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Tomorrow, 5th May 2016, is the day that you [finally] have the chance to keep your resolution to never, ever vote Conservative again.

In St Paul’s ward Clacton you will have the chance to elect my successor. I hope you will vote for Jack Parsons [UKIP]. In the Essex Police & Crime Commissioner election I hope you will vote for Bob Spink [UKIP]. And, in the Essex County Council Elections I hope you will vote for whoever is the UKIP candidate in your area.

Electorates worldwide are showing that they are tired of the old politics, where you got the same thing whichever of the old parties you voted for.

David Cameron and George Osborn promised not to raise taxes and, once in power, put VAT up from 17½% to 20%, supported by the Lib Dems and Labour.

David Cameron and George Osborne have been steadfast in their support for uncontrolled immigration of low skilled labour. The [slavishly] Europhile Lib Dems are in favour of everything Euro and even Labour [mysteriously] support this policy. I say mysteriously as Jeremy Corbyn has been a Eurosceptic all his political life; but, with the big prize in sight, has let down the traditional Labour voters by supporting a policy that seriously damages their earning potential.

Your vote matters tomorrow, and will matter more than ever on June 23rd. Please . . . make your views known. You are part of a tidal wave around the world, that is washing away the old politicians.

 

Donald Trump attracts about as much interest over here as he does in the UK. Which is to say – quite a lot. The reaction that I hear in New Zealand, in the media and those I speak to, seems more interested in why he is so popular that in what he might do with that popularity. In the UK the coverage does seem to focus on the surfer, and ignores the wave.

There is the same instinctive distrust of politicians in New Zealand as there is in the UK, and indeed in the rest of the world. This manifests itself in Europe and the USA as votes for parties that might once have been described as protest votes. Except that UKIP gaining 40% of the vote in the last European elections in the UK and Donald Trump gaining 60% of the vote in recent Republican primaries, is too much to be describes as a protest.

Further the traditional parties to benefit from protest votes, Lib Dems in the UK and Green parties more widely, are not benefitting as they might once have done. Something else is happening. Indeed Syriza in Greece and nationalist movements across Europe are picking up votes from what might be described in “old political language” as “the working class”. They pick up votes from the left as well as the right. The unifying themes seem to be; concerns over uncontrolled immigration, and the rise of multi-national corporate power.

So when Donald Trump in the USA or Norbert Hofer in Austria lead the polls we are seeing something more than electorates poking the established parties in the eye. They are expressing a profound dissatisfaction with the system that has been characterised by Douglas Carswell (UKIP) in the UK as “crony corporatism”, covering the commercial and political fields. They are making a positive choice for a different way of doing things.

In the UK this is seen most clearly in the rejection of unlimited immigration of low skilled labour. Our political and commercial leaders continue to see this as an aberration. From this distance it looks more like the new normal.

 

New Zealand has again been rated the world’s best country by readers of the Telegraph in the UK. The article is here. So Kiwi natives who have noticed the numbers of Europeans, especially English and Germans, moving to New Zealand, had better brace themselves for more.

The article rightly praises the scenery. Oddly, it doesn’t mention the weather. Though I suppose if they had done that, there would have been no one left in the country to read their next article.

Here in New Zealand, there is absolutely no coverage of the forthcoming EU referendum in the UK. The longstanding inability of the UK to have a simple, free trading arrangement with New Zealand is met with weary resignation.

There is more interest in the newly signed Trans Pacific Partnership, which is the Pacific version of TTIP in the UK. Essentially a trade deal with the USA. It has been signed here and will now go through the normal National Interest Analysis stages in parliament. Though there is substantial opposition, there is little chance of it being rejected in New Zealand. Opposition here, as in the UK, is based on this trade deal being anything but a free trade deal. It represents one of the most egregious regulatory capture achievements by big business so far, to the detriment of ordinary consumers and tax payers. This case is well summarised by George Monbiot here. Hopes that the deal will not go through rest, as they do in the UK, on the US congress.

Separately New Zealand seems to be generally supportive, in a typically laid back and only vaguely engaged way, of Helen Clark’s bid to become the next Secretary General of the United Nations. Helen Clark is a former Prime Minister of New Zealand and is currently head of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Sadly debate about whether she will get the job seems to be centred on buggins turn, rather than her suitability. The current Secretary General is Ban Ki-moon. So “Oceania” has just had its turn. This analysis would seem to point to a candidate from the former Eastern Europe, that has never held the role. However, Kofi Annan (Ghana) followed Boutros Boutros-Ghali (Egypt), so maybe Mrs Clark will yet get the job. Whoever gets it you can be sure there will have been all kinds of deals done that you will never hear about. You wouldn’t run a whelk stall this way!

