Southend MP attacked over city "dumps" insult (From Southend Standard)

Culture, what exactly has southend to offer. Some parts are no go areas. I popped into Mcdonalds today for a coffee and some bloke was threatening to kill people and said he had a bomb. The place is dull of dodgy looking people, southchurch road is a no go area, the place is dirty, there was a bloke shot last week in york road, constant news of sexual assaults and violence in the town. Yes we are the epitome of culture. I feel safer in London than I do in Southend at night. I can't even fathom what culture southend has, the cliffs pavillion? hardly culture is it. I would say the town has moved on a bit since 10 years ago and has obviously had some money spent on it but I would not call it cultured at all. Not even a little bit. Its an upmarket basildon.

gangsta_len wrote:
Culture, what exactly has southend to offer. Some parts are no go areas. I popped into Mcdonalds today for a coffee and some bloke was threatening to kill people and said he had a bomb. The place is dull of dodgy looking people, southchurch road is a no go area, the place is dirty, there was a bloke shot last week in york road, constant news of sexual assaults and violence in the town. Yes we are the epitome of culture. I feel safer in London than I do in Southend at night. I can't even fathom what culture southend has, the cliffs pavillion? hardly culture is it. I would say the town has moved on a bit since 10 years ago and has obviously had some money spent on it but I would not call it cultured at all. Not even a little bit. Its an upmarket basildon.

Yes, but we've got a purple flag.

Nebs wrote:

gangsta_len wrote:
Culture, what exactly has southend to offer. Some parts are no go areas. I popped into Mcdonalds today for a coffee and some bloke was threatening to kill people and said he had a bomb. The place is dull of dodgy looking people, southchurch road is a no go area, the place is dirty, there was a bloke shot last week in york road, constant news of sexual assaults and violence in the town. Yes we are the epitome of culture. I feel safer in London than I do in Southend at night. I can't even fathom what culture southend has, the cliffs pavillion? hardly culture is it. I would say the town has moved on a bit since 10 years ago and has obviously had some money spent on it but I would not call it cultured at all. Not even a little bit. Its an upmarket basildon.

Yes, but we've got a purple flag.

oh i take that back then!

I must apologise for my atrocious spelling in my original post, Mr. Amess makes my blood boil for some reason.

How can you have a city of culture without a city!!!

He should do "The Right Thing" and resign. Then lets have a general election and get rid of the Tories and their puppet Clegg.

we have the longest burnt out pier in the world and it appears a purple flag.
Even if thats all we got we should be proud .
ok Mr Amess is sometimes questionable but he is selling product Southend.
Perhaps some of his tory Councillors should take note before they loose thier seats

What a fanstastic representative of the people of Southend you really are David.
You make us soo proud!
We're so lucky Basildon didnt want you!
Watch a catch eh?
Time and time and time again you not only embarass yourself but also us the townsfolk!

What chance do the good people of Southend have with you, a silver spooned buffoon as an MP and Holdcroft an arrogant public servant with an exaggerated sense of one's own importance and abilitys!

We dont stand a chance!

I am shamed and embarrassed to say that David Amess is my MP. He doesn't appear to do anything apart from making a fool of himself each time he opens his mouth. I would like to know whether everyone has got his name wrong and it should really be David A Mess because that what he is.
As for the city of culture bid, I have only just stopped laughing. Apart from a glorified shed at the end of the pier which has culture in its name, what culture does Southend have? Not only that, where is the money going to come from to finance this bid?
SBC recently passed a budget that makes cuts in every single department(apart from Tory pet projects) including the threat to close an OAP's home but somehow there seems to be funds available for this waste of time.

the best way to punish this leering grasper is to vote him out of his safe seat come the next election. He might have to get a real job then.....

swansea is in wales so why they in the english football league?!

gangsta_len wrote:
Culture, what exactly has southend to offer. Some parts are no go areas. I popped into Mcdonalds today for a coffee and some bloke was threatening to kill people and said he had a bomb. The place is dull of dodgy looking people, southchurch road is a no go area, the place is dirty, there was a bloke shot last week in york road, constant news of sexual assaults and violence in the town. Yes we are the epitome of culture. I feel safer in London than I do in Southend at night. I can't even fathom what culture southend has, the cliffs pavillion? hardly culture is it. I would say the town has moved on a bit since 10 years ago and has obviously had some money spent on it but I would not call it cultured at all. Not even a little bit. Its an upmarket basildon.

gangsta_len? Oh the irony!

Southend has plenty of culture. It's just that many of you don't bother going to look for it.

We have two theatres and a museum, we have a very strong musical tradition that supports a number of orchestras and choirs, including youth organisations, we have extensive parks which host festivals too, including the Village Green festival in Chalkwell Park, not to mention Leigh Fishing and Folk Music festivals, and the Leigh regatta. We have also have history such as Prittlewell Priory and Southchurch Hall.

So it's not as stupid as you seem to think it is.

Although, having said all that, David Amess is still a total idiot ;-)

MP says his bags were packed by Bin Laden, is violently ill on plane - and then sends letter of complaint to Virgin

Read more: http://www.dailymail
.co.uk/news/article-
1218007/MP-says-bags
-packed-Bin-Laden-vi
olently-ill-plane--s
ends-letter-complain
t-Virgin.html#ixzz2O
0glmmot
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And this is the man who wants our town to be the city ? of culture, yeh right oh

I'm glad someone spotted the irony of my name. My name is not Len and neither am I a ganster. Well done that man.

If you have never seen it - have a look at this, its Mr Amess preaching about the horrors of cake, a made-up drug. Mr Amess is on at the 4 minute mark, custard gannets.
http://www.youtube.c
om/watch?v=WwylBRucU
7w

Finally SJReynolds I still think it is stupid. Southend is not a cultured place. Repeated visits from the Chuckle Brothers and Shane Ritchie do not make a place cultured. It might be for you maybe and those in choirs or something. Amess called the other areas 'absolute dumps' therefore the discussion moves from whether a place is 'cultured' or not to the perception of what the town is like.

This is where Amess dropped a clanger. Rather than focus on the few positives in the town he decided to resort to name calling.

Which is fine if you are an MP for an area that is not a dump but seriously.? Do you think he has ever been shopping in Southend? It is not exactly a 'cultured' experience.

maddie14 wrote:
MP says his bags were packed by Bin Laden, is violently ill on plane - and then sends letter of complaint to Virgin

Read more: http://www.dailymail

.co.uk/news/article-

1218007/MP-says-bags

-packed-Bin-Laden-vi

olently-ill-plane--s

ends-letter-complain

t-Virgin.html#ixzz2O

0glmmot
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

And this is the man who wants our town to be the city ? of culture, yeh right oh

Just mind bogglingly awful.

sjreynolds143 wrote:
Southend has plenty of culture. It's just that many of you don't bother going to look for it. We have two theatres and a museum, we have a very strong musical tradition that supports a number of orchestras and choirs, including youth organisations, we have extensive parks which host festivals too, including the Village Green festival in Chalkwell Park, not to mention Leigh Fishing and Folk Music festivals, and the Leigh regatta. We have also have history such as Prittlewell Priory and Southchurch Hall. So it's not as stupid as you seem to think it is. Although, having said all that, David Amess is still a total idiot ;-)

Well said sir.

I get a bit fed up with all the negative posters banging on about how bad the place is. I love living in Southend. Apart from the absence of a decent, proper pub in the middle of the town it has everything I need.

You know folks, you have the ultimate choice...if you don't like it, move away. Go to London if it makes you feel that much safer. House prices are apparently booming here, so sell up, buy a house somewhere else and be happy. Take your negativity with you. Or maybe do something constructive to make the place better.

Southend is no Utopia, I grant you. It has some bad people, some under-privileged people, some grotty streets and some people who look like genetics has failed them. But it also has some great amenities, some lovely communities and some down right decent people. Culture? Two thriving theatres, several musical festivals, an Art Gallery, a museum, a booming comedy scene. Not bad for a town our size.

And stop bleating on about the purple flag. The same moaners who persistently bemoan that status also bang on about the trivial stories of parking tickets and holes in the road and schoolgirls with pink hair and people who park in disabled bays.

Why is the Echo full of this trivia? Because little else makes the news. For a large TOWN, there are not many incidents of crime and every one has to be reported.

In London, someone is stabbed every single day. They rarely get reported now because they're not news. It has to be special circumstances such as someone really young, or a girl, or particularly brutal, or most likely, a fatal incident. Muggings in London are never ever reported in the press. Nor burglaries. Nor drug busts. Nor robberies, Even shootings are seldom reported. It's not news unless the press at the time happen to get excited over a particular trend.

In Southend, such incidents are rare. And you get told about even the most trivial of crime.

And as I say, if you don't like the town......

The Echo decided to log me out so it has taken some time before i can respond.

I agree with Southchurch Steve that the negative comments about our town are overdone.

However i also agree that Mr Amess gives us bad publicity, and is a seriously negative influence on how we are perceived. It is very unfortunate that there is no prospect of getting rid of hime until 2050.

southend brummie wrote:
The Echo decided to log me out so it has taken some time before i can respond.

I agree with Southchurch Steve that the negative comments about our town are overdone.

However i also agree that Mr Amess gives us bad publicity, and is a seriously negative influence on how we are perceived. It is very unfortunate that there is no prospect of getting rid of hime until 2050.

Agree on all counts!

And Not-a-Gangsta-who-is
-not-Len, I agree that David Amess was moving it away from Culture and, as I said, he's an idiot of the first degree. But I was responding to the "culture, don't make me laugh" comments - and, depending on how you define culture, we have a lot of it in my opinion. Southend High Street does not, fortunately, reflect the vast majority of the town!

Have your say....come up against plymouth culture bid right now http://live.ourplace
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