Political Games

Some poorly played politics at the last Council meeting in 2008 with the 'surprise' LibDem motion looking to comment on the 'rationalisation' of the former Waters & Robson by Coca Cola.

My views on Coca Cola's take-over are spelled out in this blog and I would have liked to rehearse them in Council - but the way the LibDems brought forward the motion and refused pointblank to discuss it beforehand when asked leaves a sour taste in the mouth.

And - why single out Coca Cola? There are enough jobs under threat elsewhere - particularly with the new (LibDem-run) unitary council (probably 15-20 times the job losses with Coca Cola)

An Unholy Alliance

I quite like the idea of being part of an 'Unholy Alliance' - as the Tory-Labour coalition now running the Borough Council has been dubbed. It's particularly interesting because - at least for the moment - the two parties seem to understand and trust me and the two Independents rather more than each other...

You have to feel sorry for the LibDems though. They've been 'in power' at the Borough Council - as part of coalitions with the Independents, with Labour, with everyone - for over eight years, and now when they have a huge election triumph with their highest ever number of seats, they find it's their turn to be in opposition.

Of course it didn't help that they went around before the election saying they couldn't work as part of an all-party coalition again - and their 'no holds barred' approach to electioneering seemed to overlook the point that they'd need to be working with at least some of the other parties after the election. You'd have thought that a party committed to proportional representation would have worked out a more integrated approach to coalition-building - and that holds true for their recent performances in the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly.

So - I've backed the "Unholy Alliance" because I think that the Tories and Labour need more help with their "Green" policies - and that the LibDems will make an effective opposition.

I sincerely hope we won't revert to inter-party squabbling and that we aren't in for a year(s)-long election campaign for a future Unitary Authority.

Taking the credit

I was much amused as usual by the latest edition of the LibDem's 'Focus' newsletter. As always their use of partial truths to create a misleading impression is masterful and a lesson to all of us aspiring politicians.

Of course, 'Chancellor' Cllr David Parker has played a pivotal role as 'Executive Member of Corporate Governance' (which includes finance) in helping the Council's financial recovery. But he could not have done it on his own - it is the cross-party working in an all-party coalition which has made to recovery possible.

And I'm proud of my minor role in bringing the party groups together.

I take it as a sign of success of the coalition that different parties are each trying to take credit for what the Council has achieved over the past few years - rather than blaming each other for failures. I only hope the election campaign doesn't sour relationships between the parties too much - we (if I'm re-elected, 'they' otherwise) will have to work together again afterwards.

Oh - but it does rile me a bit seeing the LibDems trying to take credit for South East Northumberland Rail User Group's (SENRUG) successes. This is an apolitical lobbying group with no connections to any political party. I was involved in setting it up - but I've deliberately taken a back seat since - limited myself to being the contact between SENRUG and the Borough and Town Councils.

Election Imprint: Promoted by Nic Best, 57 Olympia Gardens, Morpeth NE61 1JQ on behalf of MidNorthumberland Green Party