What makes Rotherham Independents Different?

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Rotherham Independents are totally committed to improving the way Rotherham is run and offer an alternative that is viable to the old sterile debates that go on in the Town Hall and in Parliament.

We reject the current approach because it excludes or ignores the views of the most important of all, you!

Our commitment to you is simple, we will represent you and will always take your views as our guide. We believe that listening to and involving the public is vital in any democracy but is sadly lacking in Rotherham, this has to change and we exist to do just that.

We reject prejudice and dogma, we believe that decisions must be made on the basis of robust evidence not mere political prejudice!

We have accepted as our guiding principles the Bell Principles that expand on Lord Nolan's, Seven Principles of Public Life, read them here.

We are criticised by some for having few policies, those thinking that have missed the point!

"It is the rigid adherence to policy, even when contradicted by evidence, that is the real problem!"

We are different, because we have open minds to all reasonable ideas for finding solutions to unsolved problems, we will decide on the basis of sound evidence not dogma.We believe that the people of Rotherham have a right to be involved, before, not after, decisions are made, a very refreshing approach, we think you will agree!

Party Politics has brought Rotherham to it's knees, we exist to provide the antidote to this failed approach and to renew peoples faith in the political process.

We have set out in detail our analysis of the underlying causes of the problems that Rotherham's people daily endure and our refreshingly new approach to them. We think you will be impressed!

Rotherham Independents

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Out and about, the campaign on the doorstep.

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Peter Thirlwall out campaigning on Saturday.

All our candidates are campaigning hard to win this year throughout Rotherham.  

Our simple, distinctive message is getting through to the voters. We represent the best chance for change and can be trusted to be an improvement to the tired old Political Parties who bring their tired dogmas to the Town Hall.

We are focussed on what is best for Rotherham, not on pursuing political careers at your expense nor are we interested in arguing arcane points of policy or grandstanding. We have turned our backs on party political games, we simply aren't interested in them, we want to bring people together to solve problems in a mature and reasoned way, a very refreshing change you will agree!

We have a very practical approach to all matters, we want to make decisions based on facts and evidence, not prejudice and ignorance that surrounds all decision making currently and results in decisions being made without any knowledge of the effects they will have. The debacle over the laundry proves our point.

We want to involve the people on matters that will directly impact on them, The Bramley Traffic chaos is a perfect example of the failure in community involvement, when coupled with one of the most arrogant, officious, dictatorial and dogmatic councillors, Gerald Smith. We see the resultant disaster before our eyes every time we drive through.

Tory 'dirty tricks' flushes out Labour. Judge for yourself!

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After Tony Mannion circulated his disgraceful abusive email missive, it triggered off a secondary abuse of the email system, this time by Labour Councillors who really should have known better than to compound the problem by abusing the system for Party political purposes and during an election period at that! The casual and seemingly contemptuous breaches that are exposed here are routine for Labour and Tory Councillors who are clearly pursuing common interests in stopping us!

Why has nothing changed with 10 Tories on the Council? You now have a hint of the true situation where they appear for all the world to have decided that they have carved up Rotherham between them, the voters being made irrelevant in the process. In Rotherham, it is clear that whether you vote Labour or Tory, the interests of the Councillors as a whole comes first and nothing will change at all whichever Party controls Rotherham as behind the scenes they are one and the same. Truly scandalous!

We publish them below so that the public can judge for themselves what is going on here:

-----Original Message-----
From: Boyes, Georgina
Sent: 14 April 2010 13:20
To: Akhtar, Jahangir; StJohn, Iain; Mannion, Anthony; Thirlwall, Peter
Cc: Members
Subject: RE: misleading information in breach of the Nolan principles
I've just received election literature from the Boston Castle candidate
indicating that she's going to put an end to Councillors' "scandalous
expenses".  As my - and I think most other Councillors' expenses are
zero, I'd like to know why this inaccurate information is being included
too.
Georgina

Georgina Boyes, who is standing down this year, appears to be trying to split hairs.

We are crystal clear, we believe that the cost to the taxpayer of £1,100,000 per year plus to keep our councillors is too much! We are committed to sort it out!

