another of Jacob's rants.

[Woody2Shoes]

It's just anyone in local or national government, regardless of party or political persuasion. Power corrupts, money corrupts. Show me someone with any kind of power and I will show someone who is corrupt.

I'm not quite that cynical about human nature. I think we generally get the politicians we deserve, which seems mostly to be second/third-raters who don't realise (lacking both wits and principles) they're being manipulated most of the time.
If we made politics respectable, then we might get better applicants...

 

[Rorschach]

I'm not quite that cynical about human nature. I think we generally get the politicians we deserve, which seems mostly to be second/third-raters who don't realise (lacking both wits and principles) they're being manipulated most of the time.
If we made politics respectable, then we might get better applicants...

Maybe, but I have seen previously good, well intentioned people achieve positions of power and they change so I personally don't think we will ever get good politicians.

 

[Terry - Somerset]

Looking at election manifestos in 2019:

• Tories promised to fix the pot holes - cost fairly trivial
• Labour promised radical reforms increasing to £20bn pa. They recognised there would need to be tax increases but ignored the question of who would pay how much
• Libdems promised a spend increasing to £5.5bn - predictably a compromise!

1997-2010 Labour increased local authority funding. 2010-2020 the Tories reduced it.

I am reminded of the letter left by Liam Byrne for his successor at the Treasury in 2010 - "Dear Chief Secretary, I’m afraid that there is no money. Kind regards and good luck! Liam.”

I am also unsure whether central government form local council officer behaviours, or whether the concept of customer servce and accountability is simply part of the public service culture.

Draw your own conclusions from all that!!

 

[stuartpaul]

My, my all this vitriol towards councils.

Have any of you ever spared a thought for them? Consider some of the morons they have to provide services for!

 

[thetyreman]

don't get me started on stockport council lol I can't stand them.

 

[baldkev]

Did you all have a good summer?

 

[Jacob]

On Cornwall Council's own site it says a common cause of rejection is the boundaries not being marked to their satisfaction and believe it or not without an arrow showing north. Why this should affect anything, who knows?

To avoid mistakes and misunderstanding about exactly what is being applied for.

 

[Jacob]

....

• Labour promised radical reforms increasing to £20bn pa. They recognised there would need to be tax increases but ignored the question of who would pay how much
• .....

Draw your own conclusions from all that!!

Nothing compared to the £37billion lost on a failed track and trace system, just one project!
“Unimaginable” cost of Test & Trace failed to deliver central promise of averting another lockdown - Committees - UK Parliament
and only expenditure which even the tories are now recognising as unavoidable, and on forward looking projects.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

To avoid mistakes and misunderstanding about exactly what is being applied for.

Ahhh ....... so they can't tell whether something is in line with others, too high, too large etc. without knowing where north is? I didn't realise.

 

[Rorschach]

C'mon Jacob, you are missing an opportunity to shoe horn Brexit in here somewhere.

"If only Jeremy were running the councils!" wailed an elderly Diane Abbot as she pushed her shopping trolley through Camden collecting crisp packets.

 

[Jacob]

Ahhh ....... so they can't tell whether something is in line with others, too high, too large etc. without knowing where north is? I didn't realise.

It's just a fundamental piece of information which removes ambiguity and helps locate an item. Two rectangles on a plan doesn't necessarily tells you how they are orientated relative to each other unless there are other details, north point being an obvious first choice.
You can use maps without the aid of a compass but it helps.

 

[Ozi]

I'm not going to join in with the general moaning, I could, I'm very good at it but who want's to hear it.

Our local council sometimes has an uncontested seat and even has had a seat with no candidate. I'd love to have a go but as my unreasonable family want to eat every day spend my time working. Take a look at the average age of council members, particularly local and parish. With no disrespect to older members ( I'm rapidly becoming one - 57 today ) but these jobs need to be done by people with a bit more connection to the average person they represent. Not drawn from the ranks of older wealthier men who would like things to be just the way they were.

It has always struck me as strange that the jobs of MP or council member are among the few you can apply for without qualifications, I'd like to see a system where to apply for either you had to present a CV showing what you had already achieved as well as what you were promising to do. That said how many people know the name of the local councilor they voted for? If we want democracy to work for us we need to participate other wise we might just as well pick at random as we do for jury service.

Oh look I joined in with the moaning after all - you knew I would.

 

[Jacob]

I'm not going to join in with the general moaning, I could, I'm very good at it but who want's to hear it.

Our local council sometimes has an uncontested seat and even has had a seat with no candidate. I'd love to have a go but as my unreasonable family want to eat every day spend my time working. Take a look at the average age of council members, particularly local and parish. With no disrespect to older members ( I'm rapidly becoming one - 57 today ) but these jobs need to be done by people with a bit more connection to the average person they represent. Not drawn from the ranks of older wealthier men who would like things to be just the way they were.

It has always struck me as strange that the jobs of MP or council member are among the few you can apply for without qualifications, I'd like to see a system where to apply for either you had to present a CV showing what you had already achieved as well as what you were promising to do. That said how many people know the name of the local councilor they voted for? If we want democracy to work for us we need to participate other wise we might just as well pick at random as we do for jury service.

Oh look I joined in with the moaning after all - you knew I would.

Absolutely! For starters I'd ban anybody with excess wealth, say over £1million. and anybody private school educated unless it was for special needs perhaps

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Popcorn time. Give it a rest.

 

[Ozi]

Absolutely! For starters I'd ban anybody with excess wealth, say over £1million. and anybody private school educated unless it was for special needs perhaps

I understand the sentiment but I wouldn't ban people that arbitrarily, that's just repeating what they do to us. If someone has a million because they earned it they might just be the person to handle our local budgets. Might want to put a terrifying penalty in place for embezzlement first!

 

[Rorschach]

Maybe Brexit will improve the local councils?

 

[Jacob]

Popcorn time. Give it a rest.

You eat a lot of pop corn Phil!

 

[Terry - Somerset]

Absolutely! For starters I'd ban anybody with excess wealth, say over £1million. and anybody private school educated unless it was for special needs perhaps

You would no doubt object to any suggestion that we also ban those who are poor.

I prefer as my representative, local or national, someone who has the ability to do the job well.

I don't care how much they earn, nor how much they own. I would prefer those with integrity to match ability, but the "poor but honest" stands no more scrutiny the "wealthy but corrupt"

 

[Jacob]

You would no doubt object to any suggestion that we also ban those who are poor.
......

Certainly would!
They are the ones most in need of good government and the whole history of democracy has been about taking power from the top and giving it to the people who need it.
Even women couldn't be MPs before 1918 and couldn't vote until 1928.
The next big reform will have to be for proportional representation instead of first past the post, which is inherently unfair on minorities:
It took:
• 864,743 to elect the lone Green MP
• 642,303 votes for zero Brexit Party MPs
• 334,122 to elect each Liberal Democrat
• 50,817 to elect each Labour MP
• 38,300 votes to elect each Conservative MP
• 38,316 to elect each Plaid Cymru MP
• 25,882 to elect each SNP MP

https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk...need-wildly-different-number-of-votes-per-mp/

but the "poor but honest" stands no more scrutiny the "wealthy but corrupt"

False antithesis.
It's between those who have too little and those who have too much.

 

[Rorschach]

Love the new title!