Conference pares: action speaks louder.

With thanks to my friend AW for his critique and helpful editing advice.

Warning: trigger happy writing

The trigger or inspiration for this piece was the combination of a meeting with our local MP and the Political Party Conference season juxtaposed with a recent Coop Party session in Deal.

If it seems to be a scattergun angry critique of political representation, well perhaps it’s consciously meant to be. If it is unclear what the point is, that’s because it’s not entirely clear what the answer is, but there is a real problem.

There may be something around identifying a better quality of candidates and a new construct for community engagement, which is of course a two way street: we need to be more open about what we have a right to expect. So here goes…

Meetings of minds: is that really the best we can do?

There’s not much to be said about meeting our local MP. Parsnips and butter come to mind.

And the national conference season was massively hyped, hugely complex and frankly rather forgettable. HS2 came and went, Sunak looked silly. Keir agreed with him, but looked serious and sensible.

The Coop Party meeting I mentioned was simplicity itself and actually a far more memorable event. It was refreshing, as it always will be, to hear about a range of amazing people who have taken direct action on housing by forming a local cooperative to manage their own lives.

It proposed more growth of social and (truly) affordable housing, rather than more talk about housing supply. The speaker provided objective detail and opportunity, evidenced both by personal experience and expertise and a first-hand visit to the adjacent housing association: it was a model of informative and engaging discussion.
At the same time it was coloured vividly by frustration at the obdurate lack of interest in a strong model of social engagement shown by the majority of local Councils in Kent.  It does often seem that when a solution is within reach for a community issue, there is a bizarre inability to see these processed and, where appropriate, progressed.

And perhaps that’s as good a starting point for a good old grumble as any. The main focus is on the workings of local administration and elected councillors – the subject of a remarkable and convulsive shift in power this May.

Political laziness or just lacklustre leadership?

So what’s the problem with local government? Perhaps it’s a cultural issue reflecting national problems…
There seems to be a political malaise or political laziness which creates endless disappointment and frustration – wasted potential, wasted opportunity for our community  Describing this as laziness may itself be a little lazy.
As a friend said to me:
“… but all the local Councillors I know seem to be working their little socks off!  
Are you not talking of a lack of clear purpose, inexperience and – as you suggest – leadership?”

Perhaps so. And yet there seems to be a visible void in terms of [1] personal responsibility and [2] leadership.
This is seen in the endless trail of inertia, inaction or actions deferred to nervous opinion-watching, sometimes combined with a misplaced sense of self-importance. It’s public service, not self-service.

Whatever the problem, it permeates political behaviour at every turn – too many who prefer to wait and see how things pan out rather than use their good offices to shape the agenda, bring people together and explore possibilities. Risk averse gone mad – almost as a deliberate contrast to the gripe about health and safety.

Firstly, We should not be surprised by any of this.  We now have an improvised and fairly loose political arrangement locally which means that there is not clear leadership; many of the councillors are new to the game and those who are not have only been in opposition. 

What are the factors that have played into this current scenario? A strong and very predictable result for Labour in the East, Harbour and Central wards was predictably matched by Green support in Hythe, Cheriton and a residual LibDem contingent. So although the bad guys were suddenly gone, the result now is an uneasy triumvirate of the political set working out how to co-exist as well as getting to grips with governance.

In place of the collective work needed for this all to work, you see some of the newly-elected members displaying individualism and role-playing in meetings: “Look, I’m being a Councillor!”  Perhaps this is a inevitable phase of learning to prioritise in public office, but in the meantime our local public services are rotting before our eyes.

Nobody should have been too surprised that the incumbent Conservative District Council administration had run its course, having demonstrated tin ear insensitivity on environment and development issues, alongside a growing sense of incompetence and insouciant self-interest. It’s fair comment to say that one can still be shocked if not surprised!  Reflecting on the indications of our new councillors being inexperienced and therefore lacking political savvy, perhaps the extent of this incompetence and insouciance may well have been unexpected. 

To be sympathetic – only briefly, though – If people are inexperienced, then it may be unclear to them where their personal responsibility lies.  Deferring actions in deference to opinion-watching is a sure-sign of a lack of leadership and political purpose.  

Secondly, it’s fair to ask when has there ever been a Council that does not have members who have a misplaced sense of self-importance?  It goes with the territory for some and will be exacerbated by the lack of clear leadership and agreed political purpose. Except that that’s why the last lot were voted out, essentially.

In a recent full Council session, 20 banal questions from Councillors took up valuable time which could have been spent deciding local actions to support the local community: half could have been dealt by email for a one-word answer instead of which we heard pompous public posturing along the lines of:
“Can I ask if a meeting could be arranged to talk with me about some important things?”

One local Councillor recently responded to a polite referral on behalf of one of their constituents with a rudely dismissive “You don’t tell me what to do…” slightly missing the point of this being a relayed request for help.
The same constituent later posted on social media as matters got worse, only to be advised with no sense of irony: “Have you spoken with your local Councillor?”. Well, yes – they tried to get help, but you were just too busy.

Change is coming! Just hold on a bit longer.
Not long now…. almost there…

2023 has been one of those very interesting years, politically. Change is coming…. unless we change our minds.

So there were the local elections, all of six months ago. This brought both the promise of change and then the familiar sense of being short-changed yet again. Is it really the moment to talk being short-changed yet?  Or is it unreasonably premature. I would say not – because this is a precursor of the General Election coming up soon. 

There is nothing new under the sun: we’ve had thirteen years of the same national government and almost twenty years of the same local government to consider a position on the issues affecting our community and our country.
Anyone with a political instinct should be ready with a set of ideas and priorities.

