Time to vote

 Due to our summer holiday, I will vote by post for the first time, my ballot arrived last week and I will vote today.

I am considered an independent, i am not affiliated to any political party, that not to say I have opinions as outlined in this blog.

What are the crucial issues that will make me decide?

First and foremost, I want government to be effective and has the ability to govern with clear priorities.

Secondly, it must believe in security, both in terms of economic and national security.

Thirdly, strong on social policy, this includes housing and taking action care of those in our society that need help and a NHS that can ensure good health care, removing the fear of illness. Tackling the five evils - Disease, Idleness, Ignorance, Squalor and Want.

It is hard to understand how dire our country has become.

The last 5 years has been extraordinary, 3 Prime Ministers and countless changes of ministers, a parliament riven by scandal, the calls for root and branch reform of government most be central to the next parliament.

The Conservative party are unable to govern, as they are hopelessly split, between the populist right and the old tories, sadly their campaign reminds me of Labour's 1983 campaign, but even Labour didn't have a betting scandal.

In terms of values, I am reminded of East Hill. This was a field that the Conservative Mendip District Council had applied to the government for building not in the Local Plan.

Having lost the 2019 District Council Elections, the Lib Dems were the largest party with the Conservatives and Greens level pegging, with the 4 Independents holding the balance, but with defections the Lib Dems became the majority party.

East Hill, a piece of scrub land by the Asda superstore in Frome, was considered for 70 social housing units, to be fair to the Lib Dems, they had made social housing a priority.

I was a strong supporter of this policy, I was critical that no sites in Shepton were identified. I had worked with the housing officer to identify several sites, sadly to this day no social housing units were built in Shepton. NO SOCIAL HOUSING has been built in Shepton Mallet in 8 years.

Needless to say, this proposal caused a lot of opposition, very few housing developments get public support.

The Greens who delightfully point in opposite directions at the same time, do not believe in develop but want to provide social housing, this folly ruthlessly exposed under the sunlight of East Hill, the people of our area need decent affordable rented homes, but the Greens opposition on principle was telling. As a footnote, one Green councillor said we could build social housing on our car parks, NIMBY comment, but yes, I could see social housing on council land.

The Conservatives were also against the East Hill proposal, it would appear their objections was that this land would be better privately developed, for homes locals could not afford. Amazing to see them contorting, claiming they would use profits to build social housing, interestingly they couldn't say where. They were opposed.

All this opposition from the Greens and Conservatives who principles collided like an eclipse, would have meant nothing if the ruling Lib Dems group stood firm, as the two independents were very supportive, Sadly, they scattered like mice under the pressure of few strong willed local residents. There were notable exceptions Simon Carswell and Barry O Leary who argued for the scheme, however the Lib Dem councillors pulled this rug from beneath their leader. 

No homes were built on East Hill and those 70 families have not got their homes.

The moral of this tale is how conservative the Greens and the Tories are,  the Lib Dems collectively really does not believe in much. Tuition fees, selling the NHS down the river with the Health and Social Care Act and actually selling off the Post Office prove the Lib Dems will fold for power, but power is for using not appeasing. In my constituency the Lib Dem candidate was a part of the coalition government, so their only claim its them or the Tories rings hollow, Trust in politics has gone, the Lib Dems had their chance to prove a tactical vote could achieve change, they do not believe what I believe, so I cannot vote for them.

This election is not a rerun of 1997, people are fed up today, trust in politics is at a new low, nothing seems to change.

It's hard to remember a time without government deflationary policies, shrinking the state and reforming public services into submission.

Under the coalition government and conservative governments we have seen our national debt spiral, we were told that the credit card was maxed out, this the pretext to slash our public services, the failure to invest in our country has left us all poorer.

In the adjoining constituency Hinkley Point nuclear power station is being built, our government seemingly does not like state intervention in the economy, yet we have the daft situation of Chinese state money funding a French state company are building the facility and we will fund both countries through their profits.

The absolute disaster that is Brexit, was borne from Conservative malfunction, people were lied too, but people wanted simple solutions to complex problems, we have replaced European migration for African migration, yet migration has increased, but we have lost friction free trade and all of these benefits, as a result our economic growth has disappeared. 

We need change, but change will take time, there is no magic solution, we have to increase productivity, this will need investment in the economy, changing how industry is getting funded and investing in people, creating wealth is hard, but we have to create wealth to invest in decent public services and protect the weakest in our society, for me only Labour will do this.

I hope that those people who want change will vote for it, The only way change will happen, no election is won before polling day, the only vote that matters is yours, use it for change, Britain needs change and that change is Labour

General tales of elections

 So it's going to be July 4th.

