Rain

I took Oscar for a walk into town. We left the house in in rain. I wore layers of clothes under a full-length waxed cotton raincoat, neck warmer, waterproof gloves. Starting through Handsworth Park I peered through railings at my allotment. There's much to be done; walked out of the park, down Thornhill Road to busy Soho Road, crossed over to descend through Wavenhill Park, through Bacchus Park then, via Bacchus Road, to the Soho Loop diversion from the Birmingham Mainline canal, its turgid surface pimpled with rain, its towpath, which soon joined the larger waterway, puddled into the city centre, where, dripping, in company with a drenched Oscar, I called on Richard; not welcomed by Annie the exquisite Bengal cat that shares the flat with him and Emma.
*** ***
In the first week of May, we - Lin, I and Chris Holmes - saw Richard Pine for lunch at Harry's Taverna in Perithia. It detracted not a jot from our companionable enjoyment that, even in May after so late an Easter, we were on our own, as is often so these days, though an English couple came to sit at another table as we left. Richard reported optimistically on the discovery of a new home in Corfu Town for the Durrell School library that has been forced out of Philhellinon Street, as the daughter of its aged landlord consolidates her parent's properties. Richard, for years has stayed and worked two days a week in the little bedsit space at the School's Philhellinon premises. He's missing that base for the moment and so the useful and - I suspect - restorative routine of a 30km weekly bus commute between village and city. Richard is never loquacious - or perhaps sometimes, in prose, when writing about the great Brian Friel. We talked about many things, favourite fictional detectives, thrillers we'd enjoyed on screen, Greek politics, Richard's sanctimonious Dublin consultant, the weather, gossiping about the Corfiot cosmopolis - Greek and international - of old island signorini in their last retreat, living in the mouldering remains of grand estancias, while others exercised their talents in the modern economies of the world as academics, doctors, lawyers and entrepreneurs; of the juxtaposition of Lyuba Ranevsky and Yermolay Lopakhin in Chekhov's Cherry Orchard which describes, so intimately, the fate of 'old money' in a new world, how the playwright could (as does Brian Friel) forge stories by simply, as Chekhov put it, 'looking out of his window'. We roamed over the idea and importance of 'narrative' - especially the European one with its special kind of language - 'Eurospeak'. For all of us the European Union, supported by the Common Market, was about ensuring there'd never be another great European war. A unified Europe had the character of a vision and an ideal - the European Dream, Jean Monnet's vision of an escape from the continent's atrocious acquaintance with nationalism. But Richard, who agreed the ideal, was pithy about the future of the European Union. He wrote as much the other day in the first letter written from Corfu since his recent - and in his view largely futile - spells in hospitals, here and in Dublin....

Wed 29 May 2013 The Irish Times: Greece’s Balkan identity may obliterate Brussels link - Specific regional geopolitics lurk behind the goal of a unified Europe

Imagine an EU member state where the public service relied, for its efficiency, on bribery and corruption. Imagine a state where the hospital service was so under-resourced that patients had to bring a friend or relative to undertake their feeding, washing and basic nursing. Imagine a state where shops that traditionally sold handcrafted goods now promoted Taiwanese dreamcatchers.
Are we talking about Greece? Well no, actually. These are the thoughts of novelist Donna Leon’s Venetian detective, Commisario Guido Brunetti as he walks his native city, wondering how to bring to justice criminals whom the law and its administrators protect.
But they also apply to Greece, and one wonders whether they are true of the other ‘Pigs’ – Portugal and Spain. In a sense it’s a relief to read Brunetti’s disillusionment with his environment, since it suggests that Greece’s problems are not unique. Do all Europe’s southern states really have these dysfunctional characteristics?
Troika control

That question presupposes that we subscribe to the Eurocentric view of what constitutes a responsible and efficient member of the EU and the euro zone. Greeks seem to have become passive onlookers of the troika’s insistence on austerity measures, reduction in public service numbers and the sale of state assets. Trade union activity is at an all-time low.
There is very little to alert holidaymakers to the unrest which nevertheless festers beneath the social surface. To most holidaymakers, Greece represents sun, sea, and prices that remain low. But essential Greek characteristics are the signs of differences, as any holidaymaker from northern Europe will immediately recognise, and those differences are not only what makes Greece (and of course Italy, Spain and Portugal) attractive as holiday destinations but indicate precisely why Greece finds it so difficult to fit into the euro norm.
As I wrote previously, a former Greek president, on the eve of Greek accession to the EU, pointed out the time-warp between the southern and northern states, and the fact that they had a lot of catching up to do. If, that is, they wanted to be good members of the club. Former prime minister George Papandreou tried to drag Greece into the club – and failed, because there are basic elements of Greek society that cannot be changed. Bribery and corruption may be part of this, but they are ‘normal’ rather than exceptional.
Which brings me to the basic flaw in the Eurocentric argument: that what is being lost sight of is the geopolitics of Europe’s southeast, which for centuries has been a cockpit of east/west and north/south tensions. Greece is essentially a Balkan country, with the continuing – and growing – problems of Cyprus and complex relations with Turkey. The ‘Great Powers’ which brought Greece and most of the Balkan states into existence, were exercised by the threat of Russian influence in the region, a factor which remains a player in today’s geopolitics, with Russian investment in Cyprus seeping into Greece itself.
In April, the ambassadors to Greece of the 10 states which joined the EU in 2003-2004 (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Poland, Malta, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Cyprus) co-signed a letter to the Athens newspapers stressing the significance of ‘the vital strategic goal’ of unifying Europe in the aftermath of the second World War and the economic benefits of an open market. These are almost all countries still staggering from the effects of Soviet domination, with Cyprus becoming the only EU member state to have been illegally occupied since 1974 by a neighbouring force (Turkey).
Yet, as Paul Gillespie recently wrote in this paper (‘Loss of confidence is eating away at EU’), there are growing signs among the major players that all is far from well. The former Italian prime minister, Mario Monti, spoke of the “dramatically declining” public support for EU reforms and the EU itself; Luxembourg’s Jean-Claude Juncker foresaw the possibility of “a social revolution”; and France’s finance minister warned of a “loss of social and political confidence”. These have all been defining characteristics of Balkan history for 150 years, with fragmentation along ethnic and religious lines bedevilling any unity. 

To stress unity of purpose presupposes common characteristics and identity of skills and resources. If Leon’s Guido Brunetti sees Italy correctly, then at least two of the EU’s southern states cannot subscribe to Eurocentrism. Greece’s Balkan situation (especially with the Turkish dimension) suggests that its current misfit with the aims of Eurospeak will continue to be the norm.

*** *** ***

Thursday afternoon. Grey and chilly. I plucked up courage and started tidying plot 14 with scythe, electric strimmer and hands - hauling out couch grass, rose bay willow and hoping to the regular rows amid the wet greenery that shows that some of what I planted in March has surfaced. And - yes - there were some potatoes, some garlic, spinach and Jerusalem Artichokes. Two of the fruit trees carry blossom - a cherry and an apple and the vine I planted last year is sprouting buy no sign of bearing grapes. Oscar wandered the fence between park and allotments. As Gill, who's looking for a new swarm, had warned me her bees have lost their queen. They did not survive through the winter.

