Council tax woman, 85, risks jail

Council tax woman, 85, risks jail

Beryl Pearce has four grandchildren and a great-grandchild on the way

A former RAF nurse protesting against "unfair" council tax bills for older people says she is prepared for jail.

Beryl Pearce, 85, has refused to pay two months of her annual £941 bill and owes Test Valley Borough Council £145.

The Hampshire grandmother, a nursing orderly during Word War II, believes the government has ignored calls to make the tax fairer for the elderly.

Mrs Pearce, who will go before Andover Magistrates Court on Tuesday, said: "It's a case of heat or eat."

I'm not really worried about prison, I have been through worse things in my life Grandmother Beryl Pearce

The mother-of-two, from Andover, who will be 86 next month, said: "We have had petitions to Parliament, marches. They have taken absolutely no notice.

"With the prisons being full - there's a lot of us doing this - they will have a problem and will have to think about what they are doing.

"I think it really is unfair. We are all paying the same for accommodation, for people on a pension it's a struggle.

"It's a case of heat or eat - where's the justice in that?

"I have worked since I was 14 and I have served my country.

"I have nursed in old people's homes since the war."

'Custodial sentence'

The widow, who has four grandchildren and a great-grandchild on the way, added: "I'm not really worried about prison.

[Barrie's comment: Thugs, bullies and criminals are given community service orders - some are going to be released early to free up the jails - presumably so that we can lock up 85 year old grandmothers.]

"I have been through worse things in my life.

"I'm not worried about going to jail. I think it would only be for a month.

"Some people are rich and it's a small amount they are having to pay out of their income, and yet a little old lady is paying nearly all her income in tax."

Test Valley Borough Council is seeking a liability order to give it additional powers to pursue the debt.

A council spokeswoman said: "A custodial sentence is a last resort and we would hope to resolve it before it got to that stage." Barrie runs the parking ticket appeal website AppealNow.com™
Remember you can fight back against illegally issued parking tickets.
If you want to appeal such a parking ticket but don't know how - then visit
http://www.appealnow.com
where you can appeal online in 4½ minutes.

© 2006 & 2007 Barrie Segal - All Rights reserved

Barrie Segal is the founder of AppealNow.com™ and is a regular radio broadcaster in the UK.
Barrie is the author of The Parking Ticket Awards: Crazy Councils, Meter Madness and Traffic Warden Hell publishing date 1st August 2007 - click on the title to order

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Guardsman Neil Downes

Soldier left letter for parents

Guardsman Downes left the letter at home with his parents

The mother of a British soldier killed in an ambush in Afghanistan has revealed he left a letter to be opened in the event of his death.

Guardsman Neil Downes, 20, from Manchester, was on patrol when his vehicle was caught in an explosion.

In the letter to his family he wrote: "Please do not be mad at what has happened. I did what I had to do and serving the British Army was it."

His mother Sheryl said her son, who was known as Tony, died a hero.

Guardsman Downes was from the 1st Battalion The Grenadier Guards.

Barrie runs the parking ticket appeal website AppealNow.com™
Remember you can fight back against illegally issued parking tickets.
If you want to appeal such a parking ticket but don't know how - then visit
http://www.appealnow.com
where you can appeal online in 4½ minutes.

© 2006 & 2007 Barrie Segal - All Rights reserved

Barrie Segal is the founder of AppealNow.com™ and is a regular radio broadcaster in the UK.
Barrie is the author of The Parking Ticket Awards: Crazy Councils, Meter Madness and Traffic Warden Hell publishing date 1st August 2007 - click on the title to order

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Jowell defends Olympic logo as inspectors arrive

Matthew Tempest and agencies
Tuesday June 12, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

The Olympics logo: 'terrific'.

Tessa Jowell insisted today that the derided £400,000 Olympics logo was worth every penny, as Olympic inspectors began a three-day tour of the east London site.

The culture secretary said that the fragmented symbol had at least "got people talking" [So does Herpes - Ed]- and would definitely stay as the logo for the games in five years' time.

That is despite some versions of the pictogram having to be withdrawn online, after triggering epileptic fits, and prompting derision from the London mayor, Ken Livingstone.

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A further 50,000 people have signed an online petition calling for the design to be scrapped.

But this morning Ms Jowell - who may or may not stay on in her role as Olympics minister and sports secretary in a Gordon Brown administration - mounted a robust defence of the symbol, saying she thought it was "terrific".

Ms Jowell admitted that the graffiti-style logo had caused a "storm" after it was unveiled last week but said it was "adaptable" and could be used in a "variety of different contexts".

"The logo will be the logo for the Olympic games," she told BBC Breakfast.

