It’s been a week, dude. And it holds up just fine. It’s what could have been. I’ll just need to update it with Ten instead of Five.

An understandable point. What you probably don’t realise though is that for a year, and throughout this entire election, the Conservatives have been polling at incredibly low figures. They are going to be punished severely for their runs in power. In Putney, they already have been, at the last election in 2019, when the Conservative MP was replaced and again in 2022 when the Conservative council was replaced (after 44 years in power). So Putney is in a very different place. And where that is, is that it faces some serious problems that have not been addressed - and in fact have got a lot worse - under our new, Labour representatives. The High Street, Hammersmith Bridge and housing are just the top three. Our political representatives are failing us and so, yes and of course, in this election that is what I’m pointing out to people in Putney.

A Labour council that has stopped or cut the budget on everything except housing - where it has taken out a massive £250m loan on a 50-year repayment - and put forward a range of bad plans that people are up in arms about because they take away their only green space. There are 500 local resident comments against these plans; 2 for. And the council is actively ignoring them and pushing ahead with the poor plans. So, no, I worry about what a Labour council with more power would get up to. Because they aren’t listening to their own residents.

There's nothing based about establishment MPs or their parties.

You’re talking about something different. I’m talking about the issues that are most on the minds of Putney residents: the High Street, Hammersmith Bridge and housing. And, yes, the MP and the council are responsible for having failed to properly address all three.

My fight is for residents of Putney and their failing High Street, terrible traffic and air pollution and housing problems. And most of that has nothing to do with local budgets and everything to do with local laziness.

The High Street is a local, not a national issue

@@kierenmccarthy cost of living is a national issue which obviously has the biggest impact on the high street. Thats a local issue caused at a national level.

@@Tsunamiash80​​⁠A High Street serves local needs. There are all kinds of shops to cater for all kinds of people at all income levels. Getting the mix right is what’s crucial. And sometimes that needs active consideration and effort. That’s what’s been lacking in Putney.

@@kierenmccarthy but being an MP is a national position, so what effect can being an MP who is not part of the Government have on the high street.

@@jimpaddy79In the UK, the MP is responsible both for national legislation and their local constituency. That’s always been the case and remains so to this day. An MP can and does have an enormous impact on their local area - if they choose to act. In fact, an MP is often the way that big local issues get dealt with, especially when local politics, for whatever reason, has failed to come up with a good solution. So, yes, if there is a significant issue specific to Putney - and this video highlights just a few of them - then yes the MP has a duty to act. And if they don’t, they are falling in their job and should be replaced at election time.

You argue that people don’t have money in Putney then argue later that they have too much money. The High Street is a mess. The council and the local MP have failed to address it. That’s on them. They are Labour. The London police need pushing in the shift to localising police again. That was a shift created by Cameron (Con). But the pull back has to be driven by the Mayor (Lab), council (Lab),MP (Lab) and local councillors ( Con). What I’m saying is that we are being failed by our representatives who aren’t do their jobs well enough. And, unfortunately, a big part of that is because people vote Red or Blue and blame the other colour for everything. What’s the answer? Vote in the people doing something about it. Who look at the issues and come up with solutions. That’s how we get things done.

A 20 per tax on education is a bad idea. It won’t work and it will cause years of problems if the Labour government is foolish enough to implement it

@@kierenmccarthy So it's a 20% PRIVATE education tax, right?

@@gorgolyt That's right. State education is provided through taxes, but this is a proposed sales tax. Here are six reasons why it's a bad idea:

* Education is not a consumer good that you buy in a shop. It should not be taxed in principle. * Private schools provide choice to what would otherwise be a monolith of state education. Choice is important in society. The reason there has been an increase in private education recently is because public education has been failing people. And so parents have voted with their feet. It’s not the other way around - the increase in private education causing a fall in public - no matter how much some want to argue that case. The answer must be to fix the system by properly investing in state education - not blame and tax the alternative. * If fees are increased by 20 per cent, it is going to have a destabilising effect. Large numbers of parents will not be able to afford it, so public schools will have a sudden influx of pupils that they are not prepared for, and will be unable to estimate or plan for. So not only will this cost the government a huge amount to deal - it's very expensive dealing with unexpected and urgent issues - with but at the same time, its estimates on income from VAT on school fees will drop dramatically. * The policy will likely have to be reversed, but only after having caused years of disruption for state and private schools. This is often what happens when government policies are borne out of ideology rather than pragmatic policymaking. It's the same with the Tories. * Labour initially proposed removing schools charitable status as a way to make money. Many schools take their status seriously. Something I would be in favour of is if a school wants to retain its charitable position, it should be able to demonstrate real benefit to its local community. That would be a good development. When it became clear that the removal of charitable status wasn't feasible, Labour shifted to adding VAT i.e. this is about ideology and making money, not fixing the education system - and that should be the goal. * The plan would disrupt a complex eco-system that people are heavily invested in, all out of a misunderstanding of how these schools actually work and what drives parents to pay for them. It's just bad policy and it will undercut confidence in a Labour government; feed directly into tax-and-spend fears. * Many private schools are actually quite small and serve niche areas or groups and would likely have to close if this plan comes in, forcing those groups into a one-size-fits-all education system. Most special needs schools are private. Specialist schools are private. These are schools are important to our society. This policy threatens them.

