The Power of Your Vote.

The local Council elections around the country have now been returned and the results widely publicised. The ultimate results, Labour gain massively and the Conservatives and Lib/Dems lose massively.

The Liberal Democrats are now at their lowest in Council Representation in the history of the Party, I understand. Not really surprising though is it? When, at the last General Election, the Party made a big bid for youngsters, particularly students at university, and then once in power they so easily seemed to break their promise , in what universe were they ever going to be forgiven? I firmly believe that this action alone has virtually destroyed the Party and the next General Election will probably see them all but wiped out as people show they have no confidence in a Party that breaks its’ promises so seemingly casually.

I wonder at the mentality of people who seem to be prepared to forego their political principles, just for a portion of the “power”. Every time I see Nick Clegg, three words automatically pop into my mind – “Dead Man Walking!” After the next General Election and the expected dismal showing for his Party, I fully expect him to be thrown to the wolves to live the rest of his life in the political wilderness. There is little wonder then why the Liberal Democrats were so resoundingly punished at the polls.

The Conservatives were thoroughly beaten because they just don’t seem to learn. I know what some are going to say before they even say it. In fact, I have heard them say it so much over the last year it has become such a mantra that has completely lost any real meaning.

When a Party decides to cut and cut and cut, under the pretext of paying back the deficit, insisting that we are “All in this together”, making savage and painful cuts to the incomes of those that are already amongst the poorest in the country whilst in the same budget, easing the tax for the wealthiest in the country, it is no wonder that people eventually see through the sham of tory Politics.

We never were “all in this together” and the deficit was like manna from heaven to the tories who were suddenly gifted an opportunity to slash public services, which is what they probably wanted to do all along. I must admit I sometimes wonder at the tory mentality of believing that Councils should not provide “services” for people, when the very function of Councils is to provide services! However, as an expression of my own opinion, I never said there was anything logical or sensible about the tories, generally.

Whilst it seems that, to many tories, Margaret Thatcher is still revered as some sort of hero, there is still a complete lack of understanding of how much she and her actions are still vehemently hated by so many in this country because of the deeply divisive tactics she used when in power and the dictatorial attitude she seemed to adopt. It is this very dictatorship style that many tories seem to be so impressed with and many try to emulate, believing it to be some sort of compliment. I firmly believe it isn’t, and that it is just an excuse to act like another dictator. The history books show what happened eventually. The country revolted in response to her policies and even her own Party stabbed her in the back and removed her because they were concerned about their own positions. The tories do not seem to have learnt that there are still millions in this country who have not forgotten and will fight any attempt at a return to those or similar, attitudes.

However, the aspect of MPs being more concerned for their own future is not a new one. I am now in my fourth term as a local Councillor and in my experience, I have noticed that MPs, whilst they may mourn the loss of local Councillors as a result of their national policies, seem to take it as fully acceptable that local Councillors are mere “cannon fodder” and can be so easily sacrificed for the greater cause. What is the greater cause? Said MPs keeping their seats I suspect.

Naturally, I am pleased to see the local election results around the country showing so much confidence in the Labour Party. It has understandably taken a while to build confidence once again amongst the electorate, but it is happening. From this, I expect things to grow even more over the coming years. Our own local By-Election in Skegness the previous week was yet another endorsement of Labour and a resounding NO to the Conservatives, pushing them into last place.

Whilst the future may be promising with a Labour resurgence, do not underestimate how much damage the tories and this unelected government are still able to inflict upon us until they are finally removed from power.

Bye Bye By-Election

Bye Bye By-Election

I was extremely pleased to hear the By Election results last night, confirming Danny Brookes (Labour) as the winner and therefore newest Member of Skegness Town Council, representing Winthorpe.

It looks to have been a fairly low turn-out, but this is usually the case in a local By-Election, but it is good to have Danny on board and I am sure he will be a valuable asset for the Town. It has been a long time coming, but he has got there eventually.

After all the difficulties and obstacles thrown in the way, I am glad to see what I believe to be the correct result. The problems with the Polling Station are ones I hope never to see again. Strangely enough, a number of people said something similar last year and yet it happened again! There is no excuse in my view. I often freely admit that I am prone to making mistakes as I am only human, but I do insist that we try and learn from mistakes. It certainly seems in this instance, little, if anything was learned.

