Is democracy in danger in West Oxfordshire? (Debate)

Sat 8 Apr 2023, 20:15

https://twitter.com/Togetherdec/status/1644451335935344640?s=20

FOI reveals some interesting info - see previous post  

Sat 8 Apr 2023, 16:26

May I suggest that everyone reads Klaus Schwab's Covid 19 - The Great Reset - available on Amazon for about 14 quid - cheaper on a Kindle download. No-one really wants to fund the giant that is Amazon but that's just another part of the problem. He is the head of the WEF and it makes for a very interesting and sobering read - considering the state of the union right now and the topics being discussed on this forum. If you haven't familiarised yourself with this character - then you need to do so now. You may feel it is of no relevance to Charlbury but you can bet you bottomed out dollar that it soon will be.

Mon 20 Mar 2023, 16:44

Hi

I have just been congratulated for the latest debate on the forum....thought I had better say it's not me otherwise I might get more??!!

Regards to all

Wed 1 Mar 2023, 13:31

I've lost any understanding of irony in this post-truth world.  Keep on calling out the truth twisters Paul.    

Wed 1 Mar 2023, 10:26

I think this thread is principally an advanced reading comprehension exercise to work out who’s being serious and who’s being sarcastic. 

Wed 1 Mar 2023, 09:13

What are "the interests of the Conservative Party" please Paul?  And, why should we support them?

BBC bashing again?  Why are you bothering?  The BBC Chairman has been appointed to do that.  

A coalition of interests.  What is the problem with that?  The Conservative Party is a coalition of opposing interests which make our life very difficult as Rod lists.  If the parties of the centre left bring their overlapping interests together wouldn't that be very positive for the country?

Mr Courts has loyally defended the indefensible.  Whilst I do not know the particular video to which you are referring, we have been puzzled in the past as to why he has done so because we believed him to be a person who supported obeying the rule of law.  Why do you call a TV interview 'deep fake', sounds very Trumpian to me.

My last angry letter to Mr Courts was on the subject of the transfer of elderly from hospitals into care homes without testing where they spread Covid and killed many others.  His response held up the party line which I found completely morally repulsive. Fortunately so did the manager of the care home where my 97 year old mother was living and she refused point blank to accept new clients from hospitals at personal cost to herself and to the benefit of her residents and staff who didn't catch Covid.  She gave her staff a financial reward for isolating within family groups.  A huge thank you again to the manager and staff at Brompton Lodge - Paul has just reminded me how much we owe these individuals for standing up against the bullying libertarians who were preaching herd immunity at that terrible time. 

Tue 28 Feb 2023, 14:32

Quite fancy some lab meat, tbh.

Tue 28 Feb 2023, 14:07

@Rod Evan - there is clearly a lot that people are worrying about, but the top and bottom of it is, these parties shouldn't be ganging up in areas where they share a common interest. That's not how Westminster works and it's not in the interests of the Tory party.

And @Andrew Chapman, I share your concerns about fake news. There is still a deep fake video circulating where poor Mr Courts is depicted in an interview with the BBC's Simon McCoy defending Dominic Cummings' lockdown breaches. The idea that our MP would not be first up to articulate the anger of his constituents on the Durham/Barnard Castle episode is no doubt of great offence to RC. Why has this video not been taken down?

Anyway, I look forward to the next installment of the 'Chronicle', so I can read some real, unbiased news, and not all this tendentious claptrap from the BBC and others.

All the best

Paul 

Sun 26 Feb 2023, 20:07 (last edited on Mon 27 Feb 2023, 09:39)

Oooh hard to resist this one after such a belter of an opener (thanks Paul)!

I know nothing about the traffic schemes in Oxford so will say no more – which from the piece on R4’s 'Broadcasting House' this morning some others might usefully do too….

More seriously someone please…

Long post - click to read full text

Sat 25 Feb 2023, 21:15 (last edited on Sun 26 Feb 2023, 07:16)

Are you telling us James that 43.6% of the popular vote voted Conservative and 43.6% of the popular vote voted Labour and Lib Dem?  Good fact.  I wonder what % voted Green.

Greens 2.7%.  Paul’s circular smacks of angry desperation.  We just need to vote strategically then to get rid of this chumocracy.

