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Topic: Ealing Centre in Crisis? Discuss
Posted by: George Knox
Date/Time: 03/03/10 18:28:00

What characterised the recent meeting was the shallowness of the parties’ views about the future of Ealing centre and the Borough. It was a missed opportunity to let us hear from our Councillors in electioneering terms the vision for the borough. It was a statement of limited or weak resolve, which shamefully was underscored by the Tory top dog Jason Stacey staying away beneath the covers.

Vision and Resolve is not a feature among Ealing’s politicians.

Cabinet Member Phil Taylor has really gone to town on his blog http://philtaylor.org.uk/ in response to a very packed meeting of residents concerning the future of Ealing town centre. His opening thread entitled Fantasy Town planning (22 February) was contemptuous.It was irritatingly infantile and surprisingly unengaged with the essence of the meeting. This was another PT classic display of form over content in moments when he recognises his weaknesses. As a politician of seemingly few years’ experience he scores over virtually all local Councillors of any political hue, because he engages – after that he gets few points on the rest of the scorecard. (Strangely, apart from huffing and puffing, he said nothing in the Victoria Hall and I believe left early, so missing some elements concerning how to stimulate the economy and a better life in Ealing). To me it is the mark of considerable cowardice that the others, with a few notable exceptions in the Liberal and Conservative parties barely ever engage publicly, unlike in some other local boroughs. The only active Labour man is MP Steve Pound and whatever your views he really cares about the future of Ealing and has in my opinion the greatest claim to being voted back in. It is a matter of deep shame that otherwise the Labour party locally are such wimps and they deserve to be booted out and replaced by Liberals - assuming you do not support the Tories or other minor parties. MP Sharma has a website it is true, but no blog site on which to engage with him. Sharma barely seems to have heard of anywhere except Southall or of the Indians who live there. Singh I think tried to broaden his field of view but seems to be sucked back into looking inwards. There are perhaps some old local scores to be settled. The Liberals nationally have some very good ideas http://www.libdems.org.uk/ and should be given a chance locally because Labour has such a poor history of non engagement. Liberals have been promoting their six main points for some time now so at least we know what they are fighting for. The labour party have only recently drummed up a war cry but they have stolen the long established message from the Liberals, (a frequent occurrence). The Liberals call is for fairness. Tories in contrast are promoting change – every five minutes. Combined with the polls giving us a hung parliament that is why PT is exhibiting nervousness by getting so garrulous, but on the other hand quite extraordinarily attacking so many people and particularly a group of people who are more likely to vote. There is a sort of hubris in biting the hand which feeds you. It is a breach of trust. He does not deserve to be voted back in until a mature and balanced approach is adopted. At least Singh publicly is a paragon of old fashioned courtesy, something which often some of the white oik classes seem to have forgotten. But as a turncoat from the Labour party he is nakedly ambitious and so his credentials are highly questionable.
 
If the Liberals at least are given a chance to show what they are made of in Ealing but fluff it, then it is only 4 years before they again would face judgement. The Liberal party centrally is proposing a cut of some 150 MPs and the Conservatives have jumped on the same bandwagon. I challenged PT about the excessive number of Councillors but he limply said we needed them notwithstanding his inability to review the constitution concerning allowances paid to the idle such as Sharma. PT bashes away on his website about expenses nationally, but then as a hypocrite does not attend to the mess in his backyard. To continue through inertia to be tainted with the opprobrium heaped on politicians because they have worked their expenses, is a form of moral cowardice. PT is a great one for selective commentary and the inability to be aware of what is happening around him. One of his great classics in September 2008 about the financial crisis was” This crisis will all seem very distant and unimportant before too long”. Is this man really connected with reality or is it he who is the fantasist? Eric Leach disagreed with PT in that thread and yet has been accused of having fantasy opinions. Well Mr PT, I know who has the wisdom. Ms Bray the prospective Tory MP (stealing yet another Liberal policy of returning Business taxes to the Councils) said in the SEC meeting that she could not detect crisis – is this our next politician without a hearing aid? In a marathon 29 exchanges on PT’s blog Feb 2009 he showed us for the type of politician he is – a ducker and a diver who refused to answer questions which went to the core of how the Council mismanaged itself. That is another reason why it is so hard to find respect – for him and for other politicians with similar tendencies. The Council didn’t like that thread at all. They then produced some information which ordinary people could start to understand. But it still beats me how some Councillors can take a view on the Budget Strategy and then vote on it when it is still written partly in such abstruse language.

Perspicacious as ever, PT’s latest jibe is he thinks I am a Labour man. He would be hard pushed to find when I last voted for the Labour or the Liberal party in LBE. I am not anybody’s man except one who looks for vision and the future well being of the area in which I live. PT is a Tory do nothing man – most recently evidenced by his refusal to find out how to justify his arguments on a new transport hub - one of the most key issues affecting our long term future. He does not even know how much it might cost (or benefit us) and in the same breath he says it would be too expensive. As I see it today, my prediction is that the local Tories will pay in the forthcoming elections, and it is just a question of by how much. Might PT also be one of the sacrificial lambs?

Sadly we do not have independent Councillors who like Eric Leach and Arthur Breens’ fight for local interests– these are the informed intelligent people who know their patch, take the long view, and whom Ealing needs more than any other. That is why Ealing is in crisis.


Entire Thread
TopicDate PostedPosted By
Ealing Centre in Crisis? Discuss03/03/10 00:26:00 Arthur Breens
   Re:Ealing Centre in Crisis? Discuss03/03/10 14:28:00 Phil Taylor
      Ealing Centre in Crisis? Discuss03/03/10 18:28:00 George Knox
         Re:Ealing Centre in Crisis? Discuss01/04/10 00:44:00 Wiktor Moszczynski
            Re:Re:Ealing Centre in Crisis? Discuss02/04/10 00:09:00 George Knox

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