-----Original Message-----
From: Akhtar, Jahangir
Sent: Wed 14/04/2010 11:10
To: StJohn, Iain; Mannion, Anthony; Thirlwall, Peter
Cc: Members
Subject: RE: misleading information  in breach of the Nolan principles

And the Scurrilous allegations against Cllr Mannion still haven't been
taken down from the webb page !!!!!! This really is too much.
_____________________________________________
From: StJohn, Iain
Sent: 14 April 2010 09:25
To: Mannion, Anthony; Thirlwall, Peter
Cc: Members
Subject: RE: misleading information in breach of the Nolan principles

Tony,
Well upon my soul, now 24 hours has passed and still no response!
Poor show,
Iain
PS Blisters under control!
___________________________________________
From: Mannion, Anthony
Sent: 14 April 2010 09:21
To: StJohn, Iain; Thirlwall, Peter
Cc: Members
Subject: RE: misleading information in breach of the Nolan principles

Iain yes you're right it isn't. I know that there is a certain amount of
'rough and tumble' in any campaign I remember when I stood in Wales one
Labour leaflet said I had my own Oil Company - I wish!
But this is from the man who would have us believe he is wearing a white
suit, he has shouted that he has principles and that he wants to get
away from the old politics yet he falls at the first hurdle, although I
am sure that that it is as unsurprising to you as it is to me.

Best regards and hope you don't get too many blisters in the next few
weeks, Tony m
     -----Original Message-----
    From:     StJohn, Iain
    Sent:    13 April 2010 17:42
    To:    Mannion, Anthony; Thirlwall, Peter
    Cc:    Members
    Subject:    RE: misleading information  in breach of the
Nolan principles
    Tony,
    Already nearly 9 hours have elapsed since I received this
"shocking" news, & still no retraction of the offending statement.

    Not good enough.
    Iain

Illuminating isn't it!


Rotherham Independents
Campaign Team

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The 'Sitwell Polecat' and Dirty Tricks Exposed!

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We were surprised and dismayed that our Tory opponent in Sitwell Ward, Tony Mannion, should stoop so low as to mount what appears for all the world to be a 'dirty tricks' operation against Jean Thirlwall our Candidate standing in Sitwell this year.

Tony Mannion, this year's Tory candidate in Sitwell Ward, issuing ridiculous threats and behaving in a most intemperate and intimidating manner, demonstrates the old political thuggery at its finest and reflects very badly on himself, raising the issue of his basic fitness to serve Sitwell's voters as a Councillor?

The fact that he abused the Council email system in carrying it out, just adds to the level of offence caused. Clearly the Council email system is not there to carry out political vendettas.

I reproduce the email below:

From: Mannion, Anthony
Sent: 13 April 2010 09:06
To: Thirlwall, Peter
Cc: Members
Subject: misleading information in breach of the Nolan principles

Dear Cllr Thirlwall,
I was shocked to find misleading information on the blog of your candidate against me in the local election which gives the impression that I do not and have never lived in the ward; the sentence reads "Unlike the other candidates I have lived and brought up my children in the Sitwell Ward..."
This is obviously far from the truth as I have lived in the ward since moving to the ward two months after being elected, just under four years ago.
I believe that placing misleading information like this before the public breaches at least one of the principles that you and your crew have signed up to so I will give two days to remove it. If it is not removed I will report you and your wife and/or her agent to the Police and the Electoral Commission.
You see that's the trouble when you claim to have principles you have to live up to them.

Yours Cllr Mannion

PS I know how you and your mob like to send round robins so I thought I'd let the rest of the councillors know how you're getting on with your new principles.

When this attack is added to the Advertiser letters pages of last Friday, a picture is beginning to emerge of panicking Tories dismayed at our relative popularity and the fact that locally and nationally they are going backwards with a most unconvincing campaign.

In attempting to derail our campaign in this way it simply serves to highlight the fact that the poor voters of Sitwell have something to think about before blindly re-electing this spiteful and immature Councillor. He seems to be a real throwback to the days of the old Tories and Maggie, Norman Tebbitt and company. Certainly not the nice cuddly Tory that Cameron now pretends make up the Party. A fully paid up member of the 'Nasty Party' if ever there was one!

We also have heard that a new nickname has been coined for Mannion, the 'Sitwell Polecat' is doing the rounds.

Meanwhile Jean Thirlwall, our candidate, is quietly gathering significant support in this previously Labour now Tory seat of Sitwell. Things on the ground are very interesting indeed with both Tory and Labour voters choosing Jean as the best hope for the future, something that truly humbles us as the extent of the public's trust in us becomes apparent. We are grateful for this and pledge that we will not let you down!

Rotherham Independents
Campaign Team

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Rotherham Independents - View on Immigration

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Rotherham Independents candidates are busy campaigning for support to bring about the end to the Municipal Merry go round between the discredited old parties Labour and Tories that simply have no convincing answers to the problems ordinary people face every day.

We have listened to the voters and considered our view on the most common question we are asked on the doorstep and in the street as we go about our campaigning. The thorny topic of immigration and the resultant problems it is causing within our communities. 

We exist to provide a fresh approach to political issues that the people want a say in and are being excluded currently from influence in even though it daily affects their lives. We exist to give the 'great ignored' a voice in the future running of their Town.

