Local election candidates announced

[Carl Rydings]

Carl - just to be clear - are you saying there has been clear and deliberate deceit and lying in the Lib Dem publicity materials?

'deliberate deceit and lying' is a strong phrase, I am just giving you our side of the story.

I suggest

FACT all politicians tell big porkies in order to gain a few votes!

There are no 'big porkies' in any of my leaflets and I have not told any member of the public any 'big porkies' in this election. I wouldn't want to win that way.

[chicken lady]

I suggest

FACT all politicians tell big porkies in order to gain a few votes!

[Duke Fame]

This link gives an interesting background of Marple election and a resume of the candidates.

http://catholicleft.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/local-elections-in-marple.html

The Stockport Council Election predictions blog is quite interesting, I think I'll offer my help to the Lib Dems / Conservatives in Heatons North, Cheadle Hulme North and Offerton. We must keep the Labour people - our council tax bills are high enough!

[Heritage]

Carl - just to be clear - are you saying there has been clear and deliberate deceit and lying in the Lib Dem publicity materials?

That is different from asserting they have given a certain representation of established facts.

Your use of the words 'fact' and 'fiction' infers deliberate lying.

Which is it?

[Duke Fame]

FICTION: Liberal Democrat leaflets say the Conservatives want to take money away from our area to allow
the Peel Moat Leisure Centre in the Heaton’s to remain open.

FACT: There would be no money taken away from Marple or any other ward if the Conservative Group’s budget
proposals were adopted. We proposed savings of £80,000 by slashing Councillors’ allowances by 10%, We wanted
to reduce the marketing budget by £30,000 and trim the Mayor’s budget. This would have allowed the leisure centre
in the Heaton’s to remain open in this the Olympic Year. We also proposed using the savings we identified for a
£400,000 fund to help kick-start job creation, especially for young people. And we wanted to cancel the Liberal Democrat
proposed increase in meals-onwheels charges and special needs transport. All these proposals were voted down by your
Liberal Democrat councillors.

On May 3rd you have the chance to have your say about the misinformation you are constantly being fed.
When you vote, you can decide what is fact and what is fiction!

I know it's not our constituency but the efforts to keep Peel Moat open is ridiculous. The Peel Moat centre was clsing because a very snazzy gym was opened at Houldsworth Mill.

I am a member of the 4 Heatons Traders assn and they have campaigned to keep Peel moat open but the reasons behind are illogical. The basic argument seems to be that Peel Moat is in Heaton Moor and Houldsworth in Reddish, there happens to be just 500m between the two centres but that seems to be lost on many.

[Carl Rydings]

Just got the new Lib Dem leaflet - usual pictures of the councillor in various locations around the constituency where they claim to have made a difference.  Just curious though about one phrase 'Solar Panels - Marple Lib Dems lead the the way on solar panels'.  What does this mean - have they all got solar panels on their roofs?  At the moment the phrase if meaningless.

Let us remember...

YOU CANNOT BELIEVE IT
At least, not if it’s in a Liberal Democrat leaflet

FICTION: A recent Lib Dem leaflet has a question asking "Do you agree with Shan's campaign to stop the
Conservatives from turning streetlights off at night in our area". 

FACT: Stockport Conservatives never had any plans to switch off street lights in Stockport. However, the 
Liberal Democrats did have a plan to do just that. In a Daily Mirror article in 2006, Lib Dem Executive 
Councillor Sue Derbyshire was quoted as saying: “The intention is to improve lighting by moving away from
orange glow lights to brighter white lights across the borough, and then consider cutting back some lights in
consultation with residents”.

FICTION: Liberal Democrat leaflets say the Conservatives want to take money away from our area to allow
the Peel Moat Leisure Centre in the Heaton’s to remain open.

FACT: There would be no money taken away from Marple or any other ward if the Conservative Group’s budget
proposals were adopted. We proposed savings of £80,000 by slashing Councillors’ allowances by 10%, We wanted
to reduce the marketing budget by £30,000 and trim the Mayor’s budget. This would have allowed the leisure centre
in the Heaton’s to remain open in this the Olympic Year. We also proposed using the savings we identified for a
£400,000 fund to help kick-start job creation, especially for young people. And we wanted to cancel the Liberal Democrat
proposed increase in meals-onwheels charges and special needs transport. All these proposals were voted down by your
Liberal Democrat councillors.

On May 3rd you have the chance to have your say about the misinformation you are constantly being fed.
When you vote, you can decide what is fact and what is fiction!

