Unitary: Still more questions than answers

I am not going to go into automatic gloating mode; I don’t think this decision is the end and a lot could change – oddly enough the same warning I gave Labour after the previous unitary announcement, so I’m going to take my own advice.

But on the face of it, thinks look very bad for Morphew and his Green / LibDem allies on this, as the Boundary Commission says its preferred option is a full county unitary (including Lowestoft) that effectivly abolishes Norwich City Council.

City Hall have invested a lot of time and money into this; often in the face of strong opposition from us Tories, the wider public, parish councils and fellow authorities. If it all falls by the wayside – or worse, produces a result that is the opposite to the original unitary theory of an urban focus – then heads will roll at the council and rightly so. Already tonight what is clear is that Councillors from all parties are at each other’s throats – again. But whilst the Tory split on the issue has been clear for some time, the vicious manner in which Labour and the LibDems have turned on each other has surprised even me.

The media have also taken a hit; the EDP has been running a pretty consistent anti-unitary line (it sells well in the county) but the Evening News will have to choose its editorial line pretty carefully tomorrow to avoid looking rather outdated and simplistic. It has been running an almost minute-by-minute response today and the EEN should be congratulated for their depth of coverage.

Also the question being asked is if City Hall can stop the leakage of support; Cllr Ramsay pointed out tonight that the Chamber of Commerce have backed away from supporting a greater Norwich and now believes that “bigger is better” and we ought to have a “Norfolk wide lobby”. Many groups will back the winning side; City Hall have I think just days to stop this leakage.

We had a Councillor briefing tonight and the feelings amongst my colleagues in other parties was still utter surprise; I think that the searching for a reason “why” will start tomorrow. One source said to me that they don’t know how Norwich managed to throw it away from this position; I think that when we re-read the BC report in the light of tomorrow morning, we may once again be left with more questions than answers.

Morph does it again

A friend draws my attention to serial election-denier Steve Morphew.

Last year he said that Bowthorpe was robbed of a Labour Councillor (it elected a hard working Conservative instead) because of some obscure unitary leaflet.

Now apparently he writes in the Evening News that the people of Bowthorpe and Catton Grove must have woken up to wonder what they did by dumping failed Labour (and electing hard working Conservatives instead).

Elections are tough stuff; why can’t we just accept the verdict of the electorate without claiming they had got it wrong or didn’t know what they were doing?

County Council listens to Puppet Theatre fans …

You can read more about the decision of the Conservatives on the County Council to offer an emergency grant to the Puppet Theatre here, but it is worht noting that part of the political reasoning for unitary was that the county council never paid any attention to the City.

It is rather pleasing to see good ol’ Morph and co. posing for the cameras with their support, but then failing to actually help, and then see a Tory-run council step in with practical measures to help. I’m sure this example won’t make any pro-unitary leaflets from the City but it does rather blow yet another hole in their arguement.

Fixing an Evening News poll – can you get any more politically desperate?

Eagled eyed readers of the Evening News website are regularly amused by their opinion polls. Always with one eye on the big news, this week readers are being asked if they agree with council leader Steve Morphew in rejecting the proposed congestion charge for Norwich. Of course, needless to say, it should be asking if they agree with me as I was the first party leader to oppose it and it has taken Labour over 12 months to end up agreeing with me. Anyway…

When checked at around 4pm yesterday afternoon the results showed about 85% agreed with our Great Leader and 15% didn’t – not a shock as the congestion charge is about as popular as cold vomit.

However, check back at 7pm and in just a couple of hours had changed to 45% agreeing with Morph and 55% disagreeing. A truly remarkable political switch by the good people of Norwich. Or so it might seem…

This is such a big movement that I cannot get it out of my head that it has fallen foul of a concerted effort here – either voting on multiple computers or messing about with the cookies on a computer to allow multiple voting. If this is genuine then the good people of Norwich might be collectivly losing their marbles. Short of that, I wonder if foul play is afoot?

Who would benefit from seeming public support for this? Ah, our Green colleagues – the last party still clinging to a pro-charge stance (yes, even Cllr Cooke’s dullard LibDems have managed to spot the electoral problem with this). Maybe this policy isn’t down well on the doorsteps of the intelligencia and a nice fair opinion poll is required to help the pill go down?

Labour say vote for the candidate who lives closest to Bowthorpe

During our walkabout this morning I was passed a copy of the latest Labour leaflet by a resident. In it, the following classic line appears:

“In the end she [ Chrissie Rumsby, the former Labour Councillor ] lost her seat to a Tory who lives miles away by just 9 votes.”

Oh, so it’s a competition to see who lives nearer to the ward is it then? We won’t go into the fact that both remaining Labour councillors live miles from the ward themselves, but that this really is a stupid-bordering-on-hypocritical stance to take.

