Quieter Streets setback will not deflect from efforts to create a cleaner, greener Redbridge

The withdrawal of the Quieter Streets schemes from Barkingside and Cranbrook is sad news. Some local people were not happy with the implementation of the scheme. The difficulties surrounding consultation and communication, caused by the tight timeframe, no doubt resulted in a failure to take the people with the scheme. The local Labour councillors listened to the complaints and communicated them to the leadership. As a result, the schemes were withdrawn. That's how democracy should work. However, there are some incongruities in this process. The Conservative government are the driving force behind the Quieter Streets schemes. They set the timetable for implementation, so tight that the schemes have to be operational by the end of October. This has made the consultation process difficult, so local residents can feel left out. The Redbridge Conservatves have behaved in a totally opportunistic way, opposing a scheme that actually comes from their own government. Sometimes, you have to pinch yourself to remember that these are Boris Johnson's Conservatives - many seem to dwell in the deniability zone, when it suits. Redbridge Conservatives approach on environmental issues is at best problemmatic. The Party adopts green issues when it is convenient for attacking the Labour administration. Moving forward, I am sure the Labour Council will redouble efforts to deliver on the pledges made in the Climate Emergency motion passed in June 2019. The Climate Panel will soon deliver its report, providing a blueprint for a cleaner, greener Redbridge. There is also a committee working on biodiversity recommendations, taking forward progressive ideas like the grow zones seen in Wanstead The efforts to cut air pollution and reduce emissions via Low Emission Neighbourhoods are a key part of this work. In Wanstead, the consultative process for this work was well underway back in March, when the pandemic struck. The work has now resumed, with some exciting plans coming forward soon. The council has listened to people and they want change. Cleaner air for our children and children's children. Active, non-polluting travel has to be the way forward. More active, healthy citizens will mean less health and environmental costs. It will also mean the population is more ready to face future pandemics. There will be blips on the road to creating a cleaner, greener Redbridge but everyone on the Labour Council is committed to delivering that goal.

Tyranny of Merit - what has become of the common good by Michael J Sandel

The publication of this book could not have come at a more timely moment, with the political world shaken by Trump, Brexit and latterly Covid. Philosopher and political thinker Michael Sandel outlines how the the idea of meritocracy has developed into a tyranny, dividing societies between have and have nots, thereby fuelling nationalism and the ascent of authoritarian politicians like Donald Trump. Sandel tracks how the idea of meritocracy has been twisted in the neo-liberal context to help create an ever-richer self-serving elite. Politicians such as Barack Obama, Tony Blair and the Clintons are soundly criticised for their view that the neo-liberal system was ok, it just needed managing more fairly and efficiently. The technocratic approach was championed by Obama, who loved to refer to the smart and dumb. His tenure in office saw divisions grow, with those feeling they had no stake in the society increasing. This laid the groundwork for the arrival of Trump. The idea if the American dream - that everyone can succeed if they just try hard enough - is exposed, with the stats showing how increasingly difficult it has become in the last 40 years for working people to advance at all if they lack degrees. The Labour and Democratic Party's have become dominated by what Sandel calls the credentialised (degree holders). Sandel points out that 25% of the Attlee Cabinet of 1945 was made of people without degrees - seven had been miners including, Aneurin Bevan. In the UK now, 70% of the population don't have degrees but only 12% of MPs don't, with 25% going to Oxbridge. In the US, 95% of the House and 100% of those in the Senate, since 2000, have had college degrees. Sandel is not making a case against educated people in power but the meritocratic idea that has grown that if you don't succeed in getting a degree it is due to individual failure. The credentialised have become cut off from the rest of the population and worst still come to despise the less educated. This has helped inequaility grow in the globalised neo-liberal world. The vacuum created has provided a space for the growth of division, nationalism and anti-migrant attitudes. So the whole political system has turned on its head, with the less educated, who used to vote for left liberal parties, now supporting right wing authoritarians. Whilst, the educated vote for the left liberal options. Sandel presents an excellent analysis of how we reached the dangerous divided situation of the world today, which sees authoritarian nationalists forging ahead. The author's solutions centre around the idea of the common good, with an emphasis on fairness in educational selection and a restoration of the idea of dignity in work. He advocates a screening out of university applications that have no chance, whilst the vast majority go into a great lottery system. In this way people buying their way in or gaining advantage via extra tuition can be averted. On work he advocates tax, particularly on finance sectors, involved in speculative accumulation, so there can be a redistribution of wealth from rich to poor. Most important though is a restoration of solidarity, a belief that everyone has value and is valued for who they are and what they do. This aspect could fly better in the post covid world, where the value of nurses, care workers, supermarket staff and street cleaners has been recognised over and above say that of hedge fund managers. Michael Sandel has produced an excellent analysis of how the US and UK societies reached the divided positions of today. He points to some ways forward, though there is much still to be done on that side. The resurrection of the idea of the common good is welcome providing a pointer as to how a healing process can begin for this broken world. Published by Allen Lane - £20

