We don’t need another vote that will be just about Brexit

WHATEVER the reasons behind prime minister Theresa May’s decision to call a snap general election, it’s essential that local issues get a proper airing during the run-up to polling day.

We currently have the peculiar prospect of going to vote for who should represent us on Lancashire county council early next month, followed by a vote the following month on who runs the country.

In one sense, who we vote for in June will probably have a greater bearing on what happens at County Hall than the people we vote to go and represent us at County Hall the month before.

If more money isn’t forthcoming to help fund our councils, the hands are tied of whoever is in charge of County Hall: It’ll be cuts on top of cuts on top of cuts for years to come.

The national headlines are likely to make the election a snap vote on delivering Brexit.

Indeed, that’s probably the framing which would suit the Tory leadership the most.

But a general election has to be about much more than one issue.

And it’s not as if there’s a shortages of issues which deserve to be considered when deciding where to put your cross.

There’s the ongoing challenges facing the NHS locally, the prospect of many schools being worse off as a result of changes to funding, the unresolved issue of the number of houses which will need to be built here, and ongoing cuts to local police.

All of these are national issues but at the same time intensely local issues.

As the Free Press has reported in recent weeks, there has been a huge spike in burglaries in our area, and the chances of burglars being caught and prosecuted are remarkably low.

Our police and crime commissioner is consistent in his message – he needs more money to meet demands.

Then, of course, is the vexing issue of council cuts. The political debate on this is very simple: Labour (in charge) blames cuts, the Tories (in charge nationally) claim councils can be more efficient.

The Tory argument appears to diminish as each year of cuts goes by, and more services are lost.

Rossendale and Darwen is a constituency which over the years has been seen as a test constituency for the country.

It certainly has the potential to be finely-balanced.

Against the national picture, Labour strengthened its control of Rossendale council in the last local elections.

Yet the 2015 general election wasn’t as close-run as many had predicted, with sitting Tory MP Jake Berry enjoying a comfortable victory over his main rival, Labour’s Will Straw.

That said, the UKIP dimension may, or may not influence voters to the same extent as it did in 2015.

All of these political factors should hopefully make Rossendale and Darwen a constituency political leaders pay close attention to in the weeks ahead.

It’s essential that the issues which matter to us play into the thinking of those standing.

We’ve had one vote which was solely about Brexit, we don’t need another one just about Brexit.

Brexit is not the thing which most local people think about every day – it’s essential the things we do think about are debated at length during the next few weeks.