The Sunak led (sic) government has decided it is the right time to hold a General Election.

The previous four and half years has been a mixture of dysfunction and incompetence. A governing party has treated the country with a fair measure of disrespect, playing out their internal fights in open sight and not seeming to care much. This political instability has cost the country effective decision making and has lowered standards in public life this seems to rubbed off in people's everyday behaviour. 

When Sunak appointed Braverman as Home Secretary he knew she had breached the ministerial code just weeks before, this grubby political deal would backfire on Sunak and it did, but this a clear demonstration of his words and actions so clearly at odds, with the "integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level", nowhere to be seen.

The fact that the then Prime minister and the chancellor both were served fix penalty notices for breaches in COVID restriction law, for fragrantly flouting restrictions that were put in place to protect people, cocking a snoop at everyone else, they clearly decided they were above the law.

This parliament has also seen a number of MP's resigning for issues around standards of behaviour which clearly breach the code of conduct and common decency, these resignations have led to by-elections with voters turning their backs on the Conservatives, electing other parties candidates.

This government has been found to be law breakers, with successful court cases against them on environmental issues, with holding  COVID messages or losing cases in the Supreme Court including parts of their immigration plans, as they seem to believe they are above the law.

The governments inability to be honest, there is a difference between not telling the whole truth and dishonesty, has undermined public trust.

Lets take police numbers, when the Labour Party left office in 2010 they were ( according to statista.com) around 172,000 people officers, Labour spent £18.6 billion on policing, under the Conservative Lib Dem coalition police numbers fell to 154,000 police officers, spending £15.6 billion on policing, since then the number of police officers have risen back to the 2010 levels, currently we spend £17.6 billion, so for the government to boast of a huge increase in police numbers, not true if we go back to "Square one", no plan there! During this period the confidence in policing has fallen with only 69% of people now saying they have confidence in our police.

Since 2019, all regions of country are less well off, with real terms cuts in living standards with a squeeze on wages and the very real hike in the cost of living,child poverty on the increase, generally we have very low productivity, we are not earning enough and this has led to low economic growth.

With this mood of economic depression and political chaos, people are showing the strain of everyday life, the stresses of life are manifested in actions such as being abused whilst driving, being shoved in the supermarket or lack of respect bred from the belief of rampant individualism, it is hard to understand whether it is our society that shapes politicans or vice a versa.

Many things in government are not just about policy, it is about setting the moral compass for the nation, during the last four years we have seen a sharp decline standards.

This would be the first change, legally binding codes of conduct for government ministers and MP's, if dishonesty was proven by an independent panel, then this should lead to removal from office, police investigation and prosecution.

This to set a clear message that selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership are the standards we expect from politicians and public servants.

Values, interests and politics

 During the last few years I was lucky enough to service my town as a local councillor, I wanted to achieve a progress on cycle and multi use paths, try to achieve social housing, achieve arts funding and raise money to invest in our local communities to create and achieve wealth locally.

 

I was surprised to be asked to chair the Scrutiny Board at Mendip District Council after the conservative member resigned. I also lead on the social deprivation working group.

 

Politics to me is about finding solutions to real problems, based on evidence that works with local stakeholders.

 

I was keen to interview local stakeholders to find out what the issues are for local people. Unsurprisingly, talking to Mendip Citizens Advice, we heard evidence that people on the lowest income needed more resources, needed more sympathetic communication and ending heavy handed bailiffs.

 

In response to this evidence, Mendip increased the hardship fund to support people, looked at how to write to people in arrears and encouraged people to talk about their arrears this allowed people not to be taken to court. Clearly this was not a solution, but at least this mitigated hardship.

 

We wanted to see people use the credit union, small saving allows access to low cost loans, many low income people cannot access financial services and credit unions can help people getting short term help and stop them getting involved with loan sharks.

 

Another major issue, this before the Ukrainian war, was fuel poverty. The housing stock in rural areas has poor insulation and energy efficiency, this causing low income to spend a disproportionate amount of their income on fuel.it is essential that grants were increased and access to low cost loans to improve the housing stock, if this is done, the residents will have lower fuel bills and help with climate change, using less energy.

 

Living in rural areas the lack of public transport is particularly acute, effecting young people and poorer older people the hardest. 

 

In West Somerset access to education is effected by the lack of transport and the high price of it, opportunity is badly effected because of the lack of services. People who live in cities have colleges close with public transport, in rural communities there is a disincentive to go into further education, long days and high costs put barriers in the way of opportunity 

 

Without decent public transport people without access to a car have to use more expensive local shops, those living on low incomes are disproportionately effected by this.

