I believe councils are being conned

Ithink it is important to remember the 1918 armistice on the anniversary itself and what an excellent turn out it was last Friday. Peterborough folk turned out to show they care. Many shoppers stopped to remember during the short service by the memorial on a crowded Bridge Street.

It was all very heart warming and good to see pupils from a local school taking part in laying wreaths. One hopes the futility of war with its pain and suffering will never be forgotten but yet it goes on - will man’s inhumanity to man ever cease – we can only hope.

The state of the world makes it a forlorn hope, but we must never give up.

Donald Trump will now be the next president of the United States and there is nothing we can do about that. We can either like it or lump it and like the referendum vote a new phase is beginning and we must go forward. Will the Trump administration go into even more conflicts or will diplomacy rule. Judging by the comments during the US prudential campaign I am left wondering whoever got into the White House things will change for the better.

Like the referendum here, there was a lot of bad feeling opened up and continues.

There is a lot of healing to be done before both nations can go forward.

Yet again the political pundits, establishment and pollsters got caught out.

Wil they ever learn?

Those who think they have the right to run the show do not seem to understand the everyday worries and needs of everyday people. They took it for granted that we believed the establishment knows best. It’s become clear that, that is not the case yet the so called experts still don’t get it.

Local councils in our area are this week voting on the government’s demands on how local government will be run. The idea of the so called devolution is to create a new role of Mayor to cover several district councils. The Mayor, who will be on a good salary, will also have powers to bring in their own staff and set up an office to run it. They can also raise additional taxation. That lot is going to cost us big money from the word go.

I can see this as the first step to the end of real local government and true democracy. I would have thought the signals from both our referendum and the US presidential elections is that people and not just the privileged few want to be involved.

What this government should be recognising is that democratic decision making by local communities for local communities and chosen by local communities is what true democracy should be about.

I believe that councils across the land are being conned into giving up local control and selling out to government promises to put money into local towns and cities. Yet at the same time the very same government is cutting local grants and wanting to set up expensive remote Mayors and the offices to go with it... is this the beginning of new criteria to provide grants not by need but by rolling over to the call of the national government and Westminster elite?

For centuries Peterborough, though, considered part of Northamptonshire was governed itself locally as the County of the Soke of Peterborough.

For just over 20 years (from 1974) we were lumped in with Cambridge, tucked away in the North West corner of the county we seemed forgotten by county officials. City leaders in the late 90s worked hard to get back our unitary status now it seems that the good work and achievement will be undone.

I reckon it’s bad all round to once again bung us in with Cambridge,

We are separated by something like 40 miles , a few small towns and agricultural areas that like us have distinctive requirements.

That goes to make the two cities very different . We have no natural affiliation or connections and never have had. Will we again be fighting to retain our own identity?

I’ve read that some areas have seen through the government’s charade and are not willing to play ball – would the government really dare cast large areas out – I think not.

Working together is fine; being taken over is another matter. Once the government gets its way, can we really be sure it will it keep its promises …