March West

26/08/2009 by Steve Tierney.

March West
Following the sad death of Peter Skoulding, the March West District Council Seat will shortly become a political battleground during the necessary by-election that is triggered when a seat becomes vacant.
  
So far we know the Conservative candidate will be Steve Count.  I’ve never met Mr. Count but I do know that he beat off stiff competition to be selected as the Conservative candidate and that he did this despite something of a history of causing the Conservative-run District Council headaches in the past.  The Wisbech Standard columnist Breakespeare had to admit that the fact that our party were so quick to forgive and forget was an interesting and encouraging development.  Of course, those of us who are active Conservatives know that the party doesn’t deserve half the criticism that opponents sometimes throw our way.  The right man for the job (in the view of those selecting) will usually be chosen because that’s the correct thing to do.
  
Meanwhile, local independent Reg Kemp has also thrown his hat into the ring.  I’ve seen his comments plenty of times since he’s not at all shy at making his opinions known (much the same can be said about me - I’m aware!)  He has recently been a member of the political ‘party’ called “Jury Team” (I’m not sure if he still is) - you might remember them, they were beaten by just about everybody except maybe Animals Count, mostly due to the fact that the only thing they seem to stand for is that they don’t want to stand for anything.    He lost the County elections in June, beaten fairly resoundingly by Cllr. John Clark.  He’s also well-known for his disdain for Freemasons and his attempts to have them removed from any office they might hold at the District council.  An interesting character who will be entertaining during the short campaign, I’m sure.
  
Among those who are interested in local politics there is a lot of discussion about who might win this.  Some previous by-elections have been unopposed and so the fact that this might be more of a battle is causing some excitable folk to salivate. 

Some commentators think that Labour have a chance here but I doubt that very much.  Labour, in my opinion, are a dead duck right now.  I don’t see them as a major threat this year in Fenland.  But UKIP are a fly in the ointment.  If they have a candidate in, that makes things more uncertain.  As for the Lib Dems?  Who knows with those guys?  Sometimes they come out all guns blazing and other times they fizzle out like damp sponge (do damp sponges ‘fizzle’?  I suppose not.  Oops.  Bad adjective.  It’s been a long day!) 

Whatever the case it’ll sure be an interesting one and it’s just a terrible shame that it has come about through such tragic circumstances. 

If I were a betting man I’d be betting Conservative.  But, of course, you know that.  

This Blog

5th In the United Kingdom 
 

This Blog

54th In the United Kingdom

Posted in March, Liberal Democrats, Labour Party, Fenland District Council, Conservatives | 6 Comments »

Speed Variations

06/08/2009 by Steve Tierney.

Speed Variations
Cllr. Nichola Harrison, whose excellent blog is always a great read despite the fact she’s a lib dem , has posted about a road safety campaign in Cambridge City’s Mill Road where the residents and councillors are working towards various measures including (but not limited to) a 20 MPH speed limit. 
 
Now I’m not generally in favour of 20 MPH speed limits - except outside schools - and I’ve blogged about this before.  But that’s not the point of this post.
 
What I don’t understand is how Nichola seems so confident that these measures will get through and be approved?  I can only assume that she is dealing with very different officers to the ones I am dealing with.  This should not be taken as any criticism of our county officers, who I am absolutely sure are dedicated to their jobs and always seem very nice.  But they, or the system in which they reside perhaps, can be hard work.
  
Our own A1101 death trap, fairly clearly one of the worst, if not the worst, blackspots in the entire county presently remains a 60MPH limit, despite years of accident and death and a long history of being very bad news for some people who travel along it.  Proposals by the local action group and by myself as their county councillor that the forthcoming (we hope) new speed camera set a restriction of 40MPH seem to be crashing into a brick wall (no pun intended). 
  