When I lived in the ward and stood against dear old Ron Borrett who lived “miles away” in New Costessey and then again when he lived “miles away” in Eaton, Labour urged people to vote for the long-distance councillor Ron Borrett.

And next year, when Dereham Road resident Niki George (who lives a minutes walk from the ward) stands against City Centre resident Brenda Ferris (who lives “miles away”) I wonder whom they’ll want people to vote for then?

I notice that the great Leader Steve Morphew has taken over as agent … not a great start then Steve!

Is the Council’s Communication Department now directly supporting the campaigning work of Labour Councillors?

Councillor’s were surprised yesterday to recieve two copies of the same Norwich City Council press release regarding the environmental standards of new homes in Three Score, Bowthorpe.

The first was the standard press release copy sent to the media, councillors, senior council officers and others.

The second was a carbon copy of the first, with the exception of one thing … the addition of this line:

Further to the below email, Bowthorpe councillor Brenda Ferris is available for comment on XXXXX XXX XXX. Thanks

This is a bizarre move – normally all the material the council wishes to give is in the press release and no further comment is made. On Norfolk County Council Press Releases the contact details for all 4 party spokesman are given in order to be fair. Normally Norwich give contact details of nobody to be fair.

Yet on this important story regarding Bowthorpe, a decision was made to encourage the press to contact a specific councillor for more comment – and it just happens that this specific councillor is the sole Labour member for the area. The majority Conservative Councillors were ignored. Neither Cllr Wyatt nor I were contacted.

Was it because of Cllr Ferris being Deputy Leader of the Council? Nope. Look at the wording – it’s very clear. Not Deputy Leader Councillor Brenda Ferris, but Bowthorpe Councillor Brenda Ferris.

John and I have now had to ask why this was the case and also for assurances that the Communications Department at City Hall were not “leaned on” over this story. We need to know that press officer were not asked to put in the line in order to get publicity for a Labour councillor in a marginal seat up for election next May. We also want to know how many press releases are followed up with Labour Councillor contact details.

This unfortunately looks very suspicious. The extra e-mail, the inclusion of the local member details and the fact it was only Cllr Ferris should make us think again. We need assurances on this – and fast. Our Communications Department must be, and must be seen to be, pushing the message of the authority not of a political party. The impartiality of local government depends on it.

Of course, the irony is that the EDP who followed the story up today took the quotes from the press release from Cllr Morphew and also those from my own press release which I did off my own back and without the aid of a local government bureaucracy.

Political Scrutiny

Scrutiny Committee is one of the most powerful tools in the checks and balances on the executive in councils. It gives a wide range of councillors the chance to inspect policy at close detail, to question key officers and to analyse and probe the workings of the authority. I have been very impressed by the work of the scrutiny committee (on which I serve) and think it has a big role especially in a hung council. Scrutiny matters and, thus, the Chair of Scrutiny matters.

Last year it was held by now-former Councillor Ian Couzens who took on the role as he was then Leader of the Opposition. (It, in my view, really needs to be an opposition councillor doing the job because as Chair of Scrutiny you set the agenda and if the Chair was the same colour as the administration they may not be as vigerous in keeping tabs on their work). Even after the new leadership of Hereward Cooke took over, Ian kept his position and did a good job.

So you might image that this year Hereward would step into the role as Leader of the Opposition. Not so. Apparently the Opposition Leader has no right to the job.

On Tory run authorities in Norfolk they are changing the rules so that Conservatives Chair scrutiny and sideline our opponents – so in Broadland an Independent Councillor will do it instead of the LibDems. I will be honest and say that I do not favour this as I don’t think it aids democracy and accountability very well.

Anyway, here in Norwich the LibDems have lost the Chairmanship of Scrutiny and it has been given to the Greens, whom Steve Morphew described in today’s EDP as being “more honest”.

Now the LibDems can’t seem to walk anywhere in Norwich without getting a smack in the mouth by a garden rake. A few years back they gained control with a massive swing and controlled the council with a big majority and a lot of goodwill. They seemed odds-on to oust Clarke and seemed to be motoring.

Now they are reduced to a rump of councillors, with many of them predicted to lose their seats next time around. They are split from top to bottom over their Council Leadership as well as their controversial choice of PPC for Norwich South. Their campaigning has gone into meltdown and they seem to pose no threat to anyone at the moment. So losing the Chair of Scrutiny must seem like being slapped with a wet fish, whilst you’re down.

Instead, bright eyed Green Councillor Claire Stephenson steps in the ring – apparently saying that Scrutiny will look at things through Green eyes now. I do hope that isn’t the start of the party politics on Scrutiny. We have enough of that on council without it dripping into committee too. Claire is intelligent, hard working and popular – I’m sure she’ll do a good job and the mark of that is keeping her own side under control too! So watch out, Cllr Ramsay.

Now Labour justify this decision by saying that the LibDems are two-faced, lied in their election material (when don’t they???) and cannot be trusted to Chair such an important committee.

