'Talking Point' by Councillor Ian Sharer, leader of Hackney Council's Liberal Democrat group, for the 'Hackney Gazette', 15 October 2009.
"So the political party conference season is finally over. The good citizens of Bournemouth, Brighton and Manchester can clean out the bars, sweep away the piles of abandoned leaflets and bric-a-brac and batten down for the autumn storms. Delegates from every part of the country are now back home, some enthused, some despairing, most sombre in the knowledge of what is to come.
"I must confess that I was slightly disappointed not to be able to trace the now notorious Hackney Council stall at the Liberal Democrat Conference. Surely they could not have forgotten us? Perhaps they were keeping such a low profile that I missed them stuck in between the Green Liberal Democrats and 'The Liberator' stands. Perish the thought! Unhappily I was not in a position to detect whether they had then pottered along the coast to join their soul-mates in Brighton. Possibly they may even have joined the Gadarene rush of lobbyists, vested interests and quangocrats scenting the shift of political power that always accompanies a moribund and decaying government.
"What does all this portend for Hackney? For a start, who apart from a very small minority pays any attention to the party conferences? I'm sure that 'The Sun's clamorous headline 'Labour's Lost It' will have raised a giggle and even some debate around the pubs. It was also inspiring to hear of Councillor Luke Akehurst's incredibly brave conference address speaking from a wheel-chair. It won't be long until the gloves are off and hard words will be spoken on either side of the political divide but whatever the outcome, the very best of luck to him in his courageous struggle against a debilitating disease.
"That said, we are now well into what will probably prove the longest election campaign in British political history. Isn't it always the longest? It will also, I guess from some of the party leaders' speeches of the last few weeks, be one of the nastiest. I'm not so sure that the rather silly slanging match at the recent Council meeting in the Town Hall was a sign of things to come. There are far larger issues that promise to raise political hackles and provoke angry exchanges. Whatever the colour of the government in power this time next year, decisions will have been taken that can only have an injurious impact on the great majority of Hackney residents, whether they are public sector workers, entrepreneurs, parents and carers, young people starting their careers or our older citizens. Inevitably tempers will be frayed. That is the stuff of democracy.
"This, then, is the time for honest political leadership preparing the ground for some very tough times. It was only intermittently evident at the party conferences. Is it any more apparent on our own patch emanating from Hackney Town Hall? Well, I deliberately leave that as an open question. What I am sure none of us want in Hackney is the extension of that rotten political culture that has taken hold in the last twelve years: the black art of the personal smear intended to intimidate and discredit; the deceitful distortion and withholding of information that should be in the public domain; the cynical attempts to grab credit for other people's hard work. Hackney people deserve and expect better than that."
"I must confess that I was slightly disappointed not to be able to trace the now notorious Hackney Council stall at the Liberal Democrat Conference. Surely they could not have forgotten us? Perhaps they were keeping such a low profile that I missed them stuck in between the Green Liberal Democrats and 'The Liberator' stands. Perish the thought! Unhappily I was not in a position to detect whether they had then pottered along the coast to join their soul-mates in Brighton. Possibly they may even have joined the Gadarene rush of lobbyists, vested interests and quangocrats scenting the shift of political power that always accompanies a moribund and decaying government.
"What does all this portend for Hackney? For a start, who apart from a very small minority pays any attention to the party conferences? I'm sure that 'The Sun's clamorous headline 'Labour's Lost It' will have raised a giggle and even some debate around the pubs. It was also inspiring to hear of Councillor Luke Akehurst's incredibly brave conference address speaking from a wheel-chair. It won't be long until the gloves are off and hard words will be spoken on either side of the political divide but whatever the outcome, the very best of luck to him in his courageous struggle against a debilitating disease.
"That said, we are now well into what will probably prove the longest election campaign in British political history. Isn't it always the longest? It will also, I guess from some of the party leaders' speeches of the last few weeks, be one of the nastiest. I'm not so sure that the rather silly slanging match at the recent Council meeting in the Town Hall was a sign of things to come. There are far larger issues that promise to raise political hackles and provoke angry exchanges. Whatever the colour of the government in power this time next year, decisions will have been taken that can only have an injurious impact on the great majority of Hackney residents, whether they are public sector workers, entrepreneurs, parents and carers, young people starting their careers or our older citizens. Inevitably tempers will be frayed. That is the stuff of democracy.
"This, then, is the time for honest political leadership preparing the ground for some very tough times. It was only intermittently evident at the party conferences. Is it any more apparent on our own patch emanating from Hackney Town Hall? Well, I deliberately leave that as an open question. What I am sure none of us want in Hackney is the extension of that rotten political culture that has taken hold in the last twelve years: the black art of the personal smear intended to intimidate and discredit; the deceitful distortion and withholding of information that should be in the public domain; the cynical attempts to grab credit for other people's hard work. Hackney people deserve and expect better than that."