Rotherham Independents - Views on Immigration

The Problem

• The overall lack of control of the situation combined with the view that the Labour Government assumed that they would all vote Labour in elections and connived at bring in 700,000 economic migrants, in just 2 years, no wonder things are not going smoothly!
• Most would agree that our borders should be properly controlled and be able to 'count people in and count them out' when they leave. We should be in control of who is here, the fact that we cant, worries most people, quite rightly.
• The rights granted to EU citizens by our Government. Only 3 countries other than ourselves granted these rights to the 2004 entrants to the EU.
• Asylum Seekers who ultimately are refused 'leave to remain'.  (often referred to as bogus in the press)                      
• Illegal Immigration, in fact ordinary citizens will never in fact know they exist.
• The issue of amnesty for the current illegal entrants already here.
• The effects that the burden is perceived as being unacceptably high in both financial terms and the burden on community resources such as Schools, Housing,  Social Services and Health.
• There is a perception that those who are recently arrived enjoy benefits denied to the host community. This perception is very divisive, it is strongly felt and far more complex than often portrayed by some disreputable political parties.

 Rotherham Independents View

• The Government has a duty to control our borders. We will insist that this happens.
• The Government should not have granted a general right of admission for EU citizens. We will argue against this.
• We do need skills from abroad and many of our citizens work abroad in other countries, their rights too must be considered. We will support a proper, points based, system to replace the current, chaotic approach, to economic migration.
• No one would wish to deny entry to those fleeing tyranny and persecution but it seems to any reasonable person to be open to abuse. We want the issue to be re-examined from basic principles, to give us a system that is understood and respected by all. We will argue for, and cooperate with those of goodwill to sort out this mess.
• The burdens placed on our local communities are unacceptably high and residents have legitimate concerns which they want addressed.. We will argue that proper funding must be available to host communities to offset the unfair cost burden.
• Those here illegally are queue jumpers by another name, nor do we approve of an amnesty, as that would end up rewarding them for this and be grossly unfair for all concerned. We are not in favour of an amnesty for those illegals already here.

We are convinced that it is time that the people got involved, on this as so many issues when people of 'good will' do not speak out the the racist bigots get the field to themselves and any open and honest approach is likely to be ignored in the general confrontation.

Rotherham Independents

Campaign Team

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The Rotherham Independents Answer!

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All of us involved in the Rotherham Independents Campaign have become increasingly angry and frustrated about the poor way that decisions that affect all our lives are taken. The parade of greed, sleaze and corruption that has been the daily diet of all news for a very long time now has sickened us but galvanized us into decisive action.

Increasing numbers of Independents have stood in Public Elections with some success. There are currently two Independent Borough Councillors, a growing number on the Town Councils and a number on Parish Councils.  Our roots go back longer than most would suppose because we didn't have any local elections last year this is our first chance to challenge the tired old ways that belong in the past, not making our future.

"We now know for a fact that nothing will improve if no one acts. 
No one else will do it for us!"

In this spirit, our group could be entitled 'Rotherham People Do It for Themselves!' and this is exactly the spirit that motivates us and shows what we are trying to achieve.

We have a unique approach to our opponents, we are guided in all that we do by the values embodied in both the Bell Principles and the Seven Principles of Public Life. See below.

We are not, nor ever will be, a political party in any traditional sense because we work openly, involving rather than excluding opinions and building consensus, wherever possible, without the baggage of dogma or prejudice.

We are cooperators and not interested in the worn out answers to the same questions that the old parties have not solved in over a century of trying it their way. 

We bring a fresh and open approach so the general public can have their say and we will listen, consider, then let you all know our view on any issue, no matter how thorny and controversial. A good example of this way of working can be see here as we start the process of putting detailed, mature and honest solutions to the problems that you are talking to us about and face every day.

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"We exist to challenge the status quo, to take on the unacceptable practices of those who control Rotherham currently and Change Rotherham for Good!" 

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Why is Politics in Rotherham Broken?

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Rotherham has suffered at the hands of the politicians, especially those who are members of national political parties. They bring their inflexible dogmas to issues and they rehearse their sterile arguments in the Town Hall. This old fashioned way of working, brings no benefit whatsoever for us, Rotherham's people!

One Party rule since Rotherham became a Metropolitan Borough in 1974, coupled with a catastrophic collapse in local and national membership of the Labour Party has resulted in the Labour Group thinking they own the town 'lock stock and barrel' and that Rotherham exists to keep them in the relative luxury they currently enjoy.

The Labour Group think that it does not matter that they will be fielding, probably, the least able slate of candidates in the history of RMBC.

