Malcolm Allan: Marple North Libdem Candidate

[My login is Henrietta]

Someone must have hacked Simone's account - she would never write anything as negative and grumpy as that.......   

[Duke Fame]

@DukeFame - could you?  I'd be interested how you'd do it.

4 out of the last 5 years the bit I pay to the council has stayed the same, whilst the grants from central government are massively lower.  (Another £21m this year).  And you could save more?

I like to be transparent, so these are our proposals as of Oct.  They haven't changed much.
http://marple.mycouncillor.org.uk/2015/10/19/proposed-2016-2017-smbc-budget/#page-content

Given that Osborne has recognised the shortfall, he expects councils to raise council tax by 3.75%.  So the best way to save ££££s would be to vote for a party other than the Tories!

Yes Geoff, I think I could. Perhaps we could look at a no win, no fee deal where I take a 5% cut of what is saved? You speak to your people on that principle and there is a deal to be done.

[red666bear]

Malcolm, thank you for the letter from Andrew Stunnell that came with yet another leaflet from you this week. The same tactic was tried last year with Lisa Smart! As a party that can't respect people's privacy you won't be getting my vote.

[CllrGeoffAbell]

@DukeFame - could you?  I'd be interested how you'd do it.

4 out of the last 5 years the bit I pay to the council has stayed the same, whilst the grants from central government are massively lower.  (Another £21m this year).  And you could save more?

I like to be transparent, so these are our proposals as of Oct.  They haven't changed much.
http://marple.mycouncillor.org.uk/2015/10/19/proposed-2016-2017-smbc-budget/#page-content

Given that Osborne has recognised the shortfall, he expects councils to raise council tax by 3.75%.  So the best way to save ££££s would be to vote for a party other than the Tories!

[Duke Fame]

Can you suggest how we create money and resources which the nation does not possess? Of course it would be wonderful to be able to spend money on public services, but it would be wonderful if I could spend lots of money on my house and garden too. I can't, because I haven't got the money. Neither can the country. Of course there is a good deal of room for argument about what the money we do have (and it all comes from us as taxpayers) should be spent on, but there isn't enough to do everything it would be nice to do. There is also the question of why we expect government to pay for all the things it does. We often know far better that government how to spend our money for the public benefit.

The whole system needs ripping up and starting again. Our local authority is currently spending millions on buying defunct buildings, building cycle hubs that nobody needs, playing at shopping centre development, running park and ride services that serve nobody.

I could run the council and save £££££££££££££'s on the council tax bill.

 

[Dave]

We need debt, either personal or national, to be regarded as something shameful and avoided if at all possible.

An interesting point of view, especially as it comes from someone who generally seems to have right-wing opinions.  Surely borrowing is one of the essential driving forces of capitalism.  It is how individuals and organisations (and indeed nations) create wealth.  It's really odd to hear such a point of view from someone who appears to be a Tory! 

[simonesaffron]

Thank you Malcolm for your response.

As they tend to, this thread has now become separated into several different strands.

If my recall has any accuracy, the original post that started the original thread was about deterioration of the fundamentals in Marple's public realm and poor representation at local level. In illustration, the poster used the example of blocked drains on Brabyns Brow/Station Road. It wasn't about left/right wing economic ideology.

The point has been made before, but  if our local councillors, no matter what the economic climate, no matter how much money they have/don't have, can't even ensure our drains run free, then what use are they? The councillors I mean, not the drains, perhaps I mean both.   

If you want to spend your time Malcolm, attending groups, meetings, talking to officers, councillors and so on, that's up to you. If you are running for council in a few weeks, I would have hoped that you would already "understand" the issues in Marple.

Can you make the drains work, cut the grass, mend the roads, get the dog muck out of the parks? We want actions not apologies and lectures on the council's deficit.   

A point on your 'invisibility' on this forum as you call it. Two posts in as many months ... if the cap fits!         

[Condate]

Its a bit like parents  saying to their children 'Sorry kids, but we've got a long-term economic plan - you can't have any food until we've paid off the Hailfax!

Actually it would be right and proper and the correct thing to do for parents to say "Sorry kids, but we've got a long-term economic plan - we will have to have a bare minimum of food until we've paid off the Hailfax, or you start earning money yourself." If more families said, "we'll just have to do without until we can afford it" instead of borrowing money, the country would be a much better place. We need debt, either personal or national, to be regarded as something shameful and avoided if at all possible.

Higher taxes, or legalised theft, would be fine if we trusted the government to know better than us how to improve our society and help those in need. I certainly don't and I don't think many people do.





 

[Dave]

Can you suggest how we create money and resources which the nation does not possess?

Yes - we could raise it through taxation, or through borrowing.  The present government chooses not to do these things because for political reasons it makes a fetish of reducing the national debt.  So Osborne constantly drones on about his 'long-term economic plan', as cover for his ideological desire to reduce the size of the state.

At the risk of stating the blindingly obvious, there are two ways of reducing the ratio of debt to GDP: you can reduce the debt, or you can increase the GDP.   The ratio of debt to GDP in the UK has increased since the worldwide economic crash seven years ago, but at 80% of GDP it is still low by comparison with most of the 20th century.  The government is making a fairly good job of stimulating economic growth, and if they can keep it up then eventually the debt ratio will start to fall.  But there's no hurry!  This gradual destruction of the public domain is completely unnecessary.  Its a bit like parents  saying to their children 'Sorry kids, but we've got a long-term economic plan - you can't have any food until we've paid off the Hailfax!   

[Condate]

The service cuts imposed by the Tory/LibDem government and now by the Tory government are not an absolute given. They are a political choice that has extended the length and depth of the recession. Never-ending austerity is destroying the public realm as we can see all around us. It is creating a chasm in our society and is an ideology that needs to be confronted.  Sure, we can find economies here and there, but there comes a point where we are creating real and lasting damage to our environment and our future well-being.

Can you suggest how we create money and resources which the nation does not possess? Of course it would be wonderful to be able to spend money on public services, but it would be wonderful if I could spend lots of money on my house and garden too. I can't, because I haven't got the money. Neither can the country. Of course there is a good deal of room for argument about what the money we do have (and it all comes from us as taxpayers) should be spent on, but there isn't enough to do everything it would be nice to do. There is also the question of why we expect government to pay for all the things it does. We often know far better that government how to spend our money for the public benefit.

[tonysheldon]

The service cuts imposed by the Tory/LibDem government and now by the Tory government are not an absolute given. They are a political choice that has extended the length and depth of the recession. Never-ending austerity is destroying the public realm as we can see all around us. It is creating a chasm in our society and is an ideology that needs to be confronted.  Sure, we can find economies here and there, but there comes a point where we are creating real and lasting damage to our environment and our future well-being.

[Malcolm Allan]

Sorry not to respond sooner to the post from Simonesaffron.

Public realm issue is a subject worthy of debate and that’s happening in the meetings and groups I attend. I can’t add to what existing councillors have said, which is accurate and correct as far as I can see. Cuts to local councils are reducing their ability to do things in the public realm. This would apply to whichever party runs Stockport because they are a result of Central Government decisions. The size of the budget reductions is very large – Stockport in 2016-7 alone have to find £21m out of an effective spend of around £160m (some spend is legally committed and the Council has little or no discretion over it). These are the biggest ever cuts in a single year. That means crucially the future spend in public realm will be about priorities, finding cleverer ways of doing things and better ways of achieving things, working with partners and finding efficiencies, maybe doing some things differently, and keeping the things that work well. It’s also about asking the community what they think and listening to them, which has happened in the case of Marple Memorial Park.

A consequence of this is that the Council needs to support community groups more. These groups are providing a valuable service to the whole community and becoming essential now. There are many in the area that fall into this category including Friends of the Memorial Park. There is an initiative on “localities” which is aimed at helping and supporting these groups, and is starting up in Marple. There is a council officer and a small team allocated to this and it’s being discussed in the area committee and elsewhere and will involve the local community.

Apologies if you take my lack of contribution to this forum as invisibility. I hope I’m not invisible elsewhere and I’m getting to as many friends groups and volunteer groups as I can, attending meetings where I can, and talking to councillors, council officers, residents and businesses to listen and understand issues.

[simonesaffron]

Thanks for the explanation JMC.

Like you, I am pleased to hear the views of Councillors/Candidates, for too long now our Marple politicians have been absent on our/their own Marple forum.

My point is JMC, we are not hearing from this candidate are we? We're hearing from John Bates, Councillor Kenny & Councillor Geoff but not from @Malcolm Allan. It was him that posted on the site, nobody forced him to, now he's disappeared yet he undoubtedly wants us to vote or him next year. Who would we be voting for ...The Invisible Man? 

He says that he has a background in HR. Well I'm not surprised because all he's done is posted his C.V on site. I asked him a question about Public Realm, which we are all concerned about, I asked the same question to John Bates. John replied, (so did Councillor Kenny and Councillor Geoff, both of whom I did not ask the question, but grateful for the response from both) Malcolm did not reply.

He says that if we need to contact him use the Libdem managed and censored website. I don't wish to operate in a clandestine way. If I've got a question then why shouldn't everybody hear it and why shouldn't everybody hear the answer too. Surely this is both liberal and democrat?

In his own HR terms, he has sent his CV in, been granted a short-list interview  but not turned up to answer any of the questions.

[JMC]

JMC, what is an "S&S" lib dem?

Sorry it meant to say SS as in your initials.

[simonesaffron]

JMC, what is an "S&S" lib dem?