Being real, not sugarcoating facts

I t’s pointless to sugar-coat to the truth. A false narrative does not change the reality around us: at best, it lulls us into complacency when everything is not as it should be, writes cllr Shaz Nawaz, leader of the Labour Party on Peterborough City Council.

So, let’s be real: our MP, Paul Bristow, is more interested in marketing than action.

His strapline ‘Proud of Peterborough’ offers no solutions, rather, we are supposed to see this slogan as a solution in and of itself. But of course! If only we believe something, it is so! Never mind economists, engineers, and experts of all kinds: if we believe it so, our city needs no improvement.

Does anyone really think this is helpful? Furthermore, it’s cynical: if Mr. Bristow really wanted to address the issues we face, he would have to face into the failures of his own party in running this city for over 19 years.

Obviously, that will never happen.

How does one really show love and pride in this city? By pretending that nothing needs to change, or by rolling up one’s sleeves and getting to the root of our difficulties? I realise we are supposedly living in an era of spin, where politicians can dismiss expertise and statistics and label it all “fake news”. But we need to face into some hard facts: We have been voted as the worst city to live for two consecutive years.

We recently received the dubious title of having the unhealthiest high street in the country.

Our schools continue to languish at the bottom of the league tables. Our arts, leisure and culture offering is poor in comparison to other cities of similar size. The town centre desperately needs investment. The list goes on.

As a born and bred Peterborian, it pains me to see the city in such a state. It gives me no joy to state these facts. Indeed, this is why I became involved in local politics. I know from my involvement in the community that there are many people, business owners, charities, and religious groups who all are working hard to try and make Peterborough a better place to live.

This does suggest that Mr. Bristow is right about one thing: Peterborough can and should take pride in its people. I do.

However, it shows no respect for our city nor our community by pretending everything is wonderful. We need to take stock of where we are. We need to understand how and why we ended up here. We need to create and execute a plan to get out of our present situation.

This is not negative: it is a necessity that we do better. 
I believe we can do better, and provided there is a change in local administration, we will.

However, to get there, it requires honesty to recognise our deficiencies. We want a genuine diagnosis; with that, we can work on real solutions.

The Labour Group has already put forward many ideas, becoming a City of Culture, UK’s leading digital city, supporting local business, investing in skills, and training, improving infrastructure, and many others. I was pleased to see the Conservatives have implemented our manifesto pledge to create a super-hub. They have also made a predictable start on digital transformation but without any real plan or vision. We are positive about Peterborough: we believe it has a bright future. However, we won’t get there if we live in a fool’s paradise. This is neither negative, nor disloyal: to quote Winston Churchill from another context, “‘United wishes and good will cannot overcome brute facts…truth is incontrovertible. Panic may resent it. Ignorance may deride it. Malice may distort it. But there it is.”