Tories and Lib Dems accused of 'grubby deal'
BRISTOL'S Liberal Democrats and Conservatives have struck a deal over the authority's budget for the coming year.
The Tories have agreed to support the Lib Dem minority administration's budget proposals at a budget setting meeting on February 28. In return the Tories expect to see their amendments approved.
Labour, the main opposition group, has condemned the move as a "grubby deal".
The Lib Dem budget for 2012/13 includes £27 million of cuts and savings and £50 million of investment in transport, schools, recycling and leisure. It would also see a council tax freeze for the second year in a row.
Tory group leader Peter Abraham said: "We will not oppose the Lib Dem budget if, in return, we can count on their support for our proposed extra money for day services, youth provision, restoring the Book Fund (for library books) and pest control."
Labour group leader Councillor Peter Hammond said: "What else can Bristol expect other than the two parties committed to cutting services getting together locally?"
Lib Dem council leader Barbara Janke stressed she would listen to proposals from all three opposition groups and also hoped to find "common ground" with Labour and the Greens.
â The Evening Post will look at the details of all three opposition parties' budget proposals tomorrow.
2 Comments
by DM_Fishponds
Thursday, February 02 2012, 9:49AM
“I know that local government can be a series of compromises between any political parties not holding an overall majority . . .
. . . but who in Bristol City Council (apart from the LibDems) is supporting the poor handling of the GBBN project?
The project's original objective was to improve the flow of all traffic including buses (who could object to that!) but its application has been perverted by the LibDem administration into the anti-car/bike/pedestrian, pro-FirstBus farce that we all know and hate today.
In Fishponds I know that the Labour and Conservative Councillors have all expressed their grave concerns for the way GBBN has been applied locally and the LibDems have been uncharacteristically quiet.
Now that the LibDem council requires support from the other parties, surely this is the time to curb their obsessive anti-everything-except-buses policy regarding GBBN?
Stopping the proposed banned left-turn into Hockeys Lane from Fishponds Road (next Monday) should be top of a very long list. If you don't know where it is yet, I'm sure lots of people will notice it when it's closed!”
by swissbob
Thursday, February 02 2012, 9:41AM
“Yeah, I always hate it when politicians compromise and work together to get things done.”