Political Penguin

Wasn’t exactly sure how to approach this one. The temptation as always when people turn up and make stupid comments and have a go at you is to give them a good slap down. Especially when they are from your political opponents.

I’m still tempted but I am minded that despite the fact that I am openly partisan I also consider myself to be a fair person. I am also tempted to include copious amounts of profanity in this particular post but have decided not to on the basis of having done my fair share of it lately although a little may slip in.

Now just for the record, I’ve said it before, in fact it was included in the first post of this blog that I welcome informed and polite commenting, even if people disagree with me. I fully accept that we live in a society where many people’s views can differ and within our party dominated political structure it is the case that those who take particularly strong interest or views of a certain persuasion often end up supporting one party or another.

I have no problem with that. I also believe that an enlightened political discourse is to be encouraged in a democratic society and if my site can be a small vehicle through which people can discuss things in an informed and appropriate manner then I positively encourage it.

I’m also aware that like any community of people there are rules albeit unwritten, and etiquettes that must be followed. Those that step outside of these rules and etiquettes are quite often and justifiably so chastised. This is as relevant to the online community as much as it is to any other. This is why I’m going to deal with a comment raised in this post.

Danny Havering wishes to imply that in some way I may be envious of the way a young person like Cllr. Rachel Walker has risen to be a Councillor because the Tories are such an enlightened party in Walsall and give young people a chance and my party has in some way conspired to keep both me and other young people out of winnable seats. He’s also rather naughty in through his comment sending out the guarded inference that he knows my identity.

Let’s deal with these issues one at a time. My anonymity for a start. Again, please refer back to my first post on this site and the response I gave to my old mate Paul Macmanomy on the issue. I do not choose to emblazon my site with my name nor do I (as of course I could) choose to run it in a way that ensures my anonymity. In fact I even give instructions on how to find out who I am and openly acknowledge my first name. What have we learned from this? Danny is either clever enough to use a whois tool on a URL in which case I bow in absolute awe of his supreme tech knowledge or he’s been put up by someone who has or someone who’s having a good guess at my identity from what I’ve written. Either that or it’s a deliberate inference inspired by someone not capable of doing this but has a good idea who I am and wishes me to fall into the trap of ‘outing’ myself. Either way, my identity is no secret and if they’ve been so stupid as to have not either worked it out by now after 4 months or try to trap me into revealing it then I truly feel sorry for them.

Second point. Again refer back to my first ever post in relation to how I conduct myself in terms of having a go at parties other than my own. I won’t attack other parties or particular representatives of them purely on the basis of party politics. Sometimes a bit of fun but if we’re talking serious criticism then it’s the issues that are important to me. I will however admit to not being equal in my treatment of different parties. This is based purely on my personal experience in dealing with them and the extent to which I either view their perspective on the world or their actions.

So just for the record I actually am not predisposed to be particularly venomous towards Tories. I do actually respect the long history of the Tory Party and in the fact that although I may personally despise the principals and ideology behind it I do recognise that those people who support or join it do believe in something. Anyone who does know me will also know that without doubt the party for which I purely despise simply because it believes in nothing and stands for nothing is the Liberal Democrats. In which case it can be seen in my writing that I do reserve a rather harder line against this party than I do for the Tories.

Now on to Walsall politics. Danny Havering correctly identified that I stood for election in the Short Heath ward. A big round of applause for that one. Should I be in some way envious of Cllr. Rachel Walker’s rise at a young age to being given a winnable seat, getting on to the council and becoming a cabinet member, no. Here’s why.

Firstly he implies by his assertion that there is in some way a pecking order by which the Tories pick their candidates in Walsall. The Labour Party is democratic in it’s nature and just to put your mind at ease, we don’t pick candidates in line with ‘that person’s done their apprenticeship in a crap un-winnable ward and we can move them up to standing in a safe ward so they can be a councillor.’ Not that it is any of Danny Havering’s business but just to put him right on this one. I have sought to be selected as the Labour Party candidate on four occasions. In three instances I was selected and stood and in one I wasn’t, I will be the first to admit that the candidate in that case who was chosen was the right choice there, and in case he was wondering, no it wasn’t the Willenhall South by-election in 2005 for which I did not attend the selection meeting as a potential candidate.

If this means that the Labour Party in Walsall somehow discriminates against young people then Danny Havering should really make sure that he has some foundation before he expresses such views. In the case of Waheed and Aqeel there are equally good reason for why they did not seek to stand and he really should not comment on issues that he knows nothing about.

Danny is probably young, a bit naive and dreams of one day becoming a Councillor in Walsall (Christ knows why). If his views on UKPollingReport are anything to go by then he needs to spend a bit more time in the classroom. Just who are these floating voters that have come into Walsall South from Walsall North? The only movement was a small area of the Birchills Leamore Ward into Pleck and it shows he doesn’t get out canvassing much if he thinks that area is stacked with floating voters. They might also be a bit miffed after Walsall Council screwed up the 2004 election and disenfranchised them.

As for my own political aspirations when it comes to Walsall Council I simply have none. I can categorically say that I will never seek election to Walsall Council. I simply do not intend to live in the Walsall Borough for the rest of my life. I love my home town of Willenhall, but it is done a great disservice by being part of the Walsall Borough and like many of it’s residents we associate ourselves with Wolverhampton more than we will ever do with Walsall. As I get older I realise that I only have one life, it’s slowly getting shorter, there’s a world out there to discover and I’ll be damned if I’m going to spend the rest of it in the confines of the Walsall Borough.

