by Paul Scully | Oct 9, 2009 | News |
No WiFi meant no blogging at our party conference in Manchester, although I tried to battle network congestion to keep people updated with what was happening on Twitter. Most of my time was spent at fringe meetings pertaining to local government and meeting as many council leaders as I could to grab some great examples of how Conservative local authorities are tackling the issues that we face here in Sutton.
However, I did manage to make a contribution on the main stage, asking Shadow Leader of the House, Sir George Young what measures he would put in place to increase direct democracy and what he thought about a mechanism to recall bad MPs. He cited the example of the open primary in Totnes where any voter in that constituency could help choose the Conservative candidate. He also covered several proposals for local government which I will cover in more detail in another post, but included changing planning to make it bottom-up rather than top-down, referenda on council tax and elected police commissioners. He was keen to explore a recall mechanism to add an extra safeguard in between the more extreme automatic disqualification in the rare cases of having a criminal conviction or being made bankrupt.
Interestingly, the media kept true to form in my title as shown in the picture below. The BBC had already called David Cameron Prime Minister, Liam Fox Defence Secretary and ITV had promoted George Osborne to Chancellor. No-one in the Party is in any doubt that there is a long way to go before the election and we have more to do to demonstrate that we will be best placed to address the vital issues that we face. This is also the case locally. So when I fleetingly became the Leader of Sutton Council I allowed myself a little smile before getting back to the real world and the hard work that is required to make it more permanent.
by Paul Scully | Oct 4, 2009 | News |
by Paul Scully | Oct 4, 2009 | News |
I’m off to Manchester in a few minutes to join the tens of thousands of Conservatives descending on the city for the last conference before the General Election. The mood is buoyant whilst realising that there is still plenty of work to be done to inform members of the public exactly what we will do in Government. Expect plenty of policy this week, such as the home protection scheme which will end the desparate situation of elderly people having to sell their home to pay for care.
People know in Sutton and across the UK that we need change. I fully expect this week that the Conservatives will demonstrate that we are ready for change.
![Cells Crowded in Sutton Police Station]()
by Paul Scully | Sep 25, 2009 | News |
Sutton Police Station’s police cells were overflowing last Sunday, not with criminals, but with curious residents who came along to the open day organised by new Borough Commander, Guy Ferguson. An estimated 1800 visitors had a rare opportunity to see the custody suite and the CCTV system as well as exhibitions which held the interest of all ages.
Police dogs, horses and vintage cars were on display. An ‘angry man’ – in reality a policeman prepared to brave the unseasonal warm weather in the biggest padded suit I’ve ever seen – was the subject of a demonstration in subduing offenders. Children queued up to batter him with soft truncheons. Hendon training, this was not. Meanwhile, the Parks team, the Licensing team and others were around to talk about all issues, building relationships and passing on serious messages about crime awareness and prevention. From meaning to just pop in for a short time, I was enthralled for a couple of hours in seeing everything that was on display and meeting police officers who had all given up their Sunday on a voluntary basis to make the day a real success.
![Cells Crowded in Sutton Police Station]()
by Paul Scully | Sep 16, 2009 | News |
The Indian Summer that we have enjoyed over the last few weeks has greatly benefited a few local charities and voluntary organisations. The week before last saw sunny weather encouraging local Carshalton people out to support the annual Charter Fair in The Square, outside Carshalton Library.
This weekend it was the turn of the Carshalton Association for the Elderly or Cafe for short. They held a fete in the grounds of the Ecology Centre with a few stalls, tea and cakes and a jazz band. The unseasonal sunny day helped draw the crowds out allowing Cafe to raise more than £500 on the day.
Paul Kelly, Moira Butt and I went along. I was pleased to win one of the games, pushing Tom Brake MP into third place. Let’s hope that is the start of a new trend.
![Cells Crowded in Sutton Police Station]()
by Paul Scully | Sep 14, 2009 | News |
Last Thursday Cllr Barry Russell and I observed a fast for Ramadan this year following Mayor Boris Johnson’s suggestion earlier this month. We then broke the fast at 7.31pm on Thursday 10th September with the ‘Iftar’ meal as a guest of the Sutton Islamic Centre in Oakhill Road, Sutton, Surrey.
Our friend and colleague Cllr Misdaq Zaidi was an excellent host, spending time explaining the roots of Islam and the significance of Ramadan. We broke their fast with water and dates as per Islamic tradition, alongside a dozen regular worshippers at the Centre.
The London Borough of Sutton has a Muslim population numbering roughly 5000. I found it very illuminating to be welcomed to the Iftar meal to break the fast. It is abundantly clear that the strong Muslim principles of community, hospitality and duty are enduring values and as conservatives we share them. I am very grateful for the copies of The Qur’an presented to us by Misdaq.
It is important that Sutton’s Muslim community feel even more engaged and involved in our public life to promote these common values. Fasting was a real challenge but one that I enjoyed. Watching colleagues eating lunch wasn’t the greatest hardship; having a dry mouth for the day was. Some may dismiss this as a stunt. Others, more worryingly, may baulk against this. This misses the point. The Conservative group want to represent everyone. It is important to understand people to be able to represent them. Spending one day in their shoes gave me more understanding than a raft of ‘community engagement’ events.