Naturally, we will be demanding a full investigation into this latest debacle and I rather suspect there may be some rather embarrassed faces in the not too distant future when everything is brought out into the open. Just to give a flavour of some of the problems that arose, here are a few examples:

No ”suitable” building was identified for voters in the Winthorpe area for one of the Polling Stations.

The decision was made to use the Town Hall as the ONLY polling Station.

District Councillors ONLY seem to have been informed of the problem.

Voters and candidates were given very little notice of the change.

Polling Station signs were missing.

There are a number of issues that were raised with this whole By-Election and the poor way it seems to have been handled, so I suspect it may take a while to resolve. I really hope that this time we can say “It will never happen again.”

RESULT

Danny Brookes        Labour                       311

Chris Pain                 UKIP                            248

Michelle Martin         Conservative        217

Nice one! Congratulations Danny.

Radio Record?

Radio Record?

I was interested to read in the Skegness Standard recently about a World Record attempt for a radio station.

I gather the attempt will be to stay on air for 126 hours continually at the August Bank Holiday weekend. I think I am right in saying the record is currently held by Chris Moyles and his Radio 1 Team that did this not too long ago.

In order to practice for the event, they held a 36 hour broadcast last weekend, giving them a warm-up for the main event.

It will be the team at Lindsey Coast Radio and in the process will be hoping to raise money for a number of local causes, including Natureland, Xcite Skatepark, and the Nottingham and Lincolnshire Air Ambulance. Even if you are not a usual radio listener, why not give it a try. Go to http://lindseycoast.org.uk/ and listen in, giving your support.

Polling Station. What Polling Station?

How disappointing that just as we find ourselves in a By-Election, we also find that there is no place suitable in the area to vote and as a consequence people will have to travel into Skegness and vote at the Town Hall!

This is hardly a satisfactory situation and one that is likely to upset a number of residents as well as drastically affecting voting numbers of people actually turning out on the day. What a shame that more was not done to ensure a suitable polling station was provided as well as informing people in plenty of time that this was happening.

Given that at least one District Councillor was very vocal when there was a similar problem in St Clements Ward, one would have thought he would have not only been able to provide a solution to the problem, but also to inform his constituents. Sadly, a failure on both counts leave voters in Winthorpe out on a limb and facing a lengthy journey to express their right to vote.

I am a great believer in making things as easy as possible for people to register their vote, not harder. As we live in such days that voter apathy is rife, I believe we should be looking at a much better and more practical system, more in line with the way we live, incorporating as much practical technology as we can to enable this. In East Lindsey, this seems to have extended as far as being able to register to vote by post. What would happen if there was ever a postal strike, I am not quite sure! Sadly, with so little information being given out on this situation up until recently, this has not left enough time for people to even become aware of the problem and then there is very little time to register for a postal vote if desired. I find it a completely unsatisfactory situation all round and one I sincerely hope we can learn lessons from. Unfortunately, given that the same thing happened last May in St Clements Ward, it would appear that little has been learnt.

Once again we hear the faint bleating of someone crying about the cost of a By-Election. I suspect this was all about trying to discredit, not just the person who had just resigned, but also the Party they represent. However, they have largely failed and seem to have made themselves look rather petty in the process.

It is easy to criticise and make grand claims suggesting that someone should not be prepared to take the job on if they were not going to commit themselves fully for a 4-year term. As anyone knows who has actually taken on the role, the reality is very different. Did anyone actually contact the person who recently resigned to find out why before they criticised them? Peoples’ circumstances can change quite rapidly sometimes, so I have always wondered why people should criticise others, particularly when they have not even bothered to actually offer to help. Shame on those critics.

Of course, there are those whose first instinct is to make a political point about something, rather than offer to help. Usually when this happens, there is an element of selective amnesia involved and as a consequence a certain amount of hypocrisy.

I know in this particular case, there were criticisms of the person straight away (without even checking to see what the problem may have been) in order to make a Political point and to cast Labour in a bad light. Unfortunately, in doing so, they overlooked the case when 4 years previously, a Conservative Candidate took a District Council seat and never turned up for one meeting in 6 months! As a consequence, he had to be removed from office and a By-Election held! Oddly enough, the Conservatives didn’t seem to make any noises about the cost of a By-Election in those circumstances!

So this time round a By-Election has been called and there is apparently nowhere in the Ward that could be used as a Polling Station as the School is having building work done on it. In these circumstances, I find it difficult to understand why some other alternative was not found, such as a mobile building. Whilst the moaners may complain again about the cost, I fully believe that getting people to vote is something we should not be trying to save pennies on wherever possible. Personally, I have always believed that we should be doing whatever we can to encourage people to vote – not discourage them!

