Showing posts with label General Election. Show all posts
Showing posts with label General Election. Show all posts

Saturday, 13 March 2010

nothing changes...

So last time I wrote I was lamenting the fact that we have heard precious little about what actual policies our PPCs are putting forward. Yet it seems they are all still reluctant to do that as the subject has turned now to the matter of election funding. Yes, it's a scandal that Lord Ashcroft has been bankrolling the Tories to the tune of millions and yes I'm sure some of that money has found its way into Cornwall to help the candidates here if not directly but through all those lovely glossy leaflets which show no sign of stopping or the giant billboards which have sprung up around Cornwall featuring "ordinary" people saying they have never voted Tory but why they will now.

However to the average man on the street I'm not entirely sure that this is a key issue - they simply don't care. Speak to most people and while they will agree that it's not right they are also not so daft that a few glossy leaflets are going to dictate how they vote. In fact because of the MPs' expenses scandal of last year most people have heard about Ashcroft and just shrugged their shoulders - it doesn't surprise them that such practices exist. This is particularly the case in Cornwall where many see Westminster as a far away land which has little or nothing to do with them.

If anything it has just shown how out of touch with the general public the main political parties are - rather than stamping their feet and shouting about how unfair it is they would be better off telling us how they would stop it and then tell us something, just something, about what they will do to help Cornwall.

As I said before there is a black hole in the information being put forward by most of the candidates, hopefully once the election is declared we might see something tangible but for now the silence is deafening.

Wednesday, 10 March 2010

Another blog?

I know, I know - "not another blog looking at Cornish politics?!" I hear you cry. Well, hopefully this one can be a little bit different. There are a few out there already, but none of them really speak to me or the many others out there like me. They are either penned by councillors or parliamentary candidates who wear their party colours prominently on their sleeves or they are written by random people who claim they are independent but can also be seen to be clearly setting out their stall for which side of the fence they are standing on.

Then there are the rabid folk who inhabit the many message boards and forums of the internet crowing on endlessly about the merits of an independent Cornwall based on medieval law and arguing themselves into ever decreasing circles until they begin to resemble a hyperactive puppy who has just discovered his tail.

So what will I be blogging about - everything and anything that catches my eye here in Cornwall, but mainly the goings on at Cornwall Council as well as anything involving our MPs, MEPs or the aforementioned Parliamentary candidates.

Feel free to comment on any of my posts - whether you agree or disagree I am open to all opinions.

I am not a member of any political party - heck I haven't even decided which way I will vote in the forthcoming General Election - although I'm reasonably sure who I won't be voting for.

Yes I'm writing anonymously, but does it really matter? I want to write form the perspective of the man on the street in Cornwall - the ones who are paying their taxes and asking what they are getting from them, the ones who are filling their ever expanding recycling bags with leaflets from parties of all colours and the ones who shake their heads in disappointment.

Let me know what you think.