29th April 2011

Want Lower Council Tax? Vote Conservative

There are two important votes next Thursday.  AV – which I’ve bored you about already – and for the Borough Council, which is far more in the balance.

It is very close in Ipswich: the Liberal Democrat-Conservative Coalition has a small majority and Labour is snapping at their heals.  Why should you vote to keep them in?

Because they’re good.  Since 2004 when the Tories and Lib Dems took over from Labour, they have refurbished and invested in almost every one of the town’s main cultural assets.  Christchuch Park, the Museum, the Regent, Fore Street Baths, Crown Swimming Pools, Holywells Park, Dumbarton Road Rec, St Nicholas’s Church – they have all received much needed funds.  And there are more.

The Liberal-Conservative Coalition has done this whilst reducing the crippling debt left by the Labour administration (haven’t you heard that one before).  Better still, they kept Council Tax down – no more 18% increases we had under the previous rabble.

Indeed, this year the Borough will reduce its Council Tax element by 1% - and will repeat the tax cut next year as well.

That’s good value for money in my book.

I suspect the local Labour Party knows that the Tories and Lib Dems have done a good job in the last seven years of power.  That is why they are focusing their attacks on the County Council – on library cuts and lollipop men – which have nothing whatsoever to do with Ipswich Borough Council and the election we have in six days time.

So if you felt like using your vote to protest about libraries and lollipop men, please just remember these two things:

First, after pressure from me, my colleagues and many members of the public, the County Council has reinstated lollipop patrols and promised to retain library services in almost every place.  I can tell you that I will continue to make sure Ipswich’s libraries are safe.  So these services are already saved.

And second: you may feel better for punishing the Borough for the sins of the County, but if you help Labour win you may well regret it when you get your Council Tax bill next year.

Times are hard.  Now’s not the moment to vote for more Council Tax.  If you want a few more pounds in your pocket, there’s only one way to vote on Thursday.

What’s with the Wedding Parties?

Well, today’s the day.  I have to say that I’m surprised by how wedding fever has taken hold.  We have a different relationship with the royal family than was the case sixty or even thirty years ago; as a society, we are also less deferential and have a less romantic view of our national institutions.  The press too can display a cynicism that journalists a few decades ago would have been surprised and probably disgusted by.

So why this unabashed enthusiasm for the William and Kate?  Certainly none of us objects to a conveniently-placed additional bank holiday.  And with the dress, the cake, the carriages and all the rest, it will be a spectacle that few will want to miss.  Certainly for most of us it is impressive to see a young woman committing herself to the service of the nation and all that comes with that awesome pledge.

But above all, I believe, it is because we are naturally thrilled to see two people so obviously in love making promises that even the cynics and misery-guts find hard to decry.

I will be toasting them both in some of today’s street parties across Ipswich.  They will be celebrations not just of Britain but of love.