Polly Toynbee: stopped clock, sometimes right

Something else I returned to was a Graun article by La Toynbee, which broadly makes a lot of sense. 

For baffling reasons, soon after the general election a government with a sky-high in-tray of problems embarked on a gigantic local council reorganisation no one knew about. It didn’t feature in the manifesto, nor in the local government secretary Steve Reed’s conference speech last week – but England has plans to axe unknown numbers of local councillors – some estimates put it at nearly 90%. The white paper outlining these plans actually boasts that there will be “fewer local politicians”, pandering disgracefully to the general scorn for politics ... For all the talk of localism and connecting to neighbourhoods, these are the unheralded foot soldiers of democracy. It is councillors who run political parties and much that binds their communities. Few people ever join political parties, yet the whole tottering democratic system relies entirely on those who do. Running the council and becoming a councillor is part of party members’ purpose and motivation. Abolishing so many will diminish democratic engagement over time

For once, she's right - it happens a couple of times per decade.  This is awful.  The "baffling reason", we must suppose, is Starmer's centralising tendency, coupled with his complete lack of political hinterland or general grass-roots experience.  

ND