Ellee Seymour

How do people today manage to get their foot on the property ladder today when soaring house prices far outstrip their salary and chances of a mortgage?

Take Cambridge, where average house prices are £277,812 - way beyond the means of the average worker.

One answer seems to be doubling up with a stranger to find your dream home, with co-buywithme placing ads along the same lines as a dating agency.

A couple of examples are Oliver, in his 20s, who has a deposit up to £30,000 and whose first choice is Cambridge, he is flexible and gets on with most people; then there is Kim in her 40s who is looking to buy a 3-bed house with her husband in Cambridgeshire, they have up to £5,000 deposit.

So even couples can’t afford a mortgage, they have to buy in with a stranger, what will happen in the next ten years? How will our kids be able to afford to buy somewhere?

Would you buy a property with a stranger? What would happen if you fell out, if you disagreed about the colour of a new carpet, sharing the housework? What other ways can you suggest for people to buy their first property, or should they not even think about it? What can government do to help people become home-owners?

Nathan’s experience is cited as a success story, he bought two properties this way, including one abroad with six co-buyers, and Steve tells how he bought a 3-bed flat in Crouch End with two co-buyers, and they are now buying other properties.

What is the first thought that springs to mind when you hear the name  Ipswich?

I went to a CIPR crisis management event there last night and naturally the  prostitutes murders and recent bird flu outbreak were highlighted. Concern was expressed by some PR practitioners that the reputation of Ipswich might have suffered as a result, that new businesses might be deterred from moving to the town, and that they should form a sub-group to promote the town’s positive aspects.

I personally do not think any the worse of Ipswich, I find it to be attractive and thriving and love its marina, but wondered how you regarded the town, does the name conjure up negative images, do the tragic deaths deter you from wanting to visit or move there? Does a town have a problem with its image after suffering a major tragedy like this? 

Let’s hope our jails are never too full for the viscous bullies who beat up women. In Norfolk alone, there have been 10 cases of domestic violence reported to police every day over the last six months - but the real figure is much higher as so many are not reported.

In fact, according to Women’s Aid, an average woman experiences 35 violent and abusive attacks in seven years before walking out.

An horrific attack in Norwich has been splashed on the front page of today’s Eastern Daily Press, reporting how the county has seen three high profile convictions for domestic violence in less than a week. Yesterday 21-year-old Christopher Bates, from Norwich, became the latest to be jailed. He was jailed for six years after admitting subjecting his ex-girlfriend to 17 hours of “unmitigated and sadistic” torture while her two-year-old daughter looked on.

In April, Norwich will get its own dedicated domestic violence court to make processing prosecutions less stressful. This is a terrifying prospect for victims, they do not want to face their attacker again and need to be able to give evidence from behind a screen, I hope this facility will be available to them.

Bates’ victim is slowly recovering from her horrendous trauma, which included having her head shaved and being told she would be set on fire if he had some petrol; using cigarette lighter fluid to burn her hair clippings and clothes and trying to burn her legs and face; describing horrifically how he planned to rape  her; taking her asthma inhaler before pushing her head into sofa cushions in an attempt to suffocate her. Her young daughter was forced to watch many of his monstrous attacks.

Fortunately, his victim is beginning to recover and has praised police for their support, which is so crucial in these cases, it takes so much bravery for a victim to step forward, they  need to be believed and helped. Two women a week are killed because of domestic violence, it will affect 1 in 4 women in their lifetime.

I have no idea what makes young men end up as such a drugs-fuelled sadistic monster, the kind of childhood Bates had. How can someone like him be rehabilitated in jail? Can he change? And how can more victims of domestic violence be persuaded to report their attacks to police?

The deputy editor of a political magazine based North of Iraq has emailed me some questions regarding the future of his country, with an emphasis on Kurdistan, the language in which it is printed. 

Farhad M. Hassan has also  interviewed experts from Chatham House and the Council on Foreign Relations for his weekly publication. I thought it would be helpful to include your views too, so please feel free to respond to any of the questions. An English version of the Gulan media website is under construction, so you may be able to see your published there in the near future:

1- All events, opinions, and analyses of all experts indicated that Bush’s new strategy in Iraq will fail, so here I ask how do you see Iraq ’s future?

2- In this bad situation, Kurdistan is a stable region, if He decided for independence as you did, we know that Kurdistan have been rounded by enemies, you are also rounded by enemies, how could you protect your self we want you to tell us your opinion for Kurdistan to protect himself.

3- Iran with USA are about to pass into new level, and they are about to face each other, so do you think that Iraqi land will become a battle field of USA war with Iran ?

4- Turkey now is convinced that he can not involve in Iraqi internal affairs, and now he requests dialogue with Iraqi Kurdistan leaders, so do you think that Turkey idea will get over military staff in turkey?