The officers are dead set on 50MPH which the action group feel is simply not going to solve the problem.  I agree with them on this.  The officers quote official rules and statistics and perfectly plausible reasons why the 40MPH may not be possible because of this legislation or that guideline or this ticked box list.  Which is all well and good.  But surely there is a case for looking at each problem area on its own merits?
   
We had to fight tooth and nail (and most of that fighting was done by the A1101 Action Group, I must stress - I’ve come late to the fray) for proper recognition of the problem and for acknowledgement of the need for a Speed Camera at all.  Now, it seems, we have a new battle to get speeds properly restricted.  Why spend the money on a project that will slow traffic by only 10 MPH?  On a stretch of road that claims lives, delivers injury and breaks hearts with fearsome regularity.
   
I very much hope we will be able to convince the officers and decision-makers that they have got this one wrong.  Accident after accident plagues that dangerous stretch of the road alongside Gypsy Lane. 
  
Just yesterday I was driving it myself and was almost hit by a lunatic going too fast, overtaking right on that misleading point that is the center of all the trouble.  My four-year-old son was in the car with me.   If that is not a chilling way to have this problem brought home then I do not know what is.  Shaking with anger and barely-averted disaster I could do nothing but curse the idiot in the other car under my breath and resolve to pursue this fight with more determination than ever. 
     
None of us want somebody, or somebody’s child, to be the victim of some horrific accident.  Smudging the edges of this problem will not solve it and may result in a dreadful outcome.  We need to tackle it properly - and that means proper speed control and enforcement.  Before another tragedy occurs.
      

Posted in A1101, Liberal Democrats | 5 Comments »

Norwich North: Kapow!

24/07/2009 by Steve Tierney.

1st: Conservatives — 13,591 votes
2nd: Labour — 6,243 votes
3rd: Lib Dems — 4,809 votes
4th: UKIP — 4,068 votes
5th: Greens — 3,350 votes

Majority: 7,348
Well done all!  Teamwork and hard graft come up trumps again.

Note the strong UKIP showing … almost up with the Lib Dems.  Important, bearing in mind the Ramsey By-Election result yesterday.

Labour vote has collapsed dramatically, but they did still maintain second place (which is more than I’d expected.)  Down to their hard-core voting base, I presume. 

There’s just no way to spin this other than a massive victory for the Conservatives.  This was a Labour seat and it has swung so far over that we have more than double their votes now.  Repeated at a general election this would result in a huge and resounding majority.

The Lib Dems and the Greens (battle bus notwithstanding) must be feeling pretty dejected.  This is Norwich, after all!  If they can’t get a decent showing here, then where?

  

Posted in Victory, Green Party, Liberal Democrats, Labour Party, Parliament, Conservatives | No Comments »

Shades Of Green

21/07/2009 by Steve Tierney.

Shades Of Green
While I was in Norwich at the weekend I was surprised by a striking sight.  Juddering its way along one of the main streets a bright green double decker bus presented quite a spectacle.  Loudspeakers mounted on the behemoth blared something about: “Vote Clean, Vote Green” or some such propaganda.  I was struck by the sheer hypocritical gall of a party that drives that beast along the roads, disturbing a pleasant sunday with self-congratulatory distorted announcements, noise pollution and air pollution wrapped up in one vehicular monstrosity. 

Ah, but don’t worry.  It runs on Biodiesel made from cooking oil (apparently).  So that’s all right then.  The fact that biodiesel comes mostly from corn, soybeans, and palm oil plant all of which require large spaces in which to grow to produce decent yields is neither here nor there. These ingredients may be good for producing biodiesel but they also happen to be a major food crop for people and animals - but let’s not let that concern us.  It’s not like anybody is starving in the world, is it? The increase in demand for these raw ingredients has surely contributed to rising food prices and adversely affected the poorest. So, should we grow food or fuel? The greens seem to think that the answer is fuel, particularly where it might win them a vote or two in Norwich. 

