Courting controversy

May 20, 2010 — simonashall

Woking Magistrates Court - photo: Surrey Advertiser

A couple of weeks ago, the Surrey Ad also ran a story about rumours surrounding the possible closure of Woking Courthouse, which incorporates the magistrates court, as well as family and youth courts. It would appear that this is an option being considered and many people at the courthouse are determined to fight any such proposal.

The reasons for keeping Woking Courthouse open are manifold and, I believe, self-evident. We have in this country a superb principle of justice delivered for the community by the community. A person accused of a crime can expect to have a fair and uniform hearing locally in public and by their peers – removing the Woking function and placing it all with Guildford means that people from as afar as Camberley, Addlestone and Weybridge as well as Woking will have justice administered in a different part of Surrey. I feel this is entirely inappropriate.

More so given Woking’s unique ethnic and cultural diversity. The courts service in Woking has a very good relationship with Woking Mosque and other organisations dealing with mental health and social issues in North West Surrey. Moving the court operation to Guildford interrupts many of these good relationships and makes achieving the court’s objectives with large sections of society in this part of Surrey more difficult.

Woking is Surrey’s largest town with an urban population exceeding both Guildford and Reigate. It is unthinakable that we should be without the facilities to cater for the needs of that population and those include the apparatus needed to dispense justice fairly, quickly and locally. Woking’s proximity to Guildford should not be an excuse to ignore these demographics – Guildford is quite busy enough as it is.

Finally, there has to be a question about what happens to Woking Police Station if the courthouse closes. The station is linked to the courthouse via an underground passageway and both the station and courthouse have a suite of custody cells. There is a similar arrangement in Staines, Guildford and Redhill and between this quartet, 95% of people accused of crimes are dealt with in these courts. If Woking courthouse went, there would be little sense in keeping the police station in its present form if it were denied the above role – and that too is a serious worry.

As for the magistrates, I can only speak for myself but I applied to serve my community in my community and while I agreed to sit anywhere the courts service requested, my clear preference was always Woking. For that option not even to exist for applicants in the future would indeed be a very retrograde step.

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Coalition would be grand

May 19, 2010 — simonashall

On May 6, the local elections produced another indecisive result in Woking. There were gains and losses on both sides but despite no Labour representation to consider any more, the political scene in the borough continues to be ambigious. Even in 2007, the first year of overall control since 1998, the result was only 19-17, which when you take account of absences and mayoralty is not really a majority at all.

With the decision of Peter Ankers to go it alone, the numbers have stood at 18-17-1 and so it remains after the local elections. Just 70 more votes across Knaphill and Horsell West could have seen them 20-15-1 and shown a decisive shift – but that is not what the electorate wanted and the council has to listen to that.

It is my personal view therefore that with a Conservative mayor in 2010/11 and the numbers effectively at 17-17-1, the Conservative and Liberal Democrat groups should consider what the parties have done nationally and think about forming a Grand Coalition. 

This could entail three members each on a six-strong executive committee with a Conservative chairman and Lib Dem vice-chairman. Such an arrangement would also have the welcome side-effect – although it is not designed for that purpose – of removing the effective casting vote of the council from one independent councillor. No doubt Peter Ankers would use this reasonably – but how much happier that the total considered view of the council should be involved in the first place rather than just via one person’s judgement?

In normal circumstances, it would be up to the party with the mandate to take responsibility and implement its manifesto. But at present, neither party really has a proper mandate with the numbers that exist and the maths of the mayoralty suggest that unless there is broad agreement about the year ahead, a rather unseemly mess could result. That’s not good for the council, nor more to the point for Woking.

No doubt an agreement could be reached whereby some of the key problems can be tackled together and elements of both parties’ manifestos placed into the work programme. The PM clearly thought that it was silly (although I think “uninspiring” was the word he used) to have a minority administration trying to take decisions in the current climate. It appears that Nick Clegg agreed.

I don’t see how that situation is different in Woking given the close make-up of the council. Whether either side would agree to it is of course a completely different matter.

