Happy New Year

Yes I know, a daft title seeing as we are well into February but as it is my first blog of 2011, here goes. In fact it has been a beautiful spring-like day with plenty of sunshine. The snowdrops are out and I look forward to seeing the first crocuses, daffs and other wild flowers very soon now, not to mention hedgehogs emerging from hibernation, to join the squirrels, foxes, robins and blackbirds that are about all the time. The snows and hard frost of December now seem a lifetime away.

So what does 2011 bring? So far we have had stories of cuts in local services - today it was Manchester where swimming pools,libaries and public toilets are due to close, but I welcome the news that the Chancellor will charge the banks a yearly levy and so he should! George Osborne is taking a pragmatic decision which may not ride well with his friends in the City but will be seen by the rest of us as perfectly fair. The coalition may tell us that there is no alternative but I have heard it all before. Remember Mrs Thatcher? There is always a choice and we have to try and get it right.

The other story which has caught my attention is the proposed sale of the forests and woodland which no-one in the Government seems able to justify. This has particularly enraged people in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire - an area I know very well. Bordering onto the beautiful Wye Valley and Wales it is a very special part of the country. As is the Lake District. On last week's Question Time which came from Workington in Cumbria, the audience were equally incensed at these plans. One member of the audience, a man in a hat who I happen to know, described it as a sham! To loud applause he also told the minister on the panel (Damian Green, who seemed out of his depth) to leave our forests alone and do something sensible instead. I agree and I hope the Government will re-consider these daft plans as the countryside and wildlife should be there for all of us to enjoy.

I have already started keeping a diary and I resolve for the rest of the year to update this blog at least once a week. Watch this space!