Liz Harvey's letter to the Hereford Times (28/2/19), was pretty much spot on, but there are at least three issues that need to be addressed by whatever political party runs Herefordshire Council, if they can act fairly for the benefit of everyone in the county.
My first suggestion is that our two MPs must show that they will stand up to the Prime Minister, and demand what she promised in her inaugural speech, i.e. "we will make Britain a country that works not for a privileged few, but for every one of us".
It is fair to say that Theresa May has had her hands full with Brexit these last two years, but that does not excuse the unfair way in which our County Council has been funded, that it then has to manage with a miserly and ever reducing budget year upon year.
My second suggestion is that two lone MPs will not achieve anything, and that MP's representing all of the shire counties must act together to put sustained pressure on the Government if we are to enjoy the fairness that our Prime Minister has promised us. Some two or three years ago when I first put this suggestion to Bill Wiggin, he intimated that the shires do in fact get together in the way I have suggested, but if that is correct, it is blatantly obvious that their efforts have not achieved what is necessary.
Perhaps in future, we should expect all shire MPs to report back monthly to their respective county, with a summary of what they have proposed and the responses put forward by the Government.
My third suggestion is that County Councillors must act more fairly in the interest of the towns and villages across the county, rather than allowing them to decay whilst the City of Hereford enjoys the lion's share of whatever funds are available.
The Government has agreed to spend £15 billion (and rising) on Crossrail 1, £60 billion (and rising) on HS2 out of London, an estimated (but not confirmed of course) £14 billion on a third runway at Heathrow, and another underground rail system for London, (Crossrail 2) that has been estimated to cost £30 billion (which is, of course, likely to increase).
Does fairness stop at the outskirts of London?
Graham Carpenter
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