Over a period of four years, I thoroughly enjoyed the process of working with political friends who found common ground in seeing the desperate state of affairs for local people. The strapline they used was about the pure pursuit of real change: “Hope is worth fighting for….”  and it was true.
In response to the shifting moral ground of the previous administration in Folkestone and Hythe and the national government, solid and practical ideas were worked through and policies shaped to offer a clear alternative.  
“Manifesto-making” sessions were patiently pored over collectively and the product was a strong series of clear statements of intent: ‘these issues of immediate concern to our community can and will be addressed differently.’
When you write a set of promises, it’s good to read them back again when you’re in a position to keep them.

And yet; perhaps there are some local glimmerings of hope – signs of the right way to go in the next year or so.

Ideas brewed from debating what was wrong before included the formation of a community forum – something now underway in embryonic form: this could really be a game-changer for new ways of listening and responding.
The debate over public transport might possibly be leading slowly in the direction of a more radical local policy on sustainability and community connection. And currently the local Library issue at Grace Hill is proving an acid test of where political players stand on longer term strategic issues for regeneration – just begging to be included as part of a joined up vision for the future of our community? A people plan….

Walk the Walk?

Six months after the local election, perhaps just six months before the announcement of a general election. It’s not that hard to beat a bunch of losers….but let’s hear what the winners are all about?

It would be refreshing to hear more often about plans or work proposed by our Council and Opposition.…
At local and at national level, there is a surfeit of photo opportunities on social media of the great and the good turning up to the proverbial opening of an envelope – being seen to be very busy people – or snapshots of political friends meeting up like a sad school reunion group.
Please. Let’s deal with some of the real issues out there.

The same applies to the national picture: the old cliche of governments losing elections rather than opposition winning them rings very true at the moment, as the party conference season bursts out with statesmanlike banality and the two major parties policy cloning again and again. 

The Conservatives announce 1.5million new homes over a parliament; Labour announce 300,000 per year.  Vive la difference. The tragedy of the renewed Gaza/Israel conflagration produces a serious soundbite from the government about Israel’s national right to self-defence which deftly ignores the issue of international law and humanitarian concerns, only to be echoed by the Labour leadership.
Both parties wriggle around subsequently to reconcile “We hope you win” with “We feel your pain.”

So, we can probably avoid a trip to the bookies to bet on a change of government at the next election – what matters is what happens next – and that still appears to be something of a mystery prize at the moment.
What would be different, other than a rather hackneyed claim to being ‘under new management’ is not clear and by now it should be: the moral high ground is within easy reach, given the alternative.

Perplex Haze: the anger to apathy spectrum

Politics often breeds cynicism, breeds alienation. And that line ending at apathy or anger.  It’s as if we’re witnessing a car crash in slow motion of social division, spreading out like Covid23.

You might well ask if this piece is in danger of breeding exactly this kind of cynicism and alienation. 

My response is that there really is a critical need for more political education, political debate, political pushback all leading to different forms of community activism to replace that alienation. In our town, there are already some extraordinary examples of personal and collective responsibility within the community – attempting to address needs and fill the void created by our leaders.  We have cultural collectivism with the amazing Folkestone Music Town initiative, for example;­­ bringing people together with a common passion also works for the New Folkestone Society – hardworking folk blending key heritage issues and community concerns. And many more besides…

There is however a sizeable majority of people at one end of the spectrum here as anywhere else in the country who are so disenchanted and disinterested in politics or social dynamics that they have withdrawn and become detached from any action, other than bitter barstool humour.  The question is whether it is possible realistically be “re-enchanted”? I’m oddly optimistic.

There’s also the sizable minority of people at the other end who are consistently stressed, wound up and angered by the actions of others. Their response to this is routinely to resort to abusive public criticism from a stance of self-righteous anger. Meanwhile, rather than do anything, it is still easier to protest, complain, object than to do.  

In some respects, there are signs that such actions are clearly being recognised more than under the previous administration – on one hand it is a little worrying to see the Leader of the Council being so responsive to personal emails, but to be more positive, it’s a very pleasant worry to have. And it certainly is a change of style, which is a good start. Let’s also see a change of substance emerging as soon as possible on the issues that matter: housing security, food poverty, heat poverty, local economic growth, positive opportunities, a shared vision of regeneration for our town.

Let’s do this!
Do what? The road to hell is paved by local authorities.

So, don’t wait for delivery of those promises of change, don’t hold your breath: pile on the pressure instead!  

Many local groups such as AFRA (a small platform for resident voice) FIRRG (a retailer collective) and the amazing groupings, such as Touchbase, Rainbow and Treat Me Right offer good examples of community activism which is not hanging around for permission – people are doing it for themselves and for their community.

In which case, what is needed from the Council in terms of community leadership, then? Support, planning and practical proposals for action through partnership working – and a greater sense of urgency would be my answer.

Maybe it’s just me and the conference season gave other people positive hope, clarity, leadership and a sense of clear moral alternatives to get behind. Maybe the sun is shining over the sea and I’ve just not noticed. Maybe something will emerge in the runup to the General Election to inspire us.  Maybe pigs will fly.

Somewhere between apathy and anger there is action. People need something worth getting involved in.  
If you ask me directly: “What action do you suggest?  What should we be involved in?”, my answer is simple.

Get involved in the community: join in with groups, live your life and hopefully enjoy some of it; go further than usual to engage in collective activity – volunteering, setting up action groups and resident groups with a clear set of goals to tidy up your own street corner from time to time; become a little more involved in discussion in your local pub, café, workplace about the state of affairs and work out what you would do or like to see done.  

Then apply pressure, support and cajole our existing political leaders to do more and do better by standing alongside the community instead of livestreaming a political game of grandstanding with nothing behind it.

You might even consider becoming part of a political movement or standing for office yourself.
Maybe.