The ‘Little Book’ is a collection of thoughts about the state of government, the ways in which it is failing us and the impact this has on rural communities such as ours.
The impending reorganisation of local government in Essex is a case in point. This is a plan to dismantle county and district councils, replacing them with sprawling, centralised unitary authorities.
No one is entirely sure why it is being done. There is scant evidence that ‘bigger is better’ and it certainly won’t improve democratic representation.
Look beyond the slogans and there is little difference between Labour and the Conservatives. Elections don’t seem to make much difference.
The persistent failure of central government, regardless of who’s in charge, underscores one simple truth: local government needs to be genuinely local and independent of Westminster. But rather than increasing local democracy the changes barrelling towards Essex and other shire counties risk strengthening the grip Westminster has over our lives.
The book is brief, so we have collated more information and supporting evidence on the topics covered in the book which you can access in the following links.