The Unthinkable

When a friend text to say that the unthinkable had happened I had no idea what he meant. Then I was directed to this.

Absolutely nothing so far has made me miss being at City Hall, but the thought of not being in those Group Leaders Meetings now has made me very depressed indeed. What fun!

For Cllrs. Morphew, Stephenson & Wiltshire I have a deep sense of Schadenfreude.

The Next General Election in 30 Minutes

After a discussion about getting more people interested in the work of the council, we then had a debate which one member of the public who did turn up to watch the council meeting described as a "disgrace". It was interesting and I cannot deny I love the cut and thrust of what we do, especially when the council is being political-with-a-capital-P, but this person said the debate was "messy, generally thoughtless and the kind of thing that puts us [ the voter, I assume ] off." I think that was a bit far - after all the debate gave us a very clear insight into the next election.

The motion was one that highlighted positive statements about Sure Start from national politicans (even the Green Party) and suggested that we ought to back the service and refrain from unfair political attacks - such as those parties who might suggest another party wishes to scrap Sure Start because this worries people unncessarily. I don't think anyone expected what came next ...

Cllr Andrew Wiltshire moved a very good speech about the work that Sure Start did. I have to say that I was left bewildered by the response of Labour's Cllr Sue Sands who reeled off a list of clubs that her Sure Start ran citing this as the reason it ought to continue. Great idea; let's share good practice from around the City. Unfortunately Cllr Sands doesn't seem to appreciate the work of Health Visitors quite so much and doesn't see the next to expand their work or to have a multi-agency approach to what Sure Start does. Cllr Ramsay, Green Leader, gave a good speech in favour of the motion - then LibDem Cllr Lubbock (and quite why she was chosen to respond was beyond me) descided to take the motion apart line by line. She didn't appreciate me correcting her every error - including when she criticised the stated aim of Sure Start (as taken from their website). A bizarre moment of my life that one. Lesson 101 of the Council; Whenever you want to oppose a motion but can't work out a decent reason you always say it is "badly written". I'd say her speech was badly written alright. Council Leader Cllr Steve Morphew wanted to know what the Conservatives would change about Sure Start and it was laid out some specifics about changing the role of the Health Visitors, the link to early years education and the role/direction of local services. Not good enough for Cllr Morphew who demands to know more. He is given more. He doesn't like the response so screams that he wasn't given an answer. He was given an answer, he just didn't like it or agree with it. So Cllr Morphew has the words of David Cameron stricken from the motion; quite why is beyond me but never mind. The motion is still passed - yes, the Conservatives still voted for it - and I assume Labour will continue to frighten some very young and very vulnerable voters with this come election time.

I remember letters written by Steve Morphew to the people of Bowthorpe saying that if they didn't vote Labour they wouldn't get new windows in their council homes. They didn't vote Labour but they still got new windows. Maybe we can't believe everything our Council Leader says?

So why do I say that this is a marker for the next General Election? Labour say everything is fine, keep spending chaps and smile for the cameras; the Conservatives want to change and reform our services so they better serve out communities; the LibDems look bewildered; and the Greens had very little indeed to say about the issue.

So could I convince the member of the public of this? No, but they thought none of us came out well. They were annoyed that what should have been a fairly bland political moment was hijacked by Labour. Get used to it, there's plenty of months before the election and I suspect all issues will be subject to this kind of game playing.

Let the political debate begin (we just might want to warn the public first!)

LibDem Leader (plus 5 of his Councillors) quit

The worst kept secret in City Hall is that a volley of LibDem Councillors are to quit before the election on 1st May. Along with departing Leader Cllr Cooke (Lakenham), out go Cllrs Mayhew (Mile Cross), Hume (University), Hartley (Town Close), Surridge (Thorpe Hamlet) and Lowe (Mancroft).

Of course all have served the council well - as Lord Mayors, Executive Members and in council and on committees.

Of course, there are some cynics wandering around the place commenting that EVERY LibDem in a marginal seat is quitting, perhaps before they are soundly beaten.

I say this is, of course, not true.

After all, Judith Lubbock is staying on to be beaten!

UPDATE; Hereward tells the EDP he still expects his party to do well. I wonder if he'll make a prediction on how many seats they'll win!

Campaign turns nasty as LibDems are “forced to lie” about Conservatives

The desperate LibDem campaign to avoid electoral wipeout in May has taken a nasty turn following a new story that reveal a senior Councillor is prepared to lie to keep her seat.

