Every time there’s an election, we hear the same spiel from politicians declaring how were going to take back control, we’re going to introduce a new dawn of politics, we’re going to make life better for you.
When has that ever actually happened? We march to the polling booths, we dutifully place our cross next to the name of our preferred local candidate, they win and… Nothing changes. Their promises are forgotten or resisted by other self-serving politicians. Back handers continue to be given (which we ultimately pay for) and more and more, our government both nationally and locally are using us as cash cows to fund vanity projects, to line the pockets of councillors and their pals and I found myself wondering how much has the cost of being governed risen over the years and whether or not we are seeing good value for money.
Could it be that the self-serving career politicians are so far away from the plight of every day person that it isn’t possible for them to understand our best interests, let alone work with them in mind?
Has your local MP likely heard the “clunk” of the electricity meter switching off because we haven’t been able to feed the meter since energy prices tripled?
Do you think Kier Starmer, leader of the labour party, has had to choose between heating their home and feeding their family? Or whether Peter Soulsy, Leicester Mayor, has ever been scared whilst driving because they’ve not been able to afford their tax this month? Or whether Rishi Sunak, Conservative Prime Minister, has ever had to ask for a handout from the DWP whilst they’re between jobs?w
Whilst Rishi Sunak was in such hard ship that he couldn’t watch Sky TV, veterans were living on the street being urinated on, their sleeping bags, if they’re lucky to own one, lit alight by arsonists who lack compassion for others, who are drunk and think it will be fun! No harm done.
Name a politician who has spent time living in shop door ways because they’re too young for social housing, and too old for social care whose £52 per week allowance had to stretch so far as food, water, launderette services and public transport?
Can you imagine Jonathan Ashworth or Claudia Webb, both Leicester MPs claiming to represent our citizens, queuing up at a soup kitchen, waiting patiently in line with some of the most vulnerable people in our society; the homeless, drug addicts, ex-criminals , victims of sexual violence and domestic abuse wondering where they will sleep tonight before choosing a safe place to hear “can’t sleep here, mate” every time you begin to fall asleep in the bitter cold…
Do you think our politicians, like Adam Clarke and Keith Vaz worry about losing their home if their employer can’t afford to pay their wages anymore?
Of course not. Whilst our politicians sit in ivory towers pretending like we care about metal sculptures and decorations, new cycle lanes and anti-motorist policies, they’re behaving as though we don’t deserve the right to quality housing, protection from unfair eviction and unlawful acts of employers and landlords, it is you and me who are struggling with day to day life being fully aware that we’re only a few wage slips away from financial ruin.
So this is it. We can’t be afraid of our politicians anymore, we have to take back control of our country and our government and demonstrate that we deserve a voice. Antiquated political systems that are no longer fit for purpose which serve the wealthy and politicians whilst neglecting those who vote for them, allowing individuals with a grandiose sense of superiority to make and implement decisions we have not asked for, against common interests, against the best intentions of the people.
Right now, there are roads being torn up and hours added to simple journeys because of an incessant desire to stop motorists entering the city, the addition of thousands of meters of cycle lanes that aren’t fit for purpose and the widening of roads that are adequately wide enough and nobody has been consulted and those who were have been ignored.
Self-serving individuals like Peter Soulsby and our Leicester City Council diverting funds towards vanity projects whilst ignoring the rising homelessness statistics. Car parking charges are going up, for those on lower incomes being forced out of city centres and of course, small business is being left behind because our mayor doesn’t give them backhanders and handouts, free buildings owned by the public purse like the old council building donated to wealth management firm Mattioli Woods.
I think we all agree that it needs to change. And that’s why I have decided to actively campaign for better representation in local and national politics. It is important to me that we take back control and show our government on a local and national level that our public servants serve us, they work for us. We need to be able to have greater influence over the decisions those claiming to represent us are making. We need to strive for political reform, to make politics more representative of the average common person.
We have to stop and think about the smaller issues that affect us day to day. Our government spends so much time dealing with big problems abroad whilst neglecting the things that are affecting us. Councils are using us as cash cows just because we don’t all have a spare £30 thousand to buy a electric car as we pay for “clean air” initiatives. ULEZ is out of hand, clean air zones are being introduced across the country and nobody is asking us, the taxpayer and electorate, if these revenue generating schemes are OK.
Sure, we need clean air. We need to play our part. And of course we will say no we don’t want to pay for an initiative.
And that should be OK when we consider the money wasted giving foreign aid to countries with their own space programs, who simply don’t need it. Or when we’re wasting money paying for support from a different political party. Or when our government are handing millions of pounds of our money to companies their friends own, just for their pals to embezzle the money and declare insolvency without delivering value to society. It is our money they waste and to demand even more from us for jumped up schemes that are poorly implemented at our expense is taking advantage.
It isn’t just the common people who are affected. Take a look at city centres, near carbon copies of the next with all the same high street brands and fewer and fewer small independent businesses because they’re driven out by inflated rents and falling footfall as local councils demand payment for parking making city and town centre shopping inaccessible for anyone who isn’t on a bicycle or two legs or who is capable or willing to use public transport which is more expensive than simply driving.
We’re in this together. Small businesses and citizens of the UK. There are always bigger issues in the world to focus on but perhaps our government should focus on the biggest issues affecting us right now, today, that aren’t influenced by the serious issues happening on the other side of the planet. Instead of spending millions on hotels for asylum seekers that we pay for because the government won’t allow them to earn a wage to pay their own way whilst they’re here, our government could spend that money supporting British homeless people and those who have contributed to our society into secure, stable homes.
The money we waste on building statues and sculptures can be spent instead on buying social housing stock so that those who legitimately cannot access the private rented sector aren’t forced to rent privately at their own detriment.
The cost of living in the UK is so high because government is making it more expensive to live; leaving the EU has meant more money has to be spent on shipping; printing customs documents and invoices, navigating tricky import/export rules, it all incurs an additional cost, the government seem to have forgotten about securing a deal with the EU that benefits us, even Gibraltar, a British overseas territory, is stuck in limbo no longer being a member of the EU and without access to the Schengen area, a deal our government were working on more than five years ago! I think we can agree that Brexit has so far been a disaster regardless of whether we voted to leave the EU or not. I certainly regret supporting the leave campaign knowing what I know now.