Thank you to everyone who came to last night’s Civic Town Meeting. It was brilliant to see so many of you, especially the new passionate and vocal progressives. We had around 20 more people than last time, which is a great sign that momentum is building. As I said in the meeting, this can’t just be The Peter McCormack Show. I’m looking for more people to step up, take ownership of specific initiatives, and at future meetings, report back to the town, answer questions, and lead from the front. I would like this to stay about Bedford, not about party politics. It was great to see passionate voices from across the political spectrum, including those ideas brought to the able that I may have not considered myself. I am not the answer to everything, I am just doing my best to support Bedford. We won’t agree on everything and that’s fine. The whole point of a decentralised movement is that you can put your own time and money into what you believe matters most. I think security matters, so I am focused on that. If you believe that supporting addicts it is important, then you can spend your time on that. Tomorrow is the second pilot day of private security in the town. Patrols will be similar to last week, but we will also focus a team on the bus station, an area many locals rely on but where too many have faced crime and antisocial behaviour. We’ll be collecting data on how bad the problem is there. To be clear, this is not about “moving undesirables” out of the town centre, as some have claimed. The mandate is simple, to deal with people breaking the law, violating the PSPO, or causing antisocial behaviour. Civil society has rules, and we intend to uphold them so Bedford is safe, pleasant, and prosperous. I’ve also committed to funding the pilot through September. While we review the August results, I don’t want to pull the safety net away from the town. The deeper I get into this, the clearer it is that Bedford’s problems are complex. Fixing them will take time and a joined-up approach, ensuring safety, boosting economic activity, and supporting our most vulnerable. That means coordination between the police, council, prison, residents, businesses, and support services. Please be patient, I’m pushing as hard as I can while still running my own businesses. I do want to say thanks to a few people though: - The Mayor, for attending every meeting and supporting the initiative, despite being so busy himself. - Councillor Andrea Spice, whose work in the town is tireless. - The police, who do a difficult job under challenging conditions, despite John Tizard being weak piss. Please know you are appreciated. - All the local support services for vulnerable people, you are the unsung heroes of Bedford. And thank you to everyone making the effort to come into town and support local businesses. If we consciously spend locally, we fuel the local economy, bring life back to the High Street, and make Bedford a place people want to be. Starve it of economic oxygen, and decline continues. Bedford is a great town, with great people and great businesses. We need to protect it, nurture it and restore it. That will take the whole community consciously working towards the same goal. I’ve written more on this in my new piece, Consciously Local – Bedford First Economics. https://www.projectbedford.com/.../an-open-letter-to... I’ll be at the coffee shop from 8am tomorrow to brief the security team, then heading to the Ledger Stadium for Real Bedford’s season opener. I hope to see you at both.(Peter McCormack 🏴‍☠️🇬🇧🇮🇪)