Time to vote for real change!

Posted: July 4, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Leicester | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Time to vote for real change!

Today, the people of Leicester and Leicestershire have the chance to help bring one of the most squalid eras of modern British history to a close.

During the past 14 years of office, the Conservative Party have become synonymous with sleaze, greed and national decline. Their widely-perceived reputation as efficient managers of a reasonably stable national economy, which propelled them to a series of election victories in the past decade, now lies in shreds.

None of its last three leaders, including current incumbent Rishi Sunak, have proved themselves to be fit for the office of Prime Minister. An incessant stream of scandals during the last four years has pushed the Tories’ level of public support to its lowest level in decades.

But while their imminent demise will not be widely mourned, attention will turn to who is likely to replace them in the corridors of power.

Every national opinion poll published during the election campaign suggests that Labour will win a convincing victory. Yet the message of “change” being promoted in public by Sir Keir Starmer is notably different from the one he has delivered in private discussions with big business and media tycoons.

Starmer’s unequivocal endorsement of every Tory foreign policy during the past five years – from Brexit to the Middle East – as well as his decisions to leave failing utilities in private hands and retain punitive employment laws – does not suggest that any government he leads will be remotely capable of repairing the damage its predecessors have wrought.

Voters and communities must therefore look beyond the two main parties to find the solutions required to fix our broken politics. Many are sufficiently consumed by despair to turn to Nigel Farage and his latest vanity project, but the toxic levels of bigotry, ignorance and hate among many of his colleagues and associates – which. all too often, he has been willing to indulge and even endorse – ensure that he can never be seriously considered as a candidate for national office.

However, there is a sizeable bloc of candidates promoting progressive ideas at this election, who deserve more attention than the national media has given them. The Green Party has been particularly prominent in calling for radical policies, and while much of its current platform is heavily influenced by the manifestoes Labour published in 2017 and 2019, it deserves full credit for being prepared to raise a wide range of issues – not least global climate change – which mainstream parties prefer to ignore.

Although a vote for the Greens in most areas will not be enough to secure a victory for the their candidates, it would send a clear message of disaffection from mainstream politics which could develop in future elections to become a powerful force for change,

Leicester Voice would therefore recommend a vote for Green candidates in all local constituencies bar one.

The exception is Leicester East, where sitting MP Claudia Webbe has performed far more creditably during her time in Parliament than many of her detractors would acknowledge. Despite well-publicised personal difficulties – many of which have been politically and racially motivated – she has maintained an impressive voting record which has earned respect among constituents and should inspire them to re-elect her to office.

Although Webbe faces a formidable challenge from predecessor Keith Vaz (standing this time under the banner of “one Leicester”), the reasons that forced Vaz’s exclusion from public office at the last election have not disappeared in 2024. Indeed, should Vaz secure a NINTH term of office, there is every prospect that at least one suspension pending from his previous time in the Commons would be reactivated and prompt a swift by-election.

Whatever the outcome of this election, political turmoil will persist at both local and national levels for some time to come. It is to be hoped that the representatives we elect are prepared to confront – and overcome – the many challenges that await them.

City pays tribute to former Lord Mayor

Posted: January 10, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: City Council, Leicester, Leicester City FC, Leicester Tigers, Leicestershire, Politics, Sport | Tags: , , , , | Comments Off on City pays tribute to former Lord Mayor

councillor bhatti

Former City Councillor Culdipp Bhatti (pictured above), who represented the Rushey Mead ward for 32 years until his retirement last May, has passed away at the age of 80.

A long-serving member of Leicester East Constituency Labour Party, the Punjab-born Mr Bhatti achieved distinction as Leicester’s first ever Sikh Lord Mayor, a role he held from May 1996 to May 1997.

His year of office was particularly notable for the number of trophies won by local sports teams. Leicester City FC, Leicester Tigers and Leicestershire County Cricket Club all won national trophies during that period and were duly honoured by the Lord Mayor at the Town Hall.

In 2005, the then Councillor Bhatti, a teacher by profession, was awarded an MBE by the Queen in her Birthday Honours List in recognition of his services to Children in Leicester.

Friends and former colleagues of Mr Bhatti have spoken of their sadness and sorrow at his passing.

Local MP Keith Vaz described him as a “man of honour, integrity and dedication”, while city mayor Sir Peter Soulsby praised his “passion and loyalty”.

Leicester Voice editor, Colin Hall, who served alongside Mr Bhatti as a Councillor for 13 years,  also paid warm and and glowing respects.

Mr Hall, who himself served as Lord Mayor during the 2010-11 municipal year, said, “Culdipp made a phenomenal contribution, over many decades, to the community, the City Council and the Labour Party.  His record speaks for itself.

