User:Robinhowell

Born Cheltenham Glos 1941.

Burtle Farm, Robins Lane, Burtle, Bridgwater, Somerset TA7 8NT 01278 723109 howell822@btinternet.com

Served as a Coucillor onBristol City Council 1979 to 1991. Now an Alderman. Ran the Burtle Village Hall Project 2008/9 to renovate the hall as a community project using 1000 straw bales clay,4000 wine bottles and 1500 sheep fleece. Total cost £150K www.burtlevillage.co.uk In January 2011 turned up as a volunteer at the Red Brick Project in Glastonbury. Built a visitor office for the project out of 4000 Argos catalogues, a mile and a half of old guttering and various other bits and pieces. Total cost £750 In July 2012 became responsible for delivering the completion of the first phase of the project, but still as a volunteer. Total Cost £750K www.redbrickbuilding.org.uk

Very happy to be married to Claire since 1984, and between them have lots of grown up children from previous lives. He feels that society is generally going to the dogs and is inclined to blame Thatcher for the latest slide into self centred and corrupt greed at almost every level. Doesn't blame Thatcher for the fact that no government has the balls to do anything about saving the planet except saying how important it is. Actually does care about affordable housing and regards it as criminal negligence that the arguably fifth or six richest nation on the planet contributes little but crocodile tears to providing adequate affordable homes for its own population. He blames every government since the end of the Second World War including Thatcher.

Got his hindsight in early over the illegal invasion of Iraq, and pointed out that it was the wrong way to solve the problem, and thinks Blair should now be prosecuted. In fact devised a strategy by which Saddam Hussein could have won, not because he was anything other than a tyrant but because someone has got to teach the West in general and the USA in particular that they don't have the answer to life the universe and everything. You can't just go round bombing countries into your kind of democracy. Was dissuaded from sending the plan to Iraq on the basis that it might be treason! Currently thinks dishonest bankers and politicians should be banged up in prison like anyone else who steals, and sentences doubled since they don't even have the excuse of being hungry or cold. Exactly the same thing should apply to those who make profit in the UK out of UK taxpayers and don't pay UK tax. He is completely at a loss to understand why the government chose to give all the billions of quantitative easing money to precisely the people who "stole" it in the first place. Instead the government could have "guaranteed" domestic high street customers, ie us, and used the money for public spending on infrastructure such as houses schools and hospitals. This would have been a good thing and given us lots of jobs and money to spend and pay taxes with. He is happy to offer a prize of £1000 to the first person who can prove that this would have been a silly idea.

He would like to claim credit for the aphorism that it is easier to be a saint if you are dead. He would also like to claim the credit for proposing "The Corporate Idiot Theory". This states that once any organisation reaches a certain size it is capable of making corporate decisions that no individual in the organisation thinks is a good idea. If Tory Politicians are to be believed, the Poll Tax is a good example of this. He would claim no credit for suggesting that no politicians should be believed.

Creative but fairly grumpy.

(C) Robin Howell December 2009. Updated November 2012