South East England Regional Development Agency chairman claimed £1,000 (From This is Hampshire)
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South East England Regional Development Agency chairman claimed £1,000
10:29am Friday 10th July 2009 in
THE boss of a regional development agency who spent £1,000 of taxpayers’ money a week on taxis and a personal driver is to step down.
James Braithwaite was slated by MPs and senior councillors after claiming £36,000 for taxis in 2005/6 – an average of £230 for each day he worked at the South East England Regional Development Agency (Seeda) – and £53,803 for transport in 2006/7.
His replacement as chairman was unveiled yesterday and promised to save taxpayers’ cash – by taking the bus.
Rob Douglas said he was “very sensitive” to public opinion following claims the organisation wasted money.
Seeda, which was set up ten years ago to boost jobs and redevelopment in the region, came under further fire for spending almost £90,000 on an exhibit and hospitality at the Chelsea Flower Show, while the Taxpayers’ Alliance claimed the region’s economic performance showed no improvement – and even a slowing of progress – since Seeda was created.
The Government has since slashed Seeda’s budget for 2009-11 by £50m, to £280m, and slimmed down its role.
Mr Braithwaite was first appointed chairman in 2002 and his term of office, which formally came to an end in December last year, was extended by one year to provide time to recruit his successor.
Mr Douglas, a business consultant, yesterday denied Seeda was a waste of money, arguing that the agency “more than doubled” the money invested in it by creating jobs and boosting tourism.
The new chairman, who will receive an annual salary of £54,479 for working just two days a week when he takes up his post in November, said: “I wouldn’t have put myself forward unless I thought the agency was going to deliver something of value.”
The 60-year-old, who lives in Surrey, defended Mr Braithwaite, who he said had been “tireless in his efforts to promote the region”.
But he admitted the continuing criticism of his predecessor had become a distraction from what Seeda was trying to do for the region and pledged to be “as open and as transparent as possible”with his own expenditure.
Mr Douglas said: “I do have a senior bus pass, which should reduce costs, and I can get to most areas by public transport.”
He said he was a “keen walker”, having hiked up to 16 miles a day around the region on various national trails, and vowed to “save even more money” by walking where he could.
He also argued that his experience on the board of Seeda between 2001 and 2007, and as deputy chairman of the agency between 2003 and 2007, would enable him to “hit the ground running” and “make sure firms in the region get the support they need to get through the recession”.
Comments(29)
Condor Man
says...
12:07pm Fri 10 Jul 09
Lone Ranger
says...
12:24pm Fri 10 Jul 09
Condor Man wrote:Rather a sweeping statement to say ALL.
All quangos must be abolished. SEEDA were too slow to sort out developments before the recession hit, leaving massive sites like Vospers in Woolston blighted.
Perhaps you may not be familiar with all of them.
Thats what Cameron was on about a couple of days ago then backtracked after he realised that he also said ALL
southy
says...
1:00pm Fri 10 Jul 09
Lone Ranger wrote:but dont cameron want them hidden from public view. what the eyes cant see, the mind dont know.
Condor Man wrote:Rather a sweeping statement to say ALL.
All quangos must be abolished. SEEDA were too slow to sort out developments before the recession hit, leaving massive sites like Vospers in Woolston blighted.
Perhaps you may not be familiar with all of them.
Thats what Cameron was on about a couple of days ago then backtracked after he realised that he also said ALL
goard
says...
2:09pm Fri 10 Jul 09
goard
peasant
says...
2:17pm Fri 10 Jul 09
southy
says...
3:00pm Fri 10 Jul 09
peasant wrote:its coming in the form off the socialist party.
I thought we lived in a democratic nation but it seems to be overpowered by greed driven quangos and greed driven MPs and their political parties. Where's the representation of the people??
you will find no greed or corruption with in this party. all members that get elected will be on a working man wage only, with no expenses claims.
Andy Locks Heath
says...
3:04pm Fri 10 Jul 09
Lone Ranger
says...
3:23pm Fri 10 Jul 09
goard wrote:What ALL of them !!
What I need to see is ALL greedy, grasping, full of their own importance has beens exposed and ruin them to the point they are going to the Job Centres and trying to get their unemployment money in a long queue each Wednesday and realise that people like these self indulgents can meet their just deserts. YES, I am angry and they all need to be weeded out, and I meen ALL! goard
King Mush
says...
5:10pm Fri 10 Jul 09
southy wrote:ROTFLMAO
peasant wrote: I thought we lived in a democratic nation but it seems to be overpowered by greed driven quangos and greed driven MPs and their political parties. Where's the representation of the people??its coming in the form off the socialist party. you will find no greed or corruption with in this party. all members that get elected will be on a working man wage only, with no expenses claims.