Posted in Woking Borough Council, politics. Tags: , , , , . 2 Comments »

Woking’s fifth choice

April 28, 2010 — simonashall

We’ve all heard about how local the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate is. She’s been variously “at the heart of our community for thirty years“, “helping people for over twenty years” and has “a strong record of local action” according to Lib Dem literature. Certainly, if the election is a “localness” competition, she would fare well.

What I’m concerned about – and it seems I’m not alone judging by the latest comments on UK Polling Report - is the ability to get things done and stand up for Woking in parliament. And judging by their hesitancy to select Rosie Sharpley in previous general elections, it appears that the Lib Dems agree with me.

Four years after Rosie was elected as a councillor, the Liberal Democrats chose Dorothy Buckrell to stand for Woking in the 1992 general election. In 1997, while Jonathan Lord’s talents were recognised by the Conservative leadership and he was given a teeth-cutting “no hope” seat to fight at the age of 34, the Lib Dems once again passed over Rosie in favour of Philip Goldenberg. In 2001, they chose Alan Hilliar and in 2005, while Rosie was “looking after residents” in Horsham by finally getting selected to fight a seat somewhere, Anne Lee was the candidate in Woking (she “didn’t even live in the constituency“, by the way).

Am I the only one to wonder why it is only now that someone who obviously wanted a parliamentary career has been picked to fight in her own back yard when she’s has 20 years to do so? And doesn’t this make her Woking’s “fifth choice”?

Posted in elections, lib dems, politics. Tags: , , , , . 13 Comments »

A Strong Voice is needed

April 26, 2010 — simonashall

After knocking on a few doors over the weekend and speaking to those who manned at our very successful Town Square stall on Saturday, feedback from voters is very clear. They want an MP in Woking who:

1) Has local interests at heart

2) Is an effective advocate for Woking residents

3) Is an effective champion for Woking causes

I fully accept that anyone standing for parliament in Woking has Woking’s interests at heart – why else would they be here? I know that Jonathan Lord has spent many, many weeks getting to know the area with various teams from across the constituency. No doubt Rosie Sharpley has similar motivation.

But let’s look at numbers two and three. Imaging that there’s a bill in Parliament on the future of some grand project such as AirTrack that will affect Woking significantly if it goes ahead. With a direct train route to Heathrow, it will attract thousands of travellers and commuters through the station and boost the Woking economy. Investment in the station to improve facilities and capacity could also follow, making life for the thousands of Woking residents who commute a great deal easier.

Other MPs oppose it – they want an alternative scheme that will benefit their towns instead but Anne Milton in Guildford and the Woking MP are due to give speeches to persuade the house that AirTrack is the way to go and that final funding for it should be approved to the benefit of the area. Below is a series of interviews with all the candidates – the first minute is Jonathan Lord and the second is Rosie.

Who would you rather have making that argument in parliament? If residents want a persuasive advocate and vocal champion for Woking, I believe that there is only one realistic choice and that is to vote for Jonathan. Woking needs a strong voice in parliament and that is something that only he can be.

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One word missing?

April 26, 2010 — simonashall

A couple of weeks ago I blogged that Lib Dem canvassers on the doorstep  had been misleading voters in Horsell West about the size of the existing Conservative majority in Woking. It’s not that the size of the majority is particularly important because it’s the vote on May 6 that counts but my feeling was that people deserved to know how a majority of 6,612 was being misrepresented as 2,000-4,000 to manipulate the psychology of the election. Clever – yes, honest – no.

I did not name the culprit as reported to me because I don’t think it’s hugely fair or relevant – the Lib Dems can’t simply cite one “rogue” doorstepper as any canvassing operation is a carefully organised process. That didn’t stop the Horsell Lib Dem candidate and her sidekick from challenging me on this allegation and demanding proof. Fair enough – I’d have done the same, although I am at least aware of what my team are telling people on the doorstep.

What I’d like to know is that if the Lib Dems really are serious about stamping this misleading information out, if they are taking it so seriously, why is it repeated in their latest leaflet?

Unless of course it’s a typo and the word “thousand” has been missed out between “few” and “votes”. Come to think of it, that’s probably the explanation. It would be no great surprise to learn that their proofreading is as bad as their maths.

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Evening of debates

April 16, 2010 — simonashall

Yesterday evening saw the first leaders’ debate on television and by and large the media is portraying Nick Clegg as the winner. I didn’t see the debate for reasons that are obvious below but spent a bit of time in work this morning calming down my colleagues about Nick Clegg (they’ve come to expect that of me).

