Alliance of campaigners, charities and faith groups says it's ready to hold Bedford's new council to account

An alliance of campaigners, charities and faith groups has said it’s ready to work with the new borough council and ensure campaign promises are kept.

The group met to discuss the next steps following an assembly where all five candidates for Bedford mayor agreed to the group’s campaign asks on the Real Living Wage and homelessness policy.

The Revd Luke Larner, assistant curate at St. Paul’s Church, said: “Democracy really is about the will of the people.

“We need to see people more represented, including people with lived experience being able to voice their experience and be involved in decision-making processes, rather than just waiting for the people in positions of power, be they political or business or whatever, to do it.

Shannon Johnstone, co-founder of Homelessness Best Practice, added: “To change what the people at the top are thinking about you have to change who’s telling them the story.

“I think most people who have been or have experienced an injustice just want actual change.

“If they were given the time and the energy by the councillors or council and listened to, I don’t see how it couldn’t change [the decision makers’] opinions on things,” she said.

Luke said: “Both politics and business have organised people and organised money to further their interests, which has a significant impact on the running of this town.

“So I think the only way that people can really get any justice is to be organised with organised money so that they are heard in that crowd of interests that arecompeting to get heard.

“Anyone can turn up to a protest for a day, I’ve done loads of protests, they are great fun and it makes you feel a bit better for five minutes.

“But the problem is, a lot of us expect that they’ll get fed up with arresting us eventually and give us what we want.

“Based on the new policing bill, I don’t think they are going to get fed up with arresting us and give us what we want.

“We’ve got to learn to build good relationships with power holders anddecision makers, and we need to organise people and organise our money together, so that we can really have those kinds of influential relationships with [those in charge] just the same as business and politics and everything else does,” he said.

Katrina Hyden, researcher and small business owner, said: “It’s really difficult to get interested in something that doesn’t affect you, and that’s a human thing.

“[We need to] understand that some community groups will be more affected by something even though they’re less likely to speak up about it.

“The strength of my passion about [an issue] can be then utilised towards something that doesn’t affect me and helping other people’s voices.

“Somebody who is alone is more than likely going to be beat down, if they get a team around them who support them they’re more able to hold their ground and talk about the thing that they care about,” she said.

Mike Hyden, co-founder of Homelessness Best Practice, said the lower turnout at the recent local elections isn’t an indicator of people’s feelings.

“It’s really a matter of almost like quality not quantity, if you get 70 people turning out that don’t know anything about the people they’re voting for it doesn’t help anyone,” he said.

“But people are engaging more and hopefully being empowered by the wins they get.

“Then you are actually going to get a much better democratic process happening,” he said.

“Politicians come and go, elections happen on a regular cycle, so it’s all well and good to think that if we can get our favourite party elected then job done,” Luke said.

“Whatever major party is in power, we need to hold them to account – people power lasts and politicians in their jobs don’t.

“So although we are wanting to ask questions of the councillors and politicians that doesn’t actually let the people off the hook either.

“Because we need to do the work of building solidarity, we need to do the work of meeting with one another, listening to one another, hearing the interests of other people,” he explained.

“So when we do meet power holders as representatives of people then we can know what I’m asking for isn’t going to screw over my neighbour down the road.

“What I’m asking for isn’t helping me and disadvantaging somebody else.

“It’s very easy to stand at the edge and chuck stones, but if society and civil society groups aren’t doing the work of building relationships and listening to each other, then the whole thing doesn’t work,” he said.

The informal alliance is in the process of setting up a Citizens UK chapter in Bedford to enable communities and local leaders to develop their voice, build closer relationships with each other, and “come together with the power and strategy to make real change”.