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Politicians like to talk in extremes; it makes it easier to put a point across and tends to sound more convincing. Before the election George Osborne was keen to stress that if the UK lost its AAA credit rating it would be a ‘disaster’ for Britain — how things change — while Labour likes contrasting…
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Privatisation is back on the Conservatives’ agenda and this time they have local fire services in their sights. Last week it was revealed that Brandon Lewis, Minister for fire services, had written to the Regulatory Reform Committee seeking a change in the law which would enable fire and rescue services to be handed over to…
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‘Local government is officially the most efficient part of the public sector’. David Cameron said so in a speech – three speeches actually – before the General Election. Here’s where it gets confusing. When the Tories announced their programme of cuts, Communities and Local Government faced not just a large cut but the single largest…
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With the endless playlist of old number ones and the lights sparkling across the Town Centre it is clear that Christmas is now well upon us. It’s good to see that the town’s shops are doing well and that people are gearing up for what will hopefully be a happy holiday. However in the season…
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2012 has been a busy year. It has been a year of national celebration, where the London Olympics showed the world the best a modern United Kingdom had to offer. Internationally it’s also the year when the US elections were finally able to give the world a sigh of relief with the re-election of Barack…
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Surely one reason for giving politicians a column in the local newspaper is to allow them to get past the Punch and Judy politics of the daily news cycle and instead engage seriously with local residents on the issues that really matter. It’s not like there aren’t enough of those. We could discuss how to…
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If anyone doubts that local and national issues can be the same thing, just think about UK aviation policy. For those dependant upon Gatwick for a job or those living under a flight path the future of the airport is a very local issue indeed. As a councillor more and more national issues are taking…
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Too often when benefits are discussed it’s the most extreme cases which set the debate. Obviously this is a bit odd because the chances are if someone’s made it onto the front page of a national newspaper their case is the exception and not the norm. Let’s be clear about this: it isn’t left-wing to…
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Councillors have to play a number of roles, from representing people on the council and in the community to undertaking casework on a one-to-one basis. While I find it an enormous privilege to have the chance to work for the local community, the cases which I have to deal with are increasingly harrowing as the…
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You may well be aware that on November 15th, Police and Crime Commissioner elections are taking place across most of the country, including Sussex. Then again you may not, recent polls have shown that over half of voters remain unaware of the upcoming elections and very few have any idea what the role is for.…
Peter Lamb for Crawley 