Election Balls

This story below appeared in the local rag last week.


GOVERNMENT minister Ed Balls, MP for Normanton and Labour's parliamentary spokesman for the new Morley and Outwood constituency, has officially opened his new campaign office in the town centre.
Mr Balls told party supporters at the official opening of the office, in Station Road, to be ready for a general election "whenever it comes".
"I'm really pleased to have opened a new office in Morley, not least because I want to be in touch with local residents about their concerns and priorities for the area," he said.
"Since I was selected as Labour's candidate for this new seat in March I have met many local residents and community leaders. Over the coming weeks and months, I will be meeting many more local residents, business people and community leaders to hear first hand what issues we need to tackle together in the future.
"Until the election I am committed to working hard for everybody in my Normanton constituency. But, if I am elected in Morley and Outwood, I will work hard and stand up for everybody in the new constituency, whether they live in Morley, Outwood, Wrenthorpe, Tingley, Stanley, Robin Hood or Ardsley. It's up to the Prime Minister to decide when to call the general election. But our local party is now on a campaign footing because we must be ready for the election whenever it comes."
People can contact Mr Balls at his office by calling 0113 2539466 or emailing:
ed@edballs.com

"Hmm" I thought. A new campaigning office? Labour own Unity Hall in Morley and the MP office is in there. Why does he need a new campaigning office? Is an election in the offing?

Our local election is getting nasty:

More on this over at MorleyGate.

Enough of this PC stuff- we want to hear about Lionel Blair stroking your leg!

I'm very conscious that Blogpowerers are probably thinking that I have turned into a political obsessive one-dimensional rabid fruitloop with all of this Morleygate business.

I'm pleased to report that I am moving all further local politics shenanigans into a companion blog as I am well aware that we don't want dirty tricks spilling over into our jolly comment fields in amongst the banter, thoughtful contribution and willie jokes.

So, to finish off, here are the final three Dan Browne PC purging points.

8. Don't do guilt by association. Judge people by what they are in themselves, not by their tenuous links to others.

9. Don't do zero tolerance. Humanity is not black and white, but many shades of grey. Thinking in absolutes is not thinking at all.

10. Don't indulge in self-loathing. If you thinks you should be proud of yourself, and your culture, then be so. Coming from a dominant culture doesn't make you bad.

Morleygate can be found in the other place.

Normal service has now been resumed. Now... where is that photo of me with a toilet on my head?

The election has started...

First pre-election flyer through the door today.

As is traditional, I will be Fisking what I receive as time permits.

PC Cold turkey

More steps on how to eradicate the PC devils from within:

2.Be open to self-criticism, and criticism from others.

3. Don't psychologise those you disagree with: judge what they say at face value, rather than believing there are hidden, dark motives that entitle you to dismiss what they say without thinking about it.

Oops- can I have a dispensation for politicians with step four ;->

Hat tip: Civitas

Purging without laxatives

A guide to purging the political correctness within is the epilogue to The retreat of Reason, some chapters of which are available online.

The author makes ten points which he sources as being originally from the essay of an American philosepher, Sidney Hook. Hook also said:

The cardinal sin, when we are looking for truth of fact or wisdom of policy, is refusal to discuss, or action which blocks discussion.

Does that remind you of some recent posts?Repent, Morley Town Council, repent!

Here is Anthony Browne's first suggestion for the purge.

1. When you say something in public, ask yourself are you saying it because it is politically correct, or because you know it to be factually correct? Are you choosing intellectual laziness over emotional discomfort?

Morleygate update

The Morley Observer & Advertiser have been on the phone, asking if I would mind if they turned my letter into an article as it was a bit too long for the letters page. (They normally attend Full Council but Erica the reporter couldn't make it this time.)

I'd be delighted, I said. I look forward to Wednesday's paper with interest...

We have the Mayor's Ball tomorrow night, it will be interesting to see if news has spread about the cat loose amongst the pidgeons.

I make a great friend but a terrible enemy!

Light the blue touchpaper...

I have composed a letter to the editor of our local newspaper about Morleygate. It will appear on Wednesday if the Editor chooses it for publication.

I have enhanced it slightly here by embedding Hypertext links. I believe it is self-explanatory...

Although I am a Town Councillor, I generally refrain from joining in with the tedious party-political tittle-tattle that graces your letters pages. However, on this occasion, I feel the need to speak out.

I regard myself as a libertarian, a value system based on freedom, liberty and property, the basis of the American Constitution. (This is also often known as Classical Liberal in the UK). A year or two back, I read a book called "The retreat of reason" which argued against what it described as "Political correctness and corruption of public debate in modern Britain". I am disappointed to have to report that Morley Town Council appears to have fallen victim to this insidious creeping doctrine that demonises non-believers and stifles freedom of expression.

Last Wednesday at full Council, I realised with a shock how PC we had become. During the meeting, two Councillors were challenged for their choice of innocuous phrases during discussions, where the challenger had chosen to take offence at perceived slights to others unspecified. This is classic PC- attack the heretics for what you think they are rather than what they say.

