Wednesday 9 February 2011

Did libraries and Coastguards cause the recession?

Have I missed something here, we propped up the financial sector, not just the banks, in order to lessen the impact of the recession. Now that we need to pay some of that money back, we continue to prop up the banks and decide to close Coastguard stations and libraries instead. There is a nominal charge for this year which the banks have made a suitable noise about however it will have exactly no effect on their thinking and their behaviours.
How can anyone justify cutting a Coastguard service which actually saves lives and prevents deaths, mainly due to the fact that they have local knowledge and local experience of sailing in the waters that they guard. I am not sure if Cameron understands this but - water is not like land. It moves under you and around you, there are no lanes and no motorways, there are no lights to help you see where you are going and the ambulance cannot get to you inside 12 minutes. If you make a mistake while you are floating in a big lump of metal, you cannot just put the brakes on and come to a safe stop - you need help. If you slip on rocks while you are walking or climbing, you can't rely on a passerby to stop and ask are you ok - there are none. You will need help.
To suggest that my local station which covers the third busiest port in the UK and possibly the most dangerous, as a serious accident with a fully laden LNG tanker would cause an incalculable amount of damage, can be covered effectively from 200 miles away is to say the same as Birmingham Police running the River Police on the Thames.  This actually makes more sense as the running costs and fixed costs would both be much lower.  Do I see this as a proposal for cost cutting - no!
Again, this policy stinks of double standards and the wrong strategy to move forward with.
The over-centralisation of money and power reduces the impact of the voices in the distance and makes it very easy to completely disregard the issues as 'a small price to pay'.  When the government is ready to give control of the river police and the underground police in London, to a control room over 200 miles away - then they can say that they are being fair. Until that day, we must fight these ridiculous cuts. They are not only practically wrong - they are morally mis-guided.

There is no - alternative option on this one - one is not needed. Leave it as it is!

Your local MP will only listen to your voice if you make them, so it is time to start shouting. Make them listen to your opinions and demand action. Request a reply from them that gives you their views and what they are doing about these cuts and then publish the reply on your twitter or facebook so people are aware of what is going on.

Libraries will have to wait till next time - but these cuts are just as mis-guided but I do have an alternative.

3 comments:

Anna said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anna said...

Thanks for this blog post, I wholeheartedly agree.
I am posting here the web address to find your MP which finds the right person and allows you to email them directly. I will do so right now

http://www.writetothem.com/

(I deleted this post previously as I could see that this didn't work as a hyperlink)

Gotee said...

You can also get hold of them through the House of Commons web site and you can comment on the Consultation paper if you search for Coastguard.