East Worthing and Shoreham Labour Party

Fishersgate is a very deprived area. But no , this isn’t about the usual depressing statistics of ‘social deprivation’, this is about a tough little community working to improve itself, then being ripped off to the tune of over a £1,000,000 by the Local Authority (Adur) and its agents. And that, dear fellow taxpayers, ratepayers, lottery hopefuls, was our PUBLIC money, but the cost to the community is NO Community Centre, NO Sports Facilities, and the hounding of ordinary good people through the Law Courts .

Heaven knows, we have enough complaints about our ‘exclusively’ Tory Council. But it is the deeply undemocratic apathy we all have allowed to develop that is the real villain. How can just 12% of the electorate - it was only that many that voted-in the current Tory administration - possibly qualify as a ‘mandate’?

You may think that Adur Council funds most of its expenditure out of your hard earned Council Tax. WRONG! The largest part, three quarters, comes as direct government grants to ensure that good standards of service are guaranteed across the country. Thank the Lord!. Without it, this essential modernisation of vital social housing would never have taken place.

You don’t know what you miss till it’s gone

Did you notice the recent consultation on fundamental changes to the way our Council is run? Did you give your views? If you did, well done! You succeeded in getting past the Tories’s treacley reluctance to make it a success. A mere couple of percent did, complain the Tory councillors dismissively. Well, that’s YOUR failure, Councillors: the success of a consultation is judged on how far it succeeds in gauging our views. Of the mighty ‘few’ who did participate, over 80% opposed the councillors’ preferred option, the Cabinet system.

In a £70 million co-sponsorship with the Woodard Corporation - the hugely respected and successful operator of over 40 schools - Labour is transforming the life possibilities of thousands of our local children. 

Thanks to the determination of Geof Howitt and loud public protest, the Tories have backed down from their mean-spirited attempt to cut off funding for dial-a-ride. Now they have the gall to claim credit for NOT closing it down, while hypocritically lecturing voluntary helpers on their ‘working practices’ The Tory councillors’ working practices’ have, themselves, been pretty shameful.. How about their poor attendance record, and unearned allowances?

Why is that the Tories always look to the most vulnerable for budget cuts?

The Tories have hiked Adur Council Tax by 4.5% , and 4.6% in Lancing where they also control the Parish Council - right up to the limit the Government threatens to cap at. Who do they blame? The elderly! The new Concessionary bus fare scheme gives thousands of our senior citizens the freedom to move, a freedom that the exorbitant charges of our de-regulated buses and privatised railways denies to the old and young alike. There’s an extra £212 million of direct government funding on top of the £350 million last year, and still they say it’s not enough!

Wow, that tow head has everyone in a spin! Tessa Jowell, Andrew Rawnsley, no less. Londoners voted for Ken, not because of his politics, but because he was a character, a myth even. They will vote for Boris for the same reasons. They want good governance, but they yearn for character. The Terminator proved that in California: Grey wasn’t their colour.

Question: When does a problem become a car crash? Answer: When ‘convenient’, ‘smart’ decisions, devoid of integrity, lead to unpleasant but inevitable consequences. Ken Livingstone represents everything that New Labour fought the long, long fight to remove from the party: factionalism, extremism, racism disguised as inclusiveness, doublespeak, the wolf of megalomania wrapped in the sheepskin of the common man’s struggle.