Tories and Labour Vote Against Democracy (Oxfordshire Liberal Democrats)

Oxfordshire Liberal Democrats <info@oxfordshirelibdems.org.uk>

Tories and Labour Vote Against Democracy

January 9, 2007 3:22 PM

In the debate on the White Paper on Local Government at today's County Council meeting, Cllr Zoé Patrick suggested that, in the interests of renewing local democracy, a fair voting system and much fairer local taxes should be introduced. She called the White Paper a 'missed opportunity'.

Zoé said, "This White Paper is a totally missed opportunity. It does nothing to introduce fair local taxes based on ability to pay and moreover, it is a lost chance to bring in a fair voting system. There is no mention of scrapping Council Tax or returning Business Rates to local control. The 'new localism' being talked about by Government is left deliberately vague so it is not at all clear that there will be real powers devolved from central government or quangos to local councils. I think that ordinary people would be much more interested in and more involved with local government if they knew that their vote would really count and that the body they are voting for had some real powers."

Zoé also thought that, in the interests of local democracy, much more should be done to ensure that decisions are taken at the lowest possible level. "I think most people would look immediately to their local towns and parishes. The town hall has survived generations - this is where most people go for help within their communities," she added. "There is no reason why most non-strategic decisions cannot be made by local communities, or groups of parishes."

Unfortunately, her amendment received only the support of the Greens. Zoé said, "The two 'old' parties seem uninterested in trying to renew democracy locally or in encouraging local people to become involved. They are just dogmatically wedded to the same old system and simply will not consider anything new. No wonder 60% of people do not bother to vote in local elections when this is all they get from their local representatives!"