Political Viewpoint

BY James Miller Leader of Southend’s Confelicity Party.
I feel so strongly to go for a full out attack on the Labour Party, both nationally and locally, because of the outrageous policies they have been pursuing, that that is exactly what I have done!
What is happening is horrifying me and it seems there is almost nothing anyone can do about it.
They cancelled the Mayoral elections for which I was running. I never agreed with it in the first place, but ran to offer a locally-driven party, not left or right, just issue-by-issue, and one that gives the opportunity for local people to have their say.
Many of us had spent much money and time preparing for the 2026 campaign and the decision was a travesty. Then they took the decision to suffocate democracy even further by allowing over 60 councils across the country the opportunity to cancel their local elections under the same ridiculous excuse of administration.
Coun Cowan (Leader of Southend Council) has said the elections will go ahead in Southend, but why should we be grateful that our right to vote should be granted?
What I hate on top of this is the way they borderline gaslight those who dare to use the word “cancel” instead of their preferred wording of “postponed”. I cannot stand this slippery spin that anyone can see through.
It is like the local Labour Party’s proposed closure of Southchurch Library.
They have said repeatedly that they are “moving” the service provision, so they are not closing the library as per their election promise. Sure, on one level that would be correct, but on the level that most people would understand: if you close Southchurch Library, you are closing Southchurch Library!
Moving it into the back of Southend Adult College will make it inaccessible for most and it will eventually die out. Our Labour MPs and Coun Cowan have been publicly fighting to stop the closure of the Southend campus of the University of Essex, but by their own argument, the service provision is merely being moved, so it is not really closing! No, just the same as Southchurch Library – it is closing and in their different ways both will be a loss to the town.
Annoyingly was the fact that the Labour leader of the council said the building was “beyond repair” and his Cabinet colleague said it was at the “end of its life”. The other argument is that it was only ever meant to be a temporary building, yet it has sat sturdy for over 50 years!
I ran an FOI (Freedom od information request) for the report and by the definition of those who wrote it, it was neither!
I subsequently set up a council petition and it surpassed the minimum 100 required to be considered by Cabinet and currently sits on 384. Considering it has just been announced that this administration will spend £48,000 on repairing the Leigh skatepark – timed nicely for the end of March to coincide with the election – so there is no reason out of the £94 million capital budget for 2025/26 this should not be spent on retaining the library.
I have also set up a council petition about Labour’s dystopian invention, Digital ID. Cornwall voted for a motion to stop this and I would like our council to do the same. The constant need for them to pry into every aspect of our lives is driving me slightly crazy. Facial Recognition Technology is another massive overstretch of police powers and no one in Southend has been consulted.
I do not trust what laws will be in place in the future. Labour are also quietly driving us forward into becoming a “Smart City” whereby the whole city will be monitored.
Just when you think it couldn’t get worse, Labour want to scrap jury trials for most crimes carrying sentences under three years, proving yet again how undemocratic this party is becoming.
I remember writing an article for this paper about when and what issue would end Labour’s honeymoon period after winning the General Election, and I spoke about their bloody minded desire to tear up the greenbelt across the country. I knew they would do this because it was in their manifesto! They weren’t being shy about it and their “build, baby build” mantra is really starting to gather momentum.
Coun Cowan and Labour have done their utmost to cheerlead the last swathes of greenbelt land by Bournes Green Chase to be destroyed, as they want to build a minimum of 10,000 unaffordable houses. To top it all off, I had left five A4 posters on a wall at the end of the last greenbelt protest held in Southend High Street, and instead of simply taking them down, a Labour Cabinet member decided it would be wiser to report it to the council for fly-tipping! What a waste of time and money!
This Labour council declared a “Climate Emergency”, and at the same time want to invite tens of thousands of cars onto the road for their glorious new houses that will not be prioritised for local people – that’s not to mention the impact another 30,000 to 50,000 people will have on our infrastructure and public services.
Speaking of which, who on earth made the catastrophic decision to fill in the Queensway underpass? The traffic will drive our city to a standstill. The reason is they would have had to pay back a £17 million grant to central government if they did not put a spade in the ground for the Better Queensway by a certain deadline.
Lastly, the bins and the fortnightly collections. Some like the new bins and I can understand why. However, in my opinion they look awful and for many households they are completely unsuitable.
I haven’t mentioned their woeful decision regarding the Winter Fuel Allowance or their frightening decision to raise taxes so high that business and jobs are being lost by the day.
My rant is over, but the election campaign for get them out in the local elections in May has begun.
I cannot stand what Labour has become both locally and nationally, and I hope very much this will be the last we will see from this party, if or when the elections take place.
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