Has your council got the right motto?

Wandsworth is "the brighter borough." Haringey doesn't seem to have a motto but it's logo (pictured) looks like a cross between a broken window and Communistic star. Kensington and Chelsea are most traditionalist and predominantly use their Borough crest for their branding.

In Hammersmith and Fulham we changed our slogan from the wording "Serving the Community" in a 1970s squashed lozenge logo to "Putting Residents First." The latter has a sharper more tangible meaning - especially given the ever present tendency in the of "producer capture" with affairs being organised for the convenience of those working in the public sector rather than of those who pay their salaries.

Does any of this matter? I think so. The language we use makes a difference to the way we think. This is why the anti jargon drive in Harrow is welcome as is the effort of the Conservative Councillors Association to encourage others to follow their example. But we also need to think about the language we replace it with if we want residents to understand what we are trying to achieve.