Woes R us

Hardcore pessimism

The gloom banshee is in full New Year wail. Doom, misery, suffering is certain for 2008. That’s if you believe the self-serving letters from some pressure groups. Many boost the incidence and scale of their area of work. Every new year is a fresh crisis – worse than ever before, so  send us shed loads of money. A good number  of pressure groups are well-managed and do marvellous work. Their messages are welcome become they answer un-met needs in neglected areas. They have achieved great things. Others have gone in for bloated empire building.

A typical one is an invitation from Shelter Cymru inviting MPs to a sob-in in the Commons in February. 2008 will be a crunch year, they say,
Because of the credit crisis new solutions (i.e. more money) must be found for them. There is not a hint that anything went right last year. There never is. They operate a fatwa against good news.

Let me cheer them us with the simple facts. In the most recent period in Wales

•    The number of Welsh homeless in priority need fell by 9%
•    The number of households in temporary accommodation fell by 6%
•    Those in bed and breakfast fell by 46%.

Strange not a mention of this spectactular good news from Shelter Cymru. Of course, there are cases of distress which involve lack of decent housing but the majority of those described as 'homeless' have problems of addiction from alcohol and other drugs, mental health difficulties and family breakdown. Crudely lumping them together under the misleading title of 'homeless'  inhibits progress.

P.O.W. rage

Tonight's key Euro vote will disappoint the anti-Europeans. They confidently forecast that 120 Labour MPs will rebel. It is likely to be less than 30. With enthusiastic Lib Dem support the Government majority should be secure.

Although some tabloids have tried to incite letters to MPs only a handful have reached me. One persistent e-mailer yesterday from another constituency fulminated.  She was against the treaty because her father was a Prisoner of War of the Germans. So was my father. He was grateful for the life saving medical treatment he had from the Germans.

It’s dismal that so many fossils are still fighting the world wars of the last century. Have they no vision? Our future crises are global warming, the divide between the Muslim and Christian worlds, civil wars, disease and starvation. These are daunting challenges that can only be solved if we work in partnership in Europe and with the rest of world.

Happily tonight Parliament will vote to tackle the problems of tomorrow not those of yesterday.

Train v Car

Not the journey from hell – but certainly from purgatory.

I fly as little as possible. I drive four times a year to my Council of Europe meetings in Strasbourg. It’s a gruelling 10-hour journey with 8 hours of driving.  I leave at 8.00 am and arrive at 7.00pm. Yesterday I went by trains, encouraged by the new TGV from Paris to Strasbourg,

I caught the 8.03 from Newport. It took an hour before the train finally headed in the general direction of London after taking in a tour of the West country including Bath and Bristol. It arrived an hour later than timetabled. The transfer to the Eurostar from Paddington to  St Pancras should be a doddle. Just 5 stops on the Circle Line. Alas the Circle and most of the District lines were closed down (Sunday). I had to hot foot to the taxi rank

The Eurostar left on time, but problems meant we were transferred to another train at Lille. That took 20 minutes. The delay  cut the time to walk from Gare de Nord to Gare de L’Est.  I made it with about 10 minutes to spare. It was all too close for comfort and I would have missed the train if I had not left long gaps between the connections. I left home at 7.30 am and reached Strasbourg at 7.00 pm.

It was more relaxing with a chance to catch up with the Sunday papers but it was not worth the constant nagging anxiety.

Next time, I’ll let the car take the strain.