Ealing needs democracy not a one party state

With the local elections behind us in Ealing and the Scottish Referendum now decided, it has shown us that to get people can be interested in politics they need to feel their vote will mean something.

In Ealing the percentage who turned out to vote was about half that of Scotland. The approach from the Liberal Democrats is always to engage and involve residents and interested groups, in both the formation of policies and the feedback process about how Council services are being managed.

Gary Malcolm speaking up for our health service

At my local ward forum meeting, covering part of Chiswick and Acton, three Liberal Democrat councillors are involved, and the attendance is very often higher than the average for the borough.

We tailor the meeting agenda and structure so that residents can be informed of local matters as well as asking for their views. Engaging and consulting residents is a great way to generate ideas that the Council did not think of. This in my area has led to many open spaces being improved so more people use their parks and are proud to live where they do.

Labour in Ealing have 53 of the 69 Councillors, which is 77% of the total seats. This Labour one party state in Ealing is planning to ensure that opposition parties like the Liberal Democrats will not be allowed to properly question and scrutinise them about their decisions, their failures and future plans.

A recent proposal was for just the Labour and the Conservative parties to select what topics will be discussed at Council meetings rather than allow all political parties to decide on topics.

Initially I was surprised that the Conservatives in Ealing have agreed to this but the attendance of Conservatives at many Cabinet meetings this year has shown they show little regard to democracy in Ealing. Another plan from Labour is to scrap a Council meeting which will further dilute the chance for residents and opposition Councillors to scrutinise the administration.

The function of opposition parties is to scrutinise the administration. The Liberal Democrats are against any proposals which seek to stop residents, interest groups and opposition parties from giving their views on how Ealing should be run.

Only the Liberal Democrats trust residents and at ward forum meetings we would love the responsibility to manage the currently central powers, of which streets get repaired, where trees should be planted and where lighting should be improved. Residents and ward Councillors know their area better than others and so should be allowed to make decisions on their behalf.