13 March (Part 2) - Getting the wrong idea
I never intended or even dreamed when starting occasional blogging in 2009 that some people
would assume I was some sort of political pundit but that is what I sometimes
read into messages received.
As the election approaches I find myself pressed more and more to give an opinion on
various subjects. Ramming opinions down throats is definitely not a primary motivation,
I am much more comfortable reporting facts and letting readers draw their own
conclusions. My own may well be easily deduced at times but I hope I will never get near to
blatantly saying vote Labour or vote UKIP or anyone else.
I have admitted before that my lifetime voting record has been 100% Conservative except
for one aberration when a friend stood in Aldershot for the Liberal party circa
1969. And I have voted in every election for which I have been eligible except
the European Referendum in June 1975 when I was away on holiday. I would
probably have voted ‘yes’, but beyond that I admit nothing. I’m certainly not
going to get drawn very far into answering questions like…
What are your thoughts on the EU? Do you believe the EU effects us locally?
I do not wish to ask who you are voting for, just your views on the EU effect on
local councils.
Apart from
the rather generic, ‘the EU gets into every aspect of British life’ I
would not claim to know much detail. UKIP Bexley’s Tweets too often ask other party
representatives for their view on various issues. I find it rather annoying.
UKIP is a political party and should be spouting its own policies not feeding
off those of others. I am not a political party and have no intention of joining
any or pushing any particular policy, well maybe honesty and transparency, but
nothing more. For the record I was an inactive member of the
Conservative party until 1992 or thereabouts.
Someone sent me me a video about the EU and local councils. It’s UKIP
‘propaganda’ but it may well be true. View it via the associated image and make up your own mind.
Whilst the anonymous EU question was probably entirely innocent others may not be.
There was the suggestion that councillors Hunt and Taylor were the authors of
Bexley council’s obscene blog which was totally untrue and I now suspect came from
the councillor who knows exactly who was responsible for those obscenities.
More recently, two anonymous messages assured me that councillor Colin Campbell didn’t say
“crap” in the council chamber. I am absolutely certain he did and so are some
councillors - they’ve told me so. Mischief making messages are inevitable but those
like this are more worrying, it seems to suggest I am taking political sides…
Your support for Teresa Pearce MP is very misguided. Be careful.
Well thanks for the advice but if my words have been mistaken for support for
Ms. Pearce I have been very careless with them. All I thought I had done was accurately
report what she has done. I don’t personally agree with all she stands for but
that doesn’t stop me reporting what she has done for me, a constituent. A
constituent who has never ever voted Labour. My politics haven’t influenced her
and I hope mine will never influence what I say about MPs.
If Teresa ever sends me an email anything like…
I understand that you left a telephone message relating to Bexley Council. As I
hope you will appreciate, the operations of Bexley Council are entirely
independent of my role as one of the borough’s local Members of Parliament.
Complaints relating to the London Borough of Bexley, its functions, governance
and administration should be addressed directly to the Council, with further
potential redress available through the Local Government Ombudsman.
…I’d be telling you how useless Teresa Pearce is, but that one came from James Brokenshire to one of his constituents. You may safely assume that my 100%
Conservative voting record hangs by a thread, but what you do is none of my business.
And I still wish that circumstances had not dragged me into the awkward position in which I now find myself.