'No greed or corruption within a socialist party' !!!
Southy - you really need to read up on the history of any 'socialist' based state.
Socialism is and should be a fair way to operate in any society but it's open to human nature and greed.
As mentioned - just look at 20th c Russia after their 'glorious Revolution'.
Take a look at Stalin's way of dealing with dissidents.
Check out the lefty -luvvies' Karl Marx and see how he couldnt manage his own finance, but try and lecture the world on how to run a country.
Labour/New Labour based on socialism? Yeah right - of the Champagne variety.
Capitalism, for all its foibles, is the only proven way over the centuries.
There must always be a master/slave basis and you need intelligent educated articulate people at the top.
Dont expect the 'drones' to make a success out of running their own company. I'm not trying to sound elitist and I can see that both sides have their merits and disadvantages.
southy
says...
5:12pm Fri 10 Jul 09
Andy Locks Heath wrote:umm andy, Qangos came about in russia after they change to a capitalist state.
Talking garbage as usual Southy. Qangos flourish in bureaucratic socialist states, for example your former utopian land of milk and honey - the former Soviet Union. You just take the worst of whatever the situation is and assign "capitalist" or "tory" to it. If you aren;t honest or bright enough to assign failings where they belong you shouldn't come on here.
Qangos cant excise in a state own and run country, they need a capitalist system to be able to work.
Militant Ford Worker
says...
5:15pm Fri 10 Jul 09
Andy Locks Heath wrote:As you seem to be an authority on this subject(as well as so many others) - can you tell us how many quangos exsisted in the former Soviet Union?
Talking garbage as usual Southy. Qangos flourish in bureaucratic socialist states, for example your former utopian land of milk and honey - the former Soviet Union. You just take the worst of whatever the situation is and assign "capitalist" or "tory" to it. If you aren;t honest or bright enough to assign failings where they belong you shouldn't come on here.
Can you name one?
Or are you just making things up?
Lone Ranger
says...
6:03pm Fri 10 Jul 09
Lone Ranger wrote:goard:-
goard wrote: What I need to see is ALL greedy, grasping, full of their own importance has beens exposed and ruin them to the point they are going to the Job Centres and trying to get their unemployment money in a long queue each Wednesday and realise that people like these self indulgents can meet their just deserts. YES, I am angry and they all need to be weeded out, and I meen ALL! goardWhat ALL of them !!
I've just counted about 580+ quangos in the UK at the moment and not all of them seem that bad.
I accept that some are to say the least are a bit ify but not ALL
southy
says...
7:47pm Fri 10 Jul 09
you need to bring your history up to date km.
stalin was not a communist him self, but he controlled a communist state, and if you look at the dissident he dealt with and got rid off they where all communist, what he had done was to destroy communism in russia. compear lenin and look at the very very big difference between the two.
with carl marx check out what his income was before saying could'nt manage his own finance got to have one first.
new labour is NOT a socialist party any more, its a Capitalist party.
got to remember km like you said capitalism has been around fore 1,000's off years, but you miss out that it keeps on failing and will all ways will do. socialism is not even had a hundred years at it yet. very big difference. i would bet you (if i could live long enough). socialism would have it right with in 500 years. and not like capitalism that go's back to the stoneage. and has had all this time to get it right and still can't. socialism is still a new born baby, its only just got it's feet wet.
capitalism is scared of socialism that much so, it had murdered all but 2 of the socialist leaders in europe in a bombing just before WW1 in a cafe in france.
whitch was on off the causes that made the russian revolution go head on crashing in with communism out it though trial by testing to smooth out the kinks, socialism has been taking its time, its worth letting socialism to take that second bite off the apple.
Andy Locks Heath
says...
9:07pm Fri 10 Jul 09
Ben Doone
says...
10:01pm Fri 10 Jul 09
southy wrote:Interestingly Joseph Stalin was General Secretary of the Communist Party from 1922 until 1953.
King Mush, Woolston you need to bring your history up to date km. stalin was not a communist him self, but he controlled a communist state, and if you look at the dissident he dealt with and got rid off they where all communist, what he had done was to destroy communism in russia. compear lenin and look at the very very big difference between the two. with carl marx check out what his income was before saying could'nt manage his own finance got to have one first. new labour is NOT a socialist party any more, its a Capitalist party. got to remember km like you said capitalism has been around fore 1,000's off years, but you miss out that it keeps on failing and will all ways will do. socialism is not even had a hundred years at it yet. very big difference. i would bet you (if i could live long enough). socialism would have it right with in 500 years. and not like capitalism that go's back to the stoneage. and has had all this time to get it right and still can't. socialism is still a new born baby, its only just got it's feet wet. capitalism is scared of socialism that much so, it had murdered all but 2 of the socialist leaders in europe in a bombing just before WW1 in a cafe in france. whitch was on off the causes that made the russian revolution go head on crashing in with communism out it though trial by testing to smooth out the kinks, socialism has been taking its time, its worth letting socialism to take that second bite off the apple.
