Archive for May, 2008

May200825

Andrew Barrett

0

Crewe and Nantwich By Election

I was in Crewe and Nantwich the weekend before the election helping leaflet and canvas. Apparently there were around 500 helpers on that day, it was organised brilliantly, like a military operation.

This is me with some Conservative Future members on the day, with Eric Pickles MP.

As it turned out Edward Timpson managed to turn a 7000 Labour majority into a 7860 Conservative one, a swing of 17.6%, absolutely amazing.

The old Labour class warfare tactics completely backfired. It is only right that it backfired, it was a xenophobic and class hate campaign. They tried to portray the Conservative candidate as a ‘tory toff’ because his family have worked hard and own Timpsons. Labour have reverted back to their old ways, old labour has been reborn in Crewe and Nantwich this past month.

What matters is who you are not where you came from. Labour are not a party of aspiration.

May200804

Andrew Barrett

12

Hyndburn Council Tax; Most Expensive or Not?

Labour leaflets and Councillor Graham Jones have been banging the drum calling Hyndburn the ‘most expensive council in the country’. I delved into the claims, as I dislike unnecessary taxation. The main argument is based on a January 2007 article in the Telegraph that quotes Hyndburn council tax of being 8.1% of peoples income, the highest in the list.

I looked into the figures and as you can see from the link, it is based on peoples average income (£17,842) and the Band D rate of council tax (£1,439). At first glance it appears our council tax is excessively high in comparison with others.

It then dawned on me that they had compared it with band D housing and I thought, not many people actually have houses in band D. I looked at the figures and they confirmed it, 72% of people in Hyndburn live in band A and B properties, while 7% live in band D. Therefore you cannot compare expensive band D council tax with the average wage, because the average wage is low as the majority of people live in band A and B properties.

It is quite wrong to use the ‘most expensive council’ phrase as it completely misrepresents reality. I do believe it’s wrong to try and take the electorate for a ride simply because politicians know they won’t look any further than the headlines.

Whether the Labour group put it in the leaflets on purpose, or whether they simply don’t understand the figures, I suppose we’ll never know. Whichever one is the case I think it can only be a good thing that the Conservatives increased their majority on the council, because I don’t want a council that A) Misleads the citizens or B) have no idea what they’re doing.