Time to actively remember the true cost of war

The utter waste and total futility of war is something not discussed nearly enough in the modern era. Things have improved over recent years, with veterans sharing first hand accounts of the true horror of war. There have also been some excellent depictions of the reality of war in films like 1917, They Shall Not Grow Old and saving Private Ryan. These contributions were certainly long overdue. For far too long, so much of the coverage of war has been about sanitisation and glorification. The sanitisation is revealed in depictions that do not show the true horror of war. People being blown limb from limb. My own realisation was awoken on trips to Cambodia - seeing the effects of landmines, used in war, maiming men, women and children. Also, reading the account of a squaddie who served in Northern Ireland, describing picking up pieces of his mate who had been blown apart. Sebastian Faulks brilliant book Birdsong carries some harrowing descriptions of death and suffering in the trenches of World War I. One character refers to how if people at home could see the carnage, the war would not continue. But sanitisation and censorship ensured that people did not know what was going on. A good helping of jingoistic patriotism helped quell those who might ask questions. The glorification comes when remembrance ceremonies are at best turned into celebrations if war and at worst recruiting opportunities for the armed forces looking forward to the next conflict. Wartime heroes are sanctified whilst some of the less savoury actions they undertook are forgotten. One form this glorification takes is the erection of statues to fallen leaders. A stroll around Whitehall and Parliament Square reveals a series of feted war time leaders. How many pubs and squares in this country still carry the names of imperialist military leaders of yesteryear? A process of active remembering of what really went on in the past has begun but there is still a long way to go. Active remembering of war needs to be far more prominent in school syllabuses, which for too long have dwelt in the rarified world of kings and queens. It will only be if we really do examine what happened in the past and why that such mistakes can be avoided in the future. War and conflict marks the failure of humanity to resolve its differences in a peaceful way - something to mourn and remember, not celebrate or forget.

Trust and confidence have ebbed away from this blundering government

The elected politicians of this country rule by the consent of the people. Never has this been more obvious than during the time of the present pandemic. The people have in the main done everything asked of them. First, it was to stay at home and protect the NHS. Next, it was stay alert, social distance and wash your hands. Then came wearing masks and isolating on returning from holidays to countries with high Covid-19 rates. When, lockdown was lifted, people were told to go back to work, eat out to help out and go back to school - they dutifully did all of these things. The problem has been that this has proved a one-sided bargain. The people have fulfilled their side, the government has not. The deal has always been that people will do what they are told, just so long as the people doing the telling know what they are doing and stand by their own rules. The confidence in the government has been palpably breaking down. First, there was the failure to provide Personal Protective Equipment for staff in hospitals, care homes and elsewhere. Then the sending of people with the virus into care homes was an appallingly negligent act. The next great failure was testing. We were promised a fully operating test and trace system. To date, this has still not materialised. The government has stubbornly stuck to a centrally controlled system, run by private sector companies, with little experience in the area. What they should have done was devolve this role to local authority and NHS networks, who have the knowledge to make it work. Instead of addressing the basic logistical problems, the government has blundered on, seeking to cover one error, with further outlandish ideas - the latest being Boris Johnson's so called Moonshot plan for 10 million tests a day. To date, the government struggle to reach 200,000 tests a day - a target promised to be reached many months ago. Testing has always been vital because it tells administrators what is happening with the virus, where and why there are outbreaks. A comprehensive set of data allows for local solutions to be applied, without resorting to the blunt instrument of lockdowns. Lockdowns should be the act of final resort, only enacted when the health service is threatened with being overrun. They cause incredible damage to the economy and other health issues - particularly mental. Government has tried to deflect from its own ineptitude by treating the people like naughty children. They are warned -disobey and there will be even tougher sanctions. Obey, and there will be sweeties from the jar in terms of a return of basic freedoms. The untruth of people disobeying the rules has been spun up really as a cover for the government's own failings. The people have obeyed the rules, done as they are told - from staying at home to eating out to help out. It is those in government who haven't. Most notably, there was special advisor to the Prime Minister, Dominic Cummings, who palpably broke the rules, yet remained in office. He bluffed it out, backed by the PM That action created a dangerous precedent, establishing that we are not all in it together, there is one rule for us and one rule for them. And making matters worse, this individual continues to have a big say in how the crisis is handled. Then, whilst telling people they can only gather in groups of six, the government makes an exception for grouse shooters - again us and them. The trust and confidence in government has been ebbing away, ever since the Cummings debacle. The blundering over sending children back to school, students to University and the exams fiasco have not helped instil confidence. Government has much to do if it is to restore confidence and trust. It could start by devolving test and trace to local level, through local authority and health networks. It must also resource this work properly, not promise funding, then renege on the deal, as has happened with some spending. The rhetoric could also be toned down, less talk of lockdowns, waves, cancelling Christmas etc. There has been too much use of fear to control people in this crisis. In many ways, people need to be helped to live with this virus around because that is the way it will be until a vaccine is found. People also need to have security going forward, with maybe a Universal Basic Income applied across society, so that no one is left out. The government has done well in supporting people with systems like furlough but these need extending and unifying in one basic form of payment for all. There also needs to be a focus on the collateral damage being done as a result of the often narrow focus on Covid. The cancer and heart disease not being treated. The dementia cases. The mental health time bomb being created. The rises in domestic violence and other forms of abuse.. The long-term effects of the damage being done to the economy. It is not an easy path to tread and there are bound to be blips along the way. However, trust and confidence in those making the decisions is vital - without it government will lose all authority and cannot operate