[paul cotter (OP)]

I thought Alan might be interested in attending the conservative party congress? Maybe BC too? ( they will probably never talk to me again!!)

[Bored chemist]

My invitation has yet to arrive.

[alancalverd]

I'm torn, frankly.

The local Tory MP seems to be fighting a lone battle against the Labour city council and Liberal district council who are bent on pouring concrete over the countryside to appease some unaccountable consultancy that has A Computer Model but admits to having no actual data or interest in facts. The district council went so far as to commission an independent report on the economics of their proposed four-day working week, then "for the sake of brevity and impact" edited out such words as "no" before publishing it.

So should I vote to fight against local corruption and incompetence, knowing that doing so may perpetuate  corruption and incompetence in Westminster?

[Bored chemist]

If the Tory got elected, what are the chances that they would be "persuaded" by the same (or an equivalent)  "unaccountable consultancy"?

[alancalverd]

On the basis that "my enemy's enemy is my friend", he would lose his seat at the next election because the parliamentary Liberal candidate would undergo a Damascene conversion, realise that "they ain't makin' no more land", and not wish to be enjoined in a suit when the university prosecutes his Party for misrepresenting their report that predicted the financial disaster. And the unseen hand of real government can only bribe one side at a time.

Bicycling academics will continue to support a Labour town council bent on eliminating cars (and thereby pensioners and housewives with children) from the city centre, which of course should be populated by inebriated Fellows weaving their way home after pondering such important questions as what really is a bicycle? But they will continue to vote for Eton (and work for Moscow) in parliamentary elections, because tradition demands it.

[Petrochemicals]

Liberal district council who are bent on pouring concrete over the countryside to appease some unaccountable consultancy that has A Computer Model but admits to having no actual data or interest in facts.

I imagine that is a proposed business that will bring jobs to the region, housing is not allowed on greenbelt, they have to wait 10 years for the site to become derelict and the site to become classified as brownfield.

[alancalverd]

They want to build a wholly unnecessary road thorough the green belt, and redesignate any available farmland as suitable for building. 

"Bringing jobs to the region" indeed?

Cambridge with its world-class university and high-tech industries unsurprisingly has some of the lowest unemployment rates of any city in the country.

So no immediate benefit to the residents, only to the developers. 10 years is a long time in politics, but a reasonable investment horizon in concrete.

[Petrochemicals]

Cambridge with its world-class university and high-tech industries unsurprisingly has some of the lowest unemployment rates of any city in the country.

I'm guessing that's from the report?

[alancalverd]

No, it's from the national census office. But who cares about  facts when there's money to be spent?