WHAT on earth is wrong with Kirklees Council?
We seem to have an unelected ‘officer class’ pursuing its own agenda on the one hand and an elected council routinely ignoring its residents on the other.
We have officers who appear to interpret their function as regulating the flow of information to residents as far as possible.
We have a council leader who thinks that it is appropriate to provide ‘context’ to Freedom of Information Act responses prepared by officers. The cynical among us might wish to replace ‘context’ with ‘political spin’.
It is symptomatic of the situation in which we find ourselves that we have a ‘public consultation’, on a clearly flawed Local Development Framework which is not a public consultation at all.
This long ago degenerated into an exercise in ‘informing’ the public of what our masters think should happen, demonstrated by ‘public meetings’ which were little more than lectures.
Somewhere along the line, the ideals of public service and accountability have been lost or abandoned.
Senior council officers were once supposed to act in the public interest, within parameters set by the elected administration.
Councillors were supposed to represent and reflect the views and wishes of their constituents in setting these parameters. The whole was supposed to provide a bottom up model of democracy – ‘government of the people by the people for the people’.
What we now appear to have is a full-blown autocracy – government of the people by a self-perpetuating elite who, to be kind, are convinced that only they know what is best for the people.
An unholy alliance of the elected and the appointed, exercising top-down control over the people. Unhealthy? Certainly. Arrogant? Yes. Transparent? No. Democratic? Not in the least.
Bill Armer
Deighton
Nice little earner
HAS anyone noticed the latest means employed by Kirklees Council in extorting money from motorists?
Twice last week I parked my car in the evening in Alfred Street Car park. Entering from the Alfred Street side the barriers were down and therefore tickets had to be taken and paid for.
But the lower entrance barriers were not in operation and so motorists were able to leave without payment.
J G Bottomley
Cowlersley
Independent thought
IT is beyond my comprehension why anyone would vote Labour after their time in office left the country in its present state.
The Coalition government is no better, as the cuts they are proposing do not target the people responsible for our plight.
For most of the time since the Second World War, we have been governed largely by people ingrained with what can only be described as the ‘greed culture’.
This applies to national and international organisations worldwide, most of whom appear to be more interested in junketing and photo calls than the job in hand.
In the UK, these are the professional politicians who have benefited from free education and overpaid appointments and, in my view, are the targets for the initial cuts.
Needless to say, they are not even on the radar for possible removal.
With this in mind and the impending local election, an effort should be made to convince the large numbers of non-voters that their vote can count, especially if it is aimed at the independent candidate, along with the many disillusioned party voters looking for an alternative.
If this policy could be adopted, by the time of the next General Election the party system would be a thing of the past.
Changes need to be made and it is more than obvious that the current rulers are content to maintain the status quo, rather than promote a more equitable system.
So we must have different representatives with honourable intentions.
Arthur Marson
Edgerton
Not invited to party
TREVOR Woolley wants us all to vote for independent candidates (Mailbag, April 7)
Presumably this is just to give ‘one in the eye’ to existing councillors? He surely cannot think that voting ‘independent’ will cause the council to cease cutting its expenditure or to abandon the strategy for development?
Where does he think a council chamber full of ‘independents’ will get the money needed to avoid cuts? Higher rates? More borrowing? Pennies from Heaven?
I would like to hear from Mr Woolley just how putting policy-free, anti-everything, inexperienced individuals in power will contribute anything at all towards getting us out of the present morass.
Mark Mercer
Golcar
Justice for veterans
LAST month the Examiner highlighted the very welcome support of the Equality For Veterans Association (EVFA) campaign by local MP Jason McCartney.
The association is appealing for affected veterans who served in the Armed Forces between 1949 and March 1975 to make themselves known.
Is it right that service personnel who served this country in areas of conflict such as Korea, Malaya, Borneo, Kenya, Cyprus, Aden (Yemen), Northern Ireland etc are left without a military pension?
It is a sad and dark reflection on successive governments that the loyalty and duty shown by veterans is not appropriately recognised or rewarded.
We expect our armed forces to take risks and do their duty wherever they serve. That is what the loyal oath is about. That has not changed.
What has changed is that armed forces personnel, past and present, are not treated equally.
We are frequently told that the Government has a duty of care to the armed forces, but successive governments of all persuasions have neglected this duty.
The Examiner highlighted that the Association’s petition has now reached more than 300,000 signatures. This is a clear indication that the general public fully supports the campaign for equality. The continued support of the public and the media in all its forms is essential if the campaign is to be successful.
Regardless of the current state of the economy, government has a duty to its service veterans and must consider putting right this long outstanding injustice at the earliest opportunity.
Progress of the campaign and the latest newsletter from the chairman of the association can be found at www.efva.co.uk
Steve Hooley, Harry Trumbell
EFVA members, Holmfirth
Grandparents’ rights
PROPOSALS to grant grandparents legal rights to maintain contact with their grandchildren after family breakdown are to be welcomed.
Grandparents play an increasingly important role in these days when so many couples both work. But if divorce or separation happens, they can be quickly ostracised.
So often it is the father’s parents who find themselves in the wilderness, regardless of the harrowing effect this has on the grandchildren. All they know is that the granny and granddad who have surrounded them with love have apparently abandoned them.
The government report, which includes proposals to enshrine in law greater access for grandparents, is a positive step which hopefully will, in future, prevent innocent children suffering because of selfish parental bitterness.
Godfrey BloomŠ
UKIP MEP for Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire
Yes, no, maybe
THE Tories don’t want a referendum on proportional representation but they were blackmailed into having one by their Lib Dem colleagues as part of the Coalition deal.
The Tories promised us a referendum on the European Constitution (sorry, Lisbon Treaty) or possibly on further European integration, but the Lib Dems knocked that back because it’s against their policies.
The Lib Dems think proportional representation is more democratic, but don’t think that a referendum on any EU issue is democratic.
The Lib Dems will be right up for proportional representation until democracy means that the balance of power is be held by UKIP or the BNP, then we might see a change of mind.
Richard Huddleston
West Slaithwaite
