Do we have a democracy in the UK

We are told so often that we live in a democracy. I to thought this up until recently the last General Election. I say this because previously at the last USA election when it was Trump v Boden I thought, " My god out of all the Americans those two are the best you have to offer the American people?" 

Then at this General Election we had Rishi v Starmer. Really are these the two best the two main parties have to offer us? So when we are told that we live in a democracy what they are saying is you live in a society where we tell you who you can vote for - and that is what we are lead to believe is a democracy.

Meaning of Democracy

So the first thing we would need to understand is what is democracy? Isn't it a place where eligible members can vote for who they want to lead that Country, or that area? 

But we don't have that we have a system were we have to vote for who people tell us. But what about a new thought. What about if there was a system were the people had the choice to vote for who they wanted and if they didn't like anyone one the ballot they can say no to all. So if the majority say no to all then there has to be a re-run but the previous candidates couldn't stand on the re0run. The parties would have to get new candidates. Just a thought! After all if democracy is about the people getting the person they want, not a person they have to choose? 

Just a thought. 

Why Standish should be worried

After the result of Labour winning the General Election the new Labour Government have been announcing a number of new policies that they are looking to bring it quickly. 

One thing that Labour's Deputy Leader, Angela Rayner, has said is they Labour are looking to change planning laws and 

1. Allow more building of houses
2. These new houses can be built on Green Belt
3. These houses can be ugly

Allow more house building

On the first point Labour has said they will bring in minimum targets for house buildings. This means that if the local council's do not get their sums right or allow enough houses to be built then Labour's planning inspector can do a number of things, including suspend the local authority to being able to pass their planning permission in their area. 

Obviously no council of either colour would not want to hit their target and get hit with some kind of sanctions and possibly lose power to control things in their areas, so they will now be under pressure to pass house building anywhere and everywhere. 

Why does this matter to Standish? Well when Labour had this policy in back in 2008 Wigan Council had their plan - called Core Strategy - suspended and they had to come back with a better plan, which in turn lead to 2,000 houses being built in Standish. It is obvious that developers would want to build in Standish and get a premium price for their houses. So we know where the developers will want to come and if the developers do not build in the other areas of Wigan in the numbers the Labour Government want then the Council and or the Labour Government will pass more houses in Standish.

We all know that the infrastructure cannot cope and we will need to be ready to fight a very up hill battle.

These Houses can be built on Green Belt

  

Another area of concern is that the Labour Government has said the houses can be built on Green Belt. This is very worrying but Labour are trying to spin - remember the Tony Blair Spin Docs? - this is because Labour are allowing the reclassification of Green Belt to something called Grey belt. Why? This is so Labour can say at elections we have not allowed building to be done on Green belt but Grey Belt is green belt that has been reclassified. Don't be fooled!!! 

The Houses can be Ugly

The final are of concern is that the Labour Government has said sod the houses even looking nice they can be ugly, they don't even want nice community's. 

All these areas are of concern for residents of Standish and as I say when the planning applications come in we know who are to blame - Labour!!!