 

In the neighbouring constituency of Somerton and Frome there is a by election, caused by the conservative MP resigning amid allegations of wrong doing. 

 

Imagine the opportunity this offers the opposition parties, rural deprivation has grown in recent years, imagine you are the Liberal Democrat and you are asked a question by John Harris a guardian journalist about deprivation in the area, Sarah Dyke the Lib Dem candidate replied she had drunk her coffee a bit too fast, before asking: “What do you want to know? Something that’s a subject I don’t know anything about … I mean there’s pockets of deprivation.

 

Never mind this question was an open goal, but most deprived people cannot afford a coffee from a coffee shop, if people are unaware of what deprivation is, how can those same people tackle these social ills.

 

This year the cost of food has rocketed with One in five people say they have missed a meal because they cannot afford food, over 2.5 million children receive free school meals, food inflation is 20% those on low income are being badly affected by the rising costs of food.

 

I find it astonishing that someone wishing to represent an area in parliament appears to be unaware of this hardship.

 

We need our representatives to focus with a lazar on supporting the champions of the disadvantaged, Citizen advice are one such champion, as the state withdrawn this community based group offer the safety net for the disadvantaged who cannot access services.

 

More support is required to allow young people to achieve their dreams and aspirations, rural areas need champions to raise these issues, the conservatives have failed our communities who are standing up for a better country for everyone?

It has to get started

 As many people will be aware I stood back from the council and after 28 years of representing Shepton I needed a rest from the continual circle of meetings and casework.

Shepton is my home town and I’m greatly proud of the place I was raised and have had the pleasure to call home.

This does not blind me to the many challenges that the community face and the opportunities we must seize.

Small market towns like Shepton needs decent public services, a strong economy and a real focus on tackling the real deprivation that faces us.

Shepton has an excellent monthly Sunday market, when Somerset County Council threatened to downgrade our town’s essential Library, the Town Council under my leadership and with the great support of Garfield Kennedy and Jon Hardy and other town councillors used the Sunday market to gain public support to build the successful campaign that kept the library in the heart of our community.

The Sunday market is run by a super team that work extremely hard and after COVID has this year had to relaunch this community event. 

This community interest company has many more stalls than the council run Friday market and offers local shopkeepers the opportunity to open to utilise the increased footfall that the Sunday market generates, allowing local people to see what the shops have to offer.

The Town Council is sponsoring the Neighbourhood plan https://sheptonmalletneighbourhoodplan.org.uk/   I genuinely hope the Town Council will be at the market to collect feedback on the consultation document.

Like all small community initiatives they deserve the full support of our councils, as they build community assets and keep local money in our town. One key theme has to be about creating a strong local economy and how we support local business to keep more money within our area to create local prosperity.

We need to find a way of helping local entrepreneurs to build their businesses, through support and advice and to access finance to invest. I see young people desperately trying to launch their businesses and it is obvious they need a helping hand, we must find ways of delivering this support 

Anyway, I look forward to the market this Sunday 

Chairman’s Column - 25th October 2018

Town and Parish Councils throughout Britain face the challenge of taking a much more proactive rôle in running local services.  In Shepton, we are no different.  As responsibilities for library provision, support for the Citizens Advice service, and even road surfacing, are curtailed or even cut entirely by higher authorities, we, as local people can either suffer in silence, or step up to the plate and do something about it.

Already Shepton Mallet Town Council is working hard to keep our library in the High Street, and has accepted that we will have to part-pay for the resurfacing of Town Street and the Market Square since the County Council has run out of money.  Services that were once seen to be essential that were provided by authorities including the Police, the Department of Work and Pensions, and the District and County Councils are being reduced or withdrawn.

In South Somerset, Martock Parish Council has hit the headlines in the national Press since they have taken up the challenge of providing services which are no longer available from other authorities.  Despite Martock having a population roughly half that of Shepton, they have successfully tackled anti-social behaviour issues by engaging a private security firm to work alongside the Police.  They have directly helped people on all matters to do with social services with free advice on benefits and jobs, and are considering options to provide housing for local people.

Our Town Council faces many challenges but continuing to make Shepton a safe and special place to live, work in and visit remains the top priority.  If we want to support the services that are on our doorstep, we will have to take on much greater responsibilities as public finances are squeezed again and again.

Last Sunday, local historian, Alan Stone, delighted many visitors to the Town Council’s gazebo at the Sunday Market with his display celebrating the 700th Anniversary of our Market Charter.  Again our monthly market attracted a steady stream of browsers and bargain hunters who turned out on a cold grey day to support local traders and learn more about our town and its long history.

