VIEWPOINT FOR 16 OCTOBER 2008
FROM DR RICHARD TAYLOR

If ever a football club needs support it is now! 
The Harriers Chairman is facing the fact that money in large amounts from individuals is just not available. The Board has managed to afford talented additions to the squad and the Harriers now are exciting to watch and the contributions from admission fees from larger gates will help enormously. I have watched the matches for the last two weeks and my personal jinx of only seeing losing performances was blown away last Saturday. 
The moment Stefan Moore came on as a substitute in the second half the game lit up and the excitement was palpable and as you will know from reports of the game the result excellent for the Harriers. 
I can still feel the thrill of the performance of a rejuvenated team coming from behind to win convincingly!
________

The news of job losses at Sealine, one of our most important, high-profile employers, is devastating but considering their market sadly inevitable. Thank goodness they still have the support of their parent company.
________

In London the financial crisis appears to have taken a turn for the better thanks to the Prime Minister's decisive action which has been greeted by commentators as a model for the rest of the world to follow. 

Several financial statements in the House have kept MPs abreast of the rapidly changing financial scene and a Banking Bill to back the emergency measures went through the House unopposed on Tuesday.
________

The Government's proposal for 42-day pre-charge detention, which only passed the House of Commons due to intense pressure from government whips and alleged bargaining with Northern Ireland MPs went to the House of Lords on Monday. 

It was thrown out in an amendment supported by 309 peers and only opposed by 118. 
In the face of this opposition, I am told the greatest Government defeat for many years, the Government had no option but to withdraw the 42-day detention proposal from the Bill to allow the rest of the Bill to go through. 

The Home Secretary in her statement to explain the decision to withdraw the proposal blamed opposition parties for political activity rather than accepting that opponents of this extension of pre-charge detention were taking the stand they did because they, with many other people and experts, thought the Government was wrong regardless of any party political view. 
She tried to convince people even then, that the argument of personal liberty to live rather than be killed by a terrorist bomb was of greater value than the personal liberty of alleged terrorists in a country that has prided itself on the assumption of innocence until proved guilty for hundreds of years. 

I was greatly relieved that the Government did not attempt to use the Parliament Act to overturn the Lords' objections. 
Perhaps they realised that even this could have failed as the size of the rebellion among Labour back benchers was so large. 

Yet again it demonstrated the huge value of an influential second chamber, containing many members with knowledge and experience across most fields, to scrutinise the first chamber's decisions and to advise against unacceptable measures.

R.T.

© Independent Kidderminster Hospital & Health Concern 1995-2008
(webdesign@chaddesley-corbett.co.uk)