As somebody who is fairly new to West Berkshire, I cannot understand how a district council and it's elected members can be so out of touch with the people who ultimately allow them to serve on their behalf. The impression I get is that the council is nothing more than a glorified "club for the boys" with all of the real work being left to officers so that members can bicker over the same points time and time again.

One person who stands out more than most is Cllr Pamela Bale. First of all, Cllr Bale made a complete hash of her attempts to generate cash through the Nature Discovery Centre, and in the process tried to pass the buck to Thatcham Town Council to try and dodge the bullet which is the anger of the public. Let us be clear, Cllr Bale was attempting to raise additional revenue through the centre from the start of the process, and I don't think people are opposed to the centre being responsible for generating more revenue to pay the bills, but people are asking the question as to why the council could not just say this from the off.

Now, Cllr Bale has shown how out of touch she really is by claiming that West Berkshire Council were unaware of the research being carried out on behalf of Newbury Town Council regarding the problems arisen due to the Parkway Development. I am shocked that nobody at WBDC reads the local paper, which reported why the town council were going to carry out this survey weeks ago. I would be very surprised if Newbury Town Council had not notified WBDC of their intentions to carry out the survey, but if they didn't tell West Berks then heads must roll there too.

The whole council appears to be out of touch, but Cllr Bale is now the public face of what is wrong at West Berks. Is it time for her to go???

And are you a Labour stooge?...

Sounds very much like it to me.

I guess that would be the expected response!!! I'm not sure what difference it makes, but yes I am a Labour Party supporter at a national level, but that was only confirmed after the general election. I come from a strong Labour family, but I've always tried to remain impartial until I was confident to make up my mind for myself, without pressure from elsewhere. The fact that the Lib Dems are now showing their true colours on the national stage, I really couldn't vote for them again and that seems to be popular opinion according to all sides of the media.

On a local stage, there is not a lot of choice on whom to vote for. I wasn't here at the last local elections as I was working away. But local politics should be about making the rights decisions and campaining on local issues. That doesn't seem to be the case in West Berkshire, where a lot of time is wasted on small issues that the majority of people living here do not care about. When it does come to campaigning, the only leaflets we recieve are regarding national politics. What I want to hear is what the plan is locally. Where is the affordable housing going to be built? How can we safeguard facilities like the Nature Discovery Centre? What is the way forward for Thatcham Town Centre? What is being done to help the Kennet Centre from suffering total oblivion when the Parkway opens? Where is the education provision for all of the new houses, and where is the employment provision? What action is being taken to safeguard and develop rural communities???

The big question is not what political party I will be supporting at the next general election, but like all of the other electorate, I'm looking at who is best going to serve my interests at the next election??? Who will tackle the big issues open and honestly??? Pamela Bale tried to raise funds at the Nature Discovery Centre through parking charges, but publicly lied about why she wanted to do and rather than offering an apology when caught out, she tried to shift the focus onto Thatcham Town Council. She has also proved to be completely out of touch regarding the enviormental issues in Victoria Park due to the Parkway development. I'm sorry to single Cllr Bale out, but she has become a laughing stock and it is completely her own doing. She also represents the overall picture of an out of touch, out of date and backward thinking local authority and there needs to be a major shake up. Party politics to one side please, how can we best move forward to try and salvage what we can from this mess.

Hi

I don't "do" politics because to be honest whatever they say is never the truth but I completely agree with you Richard.  We should be told about affordable housing and be campaigning about better facilities, more schools and a half decent hospital.  The size of Newbury and surrounding and we have a minor A&E department, no facilities for an operation other than an ingrowing toenail removal etc.  Schools are stretched to breaking point and as far as I know it now takes about two weeks to get an appointment at the doctors.....

West Berkshire was Lib Dem until 2005. It was the Lib Dems who stitched us up with Vision 2025 under the guidance of Nick Carter who is now Chief Executive. We all breathed a sigh of relief when the Conservatives took over in 2005, expecting common sense to prevail. Unfortunately the Conservatives didn't have a clue what they were doing and just made the situation worse. The electorate gave the Tories an overwhelming majority in 2007 and they now do anything that they want without worrying about the opposition.

The local elections take place next May. Time to rally your Labour cronies to see if you have any support. I very much doubt it.