A frog on Plot 14

When a decade ago we were campaigning to save some of the green space here for allotments I pressed for the council in its plan for new allotments, under a S106 agreement, to keep the hedges and paths that had run through the original Victoria Jubilee Allotments. Sadly all but one hedge was lost to the bulldozers. Then early this year our allotments association decided without discussion with plotholders to have the last hedge cut short, ragged and messy.

The hedge that was

It's only privet with a couple of higher sycamore trees but it's disappearance for the time being changes a familiar landscape. To complain vehemently is futile. I should have joined the committee if I wanted things to be different. But we've lost a useful wind break and pleasant shade in summer because one or two people on the site committee thought they needed more light. Someone also said the hedge roots were sucking nourishment form the soil.  Foliage has been left where it was cut. My photo shows where there had been a tree and a 'secret' play space inside the hedge made by the nearby plot holder's children.
** ** ** **
Martin came round at noon with the gift of two mixer taps. When he was with us in Greece two weeks ago he'd insisted we change them to taps of quality - chrome plated brass. The spout of our kitchen sink tap at 208 Democracy Street had already sprung a leak. I had been quite proud of having plumbed mixer taps into our kitchen and bathroom sinks last year. With typical generosity Martin's given us taps that would have cost treble the price of those I bought in Corfu. The difference in weight is remarkable, but of course I can't install them for months!

We've been sorting out a queue of necessary minor jobs awaiting our return to UK; things that couldn't be handled from Greece despite modern technology - getting insurance cover for the Handsworth Helping Hands van, getting an unused gas meter removed from one of our properties now the provider is imposing a standing charge on meters even where there's never been gas supplied at that address because it's in a tower block where gas power has long been forbidden (what a business!), preparing for our next visit to Scotland to clear mum's house ready for its sale, making sure the bureaucracy handles the renewal of my visiting lecturer contract without extended loss of my connection to IT Services, sorting out bills and rent on another flat of Lin's as the agent handling its management went out of business while we were away, tidying, mowing, weeding, pruning, getting a haircut and general sorting...and following an email returning a sketch proposal for a half-day in-house workshop for a group of councillors chairing scrutiny committees...

IN-HOUSE WORKSHOP ON CHAIRING SKILLS FOR SCRUTINY (draft)

with Inlogov, Birmingham University

(date/times/venue to be agreed)

 The purpose of this workshop is to give a small group of Scrutiny Chairs an opportunity to:
 ·    identify the responsibilities and challenges of chairing Scrutiny
·    rehearse skills and affirm values that contribute to best practice
·    explore innovative thinking about the role of scrutiny

TEACHING STYLE: Brief talks, exercises and discussion to guide analysis and reflection. Handouts will be available to participants. Except for start and finish, times may vary slightly. 

I'd already circulated the minutes of our last and the agenda for the next meeting of Handsworth Helping Hands.

Meeting of Handsworth Helping Hands ~ 30 May 2013

********
"Ταξίδι στ' αστέρια" - Journey to the stars

Κοινή εκδήλωση διοργανώνουν το Σάββατο 1 Ιουνίου 2013 και ώρα 8.30 το βράδυ στο προαύλιο του Αγίου Γεωργίου η Δημοτική Κοινότητα Άνω Κορακιάνας, η Φιλαρμονική Κορακιάνας, η Ενορία του Αγίου Γεωργίου, ο Φιλοπρόοδος Σύλλογος Σωκρακίου και η Αστρονομική Εταιρεία Κέρκυρας. Η εκδήλωση θα ξεκινήσει με ομιλία του Καθηγητή Αστρολογίας του Αριστοτέλειου Πανεπιστημίου Θεσσαλονίκης κ. Σειραδάκη με θέμα «Κομήτες, διάττοντες και Μετεωρίτες» και θα ακολουθήσει η μουσική παράσταση «Ταξίδι στ’ Αστέρια», με τη Φιόρη Μεταλληνού (τραγούδι), το Σάκη Κοντονικόλα (πιάνο) και το Σπύρο Χονδρογιάννη (απαγγελία ποίησης). A joint event arranged for Saturday, 1st June 2013 at 8.30pm in the courtyard of Ag.Georgiou, Upper Korakiana by the the Sokraki Progressive Association and the Astronomical Society of Corfu. The event will begin with a talk by Professor Seiradakis of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 'Comets, Meteors and shooting stars'' followed by the musical 'Journey to the stars' with Fiore Metallinou (vocals), Saki Kontonikolas (piano) and Spiro Chondrogianni (poetry recitation).

*** *** ***
The Greek economy isn't getting healthier - yet. The Greek Minister of Finance Yannis Stournaras is challenging the predictions of a recent OECD report on the future. Nick Malkoutzis and Yiannis Mouzakis write on Nick's excellent blog, Inside Greece:

...The OECD’s recent Economic Outlook contains some alarming messages for Greece, messages that are in  contrast with the recent wave of positivity from the government and upbeat  assessments from the media domestically and abroad. The Paris-based organisation  does not see a return to growth in 2014 but predicts a further economic contraction of 1.2 percent, a gap from Stournaras’s projections that translates into about 3.6 billion euros of economic output. It goes as far as suggesting that additional financing from the EU/IMF program will be required for Greece so automatic stabilizers are allowed to kick in if the recession turns out to be deeper than initially anticipated.
As much as Stournaras was quick to challenge the OECD’s projections on growth, he did not comment on the devastating projections for unemployment. The finance minister has designed Greece’s medium-term fiscal strategy based on average unemployment of 22.8 percent for 2013 and a lower figure of 21.4 percent for 2014. The OECD and the Bank of Greece, which also gave its forecast this week, think otherwise.
The differences in the forecasts are as stark as they are vexing....

How do we - for the moment spectators of this sad scene - experience what the statistics and the grim predictions suggest? We see furrows on the brows of even our employed friends. Will the hitherto healthy demand for their skilled services continue? We know they're working hard, often over weekends and holidays and outside as well as inside the 'season'. We hear rumours of rising petty crime, house-breaking, and of course concerns about the rise of the far Right especially the horrible symbols of Golden Dawn, some seen even in Ano Korakiana...

... The rich still have money to spend on homes and holidays and swimming pools and yachts and what goes with those things by way of consuming goods and services. Will this continue? What of the 'season'? Tourism is the money bringer and guarantor of work. This year we had the impression that a season that usually starts after Easter - a very late one in Greece (2-5 May) - that little was happening. Coaches and hire cars clustered at the airport but the teeming mass of visitors that we've known in the past has not materialised. There were spare seats coming and going on Easyjet flights we knew of including our own. Go into town around the busy hours of 11-12 and you'd wonder that there's such a thing as a crisis. Traffic is jammed, all parking spaces taken, the narrow streets buzzing with people on foot, scooters and cycles. Only when you look closer do you see boarded shops, empty showrooms, cars without number plates (the sign that they owner is paying no tax, parked until further notice), the proliferating 'for sale' and 'for lease' signs and when you watch the so-called shoppers - disgorged in hundreds and hundreds from big cruise liners you realise they are walking and gazing, but hardly on a shopping frenzy. Eating places in the height of the day and the evening have empty chairs, many in the majority. Go out of town to the seaside places like Kontokali, Gouvia, Dassia, Ipsos and Pyrgi on the east coast and they are, in the hard language of business, near 'dead'. At a taverna with swimming pool in our last week on the island, we were the only people there all afternoon - swimming, eating, drinking, reading and enjoying the quiet - great for us; rotten for the family proprietors. Out in the countryside new building seems limited to the rich south east. Of course I prefer this. I wish people would live in clustered settlements and not lay concrete in olive groves to build house that blight green horizons. We see new building that have been for sale now for five years or more, unsold since we've lived on Corfu. It's almost invariably a delight to see improvement works proceeding on village homes, and in Ano Korakiana we see a good deal of that, on the properties of resident Greeks and foreigners. No-one would come to Greece, especially Corfu, because the cost of living is less than in the UK. Prices for fuel, health, food and in restaurants are the same as in Britain, sometimes higher, especially for goods like power tools, car parts and chandlery. All this is delightful if you have spending money, like quietness and relative solitude, and are untroubled by empathy with  those whose hopes are blighted by crisis. A piece in early May in the Economist plays on the danger of self-fulfilling pessimism, looking for clues that there really may be light at the end...etc...it won't come from consumers who've little or nothing to spend, not from exports because the eurozone has wider troubles...

