Damp squib police vote will be a farce
Tuesday 23 October 2012
Printable
EmailRory MacKinnon was right to point out that Home Secretary Theresa May's flagship policy introducing elected Police and Crime Commissioners (M Star October 15) is in danger of unravelling if predictions of a turn-out as low as 15 per cent come true.
It was with interest therefore that I noticed citizens being encouraged to vote in the elections through a series of TV advertisements launched on October 6 and sponsored by the Home Office.
As recently as August 8, May's colleague Francis Maude, the union-busting Cabinet Office Minister, wrote in the Telegraph to justify his intention to cut £20 billion from Whitehall budgets.
Predictably the main focus was on attacking jobs, pay and conditions of junior civil servants.
However he also reassured us that since he assumed responsibility for chairing the efficiency and reform group he had "slashed spending on advertising and marketing, saving £387 million last year."
No longer would taxpayers money be "frittered away on wasteful consultancy and superfluous advertising," he told us.
One can only hope that Maude's decision to approve May's vanity project less than two months later is rooted in a genuine concern for democracy rather than partisan advantage.
Peter Middleman
Liverpool
If you appreciated this article then please consider donating to the Morning Star's Fighting Fund to ensure we can keep developing your paper.
