JOHN DICKIE
THE VOICE OF DISSENTING NORTHAMPTON
NOSES IN THE TROUGH
Having admitted to a £7.2m black hole in their budget just 2 months after telling us it was only £2.2m the Liberal Democrats on Northampton Borough Council decided it was the right time to vote through Council pay rises for senior Councillors of up to 65%!
Despite an attempt by Cllr Tony Clarke to limit the rises to the same amount that Council staff were being offered (around 2.7%) the Lib Dem’s supported by Labour Leader Keith Davies pushed the pay rises through.
Cllr Clarke told them in full Council that “This decision will come back to haunt you, every time you propose to reduce the budget or cut services the public will say “well, you found the money for your own pay rise so why can’t you do the same to protect services”
All bar 3 of the Lib Dem administration voted for the rises, 3 sat on the fence and abstained whilst making empty political gestures about donating any increase to the voluntary sector.
Letter to Chronicle and Echo: 11/11/2008
Cash for Questions? Or Charity.
So now the Liberals and the Conservatives on Northampton Borough Council have taken to squabbling amongst themselves over how any monies given to charity from Cllrs not wanting to take their latest pay rise should be administered.
Haven’t the Liberal Democrat administration not already done us enough damage by voting through these indefensible pay rises in Council at a time when they have overspent the Borough’s budget by £7.2m.
Have they also not considered that any money that is given to charities by any “embarrassed” Councillor is money that is not really theirs to give, after all it’s the Council Tax payer who will pay ultimately for their folly, and the very same charities that benefit could see even larger amounts taken from them in cuts to voluntary sector grants, from both Liberal and Conservative administrations at Town and County Halls as they both attempt to balance their books
In other words they are spending your money to pay themselves extra, so that they can then be seen to publically give a penny back to the needy whilst planning to rob them of a fiver.
And do the Conservatives not consider their party based “Community Action Fund” to be slightly distasteful? Surely charity, like advice is best given privately, and should not be seen to be used as a possible political benefit, no matter what the motive.
The poet William Hutton wrote that “The charity that hastens to proclaim its good deed, ceases to be charity and is only pride and ostentation.”
Having attempted and failed to stop politicians from sticking their noses in the trough in the first instance I can only agree and I find that my disgust at their actions has now turned in distaste for their vanity and empty public gesturing.
Of course if they really wanted to court public acclaim, then they could always take the whole matter back to the next Council Meeting and vote to reverse their decision.
Or is that stretching their charity too far?
Cllr Tony Clarke,
Independent,
Castle Ward
I’m liberal, to a degree…
Bob Dylan once wrote a song with the line that went;
“I’m liberal to a degree, but if you think I’d let Barry Goldwater move in next door and marry my daughter…”
Well I kinda feel that way at the moment over our once shiny Lib-Dem administration swanning about in the Guildhall.
Of course they are not new, they’ve been there eighteen months and far from being the bright shiny new kids on the block they are somewhat grey and shop-soiled
Some of them had been knocking about the old place for a number of years, always ready to tell other parties how to do things and what mistakes they were all making.
In the days of permanent opposition the Lib-dems could do no wrong.
In many ways being in opposition is the best place to be in British politics, you can criticise, ridicule and make impossible promises, and at the same time pretend that you would never behave like the ‘old parties’
(NB. Liberals were of course once an ’old’ party themselves, being the party of Government during World War 1 , enough said!)
Eighteen months ago the people of Northampton, in a sporadic fit of generosity gave the Lib-dems the opportunity to run the town.
We must allow for the fact that they were all political virgins, some were in a virginal state, and some were political novices too. Indeed some were (and still are) wusses of the first rank, often rejects from other parties.
But they have, despite a feeling of general good will towards them, made a complete hash of managing the town.
In truth they look just the same as both the other parties.
The Market Square still a declining asset, the Bus Station still a dirty and declining asset, the Town Centre still subject to yet another consultation, the Sixfields planning application still in limbo……
What in fact have they done?
Well they have managed to build up a £7.2 million deficit, nothing of course to do with them, it was all the big boys what dun it!!
And then, in the face of mounting financial problems they vote themselves a huge pay rise, with the assistance of the Labour group leader Mr. Keith (22%rise) Davies.
Then to cover up their gaff, after the feeble justification that it would encourage more young people from minority communities to become councillors (Does that sound plausible to you?) They have decided that they will give their increases to charity.
It is a very odd sort of redistribution that means you give them more council tax and they give it on to someone else, and then claim they are doing something virtuous!!
It reminds me too much of Tony Hancock’s idea of charitable giving, his little black notebook with his donations listed, to chuck at St Peter when he reaches the pearly gates!
The Liberal-democrats are just one more bunch of opportunistic chancers, with not a single coherent idea between them
They can no longer blame anyone else for what goes wrong, but I bet a pound to a penny that will be their only excuse:
“It wasn’t us Guv!”