Quoted from pinkcoral04

Hi

I don't "do" politics because to be honest whatever they say is never the truth but I completely agree with you Richard.  We should be told about affordable housing and be campaigning about better facilities, more schools and a half decent hospital.  The size of Newbury and surrounding and we have a minor A&E department, no facilities for an operation other than an ingrowing toenail removal etc.  Schools are stretched to breaking point and as far as I know it now takes about two weeks to get an appointment at the doctors.....

All this after 12 years of Labour? Hopefully the tories will sort it all out for you.

I don't know many people in West Berks, and those who I do know are not politically minded. I just hate the fact that a small number of people are destroying the area. We need a clear plan on how to get us out of this mess, regardless of political bias. The problem it would seem is that all of the major decisions are taken by officers who are not accountable to the electorate. This allows the elected members the time to discuss the same issues (like Tony Vickers and his bike chums) over and over again when the important issues often get railroaded through by the officers by hiding consultations and documents on their website, preventing the members of the community from having any real say until it's too late. We need an open, honest and transparent local authority and when we go to the polls in May next year, we should all vote for whoever has a proper plan to move the area forward and prevent us from remaining stuck in the goldfish bowl of bad decisions.

Quoted from richard.garvie

But local politics should be about making the rights decisions and campaining on local issues.

Make your mind up. On the other thread you are suggesting that Tony Vickers should be wearing a hair shirt because of Nick Clegg's schmoozing with Cameron.

Read the whole thread. I was responding to Tony Vickers letter in the paper saying that the Labour Government was all a train wreck. At the end of the article, I make it clear that to retain support locally, the Lib Dems will need to come up with some real solutions to local problems.

Write more concisely, as I can't manage a whole diatribe. But essentially he's correct. Two unnecessary wars (at least one of which was illegal and was justified by lies) and money wasted on a scale that seems unimaginable.  

The whole war issue is up for debate. I supported it at the time, now I'm not so sure now. A lot of people feel the same and in time, we will find out if it was illegal but I too suspect that it was fought based on lies and spin. The deficit is damning on Gordon Brown and his whole economic strategy and Tony Vickers is right to point that out.

But the point I was getting at is the Lib Dems need to tell us what they plan to do locally if they want to retain support here. Labour have not had as much as a local councillor in West Berks, and look at the mess things are in here??? In response to Tony's letter, I've already exposed that the Lib Dems have been complicit in the savage and irresponsible cuts taking place now at national level. I've already made it clear that the Lib Dems have sold out on their own policy in favour of government perks.

Pointing out the failings of the last government will not be enough to get people voting for the Lib Dems locally.

The point of this particular thread is the mess that the whole of WBDC is in, and that Pamela Bale is now unwittingly the ridicule of people here in West Berks. She represents what people have thought of our elected members for some time, and that is that they are completely out of touch on REAL ISSUES. Blaming the Labour Government for the war in Iraq will never justify the disgraceful local decisions taken by councillors here.

Quoted from 26

one of which was illegal  

Just out of interest...(and as it seems to make such a difference to everyone) do you know how many LEGAL wars this country has been involved in, in say, the last 300 years?


Threep.

Anyway, back to the point in hand. Is it just me that thinks Pamela Bale has came out of this looking bad? Am I the only one who thinks the council is out of touch with the majority of people in West Berkshire?

For the life of me, I cannot see what a war in Iraq has got to do with WBC nor the finacial mess that we are in due to lack of control of the banks. Local politics should be about local issues and what the candidate's political leaning is should not enter into the equation. I believe that there are delusions of grandeur, believing that they are as important as the Westminster politicians.

I did find it more than a little irritating that at the vision conference, they, WBC, were full steam ahead for a spring opening of Parkway with an immediate follow on for the Wharf vision. Mrs Bale just managed to trot out all the old nonsense about the proposals for the Wharf and the Pavilion in the park. I cannot believe that the delay in opening Parkway was unknown at that stage. I also wonder what Mrs Bales qualifications in civil engineering are, or does she just have to believe whatever is fed to her by the various non elected personnel in WBC. I feel a little sorry for her as she appears to be totally out of her depth. Is the Vision, Parkway, Pavilion etc such a hot potato that none of the boys in the club want to try to hold it so it's passed down to someone who can be a sacrificial lamb. (Emma Webster then Pamela Bale)

Quoted from richard.garvie

Anyway, back to the point in hand. Is it just me that thinks Pamela Bale has came out of this looking bad? Am I the only one who thinks the council is out of touch with the majority of people in West Berkshire?

