At EastLondonLines, we’re in the business of local news. And as our stories show, you can’t have local news without local politics.

A week doesn’t go by without a fresh debate over some new topic with the potential to impact the lives of people living in East and South London. Whether over planning permission, healthcare or or tax plans, intense political battles are fought to decide the best way forward.

But all too often local issues are hijacked or sidelined by bigger ideological struggles. And while it’s good to have your eye on the troubles of the world at large, solving problems is never as simple as declaring them a microcosm of a battle between good and evil, champion and deceiver.

And there’s the rub – the temptation for public figures of all stripes is always to seize upon the latest events and attempt to turn them into political hay.

Take our recent story about the controversy following Croydon Council’s announcement of its tax plans for the year ahead. Looking at this war of words, it’s not so hard to see the spectre of advantage-taking on both sides.

The Conservative authority, eager to trumpet its benevolence, announced its intentions in the most glowing fashion. Suggestions of unprecedented generosity to the man on the street abounded in the rhetoric of its statements.

As the Labour opposition was swift to proclaim, the shining statistics belied some more complex numerical reckoning. However, in its eagerness to condemn adversaries for the unthinkable crime of spin, Labour itself fell prey to similarly extravagant tendencies, using the news to promote its own agenda.

And thus an issue of local import becomes the stage for a wider party-political showdown, with the voices of each side vying to denounce the other most volubly. In the ensuing din, the voices of citizens themselves are rather drowned out.

Attempting to take an abstract line on issues of the everyday can be a recipe for trouble. As Freud might’ve put it, sometimes a gripe is just a gripe.

When local politics becomes a stage for more grandiose conflicts of opinion, the risk is always that mutual respect fades away, and negotiation becomes a slanging-match.

The truth of the matter is that there is no one truth. Situations, like people, are complex. There’s always more than one side to a story, and sometimes half a dozen stories to each ’side’. By failing to recognise the points your opponents have to make, you make life harder for everyone.

Being moderate doesn’t exactly have a sexy image. It’s hard to rally the metaphorical troops with a war-cry of “Sensible and balanced responses to complicated situations!”. But that same fastidious fairness is vital when it comes to making life better for all.

Whether you like it or not, Valentine’s Day is approaching and businesses and local government are harnessing the event to drum up sales or highlight important issues. (more…)

Dear Reader,

It has been an eventful week to say the least, with news that has sparked strong reactions within our boroughs and amongst our readers. The BNP announcing that they plan to stand for the Mayoral elections in both Hackney and Lewisham has indeed caused a stir. (more…)

Dear Readers,

It has been a diverse week for the communities along The East London Lines. As the UK has officially come out of recession this week, London boroughs are on their way to recovery. This is good news for the small and medium enterprises that dominate business in the east London boroughs, as they proved resilient during the financial tsunami that previously engulfed the financial world. (more…)

Dear reader,

2010 is now in full swing and news across the East London Line this week has been refreshingly positive.

Tower Hamlets is a leading example amongst local authorities in Britain for its work in promoting equality in the work-place for lesbian, gay and bisexual people. With ‘gay-friendly’ organisations in the borough, what was once considered taboo is now accepted. (more…)

We have entered the New Year on a cold and icy note. The past few weeks have been engulfed by snow. For some of us, the holiday season was prolonged due to the vagaries of weather. The status of professional and leisure activities were determined solely by the forecast.

(more…)

It’s that time of year again – Christmas decorations are lighting up the streets and the shops are beginning to get seriously crowded.

But it’s also the run up to the election and political tensions are high in London, as a councillor defects to the Tories and Croydon and Tory councils reject the Government website aimed at monitoring council organisations.

(more…)

Advent art in shop windows Photo: Jacques Thomas

Advent art is up in shop windows in Brockley; Hackney high street is ablaze with lights and the first of the season’s party animals are being picked up by the annual ‘booze hospital’ service. Christmas is coming and, with Delia Smith back on the box, there’s a risk we will indeed be getting a bit fat. (more…)

In the current debate regarding the road beyond recession, the common wisdom is that bailing out the banks is the way forward, but the platitudes that investing in young people is laying the foundations for the country’s future are all too quickly forgotten. (more…)

With the recession biting, unemployment on the rise, house repossessions and iconic local businesses closing, you would be forgiven for thinking that the financial status quo in Britain is bleak.

Despite this fact, it is gratifying to see the ‘green shoots’ of economic recovery appearing in east London’s traditionally deprived boroughs. (more…)