“Claire Wright is ‘ready for the fight’ if general election called”

“It’s been an extraordinary and unprecedented few weeks in politics.

A man without scruple is now our prime minister, aided and abetted by a reckless adviser and the most hardline rightwing cabinet we have ever seen in this country.

In practice this means selling the soul of our country and the union, by morphing into the Brexit Party.

Expelling 21 moderate Conservatives on Tuesday evening, including Winston Churchill’s grandson and father of the house, Ken Clarke, has meant that the transition of the Conservative Party into the Brexit Party is already complete.

It was clear from the moment he took office that Mr Johnson’s plan was for a general election, to drive through a no deal Brexit, yet to try and dupe the electorate into thinking he wanted an amended withdrawal agreement from the EU.

He already knew his request for removal of the Irish backstop was firmly opposed by both the Irish government and by default the EU on peace grounds.

But more staggering than anything else has been the determination with which this government has lied, duped, schemed and plotted to achieve its nefarious aims.

Boris Johnson seems to be a man without principle. He has one aim. Power.

We also have a chancellor who is claiming austerity is over following a decade of cuts and misery, imposed by his own Conservative government.

£100m stripped from Devon County Council alone, which has hit children, the poorest, elderly and disabled people and those who don’t have a voice more than anyone else. I’ve seen the impacts of austerity on residents in my ward and it’s deeply disturbing.

But now, despite a no deal Brexit firmly on the table and the economic hit the country will take – around five per cent at least and a potential recession – Sajid Javid has launched an opportunistic vote grabbing budget, which implies that the austerity agenda was never more than a decision for a government determined to shrink the welfare state.

East Devon’s MP Hugo Swire is at the very heart of this government, robustly defending every move Mr Johnson makes.

A passionate supporter of a no deal Brexit, Mr Swire is now the epitome of the newly formed hardline rightwing Conservative-Brexit Party.

So a general election looms. Where does this leave me? Well my team and I have been preparing for a year and are on standby for battle.

This will be my third general election in four years, from a platform of over 21,000 votes in 2017.

I’m ready for the fight to come and I’m ready to enter parliament as a new MP, filled with hope and a desire to work to my best ability on behalf of the people of the East Devon constituency.

For me, there will be no party whip, no wish for a highly paid ministerial position. Just working alongside like minded MPs, representing local people on the issues they tell me are most important to them. I can’t wait!”

It’s been an extraordinary and unprecedented few weeks in politics. A man without scruple is now our prime minister, aided and abetted by a reckless adviser and the most hardline rightwing cabinet we have ever seen in this country. In practice this means selling the soul of our country and the union, by morphing into the Brexit Party.

Expelling 21 moderate Conservatives on Tuesday evening, including Winston Churchill’s grandson and father of the house, Ken Clarke, has meant that the transition of the Conservative Party into the Brexit Party is already complete.

It was clear from the moment he took office that Mr Johnson’s plan was for a general election, to drive through a no deal Brexit, yet to try and dupe the electorate into thinking he wanted an amended withdrawal agreement from the EU. He already knew his request for removal of the Irish backstop was firmly opposed by both the Irish government and by default the EU on peace grounds. But more staggering than anything else has been the determination with which this government has lied, duped, schemed and plotted to achieve its nefarious aims.

Boris Johnson seems to be a man without principle. He has one aim. Power. We also have a chancellor who is claiming austerity is over following a decade of cuts and misery, imposed by his own Conservative government.

£100m stripped from Devon County Council alone, which has hit children, the poorest, elderly and disabled people and those who don’t have a voice more than anyone else. I’ve seen the impacts of austerity on residents in my ward and it’s deeply disturbing.

But now, despite a no deal Brexit firmly on the table and the economic hit the country will take – around five per cent at least and a potential recession – Sajid Javid has launched an opportunistic vote grabbing budget, which implies that the austerity agenda was never more than a decision for a government determined to shrink the welfare state. East Devon’s MP Hugo Swire is at the very heart of this government, robustly defending every move Mr Johnson makes.

