Wilcox

[Monkeys mate]

Is there any way we can get to talking about the politic of the town.  Each post turns in to a rant about personality rather than the topic itself.
Those elected to serve the town do as they please and without a strong opposition they are mandated to do that - to do as they please. There are a majority in the town who vote in the same box each time, no matter who is put up to represent them but why should they vote differently?
No one gives them an opposing view - this site could but the slagging match just makes people switch off.
It's about time the 'opposition' work together to attempt to bring change. If the Tory's can do everything to side with labour then why can't the rest of the councillors join to let the voters know exactly what is going on? The electorate believe what they read in the Mail and as we know it only prints the stuff the HBC send them. This need to change. Before anyone comments on it's 5000 circulation- 5000 votes are very powerful in the right hands. Stop the slagging and get on with the discussion to bring about change.

[fred c]

Good post...... there are a few people who use the site for their own peculiar reasons, they don't bring anything of their own to the forum, but seem to get a perverse buzz from trolling people who do.

The idea of the opposition in the council chamber forming a loosely based coalition to put forward motions & present a unified opposition to some of the pisspotical stuff brought forward by the mob, is on the surface a reasonable idea.

There is however the problem of them actually formulating motions & getting them to stand together against the ruling group, there is also the problem of the constitutional changes that have recently been instigated by the LabTor coalition, of cutting the time available to make & debate motions.

Thursdays meeting was a case in point, the biggest political decision for Hartlepool for the next 20 was a farce, councillors were restricted to a 3 minute time limit to any contribution they wanted to make on the motion, that was enforced by the dictatorial attitude of the Chairman/Mayor in not allowing any discretion to speakers trying to make a point.

It sticks out like a sore thumb, the ruling group with the acquiescence of some senior officers of the council have disenfranchised the public of Hartlepool from the electorate, look no further than the new seating arrangements....... Councilors now have their Backs to the public & although there is only a Tape Barrier, it has under HBC taken on the significance of the Berlin Wall.

Hartlepool really does deserve better.

[mk1]

5000 votes are very powerful in the right hands. Stop the slagging and get on with the discussion to bring about change.

All the while Labour are allowed unfettered access to the Old Peoples Homes nothing will change.

[fred c]

5000 votes are very powerful in the right hands. Stop the slagging and get on with the discussion to bring about change.

All the while Labour are allowed unfettered access to the Old Peoples Homes nothing will change.

Can't argue with that train of thought..... it could be that a care home manger happens to be a Labour supporter 

[not4me]

I can understand your frustration but then again, the points you raise about the state of hartlepool council would probably be unknown to you were it not for this site.

[Monkeys mate]

I agree with you all.
I wasn't really thinking of a formal coalition, more of a united public face against the current leading party.
I voted ukip at the last election. I hated it, I didn't want to but it was tactical vote to prevent the election of a labour candidate. I'm not here to create an argument between real ukip and protest ukip but pooling of opposition, tactical opponents to labour candidates etc. All above the law of obviously. Publicity re what the council are doing etc
And yes, I do find out a lot on here but I am aware of a fair bit that goes on and you don't need a website or a hartlepool Mail to see what the council have done to the town. Unfortunately, it is my belief that a large proportion of the public don't link the issues in the town with the voting booth. They blame U.K. Plc for what happened in our town and the councillors are just their to make sure the grass gets cut. As the Mail once pointed out, years ago we used to hang the monkey now we just keep voting for them.......( and that was pre elected mayor )

[Steely Dan]

"As the Mail once pointed out, years ago we used to hang the monkey now we just keep voting for them.......( and that was pre elected mayor )"

The Mail said that? I find it hard to believe

[craig finton]