Perhaps they will address this and make the battle bus’ next upgrade even greener?  I don’t know, to be honest.  Maybe green activists will be strapped under the hood, peddling with all their might to power its groaning engine?  You’ve gotta love ‘em.  

Meanwhile, the sole green member of Cambridgeshire County Council, Simon Sedgwick-Jell, is quite another story.  Intelligent, concise and thoughtful he has been impressive in every committee I’ve seen him in.  It would be fair to say that where Policy Development is considered he has actually done more on his own than the entire Liberal Democrat contingent.  This mostly due to the fact that he does turn up once in a while to take part.  If I had voted in a Lib Dem (unlikely, I grant you, but this is a flight of fancy) and then discovered they weren’t doing the job I had elected them to do (mostly out of a fit of pique for not getting their way over making the meetings public as far as I can see) I’d be pretty angry about it.  But perhaps Lib Dem voters don’t mind their representatives spending their time sulking instead of working? 

Still, its a full council meeting tomorrow (or today - I should probably go to bed.) I will finally see something of my yellow-hued colleagues.  That’s great.  I’ve missed them.  Particularly Cllr Moss-Eccardt.  I can’t wait to see what wonderment of procedural joy he has in store for us this time.  Somebody pass the popcorn!
  

How to be clean and green.  Double-Decker style!
(Look in the grill at the front!  There really are
Green activists in there peddling for power!)

Posted in Green Party, Liberal Democrats | No Comments »

Norwich Campaign

19/07/2009 by Steve Tierney.

Please excuse the lack of a decent blog entry over the last few days. I’ve been in Norwich assisting in the Conservative By-Election campaign there along with an absolutely huge number of other political activists. I would imagine, by the time all this is over, the poor folk of Norwich will be heartily sick of politics of every persuasion. Blue, Green, Yellow, Red-White-And-Blue and even a little Red (believe it or not) has descended on Norfolk in a flurry of frantic activity.  The maelstrom will resolve itself, one way or the other, by the end of the week.  I suspect we’ll know a lot more about the direction of UK politics thereafter.  But for now I’m going to bed.  My feet hurt.

Me, Chloe Smith PPC, Stevo Brunton, Theresa May MP.

And there we are again…

Posted in Liberal Democrats, Labour Party, Election, Conservatives | No Comments »

Hard To Please

07/07/2009 by Steve Tierney.

Hard To Please
My council colleague from the Liberal Democrat side, Nichola Harrison, has written a new blog post: “Very good is not green enough.”  As usual it is well-written, interesting and cleanly-presented.  But its basic premise is that the council is not being ambitious enough with its ‘green’ agenda because it is planning to build a new school using an eco standard that is very good.  Not “poor”.  Not “lacking”.  Not even “could try harder.”  Very good.

Huh? 

You might be forgiven for re-reading that and wondering if I had mis-typed.  “Surely a ‘Very Good’ Eco Standard is an achievement?” you might ask. 

If my young son came home from school with a report card that said he was “Very Good” my wife and I would be cracking open the champagne (he can be a little <ahem> naughty boisterous, you see.  But he’s a wilful four-year-old boy and you know what they are like!) 

If, having just cooked dinner for my family, I asked: “How was it?” and they rubbed their tummies and said: “Yum yum, very good” I think I’d consider it a job well done.

But not Cllr. Harrison.  Not a bit of it.  Nichola you are one very hard to please lady!  I suppose you could generously look at it as demanding higher standards.  As part of the opposition party that is her job.  But really, would it kill the Lib Dems to be positive once in a while?

Just imagine a young lad coming home to his mum after sports day and telling her he’d won a gold award for achievement after winning three out of his four events.  “Look at my trophy!” he says, brandishing it enthusiastically.
“Only three out of four?” Comes his mother’s stern reply.  “That’s not an achievement son, that’s failure in my book”. 
“But Mum, my gym teacher said it was Very Good?”
“But not excellent, boy.  Not outstanding.  Only very good!  Now to bed with you and no supper for a month!” *see note at bottom

Nichola’s argument, you see, is that although we went for the “Very Good” standard, there is a higher “Excellent” standard.  Apparently they have even now introduced another level “Outstanding”.  Presumably next year there might be “Astonishing”, “Super-Human” and “God-Like” for people who are prepared to build houses out of regurgitated straw and heat them with starlight and fairy-breath.

