Last night’s hustings organised by Vision Group for Sidmouth ( VgS) gave the traditional chance for voters to quiz those standing for the Town and for District Council seats…. provided the candidates turn up, of course.

All the Independents, and a UKIP-er did. Very noticeably, not one local Conservative candidate for the District was there. Only Stuart Hughes bothered to send apologies, but was therefore not available to answer the obvious question of why he declares himself variously as Conservative, and as Independent, depending on which council he’s representing. (Is he simply more flexible than for example his Exmouth colleagues?)

Members of the public waited patiently at the empty tables set out for Tories Chris Wale, Sheila Kerridge and Tim Venner, but left disappointed. Wonder who’ll get their vote?

Self-explanatory: vote independent on Thursday

Our theme today is privatisation. SO many national privatisations of services have gone wrong – utilities such railways, water, electricity, with bills getting higher and higher and with directors taking obscene bonuses. Failing Grayling and his privatisation of prisons and the probation services (and railways!). NHS privatisation accelerating to hyperspeed so that any future non-Tory government will be unable to unpick complicated contracts. Companies such as Carillion bidding low, paying themselves high, going bankrupt – us picking up the bills.

At local level: refuse collection, some planning services, leisure facilities, libraries, some “public” spaces now in private hands – used to belong to us, now belong to them.

EDDC Tories MUST support privatisation – it is, and always has been, a top priority of their party.

“Bloody privatisation, have you got 50p?”

Owl thinks so:

Persimmon – making more than £70,000 profit per house
Taylor Wimpey – making just under £70,000 per house
Privatised companies going bust after massive payouts to bosses
Multi-national companies avoiding any tax anywhere
Social media oligarchs manipulating people for mega-bucks
East Devon house prices bucking trends and rising by double regional and national figures (see post below)

Time to change from the bottom up … vote Independent

Obscene inequality
Children in abject poverty
Massive increase in food bank need
Schools without resources
NHS privatised and on its knees
Global warming inaction
Potholed roads

Austerity: a political choice that favours the rich and punishes the poor.
There are things WE can do about these issues at a local level – but not by being whipped by the parties causing them.

Vote Independent …

Why have East Devon Tories had to recruit candidates who have more links with other parts of England, far, far away from East Devon?

We already have stories of an (admittedly locally educated) student who must spend the vast majority of his time at his university in Cambridge standing in Sidmouth Sidford and a person in Seaton who seems to have a much greater link to West Sussex than East Devon.

And we have the odd spectacle of old-timer and former Leader Paul Diviani deserting his home turf (Yarty, Blackdown Hills) after many years to stand in Broadclyst, still giving his address as Yarcombe. Go figure!

And around 30 candidates (mostly Labour but some Tory and Lib Dem and one independent – Harv Sethi in Ottery) refusing to say exactly which part of ‘East Devon District’ they live in.

Are there more?

But just these few examples show that, in particular, East Devon Tories are really, really desperate – they do NOT have any truly local replacements for candidates standing down.

Does this matter? Yes. We need to know just how active and interested candidates are in their chosen (chosen for them) seats. What motivates them? Their ambition or their community?

Fortunately, there is a solution. ALL East Devon Alliance Independent candidates have been locally-active and locally high-profile in their respective communities for years.

Cambridge, East Grinstead or East Devon based – make your choice wisely.

Public land owned by EDDC sold off during the time of the current Tory majority:

Today, something a little different. Above is a photo of Ottery St Mary Independent councillor (town, district and county at different times) Roger Giles.

Roger is a role model for what a good independent councillor must be – passionate about his community, principled, straightforward, eco-friendly, green, living and working in it all his life. He has been a councillor for 24 years and he has put his community first for all that time.

He claims almost no expenses (probably less than £ 100 in those 24 years), he cycles or walks as much as possible, tends his allotment and is approachable, available and active for EVERY member of his community who seeks his help.

Roger does not suffer political fools gladly! His firm but fair chairmanship of EDDC’s Scrutiny Committee and his forensic investigation of its planning omnishambles that helped to lead to the downfall of the much-maligned East Devon Business Forum and its disgraced chief, the notorious Councillor Graham Brown (more about him later in this series) have been recent highlights of his many achievements.

And why is he standing down? Because he believes the younger people of East Devon should have their chance to fill his (not inconsiderable) shoes and make their mark on the district.

Roger nurtured potential MP and councillor-warrior Independent Claire Wright and wants to see more like her in positions of influence in East Devon.

Enjoy your well-deserved retirement Mr Giles – local independents have a hard act to follow but will benefit from your great example.

Luckily, Mr Giles will remain a town councillor for Ottery St Mary if enough (sensible) people vote for him on 2 May 2019.

Another correspondent remembers old times …

Owl has recently featured a number of stories of Conservative Candidates standing in local elections when they appear to be spending time in places far removed from their constituencies, such as Cambridge and West Sussex.

The story does not end well for the Party of Strong and Stable Government. In the subsequent elections in 2011 the dummy withdrew and the ventriloquist was de-selected.”

How to register to vote (taking 5 minutes at most):

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

WHICH PART OF THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY DOES THE EAST DEVON CONSERVATIVE PARTY REPRESENT?

With Independents its easy – they represent your part!

Credit: Guardian

Swire (and his party’s view right down the line to councillors):

As explained here by Claire Wright:

https://eastdevonwatch.org/2015/03/24/claire-wright-responds-to-hugo-swires-jokes/

ALL community hospital beds in Axminster, Honiton, Seaton and Ottery St Mary have been closed, leaving community beds only in Sidmouth and Exmouth. As a result, beds are being blocked at the Royal Devon and Exeter ACUTE hospital:

Hugo Swire’s Conservative team at the last general election: male, pale, stale:

Claire Wright’s independent team: all ages, both sexes:

Cranbrook – planned entirely by East Devon District Council:

Roads to narrow to park on:

ALL the shops for the 3,000 or so people who currently live there:

Eventually it looks as though local villages will be swallowed up and Cranbrook will be a suburb of Exeter: