tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40642239506881153432011-04-21T15:48:05.010-07:00No-one ever asked my opinion about politics. No politician ever knocked on my door or asked what i thought. This is my opinion on politics in Norwich and beyond. I'm not a member of a political party so i reserve to be as kind or critical as i would like to be. Let me know what you think!Maltheushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455949106240535645noreply@blogger.comBlogger251100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4064223950688115343.post-58465119999859561762007-05-15T13:54:00.000-07:002007-05-15T13:59:38.464-07:00

Regardless of what party you are in you will have a view of whom should be deputy PM. True that only Labour party members get to vote for them but they will be the deputy leader of our country. Lets presume that GB gets the PM position...Who should get it? My vote (If i had one) would be cast for JohnCruddas. I say this not because i necessarily agree with his politics but because i appreciate

Maltheushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455949106240535645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4064223950688115343.post-55703237963291106042007-05-13T07:59:00.000-07:002007-05-13T08:01:38.362-07:00

The Norfolk and Norwich festival. It is such a amazing time of the year where they have some genuinely great shows from across the world. Maltheus met with friends earlier who had been to a labyrinth in a old warehouse where they went around, solved riddles and pursued clue quiz's. It sounded great fun. I know there are a wide selection of acts including some fire dances, play, dances etc.It's

Maltheushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455949106240535645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4064223950688115343.post-80189379821673767922007-05-13T07:52:00.000-07:002007-05-13T07:54:20.034-07:00

Maltheus reads in the EDP that nowadays if you want to find out what happens to your nicked car then you have to pay...talk about privatising the NHS, Schools etc. Are the Police next....?

Maltheushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455949106240535645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4064223950688115343.post-54009886303834145082007-05-09T13:13:00.001-07:002007-05-09T13:14:18.102-07:00

Too late or too soon?

Maltheushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455949106240535645noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4064223950688115343.post-43565257981660107742007-05-09T13:05:00.000-07:002007-05-09T13:13:28.013-07:00

With the local elections over they're are a large proportion of new councillors of all parties now in office. Maltheus wishes them all the best.A letter to the Evening News today was from Paul Scruton of the electorally successful party 'Norwich Over the Water Party'. In it he advocates that all councillors should be trained by the electoral commission to equip them with the knowledge and skills

Maltheushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455949106240535645noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4064223950688115343.post-84243076370783467072007-05-06T04:21:00.000-07:002007-05-06T04:24:45.271-07:00

The Politics Show is on BBC at the moment and John Sopel is interviewing John Reid. Reid just said that he is going to step down in July from the cabinet. Interesting....obviously declaring to work 24/7 for the Home Office, demoralising the staff by declaring it 'unfit for purpose' and splitting it up is too much and he intends to step down. Maltheus quite likes John Reid, he's quite personable

Maltheushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455949106240535645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4064223950688115343.post-11741237934589775062007-05-05T01:04:00.000-07:002007-05-05T01:16:38.241-07:00

The results are now mostly in for the local elections. Maltheus isn't going to do a minute analysis as there's far better critiques on the BBC and Guardian websites.The Tories seem to be the winners at the moment with gains of 800+ seats across the country and some inroads into those eleusive towns. Labour has lost about 400 odd seats and the Lib Dems have made an overall loss of a couple o

Maltheushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455949106240535645noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4064223950688115343.post-69313364443969996272007-05-03T00:07:00.000-07:002007-05-03T00:12:26.195-07:00

Seems that Charles Clarke has given up on his ambition to run for the leadership of the Labour Party. Despite saying that Brown is psychologically flawedamongst other things, he now seems to have changed tact by declaring him the most successful chancellor in 200 years. So this will lead to a non existent challenge from the left which will serve no purpose but to remind a few why they joined and

Maltheushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455949106240535645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4064223950688115343.post-76632849240858908352007-05-02T13:26:00.000-07:002007-05-02T13:35:28.101-07:00