I agree with you all.
I wasn't really thinking of a formal coalition, more of a united public face against the current leading party.
I voted ukip at the last election. I hated it, I didn't want to but it was tactical vote to prevent the election of a labour candidate. I'm not here to create an argument between real ukip and protest ukip but pooling of opposition, tactical opponents to labour candidates etc. All above the law of obviously. Publicity re what the council are doing etc
And yes, I do find out a lot on here but I am aware of a fair bit that goes on and you don't need a website or a hartlepool Mail to see what the council have done to the town. Unfortunately, it is my belief that a large proportion of the public don't link the issues in the town with the voting booth. They blame U.K. Plc for what happened in our town and the councillors are just their to make sure the grass gets cut. As the Mail once pointed out, years ago we used to hang the monkey now we just keep voting for them.......( and that was pre elected mayor )

When you have one of the biggest decisions the town has ever made being rail-roaded in front of you it's hard to understand why the largest opposition party could just bottle it and abstain.

[Monkeys mate]

When you have one of the biggest decisions the town has ever made being rail-roaded in front of you it's hard to understand why the largest opposition party could just bottle it and abstain


Couldn't agree more. I know that each person should have their own opinion but abstention en masses does nothing. A chance to stand up against something -  and an opportunity missed for the future where they can say 'we tried to block it' Now all they can say is we didn't really have an opinion either way

[Inspector Knacker]

"As the Mail once pointed out, years ago we used to hang the monkey now we just keep voting for them.......( and that was pre elected mayor )"

The Mail said that? I find it hard to believe

I can tell you what was said after the election of the monkey, that the election was an irrelevance as what the public were simply saying was none of the others.
The Labour coronation was put on ice.
The trouble has always been when in the polling booth people resort to voting for the party rather than the candidate, as most would fail to get elected even if no one stood against them.

[mk1]

I voted ukip at the last election. I hated it, I didn't want to but it was tactical vote to prevent the election of a labour candidate. I'm not here to create an argument between real ukip and protest ukip

UKIP tricked you. They made a lot of promises but in the end what matters to them is national profile. They see Hartlepool as a stepping-stone to a Westminster seat and nothing, absolutely nothing, is going to get in the way of that dream.
As such they have decided on a policy of making no mistakes. Given how gaffe-prone the membership are the only way that can be delivered is by saying and doing nothing. The useless councillors are there to keep the brand in play and nothing else. The councillors have been ordered to do nowt. Giving the quality of some of them that would be an improvement. Sorry folks but UKIP are just your normal two-faced political party who couldn't give a feck about anything other than themselves. Party first, last and everything in between.

[pensionater]

Monkeys Mate ,if you vote for a Kipper,don't want to cause arguments amongst Kippers,and don't believe that the vast amount of cuts are due to this Tory government ,then you probably are a Kipper.

[DRiddle]

See my other reply on the 'Public questions' thread. If this site achieves nothing else, it contributed significantly to a corrupt council getting her just deserts.

[Steely Dan]

Anyone who votes for UKIP has been seriously duped in many ways. Farage is a self-promoting conman, a huge proportion of the members are closet racists, the vast majority are horrible bigots and their new leader Eddie Hitler wants more privatisation on the NHS. So, if you put your X in the UKIP box then that's what you're supporting.

[Steely Dan]

"As the Mail once pointed out, years ago we used to hang the monkey now we just keep voting for them.......( and that was pre elected mayor )"

The Mail said that? I find it hard to believe

I can tell you what was said after the election of the monkey, that the election was an irrelevance as what the public were simply saying was none of the others.
The Labour coronation was put on ice.
The trouble has always been when in the polling booth people resort to voting for the party rather than the candidate, as most would fail to get elected even if no one stood against them.

Come on, you can't have it both ways. If people vote for a party then why did they vote for Drummond? That act of breathtaking stupidity by the Hartlepool thickos has led to all the problems we see now.

Drummond was a joke but he then took himself seriously when he saw the salary. Despite showing he was spectacularly incompetent, the fools voted for him again.

I'm still waiting for someone to name one positive thing Drummond did for Hartlepool.