I have decided to delete the links to local councillor's blogs that I used to include under 'local issues' (on the right-hand menu). All of them, to a greater or lesser extent, were regularly posting entries that were nothing more than petty point-scoring over other local councillors and politcal parties. There were some genuinely interesting posts about local issues, but I was getting increasingly fed up with their misguided belief that we the 'ordinary' voters give two hoots about how they are so much better than that lot over there. So I have expunged them from SE5 (ha, if only!). Oh, I also expunged a Peckham blog because the author only ever writes scare-strories about the proposed tram link and frankly it was getting boring.
I can't say I have a very high opinion of the calibre of politicians and councillors in our local area. Our MP is none other than Culture Minister Tessa Jowell who is rather infamous for not having a home in the constituency or even in south London. I went along to one of her surgeries in the summer to ask her about the never-ending saga that is phase 2 of the east London Line. (I had to take a day off work as she doesn't hold surgeries outside working hours). Delivery of phase 2 would finally bring the tube to the Camberwell / Peckham area which has long been badly-served by public transport. I was amazed to discover that I knew far more about the latest status of the project than she did, although I had to show her a Hansard transcript of the Transport Minister's question time (2nd question) to prove her information was wrong. She promised to write to Ken Livingstone to share my concerns. A couple of months later, her office sent me a copy of Ken's reply which simply confirmed phase 2 has no funding, and they hoped this addressed my concerns. I gave up.
Now I certainly wouldn't advocate not voting. I think we all have a moral duty to use our vote. But the health of our local democratic politics depends upon how much we trust our politicians to have our best interests at heart, irrespective of which party they belong to. Unfortunately I think the Southwark political scene is far too bogged down with petty feuding and cross-party fighting to inspire this trust. Perhaps the way out of this mess is for more independent councillors and MPs? I'm not sure, but given the current mess I think it's worth a try.
