Its took them a decent amount of time to realise it, but it seems the controlling Labour Party in Tamworth have finally woken up and realised that Devolution is happening. So off guard have they been caught, that they’ve had to slip in an extraordinary full council meeting on the 10th March. With only around 8 months to go before Tamworth Borough Council has to have it’s plans in place, Labour thought now was the best time to pull it’s collective heads out of their collective posteriors to sort things out. Of course, the idea that as Councillor Lewis Smith has asserted, Councillors will get any actual chance to discuss or debate this is laughable. Labour have shut down any debate and discussion on anything important since they gained control of the council. Talking of which, the post that prompted Smith to respond in the first place was this bleating from Kingstone, who, with no irony, to his loyal followers in the Kingstone wonderland pondered on what the meeting was for.
On that score, Councillor Smith reckons Labour are going to deliver the State of the Borough Debate (that’s SOTBD, or SOBD Councillor Smith, not State of The Debate, twice no less, sigh) in a new format. Gosh isn’t that exciting! We are wetting ourselves with anticipation here at Debunking Towers and not yet thankfully due to age. We wonder if the new format will be loud sighs and looks of disdain from the soon to be new Mayor Councillor Chris Bain when anyone dares ask a question, or keeps the meeting going on longer than past his bedtime. What format can a debate take exactly, other than people taking it in turns to stand up and speak? Have they had to say this in response to the very muted outcry (129 signatures on Kingstones’ petition so far) to cancelling the constitutionally mandated debate? Apparently we shall find out at tonight’s (25th Feb) full council meeting where Labour present their taxpayer shafting budget.
Devolution is going to take any local debate completely away from Tamworth forever. It has been bulldozed through by the Labour government and would suit local Labour just fine to not have people questioning it. We know the Labour party locally will have to support it, as Carol Dean stated at a previous meeting, they have to support their parties’ policies. So don’t expect any dissenting voices, and sadly don’t expect them to support Tory plans to have new Parishes set up across Tamworth to look after our local assets and heritage rather than them being swallowed up by a new unitary authority. They’ve had no interest in starting off a governance review to do this, prior to the November deadline as suggested by the Tories. Labour will always put self interest and their political ambitions over and above the little people that elected them. If you don’t imagine that the Labour socialist endgame isn’t Soviet style rule, then you’re just kidding yourself.