Friday the 13th

Friday 13^th April

The Government is in decline and things are not looking good for the two vying for position at number 10. Thanks to The Independent for the following, which I just came across. I thought it would interest you.

‘The Conservative Party has been hit by a backlash from voters after last month’s Budget and is less popular now than at any point since taking office, according to the latest “poll of polls” for The Independent. It puts the Tories’ level of support at its lowest since the 2010 election, while Labour’s six-point lead is higher than at any time since February last year.

George Osborne appears to have sparked a decline in Tory fortunes by combining a cut in the 50p top rate of tax with a so-called “granny tax” for pensioners. Senior Tory MPs have protested to David Cameron that the two measures, while justified, should not have been announced in the same package. “The communications around the Budget were dreadful,” one said.

The Conservatives may also have angered the public by sparking panic buying at the petrol pumps ahead of threatened strikes by tanker drivers.

“March was very much a month of two halves,” said John Curtice, professor of politics at Strathclyde University, who compiles the monthly weighted average of surveys conducted by ComRes, ICM, YouGov and Populus. In their polls before the Budget, Labour averaged 39 per cent and the Tories 37 per cent, but in their most recent surveys; Labour is up to 40 per cent, the Tories down to 34 per cent and the Lib-Dems unchanged on 11 per cent.

Overall figures for March show Labour on 40 per cent, the Tories on 36 per cent and the Lib Dems on 11 per cent, enough to give Labour an overall majority of 16 in a general election fought on the proposed new constituency boundaries. Prof Curtice said: “Perhaps most disturbingly for the Tories, there are signs that their and the Government’s reputation for competence has taken a knock.”

Prof Curtice concluded: “The end of March witnessed an unwelcome political gale for the Conservatives. For the first time since the formation of the Coalition their competence and ability (as opposed to that of their Lib-Dem partners) seems to have been called into question in the minds of the electorate.’

Evidence also seems to be coming to light which suggests that as the Con-Dems keep on mentioning the debt that Labour made for the country, it is turning more and more people against them as it is such stale news now. I can see  a certain level of hypocrisy from Conservatives with this as when I was a County Councillor and the corruption of Conservative Leader of Lincolnshire County Council was exposed and he was ultimately convicted, the new leader was quick to try and deflect any criticism of his Party suggesting that this was old news now, we have a new administration and we have moved on. It is boring and no longer relevant!

I suppose in all this there is a message for the Con-Dems in all this from the public generally, and that seems to be “This is old news now, we have a new administration, it is boring and it is no longer relevant.” I wonder how long it will take to sink in and how many more people they will alienate in the process?

Friday the 13^th – a bad day for the Tories.

Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary

I would like to take this opportunity to share with you an important anniversary.

On 9^th April 1992, the Conservatives won their last General Election in this Country.

 

Here’s to another 20 years!

First Anniversary

First Anniversary

I was quietly pleased with myself yesterday as I realised I had just celebrated my first anniversary as a non-smoker!

Determination has seen me through thus far and it is my intention to carry on, despite my waist-line expanding. However, I think I have this under control now and I hope to be shedding the pounds once again, although I suspect not as quickly as I put them on.

Whilst I quietly celebrated with myself, the news of the latest Conservative Party “Cash for Policies” scandal was being aired. At a time when our National Politicians have done so much damage to the integrity of every politician, local or national, causing a feeling of general distrust, something like this happens which only strengthens peoples’ opinion that politics is full of corruption.

Once again we see Conservatives guilty of breaking the 11^th Commandment – “Thou shalt not be found out.”

Whilst the Blue team seemingly rushed around to cover each others’ back, happy enough to hang one of their own out to dry as long as their own positions could look uncompromised, so many aspects of the whole sorry scandal have been conveniently overlooked.

Describing things as a youthful exuberance may be one example of the spin the Tories have put on things, but it still does nothing to tackle the real issues it has exposed.

The exposure of having a ‘private’ meal with the Prime Minister as a privilege that can be bought, but having to pay even more to influence policy as a ‘Premier League’ experience, is a novel way of raising funds from the Party that seems to look after the rich. Whilst a number of their Party have rushed around covering things as best they can, insisting that of course it is all nonsense and that policy cannot be influenced in such a manner, this seems to have actually created more doubt on their innocence in this matter. Of course, it could probably never be proved and conspiracy theories abound that can never be disproved, but as someone once said to me “Just because I can’t prove it’s a conspiracy, doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get me.”!