The climax of this virtuous PC vacuum was the debate on Colin Challen's "Morley Together" campaign, which I understand from your pages includes some sort of pledge. The Motion was submitted without any supporting paperwork saying what we were actually signing up to, proposed without even mentioning what Morley Together was about, debated for one minute eleven seconds and then curtailed by a move to the vote. (This is procedural motion intended for the purposes of speeding up turgid long-winded debates where the arguments are becoming circular. In layman's terms, a move to the vote means "We have heard enough, let us vote on it now rather than talk further.")

When this happened I was absolutely incredulous. I was just about to speak and made it clear that I still wished to do so. Council, however, preferred to move to the vote and the motion was quickly passed with a majority. I personally voted against- not because of the sentiments of Morley Together but because what I considered to be a seriously flawed and contradictory Motion was rushed through with inadequate debate by a herd mentality.

I am genuinely of the opinion that the Council has brought itself into disrepute. It didn't do anything wrong legally but has exposed itself as morally weak by this rather shabby behaviour. My colleagues who voted to curtail discussion should reflect on their actions which I regard as no less than shameful. I shudder to think what members of the public present that night thought of this new low in local democracy and suspect that some of them wouldn't trust some of us to sit on a toilet the right way round...
I decided a while back not to re-stand for Morley Town Council and was naturally disappointed to not have had the opportunity to make my Valedictory speech. However, I will put it on my online Blog in due course.

Finally, I'd like to thank the people of Morley who have contacted me on Council business over the last three years and hope that my small efforts to assist were helpful. It has been a pleasure to serve the Town and it is such a shame that it had to end this way.

Cllr. Ian Grey

Morleygate

The reason I was so grumpy last night was that I was denied an opportunity to speak on a resolution by what I regarded as a rather untimely move to the vote after minimal discussion. I made it perfectly clear that I wished to speak but the majority of councillors voted in order to prevent me doing so.

The motion was carried with I believe two against- I voted against it because I regarded the motion as seriously flawed, contradictory, inadequately documented, inadequately proposed and hastily disposed of. It also would have been my valedictory speech and I had prepared a real humdinger.

On reflection after a night's sleep, I don't think the rebuttal was aimed at me personally. I imagine the decision to rush to the vote had been made behind closed doors and some of the participants were too foolish to realise that their actions backfired rather spectacularly to the public as it would have looked as though they were trying to freeze me out.

I was ready to resign in disgust last night but Mayor Bob persuaded me to sleep on it. Normally, in the cold light of dawn, the fancy plans of retribution made mentally in the early hours look somewhat over the top but I woke up this morning still angry.

There is an obligation on all Councillors to report any breaches of the Code of Conduct so I carefully read the documentation to see if this had been the case.

Had I been treated with respect? Not in my opinion, no.
Had the council brought itself into disrepute? Probably, in the eyes of the general public present.

As I waded through the turgid website, I realised what a particularly unpleasant quango the Standards Board is, how long-winded their procedures were and how much I don't actually like what they stand for. (It has become a party political pillowcase to include in the armoury of childish point scoring).

Eventually, I found an escape clause- they cannot investigate complaints about the way in which the authority conducts and records its meetings.

At this point, I felt relieved, I didn't have to report anyone at all. I still feel like a bear with a sore head though!

Eight weeks before I'm no longer a Councillor. I can then speak a lot more openly...

Only a brief post tonight

I've not long been back from a rather disappointing Town Council Meeting.

I'll blog further after sleeping on it, as they say.

It shouldn't be allowed...

Our Town Mayor, Mayor Bob, has announced recently that he is intending to stand for election as a City Councillor. Since then, there have been letters in the Morley Obtiser suggesting that this is unprecedented and that he should stand down & let the deputy Mayor fill in for him. The suggestion is that as the first Citizen of Morley, he is in a position to obtain the electoral equivalent of pecuniary advantage by being so well known etc.

Excuse me? Bob is a pillar of the community, a well respected retired head teacher, a Justice of the Peace and a man with integrity in his blood. He isn't some sleazy party politician and others shouldn't judge him on their own low standards.

Let us look it this slightly more objectively. Despite all the hype of Morley Mayorship, behind the fancy chains and colourful robes the role is simply the Chairman of Morley Parish Council, a minor authority that has chosen to use the words Town and Mayor as they sound a lot better and hark back to the glory years before 1974 when Morley was proud of what it had become. All Town Councillors finish their term of office on May 3rd, as do two of the Morley Councillors on Leeds City Council. The hustings haven't opened yet so it is by no means certain who will manage to fill their forms in correctly, let alone get elected.

It is now widely known by those interested in Morley local politics (probably about fifty people!) that I have decided not to stand for re-election on the Town Council. I won't comment on this too much whilst I am still a Member because the standards in public life rules are rather overbearing. This is the standard stitch-up when the parties play politics as vexatious litigants:

Allegation: A member failed to treat others with respect, brought his office or authority into disrepute, misused the authority’s resources, failed to declare personal interests, failed to withdraw from meetings when matters in which he had prejudicial interests were discussed and improperly sought to influence decisions on the matters.


