It is local election time and political campaigning leaflets are outnumbering takeaway menus at the moment. The blurb on them is, by and large, airy-fairy claptrap, of course. I often say that on the morning after ballot boxes have closed, that mighty din of whirring is the sound of manifestos, promises and pledges being shredded en masse.
Here's another leaflet that was posted through my door. I will not identify the contender.
'Dear Residents, We are not going to make you any false promises in a bid to secure your vote in these local elections.......'
And then, a list of pledges:
'We will freeze your council tax for two years.
We will protect our rural communities from over development.
We will scrap town centre Saturday parking charges.
We will invest in our town centres.
We will be tough on fly-tipping.
We will protect fortnightly bin collections.
We will build council houses.
We will re-open public toilets.
We will have a zero tolerance to all types of anti-social behaviour.
We will always put the needs of local residents before party politics.
We will make our district cleaner, safer and better place in which to work and live.'
All very noble stuff. And based on just about every past local election, the realist in me screams that there is not a cat in hell's chance of much of this list actually being delivered.
For example, town centres have been dying for years and reports and recommendations have blethered on and on about what should be done. And what happens? NOTHING.
Vote wisely but vote on the basis that your only choice is picking the least worst candidates.
No comments:
Post a Comment