Sat 25 Feb 2023, 19:08

Lord above - I feel the need to sit by water and meditate 🙏🏻💖- heaven help us all - remember we are one ☝️’ 

Sat 25 Feb 2023, 18:56

Quoting https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8749/ :

The 2019 General Election resulted in a Conservative victory. The party won 365 seats, 48 more than in 2017, and 43.6% of the vote, up from 42.3% in 2017. The Labour Party won 202 seats and 32.1% of the vote, down from 262 seats and 40.0% of the vote in 2017. The Liberal Democrats won 11 seats, one fewer than in 2017, and 11.5% of the vote, up from 7.4%.

Sorry to confuse the issue with facts :-)

Quoting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_United_Kingdom_general_election

The Conservatives made a net gain of 48 seats and won 43.6% of the popular vote – the highest percentage for any party since 1979

Sat 25 Feb 2023, 18:39 (last edited on Sat 25 Feb 2023, 18:43)

! 

Sat 25 Feb 2023, 18:39

Even better would be Tim Gielen’s Monopoly Who Owns The World - easily accessed  -still. 

I can’t  really say any more other than we are one - all brothers and sisters globally and we are strong! 

Sat 25 Feb 2023, 14:01

I’d  recommend listening to a great podcast if you can spare 2 hours or so.

Empire v The Truth with Aubrey Marcus w/ guest Dr Robert Malone.

Sat 25 Feb 2023, 11:33

I am Swedish and I take offence by the comparison with a turnip (joking). Yes, vote for me and I can guarantee change.

Someone said Sweden did well in Covid. Yes, we did well if you think letting a deadly virus free without protecting the elderly or the poor was a good thing. Did this work well? Of course not, Sweden has had three times as many dead in Covid as the only comparable countries combined - Norway, Finland and Denmark. 

Oxford has a serious traffic problem. Cheap public transport is probably the solution. I agree with Philip Ambrose who said some time ago make parking free at the park and ride sites. And the buses as well. Build new sites if the owners of the current sites won't agree. Might be cheaper than a sticking plaster solution with traffic reduction. People drive to Oxford because they need to. 

Sat 25 Feb 2023, 11:04

I can’t say turnips appeal to me much either.  Nor swedes.  Baldrick had a more cunning plan….

Sat 25 Feb 2023, 10:18 (last edited on Sat 25 Feb 2023, 10:25)

The A44 improvements, which do indeed include a bus lane, are paid for out of the Growth Deal negotiated with government by the previous Tory administration in 2018.  This is a fund of £150 million designed to support the numerous new houses being built around the county, agreed by the previous administration with the Tory government. There are a number of other projects around the county that are part of this deal, including the work on the A40, not all of the £150 million is going on the A44!

And yes, high time we followed every other democracy other than the US and Belarus and introduced PR.

Sat 25 Feb 2023, 10:01

Democracy has been dead for many years, not just in West Oxfordshire, but in the whole country. 

Why?

In the last General Election 56.4% of the electorate voted against the shower who are currently referred to as "The Government". In addition, I am in favour of the West Oxfordshire Conservatives…

Long post - click to read full text

Sat 25 Feb 2023, 09:41

The Swedes did pretty well during Covid - they let the people decide - they’re still doing better than many.

Sat 25 Feb 2023, 09:34

I just love spell checkers Gareth. I know that a Lettuce lasted longer than a recent Prime Minister, but my vote will goes to a Swede, a much more cherished root crop than a turnip

Sat 25 Feb 2023, 09:34

Gareth there ain't no turnips left they are replacing the shortage of tomatoes.

Sat 25 Feb 2023, 09:19

Perhaps, rather than making silly statements about baseless conspiracies, they could put some competent people in to run the country.  We're all waiting for a real government to please turnip.

Sat 25 Feb 2023, 09:18

And just in case you think I’m making that up - look up Ivy Farm Technologies - part of Oxford Uni and funded by _____ you fill in the blank. 

Sat 25 Feb 2023, 09:17 (last edited on Sat 25 Feb 2023, 09:30)

Yes, who gave the Lib Dems, Labour and Green Party the right to exist let alone mess with politics when they get to run councils because they got the majority of the votes between them?   How very dare they! There ought to be a law against it.

