Ten out of Ten

Wow, what a result. I have to admit that even in my wildest dreams I did not imagine that the Referendum on the Congestion Charge would result in a “No” vote in every one of the ten Boroughs in Greater Manchester. I was fairly confident that there would be a “No” vote here in Bury which is where I have done all my campaigning but it is an astonishing result right across Greater Manchester. I have to say a big “thank-you” to everyone who took the time and trouble to fill in their ballot paper and send it back. The result in Bury was 79% “No” and 21% “Yes”. The result is all the more amazing when one considers the enormous amount of public money poured into the Yes campaign. Hopefully all those Labour politicians who supported the Yes campaign will realise how much they are out of touch with the feelings of the electorate. I know from speaking to hundreds of people about the issue that people did not like the idea that they were being blackmailed into voting Yes by the Government who said “If you don’t vote Yes you will not get any money to spend on public transport.” This is not the way to win an argument.