LibDem frontbencher Judith Lubbock, who is trying to hold onto her marginal Eaton Ward against the Conservatives, claims on her website that:

A leading story in one Conservative newsletter in Eaton, titled "Alternate Weekly Collections - What A Load of Rubbish?" criticises the new household waste scheme. Despite the fact that Conservative Councillors actually supported and voted in council meetings to introduce the new scheme.

However, on this blog I can exclusively revealed that the exact wording of the newsletter was:

The Big Bin Debate:
Is AWC rubbish?

The way your household rubbish is collected will be changing this autumn as Alternative Weekly Collection (AWC) is introduced across Eaton. This new measure will be trialled in the South and West parts of Norwich, with plans to extend it across the city.

AWC means that recycling is collected one week and residual household waste is collected during the alternate week. Residents have expressed concerns about the impact of fortnightly rubbish collections. There are serious worries about the effect this will have on hygiene, fly tipping and problems with vermin.

Cllr Antony Little, Conservative Group Leader at City Hall, and Niall Baxter, local campaigner, will keep in touch with residents to assess the impact of this scheme.

Niall says: “I’ve spoken to many people in Eaton recently, and I know how worried they are about this. I want to know their reactions to AWC as it gets going.”

Give us your feedback on the attached slip, or use our new residents’ hotline: 0845 634 9709. You can also use our special AWC feedback e-mail address: awc@norwichconservatives.com

We did vote for the scheme but also expressed some concerns regarding its consequences. I made these clear in my speech to council. The LibDems have lied about our headline, lied about the content of the school and seem to be willing to do anything to hold onto power. This newsletter prompted a debate, which is what we wanted, and both the positive and negative feedback went straight to City Hall and I am grateful to officers for their time in answering those questions.

However, the news gets worse for Cllr Lubbock, who went on to say:

Residents were also surprised to read that the Tories are claiming that Lib Dems support congestion charging in Norwich. This is not true! In fact, the Liberal Democrats put down a policy motion to a recent Council meeting stating that congestion charging would not be supported without a number of strict criteria being met, such as improvements to public transport and exemptions for residents.

Sadly Cllr Lubbock undermined her own case in a single paragraph. She has admitted that if criteria are met they will support the Congestion Charge in Norwich! Her speech to council was unashamedly pro-congestion charging as was that of her ward colleague Cllr Brian Watkins. We all noted her quotes, but she doesn’t like having them thrown back at her. Even Councillors from other parties were shocked at her pro-congestion charge stance.

We all expect a bit of rough and tumble at election time, but to issue half truths and bar-faced lies isn’t the way to engage the electorate. We’re all used to the fantasy-world politics of LibDem leaflets but she shouldn’t tar others with her own brush. We are for honest, positive campaigning. It’s a shame they can’t be.

With friends like Judith Lubbock...

It seems that Hereward Cooke's fulsome apology for LibDem lies in the local elections isn't quite what it seems.

For now fellow frontbencher Cllr Judith Lubbock appears to have stabbed him in the front - and said she won't apologise for the LibDem fibs.

She said in the EDP:
“The buck stops with me, and I don't apologise. We can back up what's been put in the literature. If he had [told her he would say sorry], I would have said 'hang on a minute what are you apologising for? I do not want to undermine his position. Hereward, bless him, just thinks you can draw a line under these things. I was responsible for those leaflets and I certainly stand by them. We certainly won't be having any review of our literature.”

So, what do we make of that? Two things really. Firstly that the vicious lies that make up most of the LibDem Focus leaflets will continue with Lubbock in charge. And secondly Cooke's leadership is now pretty much untenable. He lost the trust of his backbenchers ages ago and now it seems that he has lost the trust of his frontbench.

Hereward will, of course, hang on until he can say that he went when he wanted to. But the pressure is on and the LibDems won't have real, clear leadership until he has gone.

Lubbock hits her target

I doubt is was arranged, but the Greens and LibDems did a lovely stitch up job on Labour over the cuts to the Orbital Bus Route around Norwich. Green Party Councillor Janet Bearman (Town Close) laid down a straightforward question to Labour Executive Member Brian Morrey about the representations made by Norwich City Council to Norfolk County Council over the reduced service. Cllr Morrey, normally one of Labour’s most dependable performers, seemed to waffle a bit and get slightly tongue-tied. Then LibDem Judith Lubbock (Eaton) saw her chance and went for the jugular. Normally Cllr Lubbock’s attacks are blunted by her long winded and rather superior tone. But not this time. She got the attack perfectly timed and savaged Cllr Morrey for failing to put the interests of the City first. Oh dear. Cllr Morrey floundered, spluttered and finally admitted … no representations at all.

A good issue, a good point and bought up in the right way.

Well done Cllrs Bearman and Lubbock, though I can feel the “Focus” leaflet being written from afar…