I received a leaflet from the local Tories. On the back was a survey titled
Let us know what you think.
That's it, on the left there. Click to enlarge.
These are my answers. They didn’t fit on the form so I wrote them as a letter and posted them to Ruth Davidson, leader of the dwindling band of Tories in Scotland. Her office address was included on the form as the address to which replies should be posted, so I have not, so far as I know, breached her privacy by posting to the address given.
I have included the questions as images in this post.
I noticed that the first question is laid out over a picture of a French flag. That detail becomes more obvious when you look at the scanned and colour corrected image. Why the Tories would want a French flag on their survey, I can’t imagine. It’s almost as though you could put a French flag at the top of a document by mistake and not notice.
Dear Ms Davidson
Re. Let us know what you think
Thank you for your leaflet, which invited comment on some local issues. My comments won’t fit on the form so I am writing them on paper.
1. Bringing vibrancy back to Scotland’s High Streets…
It has become common for unsuccessful stores to blame their lack of customers on the internet. What I’ve never seen pointed out is that the goods that Debenham’s or Fraser’s sell are difficult to sell on line (perfumes, clothing, cosmetics etc.) Many small stores, with which the internet stores do not compete, are closing too. Debenham’s and Fraser’s also accept orders on line on their own servers, thus diverting lucrative internet traffic back to themselves. The poor financial performance of those companies is unlikely to be due to competition from on-line sales and much more probably due to a mixture of indifferent management and rising poverty. It is the lack of economic activity, the sheer
shortage of money,
together with the impact of one half-baked management fad after another, that has brought these venerable, hundred year old firms down. The remedy is the relief of poverty: create some well paid jobs, abolish zero hours contracts, double the basic rate of social security, raise the old age pension to £27,000 p. a., increase Job Seeker’s Allowance so that it becomes enough to live on, abolish benefit sanctions, double the minimum wage and so on, so that people have some money to spend.
If you want more people to go to their local High Street to shop, you could try re-opening the public toilets. The fiction that local cafés and small shops would allow any Tom, Dick and Harry off the street to use their toilets without buying anything in the shop was never going to work, and everybody knew it.
Incidentally, I’m also curious to know why this issue is your top priority. Of all the crises that surround us — hunger, illiteracy, immigration, unemployment, train fares, the list goes on for ever — why does top priority go to a couple of chain stores selling cheap Chinese rubbish and going bankrupt?
2. Many key local services are under pressure…
Definitely GP services in my case. It’s absurd to have to wait two or three weeks for a simple GP appointment. The way to have more doctors is to bring back the full student grant, so that anyone who passes the examinations and the interview can become a doctor without needing to have rich parents.
I also doubt that I am the only person who has been struck by the degree of illiteracy and innumeracy displayed by pupils at local schools. I am astonished by the placatory rubbish that has replaced the teaching of reading, writing and maths in the schools.
3. Which crime and anti-social behaviour…
Motorists parking on the pavement. They’re a damn nuisance.
Bring back policemen on patrol, not driving around in cars where they can’t see or hear anything. Real policemen, not PCSOs.
4. Which one local problem do you most want action on?
Unemployment. I have been looking for a job without success since 2014 and I have applied for well over a thousand. There are no jobs. I wish that the DWP would stop believing its own propaganda. The ‘highest employment on record’ is due to poverty. People at the end of their working lives cannot afford to stop work, an appalling state of affairs.
5. Do I want another referendum on Scottish independence?
No, I don’t want another referendum on Scottish independence. I want Scottish independence. How you imagine Scotland can be economically successful when its capital and income are both leached wholesale by the benefits economy of England is beyond me.
6. Who do I think would make the best First Minister?
Me.
7. How am I most likely to vote at the next election?
Probably SNP.
Regards,
(signed)
Ken Johnson BA MSc