 

The World Bank tells us that GDP in Greece was US$354bn in 2008 and just US$235bn in 2008 http://databank.worldbank.org/data/reports.aspx?source=2&country=GRC&series=&period=# . In current money terms the GDP of Greece was around 25% lower in 2015 than it was in 2008. And, it is still falling. There is absolutely no chance that the GDP of Greece will have recovered ten years on from the 2008 crisis.

By 1950 the GDP of Greece had recovered to the level it was in 1939 http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1317677/1/270158.pdf. The GDP of Greece had recovered from the effects of World War II, even though the war did not end until 1945.That is right, the elites in Brussels have wrought more damage on Greece than all the death and destruction of World War II. GDP in the Euro Area as a whole is still below the pre-crisis level in 2008.

The EU Referendum gives us a chance to say “No – we do not want to be governed by people who unapologetically deliver this level of misery.” There has been no apology!

 

I have today resigned as councillor for the St Paul’s ward on Tendring District Council. I will be going to live in New Zealand.

It would not be right to say that I have really enjoyed my time as a councillor – being in opposition is frustrating. Watching the Conservatives and their Country Club friends ride roughshod over local opinion on the Local Plan has been no fun at all. Why they insist on a plan to build far more homes than can possibly be justified remains a mystery to me.

However, it has been a privilege and certainly interesting. I hope that the residents of St Pauls ward feel I have represented them properly, both on the local plan committee and to council officers.

I leave with nothing but affection for Clacton and wish all of you well.

I plan to continue the blog, to give a Englishman’s view of the world form New Zealand. So, please do continue to return and hopefully I can provide a different and interesting perspective.

You will have the chance to vote for the next Essex Police and Crime Commissioner in Thursday 5th May. I stood to be the UKIP representative and was one of the final three candidates for that role. After the hustings the party chose Dr Bob Spink. I wish him every possible success, without reservation. At the hustings we each had five minutes to present ourselves. Below is my contribution on the policies that the next Essex PCC should have. It is a couple of months old now, but I think it still stands up and I believe it to be substantially in line with the platform that Dr Spink will be proposing. Here it is:-

It may seem obvious to say it, but the role of the Police and crime commissioner is to represent the electors of Essex to the authorities and not the other way around. We recently received a leaflet explaining the changes to Community Policing in Tendring, my local district council. This was presented at a briefing help jointly by the Chief constable and the PCC. This is part of a wider plan to reduce the number of police stations in Essex from 25 to 10 and to reduce the number of PCSO’s from 251 to 60. The current incumbent, Nick Alston, has simply not done that. He seems to have been captured by the machine. After nearly four years he has proudly announced that he will give his first major speech next month. Not engaging with the electorate of Essex, not representing the electorate of Essex. Not good enough!

The PCC role involves being available to hear the views of Essex residents; directly, as well as through their representatives. These views then need to be challenged, investigated, reviewed, assessed, filtered and prioritised before being raised with the relevant authorities. The authorities that I have in mind are principally the police themselves, especially the Chief Constable of Essex, and also the Home Office. The police are clearly under severe cost pressure. However community policing is absolutely central to the expectations that the electors in Essex, reasonably, have. Our representative has not, in any visible way, fought our corner. He should have done so.

Policing is not all about community policing. There are real issues around;

• Organised crime
• Cyber crime
• Road safety and road traffic collisions.
• Substance abuse and mental health
• Crime prevention
• Crime investigation
• Domestic abuse
• Youth offending

These issues are often related. In Clacton we have a problem with young runners, being used by drugs gangs to supply homeless people, which leads to a stubborn persistence of knife crime. I recognise that these are complex issues. And here’s the thing – Essex Police are deeply disenchanted that they cannot deliver the service that we want. Certainly the PCC has a role in setting objectives and reviewing operational proposals. But the PCC does not need to be an operational policing expert. We already have a whole police forceful of that!

There is also an elephant in this room that cannot be ignored. Immigration. Not all immigration is a good thing. Specifically, the uncontrolled immigration of low skilled labour harms the low skilled labour that is already here. Also, it has the potential to create enclaves that do not integrate properly into the local community. These issues have, at the very least, the potential to affect crime rates. This is an issue that can only be addressed at a European level or by leaving the EU. It is right that the PCC should speak up on these issues.