...What could transform the outlook is a surge in foreign investments. But Greece is still a risky place for outsiders to do business. One obstacle that Mr Hardouvelis stresses is a poor and still largely unreformed legal system, which means that investors can get bogged down in long court cases. Negotiating Greek bureaucracy is another headache. Dimitri Papalexopoulos, the head of Titan, a cement firm, says it is difficult to describe how badly and inefficiently the public sector is run.
Some failings are being tackled. Export procedures are being simplified, halving the number of days that goods are stuck at ports. The time taken for a ship to be registered has been cut from seven months to ten days. On April 28th the parliament passed measures to sack 15,000 civil servants by the end of 2014; they will be replaced by young, qualified new entrants.
A litmus test will be the privatisation programme, which matters less for the revenues it will raise than for the wider opening-up of the economy it signals. An original target of €50 billion has been halved and the programme has been plagued by delays and setbacks. The sale of a stake in OPAP, a gambling monopoly, was concluded on May 1st. Since this was supposed to mark a fresh start, it was disappointing that there was only one valid bidder.
The Greek economy is at a precarious point. Despite the surveys showing a revival in confidence, many businesses remain downbeat. Such pessimism may be self-fulfilling. And Mr Papalexopoulos is not alone in worrying that Greek society, struggling with a youth-unemployment rate of almost 60%, is reaching a limit on how much pain it can endure. If a recovery does occur, it may be in the nick of time.

'The Precariat – The new dangerous class' by Guy Standing, Professor of Economic Security, University of Bath, UK, co-president of BIEN (the Basic Income Earth Network)...Neo-liberal policies and institutional changes have produced a huge and growing number of people with sufficiently common experiences to be called an emerging class. In this book Guy Standing introduces what he calls 'The Precariat' - a growing number of people across the world living and working precariously, usually in a series of short-term jobs, without recourse to stable occupational identities or careers, stable social protection or protective regulations relevant to them. They include migrants, but also locals. Standing argues that this class of people could produce new instabilities in society. They are increasingly frustrated and dangerous because they have no voice, and hence they are vulnerable to the siren calls of extreme political parties. He outlines a new kind of good society, with more people actively involved in civil society and the precariat re-engaged. He goes on to consider one way to a new better society - an unconditional basic income for everyone, contributed by the state, which could be topped up through earned incomes. This is a topical, and a radical book, which will appeal to a broad market concerned by the increasing problems of labour insecurity and civic disengagement.

***
And I'm still only seeing my grandson on Facebook with his paternal grandma....

Christine and Oliver

The blue of the sea we've left behind

South wind on the west coast of Corfu

Sat either side of the aisle we saw lozenges of perfect blue as our plane ascended, banking in a wide circle that brought us over Pantokrator, then the high coast of Albania, before sea and land receded below bright white clouds. On the flight from Corfu we enjoyed prosciutto and cream cheese sandwiches in a round loaf from the village bakery made up for a picnic before we left.
We landed around one-o-clock at Luton with a slight bump that made someone exclaim. After an hour waiting by a carousel for our bags, a timorous tannoy voice apologised for the delay, "caused" - with fudged syntax - "by operational reasons".
A resigned British crowd, but for a tearful mother with a toddler, awaited belongings from Riga, Malaga, Faro, Palma, Corfu and somewhere else - luggage unloaded in no special order.
"Sunday lunchtime's always diabolical" said a slightly harassed women fielding mild grumbles at a service desk. Thirteen flights had landed at the same time causing a "massive back-up"

Luton luggage jam

"I don't recall such recurrent inefficiency in Corfu" I said to Lin "Yet people are wont to to throw up their hands at Greek confusions. When have we encountered that?"
The crowd was a lively metaphor for British acceptance of our economic mess. Jan wrote just now:

