Mayor's wages

The big news this week, the story that's got everyone annoyed, is that the new mayor of Copeland will be paid £30,000 per year, rather than £50,000 as suggested by an independent panel.

There are, as always, at least two sides to this story, so I'll try to give you the basics:

One argument is that the job of mayor requires someone with a number of skills, and that paying them £20,000 less than the suggested sum won't attract candidates of sufficient quality, so we'll end up with a mayor who isn't able to do the job.

The other argument is that the job of mayor is very similar to the previous job of leader of the council, which paid £30,000, and there isn't sufficient difference to justify the extra funds.

Where you stand on this matter is up to you, but one thing that I would encourage you always to do, is to check out both sides of the argument, because there really is two sides to every story

Mobile phone safety

As you know, I only have your best interests in mind when I send out these messages, so I want to draw to your attention the dangers of using mobile phones.

There was a time when we didn't have mobile communication, then there was a time when we did, but very few people thought it was any good.

But now that everyone seems to have a phone, we just need to remember that the technology is moving a bit faster than we can adapt to.

Be safe out there.