In relation to the particular post regarding Cllr. Rachel Walker I would point out that rather than attacking her purely on the basis that she is a Tory Councillor there is a very valid point. She went on record, across the front page of the Walsall Advertiser (I only mention that because I know the journo’s from the Walsall Advertiser drop by my site) and said that it’s OK for shopkeepers to put out wares on the pavement when in fact to do this contravenes both council policy and legislation.

If a Councillor and indeed a Cabinet member who is responsible for the relevant department is stating publicly that it is OK to commit an offence then I do believe that on that basis she should be due for a bit of criticism. I have sought only to criticise her on the basis of misinforming the public and I think that is pretty much in line with the policy that I keep on my site.

The internet is a nasty place at times. I try to do my bit to uphold a certain degree of responsibility in my writings. I don’t go in for personal attacks in relation to what people might look like, make assertions as to how people may have got to where they are, I try to concentrate wholly on issues and policy. There is too much in terms of personality politics in Britain and I’ll be damned if I’m going to contribute to it. There are plenty of blogs out there who do that but for me personally I try my best to stick to the issues. So just to give you two examples. Bob Piper has affectionately referred to Colin Ross, that’s the LibDem organiser who also works for Ian Shires the leader of the LibDems in Walsall and who’s job is paid for by Walsall MBC as ‘fat Colin’. No disrespect to Bob, he’s entitled to refer to him in that way as far as I’m concerned but for me I will not mention Colin’s weight as it is irrelevant to me, I am far more interested in what he does or doesn’t say and what he gets up to in a political/professional context.

In the same way I’m sure and there’s a disclaimer in here that I do not personally believe this nor would I use such a description but as an example, someone who wished to criticise Cllr. Rachel Walker could refer to the size of her stature or infer that she got to where she is on the basis of her relationship with fellow Tory Cabinet member Adrian Andrews. That in my book would be a wholly unjustified and irrelevant in the context of the issue that is being discussed as it is the issue that is important, not the individual. The mere fact that it was Cllr. Rachel Walker who made the statement is purely incidental, if Tom Ansell had made it, if Melvin Pitt had made it then the criticism would have been the same. Neither of which people I have ever stood against in an election.

I do refer to Cllr. Rachel Walker’s experience in the article and in no way is this in relation to her age. She is simply someone who has been on the council for less than three years and I think it is fair to say that anyone who becomes a Councillor from whatever party they come from takes time to learn the processes, understand the practices and learn the ins and outs whether they’re a Councillor when they’re 21 or 51. Whether Cllr. Rachel Walker is competent to undertake her role as a cabinet member is entirely up to the Tory group and its leadership on Walsall council. My own personal view is that she may have shown her lack of knowledge of her brief and subsequently not only embarrassed herself but also put shopkeepers in the position where they may be prosecuted in the process.

On to Walsall Council itself. Danny Havering makes the point that Labour have also run Walsall Council at times in the last 27 years and therefore are equally to blame for the lack of implementation of a policy relating to legislation passed in 1980. Yes, I completely agree. As Danny has had a good look through my Walsall MBC section he will no doubt have noticed that I do reserve it for some criticism. In some cases this might be in relation to it being run by the Tories, in others it’s purely that I do not think Walsall Council is particularly good and no amount of Audit Commission star ratings is going to change my mind on the matter. I purely judge it on my personal experience and in comparison to my experience with other local authorities that I have dealt with in the past.

Equally if I think there’s something positive to say about it then I will and in fact I have on two occasions. I’ve dealt with many different departments in Walsall Council over the years and I’m sorry to say that I’ve been disappointed with the service and competency at a number of times. I will however say that I think the election unit is on the whole quite good, apart from the complete mess of the 2004 election count when I spent a full 15 hours of my life stuck in the town hall while votes were counted using a completely crap system devised by the then new head of the unit from New Zealand, and I will also say that although I have only had one dealing with the Planning Office, I thought they were bloody excellent.

This goes for what I may wish to write about political parties as well. I will make positive comments about the Tories if I think they deserve it. I was planning to write something rather complimentary about two of the Tory Councillors in Walsall but if these are the kind of antics Tories wish to play at I may well desist from trying to be fair and even handed. Equally, you never know, one day I might even write something nice about the Liberal Democrats but I highly doubt it.

Finally a few links that Danny Havering might like to follow when it comes to discourse and etiquette on the old interwebnet where he might find some useful advice. Here’s a nice piece by Tyger, I’d pay particular attention to the bit about picking fights with people who could well have considerably more tech knowledge than yourself. Here where Unity gives a friendly warning to a Tory who’s too big for his boots and here where Unity takes to pieces a Tory who doesn’t take heed of warnings.

Oh, and Danny, if you haven’t realised, you’re at the warning stage, if you’ve taken offence by anything disparaging I’ve written I apologise, but in all honesty if these couple of jibes get you then you’re not going to last long in politics mate. You may have a bright future ahead of you and aspirations to become a Councillor in Walsall, maybe even more for which I applaud you. What you really do not want is a vindictive techie with a grudge against you at this stage in your political career.

Anyway, happy hunting for information on my old mate Paul Macmanomy and if you were thinking about trying to find anything on the internet about me then I’ll give you a hint. I am only mentioned on the net in three places. One’s the various election results on Walsall Council’s website and I’ll give you the challenge of finding the other two. However if you’re looking for something exciting, you may well be very disappointed if you actually find them.

Right, now for a serious post about important issues.