Charles Moore - a right toff in my view - and Oliver Letwin were pitched against Fiona Reynolds and some failed politician who heads the Campaign to Preserve Rural England. He says that Charles and Oliver decisively won the debate, abetted by lots of support from Tory councillors in the room. This was not reported by the Telegraph.
Then there is the NT which is acting outside its brief and powers and has been hijacked by its leadership to run an expensive and hysterical campaign agin the draft NPPF. Rumour has it that they are spending £500,000 of subscriber's subs on the campaign. Have we been asked?
As a farmer I’m with the position taken by the two organisations that truly represent us – the Countryside Alliance and the Country and Land Business Association. They support the proposed changes.
It’s been a wet and windy day here - thus I've time to look at this blog. Wouldn't want to do so very often.
Localism will be an ally of good design in planning
Rather to their credit the Daily Telegraph have published an article this morning by Hank Dittmar, the Chief Executive of the Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment. (They call him "Frank" but never mind.) It is to their credit as the central thrust of the article is supportive of the Gov...
Enough of this 'Midsomer Murders' view of the countryside.
This countryman has been toiling in wet fields for the past month and is grumpy.
At a wet Westmorland Show this week I stumbled upon the National Trust stand, almost entirely devoted to its petition on planing reform. Are they nuts? Looking after the bits of the countryside - farms and houses left to them - is surely the job of the Trust.
Its drying up - back to the fields.
CPRE distort quote from Eric Pickles
There has been a lot of lazy journalism in the Daily Telegraph offering acceptance, at face value, of the Campaign to Protect Rural England's. But the CPRE's attacks are not only politically motivated (as has been noted before their Chief Executive is a former Labour Euro MP) but rely not on hon...
In from the fields to warm my hands and I see that Gareth is blogging.
Still can't get over that he saw Tim Farron - who pretends to support us farmers - increase his majority to over 12,000.
Given the dismal record of Westmorland Tories, I expect that Farron will be with us for a generation.
Back to out to take fodder to the sheep.
Gareth McKeever: Draconian hikes in tuition fees may discourage those from lower income families from attending university and drive them to study and work overseas
Gareth McKeever was Conservative candidate against an incumbment Liberal Democrat MP in Westmorland and Lonsdale at the general election. As a candidate at the recent General Election, I supported tuition fees but the current proposals give more than pause for thought. Indeed, to my mind ...
Spokesman for the Council for the Preservation/Protection of Rural England?
An organisation for which we farmers have complete disdain.
George Freeman MP: Prince Charles is leading the way with a new model of funding rural community regeneration
George Freeman is the newly-elected Member of Parliament for Mid Norfolk. The plight of rural England over the past decade is (sadly) all too familiar. Last week the Commission for Rural Communities announced that in the second half of last year, unemployment in rural areas rose by 73 per ce...
Catch up George. Eric Pickles is to abolish the ridiculous quango that is the Commission for Rural Communities.
Predictable patronising drivel from a Tory MP representing a rural area.
Back to shear a few more sheep before the rain comes.
George Freeman MP: Prince Charles is leading the way with a new model of funding rural community regeneration
George Freeman is the newly-elected Member of Parliament for Mid Norfolk. The plight of rural England over the past decade is (sadly) all too familiar. Last week the Commission for Rural Communities announced that in the second half of last year, unemployment in rural areas rose by 73 per ce...
Is he your son in law George?
From my silage fields north of Westmorland I hear that Farron jumps on every passing bandwagon, that his literature is misleading and dishonest, that he has a slick publicity outfit - all empty claims and spin which give an impression of activity but he achieves little or nothing and, more galling for us farmers, he seems to be listened to on agricultural matters which is strange because he is a vegetarian.
Daniel Kawczyinski MP defends the current voting system against LibDem MP Tim Farron
My MP Rory Stewart is a strange lad. I read that he is to do another Afghan lite walk around this constituency. Has he nothing better to do. Out here in the country we only walk when we have to or perhaps when courting. Back to the silage fields.