Firstly, it was always going to be easy for him to look like the reasonable man in between the Conservative and Labour warring factions. We saw Vince Cable do it in the Chancellors’ debate; we saw it again last night. Secondly, there is so much more at stake for DC and the PM, it’s no wonder that they looked more under pressure. Particularly for DC – when these debates were agreed, it seemed like it would just be a matter of cementing the lead. Things are different now. Nick Clegg was able to look and feel more relaxed because he’s not going to be PM.

Thirdly,  Nick Clegg can afford to be “honest” about cuts, tax rises etc because it isn’t him that’s going to have to do them. The Lib Dems have always been good at promising wonderful things in the knowledge that they won’t have to deliver. Their record in local government is much more patchy. Fourthly, let’s give Clegg some credit. He prepared well, understood the medium better than the other two and came across well. It doesn’t mean he’ll make a great Prime Minister. Or even prop one up.

Meanwhile at the Lightbox, the first of the Woking Hustings was getting underway with Jonathan Lord up against Tom Miller (Lab), Rob Burberry (UKIP), Rosie Sharpley (Lib Dem)  and the lady from the Peace Party whose name escapes me. The event was organised by the Federation of Small Businesses and focussed on the economy. Around 40 people turned up but mostly people I recognised as businesspeople or activists.

I thought Labour’s Tom Miller gave a good account of himself faced with a sceptical audience and the impossible task of defending this government’s mismanagement of the economy. He’ll be an MP for sure – just not for Woking. Rob Burberry spoke with the usual UKIP over-earnestness and although he talked a little sense about the European dimension, he wasn’t at all convincing in any other dimension.

Jonathan Lord spoke confidently and knowledgeably, gaining quite a bit of applause from the audience, although perhaps that was to be expected. The contrast though with Rosie was less expected. I thought that she’d bear up well in these hustings given her background. Not so – she stumbled around answers, had to be stopped when she started answering a different question to the one that was asked and from what I hear it got worse after I left.

She might know Woking “like the back of her hand” but in the end so do many people. What we need in Parliament is someone with the influencing skills, the energy and the strength of personality to push Woking’s case forward in among the great melting pot of conflicting interests.

Jonathan is in the process of moving here and whether you vote for Rosie or Jonathan, you will have an MP living here in the constituency. The question is what qualities you wish that person to have and the contrast couldn’t be starker. The Lib Dems have been pushing the sophistry for months now that Woking was Jonathan’s “third choice” seat. Not true. But even if it was, I’d rather be a third-choice seat than have a third-rate MP.

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Inside track on Question Time

April 11, 2010 — simonashall

I still haven’t had a chance to see Question Time from Woking but Spiderplant, who was lucky enough to get a ticket, has written an interesting account here. Definitely worth a read.

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Sir Alec Bedser

April 5, 2010 — simonashall

Some very sad news to taint an otherwise bright Easter weekend – Sir Alec Bedser, one of the greatest cricketers of his generation and long-standing Horsell resident, died yesterday aged 91. Many more senior residents will remember the heyday of the Bedser twins (his brother Eric died in 2006) in the 1940s and early 50s and his exploits for England, when he carried the attack at a time when there was precious little support as England emerged from the cricketed hiatus of the Second World War.

There are a variety of very good obituaries to him in many of the nationals today. But many in Horsell will have known him personally, living as he did in Carlton Road for so long. I was lucky enough to meet both twins at the Surrey History Centre in 2003 launching an exhibition on Surrey County Cricket Club but had no further contact with them until I wrote the obituary for Eric in the Woking News and Mail three years later. Most people would want silly reporters somewhere else on the death of a loved one – not Sir Alec, who phoned the paper up personally to make sure that we got his brother’s factsright.

After, I met Sir Alec on various occasions and he espoused everything good about sport. Eric bequested an amount of money to Horsell Residents’ Association, which the association uses to fund achievement prizes for the village’schools. For some time in the 1970s, Sir Alec ran a youth and sporting club at Horsell Village Hall, where signed potraits of the twins are now on permanent display. Generous with his time and wisdom, there was nothing of the modern-day sporting prima donna about Sir Alec. He would talk with gusto about the modern game and while, yes, he was very definitely of the old school, he never left you in any doubt what he meant. And that’s less common than you’d think.

