Many readers may have been bemused by the disruptor antics of Donald Trump unleashing Elon Musk on the American public. Not a day passes without the two defunding international charities or implementing international trade tariffs on the world’s economy.
How is this relevant to East Devon, some irate readers may ask? Because, coming from another part of the political agenda in the United Kingdom, the current government is also wreaking havoc, not in the name of disruption, but out of inexperience, ignorance, and that age-old friend of the shiny-eyed left, arrogance.
I offer two examples. The first is in Planning. As the local authority, East Devon has been sweating blood trying to ensure that new homes built in the district meet the wishes of local people. This is a thankless task, because most people faced with the possibility of a new development in their locality simply don’t want it at all.
Nevertheless, the council has a legal duty to plan for this and make decisions in accord with planning policy while doing its best to maintain standards. But by setting a fire under the National Planning Policy Framework under the false flag of building 370,408 homes in the UK every year – that’s more than 92,000 every quarter – Labour has handed the whole scenario lock stock and barrel to the major developers.
I was genuinely shocked to hear Rachel Reeves laughing about removing protection for bats, for example, in the name of unfettered growth. The new “maths”, if it deserves that name at all, now forces councils to prove not a 4 but a 6-year housing land supply and if they can’t any developer will steam in demanding to be allowed to build just about anywhere.
With sharp-elbowed insouciance, a Labour wannabe county councillor in Broadclyst has been trying to float a motion of no confidence in East Devon around planning issues, for his own electoral advantage. That victim-blaming arrogance is running amok in some Labour quarters; it’s the poor relation of Muskism.
Elsewhere, Devon councils are being forced into a process of local government reorganisation which would lead eventually to – perhaps – a single mayor for Devon and Cornwall. Government should not be wrecking local democratic structures but properly reforming and funding adult and children social care and NHS structures in Devon, which in total need about a billion of urgent input just to stand still. Only yesterday, the government announced the amount of funding for these new mayoral authorities. £0.
Trump and Musk do what they do because they are filthy rich egomaniacs and because they can. The Labour government is doing it with a happy clappy zeal, the disruption of local government being overseen by a defunded national civil service in meltdown.
In the last few months, Labour promised councils the dates of key white papers or urgent advisory correspondence – the latest one “by the end of January” – which turns up late and then hopelessly light on detail. Many local football fans will know one of the politer chants directed at referees having an off day. “You don’t know what you’re doing”. They don’t.
East Devon Watch 