Now I accept I’m poking a little fun here.  Climate change is a real issue and one that concerns many people.  But so is the recession.  If it were cheaper and easier to reach high eco-levels then even the most difficult stuck-in-the-mud petrol-heads would do it.  But it isn’t, it’s generally more expensive in the short-term. 

Since we are in the middle of a deep recession there isn’t a lot of money floating about.  It doesn’t grow on trees (and even if it did the Lib Dems would certainly want to protect those trees).  Pay extra money for one project and you must take it from another.  It’s not our money we are spending, it is the taxpayer’s money, so we have to balance ’saving the world’ with paying for vital services and find some sensible middle ground.  No matter which way you look at it, upside-down, diagonally, or from behind, Very Good is Very Good.  It’d be nice to see that recognised, though I wont hold my breath.

*Note: For the record.  I do not condone or approve of withholding food as a means of punishment.   It was a metaphor for goodness sake.

Posted in Global Warming, Liberal Democrats, Cambs. County Council, Credit Crunch | No Comments »

In Council - June 2009

23/06/2009 by Steve Tierney.

In Council - June 2009
I attended my first Full County Council Meeting today and in the aftermath there are various things I’d like to talk about. Since it’s clear this is going to be a big part of why I blog I’ve decided to make it a regular feature. After each full council meeting I’ll have an ‘In Council’ post which features the things I found interesting, notable (or irritating) about it.

Today was the first meeting of the ‘new’ council too, comprised of returning councillors and a healthy bunch of brand new faces (like mine.) The elected council currently consists of forty-two Conservatives, twenty-three Liberal Democrats, two Labour(s) and one Green. Due to the sad death of one candidate - the election for the sixty-ninth seat has not yet been held and the seat remains vacant until it is.

For the most part this should have been a simple ‘by the book’ meeting since the agenda was mostly just voting on some of the officers and positions available, confirming people’s new committee posts, confirming the constitution and doing the necessary paperwork to get the new council term underway. Having read the agenda in advance I was expecting a fairly simply affair. Yeah right.

Policy Development Groups - To Be Private or Not To Be Private
During the early portion of the meeting the Lib Dems sat patiently in their chairs opposite, looking quietly self-satisfied. They proposed alternatives to various posts and - not being the majority party - lost. That didn’t matter though, I imagine they wanted to be seen to be doing and saying something and that’s fair enough. But then we got to the first sticky agenda item. The Lib Dems wanted to propose that Policy Development Groups (PDGs) be ‘public’ instead of ‘private’. More specifically, Councillor Rupert Moss-Eccardt wanted to amend the constitution to make this happen.

---

Jargon-Smasher (Councillese Version)
For the uninitiated, a Policy Development Group is a committee which meets to discuss policy ideas for a specified area the council handles and then makes those ideas available to cabinet for possible implementation. The groups have members from all political parties on the council and are there to make sure that all councillors, regardless of their political colours, get a chance to have input on the direction of the council’s governance.

Jargon-Smasher (Plain English Version)
PDGs are a place for councillors to share and debate ideas about what we should be doing and then to suggest those ideas later to our cabinet leaders.

---

The Lib Dems were saying that “openness” and “transparency” were something we should always try to achieve more of. That the public had a right to be present at all our deliberations and that making some meetings private was not sending out the right message. They used very flowery adjectives like “secret” and “hush-hush” and talked about “meetings in wood-panelled smoky rooms” a la David Cameron. It was all very imaginative and full of colourful invective.

