How to Politicise Anything by Ipswich Labour

Let me tell you a little story. One which once again highlights how Ipswich labour operate and how they can litter their PR with untruths at the drop of the hat.

But not only this, this little example shows you how much they don't care about the residents unless it's going to get them votes.


I received a call from a resident in Bridge Ward Ipswich - not my ward but as leader of the Conservative group he decided to start with me.

He told me that roadworks in Maidenhall Area along the approach into Prince of Wales Drive meant that there appeared to be no buses. Nor had any of the residents received notification to say one way or another so he took it upon himself to call Suffolk County Council, who told him that they had been given assurances that Ipswich Buses would be going through.

He then called Ipswich Buses who told him that this was incorrect and no buses would be going through these roads between 9am and 4pm but that this was SCC responsibility to tell residents.

No says SCC - it's Ipswich Buses route and they should - which is actually the obvious correct answer as they made the decision not to let the buses drive through between those hours.

My source was making these conversations within earshot of a Bridge ward labour councillor in a community shop and asked the councillor, who will remain nameless but it wasn't Smart, Rudkin, or Gardiner, and all he could do was shrug his shoulders and confirmed there wasn't a lot he would do.

My source then got onto Bryony Rudkin because old people would be waiting at bus stops for a bus that wouldn't be coming and she duly replied that the matter had been passed to someone else.

You're about to see a notice, put together in haste, according to my source, by councillor John Cook, who will never miss an opportunity to let the truth get in the way of a good political story that might get some votes.

This was their action, with intention to put them up at the bus stops only to find that Ipswich Buses got there first with a more professional notification.

The next thing my resident knows is that this is showing in the shop window of the community shop, which is supposed to remain totally neutral and of course, has since taken it down.

The message is actually totally inaccurate on more than one count and the following is quoted from a final e-mail sent by my source to the labour group, in reply to theirs, which, unsurprisingly has not received a reply:

1) One of your councillors was indeed aware early yesterday afternoon that this was an issue but when I asked for his help he declined. He could have raised this at a much earlier stage.
2) Indeed it would've been necessary to identify who had placed the notices - however the tone of the notice was blatantly partisan and sought to blame Suffolk county Council because they are Conservative run, even though the fault appeared to lie with Ipswich Buses
3) I am surprised that you are glad that the MRA displayed this sign since I would've thought that you would be aware that local community groups have to be apolitical as per their constitutions
4) If you believe the notice will not make any difference to voting intentions why was it worded in such a blatantly partisan way
5) it seems to me that more care should be taken in future when wording notices intended for public display for the benefit of the community.

so that's how you do it - blame Suffolk county council for everything you possibly can and don#t worry about how accurate, ethical or frustrating it is for our residents.

I'd rather lose an election than behave in this way - but I'll leave it up to you to decide what you think.
As the resident said - he did all the hard work on behalf of his neighbourhood and was left furious.

Ipswich Labour Administration do not do Business

By Ben Gummer This is an article written by Ben Gummer MP in its entirety for the local paper 'It is a privilege to have this space to write in every week, one that I try not to debase by filling column inches with regular political rants. But a meeting on Tuesday made me so angry that I am going to suspend my self-imposed armistice this week. The road outside my office in Fore Street has been a building site since March. For many weeks no motor traffic has been able to pass and the pavements have been hemmed in with ugly steel railings. It is either noisy with pneumatic drills and diggers to the point where a telephone conversation becomes impossible, even with the doors and windows shut, or almost silent for want of passers-by, buses and cars. Fore Street stinks of bitumen freshly poured and rubbish uncollected. The result has been a devastating fall-off in trade for local businesses. Although parliament is sitting, I left London at six on Tuesday morning to meet my neighbours at a quarter past eight: what they had to say left me stunned. All have seen a massive collapse in sales, some as bad as 90%. Who has done this? Well, National Grid is responsible for all the works. They are replacing ancient gas mains and no one blames them for doing that. But to take six months - SIX MONTHS - and to be nowhere near finishing: that is a disgrace. But Ipswich Borough Council is also to blame, big time. It is they that licence the possession of the road by National Grid, they that influence the signs the company must use. Now, the signs tell you all you need to know about the Borough's approach to local businesses. The ones placed at the junction of Fore Street and Star Lane suggest that the whole road is closed, which it is not, and point to a diversion that does not exist. Having prevented what little traffic from reaching Fore Street shops, they are now taking the owners to court to recover business rates that they can no longer afford. One shop owner who is charged £7,500 a year in rates took only £300 in total last week. You can do the maths; clearly Ipswich Borough Council cannot. Another shop owner asked why the council, which was supposed to serve the town, was helping to drive their businesses into the ground. Quite. I'll tell you one reason why. It is not that the council hates business: it is because they do not understand it. Put a balance sheet or profit and loss statement in front of most of the governing party and they would struggle to hold it the right way up. It's not surprising really: few Labour councillors have worked in small business; almost none have run their own company or shop. They think business is all big city banks and multinationals; they do not understand that most businesses are very small, nor that for the majority of small business owners the biggest worry is not about bonuses but whether they can pay their employees' salaries at the end of the month; and they forget that most small business employees earn not very much. These people need support: they are the ones that provide jobs and growth. So what should have the council have done? At the very least they could have arranged a rates payment holiday, rather than issuing a summons to court. Perhaps most useful of all would be some work experience for some councillors in these Fore Street shops. They would then know how hard it was running a small business. As it stands, I'd not trust them with a whelk stall, let alone the government and growth of our town.'

Contact Information phone: 0845 634 9197 email: ben@bengummer.com