There is a huge amount of misinformation circulating about the proposed traffic filters in Oxford. All the information about them, where they will be, when they will operate, who and what vehicles are exempt etc  can be found on this page. 

https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/residents/roads-and-transport/connecting-oxfordshire/traffic-filters#paragraph-13609

And some of that misinformation is dealt with here:  

https://www.oxford.gov.uk/news/article/2332/joint_statement_from_oxfordshire_county_council_and_oxford_city_council_on_oxford_s_traffic_filters

Sat 25 Feb 2023, 09:13

They are working on producing lab meat at Begbrook Science Park - taking stem cells from animals - they take a cell of protein and a cell of fat and put them in growth serum to produce meat. Try telling that to a 3rd or 4th generation farmer in the U.K. 

Sat 25 Feb 2023, 09:07

Well said Andrew and I agree that this is covered up and denied by many in parliament. Feargal Sharkey is very vocal about this on Twitter and anywhere else he can get his voice heard . I fear that all debate is dying off in the political sphere - no matter what party gets in  and it’s a case of ‘we’re doing it anyway whether you like it or not’ - it really is time to come together . 

Sat 25 Feb 2023, 08:18 (last edited on Sat 25 Feb 2023, 08:19)

And how splendid to see in Charlbury's own Chronicle (not the one Paul refers to) that our MP is campaigning 'tirelessly to tackle issues of water pollution'. I assume that his presence on the list of 265 MPs who recently voted against an amendment to stop private water companies from dumping raw sewage into the UK’s rivers and coastlines is fake news placed in the newspapers, online and in the parliamentary record by the tofu-eating wokerati? I heartily invite Mr Courts to join me for a classic local dish, crayfish à la merde, in celebration of his achievements.

Sat 25 Feb 2023, 07:20

If you really want to save democracy you want to get to London on Saturday 20 May to protest  - just like we did in Oxford last Saturday against the zoning and ridiculous traffic calming/emission reducing measures that will put more traffic into the ring road and A34 and create more pollution- a nonsensical move in the name of the climate crisis. Read control. I have written to Duncan Enright re the lack of proper consultation- 90% of Oxford against it, spoke to a friend who is an emiterus professor of law from Oxford who agreed with me on no legitimate consultation. Worrying times ahead me thinks. 

Fri 24 Feb 2023, 23:10

As a hard-wired liberal, I was incensed at the Yah-Boo attitudes shown.

As an ocean-going pedant, I'm noting all the mistakes in spelling and grammar (quite a few) and will produce them any time the Tories go blathering on about education.  

(Actually, there's an old joke about what happened when looking up 'intelligence' in the dictionary: it reads intelligence (i) animal, (ii) human, (iii) military.  I propose (iv) political),

Fri 24 Feb 2023, 21:36

PS Paul, on rereading your post, I realise you are probably in fact joking!

Fri 24 Feb 2023, 21:33

Lots to unpack here, Paul, and no doubt the thread will be relegated to the Debate sooner or later.

Before it is relegated, some facts for your democratic deficit:

1. Charlbury Town Council is non-party political.

2. Even if the Town Council were party political, the Conservative Party would not as you seem to think have a natural right to run the town: 
• the 2019 District Council election for Charlbury and Finstock was won by the Lib Dem candidate with 666 votes vs the Conservative Party candidate with 455 votes
• the 2021 District Council election for Charlbury and Finstock was won by the Lib Dem candidate with 884 votes vs the Conservative Party candidate with 407 votes
https://www.westoxon.gov.uk/about-the-council/elections-and-voting/election-results/

Fri 24 Feb 2023, 20:16

Like other local residents perhaps, I’ve just been reading some alarming news in the ‘West Oxfordshire Chronicle’, kindly posted through my door, free of charge, by kind ‘supporters and volunteers’.

This worrying bulletin tells us that ‘local Lib Dem, Labour and Green councillors have been working together to seize control of our councils’ – thus stopping the ‘local Conservative team from winning’.

This is clearly outrageous. When I looked, the Lib Dems, Labour and Greens only secured 62% of the vote at the most recent Charlbury and Wychwood elections. This is not how democracy is supposed to work, is it?

I worry now that our local town councillors have similarly been trying to win elections and find common ground. Might this also be denying the Conservatives their natural right to run the town (as well as the district and county). Should we be complaining to the Electoral Commission?

The ‘Chronicle’ also alerts us to the fact that the Country Council is now taking steps to introduce non-meat dishes at County Hall in an attempt to address climate change. Whoever said that people at the top of the council had the right to adopt a leadership position on such matters as saving the planet? This is really concerning!

Does anyone else have thoughts on how we can address this democratic deficit?

Paul