I would like to pay a personal tribute to Laura Sandy's MP. She has made an incredibly difficult decision not to stand at the next general election. This could not have been easy for her.
Although I do not share Laura's politics she made a brave and principled stand on issues which were not universally popular with her Conservative Parliamentary colleagues such as her support for equal marriage, her commitment to environmental protection and green issues and her opposition to live animal exports from the port of Ramsgate,
In addition to working tirelessly for her constituents Laura also supported and helped community organisations and charities working in her constituency. I got to know her when I was the manager of Thanet Citizens Advice Bureau and her support helped the organisation continue its important work during difficult financial times.
I would like to wish Laura all the best and the greatest of success for the future. You will be a hard to act to follow.
I was always impressed by laura's insight into many issues and wish her well
ReplyDeleteThink the thing about Laura is that she is a thoroughly decent human being who cares and she will indeed be a hard act to follow as a constituency MP.
ReplyDeleteGetting back to things that matter, I see that ECR's poll is showing that well over 90% of those voting think that TDC is useless. Yet Labour councillors said that the negativity all emanated from one person. Come on Ian, own up. Have you voted 150 times?
ReplyDeleteI'm too much of a democrat and would never stoop so low as ballot stuffing. Although having said that I may well get well and truly stuffed by a ballot in 2015. Funny thing is though, despite my outspoken criticism of the council and its political management I think it can become an organisation that people respect and that does a lot of good. There are many changes needed before we get to that stage and I will posting on this in due course. Hope it will provoke some debate and thinking
DeleteYou haven't lived in Thanet as long as I have Ian. I'm afraid you can't change TDC by tinkering around the edges and changing a few things. The council is rotten to the core. Major surgery will be needed and it isn't going to be pretty. You've done a pretty good job stirring things up but, somehow, you have to find away of pulling together the people who can present the electorate with a real alternative at the next election. I'm thinking of something along the lines of a new political party which is devoted solely to representing the people of Thanet, with no ideological baggage. The trouble is that I wouldn't be accepting anyone who has previously stood for another party and that would rule you out.
DeleteIan, I think it was a nice gesture on your part to post a tribute to Laura Sandys, which I have already endorsed, but I do think the comments by the anonymous contributor at 18:41 are inappropriate and poor taste. There are plenty of places around the blogs to debate the public perception of TDC, but not on a personal tribute thread. It rather negates the tone of this otherwise decent post. It even starts 'getting back to things that matter' as though your tribute to Laura does not.
DeleteInteresting points. I personally don't see much future for KCC and TDC or the Parish and Town Councils. I have posted about this before and will expand on my views shortly. I think the development of new politics is slowly beginning to happen and tis hard to know where it might lead. The Conservative and Labour Parties are old fashioned and in decline (not that I am writing them off altogether). UKIP is on the rise. The Greens are making less spectacular progress but progress nonetheless. Young people are disaffected - Russell Brand gave a seminal newsnight interview on why. Communications technology is advancing faster than at anytime in history. We need to take this board and look at our structures and organisations
DeletePeter there's no way I am going to wear a jump suit. It would be bordering on the obscene and the Standards Committee would probably find me guilty of brining the Council into disrepute.
DeleteHaving said that I partially agree with you about Russell Brand. But he does speak for many younger people who are disaffected with politics and he has made some trenchant criticism of how we do politics. The problem is our political structures, especially at local government level are based on Victorian paternalism and the concept that councillors know best, when quite clearly they don't. These old fashioned structures have failed to keep pace with technological change especially in relation to communications, real-time and citizen reporting. If you refuse to welcome, endorse and harness these changes, like Thanet Council politicians decided to do, you become seen as secretive and out of touch. If you attack people who try to force the pace of change you become seen as bullying and dysfunctional.
I hate to have to admit it, but your mate Simon Moores, was right when he said at the Standards Committee that the Genie is out the bottle with regard to communications technology and the reluctance of Thanet councillors to endorse this powerful force
The problem faced by Thanet Council is how to make a friend and ally of the Genie you have, until now, been treating like an enemy.
If Rusell Brand is the face of Britain's future, I'm emigrating.
DeleteIan it is very nice of you to praise a retiring politician and after reading tributes on twitter and elsewhere it is obvious she was well liked. The only thing I have found distasteful it the remarks by UKIP saying she was scared to face Farage which is why she has elected to stand down. Crass remarks from a distasteful party
ReplyDeleteBarry you are right. From my brief acquaintance with Laura Sandys I think she would have relished taking on Nigel Farage. But life is sometimes more important than politics and I, like most decent minded people, don't want to score political points out of someone's family issues. This is the politics of the gutter.
ReplyDelete