Many of you will have gathered, by now, that I am not a fan of Tony Blair
because I blame him and G.W. Bush for the uncalled-for war in Iraq. Before the invasion, the price of a barrel of oil was about 35 to 40 dollars; the other day oil was 123 dollars a barrel.
After a decade of Tony Blair's policies, Gordon Brown deserves to be given a chance and he seems to be a reasonable sort of chap. Mr Brown needs to start listening to voters like me, who feel let down by New Labour, if he wants to win the next general election.
Locally, common sense is about cleaning up the town centre, instead of letting it run down.
Common sense means refurbishing the Market Square, lowering the rents of market traders in order to keep those we have and making town centre car parking cheap or free.
If national government is really so keen on restoring our blighted town centres, it should put its money where its mouth is and start with practical help for town centres like lovely Northampton, which is slowly being killed off by greedy supermarkets.
Chronicle & Echo, 22/05/2008.
