Richard Pierce

Richard Pierce – author, poet, painter

Politics

Without Prejudice – Vote Wisely, Vote Stradbroke Seven

We live in an age where lies and corruption are the new normal. Liars and lawbreakers are not brought to justice, and media outlets redistribute their lies as truth. This is called normalising, and history teaches us that this can only end badly. It is no exaggeration to say that we are entering another age of fascism, both on the right and left of politics.

I have never understood the pursuit of power for its own sake, have never understood why people would want to have power if they cannot and will not and never intend to use it to make life better for anyone but themselves. But here we are, where, on a national and a local level, people are trying to grab power purely for their own benefit and masquerading it as democracy.

It is for this reason that I am thankful that we in Stradbroke at least have a parish council which, for the first time in an age, is being run by honest people honestly for the benefit of the village. I therefore have no hesitation in recommending that you vote only for the seven sitting parish councillors in the elections on 2nd May 2019, these being Chris Edwards, Jeremy Fox, James Hargrave, Kamal Ivory, Maureen John, Velda Lummis, and Toni Wisbey. The fact these these seven are running on one platform speaks for itself; it is a sign of unity and unanimity, one which signals that their presence on the Parish Council is done in the true spirit of public service, with no regard for themselves.

Right now, the situation in Stradbroke is a microcosm of what we are seeing on a national level with Brexiters, where lies are being normalised, where those telling lies either believe they’re telling the truth, or know they’re telling lies and carry on regardless. This is why I am suggesting that you do not vote for any of the other 9 candidates on the ballot paper. This election is costing the village money, when the opportunity was there for these people to make themselves available for co-option onto the council over the last 15 months.

Here’s a non-exclusive list of reasons not to vote for those nine people. Amongst them are:

  • people who say they adhere to the Nolan Principles when they do the exact opposite (their attempted bullying of me while I was on the council being such an action, and attempted bullying of current and past councillors);
  • someone with a criminal conviction for malicious communications;
  • trustees of a charitable trust whose accounts are over 50 days overdue (breaking charity law);
  • trustees of a charitable trust which is interfering in the current election by distributing a libellous and vexatious leaflet (but which the Charity Commission would do nothing about because it has bigger fish to fry);
  • non-signatories to a poison pen letter which was distributed in the village this time last year (the excuse for non-signature being that there was no room on the leaflet – LOL);
  • people who have previously resigned from the Parish Council and said they would never stand again;
  • people claiming to have had a significant role in the Neighbourhood Plan passed by a referendum and adopted by Mid-Suffolk but complaining that actions now being implemented from that plan are undemocratic;
  • people who want to knock down the primary school to make way for a supermarket and car park.

I could go on, but I won’t. Let it just be said that I suspect I will once again be subjected to attempted bullying and to malicious rumours about my private life once this post has been published.

And this brings me full circle. We live in malevolent times, times when those telling lies will allow no investigation of their motives, nor reveal their hidden agendas, and claim they are standing for truth. Vote for the current seven parish councillors and for no-one else if you want a bright future for Stradbroke in these dark dark days.

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