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Let's have less negativity and stop this petty squabbling....

Okay, so there's an election looming and the candidates are out and about smiling and pressing the flesh ensuring you are in no doubt who to vote for.

But why is it that the policies, so carefully formulated, often take a back seat to the criticism dished out to and from our would be representatives?

Not that these slurs will be anymore troublesome than water on a duck's back, as these brave souls who put their names forward for election expect and I believe in some cases, actually enjoy the spat. But it takes the voter's eyes off the ball when it comes to the real issues.

Let's take a question often raised in the upcoming local 'hustings'; when is an independent not an independent?

It could simply be the assumption that the word independent implies just one, though I fail to see how 'Independent' can be any less plural than when used to describe the other political parties.

Hawkinge Parish council chairman David Callahan has been singled out over his so called defection to the Shepway Independents, but he's a seasoned campaigner and will no doubt be taking it all in his stride.

Should he have resigned as a councillor when he 'jumped ship' as one reader described it? Who knows, but I'm sure the electorate make their views known when they make their decision - at the ballot box.

Peter Smith, who like David Callahan fought and won the seat as a Lib Dem in the last Council election, is standing as an individual, and not an independent after his suspension from the Shepway Lib Dems.

He was allegedly spotted copying election literature on the Hawkinge Partnership photocopier which was claimed by some to be against council rules.

If he was paying for the copies, as any villager is able to do, and which I have absolutely no reason to believe he wasn't, it could appear to the electorate, who maybe do not understand or even agree with these so called rules laid down by the council, that he was being picked on.

And as we know the Brits tend to support the underdog. Who knows Peter may well gain substantial support if the voters feel he is being victimised.

But let's cast aside these red herrings, and focus on the issues upon which these elections should be fought. They should be an opportunity for candidates to put forward positive ideas which will hopefully make Shepway a far better place in which to live.

Let's have less negativity, and put a stop to this petty squabbling.

I will be casting my vote on the policies and record of the candidates who hope to represent us on the District and Parish councils; providing that is, they  promise to empty my wheelie bin every week!

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