Whilst the role of PCC is clearly political – an elected position is pretty much the definition of “political”, I support the UKIP position which is against the politicisation of the police force. If elected, I would gladly campaign for the abolition of PCC’s in favour of appointed police boards, if that is the way teat UKIP decides to go.

In amongst all the debate prompted by the announcement that the referendum will be on Thursday 23rd June, there are some certainties – things all parties do actually agree on. Even though this is not a Tendring only issue, and I am not a national representative, this decision will profoundly affect people in Tendring. So I am adding my two penny worth here.

What are these certainties?

Perhaps most importantly in the short term, we will have control over who we allow to come into this country. We absolutely must stop the unrestricted immigration of low skilled labour. In my view this suits David Cameron and his rich friends just fine. I believe they want an unlimited supply of cheap labour to work in their homes and their businesses. It is a disaster for low skilled people already in the UK.

All the recipients of money form the EU can continue to receive these payments if the UK leaves the EU. In addition, the UK will be able to spend its net contribution in the UK. This net contribution is variously cited as £10bn or £8bn. Whichever, this is a substantial amount of money.

We will immediately have control over our policies on; farming, fishing, energy, and the environment – to mention just some that are currently controlled in Brussels.

The status quo is not an option. The EU is integrating rapidly. Project Fear represent this as a choice between “the devil you know” and “the devil you don’t”. They are wrong. “The devil you know” is not an option.

And where do the Remain and Leave campaigns differ most sharply?

Trade – without a doubt. I am quite sure that we will be much better off leaving the EU, but I have to accept that there is no consensus on this. The arguments of the Remain campaign are pitifully weak, and supported overwhelmingly by big business that has a vested interest in retaining the status quo. In my view, big companies with high market shares have invested a lot of money in getting the rules written to suit their products and they are only too happy for it to stay that way.

Crony corporatism has gone on for too long. June 23rd really is the moment for the normal working people of this country to take back control.

 

I have had confirmation from a Planning Officer at Tendring District Council “that there is consultation on the proposal for a new seafront café taking place.” No planning application has been submitted – Yet.

The proposal is to site a new café at Star Point, at the eastern end of the greensward opposite Third Avenue. There is considerable opposition to this proposal. The attached picture  from a demonstration on the site includes Cllr Joy Broderick (HRA), front row blue jacket, and Cllr Mark Stephenson (UKIP), wearing spectacles behind Joy. My apologies to all the others not named.

There is certainly a need to improve facilities at our magnificent new beach, principally parking. However, when I raised that with TDC officers, I was told that there was already sufficient parking. That is, in my view, nonsense. Last September, before the final bays were opened, I could not get parked for over half an hour, on a dry but not particularly hot day. I seems as though parking will have to be a mess, before anything gets done.

It is difficult to understand what the Conservative administration thinks it is doing here. The existing cafes may be inadequate next summer, but despoiling the greensward is [obviously] not the answer.

You will have a chance to “send a message” to this Conservative TDC administration at the Essex County Council elections, and Essex Police and Crime Commissioner elections this May. Please do use this opportunity to give expression to your resolution never, ever to vote Conservative again.

 

 

 

 

Please click on this link to sign the petition “Re thinking the budget for Essex Police to save PCSO s jobs”:- https://petition.parliament.uk/signatures/9383919/verify/5dH5Wf4jSsPAbFq2jqc

The plan currently under consultation proposes to reduce PCSO numbers from 251 -> 60. Essex Police have clearly faced some very difficult challenges with regards to savings demanded by the government in Westminster. However, George Osbourne found money in the Autumn Statement.

As well as his U-turn on tax credits, he also performed a U-turn on proposed cuts to the police service. “The police protect us, and we’re going to protect the police,” said the Chancellor, as if he had forgotten that until then, the person from whom the police most needed protecting was himself. Police chiefs had been warned to expect cuts, but they are not going to happen this year. We need to make sure that this reprieve is reflected in Essex as retained PCSO’s.

You will have an opportunity to directly influence this debate in a few months time. In May 2016 the role of Essex Police and Crime Commissioner is up for election. I supported Nick Alston (Con) last time around and had high hopes. However, that was a mistake – he has simply not been visible. The heart of the PCC role is to represent the people of Essex to the authorities and not the other way around. Sadly Nick Alston seems to have been captured by the machine.

So – Sign the petition, and vote for the UKIP candidate in May.