A passionate supporter of a no deal Brexit, Mr Swire is now the epitome of the newly formed hardline rightwing Conservative-Brexit Party. So a general election looms. Where does this leave me? Well my team and I have been preparing for a year and are on standby for battle.

This will be my third general election in four years, from a platform of over 21,000 votes in 2017. I’m ready for the fight to come and I’m ready to enter parliament as a new MP, filled with hope and a desire to work to my best ability on behalf of the people of the East Devon constituency. For me, there will be no party whip, no wish for a highly paid ministerial position. Just working alongside like minded MPs, representing local people on the issues they tell me are most important to them. I can’t wait!”

https://exmouth.nub.news/n/claire-wright-is-ready-for-the-fight-if-general-election-called?fbclid=IwAR3fluSS9OIrKYG-Tc-lp2Ng7KwjZQ-3AbO-Njut_sSgOvyy2Y0b3CfqFj0

“More than 100,000 apply to register to vote in UK in 48 hours”


Register to vote at:
https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote

“More than 100,000 people have applied to register to vote in the past 48 hours, with young people making up the bulk of the surge.

On Monday, 52,408 applications were submitted, according to government figures, followed by 64,485 on Tuesday.

The figure on both days, against a backdrop of momentous political events at Westminster, was significantly above the typical number for weekday applications, which has been averaging at about 27,000 for the past month.

Parties that have traditionally drawn support from younger people will be most encouraged by the figures, which show that 58% of applications submitted in the past two days were from people aged 34 and under. Many are understood to be students moving into new areas for the start of term.”

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/sep/04/more-than-100000-people-apply-register-vote-youth-uk-general-election?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

“It’s time to change election campaign law to stop politicians lying”

http://www.democraticaudit.com/2019/09/04/its-time-to-change-election-campaign-law-to-stop-politicians-lying/

East Devon MPs and West Dorset MP now on opposite sides – Letwin expelled from Tory Party and now an Independent!

Swire and Parish, of course backed Boris Johnson this evening. However, Sir Oliver Letwin, in the adjoining constituency of West Dorset, who has held the seat for the last 22 years and who has been a Cabinet Minister, has been expelled from the Tory Party tonight for rebelling (along with several former Cabinet Ministers and Sir Winston Churchill’s grandson, Sir Nicholas Soames).

So, Letwin is now an Independent!

Rum old world … wonder what Swire has to say about that!

Is this how the Leader of the House (Rees-Mogg) should behave?

His arrogant contempt and smug expression during the Brexit debate – how on earth can the people of Somerset vote for this excuse for a politician?

Secret “Exmouth Regeneration Board” to be replaced by secret “Exmouth Queen’s Drive Delivery Group”

Owl says: Oh, those promises of transparency … so transparently broken!

… The Group will meet a minimum of four times in a year, in private, to ensure that confidential or commercially sensitive matters can be discussed, but meeting notes will be published through the council’s Cabinet papers. …

https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/plans-future-exmouth-seafront-revealed-3276852

PLEASE REGISTER TO VOTE

This is now vitally important if you want to have your say in which way this country goes. It’s easy and takes less than 5 minutes. If you don’t vote, you don’t care and you lose the right to whinge if you don’t get the result you want:

https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote

“After the prorogation coup, what’s left of the British constitution?”

“The contemptuous ease with which the Johnson-Cummings regime has attempted to cripple parliamentary consideration of alternatives to a no-deal Brexit by proroguing parliament raises serious issues about the remaining value of the UK’s ‘unfixed constitution’.

This controversy comes after a prolonged period in which the executive under Theresa May used every micro-institutional weapon to blackmail MPs into accepting its deal.

Patrick Dunleavy argues that the UK has slipped into having a failed constitution, where core democratic institutions are contaminated by rigged micro-institutions. The control of power has become dominated by a bunch of executive tricks, and an uncodified ‘constitution’ no longer provides any predictable or worthwhile constraints on government action.

Yet it may be only a small step from creating a failed constitution to becoming some version of a failed state. …”

After the prorogation coup, what’s left of the British constitution?

What ordinary people think of politicians (not a lot)

“Core indicators of political engagement remain stable but, beneath the surface, the strongest feelings of powerlessness and disengagement are intensifying.