I seem to remember David Cameron promising, when in opposition, that he would stamp out all the wrongdoings around fund-raising. Well, he doesn’t appear to have had much success so far does he? Promising an openness and transparency around his Party and their fundraising activities, seems to have been forgotten. Raising funds for his Party by allowing big donors to have a ‘Private’ meal with him at number 10 Downing Street (I believe) is perfectly acceptable to the Prime Minister and his Party and they can obviously see no wrong in such a thing. As far as the openness and transparency he was promising around fundraising for Party funds, we are not allowed to see any information surrounding these ‘Private’ meals as they were ‘Private’. To me it appears ‘Transparent’ that there is some sort of cover-up going on here.

Whilst there have been rapid denials that the very suggestion of being able to influence Conservative Party Policy by making a very large ‘Premier League’ donation to Conservative Party funds is absolute nonsense, everyone seems to have forgotten that this was being sold to people as an integral aspect of their donation. Does this not then represent fraudulent behaviour? Will the person exposed of making such offers be prosecuted for attempted fraud? I wonder. I suspect that he will just be reprimanded, lose his job, his political career will be over and he will find it difficult to work in such circles ever again. Will he end up on benefits because he cannot find work?

Time and again I wonder at the psyche of Conservatives and can only conclude that they seem to be wired differently to the rest of us. What we would often find questionable, they seem to accept as a right. They seem to look upon political leadership as a right of Conservatives and the wealthy. The very idea of using the position of being Prime Minister to raise funds for their own Political Party is abhorrent to me. It could almost be justified if you were raising funds for charity, but particularly when raising funds for their own Party, it just seems so suspicious to me. Conservatives seem to see no wrong in this, but I am sure would argue if a Labour Prime Minister did the same. Just as a matter of interest here, I would be just as appalled if a Labour Prime Minister did the same thing for Labour Party funds. As I have often said. It is not enough to be doing the right thing; it is important also to be seen to be doing the right thing. There has been a complete failure on both counts here I would suggest.  The Conservatives also seem to show that they have a different view from the rest of us of what the ‘right thing’ actually is.

Let’s face it; this whole scandal has opened up a whole can of worms for the Conservative Party that is unlikely to go away for a very long time. Can they be trusted? This is a question that will no doubt be on many peoples’ lips. Meanwhile, as seems the norm, it is the local politician that seems to take the brunt of the actions of our national leaders.

With a local By-Election going on in Winthorpe, I can only imagine at the reception the candidates are likely to receive.

Truth the first casualty?

Certain Skegness Conservatives seem to be at it once again, conveniently forgetting the truth and reinventing their actions as something else.

I refer to the negative campaigning that went on by the Conservatives for some considerable time against Labour’s Mark Anderson, seemingly in preparation for them to challenge the Skegness North County Council seat. I found it no real surprise that Mark Smith took the seat after so much mud had been slung by innuendo and suggestive comment, a lot of it on- line. They seem to have conveniently forgotten this though and now seem to prefer to label this as something else. I am not quite sure what it is called now by them, but I do know it is not called negative campaigning! The only time negative campaigning is ever done, it would seem, is when it comes from Labour.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, there are several of us who can remember some of the bitter and malicious suggestions made by a number of local Tories. I do remember John Byford subtly (?) suggesting that with the allowances I was getting from County, District and County Councils, I must be on £25,000 a year. Of course, the reality is that it was only about half of that, but the truth is nowhere near as interesting – or damaging is it? I feel sure that if I had been a Conservative, it would have been much higher, because the Tories would probably have made sure I got an extra allowance for doing something extra, like being a Chairman, or making up a job title for me – something not usually handed out to Labour Members. Perhaps then I would be earning £25,000 a year in allowances like some Conservatives must be. Of course, now I have said this, I am negative campaigning. John Byford wasn’t though it would appear.

This was only one example of some of the slurs that were cast about by some and it went on for a long, long time. Actually, from some quarters it still continues. Some things I could only perhaps share in confidence, but with some it would soon be public knowledge. When there was such a long period of mud-slinging, it is no surprise that eventually some of it stuck, regardless of the facts. In my experience, facts have had little to do with things when the politics start. I, however,  have always ensured that anything I produced was true. If only everyone followed the same principles. This is one of the saddest sides of politics and probably the very reason it has become a dirty word to a lot of people.