Now on the face of it this seems like a great idea, right? Open! Transparent! What’s not to like? But just because somebody is able to dress an idea up in the current buzzwords and then pass it off with a smooth turn-of-phrase doesn’t necessarily mean the idea will stand up to scrutiny.

Anybody who has spent any time in business will know that the best, most imaginative, most incredible ideas come out when people feel comfortable enough to speak freely. That’s why so many companies try and encourage their employees to “think outside the box” and have “brain-storming” sessions where anything goes. For every fifty zany, improbable, wacky ideas you throw out there, one of them may be an insightful new approach to a problem. The trouble is those ideas tend to be much less likely to come out when the cold light of public scrutiny is shining upon you. Suddenly the fear of looking (or sounding) stupid, of saying some too controversial, of being ‘on record’ as having had one of the fifty zany, improbable, wacky ideas which didn’t pan out becomes stifling and counterproductive.

The Lib Dems want to paint the idea that PDG’s are secretive because that sounds nefarious and suspicious. Of course, that’s pure political wordplay for their benefit. The fact is PDG’s don’t ’set’ policy at all. They are the ideas stage, the place for free debate over policy possibilities. Yes, let’s be “open” and “transparent”. God knows the public have had enough of political skullduggery lately on the national stage. But like any place where business is done, representatives have a private meeting to discuss ideas and thrash out the wheat from the chaff. Then, when there are some actual policies to put forward the openness and transparency is handled perfectly well at that stage. The alternative would be turn successful PDG meetings into a bizarre spectacle where real ideas and discussion where replaced by some parties parading like peacocks in front of their pocket audience just for the sake of proving to the world how very clever they are. Which parties? I couldn’t possibly say. But the feathers would be yellow, I suspect.

A Time And A Place
The next piece of ‘excitement’ (perhaps this is a new use of the word of which you were not previously aware, if so, you will not be alone in that) was another proposed amendment. While our good friend Cllr Moss-Eccardt did not make this proposal, it had all the hallmarks of being his plaything (it was utterly inane, he was sitting next to the young lady who made the proposal, she regularly turned to him for advice during the discussion and at one point he took over on her behalf.) This proposal was that councillors “be allowed to ask questions during the first meeting of a new council”.

I should point out that the first meeting is considered (as I said in the beginning of this lengthy blog post) as being for making certain necessary decisions; the new council chairman, the new council vice-chairman, approving the constitution, appointing the new council leader etc etc. It is a structured meeting conducted for certain business and that is why this one lone meeting in a full four-year term does not allow other questions. But it seems that today was the day for making pointless amendment proposals so ahead went another half an hour of argument over, basically, nothing.

Some time into this charade it appeared that Cllr Sarah Whitebread (the proposer) became uncomfortable with the Monster she had summoned and turned plaintively to Cllr Moss-Eccardt for assistance in somehow banishing it to the netherworld from whence it came. He, the grand puppet master, grinning like a cheshire cat and bouncing up and down like Winnie’s friend Tigger (with whom he equates himself on his home page) was enjoying the spectacle far too much to notice.

End result - no pointless change in the rules was agreed. A predictable and sensible result but that didn’t stop Cllr. Moss-Eccardt interrupting the chairman (again) with his erstwhile cry of: “I protest”. One too many coffees with his Weetabix, methinks.

What I Will Be Doing
During the course of the council meeting we were informed what our posts and committee memberships would be for the forthcoming council term. We’ve all recently had to fill in forms about our previous experience and interests so that the Powers That Be have information to hand and can make informed decisions. Now I’ve got to admit I wondered how effective this was going to be. Cllr. Jill Tuck (Leader of the Council) is clearly a smart lady and knows a thing or two about all this (a darn sight more than I do, to be sure) but I wasn’t sure how well she knew me. I couldn’t shake the idea that I’d end up poorly placed or stuffed uncomfortably into the wrong job, a square peg in a round hole as it were. As it turns out I’ve been given four’positions’:

