Take a long, hard look at Tory Southend

By Tim Nicholls / @tim_nicholls

The other night, during a passionate and rousing speech, Neil Kinnock reminded the gathered crowd of the Prime Minister’s words: “take a second look at us, and take a long hard look at them.” As the audience sat enthralled by the former Labour leader, reflecting on the progress of the last thirteen years, that message rang loud and clear.

“That’s all well and good,” you may say, “but they’re not in power. How do we know what they’ll do?” The truth, though, is that the statement is more than a political abstraction. There are plenty of examples of Tory councils to choose from. They may not have the power of central government, but they have a lot of control over on-the-ground implementation and the authority to touch our daily lives. Indeed, David Cameron wants us to look at them too. But the vision is not as positive for Mr Cameron as he might wish it to be.

I want to show you a glimpse of a Tory Britain and what it would mean for services and communities. I want to show you Tory Southend.

There’s a proud history to this town. A traditional seaside resort, it boasts the longest pleasure pier in the world. But it also suffers an unemployment rate, in the centre of town, that is twice the national average.

The social housing stock was decimated, just like many other towns, by the Right to Buy scheme. The town needs radical investment in public housing, but plan after plan that comes before the Council permits more luxury flats. High-rise developments are designed that will crowd the town centre with more accommodation that is just unsuitable for families.

The town centre swimming pool is threatened with closure. A new pool, located on the outskirts, on an inadequate bus route (one of many), will remove a vital public amenity from people in the town centre without cars. Even the Tories appear to have understood this folly, but their promises to keep ‘a’ pool in the centre of town leaves many questions unanswered and local residents have understandably lost faith in promises.

Business has fled. It is testament to the Council’s failure to secure investment in the town that nearly all the buildings across the street from the Civic Centre stand empty. Plans to fill them are failing.

And not just big business suffers. The crowning failure in the Tory Council’s repertoire of inadequacy can be found just off the High Street. York Road Market (pictured above) stood, for almost a century, home to many small businesses before it was shut down last autumn on just three days’ notice. Secrecy surrounds the plans for what happens next. My own questions to Conservative councillors have been ignored.

It is not all doom and gloom. Labour’s 6 councillors fight hard for Southend’s interests. The town boasts 11 Sure Start centres and great new extended schools. It has a refurbished shopping mall and a brand new pier head. All of this with central government or European money. What scares me is what happens if that, too, becomes unavailable.

I’ve had a long hard look at the Tories in action and I don’t like what I see. Southend and many towns like it deserve better than a Tory government, as does the country.

If you’ve got an example from your area, why not share it below?