Nobb - Simon Nobb called my yesterday (Apologies for the pun!). He's the Lib Dem candidate for Mile Cross and seemed a nice enough guy. Obviously trying to get in the last few votes on the campaign trail but seemed a little too unsure for Maltheus to be honest. He didn't quite seem confortable in talking at the doorstep. He wanted to make Mile Cross a better place but admitted that every party

Maltheushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455949106240535645noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4064223950688115343.post-52038599094229642072007-04-30T12:40:00.000-07:002007-04-30T12:41:50.711-07:00

Both in the local elections.......And for the Monopoly game too - The more people vote for Norwich, the more it climbs up the ladder. Lets make it Mayfair!

Maltheushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455949106240535645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4064223950688115343.post-42868080779128508562007-04-30T12:24:00.000-07:002007-04-30T12:40:30.318-07:00

When you start a blog you have the somewhat noble intention of posting every day - in fact why not two or three times a day. That quickly slips down when you realise that you have to think about what you put up and think of some new angle on it. So apologies if anyone out there visits the blog and are disspointed by the lack of posts recently.Two main thoughts- One, Iain Dale commented on his

Maltheushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455949106240535645noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4064223950688115343.post-68334962591675194292007-04-26T12:54:00.000-07:002007-04-26T13:00:53.384-07:00

Should Prince Harry serve on the front line if he gets posted to Afghanistan or Iraq is the question posed by most of the newspapers today. Maltheus's views is that he should probably not be allowed to go if he is likely to become an increased risk for the rest of the soldiers in his regiment (Which is pretty likely to be honest)However, a friend in the military says that he should go and shoud

Maltheushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455949106240535645noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4064223950688115343.post-68545034620698415552007-04-25T11:21:00.000-07:002007-04-25T11:23:19.128-07:00

Q. Have the Conservatives really changed when their Norwich Manifesto states they intend to offer a 10% rebate on Council to every council tax payer? And offering greater investment? Doesn't this sound like every past Conservative manifesto?A. Your views....?

Maltheushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455949106240535645noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4064223950688115343.post-33074338561173497112007-04-23T11:08:00.000-07:002007-04-23T11:15:56.443-07:00

Maltheus reads in the EDP about the rise in uncontested seats in the local elections. Theres a number of alarming figures about the lack of contested seats but the most must be 'while just 24 of the district's 127 parish wards have got enough candidates to warrant an election' in North Norfolk.Why is this? In Maltheus's first post he got criticised by the ominous named 'Unthankroad' who said

Maltheushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455949106240535645noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4064223950688115343.post-73789416509098442112007-04-19T11:03:00.000-07:002007-04-19T11:11:51.843-07:00

Guido has created a interactive map on his blog where he follows Gordon Brown and his travels. Maltheus wishes he could do one about his local MP, Charles Clarke but doesn't know what the hell he is upto nowadays. All Maltheus hears of Clarke is his intention to try and kamikase pilot himself into the Labour Party. All this plotting is all well and good but Maltheus wouldn't mind it if Clarke

Maltheushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455949106240535645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4064223950688115343.post-42480967433348977722007-04-18T11:46:00.000-07:002007-04-18T11:58:02.814-07:00

According to the Evening News, Norwich City Council has employed political lobbyists for a sweet sum of £150,00 to lobby MP's for the unitary status. The Conservative spokesman, Anthony Little has criticised the move accusing the council leaders of making it hard enough to get new signs and menial costs released and then £150,000 is splurged on this. Malthues is in complete agreement with this

Maltheushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455949106240535645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4064223950688115343.post-23843783514096180322007-04-18T00:20:00.000-07:002007-04-18T00:25:59.418-07:00

Maltheus found himself on UEA campus yesterday and saw the Green Party stall in the square happily grabbing students to indoctrinate with their eco-friendly, peacenik policies. Two of the councillor candidates said that the Green party will become the second party in Norwich by the end of this election but neither was confident personally about their wards. Adrian Ramsay must have given them one

Maltheushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455949106240535645noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4064223950688115343.post-11181728897570556352007-04-16T12:25:00.000-07:002007-04-16T12:41:23.200-07:00

Maltheus reads in the news today that apparently headmasters don't make any difference to struggling schools. The Policy Exchange, a leading thinktank has concluded that the introduction of a new headteacher won't make any hardly any difference in a failing institution.Maltheus believes this is a load of old codswallop. Like any large institution the impact a successful leader can have upon that

Maltheushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455949106240535645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4064223950688115343.post-89154272256500420682007-04-16T07:40:00.000-07:002007-04-16T08:03:07.262-07:00

The simple truth is that house prices are growing at such an alarming rate (Alarming only for those who don't own, anyway!) Norman Lamb, North Norfolk MP highlighted this recently at a speech he did to a group of housing association officials. For those not currently able to afford to buy a house - the future doesn't look too bright.Maltheus applauds the moves over the past few years to try and

Maltheushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455949106240535645noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4064223950688115343.post-17378602488140425182007-04-15T03:12:00.000-07:002007-04-15T03:23:30.456-07:00

Norfolk Blogger makes a good point that he noticed on his trip down South that there was very little political billboards around. Maltheus must admit that on locally, around Norwich he hasn't seen too many either. Theres the four Lib Dem 'Winning here' boards at the house near the uni and a smattering of Green boards but Maltheus hasn't personally seen any posters or Billboards for the Tories,

Maltheushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455949106240535645noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4064223950688115343.post-13449117779799301902007-04-14T03:28:00.000-07:002007-04-14T03:39:11.648-07:00

The talk of the elections has so far concentrated on Scotland and Wales. There has been little talk so far of what might happen within England and Norfolk. Maybe that is because the most controversial outcome might be the victory of the SNP and a road to independence. Maltheus isn't convinced that this is the greatest idea that Salmond or Scotland has had - Sure Ireland has a thriving economny

Maltheushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455949106240535645noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4064223950688115343.post-37248617009628922492007-04-12T14:29:00.000-07:002007-04-12T15:00:13.933-07:00

Maltheus is new to this blogging me lark but he is learning quickly. In his first blog post Maltheus seem to have inflamed 'Unthankroad' who made a statement to the extent that it was voters fault that they don't engage with political parties. Maltheus was under the impression that it was the other way round! - Sure, there needs to be engagement both ways but the leg work needs to be done by the

Maltheushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455949106240535645noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4064223950688115343.post-15601679228462544912007-04-12T01:47:00.000-07:002007-04-12T02:05:16.317-07:00

Are the local elections a vote on 'local' issues and local personalities? Or are they a referendum on national issues?Maltheus recognises that both have some sway. It is not a national election or else we would have whole councils representing the colour of their local MP. Local elections showcase the diversity of communities. Norwich - A city with 2 Labour MP's can have councillors from Labour,

Maltheushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455949106240535645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4064223950688115343.post-30647426107730691922007-04-11T14:11:00.000-07:002007-04-11T14:14:30.596-07:00

Maltheus hears that UEA has decieded that in their whole 320 acres estate there is no room to have a voting booth on voting day! What utter stupidity from them - Surely somewhere there is a spare room. From an institution that is trying to prevent a gap between 'town and gown' then it surely foolish to make it less convenient for students to vote. What better way for students to engage with their

Maltheushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455949106240535645noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4064223950688115343.post-18608593903787984302007-04-11T07:00:00.000-07:002007-04-11T07:07:58.695-07:00

So...this is my first post. I've never created a blog before but i've done it in the vain hope that it inspires others like me to interact with politics in Norwich and the wider community. Theres too much cynicism in politics which doesn't resonate from individuals within politics but by the lack of engagement of citizens with politics.I'm 23 and have always been interested in politics. I've

Maltheushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455949106240535645noreply@blogger.com5