Paris Terror Attacks

This week in my Crawley Observer column, I have written about how I feel we should respond following the terrible events in Paris of November 13th. I wrote this on Sunday evening. There are still people fighting for their lives as a result of the attacks and France is in a state of emergency.  

Ten of the victims of the Paris attacks

"In the year-and-a-half I have been writing this column, this is the most saddening one to write. In the fight against terrorism, last Friday had started well with the news that the serial murderer known as Jihadi John had been taken out by a drone. Further good news came with Kurdish Iraqi forces recapturing the strategic town of Sinjar from Isis in northern Iraq.

Tragically, this good news soon evaporated on Friday evening as the terrible attacks in Paris unfolded. France was targeted but this was an attack on us all. Words are hard to come by when attempting to describe what happened - it is just so hard to comprehend at any level. The scale of the evil unleashed has left us upset and angry but with an even greater resolve to stop terrorism.

If asking what we could do here locally in Crawley to help stop those who seek to destroy our way of life, I would say that regardless of our political outlook, we should all get behind our government’s efforts to keep us safe. That includes supporting new surveillance laws to prevent terrorism and encouraging the government to take more action to destroy Isis. The government want to join the coalition in going after Isis in Syria as well as in Iraq but are being blocked by some MPs. Those MPs ought to reassess their opposition as the UK’s position is increasingly out of step with the coalition and it will take tougher action to help to destroy Isis sooner.

I’m sure we will continue to show solidarity with France and every nation that believes in free and democratic societies where differences are respected. One of the best ways to defy Isis is to not fall into their trap of trying to divide the rest of us from our Muslim friends and neighbours. All of us in Crawley are horrified by the attacks and we know terrorists thrive on division, so let’s continue to stand united against the evil of Isis and make sure they never succeed in dividing us in our great town of Crawley."

Conservatives - A New Home For Former Labour and LibDem Voters

This week in my Crawley Observer column, I have written about the political spectrum and how, especially in Crawley, it is the Conservatives who are increasingly the logical choice for people who regard themselves as centre-ground or swing voters. We are the only credible alternative to Jeremy Corbyn's loony-left and bitterly divided Labour Party.   

Labour are not a credible party for centre-ground voters

"Most people could be forgiven for not noticing that the Liberal Democrat party conference took place this week. That is perhaps a good indication of their irrelevance since the Coalition Government ended in May. Left with only 8 MPs in the whole country, it could be fairly argued they were somewhat unfairly punished at the ballot box for doing the right thing in 2010, by ensuring the UK had a stable government for five years. 

In Crawley, with UKIP and the Greens also in decline, we are increasingly a town of two-party politics and I cannot envisage this changing anytime soon. Meanwhile, Labour’s lurch to the far-left has given up any claim they may have had to the political centre ground while at the same time, the traditional party of the centre ground, the Liberal Democrats, have left the stage.   

My view is that Conservatives like me should reach out to Liberal Democrat and centrist Labour voters. We are a genuine broad church of people from all walks of life who want the very best for our town, and we should represent the centre as well as the centre-right. Labour’s shift to the far-left is a place where swing voters and centre-ground voters now feel very uncomfortable. These residents deserve an alternative of a party who is prepared to listen to them, and not to approach everything from an extreme politically-charged point of view.

With the Conservatives being the only realistic alternative to Labour in Crawley, I believe that being a broad church and being able to fairly represent everyone is vital. A future Conservative Administration at Crawley Borough Council led by me will be inclusive and will be driven by the needs and aspirations of the town and its people - not driven by divisive political ideology.

Therefore, I am very keen to hear from anyone who cares about our great town about what you’d like to see our Council do for Crawley. What does the Council do well and what could we improve? What should be our priorities for Crawley? Please do drop me a line at Duncan.crow@crawley.gov.uk"

Crawley Labour Not Financially Credible

This week in my Crawley Observer column, in the same week that Labour appointed the extreme left-wing John Mcdonnell as Shadow Chancellor, I wrote about economic competence at the Council and the ideological refusal of the controlling Labour group to live within the Council's means, by not working towards a balanced Council budget for next year. 

Labour's Shadow Chancellor - John Mcdonnell MP 

"Last week at Crawley Borough Council, Labour passed their budget strategy for 2016 onwards. This sets out the financial plan for the Council and is a key indication of the ruling Administration’s priorities. Incredibly, the Council’s ruling Labour cabinet refused yet again to have a budget strategy that committed to trying to balance the Council’s books each financial year.

Their strategy hopes to try and balance the books over a three-year period but there are several things wrong with this. Firstly, the Council’s budget gap is not (currently) very large so there is no reason other than an ideological political reason, not to address this now. Secondly, a failure to address the budget gap stores up future problems, making the job harder in future years. Thirdly, the goalposts get moved so that we are forever starting in ‘year one’ rather than progressing through each of the three years. This is exactly what happened last year when we were told that 2015 was the first year of three for balancing the Council budget. Now we’re told 2016.

Due to the good fortune of better than predicted business rates the Council eventually managed to balance the books by accident this year, rather than by design. Sooner or later, the budget gap will become huge as such good luck will run out. This will mean stark choices in future years of either slashing services, large increases in Council Tax, or a combination of both.

This problem will have resulted from using left-wing political ideology to determine key decisions at the Council. For me, pragmatism is much more important than political ideology and you cannot get any more pragmatic than living within your means and by being responsible. Sadly, Labour’s lurch to the left following Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership victory, means that left-wing political ideology is likely to be determining more decisions at the Council, to the detriment of what is best for Crawley.

We Conservatives offer an alternative of working to balance the Council’s books every year, ensuring the long-term protection of vital services and reducing the risk of future high Council Tax rises."