WELL at last that expensive nonsense about changing the way wevote is over. Ninety million quid that could have built a school -or three - was wasted on an issue the public felt so strongly aboutthat half of them never even bothered to turn up to vote.
Once again our current leaders have shown just how closely theyare in touch. To persuade us to change the way we vote, to suittheir ambitions, they imported great intellectual statesmen likeEddie Izzard and Peter Stringfellow - the comic and the clubber.
Even that didn't tempt most people out of the house any more thanlittle Milly and Tricky Nick did.
Inspirational? Today's parliamentarians don't know what the wordmeans. We once had the giants whose intellect and tongues could movemountains - Churchill, Bevan, yes, even Thatcher and Wilson. Peoplewho had done their training at the despatch box over many yearsbefore getting the top jobs in the cabinet.
Now their parties offer us the denizens of the filing cabinets.Clean-shaven men and posh women who've never had to get their handsdirty with proper jobs, but think they are great leaders becausethey went to Oxbridge. Politicians whose priorities include theirability to fill out expense claims.
Not just in Westminster either - the fact that once again fewerthan half (in most cases) of us turned out to vote for localcouncillors speaks volumes.
Ours sold us out to County Hall without asking us, are planningto bulldoze a town hall they have apparently allowed fall intodecay, sacked dozens of decent Brentwood working people in order topay exorbitant consultancy fees and pay themselves some silly moneyinto the bargain.
We pay a council leader few of us even know, let alone elected, alot of dosh and that's not all. In my own ward we have twocouncillors who not only pick up a fair amount of wedge from thetown hall but some pretty impressive poppy from County Hall.
In my book that makes them professional politicians, not thecommunity councillors who used to look after Brentwood for just afew quid to help with their telephone bills. I was always told thatyou can't serve two masters - three, if you count party interests aswell.
Still, I guess it beats working for a living.
Brian Lynch Pilgrims Hatch
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