Often followed by:

SBE Outcome: The Ethical Standards Officer found that no action needs to be taken.

Don't believe me? Surf the Standards Board for England!

Summit to shout about

Last Friday's Summit was standing room only down at the Rugby Club. It was front page news on the front cover of our weekly paper but didn't appear on the website until yesterday. Rather than rehash it, you can read the story here.

We were all given a form with six topics on the front and six blank ones on the back (which were chosen from a ballot box in the interval). There was a slight downside- the questions were Yes/No and then a comment field. Consequently, myself and the chap to my right (who is a classical Liberal) sometimes ticked the opposite box followed by a caveat. E.g. for charging in car parks, I put No, but there should be a waiting limit in some areas. Conversely the other bloke put Yes, but only for long stayers. That had to make it tricky to interpret the results.

As ever, there was a collective assumption that local or national government could be the solution to the problem, when in reality, they are generally the cause.

Anyway, the post-event was very social, indeed I didn't leave until after last orders at 1am after much banter and merriment with the regulars. Fortunately I don't visit there too often, I don't think I have the stamina...

The first post

I have decided to start a Weblog, or Blog, for short. It is a type of online diary and I will use it to track my campaign to try and get elected onto Morley Town Council. There is already a month of activity since deciding to stand but I will try to pick up on the story & fill in the gaps as I go along.

So far, I have written to the local papers to correct the spelling of my name, sent them my photo & biography, persuaded some of the other independents to help me drop leaflets, found a printer, found a publisher (the irrepressable Cllr Judith Elliott), designed the flyers with a lot of help and advice from other Councillors and planned when to start leafleting. There are 2,200 houses in Elmfield Ward so I am going to pick up 4,600 leaflets tomorrow from the Printers, a very helpful place in Queen's Road near Morley high School.. I'll not sleep soundly until I see that they are correct, they never did show me the proofs as promised but the Boss personally corrected the typos so I'm not really worried...

I am entitled to spend no more than £400.30 on my campaign, based on an allowance of £242 then 4.7p per voter (& there are 3,368 of them).

In reality, I don't want to spend even half that as it is my money, out of my own pocket. The Party Candidates will probably have it covered by their Constituency offices but other than holding a Jumble Sale, Independents have to fund themselves.

I met one of my opponents at the Town Council Meeting last night, Jean Lancaster standing for Labour. A very pleasant & friendly lady, well known in the community and likely to be a worthy opponent. We wished each other the best as we are both new to political participation and have essentially the same goals in mind, party politics aside. I'm not sure that her first visit to the Town Council was entirely what she expected, being based on formal rules of debate & ceremony at the full monthly meetings.

Jean has already managed to get onto the front page of the Morley Advertiser although the banner headline was

"Anti-privatisation petition branded as electioneering

SPORTS

CENTRE

OUTCRY"

Alas, I don't have a friendly MP readily available to provide a photo-opportunity!

Original biography page

Ian Grey's Biography Biography Standing for Morley Town Council

BLOG- regular campaign updates- click here

Terry Grayshon is standing as a Morley Borough Independent in nearby Central Ward for the By-Election happening at the same time as the Elmfield vote, on Thursday July 22nd. He is also opposed by both Labour and BNP candidates. As Terry has been kind enough to include a link to this site I am delighted to reciprocate here and wish him well in his campaign.

Whilst I'm not a "Morley Borough Independent" (which is actually formally registered as a political party, apparently due to Leeds City Council playing silly beggars in recent times) I am satisfied that they are not a political party in the traditional sense of the word, i.e. accepting the party whip & using the blunt instruments of conflict & submission to (mis)manage. Indeed having known the various individuals for some time now, the phrase "herding cats" comes to mind for any approach other than collaboration.

-oOo-

This Web page contains the details sent to the Morley Advertiser and Observer in early July for candidate information relating to the Elmfield Ward by-election on July 22nd. Morley is a town of about 50,000 people on the south western outskirts of Leeds, West Yorkshire and was a Borough in its own right until 1974.

Ian Grey - An introduction

• Ian is 46 and lives in Morley

• He is married with one Son

• He works in telecommunications

• He is a Trustee of the Communications Management Association

Community Activities

• Local Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinator

• Parent Governor at a Primary School

• Treasurer of School PTA

• Volunteer Webmaster for Morley Town Council

• Member of Morley Civic Society

• Involved in Right to Read schemes in Bradford

• Former active member in Round Table (now too old!)

• Chief firer at Needless Fireworks display since 2001

• Recently raised £400+ abseiling for kidney research

• Regular presenter to Yr11/6^th formers in West Yorkshire

• Has served on Committees since 1974

More info about Ian’s interests can be found at http://www.delicolor.org.uk/

Last updated July 7th 2004