BEING laid low with a bout of the dreaded grippe, I was able to catch up on back numbers of the Review, and was driven to laughter by the rant from Roger Brewis and the pathetic follow-up from an anonymous old fool from Sedbury. The latter wonders why we Foresters have not yet realised that the current Tory council is 'the party of vested interest and self-promotion.'
Has he not read this paper and others over the last two years or more? If so, we would have seen that quite a number of the local community knew about this disgraceful trend, when the Leader set up the undemocratic and unrepresentative cabinet system. In spite of all the hype, this gang are merely the same as the former discredited lot. On both a local or national level these politicians pay more regard to their vested interests than they do to their duty to the public who elected them.
Thus I find myself in agreement with Comrade Brewis's point about 'self-aggrandisement,' recalling the antics of Mr and Mrs Tony Blair, and more recently, Gormless Gordy who having brought this country to ruin by economic ineptitude and creative accounting, now seeks to impose it globally, whilst boasting that he has 'saved the world.'
However, the rest of his letter descends into a mish-mash of typical socialist twaddle, ascribing to the Tories, traits and defects that are equally prevalent in all the main political parties. This was highlighted in Anthony Reeve's response and is a stance adopted by myself and several others in the press locally' that is that all these parties are the same, craving power only for advancing their own interests.
Brewis's accusation of 'tokenism' against the Tories is utterly ridiculous but is apposite for a Labour fanatic. With the notable exception of the Labour party, people are appointed according to their qualifications, experience, and ability, not for what they are. Thus we have endured gross inefficiency, incompetence, and useless bureaucracy from a party obsessed with meaningless percentages and targets, justified in their own eyes by blatant mendacity. Hence the joke that Gordon Brown is the country's leading re-cycler of rubbish – only he calls it a Cabinet reshuffle.
Our local council came to power facing a financial 'black hole' that was apparent, thanks to the incompetence of the previous regime. Unfortunately this did not prevent them creating their own, indeed bettering it, turning a £400,000 deficit into one of £1.1m in under a year! There is nobody on this council capable of overseeing its activities. Yes, Mr Brewis, I too would like to see more input from Venk Shenoi, Alan Preest and other sensible worldly-wise local notables like Mike Meredith-Edwards, B C Baker, Anthony Reeve and, more recently, Dr Daphne Pearson, who would all fight for the welfare of the Forest.
Brewis's attack on Mark Harper is both unfair and unwarranted. And his comparison with that former Labour egoist, Kilroy-Silk is pretty desperate. Labour must be getting election jitters – hence the establishment of the Labour activists movement. Having had a number of dealings with our MP, I have always found him to be helpful, pains taking and conscientious. Indeed, an infinite improvement from the blonde from Oxford, who preceded him, and who when the seat was forecast to be lost, hoisted her skirts and ran. To her credit though, she did not run to the Lib Dems, like the previous nonentities. The fact that she was foisted on the Forest because she was a woman makes Brewis's charge of 'tokenism' rather empty.
I am pleased to agree with him on the subject of the Tory Party hierarchy. Just when the country is crying out for a leader the Tories are lead by Dave Cameron!
Finally, on re-reading Brewis's letter I am reminded of the riposte attributed to Sir Winston-Churchill – 'I have met Socialists of every rank, but none ranker than you.'
The country and the Forest deserves better, but Labour cannot provide it as we have seen for decades. – Cy Roberts, Forsdene Walk, Coalway.