Monday, September 21, 2009

Has all political debate dried up?

There is an election in Billericay (for the town council) in a couple of days. Normally by now I would have received various pieces of paper from the candidates encouraging me to vote for them. This one is different though. There is a BNP candidate. They seem to be making the running. I have received papers from them, and another from a campaign to stop them. "Unite against fascism", who ever they are, tell me the world is a dangerous place to live - because of people who don't do anything about evil. Then they tell me that Albert Einstein was a refugee from Nazi Germany.

I think he also had something to do with building the Atomic Bomb.

What has all this to do with Billericay Town Council, where the debate is more usually at the level of tidying up the War Memorial, putting up bus shelters, or protecting the green space. These are the things I want to hear from the candidates. What will you spend my money on and how will it benefit the residents?

I have no answers to those questions, so why should I vote?

I will vote (if I can get to the polling station), I almost always do. I've missed just one since I was 18. It is both my duty and privilege. I will be less informed this time than usual - thanks to the BNP, and the puerile response of the mainstream.

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