The Labour Administration, led by Roger Stone, is basically incompetent, lacks vision and is held together by patronage, fear and old fashioned blind loyalty as well as a share in the over £1,100,000 pot to console them. 

Our council has, as it always had, the reputation of being the most 'Officer led' in the country! Yet micromanagement (interference by councillors often not legally) is rife, while they are completely indifferent to their role providing political oversight which is legal and is the role they were actually elected to do.

Even, the now, 10 Tory councillors, have failed to provide anything like an effective or organised opposition and appear more interested in the General Election to come and national political arguments than improving the governance of Rotherham or the lives of it's people. 

This has been a profound disappointment to many who yearn for change and thought they might get it by voting Tory. 

The same truth applies as it has always has, ordinary people shouldn't trust the Tories – they forget this at their peril!

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Local Elections are on!

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Rotherham Independents Local Government Candidates 2010

Keith Lockley Independent 
for Brinsworth & Catcliffe Ward

Andy Foster

Independent for Hellaby Ward

Paul Martin

Independent Candidate Holderness Ward

Andy Newton

Independent for Hoober Ward

Ted Millward

Independent for Maltby Ward

Rob Foulds 

Independent for Rother Vale Ward

Geoff Outram

Independent for Silverwood Ward

 



Jean Thirlwall

Independent for Sitwell Ward

Dave Ridgway

Independent for Valley Ward

Peter Blanksby 
Independent for Wales Ward

Rotherham Independents are nearly ready.

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Rotherham Independents are nearly ready. We took this photo yesterday and we thought you would like to see it here first. We are contesting eleven wards this year and the parliamentary seat of Rotherham.

Peter Thirlwall and the Rotherham Independents Local Government Candidates for 2010

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Martin Bell Letter to Independent Candidates and Independent-Minded Voters

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Martin Bell OBE is a former independent MP for Tatton and a BBC war correspondent. He is a supporter of the Independent Network.

Let's make 6 May 2010 Independents' Day
An open letter to independent candidates and independent-minded voters.
I am writing on behalf of the Independent Network, the organisation that helps Independents help each other.
Independents have an unprecedented opportunity on 6 May to change the face of politics for good.  The MPs' expenses scandal has discredited many individual MPs, the parties that allowed it to happen and the House of Commons itself.  Many MPs with questionable expenses records have not been de-selected by their parties.  It is up to the voters to complete the process.
This is a time for independents to challenge the politics of the status quo; it is a time for independent Councillors either to stand for Parliament themselves or to help in the campaigns of others; it is a time to support the Independent Network by sending contributions to http://www.independentnetwork.org.uk/get-involved/donate
It is a time for the election of a group of MPs, without party baggage but with real world experience, to be a force for honest politics in the New House of Commons.  They will be answerable not to a political party but only to their constituents and their consciences. It won't be easy, but I believe that it is do-able.
If not us - who?  And if not now - when?

Yours Sincerely,
Martin Bell

Introducing Andy Newton - Candidate for Hoober Ward

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Andy Newton, a local born Rotherham man, lives in the Hoober Ward. He is 42, married to Lynn and they have a young family.

Educated in Rotherham Schools, Andy went on to become a Mechanical Engineer and became a successful local businessman.

Recent years have presented challenges and experiences that would have defeated all but the most resilient. Andy is the kind of person that adversity makes stronger and this is one of the factors that has led him to fight the Hoober Ward for a seat on the Council.

His experience in business has given him the perspective that would make him an asset on the council. He understands that both the people and businesses of Rotherham suffer under the weight of the leaden hand of the Council.

The current Councillors are indifferent to any pleas from residents for even the simplest and cheap solution to local problems, your Councillors are there to serve you, not themselves.

Andy says:

“I am standing for Hoober because it is time that the people were listened to for a change!

Your voice must be heard loud and clear!

With your help, I can be that voice!”

Andy Newton

Rotherham Independents Candidate

Hoober Ward

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Paul Martin - Independent for Holderness Ward

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The second of our candidates is now successfully nominated, Paul Martin for the Holderness Ward where his Labour opponent is none other than Gerald Smith, notorious for his high handed attitudes especially when dealing with those whose opinions differ from his own!

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Paul Martin - Independent for Holderness

This Ward will be a very interesting election battle ground in Rotherham this year as it will test the support for Labour to breaking point and beyond.

Our candidate, Paul Martin, a Parish Councillor for the last three years on Aston-cum-Aughton Parish Council.offers the electors of Holderness Ward a real alternative to the distant and dictatorial ways of the past. 

They may be confident that, in Paul, they have a 'Peoples Champion' and may elect him knowing that he will be representing them for a change. How refreshing!


Rotherham Independents

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