[Deniseam]

Just got the new Lib Dem leaflet - usual pictures of the councillor in various locations around the constituency where they claim to have made a difference.  Just curious though about one phrase 'Solar Panels - Marple Lib Dems lead the the way on solar panels'.  What does this mean - have they all got solar panels on their roofs?  At the moment the phrase if meaningless.

[alan@marple]

This link gives an interesting background of Marple election and a resume of the candidates.

http://catholicleft.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/local-elections-in-marple.html

[Duke Fame]

Perhaps put down a marker for Duke next year when he stands although I do suspect that he is a fully baptized LibDem.  

I only know Duke through the forum & Twitter but I'm pretty sure that he's not a LibDem. I would say he's more in the vein of Classic Liberalism which generally stands for rule of law, limited government, due process, and the liberty of individuals including freedom of speech, religion, press, and free markets. This is distinct from Social Liberalism which is more like today's LibDems.

Pretty much it, I'd not bother too much about the religion, it's an argument about who's got the coolest imaginary friend if you ask me but if it's a hobby that keeps people out of mischief then each to their own.

My election pledge will be "do what you want without hurting anyone else but don't expect anyone else to pay for it. "

Now, who can I count on for a vote?

[Dave]

just because academies are not under local authority control, doesn't mean they are then under
central government control. In fact the opposite is true, they have more freedom over what they teach and their budget.

Yes, academies do indeed have a bit more freedom over the curriculum, and more control of their budgets - I never suggested that they didn't.   But the point I'm making is that, contrary to what you suggested above, the government is not devolving power to local authorities, it is steadily stripping them of power by depriving them of their historic responsibility for education.  But as long as they are funded by the taxpayer, the schools will have to be answerable to someone, and that can only be be the government. 

[simonesaffron]

As I keep saying I will vote for the Candidate, the party will be secondary. This of course is not an easy separation to make.

The succesful Candidate will be Shan or Carl both by a mile from third placed who will probably be Labour. If my recall is correct we have never had A Labour Councillor in Marple,ever! We have never had anywhere near a Labour Councillor in Marple and it will probably be a long time until we do. What do I do though if I think that the Labour Candidate is the best Candidate - waste my vote to follow my "integrity"?

There is an old saying in politics...The best Candidate is the best Campaigner, so who actually is that? In addition to which we are almost two full weeks away from the election and ..."almost two full weeks is long time in politics". Apologies to Mr Wilson if it was indeed he who first said it.                 

[Howard]

Perhaps put down a marker for Duke next year when he stands although I do suspect that he is a fully baptized LibDem.   

I only know Duke through the forum & Twitter but I'm pretty sure that he's not a LibDem. I would say he's more in the vein of Classic Liberalism which generally stands for rule of law, limited government, due process, and the liberty of individuals including freedom of speech, religion, press, and free markets. This is distinct from Social Liberalism which is more like today's LibDems.

[simonesaffron]

Hello,

I know Gtr Manchester fairly well, I know Stockport very well and I know Marple even better.

If you have chosen to live in this "county" and I have, then there is no better place than Marple. However, many of you say that you want change. Lisa..." I really want change in Marple"... why is that? Shouldn't we be trying to preserve the status quo that we so enjoy living in?

I'm not advocating voting LibDem or not, in fact at this moment I am undecided myself but that is to do with Candidates not parties and as I have previously said I will vote for the Candidate. But as the LibDems have held the Marple Seat since 1992, doesn't that mean that they represent the status quo?               

[simonesaffron]

Marpleleaf,

With respect, don't you think that your "disenchantment" with Councillor Shan is clouding your political judgement a little bit.

This is an election wherein we expect electioneering. Nobody completely trusts any politicion/ aspiring politician anyway. If you are going to start measuring bar charts, (what did you actually measure it with?) well don't you think that you're being a bit pedantic. Maybe we should all should loosen up a little. Perhaps put down a marker for Duke next year when he stands although I do suspect that he is a fully baptized LibDem.   

[Carl Rydings]

The government is devolving power to local councils, giving councils more power and therefore making them more accountable.

Well I could have sworn this government was hell-bent on getting as many schools out of local authority control as possible, seizing central control of them through its academies and free schools programme.  Must be a figment of my imagination.....   

That's no 100% true, just because academies are not under local authority control, doesn't mean they are then under
central government control. In fact the opposite is true, they have more freedom over what they teach and their budget.