Labour Member: Morphew Must Go

I am not one to leap up and down demanding that heads roll and resignations must follow each bowt of bad news. However I did, with a lot of media coverage, demand that somebody within the ruling Labour adminsitration take responsibility for the dreadful 0-Star (yes, zero star) rating for Housing. Of course, the weak LibDem opposition are happy to allow Labour to bumble along constantly promising jam tomorrow because they know the state they left the City in was little better.

Interesting that despite Steve Morphew saying that resignations would achieve nothing, today a letter was published in the Evening News (sadly not on-line) from a staunch life-long Labour member in Norwich demanding that Morphew personally should resign to prevent meltdown at the elections and to restore confidence in the council.

When your political enemies slam you, that's the game, when your own members do it ...

Statement regarding "Times" report on Norwich City Council Housing Department

Joint statement on behalf of Cllr Steve Morphew, Leader of the Council and Leader of the Labour Group, Cllr Brian Watkins, Leader of the LibDem Group and Cllr Antony Little, Leader of the Conservative Group:

"Senior officers are carrying out a rigorous investigation. Leaders of all political groups on the council have been briefed and have passed on the position to councillors in their groups. All councillors already know there is an investigation taking place and so to call for something they know is happening is deliberately misleading. We will not allow the investigation to be compromised."

"We have a responsibility to the council and the people. Making irresponsible comments about an investigation they already know to be thorough and rigorous smacks of councillors playing politics when the city expects and deserves more. If there is an investigation into allegations about the standards of behaviour then councillors should be setting an example by letting that happen rather than making it more difficult."

Something Achieved

By 8.30 this morning I was at the Norwich City Council Group Leader's Meeting - I wish I could say more, but the issues involved are largely confidential - but it is a method by which all the players on a hung council can work together constructively and honestly; it usually works. This morning was a long one and we seemed to go round and round a bit followed by deciding on a volley of reports.

By this afternoon I was at a Norfolk Conservatives Meeting; a forum by which senior representatives of the party can get together and work together constructively and honestly; it usually works. This meeting was, too, a long one.

If you spend a long time in politics, sometimes you leave meetings and wonder what you did when you were then and what was actually achieved. No, come on, we've all been in them.

In between these two meetings I did achieve something; a very tricky housing problem that took a great deal of time and a visit to the Customer Service Centre at City Hall. It took a while, but we got a result - a decision that will make a great difference to the life of one family. I thought little of it at the time but as I sit back blogging tonight, and wonder what I did today it was this act that stood out.

I got back home to spend a few hours in the sunshine with the girls ...

Ming Campbell is "completely divorced from reality"

Of all the stupid policies currently hanging around the necks of LibDem candidates and councillors around the country there can be nothing more stupid than today's so-called radical plan to build 1,000,000 new homes over 10 years.

Apparently this will be done by getting council's to buy land from farmers at a knock down price, give it planning permission and then sell it onto developers (at a profit). Can anyone see the problem with this cunning plan? Which farmer is actually going to do it?

The Country Land and Business Association has described Sir Ming's scheme as "completely divorced from reality". President David Fursdon said the system was "open to so much abuse" as councils would be deciding whether to grant permission for schemes that would make them huge sums of money. "And why is it that it's OK for the local authority to do something on the land when it's not for the private landowner?"

So now everyone who lives near farm land better ask their local LibDems if they plan to plonk houses on them. A bad idea from an increasingly desperate leader of an increasingly desperate party.