I had occasion yesterday to write to my local councillors who are attending a meeting tonight on whether to suspend elections that are due this May. Yes, delay these by two years whilst this new pathetic, incompetent bunch of amateurs decide whether to have huge Unitarian councils replace our local system. Now, whilst I dislike councils and have come up against their pig-headed stupidity before, they may need review and shaking down to get rid of some of the utter waste that goes with them but to suspend the constitutional right of citizens to choose who their councillors are goes beyond what they should do. But, I forget this is the dogmatic ideology of these people who've never really had a proper job.
Councils are obstinate and rules based and I recall my local council wanting to give me a role in contractual and commercial negotiations but couldn't because I didn't have a Degree in ***ology or whatever! They'd employ someone from Uni who hadn't done the job before but an old crusty Poacher who could have turned Game Keeper - no. Another problem is that councils litigate way too much. They do not think like normal people. Surely the best way not to spaff away money is to "Love, Honour and Negotiate" it's simple to work on a compromise to a problem but they've got solicitors and lawyers on the books so they use the heavy blunt instrument to do something that a cup of coffee and a biscuit and a chat would sort out.
I went to a Council in "special measures" who denied they were in special measures and didn't need us to help them sort the mess they'd got themselves into.
Both my councillors wrote back and agreed and were also stating that an extra two years would mean that those standing down would have to serve years they were not planning to. Hence I'm glad I'm retired. I couldn't actually live with these people having watched them on the portal at meetings they really are a Dinosaur breed, driven by their allegiance to their party not to looking after us, their constituents.
The country looks to be heading for financial distress and the Bond market and the GBP took hits. The measures they took to promote growth have actually done the opposite as anyone with a bank account and credit card could have explained to them. You can't go for growth by imposing huge taxes on the people you want to work hard to make that growth nor can you punish the risk takers, us business people, by making it difficult to employ anyone, expensive to use any sort of energy or indeed to put power into the workers the way they want to. It isn't the public sector and we aren't charities.
I think that there will be some interesting times ahead. I think they need to rename to role from Chancellor to Chancer. They are in complete denial about any of this and it's going to come as a hammer blow to them. You see them sneering and being actually aggressive in the spotlight of scrutiny and yet if they were to have a little humility and the good grace to reverse the damage done they might yet still snatch victory from the jaws of defeat but I fear it is the opposite of this we will receive.
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