I went to Dave Putson’s (former Belvedere Councillor)
‘Cost of Living Crisis’ meeting yesterday evening but some of the regular
attendees had not braved the freezing rain which is a shame.
Why does it take an ex-Councillor thrown out of Labour for doing nothing that would upset any
reasonable individual, to be the only local politician to take an active interest in the
plight of our poorest residents? (He is backed by Labour Councillors Nicola Taylor,
Erith and Larry Ferguson, Thamesmead East but largely shunned by the remainder).
During the formal part of the meeting I learned that Greenwich Council is
funding warm spaces for those no longer able to heat their homes with
free meals thrown in but it was alleged that a penniless Bexley Council has looked away.
It does however feature community funded
warm spaces on its website.
Dave on the other hand had produced a series of leaflets designed to help people
in difficulties find their way out of trouble. (Extract below.)
Probably Dave is as perplexed by my continued presence
at his meetings as I am but it is interesting to hear views that I do not find in
The Daily Telegraph (†). I also share many of the views expressed by his followers none of whom will have ever voted Conservative.
Should I admit (again) that I have at every General Election since 1964 and still believe that
in the last century the alternatives were unthinkable; but no longer. Somehow we
have got to the point where the country is in a worse state than I ever saw in those intervening
years. The financial situation is clearly not great but it’s not that which
worries me most. The lunatics have been allowed to take over every aspect of the asylum and it can only be blamed on 13 years of Tory misrule.
(Where
have I heard that before?)
Why have the Conservatives not put a stop to the nonsense that has infected so much of the country? Gutlessness, corruption, too individually rich, WEF? How can one
man (the PM) be blind to so many injustices, not to mention his inevitable fate?
Last night I was at one with the various speakers who believe that Rishi Sunak’s
government should not be allowed to continue. Quite obviously he doesn’t see the
profound damage he is doing to the fabric of the country, but I am uncomfortable with their proposed solution.
Strikes, strikes and more strikes.
I similarly take issue with Dave’s supporters’ belief that taxing energy companies
is the financial Holy Grail that would fund the NHS and give everyone employed
by the state a major bump up the pay ladder. No one explained if the
term energy company was confined to BP and Shell etc. or included the retailers
such as Octopus and Scottish Power. Only two years ago
the oil
companies were making an enormous loss. What would happen to the NHS if it
relied on oil money and the losses were repeated? Fewer diversity managers perhaps.
Click image to follow the Citizen’s Advice link.
† Maybe not for much longer. A Telegraph subscription now costs four times as much as the most expensive Netflix subscription.