Children & Young People - Policy Development Group
Growth & Environment - Policy Development Group
Traffic Management Area Joint Committee (Fenland)
Corporate Services - Scrutiny Committee

I’ll admit to being very pleasantly surprised. I expect, if I’d chosen the positions myself, my own selections wouldn’t have been far off these. It’s very encouraging for me to see that our county leadership, even with the little exposure they’ve had to me, seem to have understood my experience and strengths well. I just hope my colleagues don’t mind a little radical thinking. I’m a Conservative Libertarian and I strongly favour localism, as per the gospel of Mssrs. Hannan and Carswell. As such, I think I might be a little different to some of my more traditionally Conservative peers. From what I’ve seen so far, the Conservative Council are a broad church with very open minds. I hope, as somebody who hasn’t come up the “usual” path into County Council, I might have a fresh (or at least different) viewpoint to offer. In the end, I can only do my best for the people of my division and for the council as a whole. Let’s hope that’s enough!

Posted in Localism, Liberal Democrats, Libertarianism, Cambs. County Council | No Comments »

Ordinary British Decency, 20 MPH Or Bust and Dawn Chorus Day

29/04/2009 by Steve Tierney.

Ordinary British Decency
Prime Minister’s Questions today brought up the important issue of the Gurkhas. I was pleased to see David Cameron give Gordon Brown both barrels over this because the current state of affairs is just plain evil. I was also surprised to find that Nick Clegg, somebody for whom I generally have little time for, made the most poignant statement and it was this:
“Simple ordinary British decency means that soldiers who were prepared to die for this country must be allowed to live in this country.”
He is quite right. It’s so obvious that I wonder how anybody can even argue about it? This one doesn’t need debate. It needs action. Right now. If for no other reason than to prove the government still remembers what Simple Ordinary British Decency is.

20 MPH Or Bust
The Local Liberal Democrats are once again on their high horses, this time over the idea to reduce speeds on our roads to 20MPH in towns and villages. Sadly, this is a clear example of what is so wrong with Liberal Democrat thinking. Their first impulse when dealing with any problem is to slap a law, or a rule, or a regulation on it. Aren’t they supposed to be the party of liberalism?  Anybody with any common sense would agree that dangerous driving is a problem that must be dealt with and that slower speeds almost certainly equal less danger. But where do we draw the line? Why not 10 Miles Per Hour? Or Five Miles Per Hour? Or two miles per hour while a man walks in front of the car waving a flag and tooting a horn? In the end, you can reduce speeds as much as you like, but if there’s no enforcement of those speeds it is nothing more than words and hot air.

I put it to you, dear reader, that if people actually kept to the current 30MPH speed limit, drove sensibly with proper care and attention and avoided using mobile phones, sat navs and other distractions while managing their cars that would go a long way to reducing accidents too. The Highways Agency used to tell us in their adverts: “It’s Thirty For A Reason.” According to the Lib Dems they should have reasoned a bit longer. There is a place for a 20MPH speed limit; alongside schools for instance. I worry that if we give the Lib Dems a free run on this they’ll keep slowing and slowing and slowing us down until we’d get there faster on a Tonka toy (and safer too, those Tonkas take some breaking.)  I’m just saying, before we begin knee-jerk legislation and enforcement, couldn’t we think about making the current system work properly?