Opinions of the system of governing are at their lowest point in the 15-year Audit series – worse now than in the aftermath of the MPs’ expenses scandal.

72% say the system of governing needs ‘quite a lot’ or ‘a great deal’ of improvement.

The number of people who say the system needs ‘a great deal’ of improvement has risen eight points in a year, to 37%.

Asked whether the problem is the system or the people, the largest group (38%) say ‘both’.

Britons have more confidence in the military and judges than in politicians to act in the public interest.

Only 25% of the public have confidence in MPs’ handling of Brexit.

50% say the main parties and politicians don’t care about people like them.

75% say the main political parties are so divided within themselves that they cannot serve the best interests of the country.

34% still consider themselves a ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ strong supporter of a political party.

People are pessimistic about the country’s problems and their possible solution, with sizeable numbers willing to entertain radical political changes.

Well over half the public are downbeat about the state of Britain:

56% think Britain is in decline, 63% think Britain’s system of government is rigged to advantage the rich and powerful, and 66% think most big issues facing the country today don’t have clear solutions.

54% say Britain needs a strong leader who is willing to break the rules.

The public are evenly split between those who prefer politicians who make compromises with people they disagree with (48%) and those who prefer politicians who stick to their positions (45%).

66% think politicians should be able to say what’s on their mind regardless of what anyone else thinks about their views.

42% think many of the country’s problems could be dealt with more effectively if the government didn’t have to worry so much about votes in Parliament.

Marginally more people prefer experienced political parties and leaders who have been in power before (47%) to those with radical ideas for change who haven’t been in power before (43%).

55% still think that big questions should be put to the public in referendums more often than today.

Core indicators of certainty to vote, and interest in and knowledge of politics, remain stable at average or above-average levels.

The number who ‘strongly disagree’ that political involvement can change the way the UK is run (18%) has hit a 15-year high.

Of 13 political activities, the number of people saying they would be prepared to do ‘none’ is up 10 points in a year to 22%.

47% feel they have no influence at all over national decision-making – a new high for the Audit series.

32% say they do not want to be involved ‘at all’ in local decision-making, a rise of 10 points in a year.

Compared to last year, more people say that they are not at all interested in politics and know nothing about it.

30% of people say they never discuss government and politics.

53% say they have not done any form of online political activity in the last year.

61% say they would be certain to vote in an immediate general election. …”

https://www.hansardsociety.org.uk/publications/reports/audit-of-political-engagement-16

Johnson when crossed – a worrying scene from the London Assembly

“Johnson called the assembly members ‘great, supine, protoplasmic invertebrate jellies’ because they had just voted to reverse his decision for council tax cuts, which opponents believed would have forced the closure of 12 fire stations.

He then reacted angrily after the assembly refused to debate him on the issue and moved on to a vote about the budget instead.

Needless to say, people haven’t been too impressed with this old but somehow worryingly relevant clip.”

https://www.indy100.com/article/boris-johnson-london-assembly-invertebrate-jellies-2013-watch-video-9087406

If you want evidence of the corrupt filthiness of current politics, listen to this from the BBC …

Imagine if DCC suspended its meetings to push through a constitutional change to defund all child and adult care services in two months time …

Imagine if EDDC suspended all its meetings to push through a constitutional change to build a new town and a motorway to it in the middle of the Blackdown Hills with work to start in two months time …

Well, at least Hugo Swire would be fine with that!

More evidence here:
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/aug/29/then-and-now-what-senior-tories-say-about-proroguing-parliament?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Swire backs Johnson on prorogation

No surprise there! Tries to make light of the constitutional crisis in exchange with EDA DCZc Councillor Martin Shaw:

https://mobile.twitter.com/HugoSwire?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Top Tory on prorogation of Parliament

Still no view from our MPs Swire and Parish.

Pro-European Micheal Heseltine makes some strong points, whatever your view on Brexit:

… A government which is frightened of parliament is frightened of democracy. I hope that every member of parliament in feeling this humiliation will use every legal and constitutional weapon to obstruct a government proposing to force on the British people a historic change for which they have long since lost any mandate.

