It‘s interesting how many times I am asked to respond to media enquiries about the latest pre-election ruse being put before the public by either Labour or the LibDems. Among the latest is a call for the reinstatement of alleygating in Medway.
The call comes from Labour councillors asking for it to be looked at in the next budget. Perhaps it is sheer coincidence that this call comes a few weeks after Medway‘s Conservative cabinet voted to... consider alleygating in the next budget!
It seems yet another shabby attempt to claim the credit for something after it has been announced. We wait to see whether Labour are going to vote against next year‘s budget—as they have done every year—whether or not it includes money for alleygating.
Alleygating is an idea supported by opposition politicians because it helps to stop anti-social behaviour. It would be interesting to know why if they are so keen on stopping anti-social behaviour they try and stop every Conservative initiative to do just that.
For the LibDems one of their big ideas is to sack the hard-working staff who make up our Community Safety Team, and transfer the money to police controlled Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs). PCSOs are a great idea, but they are controlled by the police and it would not be right to spend council tax payers money on policing that should be wholly funded by central government.
Paying for policing is the job of government, and there is no justification for expecting local tax payers to pick up a bill that the government is trying desperately to avoid.
The latest press release was from a LibDem councillor complaining about the state of his Ward. Councillors are elected to represent their residents, and that surely extends to ensuring that their area is maintained to a reasonable standard.
Is it good enough for a LibDem councillor to allow his Ward to become messy and unkempt? Or should he be out there on the ground identifying the problems and ensuring that council officers put things right?
It seems all too easy to complain, when the real answer to the problem is roll your sleeves up and get on with the work you were elected to do. Conservatives councillors get on with the job in hand, while opposition politicians sit around complaining.