No most of us do - but User23 (who works for the council) seems to think we are a minority.  Does seem to be a case of all in WBC covering their collective eyes and ears and believing that by pretending everything is fine these nasty people that think they are incompetent idiots will go away!

I think you have hit the nail on the head there Brian. Wasn't Emma Webster given the task of trying to push for a car park on the Faraday Road football ground??? Despite the fact that there is small print in the lease with the football club which provides the football team with an alternative facility if Faraday Road closes, Cllr Webster was unaware of this and the car parking proposal only came unstuck when they realised that there was no money for a new football ground. Cllr Webster ended up looking rather silly by all accounts, but this was because the task was no doubt given to her by somebody hoping that if the car park plan fell apart, they would not be the member looking sill in the aftermath.

It's all smokes and mirrors at West Berks, cloaks and daggers, whatever you want to call it. There needs to be change, but the same people who have been complicit in the awful decisions made over the years will no doubt log on here with fake usernames and feed us the same "Labour Government" nonsense when it is actually down to unelected council officers who are given free reign as the elected members have collectively got no vision or drive to make a difference.

Quoted from brian

Is the Vision, Parkway, Pavilion etc such a hot potato that none of the boys in the club want to try to hold it so it's passed down to someone who can be a sacrificial lamb. (Emma Webster then Pamela Bale)

er....yes.



Threep.

Quoted from Threepwood

Just out of interest...(and as it seems to make such a difference to everyone) do you know how many LEGAL wars this country has been involved in, in say, the last 300 years?


Threep.

I don't know the answer, but how do we define legal or illegal? In the case of Iraq, it was pretty evident that a reason for war was invented. It happened in Suez as well, although somewhat more elaborately.

Quoted from 26

but how do we define legal or illegal?

Dunno, but as it was you who brought it up, I thought you may have an insight into what made one war illegal, and one war legal, and by extension, how many legal ones we've been involved in.

Threep.

Quoted from Threepwood

Dunno, but as it was you who brought it up, I thought you may have an insight into what made one war illegal, and one war legal, and by extension, how many legal ones we've been involved in.

Threep.

Oh... just trying to look clever again.

Don't tell me now that I was breaking the law at Suez in the 50s.

Quoted from 26

I don't know the answer

Best not to bandy such things about then eh?

Quoted from brian

Don't tell me now that I was breaking the law at Suez in the 50s.

Ummm.....(sorry)   http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2006/dec/01/egypt.past..

Threep.

Law is about how much you can afford.  I think these wars are legally debatable.  I don't believe it is open and shut.

Quoted from brian

Don't tell me now that I was breaking the law at Suez in the 50s.

So was my dad.

Quoted from Threepwood

Best not to bandy such things about then eh?

I didn't "bandy" about that I knew how many wars were legal or illegal in the last 300 years, but you implied that you knew. I merely stated the pretty commonly held view that the invasion of Iraq was illegal. Of course given the dominance of the US and allies in the UN, it's all academic. I believed that the Suez war was illegal, but I'll admit that my view is largely held because of the lack of support of the UN or the US.

These things tend not to go to court. And if they do the winner has all the judges.

Quoted from brian

Don't tell me now that I was breaking the law at Suez in the 50s.

It didn't seem illegal at the time. There was no internet, the only news media was the radio and what we were told by the powers above. The newspapers were about three weeks out of date where we were, in the Red Sea, so to us it seemed that God was on our side. We were a little surprised to see the American warships going flat out in the opposite direction, but what did we know, we were always suspicious of the US navy anyway. So there you have it.

Any thoughts on the Falklands war. Was the sinking of the Belgrano illegal ?.

I'll tell you what, Pamela Bale has a lot to answer for or have I misread something.

Quoted from brian

The newspapers were about three weeks out of date where we were, in the Red Sea, so to us it seemed that God was on our side.

I was under the impression that you were a still working carpenter from some of your previous postings and too young to have been there. Were you in the Navy? My dad was on a number of ships, but I'm not sure which one for Suez & sadly he died in January so I can't ask him. Sadly also, for whatever reason, he never really talked about Suez or Korea where he also served.

The Belgrano is a tough one isn't it? We were at war, but it was sailing away. But we made the rules and decided where the exclusion zone was.

To me war is war.  I presume the exclusion zone is for the benefit of neutral vessels.

