Cherry-picking principles

Yet both appear to have failed to adhere to even these few selections from the seven Nolan Principles which they both know isn’t a drop down menu or require cherry picking, but they’ve both signed up to observe to the letter.

Famously, Margaret Thatcher, who’s ideology both Coppard and Sunak devotedly follow, remarked, ‘Bring me a Willie’ because he – Tory Home Secretary William Whitelaw – brought her not problems but solutions. Mayor Coppard appears to be opposite to that Willie in that he’s not a solution but a prefix, as in Will ‘e solve the calamitous bus situation? No. Will ‘e restore the elderly train concession, saving lives, helping the environment and start re-building local economies? No. Or even, Will ‘e save the airport? Also a resounding, No. And, Will ‘e make our lives happier, healthier, wealthier and fulfilled?

Will ‘e heck.

Allow me to be his Willie – not the nasty one who helped decimate our public services, destroy much of our industry and reduced areas of South Yorkshire to some of the worst levels of deprivation in Europe. Instead, like those post war Willies, who said ‘yes’ to the NHS, free education, new homes, and a positive future.

Forget franchising which has seen London bus fares rise by almost 11% in the last two years, demand the repeal of the 2015 and 2017 bus acts and rebuild the bus services and fares we had in the 1970’s. A word of warning to the Greens, now propping up a failed Labour Party, franchising is another Tory failure – unless you can come up with a privatisation which has worked?

So Mayor Coppard, pick up the phone today and ask Andy or the other three Mayors with concessions how they fund them, meet Northern Rail and get a similar deal for our pensioners, reconvene the Transport Committee in the next few days and at least make the effort to save lives already blighted by avoidable winter flu deaths.

Mike Smith

Barnsley, S70