This is a letter i sent to all councillors last night. Dear fellow Councillors, Please take the - Friday 19 May 2017

By Putting Hartlepool First

This is a letter i sent to all councillors last night. Dear fellow Councillors, Please take the time to read this letter. I would appreciate it if you consider my words carefully. Whilst Im aware I could reveal this weeks winning lottery numbers in this message and there are those of you who would still not listen to me, I live in hope that there are at least some of you with morals and genuine integrity. This letter concerns the proposals to change the councils constitution (yet again), to restrict the questions which can be asked by members of the public and of fellow councillors. I also wish to pass comment to you all regarding the proposed change in the timing of full council meetings. Firstly, regarding removing the right councillors currently have to ask questions without notice, I wish to remind you of the following. Democratic dissent is not disloyalty, it is a positive civic duty. Those are not my words, but the words of Shami Chakrabarti, the Labour Politician who now sits in the House of Lords. The fact that I and others routinely disagree with Labour policies and decisions within the council chamber is a natural, healthy party of democracy. There has to be a check and balance system. It is an integral part of the true nature of political discourse. The council cannot become a one party state, no matter how much some members would prefer that to be the case. That is extremely unhealthy and frankly dangerous. One need only look to the events of 1933 in Germany for evidence of that. Secondly, I would implore you to search your conscience (those of you who have one) and think very hard about restricting the public from asking elected members questions in full council meetings. Those members of the public are the same people who elected us all. They have a right to play a meaningful part in what is supposed to be a true representative democracy. Thirdly, I wish to pass comment about the notion of moving full council meetings to early afternoon, which would make it difficult for elected members with jobs to attend. A much more notable political figure than any of us once said A working man should go to the House of Commons in his workday clothes. He should address the speaker on Labour questions and give his utterance to the same sentiments in the same language and in the same manner that he is accustomed to utter his sentiments. In short, the quotation above says in no uncertain terms that the working man (or woman) has to be part of the democratic process. Working people are an integral part of the democratic process and it would be very wrong to place barriers in the way of working people who wish to participate. Indeed, I doubt you need me to remind you take the word Labour is derived from the old French word labor meaning toil, work, exertion, task. Mark my words, if a Labour council essentially excludes working people from taking part in council meetings I will make it my mission to ensure that decision makes national headlines before June 8th. The quote in bold above by the way is by Keir Hardie, some of you will be familiar with his work, although I suspect not all of you. Finally, I end with a plea. I know some of you are decent people. Some of you are true socialists, people who genuinely care about others. I also suspect that some of you are not. Some of you, in my opinion, hide behind the veneer of respectability membership of the Labour Party can bring. Surely you can see how desperate the political situation in Hartlepool is? During the tenure of your leader Christopher AkersBelcher and what I will loosely describe as his front bench team, the council has lurched from one calamity to another. In three weeks time bookmakers anticipate Labour losing a seat the party has held for 60 years. Whilst I accept to some degree this may occur due to the medias destruction of Jeremy Corbyn, I firmly believe the rot has been setting in in Hartlepool long before Corbyn rose to national prominence. Four years ago I wrote a letter to Iain Wright virtually begging him to do something about the chaotic, shambolic leadership within the local Labour Party in Hartlepool. I warned him four years ago that Christopher AkersBelcher, Kevin Cranney and others (if allowed to continue unchallenged) would bring down Labour in Hartlepool. I predicted Labour would lose the national seat if Hartlepool Borough Council did not experience a rapid wind of change. In the early hours of June 9th, well see if I was right. Please consider my words carefully. Kind regards Cllr Riddle

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