"I think it could only be in Britain that a prime minister was accused of sinking an enemy ship that was a danger to our navy, when my main motive was to protect the boys in our navy." - Baroness Thatcher

Quoted from Greenham Common

"I think it could only be in Britain that a prime minister was accused of sinking an enemy ship that was a danger to our navy, when my main motive was to protect the boys in our navy." - Baroness Thatcher

A quote from Baroness Thatcher is not exactly persuasive. Especially when she uses Sun speak.

Quoted from 26

A quote from Baroness Thatcher is not exactly persuasive. Especially when she uses Sun speak.

Her quote sounds fair enough to me.

I understand that the exclusion zone was to warn neutral vessels not to venture in, not to advise countries we are at war with that in open sea, they are safe outside it.

Quoted from 26

I was under the impression that you were a still working carpenter from some of your previous postings and too young to have been there. Were you in the Navy? My dad was on a number of ships, but I'm not sure which one for Suez & sadly he died in January so I can't ask him. Sadly also, for whatever reason, he never really talked about Suez or Korea where he also served.

The Belgrano is a tough one isn't it? We were at war, but it was sailing away. But we made the rules and decided where the exclusion zone was.

Still working more or less full time in the building trade. Not too young and yes I was in the Navy on HMS Kenya south of Suez.

Belgrano was a legitimate target and served its purpose, kept all the Argentinian ships out of the war zone. If the Belgrano's destroyer escorts had had the bottle to stay on site, the casualty list would have been much smaller. It was only a couple of old WWll Mk8 torpedos after all and the time to sink would have allowed plenty of time to take off survivors..

I was one of those army types nervously bobbing about in a boat waiting to get on dry land at the time.... Believe me, we cheered loudly when the Belgrano was taken out and some of the dangers were crossed off.  When you're at the sharp end and faced the possibility that it would be YOU and your mates who would be jumping into the freezing waters of the south Atlantic you didn't much care about the niceties off 'exclusion zones'.  

Anyhoo..... a bit removed from Pamela Bale's current sphere of influence innit?

Just what I was thinking!!! But I have found this thread interesting, I love history and hearing stories from people who were actually involved in things like conflict and the like. As for Pamela Bale, I think there is a danger that her incompetance is about to be overtaken by those at the very top of the Tory administration!!!

Quoted from richard.garvie

J I think there is a danger that her incompetance is about to be overtaken by those at the very top of the Tory administration!!!

At least they wont be able to match Labours incompetence though Richard!

Labour locally or nationally?

Locally, there has never been a "Labour tradition" but the party need to change that. It will alwways be difficult for Labour to muscle in, but with effective leadership and a clear vision who knows!!!

Nationally, there was a lot of incompetance at the top. The recent memoirs make it sound like a farce, but with the exception of one or two serious errors of judgement, we're still in a much better place as a country that when we were under Major and Thatcher!!!

Come on Nobby, let's not make this about the war of the deficit. Hardly the reasons to justify the level of mistakes made here in West Berks. I can just see Pamela Bale at the next council meeting... "The damage in Victoria Park was caused by the mistakes of the Labour Government... that is why we will not contribute to the survey conducted by Newbury Town Council" or Cllr Jones (leader) saying "in comparison to the deficit of the last Labour Government, the £2m deficit in one department is perfectly acceptable"!!!

Quoted from richard.garvie

Labour locally or nationally?

Locally, there has never been a "Labour tradition" but the party need to change that. It will alwways be difficult for Labour to muscle in, but with effective leadership and a clear vision who knows!!!

Nationally, there was a lot of incompetance at the top. The recent memoirs make it sound like a farce, but with the exception of one or two serious errors of judgement, we're still in a much better place as a country that when we were under Major and Thatcher!!!

Come on Nobby, let's not make this about the war of the deficit. Hardly the reasons to justify the level of mistakes made here in West Berks. I can just see Pamela Bale at the next council meeting... "The damage in Victoria Park was caused by the mistakes of the Labour Government... that is why we will not contribute to the survey conducted by Newbury Town Council" or Cllr Jones (leader) saying "in comparison to the deficit of the last Labour Government, the £2m deficit in one department is perfectly acceptable"!!!

So you want to avoid the mistakes of the National effects of a Labour administration - not surprising!  We were certainly not as badly off financially under Thatcher and even Major - so what wonderful improvements have we had under Brown Blair - their wars were questionable to say the least - at least the Tories did it as a result of invasion!

As for locally unfortunately for you the electorate round here aren't that fecking stupid - we piss away enough money on council tax without Labour coming in too find ways of wasting more!!

