Gender equality in the Olympic Games

That would be a fine thing! In these days of apparent full participation, with even Saudi Arabia (grudgingly) sending two women to the Games, it is only too easy to assume that women are already competing on equal terms with men, but this is far from the truth. There are 30 more medals available to men than women and nine sports still have unequal representation.

Let's look at some particular sports. In athletics there is still this mindset that women are not capable of tackling tough events. Admittedly, since 1984 the women's marathon event has been included. But while men compete in the decathlon (10 athletic disciplines) women do the heptathlon (7). For some weird reason men do the 110 metres hurdles, while women do the 100 metres (what's going on there?). In road cycling the men had a 250km course while the women’s was 140km. In gymnastics men and women mainly use different apparatus and only the women perform to music. 

Let's also look at image issues. Why do the women gymnasts wear make-up and spangly costumes, and pose in that weird way instead of simply standing tall? Why do the male runners run in singlet and shorts, while most of the women choose a kind of bikini costume? I am sure the male style of kit is just as comfortable to run in, in fact probably more (those knickers look so tight). It was great to see the rowers in their kit because the men and women wear the same.

And finally, let's not forget those two events that only women compete in - synchronised swimming and rhythmic gymnastics, their faces plastered with make-up. These two apologies for sports which perpetuate sexist attitudes and only make it harder for women to be allowed to compete equally in real sports should be dropped from the Olympics forthwith.

We need a campaign for gender equality at the 2016 Olympics.  

Shinfield speed limits petition presented to WBC

Last Thursday I presented the Wokingham Greens' petition on speed limits to Wokingham Borough Council, at its first full meeting following the recent local elections. This was the culmination of eight months of campaigning, knocking on doors and talking to people.

The text of the petition was "We the undersigned, being residents of Shinfield South ward, call on Wokingham Borough Council to lower speed limits throughout the villages of Shinfield, Spencers Wood and Three Mile Cross to 30 mph in general and 20 mph by Shinfield Infant and Junior School."

Altogether 720 people signed the petition. Because it involved the three villages and two schools, I split the signatures into sections, the totals being Shinfield 152, Spencers Wood 175, Three Mile Cross 120, and the two schools 178. A further 95 people signed the online petition, which cannot so easily be divided up. The response during the campaign was extremely positive - 96% of people asked to sign the petition did so, and many practically grabbed it from my hands in their eagerness.  

Before my chance in the limelight, I sat through the ceremonial part of the meeting, in which the outgoing borough mayor, Dianne King, handed over to the new mayor, Bob Wyatt, following his unanimous election. The election of the deputy mayor was, however, contested by the Liberal Democrats. Their leader, Prue Bray, made a cogent case for sharing the ceremonial roles between the parties, but to no avail - the Conservatives voted en-bloc for their nominee, UllaKarin Clark.

Then three residents of Shinfield Park, the newish estate to the left of the A327 just north of the M4, asked questions about their estate - the lack of parking spaces and the continuing saga of when exactly WBC will be taking over responsibility for the estate from the developers. It seemed to me that the responses from the relevant councillors lacked any true understanding of the problems.

Finally it was time for petitions - mine and two others. We each had one minute to address the council on our petition. Though the new mayor timed our slots with ruthless efficiency, I think I got my case over well.

By that time I was glad to escape from the meeting and to rejoin my supporters. We're all pictured here outside the WBC offices - from left to right, Trevor Seach, myself, Suzanne Steer, Natasha Steer and Dawn Peer. I am very grateful to them for attending and also helping my campaign.

Shinfield Parish Council also want to see speed limits lowered and have supported me in my campaign, for which I thank them.

It now remains to be seen what action WBC will take.      

Droughts and deluges

Why is it that every day since the downpours began, the television news and the newspapers keep asking why we still have a drought in much of England and a hosepipe ban here in the south-east?  Cue appearance or quote from spokesperson of the Environment Agency, explaining patiently that one wet April does not compensate for two dry winters. It's not exactly hard to understand, is it? 

Let's stop bashing the unions

The way most Tory politicians and newspapers talk about trade unions and their members, anyone would think they were a bunch of terrorists bent on causing havoc for the sake of it. I speak particularly of the threatened strike action by the fuel tanker drivers. There is no recognition of the right of union members to strike, as long as they act within the law. There is barely a mention of the fact that the grounds on which the drivers are contemplating a strike have little to do with pay or emploment rights, but everything to do with health and safety within their industry.

The enormous value of public libraries

I don't use public libraries any more, mainly because for the last twenty years I've always had a pile of books in the house waiting to be read. But I've recently been reminded in very vivid terms of their vital role in offering knowledge and understanding to children growing up in disadvantaged circumstances. Last night I finished reading Why be happy when you could be normal? by Jeannette Winterson, and earlier this month I read How did I get here from there? by Claire Rayner. These two autobiographies by strong, independent and intelligent women are very different, but they both describe growing up in a dysfunctional family, and how the author, as a young girl, discovered the local public library and took refuge in the world of books. Jeannette Winterson tells how she worked her way through English Literature in Prose A-Z at Accrington Public Library. Not only did the books provide an escape, but they also enabled each girl to distance herself from a chaotic home life and to cope with it better. Of course children from normal loving families where books are few need public libraries too.

It is crazy is it for the local councils to close public libraries when they are such a force for good in the education and development of the young.

Both books are great reads by the way.

A very complex bill is a bad thing

The NHS bill, which could become law as soon as 20th march, is of course a very bad thinkganyway. The British public are opposed to any more privatisation, and the majority of the royal colleges of health professionals are opposed to it too. There is no need to go into all that is wrong with this bill - which represents a volte-face from the Tories promise not to reorganise the NHS made during the General Election campaign in 2010.

But there is another worrying aspect to this bill. It is a large and very complex bill, and it has been subject to very nearly 2000 amendments. There is no chance that such heavily amended bill is still going to be a coherent piece of legislation, and therefore once it becomes law there will be no end of problems.

Unbelievable

I have been blown sideways by two pronouncments in the last few days:

• Ed Balls said at the end of last week that if the Labour Party win the next election, they cannot gurantee to reverse any of the coalition's spending cuts. What, every single one of them? Even something so blatantly unfair and counterproductive as the ending of the EMA (education maintenance allowance), which enabled teenagers from poorer families to stay on at school after 16; even the once-size-fits-all cap on benefits of £500.00 per week, which will lead to hundreds of families having to uproot themsleves to live in cheaper areas, and to an increase in child poverty. It is absolutely clear now that the Labour party do not offer a real alternative to the Conservatives - for that vote Green. For further informed comment see these Guardian letters, headed by one from Caroline Lucas.
  
  
• Michael Gove has proposed, in all seriousness, that the nation should buy the Queen a new Royal Yacht, to mark her Diamond Jubilee. WHAT? I could hardly believe it. At such a time, when the coalition of which he is part are making savage cuts and telling us (or rather lying to us) that we are all in this together, one of them has the stupidity to propose that we might all like to see our taxes spent on something so frivolous and unnecessary. (Though as an anti-Royalist, I must admit I woudln't be in favour even if times were good.) At least his colleagues are playing down the idea.