Fashion Contrast

The chief constable of South Yorkshire Police has attacked the Liberal Democrats over criticism of how much forces spend on hire cars.

The party’s home affairs spokesman, Chris Huhne, uncovered figures showing more than £132m had been spent on car hire in the last five years. Police chief, Meredydd Hughes, said it was “more cost effective” to hire cars. He accused the Liberal Democrats of “wasting everyone’s time trying to get publicity for their party”.

“This is a story that isn’t a story,” he said.

“South Yorkshire Police is proud of the way it uses the public’s resources.”

The MP’s findings, which are the result of freedom of information requests to all the UK’s police forces, found that the Metropolitan Police force spent the most on car hire – more than £48m. South Yorkshire Police was found to have spent just over £2.5m. Mr Hughes said: “We hire cars to transport officers investigating major incidents such as murder inquiries, terrorist incidents and other major crimes.

Chris Huhne called the figures ‘unnecessarily lavish’

“We also hire specialist vehicles in very bad weather, for example where there are problems like flooding. “This is much more cost effective than owning the cars full time.”

His comments came after Mr Huhne described the amounts as “unnecessarily lavish” at a time “when police budgets are under extreme pressure”. “Hiring cars at appropriate times can save forces money, but if they are being hired while police cars are not in use, it is simply a waste of taxpayers’ money,” he said.

In a statement Mr Hughes said: “The Liberal Democrats would do better to come and ask South Yorkshire Police how we are spending the money rather than wasting everyone’s time trying to get publicity for their party.”

Personally I’m of the opinion that the Police in this situation should be able to make the decisions as to how they spend there budget. If this means that they need to rent vehicles to ensure that the job is completed correctly and efficiently then so be it. I would much rather public groups put money back into the economy by using car hire/van rental firms as opposed to spending grossly on a vehicle which might only be used sporadically.

It seems that the Liberal Democrats are thinking only from a PR perspective, trying to make it look like they would try and cut down on public spending at the cost of efficiency. The Police need to be allowed to carry on with the hard decent job that they currently do.

Article Source BBC 1st January – Here

A place that I have always wanted to go is Dublin. Some interesting information I found out on the net well Wikipedia about the name Dublin was this:

The name Dublin is derived from the Irish name Dubh Linn (meaning “black pool”). The common name for the city in Modern Irish is Baile Átha Cliath (meaning “town of the hurdled ford”) – Wikipedia

Dublin is a very picturesque place as this scanned post card suggests.

My experience of Ireland so far has been fairly limited, well limited in the sense that I was in the back of a horse drawn caravan with my family on what has definitively been rated the worst holiday we have ever ever been on. Bear in mind however that this trip was to Southern Ireland which is a completely different place, I guess the alternative in Northern Ireland would be a Car Hire Dublin firm lending me a modern ‘motor’ for a spin along the delicate streets.

Apparently however the prices for stuff like Beer are slightly more expensive then in the UK, which means despite its reputation as a Stag Do destination its going to be an a certainty that despite how beautiful the area around Dublin is – its going to be fairly costly. That might not just be to your bank account…

OK so I thought I would compile a short list of what I perceive to be amongst the most popular holiday destinations for those who are looking for something slightly interesting, nights are getting colder and I’m starting to think a quick cheap package holiday might be the way forward.

I have a few ideas which need to be vetted by someone with some more sense then me… and because like all things making the wrong decision as the Daily Mail wrote about fellow blogger Andy Sharman, who had a horrible experience courtesy of Thomson, could leave you feeling slightly sour.

Here are the Possibilities:

Lisbon

Having never been to Portugal or even Spain I’m rather to keen to go to either – Lisbon however seems to be the perfect choice. A supposedly beautiful city located in the southern region of Portugal around the North banks of the River Tagus. The Architecture is meant to be fabulous – and apparently full of Art Nouveau cafés – It seems there could be a lot to discover here! Perfect for a long weekend perhaps…

Lisbon looks nice

Larnaca

Not being a huge fan of fishing could hinder how good this potential candidate for my winter break could be. Laranaca is a coastal village located in Cyprus, from what I have read about the place it seems to exude ‘a slow, relaxed atmosphere that will help you chill out and escape…’ With Excellent diving facilities located around the area and a short way away from the desert – Rides on a camel seem cleary the best thing to do.

Some of the beautiful limestone cliffs that are omnipresent

Ibiza

Perhaps the one place I would like to go to have a rave, with plenty to see and do this is a real contender. It has beautiful scenery and seems to exude the glam – fun atmosphere despite it being indeed a very beautiful place. It could be worth using a Car Hire broker and having a real explore…

Ibiza Coastline