Dawn Chorus Day
I tend to work pretty late hours quite often and its not unusual for me to be going to bed at about the time dawn breaks.  The happy chirping of the birds can be annoying when all you want is to snatch a few hours sleep.  Of course, that’s a blinkered view of what is actually a rather wonderful phenomenon.  Nature, having laid still during the dead of night, wakes up and bursts into song to mark the start of a new morning.  Which is precisely what Dawn Chorus Day is all about.  The brainchild of town park champion John Smith and in association with the Friends Of Wisbech Park, we are all being invited to come and experience the Dawn Chorus in all its glory, eyes wide with excitement.  On Sunday May 3rd, at 3.45AM (that’s the crack of dawn this Sunday for the chronally-challenged) many local people will be gathering in Wisbech Town Park for a tiny adventure amidst the urban spawl.  I can’t claim to be a bird-watcher or a person who spends much time getting up close and personal with nature, but I’m certainly going to attend.  The world wakes up and sings.  Can you think of a better cure for our current economic malaise than that?  They’re even throwing in a free bacon roll for everybody who attends.  Now that is nourishment for the soul.

Click HERE to see the Dawn Chorus Day poster which has all the details and HERE to book a place!  I’ll see you there!

The Small Print (legally required during election campaigns.)
Published by Mrs D N Clark on behalf of Steve Tierney both of 111 High Street, March, Cambs PE15 9LH.

Posted in Liberal Democrats, Parliament, Wisbech, Conservatives | No Comments »

The Problem With Council Tax

19/04/2009 by Steve Tierney.

In my last post I had a bit of a dig at local rivals the Lib Dems and their proposal to slash council tax rates.  My point was that it’s easy to say this stuff in opposition, but that I did not believe that from a position of power (which I truly hope, with all due respect to Lib Dem rivals, never comes to pass in Cambridgeshire) they would follow though.  In the spirit of fairness I did also say that I understood they were playing the “opposition game” and that I expected the Conservatives might not behave so differently in their shoes.

Well, lo and behold, while browsing randomly on the web today I stumbled upon this. 

Conservatives condemn Labour and Lib Dem
pact to hike council tax

Sure enough, down in Reading where the Conservatives are in opposition to Labour in the Borough Council, Lib Dems have voted with Labour to push through a rise, while Conservatives call for a freeze.  Now if that doesn’t prove the point I was trying to make, I don’t know what does.  In opposition, local government parties (including, sadly, my own on occasion) can promise the world.  In power, given the task of delivering, reality sets in.  The best laid plans of mice and men are found wanting.

I don’t think this is the fault of the parties in local government, actually.  The fact is, all parties want to try and offer great services for fair and reasonable costs.  The thrust and parry of politics on both sides can be inelegant, we disagree on some points of fair governance, but all want to achieve the best outcome for the electorate.  Even Labour, possibly with the exception of Gordon Brown’s cabal, who just want to cling to power forever like leeches on the skin of the country.

The problem with our services is that there is never enough money to do everything, or even most things.  Why?  Because we waste too much of it on nonsense and because we have made it impossible, or at least very difficult, for people to do anything for themselves.  The government is constantly trying to give councils less money, while giving them ever more top-down ‘targets’.    We are burdened by a ridiculously expensive public sector which employs far too many, pays some of them far too much and encourages ever more waste.  On top of all this we insist on bailing out every failing institution which comes to the government with a cap in its hand and a sad face.  There is only so much money to go around (the ability of the Bank of England to print it with a Mickey Mouse logo notwithstanding).

I’d like to see Council Tax rates going in reverse.  Each year, your bill would tell you how much of a percentage LESS than the previous year it would be.  With the Labour government’s waste, over-regulation and poor practice, this is presently impossible.  A rise is necessary almost everywhere because we have to take care of people and that means more money.  When an election is finally called we can only hope that a Conservative government sweeps in with a massive majority and can then set about restructuring and stripping away the fat.  A lean, powerful, dynamic public sector will make lower council taxes possible.  I know it seems such a thing can never happen, but I remain hopeful that it can.  Falling Council Taxes.  Can you imagine?  You’d almost look forward to the bill.  (Okay… maybe that’s taking it a bit too far!)

Posted in Liberal Democrats, Labour Party, Election, Cambs. County Council, Conservatives | No Comments »

Low Low Low Prices - Everything Must Go!

16/04/2009 by Steve Tierney.