Hi Simon...when are you returning to Blighty? I would stay longer if I were you. The weather here is simply foul. I am interested to read your outline for Member-Officer courses. Do you think it's possible to weave in some of the issues we have exchanged views on in the last few months? I suspect it's a matter of it evolving and bringing authorities on board based on their own experiences and requirements, but there is no doubt in my mind that fundamental (irreversible ) changes are taking place and given local authoritys' relative powerless position vis-à-vis government, they frequently spend  much  of their energies on 'chasing and adjusting' to government requirements which are going to become even more challenging over the next few years; to such an extent that LAs, as we have known them, will cease to exist (SB note: news item - 7 June 2013*) and be replaced by something else yet to emerge.
The government’s approach is crude but becoming clear - 'delegate' (dump) difficult and unpopular (toxic) tasks to LAs (e.g. housing and welfare) then top slice (cut back) the monies available  to carry out these tasks, thus achieving both financial and political objectives in one swoop. We are going to see more of this during the next Spending Review where I fear LAs will receive another hammering bordering on a coup de grace.
The scenario is obviously a bit more sophisticated than that and there are still 'hooks' for LAs to hang their issues on (e.g. City Deals, Community Budgets) but the general direction of travel is fairly clear and I believe beyond the tipping point because even the 'hooks' are in place by government decree and would not be there but for the government. This is the reality and the starting point for all those who want to see Localism become meaningful.
I have mentioned before the need to recalibrate the relationship between LAs and government and for LAs to have their own 'narrative' for this. Whilst this remain important, I am coming more and more to the conclusion that it is the relationship between LAs, their population and local community, which requires more attention and recalibration. The traditional models are becoming increasingly irrelevant; no longer fit for purpose. The old saying that “all politics are local” remains true, but a narrative (and practice) based on delegated democracy, selective engagement and top-down consultations is not going to promote Localism...more likely it will be used to drive the current policy objectives. Perhaps the time has come to  phase out this narrative or reconstruct it within an overall narrative of 'mobilisation and support'; for LAs to make this focus a priority because if (when) successful this would impact significantly on the LA-government relationship, simply because the political foundations of LAs would strengthen. No government could ignore that for long.
This will take courage and persistence. The starting point is to ditch the parent-child relationship of local to centre; 'cleanse' local government of its Stockholm syndrome with Whitehall...a tall order; to get  hundreds of LAs to 'sign up' is near impossible, but what is the alternative?
What I find frustrating is that no such narrative, backed up by analysis, leading to  a Localism Agenda has even started to emerge. This may be unfair but it seems that the mind-set is stuck in the past and past methods are being rolled out to deal with the new agenda when in reality something very different is called for. We are talking about culture and behaviour change more than anything else. A new skills set is desperately needed but  I can’t see one emerging yet. I am mindful of the saying that all generals fight the last war instead of the current one. Any thoughts on this?
The main news at this end is around the horrific terrorist attack on a soldier in Woolwich in London. This has some very challenging implications for Localism. The other big story is around is the tax affairs of large international corporations[ the way they avoid tax (legally) by moving monies around the world and manipulating the tax regimes of various countries. If they paid according to the spirit of the legislation, or on the same basis as the rest of us, then the public financial deficit would largely be resolved. Tthe sums are staggering. What is even more striking is the government’s total impotence in dealing with this. They are simply unable (unwilling) to act. We have plenty of moralistic shroud waving but total paralysis as far as actions are concerned. I think this demonstrates the power (and arrogance) of the 'new feudal elite'. They are not in the slightest bit apologetic and have no plans to change. They operate totally outside any democratic accountability. Their financial muscle is greater than most countries and beyond meaningful scrutiny. At the same time we are becoming more and more dependent on them for jobs and services. LAs are often desperate to attract them into their localities and you can see why.
Perhaps the time is right to start to talk about local taxation in a meaningful way - local taxation without which Localism cannot exist. The implications for  the rest of society are quite staggering in terms  of  living standards and well–being especially for vulnerable and disabled people (the precariat)*. We are all paying more taxes than we should and enduring more welfare cut-backs than we should (more about ideology than anything else).  These circumstances are manifesting themselves at local level in communities all over Britain; albeit very differently in poor areas compared to wealthy areas. Here you have an issue upon which 'mobilisation and support' could begin to emerge, but the silence is deafening. Why has this not yet filtered into the political-managerial agenda. Is ethics the missing link in the reading/carrying model, or is this a matter of hard-nosed politics?
The ramifications of the local council elections are rumbling on. The Tories are tearing themselves apart on Europe and gay marriages. If anything it is becoming worse; quite a spectacle; clearly now impacting on local politics. Many authorities are having to adjust to having significant numbers of UKIP councillors on the council. These are new and inexperienced people but with strong views on a  narrow range of issues. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out. It could shake things up or, more worryingly, it could  lead to a strengthening of the worst underlying forces in many local communities  (prejudice, xenophobia, insularity, nimby-ism, cronyism, and similar ugly forces). We have to recognise that there are - potentially - some very nasty downsides to localism. There needs to be a counter-balance to this. That is why I am talking about a recalibration of the relationship and a re-alignment of the power relationship. Not a divorce. It is difficult to envisage Civil Rights in the USA developing the way it has through a reliance on Localism on its own. Therein lies the  challenge and pitfall of localism. What about a chat in June when you are back? Best Jan

*07 June 2013 Watchdog warns cuts could lead to collapse of councils....Local authorities must come clean in explaining to residents what services they might have to cut in the next Spending Review period, a parliamentary spending watchdog has reported.  A Public Accounts Committee report into the National Audit Office’s (NAO) study, published in January, into the financial stability of local authorities, finds Whitehall doesn’t properly understand the overall impact of the 28% budget cuts taking place over the existing spending round. The MPs expressed fears those councils more reliant on government grants - which serve poorer and more vulnerable communities with higher demands on services - are experiencing the greatest spending reductions. Whitehall does not fully understand how budgets cuts are affecting vulnerable groups, the PAC said. ‘This raises the spectre of the worst-affected councils being unable to meet their statutory obligations,’ Ms Hodge added. She urged the Department for Communities for Local Government (DCLG) to get a better understanding of how cuts affect vulnerable groups and demanded to know how Eland House would respond in the event of multiple financial failures of local authorities....

We left Ano Korakiana at 1030 after a rush of tidying. Vasiliki and Effi came out to kiss and hug us. I dropped in on Katerina to say 'goodbye'. All said the customary "Kalo taxidi, Καλό ταξίδι" as we loaded our bags into the car and I stood beside Adoni to say bye-bye to our house, our other beloved home.

With Adoni at the top of our steps onto Democracy Street

From Digbeth Coach Station, our taxi dropped us home just before seven; Oscar there to greet us. Before rain starts I must mow the grass - as green as the blue of the sea we've left behind - and get on with the in-tray waiting for us.

Greeting Oscar in the garden at Handsworth

*** ***
What of Summersong, now floating again at her fore and aft mooring in Ipsos?

Dave has done great work on her exterior. Now, he sets to on the interior!

Summersong's cabin roof

We've made lists of what more needs to to be done to have her sailing (and motoring). Two days ago I was inhaling a heady whiff of fibre glass and oily bilges. On hands and knees I was reaching through a small access trap to sponge away buckets of blackened water collected in the shallow space below the cabin floor - not a leak, not seawater, but rain that entered when, last year, the self-draining plug holes in the cockpit were blocked with old flaking paint.

From bilges up, every inch has to become shipshape; carpet, squabs, warps, cabin linings, curtains, sail inventory, compass, auto-pilot, main anchor chain, roller reefing and of course her jetty - rickety and slowly collapsing...

......Running and standing rigging are fine. The engine's working well but I'll only be confident after sea trials - for me as much as the boat - with wind and wave. 'I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and the sky'...and as Spike wrote 'I left my shoes and socks there, I wonder if they're dry?' Lin even said "I\d like to visit the Mani" Is that possible? Could we really?

*** *** ***
“There’s the Sea of Tranquility”
Martin was gazing up at a gibbous moon, recalling how his Dad had built a reflecting telescope with which he’d shown his son places on the moon from their garden in Birmingham.
“I haven’t got my glasses or I could make out the crater of Copernicus”
“Over there, that one bright light, with darkness to the left, marks the border with Albania. The line of twinkling lights further south. That’s Sayada and then even further there’s Igoumenitsa”
We looked at the Plough overhead and subtended the angle of the last two stars on its front to see the North Star just above the edge of the crags above the village, dimly underlit by our street lights.
“The moon’s too bright to see the Milky Way”
We recalled wondering, on childhood nights, at the sight of the full starred heavens, the edge of our galaxy strewn from horizon to horizon, across the abyss of black space.
“There’s too much light pollution too”
Along the closer horizon of the island lay the glow of the city. I called to Lin and to Martin’s wife, Sandra, chatting downstairs, to come and join us on the balcony. A few days before we returned to Birmingham they, our best friends in England, were our guests in Ano Korakiana.
We listened to the sounds inside this space, stood on our balcony together; people talking below the village, a lot further off than the Skops owl calling to another among trees beyond the houses edging Democracy Street. There was a dog complaining in the distance.
“That’ll set off all the others” I said as barking spread closer. Cockerels do the same but they were quiet at midnight.
The blinking lights of a plane appeared silently over the hills between us and the city, turned towards us and became a sound droning swiftly over Trompetta.

Sandra and Linda at Piattsa on Democracy Street

While he’s been here Martin has drawn a plan for a new jetty for Summersong, helped show us how to arrange the frame and hinges for our bedroom wardrobe ....

and, frustrated by its eccentric grating on the marble floor of the kitchen, re-hung the door between it and the dining room. A little packing on the old latch, longer screws in the hinges, a few millimetres planed off the bottom of the door...