An ideological neglect that has destroyed this country, which will continue under a Starmer government.

You clearly don’t know Putney

2018: 3 closed shops in the High Street; 2024: 22 closed shops. So, no.

@@kierenmccarthyAlmost like we had a bungling mismanagement of the pandemic response and subsequent economic and business recovery by the government in the intervening period?

I wonder if it had anything to do with the internet and the global collapse of high street shopping 🤔🤔

It's like if Sauron betrayed Saruman and now we are all supposed to trust Saruman. Lib dems put the Tories into power because they wanted power for themselves, the Tories screwed up out country. I wonder if LibDem would have kept extending an alliance to the tories if the tories could not secure a majority on their own. Stupid party.

@@dominicchallis2928The Conservatives have been a disaster for years and caused untold damage. And this week, they will finally pay the price for that. But I’m standing where I live - Putney - and this is where things are on the ground.

Not in Putney they haven’t

It is. And some councils and boroughs and MPs have made it a priority. And they have fared well. Some have not - like Putney - and it’s a mess. Which is kind of my point.

The defunding of local councils has been appalling and impacted people, especially those on lower incomes, really badly. But that doesn’t excuse political representatives failing to do their jobs properly

​@@kierenmccarthyyeah and your party enabled the tories to begin their reign of dismantling this country, have some humility please, there is no way in hell that I will vote for labour, conservatives or lib dems, everyone should be doing the same.

Because we have had a Labour Council and Labour MP for years and they have failed to deal with despite having had years to do so. I don’t think anyone is going to confuse me with a Conservative, but nice try.

That may well be the case but Labour is now strong. Kicking someone while their shield is up will probably only result in a broken leg. I believe currently most swing voters will probably (sadly) not subscribe to this campaign. I also have to admit that if by some g-dly intervention LibDem will be the opposition party a history of attacking labour will be useful for you say the least. @@kierenmccarthy

Personally I live in a much more sectarian democracy so I may also overestimate loyalty to labour but I don't think so...

@@kierenmccarthy No, I genuinely thought you were a Tory when I watched it, until I saw at the end the LibDem logo. LibDems - The Kingmakers.

@@kierenmccarthy I though you were up until the end, its the the lack of party branding that does it because the conservatives have been hiding theirs. You really should put some in.

It will and it has been. Kingston, Twickenham, Richmond, Wimbledon. Putney next.

It’s not about national government (beyond the larger issue of a healthy economy). It’s about local efforts - or the lack of them - and engagement with the local community, local businesses, landlords and shop owners. It requires focused attention and without that, you end up where we are. To put it bluntly: the council and local MP have failed to prioritise this as an issue. And we all see the result

Fleur Anderson has been terrible bring back Justine greening

They said in the description they criticised the Thames sewage so of course they'd hate tories

When it comes to current housing plans and the high street and Hammersmith bridge, the Labour MP and Labour council are absolutely to blame. Hence the video. It’s not 2019; it’s 2024.

@@kierenmccarthy Hammersmith Bridge should stay closed, it's a historical landmark and would be better as a purely pedestrian and cycle route. On housing, mayor Khan has done the best he can while being beaten down by the Tory government, a Lib Dem MP in a Labour Council in a Labour City isn't going to change much.

⁠​⁠@@mildlydispleased3221the bridge being closed is a nightmare for Putney residents. It’s a main thoroughfare. I’m all for more green approaches, better public transport, more cycling etc. But this bridge is needed for the reality of what is London. On housing, the solution is going to be medium and long term planning. Not short term, election-driven decisions. Guess what would help with that? People from different parties bring a part of the process and providing political stability and coherence

Because we have a Labour council and a Labour MP and they’re not doing enough about it and have had years to do so.

@@kierenmccarthy Who funds local councils?

Because they're fighting against Labour in this seat so they have to pretend all of the problems are Labour's.

@@lythallsCompletely in favour of greater devolution. It’s been Lib Dem’s policy for decades. We’ll see what a new Labour government actually does about it

Nick Griffin's party bus

Thank you

Sydney? Have to wonder how KZbin’s algorithms work. Anyway, love to Sydney. I proposed to my now wife on top of the bridge. Special city

For some reason lots of people outside Putney are getting this in their feed - glad it’s being enjoyed at least

You should look closer. Or look at Richmond. Or Twickenham. Or Kingston. Or Wimbledon. Or Carshalton

@kierenmccarthy Outer SW is a Lib Dem stronghold because it is socially liberal but too rich to vote Labour. Putney is currently held by Labour and seeing as they're on for a landslide, they're not losing that seat. Good luck though.

You’ve got to be kidding me. My parents were born in Mitcham and Morden. I’ve spent most of my life in London - Brixton, East Dulwich, Streatham Hill, Ealing, others - and I came back from California over two years ago determined to do my bit to improve my area of London and pull UK politics in a better direction.

SAME

No idea why you got this if you don’t live here. But glad you enjoyed it - all the best

Or someone who wants to improve the NHS, transport, high streets, politics, education, small business, housing and much more by making changes that are based on a pragmatic reality rather than ideology.

@@kierenmccarthy Thats an ideology youve just described :)