A Boris for Notts?

PERSONALITY over substance, novelty trumping experience, a popularity contest instead of a political discussion – these are just some of the criticisms laid at the door of the elected mayor system.

However Notts County Council are sneaking their heads above the parapet to canvas public opinion on whether the county should get a Boris to call their own.

Notts residents rejected the scheme in 2001 – but only just. 43% voted in favour of keeping the current cabinet and Council leader system and with faith in politicians at a seeming all-time low, who’s to say the result wouldn’t be different at the second time of asking.

Tony Egginton, a self-proclaimed ambassador of the elected mayoral system has held executive power as Mansfield’s mayor for six years, but even he has his doubts whether a countywide position would work.

He said: “I think they would struggle to make a countywide mayor fit.”

“We’ve got a lot of great cities and towns and that’s where I think the real strength of a mayor is because people feel that he or she is representing their views and issues. If you make it countywide then people in Edwalton would say he’s more interested in the north of the county and so on.”

“There’s a danger that Notts as a county is too big.”

I have to agree, but I wouldn’t put it past the electorate to call for a figure that would be accountable for when things go awry.

Tony added: “People elect a mayor because they trust that individual. Instead of a political leader who follows what a party says, I look outward to the people I represent.”

“A lot of politicians who are vocal against elected mayors are just protecting their own egos from losing to independent candidates who are really in tune with the people.”

The public consultation present their results to the council in December – watch this space.

Don’t play the blame game

THESE are strange times.

Whilst half of the county is following the business news from behind the sofa, the other half seems to be asking why the City Council, amongst others, weren’t keeping their money under the bed.

There are many voices being raised in this debate, but the ones to avoid are those who are all too willing to point the finger.

Of course, the news that £42 million of Nottingham City Council’s assets invested in Icelandic banks was being frozen was a huge disappointment and an even bigger fiscal burden at a time when the camel’s starting to feel the weight of the straw.

However, this is not a time to play the blame game, and those with fiscal responsibilities in high places can sleep with a clear conscience.

Large scale financial investments are always a slight gamble, but the City Council always played by the rules and were only trying to make the most of each and every tax payer’s investment – which in turn prevented further tax rises that would really bring dissenters out in force.

News is promising that the money will be returned via the failed bank’s assets and most people in the City won’t even notice a change in services or bills.

The Council must also be applauded for acting promptly in ensuring after the news broke, no further assets were invested in any other foreign institutions – it’s all Government-assured British banks from here on out.

Perhaps it is time to rest easy, at least until the next storm breaks.

Shuffling the pack

It’s been a big weekend for a couple of Notts MP’s as news of Gordon Brown’s cabinet reshuffle dripped its way through the news wires.

Former Chief Whip and Ashfield MP, Geoff Hoon, has taken a precarious sideways step into the role of Transport Secretary – a position renowned for having the consistency of a British Rail timetable.

With the current economic climate forcing the Treasury to tighten their collective belts in all areas it’ll be an interesting challenge to see how Hoon deals with the challenges of a nation eagerly awaiting their transport system to arrive in the 21st Century.

In other news, Gedling MP Vernon Coaker stepped into the role of Police Minister. It may not be as glamorous as some of his colleagues more well-known titles, but the hiring is a well earned justification of some of the work Coaker has done both in Westminster and in tackling crime and drugs in Gedling.

He’s clearly a man with a plan – as this recent interview with The Guardian shows – and he’ll bring welcome attention to some specific issues ignored under previous ministers.

As for the workings of Geoff Hoon’s mind? Keep an eye out for this week’s Question Time debate, on which Hoon will be part of the panel.

A Mad Tea Party Conference

 

AS if those attending last week’s Labour Party Conference needed any more proof of the crazy political times we currently find ourselves in. 

Ashfield MP Geoff Hoon put on a brave face as Mad Hatters and a big white rabbit surrounded him on his way to the Manchester Conference Centre.

 

Mental health charity Rethink was behind the Alice In Wonderland routine, which aimed to raise awareness of a number of ‘mad’ inequalities that people who suffer from mental illnesses face every day.

Geoff wouldn’t be the only delegate hoping that our economic troubles start feeling the effects of the magical shrinking sweets – or perhaps that the greedy City speculators may even choke on them.

When unity is the best policy

“I’M a believer in trying to find the 95% of stuff you agree with people on rather than the parliamentary which focuses on the 5% you tend to fall out about.”

 

It may be a depressing reflection on the endless pantomime of party politics, but the truth is that in the media you simply don’t hear politicians saying things like this.

 

Which is why Nottingham North MP Graham Allen should be applauded along with former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith for their efforts.

 

The pair have put their party’s petty squabbles behind and put the future of our country first with a co-written book that aims to bring all the parties together under a banner that Nottingham citizens might already know – Early Intervention.

 

The book, catchily titled ‘Early Intervention, Good Parents, Great Kids, Better Citizens’, was released to a fair amount of acclaim in Westminster last week and puts forward the bold argument that social policymakers over recent decades have missed a trick – namely, by waiting for the problems to occur before throwing money at them.

 

Mr. Allen explains: “I don’t think it’s helpful to criticise past governments. They’ve all tried hard with different methods. What we’re saying is that there’s an even better way than those tested methods and that’s to invest much earlier.”

 

“For example, if you spend a little bit of money on intensive help visiting with a single mum, that’s going to cost you a thousand pounds. Or you wait until the kid grows up and goes wrong and you can spend a quarter of a million pound a year putting that kid in a drug rehabilitation course.”

 

“It seems to make more sense to get to these little ones and help their need because it’s actually really cheap.”

 

Perhaps equally noteworthy it Graham and Iain’s goal of getting the three major party leaders to all back the proposals in their General Election manifestos, ensuring that a popular vote won’t derail the pairs aims.  

 

“Bluntly, I don’t think I’ve got any choice in the issue,” Graham adds. “If I want something to persist for a generation in order to answer the very deep rooted problems of under attainment and underachievement – there will be, whether I like it or not, Conservative governments and Conservative or Liberal local government.”  

 

“So I want everyone signed up to this so we have a smooth long running program rather than the policy changing whenever there’s a change in administration nationally, locally or anywhere else.”

 

“We’re taking all the right steps by meeting all the party leaders. I’m going to my first ever Conservative party conference next week to see Mr Cameron with Iain and we’ve got a date with Gorden Brown and Nick Clegg.”

 

“What we’re trying to do is to get all three to sign up to something that ensure a social and political consensus.”

 

“You need to do this over 20 or 30 years if you want young people to grow up and not be yobs, drug addicts and low-attainers and spend a lifetime on benefits. If you want them to be decent citizens and good parents then you’re going to have to see this through.”

 

“Most people I’ve spoken to and the email traffic I’ve had has been surprisingly encouraging. Many people feel it was a mature way to deal with the issue.”

 

Count me in with ‘most people’.