If At First...
A few years ago our Government attempted to persuade by any which way possible to have what was to be called the North East Regional Assembly. It was to cover the population of a fair part of the North East of England. We had various public figures, celebrities and politicians(some rarely seen in this area, some not living within the area being affected)
It had no powers as such to make decisions and at best was a talking shop giving the impression of local democracy at work but the other downside was that it would cost the population more in the way of taxes and would be another layer of bureaucracy.
The people became tired and annoyed at the tactics used and the campaign information was for many heavily slanted and not unbiased. It took local business men and others interested in the area to put an alternative view and the local media to hopefully give alternative opinions.
The population gave a resounding "No!" It was a humiliating defeat. But to some extent capital centric media did not cover the story too much and after retreating various sources suggested that though the people had spoken, they might have another go and try to re-introduce it. And go through the procedure again.
And here we are two or three years on and the government are trying to persuade the population to accept one Uiitary Council to serve the whole of the area and scrap all the existing district and Borough Councils in the area. It sounds a good idea on paper but once again it puts too much power into one body and it's likely some areas will be neglected and money will be diverted from areas and concentrated on the largest towns and cities and the disadvantaged parts already squeezed will be squeezed further. And of course if this idea came in, it's basically the same idea as the North East Regional Assembly. I suppose this time they could say this time it had power.
We have received a postal vote asking if we are for or against this latest idea and I'm afraid for various reasons this is one occasion I did not manage to send in my vote. I misread the date it had to be returned by.
However, once again, the result has come through and the public have said "No!"
How many more times will they try to get this proposal through in slightly different ways? Why is it so important to get this idea through? Why do they want our area to say "Yes" and use us as the test case? If they say its to introduce more localised democracy and give us a say in our Region's future, the population has spoken and done just that.
I suspect it can only be a matter of time before some other idea is proposed and we have to go through all this again. Having said "No" I understand if they wish, the proposal could still be forced on those affected because this vote has no legal standing. So though I missed sending in my vote, I'm happy to see the rest of the area felt the same as me and it came out as I wish.
It had no powers as such to make decisions and at best was a talking shop giving the impression of local democracy at work but the other downside was that it would cost the population more in the way of taxes and would be another layer of bureaucracy.
The people became tired and annoyed at the tactics used and the campaign information was for many heavily slanted and not unbiased. It took local business men and others interested in the area to put an alternative view and the local media to hopefully give alternative opinions.
The population gave a resounding "No!" It was a humiliating defeat. But to some extent capital centric media did not cover the story too much and after retreating various sources suggested that though the people had spoken, they might have another go and try to re-introduce it. And go through the procedure again.
And here we are two or three years on and the government are trying to persuade the population to accept one Uiitary Council to serve the whole of the area and scrap all the existing district and Borough Councils in the area. It sounds a good idea on paper but once again it puts too much power into one body and it's likely some areas will be neglected and money will be diverted from areas and concentrated on the largest towns and cities and the disadvantaged parts already squeezed will be squeezed further. And of course if this idea came in, it's basically the same idea as the North East Regional Assembly. I suppose this time they could say this time it had power.
We have received a postal vote asking if we are for or against this latest idea and I'm afraid for various reasons this is one occasion I did not manage to send in my vote. I misread the date it had to be returned by.
However, once again, the result has come through and the public have said "No!"
How many more times will they try to get this proposal through in slightly different ways? Why is it so important to get this idea through? Why do they want our area to say "Yes" and use us as the test case? If they say its to introduce more localised democracy and give us a say in our Region's future, the population has spoken and done just that.
I suspect it can only be a matter of time before some other idea is proposed and we have to go through all this again. Having said "No" I understand if they wish, the proposal could still be forced on those affected because this vote has no legal standing. So though I missed sending in my vote, I'm happy to see the rest of the area felt the same as me and it came out as I wish.
posted by The Great Gildersleeve | 8:45 am
2 Comments:
It would be interesting to find out how much money they have wasted with this proposal. Setting up the votes (not once but twice!) Who's pocket does it come out of? Not theirs that's for certain. If they go ahead with this proposal regardless what the public have voted, the time and money they have wasted - but what they want is what they get type of policy makes you want to shoot the lot of them.
I think you make some fair observations...
There's more to what's happening in a similar way on a more local level that I'll post watching how I write it to be sure I cannot be accused of misrepresenting anyone.
Some may've read the next part on a particular message board.Its a follow on to the local elections and previous blog enteries about how my town's redevelopment of the retail area has or has not proceeded.
No wonder people get dis-illusioned with politics.
Post a Comment
<< Home