Both twins were passionate about their sport and also believed in the value of community, of selflessness and that sport was an act of athleticism and competition, yes, but also of pleasure and entertainment for the paying public. Their sense of duty to Surrey, England and those around them was a rare thing and Horsell and Woking have been blessed to have the Bedser twins play the part they did in our story.

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Questions partly answered

April 2, 2010 — simonashall

So we now know three of the five members of the panel who will be in Woking for Question Time on Wednesday – they are David Miliband, Ming Campbell and Simon Schama. I had a sneaking suspicion that Ming Campbell might be the Lib Dem because he’s been to a few functions in the area before. I wouldn’t exactly say that sending your most unsuccessful leader in recent history was a filip for your local party in what is a serious target seat for the Liberals – but there we are.

It’s funny, I also had visions of David Miliband here too – I didn’t suggest him because I thought that the Foreign Secretary might be a bit busy to hike out to Surrey, where Labour has no MPs and there are plenty of councils without Labour members. I guess the theme of the evening is going to be foreign affairs then – in which case, is William Hague likely to be the person joining the panel too? I have met William Hague in Woking before, so it’s not unthinkable. But perhaps a little bit too risky given all the fuss about Lord Ashcroft’s entirely legal, if slightly translucent, tax arrangements.

I’d never have called Simon Schama, although I did say that a left-wing think tank (in this case an academic) would be represented. I rather like him as a historian and his History of Britain did to history on the television what Tony Blair was attempting to do to politics in Westminster. It is his misfortune, though, that David Starkey has since taken this format and perfected it in his Monarchy series. But seriously, what is Mr Schama going to bring to the debate except more of the liberal, London-centric narrative that so dominates BBC opinion already? Let’s not forget that Mr Schama has been employed by the BBC and was part of its “bright new future” after May 1, 1997.

The only question is whether they will balance him out by another supposedly “apolitical” figure like an actor/comedian who’s actually a left-winger or whether it’ll be a right-wing blogger or columnist who can easily be dismissed as totally bonkers. Perhaps a member of UKIP?

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More rhetorical questions

March 31, 2010 — simonashall

When I outlined my idea of a Community Question Time for Woking, I had no idea that BBC Question Time would be coming to Woking on April 7. It is the same evening as the Horsell Residents’ Association AGM, which I will be going to instead. It goes without saying that I’m more bothered about dealing with Horsell issues than bearing witness to the ongoing BBC operation to stop the Conservatives winning the general election.

It will, though, be interesting to see who sits on the panel. There are five panellists on QT and the balance is usually one member of each of the political parties, with two extra panellists. Here’s my tips for the best choices:

Conservatives

Best Choice: Phillip Hammond, Michael Gove or Jeremy Hunt from the Conservative front bench team as they are relatively local.

Worst: John Redwood, the BBC having confused Woking with Wokingham.

Labour

Best Choice: Barbara Follet, local government minister, to explain why Surrey’s funding disadvantages it so much and prevents the county’s residents from getting the same level of service enjoyed in Labour-voting areas.

Worst: Jack Straw, because that will show that they just don’t care.

Lib Dem

Best Choice: One of the south London MPs – Ed Davey, Susan Kremer or Vince Cable.

Worst: Sarah Teather, same reason as Jack Straw.

The two other panellists usually consist of either two left-wingers or one left-winger and a right-winger who’s easily dismissed by the BBC illuminati as extreme (eg Peter Hitchins, Melanie Phillips, Richard Littlejohn). I feel we need a Muslim panellist to reflect Woking’s population and the fact that it was among the first places in Britain to have a settled Muslim population. Among other choices could be Harry Hill, Eric Clapton, Delia Smith or Paul Weller. I’d be interested in Zac Goldsmith or Jonathon Porritt being on the panel to say what they think of Woking’s environmental agenda.

More likely though, we’ll get someone from a left-leaning think tank and a silly actor who doesn’t know anything about Woking and lives in London. Hopefully, I’m wrong.

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