Letter: There Are People Who Still Care About the Truth

Published on: 8 Jan, 2024
Updated on: 8 Jan, 2024

From: Pete Bennett

chair of Residents for Guildford & Villages (R4GV)

Barry Williams says: “I regret we have already gone too far in the UK already and are moving along the same path,” as American politics.

I have to believe that it is not too late to still have an influence. The hard work of all associated with The Dragon, and the fact that there are still many people who choose to read it for accurate local news, demonstrates to me that there are people who still care about the truth.

My point is that if those of us who care about truth choose to get involved, then we can make a difference!

To take an example. The last Conservative Party leadership vote by the members showed that they had about 180,000 members. Between 650 constituencies that averages 300 party members per constituency.

I would presume Guildford has more than the average, but is it that hard to believe that there are not 400 Conservative-leaning people in Guildford who care enough about the future of democracy to join up and make a difference? (I chose the Conservative Party because we have access to these figures, but I would presume a similar number would also be sufficient to significantly influence Lib Dems and Labour.)

The reality of any political party is that the number of active members is a fraction of the paper membership, so just a handful of people who are passionate about a topic can make a huge difference in any party.

It may seem odd for the chair of R4GV to be promoting membership of other parties, but if that leads to an end to tribal, yah-boo, misleading politics, and a start to genuine cooperation at GBC to work together for the benefit of our residents, then job done – R4GV would have served its purpose!