Homelessness and council costs are likely to get worse under coalition government proposals to cap housing benefit at the average national household income. That’s what the private secretary to the Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles, wrote in a letter to the Prime Minister, as reported on today’s Observer front page. The letter calls for changes to any […]

Back from a break in Transylvania; yes the home of Dracula! Didn’t meet any vampires. Must be fictional after all! The story of planning in Uttlesford remains a yarn that changes from day to day, if not from day to night. I went to Uttlesford’s official talking shop on Tuesday evening; the South Area Forum, to learn […]

I wrote last November about the planning crisis at Uttlesford brought about by a ‘head in the sand’ attitude by the council’s Conservatives. I regret that it’s happened again. First the Tories scrapped all housing targets for the district. They then made up their own numbers which ignored the fact that people move into Uttlesford […]

According to yesterday’s Daily Telegraph councils are going to be forced to take government money to reinstate weekly bin collections? But what does this mean? Weekly collections of residual waste bins? In Uttlesford these are black bins and they ARE only collected every fortnight; and with good reason? Over four years ago the then Liberal […]

A move in the House of Lords to put the breaks on police commioners being elected across the country from May 2012 has relevance in Essex. Meanwhile, in Saturday’s Independent Brian Paddick, the former deputy assistance police commisioner in London, said that one person cannot do an effective job; even a democratically elected police commissioner. […]

Analogies are never perfect, but the following letter I have sent to local papers tries to overcome some of the myths and lies put out by the AV No Campaign. Threats to report the Conservatives to the Electoral Commission for their untruths have emerged today. “If readers go into a shop, ask for a Mars Bar and find […]

I had my best doorstep conversation yesterday of the whole election campaign – with a non-voter, an under-18 year-old. This was someone alert to the world of politics. She hoped to go to university, but did not see a higher education as a personal right, free of personal charge and responsibility. She also agreed with […]

How right he is. Tactical voting and negative campaigning are the most demeaning elements of election campaigning, even in local elections. In the present district council elections in Uttlesford Lib Dems are saying “don’t vote Labour because that lets the Tories in” and Labour candidates have on their literature the plea “don’t vote Lib Dem […]

Tory attacks on the Lib Dems wanting to spend money that ‘does not exist’ has been totally undermined by today’s announcement that Uttlesford will bank £714,365 of the coaltion government’s New Homes Bonus. See today’s press coverage: http://bit.ly/i7V7iZ For four years the Tories have been exaggerating financial problems at Uttlesford. They said the council was bankrupt when […]

The chairman of last night’s meeting of the council’s finance committee tried to censor the public record to cover up his party’s political embarrassment. Despite what looked like a blatant attempt to bully public servants, I doubt that Cllr Robert Chambers will be allowed to get away with it. Yet it does raise the question of whether political […]