It’s funny how places change. About 40 years ago Rayleigh town centre had seven supermarkets all competing for business. Then the number of supermarkets went down and we had a huge number of shoe shops. And in 2009? Well, let’s just say that if you want a really good cup of coffee, you are spoilt for choice ...
So this is turning into a good year for coffee lovers. But apart from that, it’s a worrying time for nearly everybody, and I’m seeing a lot of angry people these days. They are angry about a lot of national issues (you can guess what most of them are) and they are worried over a lot of local stuff too.
One of the big subjects in the last few days has been MPs expenses. It’s been bad enough seeing how failing bankers have got away with huge bonuses, but now members of Parliament have been caught out over expenses.
There’s an allowance that MPs from outside inner London can claim for. It’s to cover the cost of staying away from their main home when carrying out parliamentary duties. That seems fair enough; if you are an MP for somewhere outside commuting distance of the capital you will need two places to live – one near parliament, and one near your constituency.
But one Labour MP has reportedly claimed £60,000 since 2002 for a house in Harrow – when his main home is only a few miles away in Hammersmith, and Westminster is only 11 miles away. And he’s not the only one who’s exploiting the rules.
Now, this MP has done nothing illegal – apparently the regs are drafted in such a way that this is all allowed. But as a friend said to me, “Something can still be wrong even if it is legal. And someone who’s just been made redundant by Woolworths and received the minimum redundancy pay isn’t going to be impressed”
I was talking to a resident on the doorstep who was really angry about this and he said and “Just because a Lib Dem MP hasn’t been caught out yet, doesn’t mean that the Lib Dems are in the clear – there just aren’t so many MPs in your party!”
Well, so far we are definitely in the clear on this. None of the Lib Dem MPs who represent London constituencies are claiming this allowance. What’s more, Lib Dem MP Sarah Teather has now tabled a Commons motion trying to stop any London MPs doing this in future.
Meanwhile, closer to home, councillors are much less likely to be in trouble over this sort of thing. We have to be, because the code of conduct for councillors is much tougher than it is for MPs. If an MP steps out of line, they can be banned for a few days. But councillors can be suspended for a year, sometimes for not-very-serious issues.
Trouble is, councils are being seduced into adopting some of central government’s ways, such as having a ‘cabinet-style’ operation, where just one councillor can make a decision. For example, are you unhappy about the new average-speed cameras on the A127? That was decided by just one Conservative councillor from Danbury. None of his colleagues seem to want to defend him on this issue; they just shrug their shoulders. But people in Rayleigh – or Southend – can’t vote him out.
And then there’s ‘spin’. Conservative Essex County Council is one of the nine highest spending councils in Britain on publicity . The cost has nearly doubled over the last nine years, and now stands at nearly £5 million per year!
And it’s not as if everything else in Essex is rosy. The County Child protection services were investigated by Ofsted and were rated as ‘inadequate’ . Only another seven other authorities were rated as low as Essex and one of them was Haringey, where the tragic ‘Baby P’ case occurred. So we can’t do better than Haringey? And we are in the top nine on publicity spending but in the bottom eight on Child Protection?
I hope this piece hasn’t turned into a rant. But there are so many things going on that make me angry at the moment – maybe I’m just getting grumpy in my old age. Perhaps I need to take stroll up to the High Street and have a latte and a cake. Though times are getting tough, there’s still coffee ...
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Chris Black Rayleigh Liberal Democrats March 2009