Category: Government

Do we really need local government reorganisation with all this debt around?

Local Government Reorganisation: Government is involved in an exercise akin to – rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic when the ship is sinking. We needed reform of local government finance not fiddling around with local government boundaries

Councils in East Sussex hold debts of almost £600 million

The Labour Government is involved in an exercise akin to – rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic when the ship is sinking. It is an organisational reshuffle without reform – structural changes that don’t tackle underlying issues. We needed reform of local government finance not fiddling around with local government boundaries.

Councils in East Sussex hold debts of almost £600 million reports the Argus and the BBC.

It’s like an episode from the BBC’s Yes Minister,  but it doesn’t just waste the time in the Ministry of Administrative Affairs  – it is wasting time up and down the country of all of the councils and thousands of councillors.

What is worse is that government ministers didn’t review the cost of the reorganisation. In a recent BBC report it is revealed that the Government did not do its own analysis of the cost of the biggest reorganisation of councils in England for decades!

What is needed is the reform of local government finance. For years  local councils have had to put the begging bowl out to the Government on numerous ‘single issues’ from potholes to social care to name just two.  There is no government strategy for financing local authorities and Angela Rayner’s (Deputy Prime Minister) local government reorganisation, misguidedly called ‘devolution’ isn’t going to improve the situation.  It’s the cart before the horse. There needs to be a strategy for local government finance rather than reorganising council areas on a map! 

For years the Government has ignored the underlying issue –  they have been reactive  – moving from financial crisis to financial crisis while services get worse.

I believe it’s not too late to cancel this reorganisation and stop the car crash.

The image used at the head of this article is free to copy. See: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Prime_Minister_Keir_Starmer_hosts_first_Cabinet.jpg

Who will win in the Lewes Constituency?

The General Election is just weeks away, on the 4th July…… But who will win in Lewes?

The chart above shows the state of the parties in the 2019 election

The General Election is just weeks away, on the 4th July……

But who will win in Lewes?

In the elections of 2015. 2017 and 2019 the Conservatives won with the Liberal Democrats hot on their heels. Both parties were many thousands ahead of the other parties. So, it looks like a battle between the Tories and the Lib Dems.

However, we have to remember this is a First Past The Post election where the winner takes all, even if they are just a handful of votes ahead of the rest. This means if the Green and Labour parties put in a good showing, then the Conservatives could easily retain the seat. On the other hand, if the Reform Party does in fact put in nomination papers for their candidate, then the Conservatives are likely to suffer. No doubt the campaign will hot up in June!

Here is a guide to the results of the 2019 election:

The Conservatives won in 2019 with 2,457 votes, – just 4.50% margin. This was down by 5.7% from the 2017 election.:

Data from Wikipedia

Who will be standing ? The official registered candidates are:

  • Conservative
  • First UK Non-Political Party
  • Green
  • Labour
  • Liberal Democrats
  • Reform UK
  • Social Democratic Party

More information:

Liberal Democrat Manifesto 2024: with a summary of policies and link to the full document

Liberal Democrats Manifesto 2024

About James MacCleary – Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for the Lewes Constituency

James MacCleary – Liberal Democrat


Liberal Democrat policies and beliefs 

Liberal Democrat policies and beliefs – check out this collection of links to web sites providing further information

Here is a collection of links to web sites providing further information.  A good starting point is Sir Ed Davey’s speech to the 2023 spring conference of the Liberal Democrats:  Ed Davey’s speech to Spring Conference  (52 mins)  This link also gives the text of his speech (very useful)

Along with this: What Liberal Democrats stand for – beliefs, principles and values

You may also find this article by Mark Pack (President of the Liberal Democrats) useful

What do the Liberal Democrats believe?

The Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors (ALDC), also have policy and information to support campaigners with advice, resources and training ☎️: 0161 302 7532 📧: info@aldc.org  Twitter: @ALDC  https://www.aldc.org/  You may find this helpful: 

ALDC Guidance and Resources

Regarding Europe check this short piece by Ed Davey:   

We must fix our broken relationship with Europe 

The UK needs an ‘Operation Nightingale’ for Ukrainian refugees

The UK needs an ‘Operation Nightingale’ for Ukrainian refugees – Over 100,000 UK families are offering rooms in their homes but staging post accommodation is needed now!

The British people have demonstrated this week that they are very willing to help the Ukrainian refugees with over 100,000 families offering accommodation in their homes. This is great news and again shows to the Government we are a humanitarian nation.

However, the process of getting people to these homes could be long and drawn out so why not stage an “Operation Nightingale’’ for the refugees? We did it in Covid so why not now?

The Ukrainian refugee crisis is an emergency, and it requires emergency action. The UK needs an ‘Operation Nightingale’ approach to helping these victims of Mr Putin’s aggression. The UK Government should use its emergency powers to commandeer empty buildings which could be used to house refugees whilst better accommodation is being sought. Here in Lewes District, there are examples of empty buildings such as the former NHS building in Friars Walk, Lewes (feature photo above) and the UTC building in Newhaven.  Such buildings already have toilet facilities, and it wouldn’t take much to kit them out with temporary shower units and kitchens.

There is a big role also for the Lewes District Council and the East Sussex County Council. We already know that the District Council are intending to rehouse themselves at the County Hall building taking up already vacant office space at County Hall. The District Council could delay the leasing of their building to Charleston House Trust and turn over their officies for emergency accommodation.

This approach could be repeated across the UK. In England alone, there are 333 district, county and borough councils. Each of these should be asked to review publicly owned property with a view to setting up a ‘Ukrainian Refugees Operation Nightingale’

This should be linked with one important, but simple step, the British Government needs to bring down the barriers and allow Ukrainian refugees to come to the UK visa free. The rest of Europe has taken such a measure so why not the UK?