The recent good news is that Andrew Flintoff has been granted the Freedom of Preston for his team effort in winning the Ashes for England. Preston is of course part of the Lancashire County Council administrative area but still retains the right to grant this honour. This highlights our Party’s request that longstanding ceremonial traditions should be kept as not only are they valued and retained in other parts of the country, they should be also revered and maintained in the township of Southport.
When we recently tried to put forward a suggestion that a person should receive the Freedom of Southport for outstanding local achievements at the monthly LibDem show now into its second year at the Southport Town Hall under the guise of the Single Area Committee meeting, our request was refused on the grounds that it is forbidden by Sefton Council.
However, current research on the websites of the Queen and the Cabinet Office by one of our beavering party officials not only found the correct procedure on how to put forward the names of local people who we think are worthy of receiving a ‘gong ’, our intrepid investigator also was able to download the application form used for just such a purpose.
With the British Empire long past and Knights of the Round Table now part of our distant history, Empire Medals and Knighthoods have still been retained and are used to honour outstanding people throughout the country. Even Lord Ronnie’s peerage is steeped in the history of England and little if any of these accolades have been allowed to fall into disuse.
Sadly Southport’s freedoms and traditions have been badly eroded by our own short-sighted council.
If we are forced to be administered as a group of collective coastal townships, then our individual traditions and local customs should not only be encouraged and nurtured but they should also be respected by any seemingly wise authority whose PR possesses just one ounce of political nous.