You Can Keep Moaning, Or You Can Try To Do Something

I restarted this blog just over a year ago with a rant about how the government was failing the country. I can’t remember what was the straw that broke the camel’s back and forced me to putting technological pen to paper. I think it was reading about the phenomenal amount of money wasted on a badger cull that seemed doomed to failure whilst the government was cutting funding to much more needed services. I’ve done quite a bit of complaining since then – about the cuts to the Disabled Students Allowance that was ‘backed up’ by an appalling misuse of irrelevant statistics; about the  demonisation of immigrants; and about cuts to benefits and the excessive demands made of those on unemployment benefit.

I am unashamedly on the political left. What I mean by this is that I think that there is a place for government in our lives. I like living in a country where, if I get ill, I can get treated without worrying about how much it’s going to cost. I’ve had a glimpse at the alternative and I really didn’t like it. There is a lot the government does, from building and maintaining roads to educating our youth and looking after our elderly that benefits us all. It’s sometimes said that these things are ‘free’ but it’s important to remember that they are not. We pay for them through our taxes. And while it’s easy to pretend that we pay for things we don’t use, it’s rare that we never benefit from these services, even if it’s only indirectly. Even the healthiest of people have a peace of mind not known by their uninsured American counterparts that comes from the knowledge that should they be unexpectedly get sick or injured they won’t be forced into bankruptcy. Even those of us who are childless benefit from providing a ‘free’ education for the children of others. The better educated those children are the more tax they will be able to pay as adults that will help maintain services that I and others rely on, and, when the time comes, those children will be the doctors, nurses and careers who look after me in my infirmity.

What has really struck me time and time again is how anti-evidence the government is. The ‘evidence’ presented by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills to justify their DSA cuts would be laughable had not been regarding such an important issue. All through the government’s time in office they have seen data and evidence not as a guide to inform their policies but as a tool to be manipulated to their will. This is, after all, a government whose Minister for Education thought it was possible for all schools to be ‘above average’. Evidence was low down the list of priorities regarding the badger cull, to the extent that last year no data was collected to allow any examination of effectiveness. In other words we are spending millions of pounds on a scheme that could be making no difference to TB rates in cattle or could even be making matters worse.

So, after all that I’ll get to the point of this post. It’s to announce that I’m standing as a candidate for North Somerset Council for the Youngwood ward of Nailsea. I’m (probably not surprisingly) standing as an Independent. There’s no party that I feel I can in good conscience affiliate with – there’s no party that has as strong a commitment to being evidence-led as I would like.

I am a scientist, if not professionally (at the moment) then by training. I have spent the last decade learning to evaluate data, to analyse evidence and to draw conclusions. I have learned to critique arguments and recognise when they are not backed up. I have learned to know when to ask questions,  to examine the answers, and while I have biases (don’t we all?) I am able to admit that and do my best to put them to one side when it comes to examining a subject, even one that is emotive for me. Above all, I can change my mind when presented with evidence and I can accept that I can be wrong.

I spent most of my 20s trying to get away from Nailsea yet I keep ending up back here and every time I do I find it harder to leave! I’ve come to accept that this is right where I want to be. I love having the countryside and the city on my doorstep. I can go for a long walk or I can go shopping and visit the cinema - both are easily accessible. But every time I come back I notice that things look just a little bit worse. A little bit more run down. It’s easier to count the number of roads that don’t need repair work. The library has seen better days, as has the swimming pool at Backwell. I started going there recently and realised it was pretty much identical to when I went for swimming lessons there as a 5 year old. The only thing that has changed is there’s no longer anywhere to get food and those blue slushy drinks I never dared to try.

There are many other things to complain about – that the buses have all changed and are much more infrequent and, because they have combined several routes, now take longer; that we have a train station with disabled access on only one side; that we have pavements that are cracking and roads that are dangerous to cross yet have no way to do so safely. Like many I have lots of complaints and it’s part of the British condition that you get a few of us together and eventually the conversation will become a collective moan.

But I’ve got tired of complaining. Of shouting into the wind: it’s frustrating. And Exhausting. The complaints at the start of my blog are things that I have very little power to do anything about yet those about my town are within my power to change if I really want to. And I do. Nailsea is my home. I care about it.

In moving back I’ve made a decision to involve myself more in my town. It might seem that the best way to do this would be to try and get onto Nailsea Town Council but the problem is that that council has very little authority. It can make recommendations but ultimately decisions are made by North Somerset. We have generally had Conservative councillors and despite being elected to represent Nailsea, they end up representing their party and following the party line. This means that they keep voting for money to go to Weston at the expense of Nailsea. I accept that Weston, as the largest town in the area and with problems surrounding alcohol and drugs that are much less of an issue here, requires a level of funding and focus that isn’t necessary for Nailsea but that doesn’t mean that, for example, Weston gets to have a second swimming pool while Nailsea has been waiting more than three decades for its first.

I’ve never run for anything political before. The last time I represented anyone other than myself was as a class rep at university (something I did pretty well, or so it seemed by the number of thank-you drinks I was bought by classmates!). And to be honest I see this as just another opportunity to be a ‘class rep’ but for my town. It’s about listening to people and trying to represent them as best as I can. I may disagree but I’m willing to be persuaded. I want discussions, I want to learn. Goodness knows I’ll have a lot to learn if I am elected but I see my lack of history as a positive – it means I have no back-room deals I have to honour, no grudges against people, not baggage that means I will be using my political power for selfish or dishonourable reasons. I just want to try and improve my town so that the next time someone comes back after a time away, rather than look around and think that it’s all looking a bit worse for wear, they’ll see that it’s a town that’s cared for and has a future.