If

Rudyard Kipling said it best in the poem If. If you can treat victory and defeat in the same manner. Well today I was defeated and by some margin and I accept that defeat graciously. I am slightly concerned however that what has actually happened today has isolated the people in Hilperton. So I therefor make this committment to you. I will work to deliver the things I talked about regardless of my loss and I will do this because I understand that these things are important to those individuals. I will not allow the new councillor respite because there are things that need doing and they need doing NOW! And the sad thing is that much of them could have been done under the previous administration.

Wiltshire Council Hilperton Division

In many respects I am quite simple. I wake up, I go to work, I eat, sleep and use the loo, oh and I love my family dearly. However if you believe everything written about me by one of my opponents in the local election I am in fact the Devil incarnate. Well my ex wife probably thinks that too because I had the temerity to leave her.

Abuse of power takes all forms and the abuse being levied at me was not unexpected because when you can't win a point on merit you just slag off the opposition.

Well I've got some news. If someone wants to debate my past which is long varied and extremely complex then they simply have to pick up the phone and ask me about it. The reason I agreed to stand in Hilperton is very simple. I have seen what happens when good men fail to act! I believe I have the qualities required to represent the people should they chose to allow it. I am not going to get into a bun fight as it is a pointless waste of time.

So to the people of Hilperton I say, stand back and ask yourselves what purpose is served by slagging off the opposition? Is it perhaps to deflect the attention from one's own failures that one has previously hailed as success?

Be positive move forward people

Independence Day?

Ok so I admit that the man three parties in the country are not the most popular with voters at the moment. And I totally agree that politicians are looked upon with distrust. However ask yourelf this when thinking about voting independent, Is anyone truly independent? Why does someone refuse to nail their colours to a mast until after they have been elected? This they must surely do because they will have to vote. Yes I understand the nature of party politics and that we who join a party do so because we have common cause however that does not preclude independent thought and action when necessary. Although we join a party the electorate who vote for us do so to represent them. That means we must do just that in a fair and unbiased manner. That is critical at a local level because the decisions we make will have a major impact upon our community. When you work within a party system you are required to work as a team but that doesn't stop individual members changing the direction of the team when the matter is important enough. It is often said that politicians have big egos again a matter I'll not dispute however do independents have bigger egos than most? Why do I say that because true independence comes from interdependence, not my words but the words of Steven Covey one of the most inspirational thinkers of our modern society. I often get the feeling that people claim to be independent because they have the inability to listen to those around them or in fact work with them to change things for the better unless of course it is their opinion that the change is necessary.

French Fried American

So the French President wants to cozy up to Barack and dump our Queen on the sidelines. Gordon wants to cozy up to both because he's losing the plot and the grip on power. Now if this isn't an abuse of power what is. Normans are more than in tune with the British and Canadians after all they know what we did for them. I'm sure that the true French Patriots of the Normandy area would only be too happy to see The Queen in attendance. She was after all someone who served during those dark days. This is Charles de Gaulle in another disguise surely! Come on Mr Sarkozy use your brain and stop the love in. We have a right to be there and represented. If it wasn't for our young men and women you'd still be talking Vichy!!!!

People do the funniest things

You know how much power is being abused when an individual basically can terrorise another individual and get away with it. Well in our society that is not allowed and I'm campaigning to prevent that from ever happening. There are rules by which we live. Stick to them or go live on a desert island

Mandatory Voting

Everybody should have to vote. People died for our democracy and if we don't vote we defile their memory. However you will challenge me with I have the right not to vote that is democracy. Well how about a ballot paper which at the bottom has a box marked None of the above. If this box wins the day then everybody in the ballot is automatically barred from a new ballot. Eventually we will weed out the people who are in it for themselves and be left with those who genuinely want to serve and make a difference. Alright this is Utopia I here you say but at the end of the day this sends a clear message to those in power. After all if you don't vote no person can tell if it's a protest or just plain apathy.

The Westminster Gravy Train

I spend much of my spare time campaigning on issues that are important. I look around my local community and see people who are struggling to the point of giving up. I note from the local paper the father who committed suicide. This saddens me greatly. It angers me that the people who we have elected are not really suffering the same fate as those in their care. MP's cannot blame the system they know what is right and what is wrong, after all they vote on the laws! I used to believe that people like Ming Campbell and Margaret Beckett were sound politicians and even though I disagreed with their politics on many points I still had respect. Not any more, not after the question time debacle on Thursday. Boris the brave is right, the police should be investigating this. It's bad enough that the bankers rob good decent people but the politicians as well. I have spoken to many people who are angry that this is happening, I agree with them. The MP's who hide behind the system should be deselected immediately even if this means the immediate dissolution of parliament and a General Election. However do not under any way become fooled by the fringe parties as some of these people would do far worse to our country. Our community must remain strong and honest.

Continuing on a thought

I've come across some real power crazy people in my time but I always ask myself this question. Were they not loved as a child? The answer to that I have discovered is childhood completely passed them by. Power crazy people are people with serious internal issues that they materialise in an outward controlling attitude. When these people get themselves into a position of relative power they then exponetionally grow these issues until they become all consuming. Don't shout at these people they feed off the negative energy that you push at them. Ignore them, by pass them or better than that give them a hug they simply cannot handle that and implode on contact with goodness.

Well it's time to stand up!

You know that irritating little gremlin you have at the back of your head. Do you really want to let it out of it's cage. Stand up, take responsibility. Fight for what's right. Do not let those nameless ones abuse you and hide behind their corporate logos. Guns don't kill people, people kill people. Sometimes they just don't use guns! Stand up be counted. What have you done today to make the world a better place.

Go away you worthless person - I'm important

This week I've learned an important lesson. It's one I knew already but it's important that sometimes you review things. I've learned that once a person gets power, however small and intangible, they somehow forget why they were given that power in the first place. I've met some people in my time but this week I came across a very nasty person who thinks they are untouchable. Let me assure you all - no person is untouchable. Everyone interacts with another and that continued interraction keeps the world turning. If you think you're bigger than this then you'll just get thrown off the edge. Absolute Power corrupts ! All Pigs are equal it's just some are more equal than others! Self responsibility equals social responsibility. If you want a better world then it's up to you to do something about it!

The stupidity of Power

Sometimes people think that by hiding behind an organisation they have the right to say anything. Well that's simply not true. As an individual you have the right, no the absolute duty to challenge anything that is unjust. Bad people only triumph because good people fail to act. Ask yourself what have you done today to prevent bad things happening

Time to pull together

I've been musing over the last time I went through a recession. The early to mid 1980's were to me the nearest thing to what we've got now. Sure there weren't the banks going bust like today, but the greed was there. New labour? old problems, even the unions look like they're starting to get a bit prickly. It's times like this when we've got to pull together as communities. If the bulk of the population is struggling then what about those who are on the periphery, the young, the disabled, the elderly, the person who might live next door to you. Now is the time we have to pull together. Now is the time we must seek a brave new world where equality of man really means equality of man. Everybody brings something to the party and the party begins with you in your local community. Come on folks give it a go, what have you got to lose ?

Fed up with faceless people

Hey folks are you as fed up as I am that faceless people can hide behind official bodies so as to prevent you getting good customer service. Are you fed up with decisions being made on your behalf by people who you will never know. Well I am so today I am encouraging everyone to do something very powerful. Vote. Remember democracy is not a right! Use the power of the pen to make sure you are listened to. And remind those who you vote for that they are answerable to you because you voted for them!