Jeremy Hunt is the man to beat in the race to succeed David Cameron, says Matthew d'Ancona
In the August edition of GQ Matthew d'Ancona looks at the runners and riders to succeed David Cameron. Some might think Mr d'Ancona's piece is very premature but in a world where Kevin Rudd can go from one of Australia's most popular ever Prime Ministers to being booted out of office - all with...
According to The Cumberland News, my local Tories chose Rory Stewart as PPC a few weeks ago at a caucus.
He was described as 35 year old, Eton-educated, Harvard professor, tutor to Princes' William & Harry, ex soldier and former diplomat with an OBE. We countryman have too much experience of chancers not to question this chap's burnished and well publicised CV.
In from the fields to read this week's Cumberland News, I see that John Stanyer, a Conservative from Wigton who was at the caucus, is unhappy with the choice of candidate and is calling on Penrith and the Border Association to hold an extraordinary meeting with a view to restarting the process.
All rather puzzling – I look forward to news in next week's paper.
We should look beyond gender and ethnicity in discussion of candidate diversity
In a double page spread in today's Guardian John Harris takes a critical look at the diversity of the next generation of Conservative MPs. He focuses on the number of Tory MPs that are likely to have been privately-educated but that proportion (although quite high) is actually on a downward tr...
My chums on Cumbria County Council tell me that the Council is to recruit a replacement Chief Executive - salary £170k (£200k when other costs are included).
We farmers know waste when we see it. The post is unnecessary and the salary is plain silly. Totally laughable.
But councillors like to be schmoozed by an overpaid nonentity. A waste of our taxes.
Pickles urges Councils to ditch CEOs
The Municipal Journal has a story that Tory Chairman Eric Pickles is privately urging Conservative Councils to look at abolishing the post of Chief Executive as and when such posts fall vacant. Understandably no commment is being made about rumours of what might be discussed at private meetings....
Its been a long day in the fields and I have come in to read the above. This regular member of the party has a counter request for the 166 MPs.
Please ignore Mr Isaby's mischievous missive.
An open letter to Conservative MPs: Will you undertake to decide whether to stand again before Christmas?
At his press conference yesterday, I asked David Cameron whether he would advise Conservative MPs to announce before Christmas whether they intended standing down or not - on the basis that those announcing after January 1st 2010 will see shortlists imposed on their constituency Conservative ass...
Just in from milking to hear that the local caucus has predictably chosen a proper chap as our candidate.
The Cumberland News has been describing him as the favourite for weeks.
A stitch up.
We farmers used to vote National Liberal - we might do so again.
Rory Stewart adopted for Penrith and the Border
Stewart has a long Wikipedia entry: "Rory Stewart, OBE (born 1973), is the Executive Chairman of the British charity, the Turquoise Mountain Foundation and the Ryan Family Professor of the Practice of Human Rights and the Director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the John F. Kenned...
Give it a rest Tim.
From what I can see, so far today you've sorted the Charity Commission on the status of private schools, given instructions to the European Conservatives and Reformists on how to organise internal elections, and now you tell the Telegraph how to run a newspaper. This is on top of your daily instructions to team Cameron.
I expect you are opinionated on country matters too - please leave us alone.
Whatever happened to The Telegraph's coverage of the Conservatives?
Guido has blogged that The Telegraph is losing £200,000 a week. Ouch. A little while ago I paid tribute to The Telegraph for its expenses-gate coverage. Although the newspaper sometimes failed to make adequate distinction between different examples of abuse I stand by my view that it was - o...
As a simple farmer I know not much about local government but I'm told that...
Here in the rural north we have 2 tier councils and that around 20% of our District Councillors [allowance £3,842] are also County Councillors [basic allowance £8,007]. One pig feeding from 2 troughs. There is some duplication and overlap in their work - for which they are twice paid, and an obvious conflict of interest when reform of the two-tier to unitary authorities is considered.
