Even before the polling stations open tomorrow morning for this ill conceived general election I will be on my way to the Orkney and Shetland islands. Mrs Theresa May says she decided to call for an election whilst walking in Wales. For the first time since becoming involved in politics in the 1980s I will […]

This motion was debated by the Rab Butler Society in Saffron Walden’s town hall last Thursday evening. The motion was approved by an overwhelming 31 votes to 13. An initial vote at the commencement saw a much narrower approval of 21:17. Proposing the motion was Mike Hibbs, the Liberal Democrat candidate in June’s snap general […]

Pavement obstruction by parked vehicles continues to annoy many residents. They expect the authorities to do something about it. Of course, the annoyance is caused by many residents and visitors who don’t seem to mind blocking the way for pedestrians and people with child pushchairs and adults with mobility vehicles. I can’t understand the habit […]

I will be having Afternoon Tea in Stansted with Baroness Shirley Williams on Saturday. The following is an extract from the publicity material that has resulted in a “full house” for what promises to be a well timed event as a result of the expected General Election in June. Shirley was on Radio 4’s Today programme […]

We seem to be living in an age of pretend, unreal politics. We have a prime minister who pretends to be compassionate and wanting to help the less able in society. Yet as soon as she does something that upsets the Tory right-wing, such as paying for better social care services by increasing National Insurance charges […]

Thursday’s budget-setting meeting was largely uncontroversial. The main changes included an uplift in staff costs to make pay at Uttlesford (UDC) more competitive with pay at other councils; an as yet undefined attempt to improve customer service standards; a lot more money to keep the Local Plan on track. On the last point, planning is about £700,000 […]

Local election candidates who engage most on the doorstep with their potential voters are carrying out one of the basic activities of local democracy; talking to and listening to local people. That was one of the reasons why a Residents for Uttlesford candidate in Elsenham and Henham, who, so I am told, spent several hours a day on the stomp, came top of the […]

Last Thursday was not a good night for the Lib Dems in losing the two seats for Elsenham and Henham they had held for over 20 years. Their valiant and very able candidates Lori Flawn and Sinead Holland would have served the two villages well had they been chosen by the voters. The Lib Dems’ successful vote […]

These words are from WeAreResidents.org, the forerunner of the Residents for Uttlesford Party (R4U) fighting the by-election in Elsenham and Henham this week.  Their spokesman was quoted in the Saffron Walden Weekly News. It seems that when the chips are down – as they will be again in the coming year – R4U, a Saffron Walden-based […]

I promised on Jan 10th to post an account last weekend about an external report on the way the Local Plan has been handled. Sorry, but I was busier than expected last weekend so didn’t get round to it. So here is an account of what happened at Tuesday’s scrutiny committee. The report and those […]