I find it amazing that he was able to hold such a high ranking position without him being a 'communist'.
Southy also says that capitalism has been around for 1,000's of years but keeps on failing. Undoubtedly there have been occasional blips but, in my humble opinion, the quality of life now is far better than 1,000 years ago so something about the system must be good.
Call me old fashioned but I would prefer to live in the good old UK, with all its faults, than comminist North Korea where none of us would be able to express an opinion.
Finally who is this 'capitalism' who..'murdered all but 2 of the socialist leaders in europe in a bombing just befor WW1...?
I studied history at University and must have missed this lecture. No doubt Prof Southy will educate me
southy
says...
11:03pm Fri 10 Jul 09
Andy Locks Heath wrote:lol andy
MFW and Southy How do you suppose a centralised state is run - by half a dozen senile old men in the Kremlin, or by a massive hugely innefficient uncontrollable expansion of maladministration that nobody controls because nobody has any financial incentive to control it! (a bit like the NHS actually). You don't get it in capitalist societies because they are small government low tax societies. Compared to you two yes I am apparently an authority.
how do you suppose how the world will cope when the population is to great to control under a capitalist system, the only reason capitalist system has got this far is because off the wars it has caused. what happens when theres to little work out there and 60% to 70% of the population has no work. in the end a form off socialism will happen, one way will be a violent way and the other a slow peaceful way. capitalism is in its twilight years now, by the turn of the next century its more than likey be gone in most off the leading countrys off to day. just look at it has an evolution of politics. there come a day even socialism will have its day and it to will pass in to the books off history. just like that very early capitalist system federalism, it had its day in this country, some people relize at that time there was needed for change and it happen slowly. and now its getting close for capitalism to go hopefully quietly because if it dont it will end up in a bloody revolution and thats when errors are made, rushing in head on and not having time to work the kinks out.
the choice is our's, and it's not for us we do it, but for the future after when we are gone, wrong choices in the next few general elections and the future will pay dearly for it.
the right choices in the next few general elections will mean a nice peaceful transaction from one from of politics to another form that will take us till the time when that no longer works and it be time to hand over to the next type.
now whitch way would you prefer to happen the quiet way or the violent way.
southy
says...
11:32pm Fri 10 Jul 09
lots off blips i think you mean ben every 15 years about and a major big one every 75 years, and its only major wars thats puts them on hold. we was lucky after the last one britain started to chose a soclist way whitch flatten out those blips but there was some small errors it those that we need to work on.
the people that made up the meeting was leading trade unionist, communist and socialist leaders, lenin escape because his tran was late, no one was ever prosecuted for the bombing. the meeting was about how the orderly working class could force war not to happen. 1914
rumour1976
says...
5:42am Sat 11 Jul 09
Since this body was formed 10 years ago they have overseen the demise of skilled manufacturing jobs within the Southampton area & as in the case of VT Shipbuilding actively helped in their move to Portsmouth.
Andy Locks Heath
says...
8:28am Sat 11 Jul 09
King Mush
says...
12:37pm Sat 11 Jul 09
Simplistic view maybe without going into too much detail and I am too busy to write mini essays on a forum such as this.
It does sound rather nice to have a world in which we all share our money, food and be tolerant of others faiths.
Just take a broad look across the last 1,000 years and see why we have not learnt from the mistakes of our ancestors.
The Middle Ages saw the rise in colonialism on a global scale as the prominent established countries chose to expand their borders.
The British Empire and globalisation had its faults but it did establish a New World Order and we are still begrudgingly respected.
WW1 came about as mix of Balkan problems, not helped by poor politicians on the outside.
It nearly bankrupted the UK apart from the tragic loss of good lives.
Then we saw the rise of a democratically elected nutter in Germany who managed to brainwash millions of his countrymen into rising up and unleashing its Aryan ideals on Europe.
Once again - we had to rally to the please of friendly countries.
Maybe slightly off topic but then take a look at the rise of Communism,Socialism and all manner of offshoots.
Russian paranoia triggered their massive arms build-up and nearly caused WW3 (Cuban missile crisis etc)
They also chose to waste more billions on space travel as an ego exercise, despite their own peasants starving under the Communist yoke.
Mao Tse Tung also paved the way for his own country's madness although China is now expanding into a capitalist state within a socialist infrastructure. Amazing! How can you explain this?
Dammit - I've spouted too much
I'm off!
southy
says...
