ARE your main
political concerns governed by what issues are in the headlines?
In other words, does
the media contribute, or perhaps even dictate, what political issues worry you?
I ask because at my
street surgery in Cleethorpes' St Peter's Avenue last week, the issues were
markedly different from the previous month.
A few weeks ago
Europe, in all its forms, was clearly at the forefront of people's minds. That
was understandable since Parliament had been discussing the Bill to authorise
an IN/OUT referendum and I was asking them to sign up to support the
Conservative campaign to legislate for that referendum before the next
election; a proposal being opposed by Labour and the Lib-Dems.
Last week I was again
asking them to sign up to supporting the 'Let's Decide' campaign as it's called
but hardly anyone wanted to talk about Europe. There had been no bad headlines
about 'Europe' pushing us around – Abu Qatada is in Jordan, UKIP are down in
the polls, the economy is recovering and the sun is shining. Certainly
Cleethorpes has had a good few weeks; not just the weather but the fantastic
success of the Air Show, the Carnival and Armed Forces Day which all brought
thousands into the town.
So what did people
want to talk about last week? Well, since our Police and Crime Commissioner,
Matthew Grove, was with me it's understandable that policing issues were to the
fore; but even that, in one sense, is a good news story since crime is at a 30
year low.
Matthew is proving
the case that the introduction of Police Commissioners was a good policy, of
course there will be some commissioners who fail, but we can all pass judgement
and choose not to re-elect them. That's something that could not be said about
the anonymous police authorities that preceded the commissioners. Matthew is
providing a real opportunity for the public to engage with him and express
their concerns about policing in their own area. He is constantly attending
residents meetings, parish councils and similar gatherings – if you belong to
one of these groups and haven't had him along, invite him, he'll be delighted
to meet with you.
There's no doubting
the economy is on the up and as the Telegraph reported on July 25, there is
growing confidence among local businesses. As Ian Kelly, Chief Executive of the
Hull and Humber Chamber of Commerce stated in the article their own economic
survey reflected the national picture with 'sales orders, training, turnover
the profit expectations all showing sharp increases' and that 68 per cent of
firms said they were planning to recruit new staff.
Certainly there was a
buzz down the Avenue and much more of the elusive 'feel-good' factor than only
a month ago.
If you rummage around
in the recycling box and find a newspaper from a month ago it can often feel
like another country. Read some of the articles and you think "I wonder
what happened to that story?"
But, back to my
original question, ask yourself what the first three concerns are today and I
suspect you would, off the top of your head, say the economy – you want to know
if you'll be better off next year than this – immigration and either policing
or the NHS might be next. I say this because these are almost always at the top
of the list. I challenge you to ask yourselves in a month's time and see what
you come up with.
Interestingly,
welfare abuse, which was a big issue until recently, has slipped down the list,
perhaps because people can now see how hard the Government are clamping down on
it.
After these issues,
people will almost always complain about local services, such as the state of
footpaths, dog-fouling and street cleaning.
Finally, I can't let
pass without comment last week's visit by the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg
and Energy Secretary Ed Davey. It's very rare for two cabinet ministers to
visit any constituency on the same day and it shows how committed to developing
the area the Government is. They can see the prospects and have shown
commitment by investing in improvement to our infrastructure and approving
Growth Fund bids and now we can all see the result of both Government support
and private investment – regeneration and real jobs.