According to the EDP battle lines are now drawn between Labour and the LibDems. My advice would be thus. To Cooke, the LibDems squaring up to Labour is like a 4 year old taking on a nightclub bouncer at the moment. Don’t bother, bide your time. To Ramsay, make sure your party is being politically plundered by Labour … sometimes power isn’t worth selling yourself out for. To Morphew, let’s keep a good natured co-operation good for a while longer.

NOC is going to be even more interesting this year…

The minutes will never really show this moment of absolute LibDem stupidity

The keen eyed amongst you will have spotted a moment of absolute political stupidity amongst the pomp and ceremony of last Tuesday’s “Mayoral Making” at City Hall.

In amongst the hats, tights, men in wigs and newly elected Tory Councillors (a-hem!) there is a nasty bit of politics during which the council votes for a new Leader of the Council and then his (or her) Executive.

Who wasn’t paying attention at a key moment, then? For just as Cllr Morph is up for a second year in the tob job, the Labour Councillors all duly vote the right way. The Greens and Tories sit firmly on their hands and then suddenly … up pops the hand of one Cllr Hereward Cooke, the LibDem Leader.

The councillors suddenly double-take – was Cooke voting for Morphew to be Council Leader? In either a daze or too embarrassed to rectify the mistake, Cooke keeps his hand up and a handful of his backbenchers (who either aren’t paying attention or resemble sheep) also vote for Morph. There were at least 5 – and maybe more.

Are the LibDems split over the future Council Leadership or did their Leader take his eye off the ball at what can be considered one of the more important moments of the civic year?

At best this will be remembered fondly as an error of judgement, but at worst every time his criticises Labour at a Council meeting I am sure some kindly soul will remind Cllr Cooke that he put Morph into power.

Moments after this incident, the LibDems then en masse abstained over the executive. Or maybe Cllr Cooke wanted Morph but not the rest of the Labour crew!

The mumblings over Cooke’s leadership continue and this will not have helped. One LibDem Councillor fumed after the meeting that Norwich now had its very own Sir Ming Campbell.

Oh dear.

The Real Face of Unitary: Cuts, Layoffs and Fewer Services

Norfolk County Council has apparently gone over the Norwich City Council Business Case for the Unitary bid. They say that the figures do add up – but only if social services jobs are cut, library hours will be slashed and certain services will not survive after the reorganisation.

Interetingly enough, Labour Leader Steve Morphew says staff would not be sacked but would go through natural wasteage.

Hang on – he doesn’t deny that the Unitary Council would need less staff and would need to scale down services. He just says we’d wait for people to quit or retire rather than being sacked.

Unitary status will mean job losses and fewer services – be assured of it.

Handbags at Dawn

I am saddened by Steve Morphew’s bad tempered reaction to his party’s defeat at the hands of the Conservatives.

He thinks this is a due to a leaflet put out by Norfolk County Council regarding Unitary status – I am sorry to disappoint Cllr Morphew but Unitary was barely mentioned on the doorstep at all.

However, if he is wondering how Labour has managed to lose what was their safest council seat to the Conservatives two years running, let me offer him the words of a former Labour voter from Bowthorpe who left this comment on this blog:

“Labour did not put any leaflets through doors, so voters didn’t really know what the detailed manifesto was. The Conservative leaflet came through most doors setting out the bread and butter issues, unitary was not mentioned.Bowthorpe and Earlham is still riddled by litter, vandalism and graffiti. Labour hasn’t done much on the ground to clear this before the election.Bowthorpe and Earlham have been ignored with funding compared to NELM areas.The Labour Candidate hadn’t done the groundwork and was relying on the central Labour spin machine. John Wyatt came across as the better candidate who could put the time in, and connected with voters with green issues and being down to earth as an allotment holder.Council Tax was increased by 4.7% by City Labour. Big issue. Too much for pensioners like myself, and double inflation rates. We are not even getting the basic good services like prompt litter cleanups. It takes ages and doesn’t always get properly reported by City Halls centralised contact numbers. We are not getting value for money under City Labour, at the moment.I can’t see where Steve Morphew wants to go with this, and there is a risk it might backfire on City Labour as a sour grapes party, who sat on their laurels in Bowthorpe, like last year. I think it will further alienate City Labour.”

Perhaps Cllr Morphew should be looking at the performance of his council and his candidates before blaming everyone else for his party’s defeats.

People in Bowthorpe voted for a better candidate who was offering solutions to the problems faced in our community.

He may be happy to spend the next few weeks locked in rooms with lawyers and spin doctors – myself and John Wyatt will on the streets making Bowthorpe a better place to live and work.

UPDATE: I have just recieved a message from Steve saying he wasn’t aiming fire at me, or persumably John, personally. Nice to know and I thought I would make that clear – although I feel the advice offered from the former Labour voter above is still valid.