* Turkey is regional super power country in Middle East, and has lots effects on the area, he is the most important neighbor country to Iraq, so here I ask what role can turkey play in developing democracy and economy of the area?

*Turkey has direct contact with Kurdistan region in Iraq, so Turkey should have a establish this relation?good and friendly relation with Iraqi Kurds, so do you think that turkey will be able to

5- Now Iraq has reached the level that winning of USA in this area is impossible, so now they think just to obstruct disasters from happening, so now Iraq is about to face a humanitarian disaster, and in this situation International community can not keep silent with out caring, so how can International community be helpful in the situation?

6- Many experts think that the former Yugoslavia’s scenario is repeating in Iraq, in this situation Iraq will be separated into three different states, we know that Shitta area will be supported by Iran, and Sunni area will be supported by all Arab states, in this situation Kurds will remain lonely, so in the case of separation of Iraq in to those three states, can Kurds depend on USA? Or how shall Kurds behave?

7- Iraqi division is already a disaster for the whole region, if Iraq divided, is there any other alternative plans from International community for preventing the chaos in the whole area?

8- Iraqi Kurdistan region contains 6% of world’s stored oil, now Kurdistan region situation is stable, so if violence reached into Kurdistan region, the oil price will increase and it will effect world’s economy, how international community will be helpful in preventing this situation from happening?

9-What’s your recommendation for Kurdish leaders to do in this situation and to protect the Kurdistan region in current situation?

Farhad M. Hassan
Deputy editor in chief
Gulan political weekly magazine

Germany’s environment minister Sigmar Gabriel wants normal light bulbs to be banned in the EU and energy saving lights used instead. Studies show that carbon dioxide emissions could be reduced by 25 million tonnes a year if both households and the services sector exchanged traditional light bulbs for energy saving lights.

Australia is leading on this and has pledged to phase out incandescent light bulbs in favour of energy efficient ones by 2010.

I have some of these energy saving lights at home and find them frustrating, slow to light up and then much dimmer than the normal light. Also, they are not available, to the best of my knowledge, for a variety of different light sockets, ie wall lights and chandeliers.

While it is excellent in theory to use energy saving light bulbs, I would like to see them designed so they are more effective. Otherwise, we will need to use more to get the same level of lighting, which defeat the whole object.

I would like to see sensor lighting systems introduced that fade or switch off when the room is unoccupied; is there anything more annoying than seeing all those office lights left on all night?

Do you use energy saving lights, what is your view about a possible ban of normal light bulbs? Does your office switch off its lights at night?

Am I the only loyal subject who has not seen Dame Helen’s Oscar winning performance in The Queen? Is it as fantastic as everyone says? If you have seen it, which do you think was the best part of the film, what made it so outstanding?

Today, Blogpower’s finest philanthropist Tom Paine, a British lawyer living in Moscow, is my guest author and describes his shyness with small talk. Is that a problem for you too, do you have an opening line that helps to get the conversation flowing? And have you ever made an embarrassing mistake when speaking a foreign language?

This is Tom’s story.

My fears have set me free.

Ellee blogged [http://lastditch.typepad.com/lastditch/2007/02/what_is_your_fe.html] at my site about her fear of public speaking. She made me think, as she often does. I have no fear of speaking in public. In fact, I enjoy it. But whereas Ellee is entirely at ease meeting new people and making small talk (I know - I have seen her in action) I am shy and nervous face to face.

You might say I am afraid of private speaking.

How do I manage in my job, you might ask. That’s easy. I regard all work-related speaking as public speaking. I don’t relate naturally to business contacts when I first meet them. I perform. Only later does the “real me” make an appearance.

My early ambition was to be an actor. I performed regularly in school, community and Youth Theatre productions. Shyness was no obstacle. Many actors are shy. Speaking the words of others behind the mask of a character is a real liberation for a shy person. For an hour or so, your inhibitions are left in the dressing room and you can be fully alive. I took up acting as a boy in order to overcome my shyness, but it didn’t help. Being someone else on stage was far less difficult than being myself.

My acting experience has served me well in life. Whenever shyness threatens to interfere with something I want to achieve, I act the part of a confident man. Few who know me would accept that I am shy. Those to whom I have occasionally mentioned it react with amused incredulity.

Now even I tend to forget. Except, that is, when speaking a foreign language. My wife is a talented linguist. Armed with a couple of hundred words she will sally forth and converse. Over weeks and months of what seems more like play than the hard work it is to me, she develops fluency. After a couple of years in a new country, she is ready to play her favourite game of passing herself off as a native.

Not me. I need to learn thousands of words before I am ready to attempt a public sentence in another language. Of course I understand, intellectually, that languages are best learned by trial and error. The more embarrassing the mistake, the less likely you are to repeat it. I still blush at the decades-old memory of asking a waiter in German to open a window because I was too hot. I used the wrong phrase and announced to general hilarity that I would like him to open the window because I was randy. I would never make that error again. Sadly, my reluctance to accept such humiliations makes learning languages slow and painful.