...the job done in twenty minutes and years of minor irritation gone.
“So why didn’t you do that?” says Lin.
“I tried but I didn’t know how and it sort of worked with the chain and the hooks”

We’ve been go-betweens for house improvement for Steve in England who wanted the walls of his house, next to the café, rendered. All work had stopped after his regular builder had to go to Ioannina for heart surgery. We’ve got a local builder to start rendering, sending Steve pictures as the work proceeds.

Dear Steve. Before talking to A, our friend Martin, a builder/architect, currently staying with us, inspected your rear wall. He noticed that your wall ends in an uncovered section that is part of X’s property. In Martin’s opinion, X's strip of wall, if not rendered at the same time as yours, would let damp into any new render on your property. X, as you'd expect, says he’s no money to make this strip good…We tend to agree with Martin that this extra cost would represent a saving for you in the long run….Do you want the short iron bars sticking out of the wall, that were used to support a vine, removed? Let us know what you think. Best, Simon

Well I'm like a spoilt kid at Christmas, I can't stop getting the picture up and looking at it… After so many years of neglect the little house is finally getting some TLC, which its deserved after standing so many years. Wish you could see the smile on my face. many thanks for organising and overseeing the work on my behalf. Steve

While they were here we showed a little of the island to Martin and Sandra, walking, driving, swimming, eating out and eating in, enjoying drinks at Stamatti's café Piattsa, seeing the city and the country, ascending to the top of Pantokrator and down to the sea at Paleokastritsa.

Our friend Sandra on Angelokastro

Picnicing below the oak tree on the top of Angelokastro we saw, at first cleverly camouflaged in its deep serrated bark, a host of moth caterpillars - indeed several colonies attached to different parts of the tree.

*** *** ***
From the Ano Korakiana website - our neighbour's daughter Dimitra, flutist, is first left:

Λιτανεία στην Αλεπού

Λιτανεία της εικόνας της Αναστάσεως σήμερα το απόγευμα (Κυριακή 26 Μαΐου 2013), στην Αλεπού. Από τις Κουλίνες, βήμα-βήμα τον επαρχιακό δρόμο, στους ήχους της Μπάντας και με τις «φωνές» της Χορωδίας της Φιλαρμονικής Κορακιάνας, ίσαμε δύο χιλιόμετρα απόσταση. Ανά διαστήματα «συστάδες» κόσμου στο δρόμο, για να παρακολουθήσουν την πομπή να περνάει. Κάθε τόσο και κάποιος ιερέας πύκνωνε τις τάξεις του ψαλτηρίου, μέχρι και τα τελευταία μέτρα της πορείας. Στην άλλη λωρίδα του δρόμου η κυκλοφορία των οχημάτων συνεχιζόταν περίπου ανενόχλητη, συνθέτοντας ένα περίεργο ηχητικό κράμα θορύβου, μελωδίας και ψαλμών. Στην εκκλησία της Θεοτόκου, στο στενό της ενορίας, όπου κατέληξε η πομπή, ευλογήθηκαν και μοιράστηκαν άρτοι. Είχε πια νυχτώσει, όταν χορωδοί και μουσικοί πήραν το δρόμο της επιστροφής για το χωριό… Υ.Γ.: Απαραίτητος συντελεστής της Λιτανείας, αποδείχτηκε το Ι.Χ. φορτηγάκι, που, αφού μετέφερε τα «έπιπλα», κουβάλησε και αρκετούς Χορωδούς, από το χώρο στάθμευσης μέχρι το σημείο εκκίνησης. *** *** *** *My colleague Chris Game has written in the Birmingham Post about the recent ESRC report on poverty in Britain. 'This is the fifth scientifically conducted independent study of poverty since 1983' he says 'and the situation is worse today than it has been for the past 30 years.' He summarises findings from the report titled The Impoverishment of the UK - officially published tomorrow: * Over 30 million people (almost half the population) are suffering to some degree from financial insecurity * Almost 18 million cannot afford adequate housing conditions * Roughly 14 million (almost 1 in 4) cannot afford one or more essential household goods * Almost 12 million are too poor to engage in common social activities considered necessary by the majority of the population * About 5.5 million adults (1 in 11) go without essential clothing * Around 4 million children and adults are not properly fed by today’s standards * Almost 4 million children go without at least two of the things they need * Around 2.7 million households (1 in 10) live in homes that are damp.* 11 per cent of children over 10 living in households without enough bedrooms for every child aged 10 or over of a different sex to have their own room * 4 per cent of children (well over half a million) living in families who cannot afford to feed them properly * 9 per cent of children going without one or more items of basic clothing * 9 per cent of working-age adults (3 million), 12 per cent of 18 to 25 year olds and 21 per cent of those unemployed and looking for work unable to afford appropriate clothes for a job interview * 33 per cent of adults (16.5 million) unable to pay unexpected costs of £500 * 30 per cent of working-age adults (about 11 million) unable to afford regular payments into a pension. [...and in America] *** *** Involved early in the development of Aftab Rahman's Lozells and East Handsworth Heritage Trail I was still in Ano Korakiana when the trail had its launch on 25 May.  Dear Sir/Madam   Launch of Lozells and Handsworth Heritage Trail – 25th May 10am – 1pm   We would like to invite you to the launch of our heritage trail for Lozells and Handsworth.  This has been a very exciting journey for us, we have learned so much about this amazing area and its heritage and we would like to share it with you.  The area is home to Soho House which is Matthew Boulton’s former home, St Mary’s Convent designed by Pugin, St Mary’s Church where Matthew Boulton, James Watts and William Murdoch are buried and there are several other historically significant buildings and places.  The registration will start at 9:30am at Soho House (Soho Avenue – off Soho Road, B18 5LB) and the tour will commence at 10am.  It is likely to take two hours approximately.  We have a reception at 1pm at South and City College – Soho Campus, on the Soho Road.  You will be able to hear from key note speakers and our tour guides – this will include a networking lunch.We have been working with South and City College to train 20 passionate people to become ‘tour guides’.  They will be your guides on the tour and will share their knowledge of the area with you on the walk.  Yours sincerely, Aftab Rahman, Director, Legacy WM Aftab circulated the trail guide with maps and photos and profiles of guides.

Handsworth Park on a Saturday afternoon in early summer

Our park at Christmas

Days out and about

“You’re not getting up are you?” whispers Lin “What time is it?”
“Six-thirty. I want to see the sunrise”
Amy has told me a theory. ‘It’s proved’ the more intelligent stay up late and sleep late. I being the converse, as she says, “Draw your conclusions, dad”
“But I’m not especially unintelligent am I? I’m not like your mum with money and technical things but…”
“You’re more educated, not more intelligent”
“Ah I see. My long words and circuitous writing”
I go to bed these last few nights later than my grandson but I leave Amy, Guy and Lin around the supper table, first reading then falling asleep to the mumble of their conversation over cards. We’re still lighting the stove at night as the sunny days with the north wind grow cool by sunset.
Before the sun rises I stand on the balcony gazing toward the outline of Greek and Albanian mountains and the sliver of metal sea between them and the dark of the island, listening to the muted discordance of cockerels. barking dogs and occasional scooters, small objects dashing back and forth - insects, swallows and floaters inside my eyes. I slip quietly through the French windows down the side balcony stairs through the veranda door to the kitchen from where I can come and go by the porch door not to wake the sleeping house. I shave and make a cup of tea to take upstairs where the new sun is making long shadows. Yesterday I persuaded Amy to try cutting my hair.

