The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Peterborough is a city on the up so let’s keep it that way
Since I wrote about the UK’s new partnership with Rwanda last week, there have been no boat crossings detected. It’s the deterrence effect at work – and a vindication of the home secretary’s announcement. It might not last, particularly if legal challenges to the scheme start being made by activists.
One thing is clear: those who criticised the policy should think again. Lives are already being saved. I’m proud that our government has the courage to do something about this.
I’m proud that our government has led the global response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. I’m also proud that we are defending women’s rights and single-sex spaces. I’m proud of this government for many reasons.
Yet none of those reasons matter at the local elections.
Local elections don’t change the occupant of Number 10 or who runs Whitehall. They could change who runs our Town Hall.
That matters hugely for Peterborough.
We already know that Peterborough Labour wants to form a coalition of chaos with the local Greens and Liberal Democrats.
We know the Greens and the Yellows would jump at the chance. And we know the sort of chaotic policies that would follow.
Instead of collecting the bins, the city council would be running woke commissions on removing statues and renaming Gladstone Street. Vote yellow or green and we will all be seeing red.
Peterborough deserves better than that. Our local Conservative council is doing better than that. Just take jobs. Local unemployment has fallen by 32% over the last year, with new jobs being advertised at an all-time high. Youth unemployment in Peterborough has fallen by 43%!
That’s 3,198 local people into a job. That’s over 3,000 lives back on track, in many cases benefiting not just them but their wider families.
Peterborough’s jobless rate is now below the national average.
This isn’t a coincidence. It’s because Peterborough City Council has attracted many companies to invest here. It’s because there is a plan, centred around the new university and regeneration – and backed by government funding.