With the clocks going back this weekend, we have a lot to look forward to with the Carnival season nearly upon us.  As usual the Shambles and the Highwayman Clubs will do us proud with their impressive floats and their commitment to year-round fundraising to give us an evening to remember in mid-November.

Inspired by the success of the Sunday Market, this year will see the first three-day Christmas market in Shepton. Again the hugely successful Lantern Festival will take place on the Saturday before Christmas, and in the preceding weeks, towns-people will get the chance to build their own lanterns and demonstrate the amazing creativity within our community.

Chairman’s Column - 18 October 2018

This Sunday sees the return of our ever-popular monthly market.  At the event we will be celebrating the 700th anniversary of the charter given to Shepton by Edward II.  The Town Council gazebo will exhibit a range of historical materials researched by Alan Stone.  It will be your chance to gain an insight into the sweep of history that has led to the town we live in today.

Way back in 1318, Britain was in a constitutional malaise.  England was in dispute with the Scots, and had a load of trouble in Ireland and Wales.  On a more positive note, Edward and the Earl of Lancaster had managed to sign a treaty and resolve some of their differences.  I suspect Mrs May would very much like to have the same sort of breakthrough with the EU in 2018!

The Collett Park Charity met last week to discuss our recently commissioned feasibility study into the future of the park.  It’s a once in a generation opportunity to bring the park into the 21st Century.  We have now considered the results of the public consultations that were held over the summer at a series of events including Collett Festival. The vast majority of your responses were very positive.

A key aspect of this exercise was to gain your opinion on the state of the buildings next to the Park Road entrance, including the toilet facilities.  As a result, the charity has agreed to do additional work within its budget to plan a design that will make long-term improvements and increase community facilities.  It will give us the opportunity to reach out to funding bodies for their financial support to redevelop the infrastructure and make the park a haven for all age ranges and interests.

Your feedback in the summer reaffirmed the oft-requested call to make urgent improvements to the play equipment in the park.  Matt Harrison, a leading member of the FreSH group who were instrumental in raising funds for the skatepark and BMX track, now wants to help the Collett Park Charity raise money for an ambitious revamp of the play area.  FreSH has already enlisted a growing group of local people willing to assist with community fund-raising to replace and upgrade the facilities.

Often, we at the Town Council are approached by local residents wishing to donate trees to commemorate loved ones.  We have now agreed a Collett Park tree strategy that identifies the best locations for planting, and specifies the species that are compatible with the overall planting scheme.  We will continue to welcome these touching requests.

Chris Inchley, Chair, Shepton Mallet Town Council

Chairman’s Report  11th October 2018

As the days get shorter and the autumn leaves blow around the town, we start anticipatingHallowe’en, fireworks and our wonderful Carnival.  Also at this time of year we reflect on the act of remembrance that is held on 11th November.  2018 is of course especially poignant as we commemorate 100 years since the ending of the First World War. 

All the giant red poppies that have appeared in Shepton have been installed by Nick Chambers and Edric Hobbs.  You’ll find them everywhere from the impressive display at St Peters and Pauls Church, to the one on the Babycham statue on Kilver Street. They make a real visual statement that reminds us that our freedoms have been won by the courage of others.

Next May, we will be asked once again to elect our Town and District councillors.  Mendip Council will be holding an introductory session for people considering standing as District Councillors. This is an opportunity to meet a panel of district councillors and discuss their rôle and responsibilities. This event will be held at 7pm on 24th October in the Mendip Council Chamber.

Here in Shepton we will also be electing our town councillors. This will give local community-minded people a chance to stand, and if successful, play an important part in shaping Shepton’s future. In the last 4 years many new responsibilities have had to be taken on by the Town Council as the District and County Councils have reduced and cut their services.  

The Town Council now provides the improved flower displays on the High Street and plays a full part in the monthly Sunday markets. We are leading the campaign to keep the library in the town centre and have agreed to part-fund the resurfacing of the town centre with Somerset County Council (otherwise the broken paving will remain hazardous and unsightly). 

We have managed, procured and part-funded the rebuilding of the skatepark and also part-funded the newly resurfaced BMX track.  The town council had to increase its staffing to address all these new challenges, and is about to appoint a Finance Officer to match the best practice of communities of our size.

Being a Councillor allows a key involvement at a crucial time where we are being asked to do so much more than in the past. I would be delighted if we get talented people willing to be active councillors bringing new skills to join the council next May.  

Chris Inchley, Chair, Shepton Mallet Town Council