“I’m tired of this mane. Can you trim it away?”
It’s a weight off my head, for all her raggedy effect.
We had lunch on the balcony, a cold box to keep our ice for water and wine and pop, and an umbrella for shade – fresh bread, cheeses, salami and a feta salad with onions, olives, cucumber and tomato and separate lettuce.

Later the big blue bowl we use for carrying the washing served as a pool for the baby.

*** ***
We went, on Tuesday, to Kanoni, walking down steps to the café beside the sea with few customers to disturb us and just one plane taking off, sheltered from the fresh breeze that ruffled the water between us and Pontikonisi. Lin who studies the prices on menus assiduously indulged me for once when I said “Eat and drink what you like, money’s no object”.
We shared a Greek salad, Lin doing the dressing with salt and pepper and more oil than vinegar while I stab the squares of feta with a fork to spread its taste; a beefburger with bacon and cheese for Lin, souvlaki for Guy, calamari for Amy and I, and several plates of chips, plus coke for Guy who’s driving and for Lin and for me, a large dark Corfu beer in a fluted glass and Amstel for Amy; water and a cheese toastie for Oliver. The food was kindly and efficiently served. As our eating slowed the large agreeable Labrador bitch Lola joined us, optimistic for scraps.
"Here comes Hoover" said Guy
We’d planned to go on to Mon Repos but our meal went on too long. Also, I was tartly reminded, in the morning I’d cycled down to Ipsos – to do email and sit in Summer Song's cockpit and admire Dave's work on her - such a pleasure freewheeling through the olive groves – and coming back later than I’d said on the note I’d left on a table in the sleeping house. The long ascent to Ag Markos was no problem; my chest is clear, the antibiotics (and contentment) having cleared my bronchitis.

By the sea near Vlacherna Monastery below Kanoni

*** ***
A letter from Jan:

9/4/13 Simon. Read your description of your experience with the Greek health service with great interest. Interesting to see how European countries apply charges. On localism…re-assuring to see that others share our general wish to see much stronger localism (as long as this is based on stronger local democracy. The two are not identical).These are some of the ‘vehicles’ I have referred to previously to drive this agenda forward. I think it is important that Local Authorities (LAs) engage with these as long as they have a clear agenda of their own and a ‘narrative’ of their own commanding strong local support…However, there are some important omissions in all these articles.
Firstly, there  are no analyses or comments on the link or otherwise between localism and democracy and how this will work in practise and to the benefit of the locality. This is important, otherwise it may be perceived as merely one bunch of seedy and discredited politicians trying to grab power for themselves from another bunch of seedy and discredited politicians. You can well imagine how sections of the press and TV would portray this, aided and abetted by those opposed to it, hence why I carp on about a ‘narrative’ all the time, especially a ‘bottom-up’ one.
Secondly, there is no attempt to bring into the debate the civic pride and public service dimensions we've talked about. These are crucial elements in any narrative as they are linked to culture and behaviour i.e. the how (being ethical, incorruptible, objective, transparent, open, accessible, selfless, etc). It’s in this context that your suggestion about bringing in an ethical dimension to the reading and carrying model is so crucial. I'm still thinking about what that would look like both conceptually and practically, but agree with you that ‘critical incidents’ form an important part of it in terms of bringing together both skills and behaviours (these are of course overlapping). This is why governance is so important.
Thirdly, there's no mention of how LAs can develop a much stronger independent tax base, without which local democracy cannot flourish. It is noticeable that this topic is avoided – a lot of moaning but no serious attempt to offer an alternative to the present distorted system. Given that there are so many models on the continent which could be tailored to our circumstances this is a grave omission. Is this the Stockholm syndrome again, or are we incapable of rising above the parent-child model of licenced localism?
Fourthly, there is no attempt to offer a view on who localism applies to and who the ‘drivers’ will be (LAs?). The new feudal elite does not belong, nor is it attached to any locality, flitting between the financial capitals of the world…yet the decisions made amid this elite can have huge impacts on communities (e.g. closing or opening factories) Where do we place these people on the localism-democracy map? At the other end of the social scale there is a class now being referred as the ‘precariat’ (in older days we referred to the lumpen proletariat) whose connectivity with their localities is slim. In most case non-existent. What role, if any, do these people have in localism? Passive recipients? This latter class is growing and is likely to do so in the future.
I am trying to absorb the impact of all the benefits changes coming in this April (e.g. Housing Benefits, Council Tax Rebate, Social Fund). Fiendishly complicated, but people in the know seem to agree that the further down the economic food chain you are the worse off you will be. It will place LAs directly in the firing line, paradoxically through being given more devolved responsibilities. Is this localism or an imposition or even an abandonment - devolved functions for implementing national policy deemed difficult, controversial, unpopular, can hardly be seen as devolved democracy, especially as there appears to be strong political motives to ‘dump’ toxic issues on LAs. All governments have indulged in this. This is no more than local administration of central policy, making LAs the agents of central government, drawing them closer into a centralised system and, in the process, becoming more dependent on central government and less autonomous (there are a few LAs who are resolutely fighting this, e.g. Leeds City Council and the implementation of the new Housing Benefit). Others seem to relish being the local agent of government.
Despite endless grumbles, there has been very little serious debate among LAs about the above issues, let alone achieving a common ground or a common ‘manifesto’ for how to move forward in re-calibrating the relationship with central government. I accept this is very difficult given the numbers involved, the big differences between LAs and the ineffectiveness of the LGA. The debate seem to centre on narrow issues of functions and where they should be located within the overall central/local spectrum. In recalibrating this relationship we also need to recalibrate local relationships. LAs will need to become very different to just being local councils which, at the moment, are desperately trying to find a new role and purpose for themselves in the new political climate. They are (as I did ) seeing this from ‘inside the box’. I think we need to take a step back and look at concepts like local democracy, representative democracy, democratic accountability, participatory democracy, to identify building blocks for future direction and build up an evidence base for these, but, most importantly, identify the political vehicle for driving the necessary changes through. The obstacles are enormous but worthwhile conquering.
I fear many LAs are actually in denial about the big picture; certainly in public where they adopt a (commendable) ‘we can do it’ attitude (with grumbles) without really tackling head-on the fact that the tectonic plates of LAs are being rolled back, and at best a minimalist or residual role (the new poor laws or local agent for government?) is being prepared, based on ideology not evidence.
No amount of being able to prove yourself will change this significantly. Yes, there are new powers and responsibilities but this feels a bit like handing over the responsibility for the restaurant menu and orchestra play-list to the passengers of the Titanic after it’s hit the iceberg, when new skills and strategies are required to reach port or at least survive to fight another day. How would you incorporate this into the three dimensional model of carrying-reading-ethical, and how would this ‘play’ in the managerial-political relationships? Fascinating.
I have droned on too long. Hope you are enjoying Corfu. I am now reading  the second volume (out of 3) of Professor Evans’ History of the Third Reich; strongly recommended, especially seeing how politicians-managers-professionals interacted and related to each other during the Wiemar Period and subsequently during the Third Reich, and the role the two latter groups played in ‘delivering’ the worst crimes in history (often willingly and enthusiastically or through cynical self-interest or indifference; coercion playing a surprisingly small role for most, other than as a powerful backdrop) - a salutary lesson which should be compulsory in all management and professional training, and one that proves how important the ethical dimension really is and how easily it can evaporate. On that cheerful thought I‘ll finish. Best, Jan

