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Between the regular tales of mismanagement and a seemingly endless countdown, it’s too easy to be cynical about the 30th Olympiad which kicks off in London this week. Make no mistake, the 2012 Olympic Games is more than a simple athletics competition, it’s an international symbol and for the UK it’s a chance to regain…
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With over four million criminal offences taking place in England and Wales per year, it’s hard to overstate the impact which cutting police funding by 20% will have on communities and local residents. We’re told that these cuts are necessary to get the economy moving again and confront the deficit, I have my doubts. While…
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Just before Christmas, Crawley Borough Council was informed by the Tory-led government that next April it will face reductions of just under 10%, compared with the amount received in 2012/13. This further drastic cutback is on top of two previous years of severe reductions, much heavier than cuts to other central government departments. While it’s hard…
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Reading these columns it must sometimes seem that no matter what the policy Labour and the Tories with end up voting against each other. The truth is that where a policy is obviously the best course of action there is often little need for public discussion, unfortunately this gives the impression we simply can’t co-operate.…
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As no reader of this paper can be unaware, our MP was amongst those from all the leading parties who voted for an EU referendum. Given the option, I would probably vote to renegotiate the conditions of our membership, and it is nice to see MPs willing to ‘stand on principle’ (if embarrassing for David…
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Three years on from the crash and the world remains perilously close to the edge of a depression. Regardless of whether the solution lies in further cuts or a massive short-term growth in state expenditure, unless the economy improves it’s clear that everyone – government included – will have to learn to make do with…
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At the last council meeting Labour and the Tories set out two different paths for the town. One path, the Labour path, maintains Crawley’s services using a small part of the millions the council has stored away for difficult times. The other path, the Tory path, proposed immediate cuts to the services local people depend…
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Usually when someone claims they’ve ‘had the pleasure of’ something they actually mean the opposite, or they’re simply padding out their sentence. Yesterday I had the genuine pleasure of talking to a room of Year 10s on their ‘Democracy Day’. This might not sound like much fun, but in contrast to the pattern of meetings…
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One of the government’s most annoying features is the ability to take a good idea and ruin it. Ideas members of the left have supported for years, like the wellbeing index, are doomed to failure by a lack of funding and an inconsistent approach. Worse still, they end up tainted by association with the Tories.…
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The ‘Conference Season’ is now upon us and parties are busy planning, taking stock and engaging in the usual showmanship. No doubt the most long-term impact will be made by the election of the new Labour leader, kicking off Labour’s Conference and giving the country a new leader of the opposition – at the time…
Peter Lamb for Crawley 