If you really have desires of getting into politics I suggest you move!

Quoted from Nobby

So you want to avoid the mistakes of the National effects of a Labour administration - not surprising!  We were certainly not as badly off financially under Thatcher and even Major - so what wonderful improvements have we had under Brown Blair - their wars were questionable to say the least - at least the Tories did it as a result of invasion!

As for locally unfortunately for you the electorate round here aren't that fecking stupid - we piss away enough money on council tax without Labour coming in too find ways of wasting more!!

If you really have desires of getting into politics I suggest you move!

I really do not understand the Newbury logic.  Reading the forum over the last 12 months, from your posts we reach the conclusion that Liberal and Conservative councillors are inept, stupid and could not run the proverbial in a brewery.  They spend money unwisely, the planning department are corrupt.  The Chief Executive is a waste of space.  Both parties have ruined the town, you all hate the parkway project, the market place revamp and the Vision in general and you don't want a building in the park.  You were up in arms when a councillor wanted to charge for parking at a nature centre. You do not agree with building on the race course, or parking charges or PCSO's.  The council don't do enough when it snows and they run out of salt then don't fix the potholes quickly enough.  Your police do not attend crimes and when they do they don't do anything and you dislike it when they attend local fetes instead of being on the beat.  BUT you still keep voting the same two parties in!!!  

Quoted from 26

The Belgrano is a tough one isn't it? We were at war

I must have missed the meeting where we declared war on Argentina.


Threep.

Fernando Torres is one of the best strikers in the world and Gerrard one of the best central midfielders, yet Liverpool failed to get into the Champion League. Does that mean they are bad players, or that the manager was tactically inept?

In terms of Labour, Gordon Brown (the manager) has now gone and it is up to the Labour team players to perform under a new leader (manager if you like) who will ultimately come up with the tactics for the party. Locally, the Labour party need to appoint a leader (manager) who can come up with a decent manifesto (tactics) to beat the two other parties (teams).

Just because Blair took us to a war based on spin and Gordon Brown failed to prevent a GLOBAL financial crisis, it doesn't mean the local Labour party would not be a success providing they had a strong and viable offer to the electorate. But it would all be based on the candidates that they could field and whether they are good enough. What no party should do is field politically inept candidates or people that do not know what it's like to live in the real world. That is why we are in this mess.

Nobby, stop trying to make this about national issues. What we are talking about is the fact that Pamela Bale is completely out of touch with the majority of people here in West Berks and continues to stumble from one political disater of her own making to another. The way she has handled the issues and herself is appalling. Adrian Jones has shown no real political leadership, and his administration is the most disorganised political administration I have ever seen. The policy is quite clearly "make it up as we go along". Keith Chopping (who is responsible for finance) doesn't have a clue and struggles to come up with a proper defence of his complete and utter balls up of the figures, so step forward Cllr Stansfield (member for performance) who after growing increasingly frustrated at David Rendels questioning, he then challenges David Rendel to come up with his own budget. But the Lib Dems are just as incompetent as the Tories, and when Cllr Stansfield lost his cool, Rendel sensed this was his victory and simply piled more pressure on the tories by claiming that not only don't they know how to fix it, but they also tried to hide the worsening position. Rendelnor the Libs will actually try to help the Tories out of this mess, and seem to be quite smug as the Tories continue to lurch towards implosion.

District councilllors are on the council to represent us and run the council on behalf of the taxpayer. They all need to work together, not against each other, to ensure we get through this mess. But party politics here is fierce, and the coalition agreement has made things even more tense between the parties. Can I just ask, say a party (Labour / Greens / UKIP0 pulled off a miracle by getting just under half of the seats, the tories get just under half and the Lib Dems get six or seven... would the Libs enter a coalition with the Tories on a local level???

Quoted from richard.garvie

Fernando Torres is one of the best strikers in the world and Gerrard one of the best central midfielders, yet Liverpool failed to get into the Champion League. Does that mean they are bad players, or that the manager was tactically inept?

In terms of Labour, Gordon Brown (the manager) has now gone and it is up to the Labour team players to perform under a new leader (manager if you like) who will ultimately come up with the tactics for the party. Locally, the Labour party need to appoint a leader (manager) who can come up with a decent manifesto (tactics) to beat the two other parties (teams).