I do want to make it plain here that I am not claiming that Mark Smith had anything to do with any negative campaigning that went on, or that he condoned, authorised or even agreed with it as part of his campaign.

However, the real world is very different to how the Conservatives seem to want to have us believe. As the saying goes, you can fool some of the people all of the time, all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.

Will Pilgrim Hospital, Boston, soon be run by Circle?

Boston Labour Councillors have recently noted that Hinchingbrooke Hospital has become the first NHS hospital to be run by a private company, Circle. UNISON, the UK’s leading public sector union, said that it would work with Circle to make sure that Hinchingbrooke Hospital remains a good place to be a patient and member of staff. The union reiterated its concerns about a private company taking over and running the hospital, warning that if it fails, the public sector – and ultimately the taxpayer – will have to come to the rescue or patients and the local community will suffer.

UNISON said “We want, above all, to make sure Hinchingbrooke remains a good hospital – delivering for patients and investing in staff. We will work with Circle to achieve that. But we know that many patients and staff will be worried about a private company coming in to run their local hospital – and rightly so! Circle has never run an A&E or maternity ward, and its only other hospital has just 16 beds, and provides non-urgent surgery. It’s not comparable to running a hospital of this size, or delivering services on this scale or of this complexity. UNISON wants to ensure the health and safety of all concerned. In healthcare, patients must always come first, but private companies will always have profits and shareholders at the top of the list. Our job will be to make sure that patient care and good quality health services continue to be delivered at Hinchingbrooke Hospital.”

Boston Labour Councillors have similar concerns to UNISON regarding private companies running NHS hospitals. We are concerned that Boston’s Pilgrim Hospital might be next on the “hit” list and we are also concerned about the growing number of prominent conservative MP’s who are receiving lucrative fees from Circle Healthcare. So we ask a simple question – is it patient care or the lucrative fees they receive that mostly influence their decisions? We strongly believe that the Pilgrim Hospital should stay as an NHS hospital and we will be urging people in Boston to support us.

STOP PRESS

Our Conservative MP has apologised for failing to make clear an interest when speaking in favour of the NHS shake-up. The MPs’ register of interest shows he is paid £50,000 a year as a strategic adviser to Circle Healthcare. He told MPs he wanted to apologise for “inadvertently” failing to declare his interest.

He made his statement during a Point of Order, referring to Circle as a “social enterprise”. Although he had correctly declared his interest in the register of interests, he did not mention it – as MPs should – when speaking in the debates on the Health and Social Care Bill in January and March last year.

Pots and Kettles

The latest comments from Colin Davie actually seem to confirm his hypocrisy as far as I can see, but that surely doesn’t come as a surprise to some? Obviously still smarting from losing his seat on the District Council at the last local elections, he seems to use any opportunity to vent his spleen and accuse the Labour Party for being responsible for all the ills in the world. Never mind. It’s not as if many people ever took him seriously anyway, is it?

Anyway, back to this hypocrisy, in case you were wondering. Mr Davie has apparently criticised the Labour Party (business as usual then?) for putting forward a candidate who he felt ‘could not fully commit to the role thereby necessitating a by-election estimated to cost the tax payer between £8,000 and £10,000’. Short memories make for the hypocrisy. Was it not back in 2007, the Conservatives had a new District Councillor elected (if I am not mistaken this was after the votes were tied and a straw was drawn to determine the winner) and for a whole six months said elected Conservative never attended a meeting? Six months wasted which could have been filled by someone who was willing to commit to the job!

Of course, since Karen Bishop was elected, she has at least attended some meetings, and I remember a positive contribution from her on most of those occasions. People’s situations change and Karen had the integrity to stand down rather than wait until 6 months had passed to be forcibly removed. Although it can be frustrating, and sometimes annoying that some are unable to fulfil a 4 year commitment, at least Karen tried to fit it in with her very busy life. Was Mr Davie suggesting that nobody should apply for the role if they could not guarantee they would serve four years? If so, should there be an age cut-off point because surely we cannot guarantee an older person would see through a four year period? It is nonsense to suggest it, is it not? Serving as a School Governor is also a four year commitment, but I see more of these posts becoming vacant because people give up part way through than on Councils. I didn’t see any complaint about this.

Thank you Karen for at least giving it a try and the contribution you made whilst in office.