The party leaderships are paid more in responsibility allowances and have power over dispensing these goodies to fellow councillors. An additional incentive for them [Conservatives] to join others [Lib Dems]to form cabinets and its gives Leaders more power over their troops.
Venal and depressing.
Britain's 'Political Club' costs us £485m
Congratulations to Michael Crick and producer Giles Edwards for their Radio 4 programme broadcast earlier today about The Political Club (available to listen again here for the next seven days). It was the BBC at its best. It records the cost of the 29,000 people who work in British politics as...
Let a farmer try and enlighten a southern townie.
I believe County Councils started to own farms in about 1908 – supposedly to give young people a start in farming. Further legislation was passed after World War I, to encourage/instruct County Councils to enlarge their portfolio to also meet the demand from war veterans.
That was then now is now – and some County Councils still have these bloody farms – often occupied by long term second generation tenants thus thwarting the original objectives.
Its time to sell them all. County Councils as estate owners! A joke on the Council Taxpayer.
Back to my own non County Council fields
Council farm for sale
Powys Council is putting one of their farms up for sale. They say that £2 million needs to be spent to get it up to scratch. So finding a buyer may be a challenge but it is sensible to try. I was astonished to discover during the County Council election campaign that Staffordshire County Counc...
Experience of, background in?
They sound like folk who couldn't hack or were not serious about their former occupation, perhaps were burnishing their CVs - military and farming appeals to selection committees. I smell a lot of chancers and careerists amongst this lot.
I'm back to the fields.
Those with farming experience in the likely next intake of Conservative MPs
Here is the latest in a series of lists categorising some of those standing as candidates in seats which are either notionally Conservative or appear on paper in the top 200 target seats for the Conservatives at the next election. Yesterday we listed those with military experience (including r...
Catch up Dan.
The Agricultural Wages Boards [not Committees as you say and nothing like soviet institutions] have been around since 1924 and cost nothing to run. Bloody good job done for us in farming.
Regional Development Agencies spend £2.2bn per year. What a waste.
The question I wanted to ask David Cameron on quangos today . . .
I was most grateful for Reform's invitation to hear David Cameron talk on quangos today. They have done and continue to do terrific work on how to reform the Public Sector. As a small think tank on a micro budget (and yet the No. 2 google search ranking on quangos behind wikipedia thanks to our ...
We English country folk can nominate lots of quangos for the chop.
The first to go should be the Commission for Rural Communities - annual expenditure £8.3m. All it does is to produce reports and more reports.
It is headed by the government appointed Stuart Burgess as Advocate for Rural Areas [a better title is Commissar for Peasants] who reports to one Gordon Brown.
We can be advocates for our own cause and don't need to be patronised by an expensive, ineffective quango stuffed with jobsworths. Makes us farmers really angry.
David Cameron pledges a reduction in the "number, size, scope and influence of quangos"
Scroll down for post-speech update. As urged elsewhere on the site today by Andrew Haldenby of Reform, David Cameron is going to make a speech to that think-tank today in which he will pledge to cut back on the powers of unaccountable quangos. For starters, he will announce the abolition under...
In from a very hot hay field to read these 'history' questions.
Is Q2 a trick question?
Q2 Who was the reigning monarch when the Spanish Armada attacked Britain?
My grasp of history isn't good but I'd always thought that the Armada attacked England in the 16thC and that Great Britain was created in the 18thC.
I see the questions were set by an academic at Cardiff University.He must try harder.
Back to the fields.
A patriotic plea to David Cameron
Dear David, I don't know if you've seen it but there's a very depressing survey reported in today's Daily Mail. This graphic captures the ignorance of undergraduates about their nation's history: Michael Gove is quoted in the report as saying that he wants to "completely overhaul" the schoo...
The Kinnocks trouser a lot of our money - and for what.
