Robin Tilbrook, Chairman of the English Democrats, in welcoming Stephen and Graham to the English Democrats said, “I am delighted that these two Councillors have decided to join us.  I urge all other disaffected Conservatives to take David Cameron at his word, because the English Democrats offer real change.  I expect other Councillors across the country to join us soon.”Councillor Goldspink, former deputy leader of the Council and Member for East ward and Councillor Murphy, who represents Orton Longueville ward and has held several cabinet posts, said that the Conservative Party appeared to have abandoned England as a country and that locally, the new Conservative administration had shown that it was ready to spend money on bureaucracy and clamp down on any dissent, even where it was justified as a legitimate scrutiny function.

Graham said, “I believe in democracy, not a one party state for Peterborough, and the English Democrats offer a real alternative for this city and the country as a whole.  Their recent electoral successes are testament to this and they are the fastest growing political party in the country.  They are clear that those with power to affect our way of life must be answerable to the people – and that means locally as well as nationally.” Stephen added, “I believe in Councillors properly and fairly representing their constituents and their views, so it has angered me to see huge additional costs being loaded on the people of Peterborough since May this year, against their will, with additional money being paid to some Councillors without any proper justification, and new posts and offices being created to support senior Councillors.  Many people see these payments, which amount to almost a quarter of a million pounds, as some sort of payback for supporting the new leader in the local Conservative Group annual elections.  Whatever the truth, it is clear that they have no place in a Council that has previously prided itself in maintaining lean administrative structures.  I do not believe any of these changes will improve local democracy.”Graham said, “I think that a Council should be run democratically and openly and so I was deeply disappointed that no Councillors from the Peterborough Constituency were selected for Cabinet posts in May 2009 and that all those chosen were from the North West Cambridgeshire constituency – which is where the new Council leader is from.  This has effectively excluded the wards in Peterborough from getting proper representation in the body that controls all the funding for local schemes.  I was attracted to join the English Democrats because I believe that they would never allow personal issues or petty infighting to get in the way of fair representation.”Councillors Goldspink and Murphy will now form a new “English Democrats” Group on Peterborough City Council, with Councillor Goldspink as Group Leader and Councillor Murphy as Group Secretary.  They will seek to promote a number of issues that are important for the recognition of England and the English over the coming months, including:

Graham said, “Our country is crying out for change from the tweedledee and tweedledum parties that have dominated politics in this country for so long. They have all shown that, if given power, they know how to abuse it, with the Parliamentary expenses scandal at a national level and the recent extra monies awarded to Councillors by themselves at a local level being prime examples of this. Does anyone really believe in their heart of hearts that David Cameron’s Conservatives will prove any better than John Major’s sleazy government or Gordon Brown’s opportunist public fund raiders?  Does anyone believe that the closer ties with Europe that will come if the Liberal Democrats achieve any influence in the next Parliament, will benefit England?  The English Democrats offer a unique opportunity to abandon the “left-right” see-saw and aim for pride in England, through real democracy.” Stephen concluded, “I know that we will be joined by other local Peterborough Councillors in the next few months as they start to understand the true nature of the administration that now governs Peterborough.  I believe that the interests of some businesses will be promoted above those of residents, who can expect to be asked to open their wallets and purses to cough up at least an extra 4% Council tax next year to fund the burgeoning bureaucracy that is being created.  Also, they will look at how the Mayor of Doncaster, an English Democrat, is making real changes in his area and will want to be part of this fresh start.  Let’s put England and Peterborough first, by voting for real change through the English Democrats!”Anyone interested in joining the English Democrats can visitwww.englishdemocrats.org.uk, telephone 09070-041066 or text “England” to 88886.