Independent MP would have more power here

I’m not a Liberal Democrat voter or a Labour voter – never have been - but it strikes me that, for once, Burnley seems to be getting national exposure and support as a result of our MP’s efforts, which can only be a good thing surely.

I strongly suspect this is because our MP is part of the minority party in our coalition Government, which means he has influence and the ear of senior cabinet ministers.

This is something Burnley hasn’t had for years from our previous long-standing Labour MP and his short-lived, party-favoured successor.

It seems to me that all the main political parties are fighting the middle ground and really aren’t too different from one another. You can’t influence the party-in-power’s decisions once they are there and you will never totally agree with their policies, no matter how much you support them. How many Labour supporters in Burnley for example would say they supported the closure of our A&E Department or the Iraq War or the softening of banking regulations etc?

That’s why I think voters in Burnley should have a long, hard think about electing an independent MP at the next election, rather than a party MP. Independents always have more influence as their votes can support both the opposition and party in power. This makes them attractive to both parties, which gives them the same sort of influence our current MP has.

A vote for Labour would be a waste. Coun. Cooper would just be another back bencher with no influence. In the same way, a Lib-Dem vote would also be a waste as I can’t see them returning more than 10 to 20 seats.

But an independent MP – that would be interesting. Reading our current MP’s weekly article, it seems he works hard for the town and perhaps he should think about standing as an independent with the sole agenda of promoting the interests of Burnley.

Mr P. Clegg

Burnley