Put on a brew before your read my column today and make yourselves a cuppa, because reading it will make your blood boil.
Your County Council has decided to push through a savage set of cuts hitting the elderly and the disabled. Yet at the same time they have spent a fortune changing very plush carpets outside the councillor offices - apparently they wanted a change of colour! Nor can I find any evidence that are they are proposing to cut councillor expenses.
Instead the councillors want to abolish Dial-a-Ride, hitting the disabled. Travel costs to day centres will rise by 86%. They propose to increase meals on wheels prices by 68%. Inflation in Britain is currently 1.8%.
Remember how we saved James Hince Court and St Michael's View last year? The deal included the Council spending significant money on bringing these homes up to date and making James Hince a specialist dementia centre. Now they are to be privatised with no guarantee that the specialist care will be continued. And to cap it all they will privatise Westwood.
How will a private owner make a profit out of these vulnerable people without cutting standards? The low paid County staff are already having their pay and conditions cut and care home staff will take the brunt of this privatisation.
But we will all pay a high price. Westwood specialises in care following early release from hospital, increasing the number of available beds at Bassetlaw Hospital. No private company can make this system profitable and the consequence is longer stays in hospital beds, cutting into valuable NHS resources. We need more Westwoods, not less, creating a bridge back into the community for those needing nursing care after hospitalisation.
The Council says it is a consultation, and consult we will. I am circulating a consultation document to give you a direct say in these cuts. The Council can then show how democratic it is and back down in response to the views of the general public. Copies are available from my office and will be online this weekend. Email me on mannj@parliament.uk for an electronic copy.
The biggest Remembrance Day parade in Worksop in living memory was an appropriate statement of respect, gratitude and admiration of those who serve this country in our armed services and those who have fallen, defending our freedom, over the last century. To those who have fallen and to those who serve, Bassetlaw salutes you. | 
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Nottinghamshire County Council have announced proposals for extensive cuts. These include care homes, dial-a-ride, meals on wheels, youth services, a target of hunderds of job cuts year-on-year, and more. John Mann wants to know what you think about these cuts: