Why I will never vote UKIP again

WELL, that’s that for another four years. I’ve already been told ‘don’t worry, you’ll obviously win in 2013’.
It has taken a couple of days to reflect on the disappointment of not being elected as a Somerset county councillor by just nine votes.
However, I am certainly not looking four years’ ahead, so those sorts of comments, well meaning, I know, do not do anything to lessen the disappointment.
What does help is to see that elsewhere in Somerset, one of my Conservative colleagues defeated a Liberal Democrat by only six votes, even closer than in my division.
I can understand how the beaten candidate must feel, and in some ways it helps to know that others are probably sharing the same emotions.
The only thing is, I cannot feel too sorry for him, because he was actively engaged in closing small schools such as those in Blagdon Hill and in Nynehead.
I recall attending a Lib Dem executive meeting where he justified the closure of Blagdon Hill School on the basis of the higher costs of educating pupils there, when compared to educating them in a bigger school.
He, along with the others on the executive at the time, showed a total disregard for the social value of rural small schools, so in the end he got what was coming to him.
I suppose up and down the county there will now be defeated candidates who will be thinking to themselves, if only I had done this or that ….
Yes, I’ve been thinking the same.
But when the election results are analysed, you can see that in fact more Conservatives voted than Lib Dems - it was just that they voted for the wrong party.
UKIP’s county council candidate took 332 votes and it was these votes - mostly, I believe, from Conservatives angry about the European Union increasingly dictating how we live our lives in Britain – which cost me victory.
So, there was not really much more I could have done, as to make a difference to the result it needed UKIP to concentrate on what they were created to do, which is to work to take the UK out of the European Union (note, not out of ‘Europe’).
Which leaves me feeling very bitter and twisted about UKIP.
UKIP were never going to get close to gaining even one seat on the county council, let alone taking it over. And even if they did, the county council would never be in a position to take Somerset out of the EU, let alone take the UK out.
It struck me as pure opportunistic politics, putting up county candidates because the elections were moved to be on the same day as the European Parliament elections and it would help to raise their profile.
I could understand it perhaps if they targeted divisions where they saw candidates who were pro-EU, but no, they were selfishly indiscriminate and through their actions individual UKIP candidates showed that they really do not care a jot about local politics.
As somebody who has often voted UKIP in the past because of my strong anti-EU beliefs, I can now state I will never vote UKIP again.
Many Conservatives (and quite a few Labour voters) I met on the doorstep during the campaign expressed their dislike of the EU and how they wanted David Cameron to take a tougher line on it rather than just promising a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty which we all know will be too late because Gordon Brown will have sealed our fate before he is finally kicked out of No 10.
I pointed out that I was passionately anti-EU, that I am a member of the cross-party Democracy Movement and have been for more than 10 years and that I have financially contributed to the DM and even marched through London with them and stood next to the widow and children of the late Sir James Goldsmith while listening to the late Peter Shore.
I suspect I’ve done more to promote the anti-EU cause than the majority of those who voted UKIP in the county elections last week.
The irony is that those Conservative voters are now represented at County Hall by a councillor from the most pro-European Union party.
Still, enough of the self-indulgent pity.
I really am extremely grateful to everybody who voted for me in the county council elections and to the many people who actively helped in the campaign, however small or large the assistance.
We really do have a great team working within the Conservative Party locally, and looking at the bigger picture, it is confirmation that my present sorrow will turn to joy next spring when Mark Formosa is elected as Conservative MP for Taunton Deane.
In the meantime, I wish Councillor Henley well in the coming four years as our county councillor and now that he won’t always have to do what he is told by his former Lib Dem executive bosses, I hope he will do his best for the people of the Blackdown and Wellington East division.
As to 2013, I’ll continue to work hard locally as the Taunton Deane councillor for the Blackdown ward and I’ll make my mind up about a county council campaign probably in 2012, if I can drag myself away from watching the London Olympics on the television.

Village gateway pledge to tackle Blagdon Hill traffic

A VILLAGE gateway scheme is urgently needed to help tackle the danger from speeding traffic in Blagdon Hill.
Despite the traffic problems which have existed for years in Blagdon Hill and Pitminster and which have gradually worsened, the County Council has ignored the situation.
With the ban on lorries using Corfe Hill, more heavy vehicles have been using Pitminster and Blagdon instead, while commuter traffic has increased dramatically.
I am therefore promising to ensure a village gateway can be built for Blagdon Hill to ease the problems and improve safety for pedestrians, cyclists, and horse riders.
A gateway scheme would slow down approaching traffic and make drivers more aware that they are entering a sensitive stretch of road where there will be hazards such as people walking alongside.
It is a comparatively low-cost idea and could have been done a long time ago but the County Council has not had the political will to do it, something which I want to change if elected as County Councillor on June 4.
Each county councillor presently has allowances totalling £20,000 to spend on local projects - so the gateway could easily have been built by now just by using such funds.
Once elected, I will use this budget to ensure Blagdon Hill’s gateway can be constructed.
Do not be fooled by claims that the Conservatives want to abolish these funds, as that is not true.
What we want to do is end the system where councillors can simply use the money to curry favour with voters by giving out grants as if it was their own money and not taxpayers’ money.
The funding would still be available to support such causes, but corporately, so people can see it is County Council money - their money, in fact - which is being spent in a particular way.
Blagdon Hill should have had its gateway scheme years ago to help protect people.
It is a disgrace that the County Council has turned its back on the parish for all these years, even refusing to do anything about the heavy lorries which use the roads since Corfe Hill was closed to them.

• The photograph shows John Thorne (centre), with Blagdon Hill resident and former Deane councillor Chris Robinson (left), who first came up with the village gateway idea years ago, and Ken Maddock, the County Council Conservative group leader, who is supporting the project.

What future for Churchstanton School - your views count

I AM carrying out a public opinion survey in Churchinford and the surrounding area to ask what people think about the future siting of the village school.
I hope nobody misunderstands this message and that they do not think I am suggesting the school is under any threat at the moment.
It is an excellent small, rural school serving a wide catchment area from its idyllic location and engendering passionate support from parents and other local people.
Yet, we stand at a crossroads regarding its future.
Somerset County Council has started closing small schools such as in Blagdon Hill and in Nynehead to save money, and we know that other schools are under threat.
We currently face a situation where the county will not commit the funding Churchstanton needs in the long-term for permanent facilities because it does not believe the site is sustainable in the long-term future.
At the same time, an opportunity to develop a state-of-the-art new school in Churchinford village centre has been on offer, but this could soon be lost.
Developers who have planning permission to build some new homes on the Newberry Farm land could facilitate such a new school at comparatively low cost.
The wider benefits would be greater footfall in the village, bringing new vitality and financial support for facilities such as the shop, Post Office, and pub.
But there is a strong feeling the school’s magnificent rural site offers extra-curricular benefits to children and should not be given up until it really does have to happen - although by then the parish could lose its school completely if funding for a new one was not available.
There has never been a proper public consultation on what people really think about this subject.
It has divided opinions among the parish councillors and it has already generated heated discussion at a public meeting.
As the Conservative candidate for Blackdown and Wellington East in the Somerset County Council elections, I want to hear your views in a calm and collected manner.
I will then be best-placed to represent the wishes of the community once elected to County Hall, as opposed to allowing the wishes of finance-driven officials to decide the issue.
Some survey forms are being delivered door to door, and some have been placed in the village shop. A straw poll is also being held here on my website.
I strongly believe in the value of rural facilities and services, rather than looking only at their cost.
I have a track record of supporting rural schools, as I was the only local councillor to actually stand up against the closure of Blagdon Hill School, support the staff and governors, and attend the County Executive meetings where the Lib Dems made their decisions.
In Churchinford, I opposed the Post Office closure and also served on the voluntary committee which set up the Community Interest Company to create a new community shop.
Whether or not I am elected to the County Council on June 4, I will make sure that the views which come out of this survey are made known to the powers that be.
After reading my survey form, the school’s headmaster, Simon Mills, has voiced his concern to me that some parents may misread it as suggesting that the school is at risk of being closed, and he is naturally anxious to allay any such concerns.
That is why I am also separately writing letters to parents at the school to reassure them that I am not suggesting there is any immediate concern which should alarm them.

• The photograph above shows John Thorne outside Churchstanton School.

Manifesto pledges which just don't stack up

MANIFESTO season is upon us, the time of year, or, rather the time of the quadrennial, when local politicians make all sorts of claims about what they have achieved for you during the past four years and what more they will do in the next four years.
All you have to do is give them your vote and everything will be okay.
I never cease to be amazed at how these manifestos and claims of achievements can twist the truth to a point where what is being said is unrecognisable when actually compared to what was done.
One local politician who comes to mind must be nothing less than a superhero if they have single-handedly done all that they claim.
In fact, you wouldn’t need any of the other councillors at all, as they are so wonderful.
In truth, though, a single councillor in the political system we have at the moment can only work as part of a team and should share collective responsibility for both achievements and failures.
That is one of the reasons why you won’t find me saying that I have single-handedly saved, for instance, a phone box or a Post Office, as it wouldn’t be possible to do it on my own.
What I will say, is that personally I have done what I can and that it is the Conservatives (plural) who have achieved it.
Take the much-trumpeted zero council tax increase at Taunton Deane Borough Council as an example.
The credit for this rests with the Conservative opposition group of councillors, although most of the work was done by our group leader Councillor John Williams.
It was his alternative budget which was cherry picked by the Lib Dem administration on the very day they were proposing a 2.7 per cent council tax rise – with the effect that they then agreed with the Conservative zero increase proposal and put that to us at the evening budget meeting.
I played my part as a Conservative councillor by inputting to the alternative budget, but I’m not claiming any superhero powers and saying I did it alone so therefore you should vote for me.
Looking at the manifestos which have been published, it is interesting to read the ‘key facts’ the Lib Dems want you to remember when you go to vote, and then to compare them with what the ‘real facts’ are.
Lib Dem ‘Key fact’ – they ‘will continue to keep council tax increases among the lowest of any county’.
True fact – they have already doubled your council tax during their reign of power and are now so worried about losing control that they are trying to appear to be matching the Conservative pledge to ‘freeze’ your council tax.
Lib Dem ‘Key fact’ – they ‘have plans currently being actioned to invest in jobs and businesses’.
True fact – they have just been forced to publicly admit their claim to be investing £5 million in the Somerset Economic Recovery Plan was a crude spin doctor deception because all but £280,000 is money from other organisations or was already in the budget.
Lib Dem ‘Key fact’ – they have achieved the highest recycling of any county.
True fact – they have broken their promise to give us plastics and cardboard recycling and it will be 2011 before most people actually get it, if at all.
Other examples of bending the truth can be found in the Lib Dem 2009- 2013 manifesto published on their website.
It claims, for instance, they will ‘protect village schools’.
Well, we are in the middle of a savage Lib Dem cost-cutting exercise which is closing village schools such as Blagdon Hill and Nynehead and others, and leaving many others under threat.
Only Conservative councillors, including myself, have fought against these closures.
The Lib Dems claim, for instance, not to have closed any special schools – but they don’t say it is not for want of trying and that if Mark Formosa, the Conservative Parliamentary candidate, had not battled them in Wiveliscombe, then Kingsmead School would have lost its special needs unit.
They claim credit for the successful 'Handyperson Service' – it is actually called the Handyman Service, which shows how politically correct they cannot help being – but they don’t give any credit to the Taunton Deane Conservative administration which actually started it some years ago.
They claim to have eased traffic congestion on the Silk Mills road by building a railway bridge.
But in truth they have ruined the good work of installing the bridge by creating a mess of traffic light-controlled junctions and different vehicle lanes which now cause as much, if not more, congestion than before.
They promised to roll out 120 new transport schemes and to improve road safety, but they have done nothing to progress a new railway station for Wellington, or a northern distributor road for the town, while we have seen those yellow signs on 'Red Routes' advising of safety amendments to come in 2008 amended to read '2009' - and we are still waiting.
I could go on, but I suspect few people have even read this far.

'Ring and book' bus service coming to the Blackdowns

I AM delighted to learn that some of the gaps in bus services covering villages in Taunton Deane are going to be plugged thanks to an initiative led by my Conservative colleague Councillor John Meikle.
‘Demand responsive’ buses are being introduced and Blagdon Hill will be on one of the routes.
The route will also serve Staplehay and will link the two communities with Taunton.
The initiative has come out of a council task and finish group on sustainable transport which has been chaired by Councillor Meikle - whose, son, of course, is the Duncan Meikle who has helped to pioneer the new community hall plans for Pitminster parish.
A ‘demand responsive’ bus is one which runs on a regular route but which people can ring up and book a seat in advance if they live nearby and the bus will then detour and pick them up.
The proviso is that it will only be during certain times of the day, and also passengers have to be within a reasonable distance and the roads need to be wide enough for the bus to be able to reach them.
I am not quite sure how this is different from the Slinky Bus that Somerset County Council has been supporting, but I am sure it will be a welcome initiative.
At this stage, I am still waiting to be told just when the service will start, and who will be operating it.
The project is a partnership between Taunton Deane Borough Council and the county council.
The Deane council is putting £25,000 towards the set-up costs of scheme, which will run for three years.
Other communities which will benefit from the service include West Monkton, West Hatch, Hestercombe, and Curry Mallet.
Councillor Meikle told me: “We are beginning to infill the bus service gaps in Taunton Deane.
“This compliments a similar ‘ring and book’ magnificent voluntary community transport which Wiveliscombe have been running for some years covering 26 parish areas to the west of Taunton.
“All this positive thinking and action helps the quality of life for everybody.”
Councillor Ross Henley, who is the leader of the Deane council, told me: “I am very pleased to be able to implement the recommendation of this task and finish review.”

Speak up now to help save Blagdon Hill School from closure

THE governors of Blagdon Hill Primary School continue to have my full support in their fight to save the village school from closure under Somerset County Council spending cuts.
I visited the school again yesterday with Mark Formosa, who is the Conservative Parliamentary candidate for Taunton Deane and who is passionate about the need to maintain small schools.
We are urgently calling for everybody in the local community to send their comments to the county council before the public consultation process ends on Friday, June 6.
Interestingly, Mark discovered by coincidence that as a youngster he went to the same school in Cornwall as Blagdon’s chairman of governors, Jonathan Langdon.
The county council say they are talking about the quality of education in small rural schools - but we all know they are really interested in cutting money from a budget they have mismanaged despite doubling our Council Tax in 10 years.
Now, rural residents are being threatened with paying the price of the county’s blundering through the closure of village schools not just here on the Blackdowns, but across many areas of Somerset.
Blagdon Hill provides quality education for the children who attend it, and the small class sizes mean pupils can receive a high ratio of one-to-one attention from their teachers.
Pupils receive excellent sports tuition, every child goes swimming every week of every term, every child plays a musical instrument, there is a computer in class for every two pupils rather than a once-a-week session in an IT suite, and children with special needs are able to make huge progress in such an environment.
All this is reflected in Ofsted inspection reports which rate the school and its teaching environment as good, good, good.
Yet, the county council are contemplating closing Blagdon Hill School and they are already putting off potential pupils by not telling parents moving to the area that the school is there.
I was extremely impressed by the strength of local feelings which came out of the recent open meeting and drop-in sessions, which I think rather took the county council by surprise.
They were gravely mistaken if they thought Blagdon Hill residents would be a soft touch, and I hope that if enough people put sufficiently robust arguments to them before the close of consultation on Friday, then we may have a chance of stopping this closure.
It does not make sense to be closing any school at a time when schools in Taunton are already over-subscribed and we face thousands more homes being built in the town with a huge influx of new residents and their children.

• The photograph outside Blagdon Hill Primary School shows (left to right) acting head teacher David Hawkins, chairman of governors Jonathan Langdon, Mark Formosa, parent-governor Jayne Simpson, and Blackdown ward Deane Councillor John Thorne.

Red phone boxes under threat from cost-cutting BT

BT has just announced it wants to remove the last remaining red telephone boxes in many of the Blackdown Hills communities.
Four call boxes would be lost from the Blackdown ward which I represent on Taunton Deane Borough Council, and many more in the wider area around Wellington, where I am campaigning to become the county councillor next year.
As a businessman and a homeowner who gave BT the boot many months ago because of its appalling customer service and billing incompetence, I perhaps ought to declare an interest here.
That said, I am absolutely appalled that BT has suggested these phone boxes should be removed.
In nearly every case, it will leave whole communities without any access at all to a public telephone.
When I challenged BT, they were not even able to tell me how much use is made of these call boxes because they said they did not keep proper records.
They tell us they want to close them because they are losing money, but BT has a public service obligation and I am demanding they honour that obligation.
I do not just want to see this closure programme stopped, I want to see BT restoring many of the call boxes they have already removed.
I believe every community should have at least one public call box which people can use in the event of an emergency.
BT claim that most people have a mobile phone, but my phone does not have a signal in many parts of the Blackdowns, and if my car broke down, for example, I would have to find the nearest phone box to call the AA.
I have pointed out to our Deane council leader, Ross Henley, that we have the ability to make it very difficult for BT to close the phone boxes.
As a council, we can formally object and take BT through a pretty lengthy appeals process where every proposed phone box closure would be examined very carefully.
There is no question in my mind that we should do everything possible to resist these iniquitous phone box closures.
BT is presently consulting on the proposed closures and I shall be putting the case as strongly as possible against this move.

• The photographs show (TOP) me outside the phone box in Ford Street, just outside Wellington, which is on BT’s closure list, (MIDDLE) the under-threat phone box in Blagdon Hill, and (BOTTOM) the cobwebs which show the Stapley phone box has not been used in a very long time.