11/4/13 Dear Jan. I’d like to make up a list of about a dozen (maybe less to start) ‘critical incidents’ that might be drawn from the settings we’re striving to map. 'For instances' help develop narrative and v.v.
You may recall what my critical incidents looked like. We need some from rather different political-managerial-professional settings...I try to get the people who are experiencing these to give me the basic story which I can turn into something that is more general; which poses a dilemma and calls for a judgement - about action or inaction - based on what is read and what is carried.
I would draw some of these from experiences in the Handsworth community. Have you any one sentence settings I could develop and refine? I’d like some that touch on benefits complexity, on the parent-child relationship and the Stockholm syndrome that you suggest characterises central-local relations, also the effect of actions by the new ‘feudal elite’ on a local population; also something that addresses the ‘precariat’ (from inside)…
On a related point, the understandings that can develop inside a working political-management relationship represent one of the most reliable classrooms for politicians and managers working in government. I hear rather little on the process of ’negotiating the overlap’, yet it’s through such negotiation that individuals and organisations develop agency (i.e. capacity to understand and act in the world; take part in governance). Current trends encourage political deskilling. Deep desperation and misery and rage is kept just at bay through compensatory ‘bread and circuses’ and anaesthetising media; drugs (of many kinds), and a high level of intelligence-gathering by the police in which many of us participate as part of our commitment to ’social cohesion’.
Possible criticals: 1. Story of a failure of care for a neighbour in connection with an outlandish building extension into a next door garden, 2. Local volunteer group unable to bid for local work because of the increasing complexity and scale of procurement rules by local social housing agencies, 3. Local volunteer group unable to use power tools (normal domestic DIY tools most individuals use in their homes and gardens like mowers, hedge trimmers, strimmers and hand drills) as a result of stringency of health and safety rules and need for expensive training - a difficulty which local councillors admit themselves unable to ease or even negotiate. Many such local handyperson services now becoming defunct because regulatory framework favours much larger organisations. Why could not LA help form a co-op or syndicate of small volunteer groups? There are also problems created by expense of checking criminal records of anyone employed in local voluntary work as well as complicated sets of rules (all entirely reasonable in view of events) re protection of children and vulnerable people. Schools, nurseries and care homes can no longer use volunteer help with garden clearance, waste removal etc., 4. Local councillors ineffectual at getting information about grant frameworks for localism or clearly favouring issuing of neighbourhood funds to party political patrons. Could be an ethnic dimension to this problem; one of perception, perhaps, rather than reality but damaging to social cohesion, 5. Local council explores setting up fair-loan bank for the poor and other groups that would make good use of low interest loans delivered fairly, but finds the idea impossible because of banking rules. This problem made greater because credit unions are finding it increasingly difficult to survive (many declaring themselves insolvent) under new legislation intended to ensure propriety of such local ‘banks’, 6. Local groups unable to tap into rural parish funds as the process is tightly influenced by a clique of villagers who have known each other for many years, 7. XY council under financial pressure has cancelled free waste disposal permits for volunteer groups so that they can no longer remove waste cheaply after garden clearance, fly tipping clearance and street and park litter picks, 8. (Can you do one on effects of departure of a large local industry to another country?), 9. Local committees are being ill-attended because ’they seem unable to make decisions’; unable to summon senior officers or councillors to explain city wide/county/district wide strategies and budget procedures (e.g. decreasing local transparency spreads despondency as new feudalism takes hold), 10. Local groups frustrated with ‘bureaucracy’ and ‘so-called local democracy’ start to ’take the law into their own hands’. Play on links to ‘intelligent criminals’. Greece’s fascist party - Golden Dawn - now demands proof of licence to trade from ‘foreign’ market stall holders, and issues free food etc. but only to those of their racial preference (i.e. not black)…. how am I doing? Come up with a few more - starting with one liners. I realise the ones I’ve come up with in a few minutes are all pretty negative. We need some hopeful ones don’t we, even though of course there should always be a political-managerial-professional dilemma of some kind? Best S

