Dealing with citizenship

In a couple of weeks unlike a good 99% of the time I will be engaging in adult activities for a few minutes having spent a hour thinking things through just a bit first so you may well be wondering "and how do you of all people do that?"

The first thing to say is I had an interest in current affairs - what is happening and why - in childhood because when we joined the Common Market that was something that was talked about in class cos whatever you thoughts now, it was a change in our lives we would be living with.

We had a good number of visitors to school who were people like visitors like the late Baroness Shirley Williams ministers and educationalists and indeed I did have afternoon tea with then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher at No. 10 Downing Street no less.

We did debate things, often very spiritedly because really we we learning to listen to different points of view and reply to them rather than 'cancelling' them.

I could at twelve and even a little early get to grips with key issues and the things in common and the things that differ between different peoples views being less concerned with the frankly childish bear pit that is Party Politics and rather more at trying to solve problems and make things run better for the ordinary person.

Like a number of areas we have Police and Crime Commissioner elections and what I am more interested in are things like ensuring people who report a crime do feel that crime is important and will be looked into, that no one section of community are able to feel they are above the law and that people are able to go about their lawful activities without fear and intimidation.

I also feel much needs to be spent on providing youth services to both provide a path away from anti social activity and to offer opportunities to learn life skills like resolving differences in ways that don't include the use of knives. 

There were swinging cuts to the youth budget before the pandemic kicked in and that saw youth clubs shut with increases in crime and anti social behaviour in some areas that didn't just cause problems fro residents but also resulted in actions against the police whose job it was to see and respond to incidents.

I think a refocusing on youth prevision would be a good idea as we come out of lockdown.

Purely personally I don't feel these positions actually do that much for ordinary people when you bear in mind many councils have Police Committees with a chairman who do meet with the public.

I don't feel one commissioner and a deputy plus admin is the best use of very scarce resources given they achieve little more than the committees themselves did before for rather less money.

I'll be looking at the candidates manifestoes and deciding which I feel is the best given we can't opt out of having one