Empty homes

This week has been one of those weeks when things just don't seem to add up. I have been to different parts of the country interviewing people for BBC radio four, trying to find out why so many properties have been either left to rot or empty, who owns them and why the hell are the government and local authorities are saying build more houses. Were these cases of just bad management or building just for the sake of it or just a waste. I spoken to people from wells next the sea in Norfolk about a police station and a couple of houses that were no longer in use and why nothing was being done. I also interviewed the Norfolk police administrator about them. He was saying they were still in use and they were not a housing concern but they were in the business of policing. The fact that initially the police receive their monies from the tax payer is of little concern to the police and if you look at it logically the tax payer actually owns the property. If they did say alright we will build 20 houses here but two must be for our officers wouldn't that be bridging the widening gap between the police and the public. My second stop was in a town called Goole near Doncaster it was a small industrial town that has grown in the last few years and now faces a housing shortage like as lot of places in this country. When I stood looking at these perfectly good houses I was left speechless as these where perfectly good homes that just needed to be refurbished. When I asked locals about these properties I was told that the local east riding council had made this plan for demolishion some years ago and things have dramatically changed in the area. Developer from the area said he could refurbish these properties and turn them into two and three bedroomed houses and have double glazing, central heating and he would be able to sell them for a small profit. So what's the problem the problem is that the authority is not listening to the people of Goole

Oh brother

Would you believe it? If you hadn't read all the hula baloo in the news papers about big brother and the racial tensions that has been stirred up by what I personally think is a clash of cultures. The sniping that's going on is just the tip of the ice berg. Is it a clash of personalities or just plain ignorance. Can you imagine if we had all the previous prime ministers in the house I wonder would everything be politically correct? It does seem that in today's society we do put ourselves into little groups of people. Take homeless people for example they form their own groups. The same can be said for others and this is what I see happening in the big brother house let me in there I will sort it out.

Smack of double standards

When we hear that a minister like Ruth Kelly is putting her son in to a private special school it makes me wonder if there are double standards now at work in the government. Is she admitting that the education system doesn't work or is it the fact that going through the state system takes too long as it has been proved. An education body has already said its no good. When this government tell us that our state education system is as good as any, then puts their own kids into public schools. It smacks of double standards. I was on the bus today and as per usual I was ear wigging on a conversation and one of the things that was said was that before she became a minister she would have had to go through the state school system but if memory serves me she was the education secretary that closed over 100 special needs schools because she said they were not working and the system she put in place made has made it much harder for special needs children to get places. Ironic don't you think? Today she stands side by side with Tony Blair who apparently backs her decision. Me, I agree that she has to be a mother first before a politician. This another thing that won't just disappear over night for her