The results are in and with a 52/48 mixture, obviously not everyone is happy. The result is not all doom and gloom. On the plus side we will no longer paying to the EU more than we get out. We will no longer pay for the layer of bureaucracy in Brussels which has not had signed off audited accounts for over nineteen years. We will no longer pay for our MEPs since we will not need them.
I thought that the letters to the press are a good sign of desperation. In March a cluster of East Anglian council leaders joined forces to publicly back the campaign to remain in the EU. Were they lobbying the Government to bring us more grants and subsidies? Were they asking for more equity in the education funding arrangements? Were they asking for greater infrastructure support?
No, “The EU is, of course, far from perfect. But that is why Britain needs to stay, influencing the single market and protecting our interests.” If that were true why is the UK suffering the bureaucratic nonsense that we have been seeing from Brussels.
I only recognise two District Council leaders among the signatories (Mid-Suffolk leader Derrick Haley, Babergh leader Jennie Jenkins). If they were concerned for their local communities they would do more to move their Councils’ operations to Babergh’s building in Hadleigh. The saving to the communities would be £1,000,000 a year. Instead of which they have sat on their hands for two years ignoring the Consultants’ recommendation and declining to publish the recommendation as promised.
In June the Daily Telegraph published a letter from 165 Conservative District Councillors from all over England urging people to Remain and rubbishing the Brexiteers. Braintree (home to a prominent Brexiteer Pritti Patel M.P.) provided 21 of the signatories and voted 61.1%:38.9% to leave. Babergh provided only two signatories from recently elected members who seem to have little to recommend them apart from getting elected in the first place. Babergh voted 54.1%:45.8% to leave. The Babergh leadership was not in evidence on the June letter, nor was Mid Suffolk’s leadership visible. (Mid Suffolk voted 55.2%:44.8% to leave).
I think I was confirmed in my Brexit views when the Bremainders wheeled out Gordon Brown to support their case. This is the man who sold off just under 400 tons of gold from July 1999 to March 2002, at an average price of about US$275 per ounce, raising approximately US$3.5 billion. Immediately after the sale, gold entered a prolonged bull market and is currently priced at $1,315 per ounce. Why should anyone heed his advice? Currently we are in that dead zone when the battle has just been lost and won.
There are adjustments to be made and to quote Tim Passmore, Police & Crime Commissioner for Suffolk “Those worried about the decision should be understood – and that everyone should work together to try to ensure stability returns to the economic and political system as soon as possible. Now, though, we must all work together to make the decision work. We have to try to ensure community cohesion.”
Passmore
Policing in Suffolk
Tim Passmore, Suffolk’s Police and Crime Commissioner is seeking the views of the people of Suffolk over a series of proposals that could change the face of policing in the county.
At the end of last month the Chief Constables of Suffolk and Norfolk jointly presented proposals to the two Police and Crime Commissioners on the ongoing collaboration programme to help bridge the funding gap. The proposals included a joint Contact and Control room to be located in Norfolk and a combined Shared Services Partnership which aims to bring a number of support functions together in one location in Suffolk.
The proposals were discussed at length at the Collaboration meeting (on February 27th) but Suffolk’s PCC Tim Passmore felt that more detail was needed to be certain of the robustness of the plan and has asked the Chief Constable to present more refined proposals at the next Collaboration Panel meeting on April 30.
Meanwhile he is seeking the views of the public on the principle of the proposals which are to move the Police Contact and Control room to Wymondham in Norfolk and combine services such as HR, Estates, Procurement, Finance, ICT and Transport Service in Suffolk.
Tim Passmore said, “It is really important that I, as the elected representative of the people of Suffolk, fight to protect front line policing in the county and I believe that the control room is a very integral element of front line policing.
“No decision has been made yet, but I can assure you that I will carefully consider the Chief Constable’s proposals and will make my decision based on what is best for the people of Suffolk.
“I would encourage everyone to have their say.”
Please take part in the electronic survey, go to the website http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ or write to Tim at Martlesham Police Headquarters.”
There are various public meetings. The nearest one to Hadleigh will be held at: East Bergholt High School, Heath Road, East Bergholt, CO7 6RJ on Wednesday 9 April 2014
The meeting starts at 6.30pm. No need to book, just turn up.
Tim Passmore elected Police & Crime Commissioner
Tim Passmore, the Conservative candidate for the County post of Police & Crime Commissioner, beat Labour’s Jane Basham in an extremely close contest yesterday.
After second preference votes were counted, Tim polled 36,946 whilst Ms Basham had 35,005.
Mr Passmore said he was “pleased and honoured” to be elected as PCC on what was a “historic day” for Suffolk.
He said: “It was close. I know the turnout wasn’t particularly good – it was better here in Suffolk than in some areas but I have been critical of the Government all along in the way that the publicity was put out for raising the profile but the local media has done a fantastic job”.
“The Government should have financed an election address to everybody, particularly when you have got a new election like this, a new concept – I don’t know what they thought they were up to.” He said it had not been possible to go out and speak to all voters individually but he and his team had “done their best”.
About the low turnout (16%) and questions about his mandate after losing the first choice vote by 162 votes, he said: “Everybody had the opportunity to vote, if they don’t use it then that’s up to them so I don’t really go much for the argument about mandates.”
Acknowledging that under a different system Ms Basham would have won, he said: “It was very close and I think the point about this system is it does give a broader appeal. We did win quite clearly – in each of the seven districts and borough across Suffolk we had a clear majority on the second preference votes, hence we ended up with a majority of just over 1,900 votes overall. Whichever electoral system you pick there are always criticisms of how you run it.”Comments taken from: http://www.eadt.co.uk/news/politics/suffolk_tory_police_and_crime_commissioner_tim_passmore_criticises_government_over_ridiculous_handling_of_elections_1_1697036
Police and Crime Commissioner
On Thursday we will be voting for Suffolk’s first Police and Crime Commissioner. I am supporting Tim Passmore. His manifesto is on http://www.votetimpassmore.co.uk/. I’ve known Tim for a number of years.
For him if elected it is about:
● Cutting Crime
● Holding the Police to account for an annual budget of £125 million
● Keeping taxes down – the only element of your council tax with no democratic link is the Police Precept – a very regressive situation In Suffolk the public sector (excluding defence) spends £5 billion per year. There is huge scope for savings and improving efficiency and it needs someone with the right experience and determination to push this agenda through.
He is standing as a Conservative because that is what he is but the needs of Suffolk will always come above any party stance.
Tim believes that we need to be:
● Safer:
● Delivering much greater visibility of front line policing
● Improving respect for law and order in society
● Having a greater focus on detection and conviction of criminals and
● Being more robust in our approaches to drug crime, repeat offenders, anti-social behaviour, problem families and domestic violence.
So if you are so minded on Thursday (or have a postal vote) please vote for Tim, he is a man worth backing and will give us the right balance between feet on the street and toys for boys!
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