WITH our local politics now, seemingly awash with blue, I wonder if the newly-elected councillors will be responding to Mr Osborne’s invitation to large cities to go for more devolved powers and resources.

His appeal to the “big 10 UK core cities” includes Bristol, a city with a population not dissimilar to the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole area.

The Unite the Conurbation group are not alone, then, in promoting the benefits of better strategic decision making and economies of scale to benefit the jobs of our future generations and the pockets of local council taxpayers. The Conservative Government and, in this case, the main party opposition leaders too, see this as the way to give more local control, rather than having to depend on the whims of Whitehall’s “ policy flavour of the month” to make decisions on the best way forward.

They have thrown down the challenge. Can our area’s local authorities overcome their historic tribalism and, at last, start talking the common sense case for joining up?

Concerns about loss of local identity are just not justified. All the world’s major cities have special local identities and most take steps to highlight and promote them rather than lose them.

Our local football team, supported right across the conurbation, have shown that the Premier League is not out of reach – are our newly-elected councils up for it?

DOUGLAS EYRE

Kirby Way, Southbourne