As a Councillor and local resident, my letterbox reverberates with leaflets extolling the virtues of prospective election candidates and I know that over the next few weeks, I will be delivering my share – but one of the things my colleagues and I are particular about is being honest with people. We don’t represent any party, just the residents and it hurts when political hyperbole and sloganism masks the truth.
They say that truth is the first casualty of war – seems that way in politics too!
I looked at this latest effort that arrived recently and found the claims to be more than a little exaggerated.
The minutes of the Public Transport Liaison Group are available for inspection – it is a cross party group with representatives from all groups in Council. Contributions regarding changes to the 154 bus and greater improvements required were made by a Mr Charles King of the East Surrey Transport Committee – not “the Lib Dem Team”.
The improvements to the Wandle at Richmond Green were introduced by the Biodiversity Officer to members of the Beddington Neighbourhood Forum – no Lib Dems there – and you will note from the plans that the architects are the South East Rivers Trust – not the “Lib Dem Team”
Add that funding for the Beddington Park equipment was a collective decision of the Local Committee and none of the “Lib Dem Team” have attended the ward panel with the police – the rest of the claims are really exaggerations to fit the image they are trying to create. Even worse is the comment on illegal e-bikes when our own Cllr Nick Mattey is on record as being dismissed out of hand at Council by the former Chair of the Environment and Sustainable Transport Committee – now Leader of the Council – when Nick has asked questions about e-bikes at Council.
The final – slightly comedic errors come on the reverse of the same leaflet:
It’s the mistakes you make when you to save money producing a generic leaflet and try to pass it off as local.
- Better public Transport – more claims about the 154 – no, that is Charles King at the East Surrey Transport Committee that you should be praising.
- Fighting for our local NHS – Beddington has neither a doctor’s surgery or dentist – that’s local, for residents in Beddington Lane it is two buses to get to the doctors in Wallington
- Action on the Cost of Living – that’ll be the 4.99% increase in Council Tax?
- Protect our Environment – not a single mention of the Beddington incinerator with its regular environmental failures or breaking the 2019 promise to put an HGV ban through Beddington Village?
And the final generic insult to the people of Beddington – that clear choice – let’s just put the true picture out there:
You’ll be getting our leaflets – no exaggerations, just a record of real hard work and achievement for residents – we would like to continue the good work after May 7th – vote Independent.
