Chairman –perhaps it comes to us all at various times when one has to ask oneself “Why am I doing this job?” “What’s the purpose – is it worth the effort – should I not be doing something else – is it worth the hassle?”

During this month I was on holiday and had some time to ask myself these questions and can only say that the conclusion I came to was strongly influenced by the actions of this new “collaborationist” (Coalition) Government. If ever I doubted why I was into politics this Government has convinced me that there is a need for strong opposition to the Ideological warfare it has decided to launch. Make no mistake this Government is worse than Thatcher as it seeks to create a Privateers paradise – Cutters Charter – the paymasters of the Tory Party must be rewarded.

They have declared war on the Public Service – if it is Public it is bad – if it is private it is good. From now on public services are to be provided by companies that have the lowest wages and no pension scheme (Older people re-organisation is not really about what is best for the user but what is the cheapest we can get it done for). As we discovered at the Cabinet Scrutiny Cttee. – wages and pension costs the driving force.

Then we have the Big Society – Make greater use of charities and the voluntary section is the cry at the same time as withdrawing grants from them as the Government cuts come into action. Again not driven because this will provide the best service but because it will be services on the cheap.

We have the cuts in Local Government budgets with many more to come; we have the private Sector (Capita et al) rubbing their greedy hands at the prospect ; we have the ill-thought out proposals to re-organise the Health Service with GPs much to their concern being handed £80 billion to act as Commissioners. Every one knows they are not geared up to handle this and this is just a back-door method to let the private sector, including many USA firms, get their hands on the money.

Here we go again with competitive tendering – the price of everything and the value of nothing.

We have this Government deliberately driving up unemployment with some 600,000 jobs to go in the public sector and no guarantee of replacements in the private sector. One of their first actions was to abolish the Future Jobs Fund which provided money to pay the minimum wage for youngsters who had been unemployed for more than six months doing jobs of benefit to the Community. To be fair this administration made full use of this scheme, but now these youngsters are back on the dole. They had better not stay there too long or they will find their Housing Benefit withdrawn and then be treated as deliberately homeless.

I have never understood the economic argument for unemployment as it seems to me it just loses the state income tax and national insurance income and costs the state in benefit payments.

Perhaps the worst example of this Government’s excesses is in the education field. Their contempt for democratically elected local authorities is clearly shown by their rush to bribe schools into Academy status without the need to consult parents or the Community surrounding them. I was never a supporter of Academies under the previous Government but at least they could argue that the extra money was being used to bring less well-performing schools to a higher standard. This Government on the other hand is bribing the best-performing schools (those already “outstanding”) without any Requirement to bring a less well-performing school along with them. I am sad to be informed that 5 schools in Kent have already been accepted to start as academies on 1^st September 2010 before even the legislation has been passed and all the financial consequences known. So afraid is the Government of being challenged on this that they are using procedures normally reserved for terrorist legislation to get it through Parliament before even the Tory- Chaired Select Committee can have a look at it. Local Authorities have no say in all of this – it is between the school and the Secretary of state – so much for localism!

Perhaps even worse than Academies is the prospect of so-called Free Schools but at least we have until September 2011 to discuss those. But the prospect of “creationist” schools flourishing in Kent fills me with foreboding. The concept that schools can be set up in unsuitable buildings by Groups of unsuitable “nutters” should shock me – sadly it does not!.

Talking about schools in unsuitable buildings not unnaturally brings me on to this Government’s decision to “STOP” BSF for 40 schools in Kent. This was a scheme described by you Leader as “Once in a lifetime opportunity” and while I can agree that the process may have been unnecessarily beureaucratic there was no need to scrap the scheme. The hopes and aspirations of thousands of children and parents have been cruelly dashed and I give my Group’s full support to the children parents and teachers of Hartsdown Tech. who marched with other thousands in Westminster earlier this week. In my own division we are in the ludicrous position of 2 schools completed and 2 now stopped. All the plans for collaboration are now up in the air and we are now entering a two-tier education system.

My major concern is not for the schools which are going to be academies or free schools but what is going to happen to those schools left behind. If academies and free schools are to get bribes we know this ultimately means less money for the rest. In the current economic climate it can be nothing else.

Kent is going to end up with a 4 tier education system Selective; Academies; Free and the rest and that can not be allowed to happen without a fight.

While I do accept that the Leader and Cabinet Member on all those issues have made strong representations more has to be done. If it had been the previous Government who was doing all of this you would have been organising busloads (Kent Top Travel no doubt) to Parliament. What about Kent’s 17 Tory MPs? What are they doing for the people of Kent?

Does all of this remind you of the Lib/Dems Election Manifesto? No – me neither but they are supinely (No actively) supporting all those policies. Which is no doubt why in last weeks by-election in Preston Labour won a seat which the Lib Dems. won on General Election day with Labour actually increasing its vote on a smaller turnout and the Lib.Dems vote falling by over 50%. It is worth noting that in the by-election there was not a Tory candidate though there was one in the earlier election. It would appear that not even the Tory voters trust you     

 01474 361564 or 07889 639428

 leslie.christie@kent.gov.uk