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Thought for the month...
This website went live at a time when many of the most important services provided by government were being mishandled. And that's still the case. what decisions are being made, and who supports them?
- Hospitals are being closed and care of the most vulnerable reduced - all under the guise of better service.
- Our fire service control is being asked to merge into a regional body in Taunton, just like the (eventually aborted) on the police force last year
- ID cards are threatened to be enforced on all of us for the first time, at an unknown but enormous cost, both libertarian and financial
- Soldiers despatched to fight in Iraq and Aghanistan for a cause that is hazy, where our commitment is unclear and the support of the country weak.
And this is only the starting point on issues that affect all of us.
Social Services: what will be the impact of declining NHS services on local authorities' social services' budgets and therefore local council tax?
Education - whatever happened to the gold standard of the A level?
Pensions - why are final salary schemes closing so fast and trustees being bludgeoned into investing in low growth assets like bonds?
How are we going to afford old age?
Means testing - what is the point of disincentivising us all from saving?
Energy - do we want more nuclear: is there an option?
Defence - how we can reassure Afghans that we really are there to rebuild? Should we have a 'son of Trident' nuclear deterrent?
Never has there been a more important time to engage on issues -
We cannnot trust this government to make the right decisions.
So this website is my constribution to the debate. Please join me.
Richard Graham
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Council