15/4/13 Simon. I think the critical incidents in your attachment are excellent. They stand on their own merit in terms of being topical and universal and as such they can be applied to a range of contexts. As well as testing reading and carrying (i.e. political nous and skills) there is an underlying theme of morals and ethics which needs to be ‘tested’ strongly. This  can be wrapped up around the notion of governance. In theory many of your critical incidents should be ‘resolvable’ through adopting a governance approach to underpin the reading and carrying aspects. The reality of course is more messy than that, but that's part of the learning.
In many authorities especially in the North, but not exclusively so, I believe there is now a possibility that we are moving away from a ‘managing the overlap" model of political-managerial relationships to a ‘maintaining the bridge’ model. To illustrate: it has been calculated that the new welfare reforms now being introduced will remove £19 billion from the economy. Northern England will be hit the hardest; the worst affected being places like Blackpool, Middlesbrough, Liverpool, Glasgow, whereas Cambridge, Surrey, the Cotswolds, will see the lowest financial impact. The three worst affected regions are the North East, North West and Yorkshire and Humberside. A similar pattern exists in respect of the Local Government Grant distribution creating a ‘double whammy’ whereby the combination of welfare cuts and local government cuts impact disproportionally on the most deprived areas and widens the gap between the best and worst local economies (north/south divide).
These are not only economic issues. They are political and ideological in that they are underpinned by the fact that the negative impacts are felt by individuals and communities outside the government's own political heartland; by a policy objective aimed at rolling back the public sector and penalising (almost demonising) the poorest and most vulnerable people as a means (incentive) to force (encourage) them  to come off benefits or obtain as little as possible.
These developments will seep into political-managerial relationships and place them under strains proportionate to the impact of the ‘double whammy’. The gap between political aspirations, which in theory are almost unlimited, and managerial reality and deliverability - rapidly becoming even more constrained - will, unless some fundamentals are attended to, widen more and more as the ‘double whammy’ impacts.
There is a danger that the ‘overlap’ maybe about to be overtaken by an ever growing ‘gap’ which needs to be managed in a different way to the ‘overlap’, hence my phrase ‘maintaining the bridge’. In this context, as political ambitions are floundering and managerial manoeuvrability diminishing, the ethical dimensions may be tested to breaking point and beyond. Governance may no longer be able to patrol the boundaries of what is acceptable or not, or the boundaries themselves may shift either deliberately or imperceptibly.
On a more positive note, would it  be possible to turn all these developments into a ‘Dunkirk spirit’ in political-managerial relationships? (the ‘enemy’ being the government). I have my doubts, for reasons mentioned in my previous e-mails i.e. parent-child relationship, licenced localism, Stockholm syndrome)...It would be good to draw out some of these issues in the application of your critical incidents…It is at this level, in the  granular structure of local communities, that LAs have to deliver if localism is going to have any relevance. You have posed some meaty issues here. I think it may be a good idea to put these in the context of The Localism Act which provides  among other things ‘new rights for communities and individuals’, including: right to challenge, right to bid, right to build. I enclose a report on this (On the Ground: Localism in Practice. Final Report, March 2013. Ed Poulter, Rural Policy Officer, Yorkshire and Humber Rural Network), which you may find interesting. It seems to indicate that co-operation and relationship building are better than competition and confrontation (how quaint and old-fashioned!).
It is at this granular level that the ‘intelligent criminal' and/or extremist organisations (very often the same people) can take hold, as a vacuum is created by the rolling back of the public sector. There is a challenge for LAs here, but more so for local communities and local organisations. Can they fill the vacuum? Do they have the resources (compared to the ‘intelligent criminals’)? As you say ‘how can democracy and transparency survive?’…I wonder whether it would be possible to include some of these dilemmas and challenges in your community based critical incidents. I think LAs have been oblivious to the possibility of vacuums being created and filled by highly ‘undesirable’ elements or pent up local frustrations spilling over and then being manipulated (e.g. Golden Dawn). Given the dramatic increase in food banks in certain localities you can see that vacuums are being filled. Others may be less benevolent. At the other end certain communities are almost immune from any of the current policy developments. In fact given the continuing rise in billionaires some are benefiting.
As you know I am reading Professor Evans’ trilogy on the Third Reich. What is striking and frightening is how quickly and comprehensively the Nazi Party was able to ‘incorporate’ almost  all local organisations, clubs, associations, interest groups of all types. None of these were political in any form and had long histories in their communities, but within a short period they became tools of the government. The role of public servants and local authorities is fascinating…I am not suggesting that we have reached a similar stage here or that this is likely in the foreseeable future but there are lessons to be learned for any serious supporter of localism.
The so called impossible can and does happen. It was impossible for banks to bust but they did. It is impossible for countries to go bankrupt but they do.
I think there are a number of ways the new feudalism can manifest itself in a locality (e.g. no physical presence at all or living separately with likeminded people). In general terms we are dealing with people who determine the following: a) Relocating a company overseas (e.g. Dyson to China), b) Overseas buy- up (e.g. Cadbury's), c) New local development but overseas buying (e.g. IKEA having their goods manufactured in China, Taiwan, Bangladesh, etc.) creates some local employment in local outlets, d) Repatriation of profits and no tax paid in Britain, e.g. Starbucks, Amazon, etc.)
Given the high priority LAs place on economic development it is important to factor these dimensions into political-managerial relationships. As LAs are trying to argue the case that they should be at the forefront of economic development at local level. They need to understand these forces and have strategies for them. The overriding characteristic of the new feudalism is inequality on a scale not previously heard of for a very very long time.
A metaphor for what we are talking about can be found in football, especially in the top division. Originally the teams were factory based (e.g. Arsenal, Man U), then, becoming locality based teams owned by local business people and consisting of mainly local players, so the teams were integrated into their local communities and were part of them. This has turned into multimillion PLCs trading on the stock exchange owned by foreign multi-billionaires from Russia, Thailand, USA, Brunei - some of whom hardly ever come to Britain let alone attend matches, though they appoint chief executives and managers, many of whom are foreign and very few, if any, from the local population. They have huge TV income and sponsorship deals. Sponsored players come from all over the world. They are paid salaries beyond the wildest dreams of most people. They live miles away in gated communities among likeminded people and drive to and from their training grounds and stadiums in cars worth hundreds of thousand. They do bring money into the local economy and many of them will do good deeds in their spare time or as part of their sponsorship agreement.
Put simplistically, something similar has happened to the economy in general. If so, what sort of localism are we talking about - transparency and accountability combined with powers (mainly but not exclusively economic) to improve quality of life, and powers to determine or have a real say in taxation policy at local level? This is a tall order. Since the Poll Tax debacle no political party or politician dares raise the issue of local taxation. It is seen as an out of bounds toxic issue; but without some real economic clout localism is dead in the water - no more than pressure groups chasing government or any other vested interests for a few economic crumbs. I hope this makes sense and that it is of use to you. Enjoy Corfu…See you when you are back. Best Jan

Dear J. I suspect that as April's welfare reforms begin to bite, we will encounter, even more than usual, the ugly habit of demonising the poor - about which I know no better remark than this - from the great American writer, Herman Melville, who spent time on a US warship in the 19th century and encountered the justification of the officer class for flogging the lower deck. Such cruelty was essential given the dangerous and depraved behaviour such punishments were designed to quell.

‘Depravity in the oppressed is no apology for the oppressor; but rather an additional stigma to him, as being in large degree, the effect, and not the cause and justification of oppression’ Chap 14 ‘White Jacket’

18/4/13 Simon. At least there are some authorities who are doing the right thing by their residents and put words into action. this is encouraging for Localism. Some will criticize this as political stunts by mainly Labour authorities and I suspect some legal challenges will follow but at least some are prepared to take independent action and not roll over and have their tummy tickled by central government. This really sums up the current sad state of affairs between central and local government Best Jan

From the Local Government Chronicle 18 April 2013:
Councils are introducing a raft of schemes to protect residents from the threat of eviction resulting from the government’s welfare reforms. Greenwich RBC announced this week that it had given 31 residents council jobs rather than see them fall into arrears because of the £500-a-week benefit cap and the so-called ‘bedroom tax’. The new employees were selected because they were considered to be among the hardest hit by the changes. In total, up to 250 residents could be helped by the scheme, which aims to fill cleaning, bin collecting and town centre management posts. Greenwich leader Chris Roberts (Lab) told LGC the council’s scheme aimed to help residents affected by the benefits cap.
“The starting point is that we want to prevent people from being trampled on by the government’s policy,” he said.
Other initiatives have seen councils reclassifying properties in a bid to help residents avoid the bedroom tax, under which claimants’ housing benefit will be cut if they are deemed to be under-occupying their homes.
In one of the largest reclassifications to date, Nottingham City Council plans to redesignate all of its 1,019 two-bedroom high-rise flats as one-bedroom properties.
This follows Leeds City Council’s proposal to apply a one-bedroom reduction in its redesignation of more than 800 homes. Peter Gruen (Lab), executive board member for neighbourhoods, said the scheme would “mean the households affected [by the removal of the spare room subsidy] will not have to find additional funds”.
Brighton & Hove City Council’s minority Green ruling administration plans to introduce proposals under which no resident would be evicted from their home as a result of rent arrears caused by the bedroom tax. Liz Wakefield (Green), chair of the authority’s housing committee, said tenants would be allowed to remain in their homes if housing officers were satisfied that they were “doing all they reasonably can to pay”.
However, some councils have rejected schemes similar to the one rolled out by Greenwich. Adam Walther, a policy officer at Tower Hamlets LBC, told LGC the council had discussed a scheme “on the same lines” as Greenwich RBC’s plan. However, Mr Walther said it was rejected because it was considered to discriminate against residents who would lose less money or none at all under the reforms. “But it’s good that Greenwich has tried this approach because other councils will be interested to see how it goes,” Mr Walther added.
Amber Christou, head of housing services at Swale DC, said her authority had also discussed creating jobs for residents who would be hardest hit by benefit reforms. “There are some cases where it would be cheaper to employ someone than to deal with the consequences if they didn’t find work and presented themselves as homeless,” she said “I’m not sure whether we’d do it, but it’s an idea we’ve discussed.”

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Lin and I have now taken Oliver on two long walks round the village along quiet roads beyond its houses, past blooming wild flowers, banks of honesty, fresh green verges - already being keenly strimmed by the Demos to avoid future fire risk as summer approaches - and abundant blossoming Judas trees.