EVERYONE LOOK @ viva Lewes (www.vivalewes.com) see page47 peppers revolt?

EVERYONE LOOK @ viva Lewes (www.vivalewes.com) see page47 peppers revolt?

What a f***ing nutter can sum one link it thanxxx


thats a lib dem loon

I hate adobe.

thanx for trying doug anyone else you got to read this.

Norman Baker MP

You have the right to vote... use it

I have been asked this month by Alex at Viva Lewes to do something on the local elections, which take place, as they always do, on the first Thursday in
May. I confess that I do so with trepidation. Viva Lewes is of course not affiliated to any one party, so when I write this column every month, I take off my yellow scarf and try not to be partisan.

I have done so again, but writing non-politically about local elections risks being dull, dull, dull. 1950s Pathé News coverage of national politics comes to
mind (not that I was there) – all those jolly reports of politicians on the stump, what they wore, who they met, but never what they believed in.

Anyway let me, safely, start by encouraging everyone with a vote to use it. Even now, there are millions of
people in the world who do not have the opportunity to do so. And here in Lewes, we ought to nod in the direction of the legacy of the Battle of Lewes in 1264, which moved us unsteadily along the road to democracy by limiting the absolute power of the monarch, and the legacy of Tom Paine, that champion
of rights, who said something like “a government elected by nobody ought not to be trusted by anybody”. (I am writing from memory, so if I have
that wrong, I hope those in the headstrong Club will forgive me). More prosaically, it is difficult to criticise the council or councillors that emerge if you
have failed to participate in the process that produces that result.

There are genuine problems, however, that we need all to try to overcome. The most important of these is the perception that councils can’t really do very much. Not true. Just think of the parking scheme!
But it is certainly true that here in the UK, councils have less freedom and generally less money than is the case in other European countries. Power has been centralised in Whitehall, and councils can’t move for directives, requirements, and external audits. Even
where flexibility exists in theory, in practice, by tying government grants to particular council policies, central will prevails. For example, district councils
are rewarded financially if they determine planning applications quickly and in any case within 8 weeks, and also if more decisions are taken by officers rather than members. It is no surprise that, across the country,
planning application committees are a shadow of their former self.

I served for 12 years on the district council, and 8 on the county council, and believe in local government.
We need a renaissance of it in this country, with powers returned to local people. Ultimately, people in Lewes will have a better idea of what’s good for
Lewes than will some civil servant sitting in Whitehall.
If councils begin to matter more, then I am sure the turnout at local elections will rise.
A second problem is the plethora of councils operating locally, and the confusion this causes. For example,
I get letters blaming Lewes District Council for the proposed incinerator down the valley when that
council has been vociferously opposed to the idea since the first day it was mooted, and it is actually East Sussex County Council which is driving this
forward. Given that the two councils are under different political control (the District is Lib Dem and the County is Conservative), it is important that local
people are clear in their minds about which functions are delivered by which council. At the moment, many simply aren’t.

A third problem, to be blunt, is the dishonesty that some politicians use to try to get elected. They play on the lack of knowledge about different councils to
blame another party for what they themselves are responsible.

I will say no more, for I sense Alex has his red pen out. But let me, perhaps with futility, make a plea. Can everyone please campaign on what they want to do for the town, and not resort to distortions about others?

Poor old norm couldnt get a job then hey presto he is an mp

can anyone get a link to page47

please i want you all to see this loons page

seagurn said:

Poor old norm couldnt get a job then hey presto he is an mp

can anyone get a link to page47

please i want you all to see this loons page

Click to expand...

Mate, I've copied what page 47 says above, is that not sufficient?

Mr deez said:

Mate, I've copied what page 47 says above, is that not sufficient?

Click to expand...

Hard crowd to please

Mr deez said:

Mate, I've copied what page 47 says above, is that not sufficient?

Click to expand...

mr deez have you got handbook No 8 cause mine is completly different to that

it starts

Shes lying on her back, her huge pregnant belly thrusting skyward, her giving thighs spread in warm anticipation as she awaits to receive her lover.


No8 page47

No tom this is edition or as they call it"handbook No8"

how you doing?

seagurn said:

mr deez have you got handbook No 8 cause mine is completly different to that

it starts

Shes lying on her back, her huge pregnant belly thrusting skyward, her giving thighs spread in warm anticipation as she awaits to receive her lover.


No8 page47

Click to expand...

Ha ha really? I thought my one was particularly dull!

I'm going back in, sounds exciting!

It goes on.


The goddess of the earth is raped.The god of the sky is buggered. How did it come to this?


Marina . My answer is a fukcing lib dem was in charge

Ah, for me the site only gives me up to number 7?

Click the 'Text select' tool on Acrobat (looks like a T), copy the text, and whack it on here...

i can only get up to "hanbook" No7 but have a look deez at her in back issues ?worth a read and a new thread for all to enjoy can u

Completely bonkers (its page 45 by the way)

sorry clapham gull its right here in front of me and deffinatly p 47 issue 8 it only arrived on my door mat today.

seagurn said:

sorry clapham gull its right here in front of me and deffinatly p 47 issue 8 it only arrived on my door mat today.

Click to expand...

oh - 45 on the PDF version

clapham_gull said:

oh - 45 on the PDF version

Click to expand...

what you think in the looney stakes?

Try this:

Or this, from http://www.newstatesman.com/200704130005 :-

Ask Marina

Marina Pepper is a former glamour model turned journalist, author, eco-campaigner and Lib Dem politician. A councillor and former Parliamentary candidate, she lives near Brighton with her two children.

Why not e-mail your problems to askmarina@newstatesman.co.uk?



Hi Marina

It's interesting and stimulating to read your column. I have a problem; although I am a Liberal Democrat like you, I find Tory women more attractive. I had a relationship with one of Tim Renton's female staff some years ago and have loved one of your fellow Lewes District Councillors [name supplied] from afar for the last four frustrating years. Do you ever feel tempted by Tories, Marina? Has Bonker Boris ever tickled your fancy?

Love, Bob Brown, Seaford


Having examined the notches on my bed post, so to speak, I can honestly say I have never knowingly fancied or slept with a Conservative let alone sparked up a relationship with one.

I’ve always sailed closer to the wind of New Labour and can admit to a few cross party away plays. There was the night I found myself [censored by Marina’s election agent] in a [ditto] with the now Labour MP for [censored by Newstatesman lawyers], for instance.

Later that week he invited me for a dirty weekend in Brighton – handwritten and signed on House of Commons headed notepaper! Oh why did I not keep the letter? But that was the winter of 1996/7 as we plotted in Grouchos, united against a common enemy – the Tory government. There was everything to play for. Those were fun times.

But Tories? Even those with a more favourable gene pool than the bonking Johnsons of this world, can’t help but open their mouths to ask in blunt foghorn tones: “How much is this going to cost?” It’s bad enough in council meetings when the Liberal Democrats are concentrating on positive outcomes and value for money. But in the bedroom department it’s a turn off. Not to mention scandalous!

Right. I’ve wasted enough time on this silliness Councillor Brown. If you’ve run out of Focus leaflets to deliver in Seaford (you obviously have far too much time on your hands) you can come and help deliver mine. As for you fancying Councillor [name supplied], you couldn’t afford her. See you at full council.

PS: The letter might be in a trunk in my loft.

Mad as a badger! Or would beaver be more appropriate??