So why do I live abroad? Why put myself through such grief? That’s easy too. My family has lived in the same village for centuries; most within a short walk of each other. I grew up desperate to escape the restrictions of small town life. I hated that I couldn’t take a girl to a pub without my father knowing which girl and where. There is no privacy in such a place and I wanted, more than anything, to break free. Once I reached escape velocity, there was no knowing where I would land.

There are costs, certainly, but the compensations are greater. Nor are they the shallow motivations of lower taxes and “expatriate packages” which those who cling to home imagine. You might go abroad once for the financial package, but you only stay if you find something more.

I love to experience how others live. To be human is pretty much the same anywhere. The basic problems of life are universal. But it is fascinating to see how other cultures address those problems. Much more unites us humans than divides us. But what divides us - language, culture, customs - is much more interesting.

It’s worth getting over your shyness, and your fear of foreign languages, for the prize of seeing the world.

I have written a guest post for the erudite Tom Paine on my fear of public speaking and how I am conquering it. You can read it here.

It will be interesting to hear your advice about this, and whether you have any fears which you have overcome, and how.

I shall be glued to the TV for the final episode of Channel 4’s The Search this evening which I was invited to audition for at the last minute. Just as well I didn’t join the team, I know I would have struggled to crack those codes as my best friend is my sat nav.

However, the locations have been breathtaking, and my money is on Saskia whose multi-lingual intelligence is outstanding, as well as her fast thinking brain and agility.  She truly deserves to win.

And please try and watch David Tennant tomorrow evening in the BBC 1 drama Recovery. It describes how his once normal happy life was shattered following an accident which left him with a brain injury - it could happen to any of us at any time.

He spent time learning how ordinary lives are devastated this way with members of Headway in Essex, a charity which I help as a trustee.

*My mother is staying this weekend and I hope to show her the stunning winter garden at Anglesey Abbey near Cambridge, hence the new pics in my photo gallery. it means a light blogging weekend. 

This news almost slipped through unnoticed, but not quite.

While the government pleads poverty over compensation for pensioners, it appears that it could be fined up to £305 million for its shambolic handling of subsidies paid to our farmers, which caused much hardship and devastation for many of them.

Farmsubsidy.org reports how this news was quietly slipped out yesterday in the Spring Supplementary Estimate 2006-07, which indicated that Defra would be drawing on the Treasury’s emergency national reserve fund to pay the fines.

The fine is more than double the £131 million that had been anticipated as the probable fine for the late payment of the Single Farm Payment Scheme in 2004-05. The amount set aside to pay the fines amounts to a full 20 per cent of the £1.5 billion paid out under the Single Farm Payment Scheme in the EU budget year 2004-05. This is taxpayers’ money that is being lost because of government’s incompetence.

Thankfully, it did not escape the attention of Jack Thurston, a former political adviser to Nick Brown, the UK Minister for Agriculture Fisheries and Food (1998-2001) who has been a Senior Research Associate at the Foreign Policy Centre in London since 2002. He noticed that in a written statement to Parliament, junior Defra Minister Barry Gardiner explained there would be “a claim on the Reserve of £305,000,000 of non-cash programme resources to cover provision for disallowance arising from Common Agricultural Policy schemes, most notably the Single Payment Scheme.”

Jack said: “Defra was tempting fate by selecting the most complex of all the possible ways of implementing the new Single Farm Payment Scheme. The administrative failures that ensued meant farmers had to take out costly bank loans to tide themselves over until their subsidy cheques arrived, at an estimated cost of tens of millions of pounds.

“But this revelation shows that by far the biggest loser will be the UK taxpayer, who will foot the bill for these enormous fines. This just shows the huge administrative costs involved in the complex web of farm subsidy schemes that comprise Europe’s €48.5 billion Common Agricultural Policy. The pressure applied by farmsubsidy.org is only now beginning to reveal where all this money goes.”

I’m not totally sure if the government has already been fined £305 million and is making provision to pay it, or whether it is preparing itself for its worst case scenario, which could be £305 million. In Jack’s own words:

 ”It looks likely that the United Kingdom government has been fined as much as £305 million for its failings in implementing the new Single Payment Scheme of the Common Agricultural Policy.”

Meanwhile, despite such a major catastrophe, Margaret Beckett gets promoted, though little is heard of her as Foreign Secretary. I hope she makes a statement and is held to account for this exorbitant fine; our farmers and taxpayers deserve an explanation. Anyone running a business would be fired if their leadership had caused such an almighty fiasco, but instead Beckett gets promoted. Jack has included this report if she needs reminding about the many failings about the subsidy payment.

I have a FOI question before it is too late, how much has the government been fined in the last 10 years for its inefficiency? What has this government cost the taxpayer? How else could that money have been put to good use?

Thanks to EU-Serf for the hat tip.