Just because Blair took us to a war based on spin and Gordon Brown failed to prevent a GLOBAL financial crisis, it doesn't mean the local Labour party would not be a success providing they had a strong and viable offer to the electorate. But it would all be based on the candidates that they could field and whether they are good enough. What no party should do is field politically inept candidates or people that do not know what it's like to live in the real world. That is why we are in this mess.

Nobby, stop trying to make this about national issues. What we are talking about is the fact that Pamela Bale is completely out of touch with the majority of people here in West Berks and continues to stumble from one political disater of her own making to another. The way she has handled the issues and herself is appalling. Adrian Jones has shown no real political leadership, and his administration is the most disorganised political administration I have ever seen. The policy is quite clearly "make it up as we go along". Keith Chopping (who is responsible for finance) doesn't have a clue and struggles to come up with a proper defence of his complete and utter balls up of the figures, so step forward Cllr Stansfield (member for performance) who after growing increasingly frustrated at David Rendels questioning, he then challenges David Rendel to come up with his own budget. But the Lib Dems are just as incompetent as the Tories, and when Cllr Stansfield lost his cool, Rendel sensed this was his victory and simply piled more pressure on the tories by claiming that not only don't they know how to fix it, but they also tried to hide the worsening position. Rendelnor the Libs will actually try to help the Tories out of this mess, and seem to be quite smug as the Tories continue to lurch towards implosion.

District councilllors are on the council to represent us and run the council on behalf of the taxpayer. They all need to work together, not against each other, to ensure we get through this mess. But party politics here is fierce, and the coalition agreement has made things even more tense between the parties. Can I just ask, say a party (Labour / Greens / UKIP0 pulled off a miracle by getting just under half of the seats, the tories get just under half and the Lib Dems get six or seven... would the Libs enter a coalition with the Tories on a local level???

You were the one who started on about national issues - if you want to change it back to local isuues (where Labour also have an abysmal record) do so by all means. Would you like another gun then you can shoot both your feet!

Nobby, if you want to discuss Labour (Local or National) any further, let's start another thread although I personally have no idea about what happens with Labour in West Berks. This thread is about the level of incompetence within the current Tory administration and I just feel you are trying to divert the attention away from the current shenanigans at WBC to the few mistakes of the old government. Maybe this is why things are going downhill in West Berks, the Tories only look at the past when we should all be looking to the future.

Saying that, you could be Tony Vickers!!! He also likes to hide behind the faults of the old Labour Government to hide his shortcomings and those of his party (locally and nationally!).

Quoted from richard.garvie

....I just feel you are trying to divert the attention away from the current shenanigans at WBC to the few mistakes of the old government......

That'll be the first time I've been accused of trying to divert attention from WBC's incompetence!

haha! Didn't think anyone would be online at this time of night, just watching the NASCAR.

So what's the story then Nobby? How long have things been this bad at WBC???

National politics are relevant to what happens locally.  Whatever one thinks about Ms Bayle, it's entirely possible that the Libdems deal with Cameron could lead to their virtually complete demolition in West Berkshire.

The emerging picture on the cuts - particularly their disproportionate impact on the less well off - has to be pretty much fatal for the Libdems.  It's clear that Osborne is following a hard right agenda.  Even those on the right of the Tory party, like John Redwood, fear that Osborne is cutting too hard and too fast.  

If things are as bad as we keep being told they are (most of this is spin, of course, to soften us up, but quite a lot of it isn't) and the libs stay in the tory boat after the spending review results are announced, they'll be demolished in the polls and will end up as a fringe party.

What impact would that have locally, I wonder.  It's very difficult to see a now completely discredited Labour party rebuilding trust and credibility for very many years (well, maybe 10 or so), particularly in an area like this. Perhaps the tories would just win all the local seats.  If so our feelings about Ms Bayle are irrelevant.

Quoted from noobree

National politics are relevant to what happens locally.  Whatever one thinks about Ms Bale, it's entirely possible that the Libdems deal with Cameron could lead to their virtually complete demolition in West Berkshire.

So National politics do have a bearing on what happens locally.


Threep.

Quoted from Threepwood

So National politics do have a bearing on what happens locally.

Of course they do - the majority of WBC spending is dictated by central government.

You know that and I know that , I was just questioning noobree's oxymoron.


Threep.

Quoted from Threepwood

You know that and I know that , I was just questioning noobree's oxymoron.

Threep.

Oops, dictionary alert.  I think you mean 'statement of the blindingly obvious' rather than oxymoron.  'Platitude' may be what you have in mind but it is rather early on a Monday morning so you're excused.  

Have a nice day.