Gordon Birtwistle & Burnley Liberal Democrats

Posts Tagged ‘charlie briggs’

Burnley Council’s opposition Labour group were accused last night of casting bizarre and bitter votes against routine Council reports that monitor the Council’s spending and allow it to function.

The reports note changes to council budgets that are necessary during the year and offer advice to councillors on managing public money.

During the meeting, Labour tried to prevent the Council from:

- revising the list of banks the Council invests money with, to keep the public’s money safe
- avoiding losing money on railway station refurbishments after an NWDA promise to provide the funding was withdrawn
- recording savings made after council posts were left vacant to save money.

Labour leader Coun Julie Cooper said her Councillors had voted against the reports because Labour disagreed with the coalition government’s strategy on public finances.

But Lib Dem leader Charlie Briggs said, “Political debate is right and proper, but the Labour group appears to have lost the plot.

“Their votes were bizarre. These reports have nothing to do with running the country and are all about Burnley. Luckily they were outvoted or there could have been financial chaos. How can Labour vote against making sure Burnley Council invests only in safe banks?

“Labour offered no alternatives on how to manage the town’s finances. They are relentlessly negative at the moment and have nothing of their own to contribute. They seemed to vote against everything in a fit of pique without even reading the reports.

“They have learned nothing from the mess they made of the national public finances.”

Last year we had a Labour run County Council and they didn’t grit the roads properly and refused to refill some grit bins.
Now we have a Conservative Council, and again there was chaos as some roads weren’t gritted properly and they refused to refill grit bins.
“We could have avoided this” said Cllr Charlie Briggs, the leader of the Lib Dems on the County Council.  “Last year Lib Dem County Councillors proposed a £690,000 boost for winter gritting but Labour and Conservative Councillors teamed up to vote that plan down.”
“Conservative Councillors gambled that we wouldn’t have a severe winter.  They lost and we are all paying the price.”