WESTMINSTER SHOULD LEARN FROM BRIGG

Much capital was made in the national press when only 16-20 Members of Parliament (out of well over 600 on the rolls) were caught on camera during an important House of Commons debate on knife-related crime.
The newspaper reports - dominated by pictures of an almost empty Chamber - were not politicial, drawing no distinction between those who failed to attend, be they Liberal, Labour or Tory. The finger was pointed at MPs generally.
Over in Brigg, you can often get that number of town councillors (with clerk, assistant and Mayor's Chaplain) attending a monthly meeting in the Angel Suite, merely to see the minutes of the different committees 'rubber-stamped' and approved, or to raise issues of concern, sometimes relating to crime.
If you can get Brigg town councillors out en masse to agree to send a letter to Insp Brett Rutty about youths drinking near the River Ancholme, you might reasonably expect a good turn-out of MPs to look at knife-related crime nationally.
The Home Secretary, who oversees all our police forces, is many rungs further up the ladder than Brett (pictured), but our police chief's small team seems (based on the above example) to be subject to greater scutiny by elected members.