Colchester Lib Dem Councillor and blogger Nick Barlow is stepping down after 8 years. He explains why in a thoughtful piece here. It is worthwhile reading for anyone trying to become a councillor. Key extracts:
…But what about localism, I hear you ask? Don?t you have all sorts of new powers to do things your way? Pause to hear a legion of councillors laughing sadly at that. Localism sounds good, especially when put through the party political spin machine, but in practice it just means we get to locally decide how much we agree with Eric Pickles on something ? total or absolute. For instance, the old centrally imposed housing targets have been removed, which sounds good, but the evidence base on which councils have to decide their housing targets haven?t, so it?s a case of no longer being told from the centre that the answer is 10, but instead being give two fives and told to go away and add them up locally, and you?ll be entirely responsible for the result. After a while being caught between voters? expectations of what the Council can do, what it can actually do, and Whitehall?s continued belief that we should just be local delivery arms for the Government can get pretty tiring.
I?m reminded of what Tony Benn said when he left the House of Commons, that now he?d have more time for politics. One of the problems of being involved in the day-to-day politics of being a councillor is that you get swamped by the process and forget the wider issues. There?s a tendency to let everything become a process story, and I think that goes some way to explaining why a lot of politicians are suckered by the cult of managerialism ? you can feel that the important thing is the sheer action making of decisions, rather than what decisions actually are….
….I?ve still got a month left on the Council, so it?s probably a bit early for epitaphs, but it?s been fun and I?d still recommend it to people who want to have some impact on their community, even if the Council?s not quite the grand seat of power it used to be. To those who remain, and those who come after me, I can only echo the words of someone much older and wiser than me:
One day, I may come back. Yes, I may come back. Until then, there must be no regrets, no tears, no anxieties. Just go forward in all your beliefs and prove to me that I am not mistaken in mine.
Excellent item Admin – he endorses my recently posted dig at the so called Localism Act , ” smoke and mirrors ” we’re the words I used myself, but more eloquently expressed above I think.
Nick’s words: “There’s a tendency to let everything become a process story, and I think that goes some way to explaining why a lot of politicians are suckered by the cult of managerialism – you can feel that the important thing is the sheer action making of decisions, rather than what decisions actually are…. ”
are spot-on.
Somehow I doubt the words in the grey box at the end will ever be spoken by EuroClagg….I wonder if he has started to research his Spanish deckchair business yet…