I've strongly argued the case for congestion charging in Bristol but Ken Livingstone, who also favours the charge of course, has been talking trash on the issue in the city. Speaking in Bristol recently former London Mayor Ken Livingstone said that, '...it would be pointless to have a referendum on congestion charging in Bristol.' He went on to justify his view using these phrases: referendum would be pointless; you couldn't get a yes vote; we need to just do it; you cant boil down the complexities; competing priorities have to be managed; we need to avoid just arguing about it; I could do exactly as I wanted to do (yes he is quoted as saying this!). See the report here.All this is insulting, condescending and undemocratic rubbish. The statement that got to me most however was this one, 'The whole role of the political class is that they are privy to knowledge and they can think long term in a way the general public doesn't.' What a hugely arrogant and ignorant thing to say. Knowledge and long term thinking are exactly what we dont usually get from many politicians. They are often out of touch with the real world, often limited by their party line or by their ideology or their ambitions, and thinking mostly about the next election rather than solving problems for the long term. Has he not heard about the entwined environmental and economic deep water we are now in?? Ken, you're having a laugh.
'The whole role of the political class is that they are privy to knowledge and they can think long term in a way the general public doesn't.'
ReplyDelete...and this is presumably the reason why our politicians have made so much progress on climate change in the 12 years since signature of the Kyoto Agreement. Not.
Whilst agreeing with your point, I have to agree with one of Ken's statements:
ReplyDelete'...it would be pointless to have a referendum on congestion charging in Bristol.'
Nobody votes 'yes' to a new tax.
I find this an interesting paradox. In Bristol our politicians from all 4 parties are distinctly cagey about declaring as 'for' or 'against' congestion charging, with the exception of the tories who are clearly against.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile the West of England Partnership, composed of our four Bristol area councils, mostly tory, have spent hundreds of thousands on developing submissions for Transport Innovation Fund cash...which, in the small print, require a firm commitment to congestion charging!
I think that although inexcusably arrogantly stated, Ken spoke a truth, that the majority of the political establishment believe congestion charging is right but their electorate will not yet accept it.
He is right about a referendum being pointless: part of politics is to lead as well as represent - but sadly Ken appears to have been bigging himself up rather than inspiring others.
Opportunity missed.
Ah that Ken - he is full of contradictions! I tend to give him a lot of rope - his personality may be flawed but his actions are usually constructive.
ReplyDeleteHowever I do like the idea of a referendum. We now have the technology for cheap, secure gathering of opinions. Be great to use it more...
'I do like the idea of a referendum. We now have the technology for cheap, secure gathering of opinions. Be great to use it more...'
ReplyDeleteWith the local press consisting entirely of Daily Mail owned papers we can of course be sure that any referendum would receive totally unbiased coverage, maybe something similar to what was seen in the London Mayoral election.
While local media is largely controlled by a single corporation with a far right wing agenda having a series of referendums will of course be largely influenced by what people have read in the Evening Post and Western Daily Press.
We need to democratise media systems alongside increased levels of public participation in the democratic process. Without the former, the latter process doesn't add up to much.
Green tomato - they are very poor leaders if they think congestion charging is a good thing but then dont argue openly and strongly for it. Why haven't they demonstrated their ability to lead through their attempts to persuade voters of the merits of the charge??
ReplyDeletePerhaps the attitude to democracy that Ken showed is part of the reason that regard for and participation in politics is so low. People get fed up with not being consulted at all, or being consulted via a referendum (eg Irish vote on the EU) and then asked again because they gave the 'wrong' answer, or they are consulted but then their views are ignored and the politicians go ahead with their probably pre-determined action (call this 'leading' if you want!!).
I'm no fan of the Evening Post. But "a far right wing agenda"? That's pushing it a bit.
ReplyDeleteBeing against a congestion charge is not a traditionally fascist position.
Did somebody mention Ken and rope in the same breath?
ReplyDelete