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Now we rely on hung council MailMarks
IF running Maidstone Council has been
difficult for the last two years it’s about to get even harder now the May elections meanwe have a hung council. We mustwait and see if this will bring
more cohesion in agreeing the vital but very difficult local plan. Responsibility (and blame) is shared more equally. The Conservatives lost five of their 30
seats and finished three short of overall control. But Cllr Annabelle Blackmore (Marden and Yalding), has been elected council leader (with 25 votes at the council annual meeting against 22 for the Lib Dems’FranWilson) and she has appointed five Tory cabinet members (retaining only her deputy Malcolm Greer and environment stalwart Marion Ring). Much of the power is still with the Conservatives, but howwell will they do in crucial votes at full council meetings and planning commiees? No one had confidence predicting the
local council and European election results – and the picture is lile clearer for next year up to May’s general and local elections. The local UKIP votewas much stronger
than expected – broadly reflecting the national trend – and the party’s four council seatswere all at the expense of the Conservatives. UKIP’s four councillors are
Problems go back 70 years
Dear Sir – The local and European elections were yet another opportunity to delay the inevitable fall of our Big Society. The UKIP vote was seen as some sort of radical vote to stop the tide of immigration that comes from Europe like the juggernaut that lands on the M20 each day; a protest vote that is gaining ground because we can’t cope any more with this constant influx of new people with new languages. The indigenous people are struggling
and desperate, but many problems that face our society today, and indeed elsewhere around the world, were born some 70 years ago. Although I live in Coxheath I have seen first-hand the implications of immigration on a population in a local area. My uncle lives in Southall, west London, and I was responsible for a company office in Bradford for a very short while. In visiting these places it is instantly visible that the local population is no longer indigenous to England or Britain. Southall is indeed lile India; Bradford is
lile Karachi. Our Commonwealth duty or responsibility for that exchange of young men for two world wars as part of the British Empire has cost us dear, not in terms of building a unitedmulticultural capital city and beyond, but in building countries within countries. We have definitively established that we
rarely truly integrate as different tribes. In the South East we enjoy a largely wealthy indigenous population that has been immune from such home invasion, but now with the European influx on top of our Commonwealth commitments, this feeling has broken the back ofmany of our
DENNISFOWLE President
dfowle2011@aol.com
reserving their own voting position on all issues and will not form coalitions. Their votes will oen be key. If the Tories
hold the vacant Staplehurst seat and retain support of two of five Independents they can muster 27 votes (one short of control) and the Lib Dems, with the support of two Labour and perhaps three Independents, can look to 24. In the middle are four UKIPs. The result could bring greater council harmony on the local plan, if not improved public support. Both the Tories and Lib Dems say theywant towork beer together and with KCC need to form a triumvirate with commitments on improved infrastructure. All three main parties in Government demand a massive growth in house building, and locallywe must prove the case for a substantial reduction in the 19,600 new homes up to 2031 projected on current evidence. I learn there is new hope that this figure is flawed – beforewe even start the case on infrastructure problems.
local people. Local politicians in Maidstone or further afield in Kent are perhaps mediocre because they haven’t had to work very hard to continue the status quo. If in the 21st century we still remain divided by the colour of our skin, even though we all talk the game of racial equality, then we should understand why UKIP is growing. Although Maidstone has largely been protected from such thoughts, constant new build developments just might change that acceptance here too. We have ruled by “right” but as with the decline and fall of our British Empire, can we still hang on to an outdated philosophy? We may be a post-Christian society, but perhaps we ought to drop our high- minded righteousness and become a post-right society too. Richard Maryan, Coxheath
Richard, your conclusion that different cultures rarely integrate is obviously contentious and makes a general assertion on a complicated subject that resonates emotionally with many. However, your point that the exceptionally
high number of homes being built in Maidstone borough could lead to the current national immigration debate becoming a much more local one strikes a less arguable chord. The mixture of an overheated property
market in London, Maidstone Council’s top priority to provide affordable housing and an abundance of large housing estates set to spring up in the borough in the next 20 years is likely to result in a more diverse racial and cultural make-up in Maidstone. This notion is likely to have been behind UKIP’s success in the recent elections, with four councillors winning seats on Maidstone Council and the party gaining more votes in
So what does the election tell us about
local politics? The big winnerwas UKIP with strong
support in both local and European elections.Were these protest votes? I believe in the main theywere – and UKIP will never repeat such success. But the party has shown that many voterswant major changes in Europe and immigration, and no party can ignore this and win a general election. The local Tories also suffered with big problems on the local plan. The double whammy lost them overall control. The Lib Dems fought the election largely
based on their opposition to local plan policies and once again showed how they are very resilient and can punch above theirweight. They still have 19 councillors. This is a remarkable achievement in the light of poor Lib Dem support in so much of the country. However, they could not reverse the
national slump in the European elections, with their poor showing in Maidstone severely denting the over-confidence of their parliamentary candidate Jasper Gerard. UKIP topped this poll locally as well, but the Tories and MPs Helen Grant and Hugh Robertson will be encouraged about prospects next May.
the borough than any other in the European count. Our local authorities must therefore learn
from the experiences of other areas in the country that have seen large influxes of people from minority backgrounds and do all within their powers to facilitate a high level of social cohesion. Response by Stephen
Vision for Europe
Dear Sir – The people of South East England have voted and I amgrateful to have a mandate to serve and represent the people of this important area in the European Parliament for another four years. The frustration and anger felt by the electorate is something of which I am acutely aware and also hold the same feelings when only in my first days back in Parliament the European Commission is trying to undermine David Cameron's historic budget cut by demanding an extra £500 million from British taxpayers to meet Brussels spending bills this year. This early assault by the EU underlines
how important it is for the UK to have MEPs present in Brussels and ready to act and represent and fight for the national interest. The mandate I have from the people of
South East England is to make Europe work beer for the UK, and ensure that economic recovery inspired by prudent economic management by Chancellor George Osborne is not hampered by Brussels regulations and other unnecessary EU red tape. Richard Ashworth, Conservative MEP for South East England
Maidstone Town July 2014 47
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