It is reported that Neil Kinnock trousers a pension of at least £64k from his time as European Commissioner.
Glenys gets a pension of £66k for her time as an MEP and now a ministerial salary of £83k.
Over £200k to this pair of mediocrities - it makes me laugh and cry.
Glenys Kinnock and Sir Alan Sugar embody the shambles of Gordon Brown's rushed reshuffle
The reshuffle which Gordon Brown was forced into conducting on the back of a string of Cabinet resignations last week will surely go down as one of the most shambolic in history. And two appointments in particular stand out as representing the confusion surrounding the reshuffle. Firstly, ther...
In from some haymaking.
Rene Kinzett would have a point if she criticised the quality and venality of councillors.
Here in the rural north we have lots of old and young farts serving on both County and District Councils, and then on Police Authorities and National Parks. By doing so they pick up £20k - basically for attending meetings.
Back to the fields to do some real work.
Councillors aged over 60 are "past it"
Cllr Rene Kinzett, the leader of the Conservative Group on Swansea Council, is being investigated by the Local Government Ombudsman after declaring that "most of the people on the council are in their 60s and, quite frankly, past it." Not quite clear if he was saying that anyone over 60 is too o...
I'm spluttering with rage at my fellow huntsman - though no one at my hunt turns out like him.
James Gray is the smooth, careerist, middle class, ex-army type that the membership falls for time and again.
If I was still a member I could paraphrase Will Shakespeare - the fault is in ourselves for choosing such people as candidates.
James Gray shames the Conservative Party
From the News of the World: "Top Tory MP James Gray is exposed as a greedy skinflint after claiming for Remembrance Day WREATHS on expenses. Astonishingly when this perk was finally stopped he had the nerve to COMPLAIN to the Leader of the House. Embarassingly for the former Shadow Defence M...
In from the fields ...
... to read that Tim Stoddard is Conservative leader of Cumbria County Council. Not when I last looked.
Its north of Watford so you Con Hom blue boys are a bit out of touch - he is in fact leader of the Conservative Group on Cumbria County Council.
His piece reads well - if you appreciate local government speak - but says nothing to comfort us real rural folk. Reduce the council tax Tim.
Back to the fields
June 4 elections: Cumbria
County Council elections are being held on June 4. (Have you started canvassing yet?) This site will provide full coverage on the messages Conservatives will be fighting on. We begin with Cllr Tim Stoddard, the Conservative leader of Cumbria County Council. The key risk to manage for any ad...
Just in from lambing.
Come of it Montgomerie, conservatives have long been, always in fact, concerned to enhance and conserve what is best in the environment. The Clean Air Act of the 1950s, Duncan Sandys founding the Civic Trust in the 1960s are but two examples.
We farmers have done our bit too over the past 400 years - the hedges, woods and fields beloved by Montgomerie townies are my ancestors legacy.
We have always been stewards of the land and don't need bureaucratic directives or the 'greens' socialist ideology to direct or guide us.
Back to the fields.
All green issues are not the same
Regular ConHome readers will know that I'm a sceptic on climate change but that doesn't mean I'm not interested in environmental issues. I recycle. I bike around London. I hate litter. I love trains. I support the RSPB. I only fly across the Atlantic once for every four trips by Steve Hi...
Recently took time out from lambing to visit a farming friend in the Peak District and saw evidence of Andrew's efforts in the Chapel-en-le-Frith area.
Wonderful stuff - as far as I could tell, here was an able, hard working, local candidate who resonates with all parts of the constituency.
An example for us all in the rural north.
Diary of a PPC: Andrew Bingham (High Peak)
This is the latest in ConservativeHome's new ongoing series in which each week a different PPC provides us with an insight into life as a candidate and gives us a flavour of their own campaign and interests. If you are a candidate and are keen to be featured, please email Jonathan Isaby. This ...
More...
Subscribe to John Peel’s Recent Activity