"One thing you can say for this logo is that it has got people talking. It has got people talking about the Olympics, it has got people talking about what they like and what they don't like."

Today a 16-strong International Olympic Committee coordination commission was due to be updated on the progress of London's plans since the last official visit in April last year.

Asked whether the logo was worth its £400,000 fee, Ms Jowell said: "I think it was, yes."

She added: "Call me unusual, but I think it's terrific."

Ms Jowell insisted that the planning and development of the Olympics was "on time".

This week tunnelling under the site for power and cable supplies is expected to be completed before building work proper begins next year.

Ms Jowell said an "endorsement version" of the logo would be ready in the next few weeks for use by community organisations.

She said that this version would be for schools, community sports clubs, local environmental groups and voluntary organisations, to be used as a "statement of their ambition to do more for their community as part of the Olympics".

Asked about the progress of the overall project, Ms Jowell said: "Everything is being done on time. We are actually, believe it or not, doing pretty well and we have got a good story to tell the IOC inspectors this week."

Ms Jowell denied claims that the original budget had trebled, saying: "The original budget for the Olympic park was £2.5bn. It is now £3.1bn.

"The additional costs represent the scale of our ambition to regenerate the poorest part of London, one of the poorest parts of this country."

She added: "Yes, of course, there is a contingency in there. Yes, of course, there is VAT in there. Yes, of course, there are security costs in there.

"But separate out in your mind the planned costs of the Olympic park from all the other costs that arise because of prudence, making sure that the contingency is there, but also the regeneration of the East End."

Today the commissioners will be the first passengers on a test train trying out the seven-minute shuttle between Stratford International station in east London and the new St Pancras International station.

They will be travelling by a Eurostar train as the new high-speed Javelin trains are not yet in operation.

During the games this service is set to transport 25,000 passengers an hour.

The commission first made this trip in Land Rovers during London's bid inspection in February 2005.

Barrie runs the parking ticket appeal website AppealNow.com™
Remember you can fight back against illegally issued parking tickets.
If you want to appeal such a parking ticket but don't know how - then visit
http://www.appealnow.com
where you can appeal online in 4½ minutes.

© 2006 & 2007 Barrie Segal - All Rights reserved

Barrie Segal is the founder of AppealNow.com™ and is a regular radio broadcaster in the UK.
Barrie is the author of The Parking Ticket Awards: Crazy Councils, Meter Madness and Traffic Warden Hell publishing date 1st August 2007 - click on the title to order

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Pc Jonathan Charles Henry

My thoughts are with the family and collegues of Pc Jonathan Henry who was died today after being stabbed.

Barrie runs the parking ticket appeal website AppealNow.com™
Remember you can fight back against illegally issued parking tickets.
If you want to appeal such a parking ticket but don't know how - then visit
http://www.appealnow.com
where you can appeal online in 4½ minutes.

© 2006 & 2007 Barrie Segal - All Rights reserved

Barrie Segal is the founder of AppealNow.com™ and is a regular radio broadcaster in the UK.
Barrie is the author of The Parking Ticket Awards: Crazy Councils, Meter Madness and Traffic Warden Hell publishing date 1st August 2007 - click on the title to order

APPEALNOW.COM

Tul Bahadur Pun VC

I applied to Downing Street to have an online petition to support Tul Bahadur Pun VC's entry into to the UK. It was rejected because "Your petition was classed as being ...outside the remit or powers of the Prime Minister and Government". As the Home Office has now given Mr. Pun a visa to stay does this mean that the Home Office is not part of the government?
I think we should be told. Barrie runs the parking ticket appeal website AppealNow.com™
Remember you can fight back against illegally issued parking tickets.

If you want to appeal such a parking ticket but don't know how - then
visit http://www.appealnow.com
where you can appeal online in 4½ minutes.

© 2007 Barrie Segal All Rights reserved

Barrie Segal is the founder of AppealNow.com™ and is a regular radio broadcaster in the UK.

APPEALNOW.COM

NOGO LOGO

Someone agreed to pay £400,000 for the awful 2012 Olympic logo. The contributors to the BBC website of alternative logos are stunningly brilliant and probably would have cost £10,000.
When you see these sort of payments being agreed is it any wonder that the bill for the 2012 Olympics is massively over budget. I predict it will hit £13½ million by 20012.
For the alternative logos see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/6723027.stm


Barrie runs the parking ticket appeal website AppealNow.com™
Remember you can fight back against illegally issued parking tickets.
If you want to appeal such a parking ticket but don't know how - then
visit http://www.appealnow.com
where you can appeal online in 4½ minutes.

© 2006 Barrie Segal All Rights reserved

Barrie Segal is the founder of AppealNow.com™ and is a regular radio broadcaster in the UK.

APPEALNOW.COM