"It was certainly the Big Society out in force!" That's how I described today's march against the proposed new stadium and 'sports village' for Wycombe to Steve Baker the local MP. You can read his own account here:
The Big Society is often described as one of the more difficult of David Cameron's manifesto promises to describe. What and who are the Big Society? Commentators in the left wing press will never understand the concept because it is something they are scared of. The Big Society is nothing more or less than allowing us all to decide our own destiny, to remove state control and to decentralise power back to the people. That's to say the destruction of everything the left hold sacred; or to put it another way, the abolition of the nanny state which ballooned under Labour.
With respect to the stadium proposal, people have been critical of Steve's stance of non-interference. He has set out his argument in the Press on numerous occasions, but in short his argument is that it is for society as a whole to decide whether it wants something or not. It is not for Government to interfere and thus his stance has been to stand back and let the people decide.
Those who were at today's parade were members of the Big Society. And they said No.
Going by the video on the Bucks Herald site, it looked like a fairly small group - much smaller than say the attendances at Wycombe Wanderers or Wasps games.
ReplyDelete"Not in my backyard" protests are nothing new, and certainly not symptomatic of a big society, or decentralisation - this is a local planning issue - nothing more, and nothing less, and as for the "destruction of everything the left holds sacred" - well are you sure ?
I'd also suggest that as a member of parliament elected by the Big Society, Steve does have a mandate to speak on behalf of the part of that society that is his constituency. (Much as I might disagree with what he says, there's no disputing his majority)
I don't particularly have a position on the stadium by the way, I'm not from Wycombe - but please don't pretend your protest represents anything wider than it really does
@northernheckler I saw you posted the same thing on Steve's blog.
ReplyDeleteThere were over 500 demonstrating this afternoon. That is a not insignificant number. There certainly haven't been as many supporting the venture. Yes it's a planning issue - but that doesn't mean it's not relevant?
And it's not NIMBYism. If you cut through to the story the opposition to this stadium comes from a wide variety of sources. Yes, you have the residents directly affected, then you have concerns about the destruction of 200 acres of Green Belt. From the football side you have supporters very worried that this new stadium (which they neither need nor want) will sound the death knell for their club as it will mean the disposal of their current stadium with the proceeds ploughed into the new stadium which they will be asked to pay rent to play in.
Yes Steve has a mandate as an elected representative. But he chooses not to exercise that mandate. We have local democracy. As he argues, the localism bill is about returning power to the people. For him to step in would thus be hypocritical.
It is for us as members of our communities, the Big Society, to choose our own way forward. Today, those communities came together as one and said No.