Low Low Low Prices - Everything Must Go!
While browsing the web today I visited Nichola Harrison’s site. She’s a Lib Dem County Councillor and I often read her blog because she writes well, is clearly passionate and is often entertaining (perhaps unintentionally, I’m not sure.) Now I must stress that I seldom actually agree with her conclusions, but I do have a soft spot for people who can make a good argument and write from the heart. But her blog piece today, entitled: “If The Lib Dems Ran The County Council” just demanded a response. I apologise in advance for any readers who aren’t particularly interested in party versus party pieces, but I just can’t help myself.

The Lib Dems seem to be proudly trumpeting their claim that if only they were in charge the council tax rise would have been smaller. In opposition its easy to throw a figure and an ‘alternative budget’ (I use the term loosely) into the mix with grand claims. After all, you don’t have to implement it, do you? Then, should the time ever come that you do have to implement it you can introduce that hoary old chestnut “the circumstances are different now.” Of course they are. The circumstances are always different when a brash promise (or series of them) has to actually be realised. Now I don’t blame Nichola or her party for playing the opposition game. I suppose, if the Conservatives were in opposition, we’d probably do the same. But Nichola regularly bemoans the dangers of “party politics” interfering with actually doing the right thing (which, in principle, I agree with her about) while simultaneously playing the exact same game herself. (Which turns her argument to mush.)

Nichola then goes on to say:-

“The party believes that under the Conservatives the Council has become sloppy in the way it uses its resources, so that many millions are being wasted on unnecessary luxuries like the press office and glossy brochures, and on inefficient contractual arrangements for school transport and highway maintenance.”

I love that term: “The Party Believes.” Well, this blogger believes that: “under the Liberal Democrats the council would flush its resources away on pointless vanity projects and have nothing left to actually do the jobs the people who live in the county need.” Why is what Nichola “believes” any more valid than what I “believe”? Readers, you’ve seen the Lib Dems at work often enough around the country. You can make your own call. Would a Liberal Democrat council spend money wisely? I Doubt It.  

In principle, I would agree with Nichola that lower council tax is a good thing.  Who wouldn’t?  None of us want a big bill that we struggle to pay.  Or the sweaty brow of the District Council Enforcement Department leering over our shoulders.  But if slashing the bills means we cannot afford to pay for the services that the people of Cambridgeshire need, we can’t do it.  There are some very vulnerable people who rely on those services.  Who need more care, not less.  It’s the Labour Party who seem to think money can be conjured with the wave of a magic wand.  The Lib Dems are on board with that too, apparently.  I prefer the real world.  Fairy tales are all well and good, but when you have to pay for stuff you need actual money.  Not fictional money.  Slashing the budget in an “Everything Must Go” Closing Down-type sale is not (to my mind) smart management.  Even as an opposition ploy.  It helps nobody.

Finally, Nichola Spells Out Her Party’s Priorities:-

highway maintenance and better traffic management
more police to tackle anti-social behaviour
better local youth services and
more support for voluntary and community organisations
free vegetarian pizza every Friday (I made this last one up.  Sorry.)

Well… uh yeah. Of course. That’s what we all want, Nichola. (Not the vegetarian pizza, obviously.)  That’s what is on every prospective councillor’s election literature, both Lib Dem and Conservative, I would guess. A wish list is a lovely thing. I share your values. I just doubt your party’s  ability to deliver them. Whereas the Conservatives have been delivering fairly consistently for quite some time. I do not claim the Conservatives are perfect. I want to work to help improve the party. I do not claim we are immune to mistakes. That would be Gordon-Brown style arrogance. I just trust Conservatives with my taxes before I’d trust anybody with a yellow rosette. In my experience, Tories Do It Better.  Now that sounds like a slogan for a T-Shirt.  Somebody call the printers…

Posted in Liberal Democrats, Labour Party, Cambs. County Council, Conservatives | 1 Comment »