Don't mistake activity for achievement

The desperation of opposition has sunk into the LibDems, having issued two press releases in two months attacking the Greens and Conservatives for not putting forward motions at council. The reason I call this desperate is because it fundamentally mistakes activity for achievement.

In the last year or so the Conservatives have put forward motions on congestion charging, travellers, climate change and unitary.

The Greens have put forward motions on frois gras and sustainable developments.

The LibDems have put forward motions on plastic bags, high speed rail links to London and now energy saving at City Hall.

I'm not saying that any are more important than the others (except maybe the Frois Gras one) but it is right that parties should only put forward motions that are meaningful, workable and will make an impact. Some of the absolutely tat we have to debate from the LibDems fails on all three counts. In the end, it seems to me that the Labour administration has taken to ingoring LibDems motions because they are not costed and that is because the LibDems seem unwilling to take part in proper budget negotiations.

Anyway, this is a typical politico issue that virtually nobody outside of City Hall and party meetings will care about.

And who am I to, for example, mention that the only party to use 100% of their chances to cross question the Executive are the Conservatives, with LibDem members frequently failing to scrutinise Labour?

Or that the LibDem Leader used his time on scrutiny to complain about the page numbering in a report and left it to the Conservative Leader to attack the tone and content?

Of course, I wouldn't mention such things ...