Unsurprisingly my inbox has been busy with people angry at the decision by the Labour government to cancel the local elections due to take place in May. I share their anger and strongly oppose this decision by ministers to prevent people across Norfolk from enjoying their democratic right to vote in the county council elections.
Norfolk Conservatives oppose this decision - the weekend before the government’s decision to cancel the elections I spent time with the local Conservative candidates who were ready to go. When MPs are asked to vote on these cancellations, I will be opposing the government’s decision.
What does the Labour government have against elections? This was not the first election it has cancelled. Back in December, Labour ministers announced they were cancelling the Mayoral election for Norfolk and Suffolk, which was also due to take place in May, by two years.
As it happens, I hosted an event with Tim Passmore the impressive Conservative Party candidate on Friday who continues to campaign across both counties talking to people, businesses, and other community groups.
This new post was part of devolving more powers to our counties, building on the examples of Mayors across the country. I preferred the deal the previous government had agreed for Norfolk only but with the combined county role we were promised greater powers for the Mayor on transport, planning, economic development, and other key areas. It was also meant to come with a new Investment Fund - the two-year delay means our area is losing out on £40 million that could be spent to improve our area.
That’s just another decision that harms Norfolk, coming rapidly after the government changed the funding formula that will see local councils get lower funding and published a settlement that Norfolk Police has said will lead to fewer officers. On top of that Labour has scrapped A47 and Ely Junction upgrades that would benefit our area.
Unlike Norfolk County Council, Labour run Norwich City Council asked for their elections to be cancelled. Perhaps the government was worried they would be on dubious legal ground if they cancelled one set of elections in Norfolk, but didn’t cancel another one. But despite the delayed and often chaotic approach of the government’s top-down reorganisation of local government, these elections could and should take place.
The opinion polls underline how unpopular the Prime Minister is. Part of that is undoubtedly the recent budget that further increased taxes and welfare spending and included a major increase in business rates paid by hospitality, leisure, and retail businesses.
After strong campaigning by the sector and MPs, this week saw a partial reversal of the Chancellor’s measures with recognition of the damage the plans would do. These changes will benefit pubs and some music venues with a 15 per cent reduction which is welcome, but the support is only temporary.
But the problem goes much wider than pubs. The Federation of Small Businesses has calculated the business rates of a typical medium-sized shop or restaurant with a rateable value of around £50,000 will increase by 71% over the coming years. For hotels, it will be over 100%. The government really needs to listen if it wants to back business and pressure will continue for it to come back with further changes to its plans.
Against this backdrop of U-turns, the government has chosen to pull elections. It may be convenient for them, but it is a bad decision for democracy.