“As one of the first councillors of Asian origin in this city, he blazed a trail which others later followed.  He provided support and inspiration to so many of us. We could not have achieved what we did without the help that he gave us.

“During his long and distinguished public office, Culdipp received a wide range of honours, all of which he thoroughly deserved.

“But none meant more to him than the tribute paid by his fellow residents of Rushey Mead, by electing him to represent them on nine successive occasions.

“That’s an incredible achievement – which Culdipp was rightly very proud of.  It tells us everything about the esteem in which the community held him.

“My thoughts are with his widow and his family at this distressing time.”

Mr Bhatti’s funeral service will be held at Gilroes Crematorium, Groby Road, Leicester, LE3 9QG on Monday 11th January 2016 at 12.15 noon followed by a religious ceremony at the Guru Tegh Bahadur Gurdwara Sikh Temple, 106 East Park Road, Leicester LE5 4QB at 13.30pm.

Donations in Mr Bhatti’s memory can be made to ‘Oncology, Ward 40, Leicester Royal Infirmary’.

A dedicated, devoted public servant – Phil Swift 1938-2013

Posted: April 15, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: City Council, Leicester | Tags: , , | Comments Off on A dedicated, devoted public servant – Phil Swift 1938-2013

Phil Swift - Lord Mayor of Leicester 1999-2000

Phil Swift, who served as a member of Leicester City Council for 20 years from 1983 to 2003, and was Lord Mayor of Leicester at the turn of the millennium, has died at the age of 74 after a short illness.

His passion for social justice, especially in the workplace, earned him substantial and lasting respect among the community, and the local Labour movement in particular.

Born in the Belgian Congo to missionary parents, Phil was raised in Wales and Scotland, completing an apprenticeship as a bricklayer after leaving school in Arbroath. An avid motorcyclist, he survived horrific injuries sustained in a crash which kept him in hospital for more than a year and left him with a permanent limp.

After moving to Leicester to join an uncle (local author Eric Swift) in the mid-1960s, Phil worked in a variety of trades, serving as a representative of the National Union of Hosiery and Knitwear Workers for eight years and a health and safety representative for six years. He joined the Labour Party in 1980 and was first elected to Leicester City Council in May 1983.

One of his most notable achievements during his time as a Councillor was the successful campaign to secure a minimum wage for Council staff, long before this policy was adopted at national level.

In addition, Phil also played a significant role in securing funding for the much-needed redevelopment of the St Andrews estate within his ward, and backed the campaign to rename his local park after Nelson Mandela, during a time when the struggle against apartheid aroused considerable enmity from the local British National Party and others.

However, his commitment and principles did not always find favour with the Council leadership. For much of his time at the authority, the incomes of full-time members were heavily dependent upon their membership of Council and external committees, and therefore the patronage of officers of the majority group. There were occasions where Phil endured considerable financial hardship as a result of his stance against the Council’s compliance with government-imposed cuts.

Nevertheless, he continued to enjoy the support of voters in Castle ward, who re-elected him to the City Council on six separate occasions. He was also an invaluable source of help, support and inspiration to constituents, Council staff and colleagues alike.

In May 1999, the Council elected Phil as Lord Mayor of Leicester for the 1999-2000 civic year. He formed a successful professional partnership with Marilyn Hall (mother of the Leicester Voice editor) who became his Lady Mayoress. During their year of office, they represented the city with distinction and grace both locally and internationally, raising over £100 000 in their civic charity appeal for the Leicester Children’s Holiday Home.  

A combination of failing health and deep political disaffection with “new” Labour caused Phil to withdraw almost completely from public life after his retirement from the Council in 2003. A stroke in 2008 forced him to relocate from his beloved flat in Lower Hastings Street to sheltered accommodation elsewhere in the city – a traumatic upheaval from which he never fully recovered. He passed away at Glenfield Hospital after developing a lung infection.

His interests included blues music, art, and snooker. He was also a keen follower of Celtic and Liverpool football clubs, and was particularly delighted to witness the match between Brazil (world champions at the time) and Jamaica in Leicester in October 2003.

While many in Leicester and elsewhere will mourn the passing of a dear and valued friend, the community will lament the loss of a devoted, dedicated and deeply conscientious public servant.

Phil’s funeral service will take place on Tuesday 30 April (1.00 pm) at Gilroes Crematorium in Leicester, followed by a private cremation.

Donations in his memory can be made to Leicester Children’s Holiday Home, either by cheque to Shaftesbury Hall,1 Holy Bones, Leicester, LE1 4LJ or online at http://www.justgiving.com/mablethorpe.

Phillip Ronald Swift – born Ibambi, Belgian Congo 18 July 1938, died Leicester 11 April 2013.