The post today included a survey from Ian Oakley and Sarah Son, my Parliamentary Candidate for Watford and Conservative Spokesman for Oxhey, respectively. Broadly speaking, it seems to be an attempt to determine my opinion on a small number of issues, so that they can be parroted back to me in the right order. Presumably that’s the new style of “responsive” politics at work, but some of the choices are difficult. For example:

Please number the following issues in order of importance for you personally, with number 1 being ‘most important’:

• NHS
• Oxhey Pollution/Congestion
• Local Building Developments
• The Environment
• Road Safety
• Development of Taggart’s site opposite Bushey Station
• Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour
• Road and pavement maintenance
• Education
• Council Tax - value for money
• EU Treaty Referendum
• Other (please specify)

How is it possible to rank something like “Development of Taggart’s site opposite Bushey Station” against “The Environment” in a sensible way? If I put the Taggart’s site option first, am I saying that I’m in favour of the proposed development or against it?