1:03pm Sat 11 Jul 09
leaving school at 16 is a miss concept andy, many are in university.
kinil sung andy was elected though the ranks, first top post was prime minister, then he was elected president, north korea has that system where if you are elected has president then its a job for life, you are there till you die or step down. but pol-pot bad choice andy, saloth sar or minh hai aka pol-pot, was a republican capitalist, and was put in power with the support off the usa, it took a communist country vietnam to bring him down. united nations would not step-in and not do a thing to help those people, thats why vietnam ended up invading cambodia, another funny part is that when he was beating back to the thailand boarder, what did the united nations do,recognize pol-pot and klmer rouge as the rightful government of Cambodia,(to relize what was happening just take a look to see who was president off the usa at the time nixon and ford both pulled a lot of strings in the UN )the true communist group ta mok was closing in on him and capture him and was arrested where he died while still in his hands. and now days its a nice peaceful country under a democratic communist rule, that hold elections every 5 years for government.
southy
says...
2:46pm Sat 11 Jul 09
even faiths are getting weaker by the day.
when you look at what kick off WW1, you can under stand why the murders off socialist leaders took place, europians leaders and politicians wanted this war to happen, it killed off a social change that was building up all over europe.
what would of happen if those communist, socialist and union leaders was not murdered, one thing that could off happen is when those heads of states and politicians declaired war, the orderly man could off down tools and said there will be no war, if you want a fight go and fight between your selfs but leave us orderly people out of it, but events that year started to come in thick and fast, this was all down to the fact in 15 years before WW1 commucation between people have speed up a great deal. with the invention of things like tellegraph telephone and radio all starting coming into its own, and the mail service had speeded up (what use to take mths or years to get a reply had been reduce down to hours and days).
russia was not the cause of this ""Russian paranoia triggered their massive arms build-up and nearly caused WW3 (Cuban missile crisis etc)"" to look at the reason behide all off this you need to look at what triggered the cold war, and to do that need to go back to the end off WW2 and look at what paton and our own monti said and all they was saying is what there leaders was thinking at the time, there was a lot of miss trust between those 3 leaders, and with what monti and paton said you cant be surprize what happen next in the coming years after the WW2 had ended, and the western world putting a trade embargo russia in 1950's made things worse.
with china you had two choice's a natioalist fascist party or a communist party, even lo usa the usa did not swop sides on who to support the uk did and started to support the communist, and the main reason for this was that comunist are less likey to start a major war on the same or bigger scale than WW2.
veracity
says...
3:45pm Sat 11 Jul 09
give us the names of the murdred socialist leaders southy
I presume from what you arte saying you would prefer to live in a socialist/communist coutry like \Russia than over here?
marmitekid
says...
4:35pm Sat 11 Jul 09
Sorry for moaning x
southy
says...
5:35pm Sat 11 Jul 09
veracity wrote:veracity i would prefer the uk was a socialist democratic, but the change over has to be in a peaceful way, and not head on force way.
whenever i read books on the cause of WW1 its the conflict between the great powers that caused it with the assasination of Archdukle Ferdinand as the cataylst.
give us the names of the murdred socialist leaders southy
I presume from what you arte saying you would prefer to live in a socialist/communist coutry like \Russia than over here?
has for the other item you have the internet and there are books about it. there was many things that happen in the build up of the WW1, and the killing off ferdinland was major part off it, and probley the braking of the camel back.
southy
says...
6:01pm Sat 11 Jul 09
King Mush
says...
1:20pm Sun 12 Jul 09
marmitekid wrote:Those that 'know' Southy's well thought out points of view are more important than his grammar/spelling etc.
Sorry to go off topic, but please check your post for grammar and spelling, it is really hard to read something when there are spelling mistakes- Southy, of is not spelt off and always doesn't have a space between it, realise is not spelt with a z it is an S, ize is an americanism Sorry for moaning x
There is a reason for this so I feel that pedantry should be sidelined as in anyone's postings.
Unless it is a stupid trolling post and then fair game for jumping on them.
Whilst many of us do not necessarily agree with Southy's input, at least he does seem to be well read and passionate on this and other subjects.
This helps form a reasonable debate and might inspire some people to go and read up on this interesting subject.
If the internet had been around at the start of the 20th century I think that the world would have been a much better place.
Instant communication and rolling news would have ensured that the devils could not have gotten away with whatever agendas they had.
The nazis were exterminating some 6m Jews and assorted 'untermenschen' and it was all kept quiet!!
southy
says...
6:53pm Sun 12 Jul 09
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southy says...
10:41am Fri 10 Jul 09
i am still waiting on the house off lords to be exposed, because here you find the worse of the worse.