To abandon parliamentary scrutiny is a constitutional affront. My party, the one I have worked for all my life, told the British people about the new role that Britain could play in the world. Britain has helped to change Europe from Fascist and Communist dictatorships to Parliamentary democracies. And now I am told by the leader and the cabinet of that same party that we were all wrong – that we now must become some subordinate vassal state to the United States.

This is outside anything I could ever have believed that the Conservative party would propose, and I hope that large numbers of Conservatives, as well as friends from other political traditions, will join together to resist it. …”

Sheffield holds referendum on return to committee system of local government

Owl says: Current EDDC Leader Ben Ingham promised to return EDDC to the fairer committee system when he was Leader of East Devon Alliance (that was after he had been a Tory and an Independent and prior to working with Tories rather than East Devon Alliance after the May 2019 elections).

Then, all went quiet. He has entrusted a review to one of his councillors with no mention of what, if anything, he intends to do when it is completed.

Petiton time?

Activists in Sheffield have used provisions of the Localism Act 2011 to require the city council to hold a referendum on ending the cabinet system and reverting to committees.

The It’s Our City group said it had collected 26,419 signatures – in excess of the 5% of electors required for a petition subject to be put to a referendum after verification of the signatures.

Two members of Sheffield’s cabinet have resigned so that they can support the campaign to return to the committee system, as have four councillors who held the roles of ‘cabinet assistant’.

It’s Our City said the cabinet system meant that only 10 of the city’s 84 councillors had a real role in making decisions.

The group called for: “A committee-based system, which is more democratic, and where all our councillors would have a meaningful say in making decisions.

“Some people might remember that the current system was brought in to make councils less bureaucratic and more streamlined and do away the with lengthy process of arriving to decisions. We are not arguing for a return to the old system – we want to see a new model that takes the best bits of both worlds peppered with a hefty dose of public engagement.”

Former cabinet member for finance, resources and governance Olivia Blake said: “My preference was to resolve the debate on the council’s governance structure without the need for a referendum but now that it is almost certain to be held, it is time to take a public position on where we go next.

“I will take the side of the people. I will back the committee system. It is a starting point for a wider debate on how to rejuvenate our democracy, and it is important that Labour voices contribute to this debate.

“I have added my name to the It’s Our City petition and will make further statements in the coming days about the role I intend to play in the upcoming referendum.”

The council confirmed the petition had been received and said signatures would be checked.

Previous referendums to mandate a return to the committee system have been held successfully at Fylde Borough Council and the former West Dorset District Council.”

 

“Governing as a permanent form of campaigning: why the civil service is in mortal danger”

” … This new permanent campaign style, encouraged by the crisis over Brexit and the ensuing clash between representative and direct democracy, means the structure of the civil service in Britain is being recast by three major shifts. The first is the growth of politically appointed advisers. All governments since the 1990s have sought to pack Whitehall with loyal apparatchiks. Their numbers have now reached over 90. Special advisers adept at handling an often hostile media are a particularly valuable commodity, but government has been contaminated by the rise of the spin machine and permanent campaign. Political aides help to enforce the political will of ministers, overcoming the bureaucratic inertia allegedly imposed by the Whitehall machine. Advisers are free to attack the monopoly over policy-making once coveted by the civil service, to the detriment of due process.

The second shift is the personalisation of civil service appointments with ministers increasingly hand-picking their favourite officials for the top jobs. Secretaries of state use back-channels to veto the appointment of civil servants to key posts who they believe are not ‘one of us’. Mandarins who seek promotion are encouraged to fulfil the immediate wishes of their political masters. The higher turnover of permanent secretaries leads to instability in Whitehall departments. The independence of the civil service has been repeatedly undermined.

The third shift is the emergence of a bureaucracy that is becoming ‘promiscuously partisan’, unwilling to speak truth to power. Civil servants are more likely than ever to be dragged into defending government policy. For an official to dissent from the expressed views of their minister is to commit career suicide. Yet the ability of officials to say no is a vital ingredient in the ‘governing marriage’ between ministers and civil servants. …”

Governing as a permanent form of campaigning: why the civil service is in mortal danger