A week or so ago, the Communities Secretary Hazel Blears said that she wanted to bring in legislation to ensure local Council listen to communities. She said that if a petition had 250 signature then it should be legislated so that the Council acts upon it. Power to the people and all that jazz, listening etc etc.So isn't it interesting that the Government is pressing ahead with abolishing Cheshire County Council and its six district council and replacing it with a two unitary councils that will cost an extra £20 million a year and in MORI polling as well as local district polling the residents were over 70% opposed to the Unitary proposals.
Gwyneth Dunwoody, just before Chrsitmas savagely attacked Hazel Blears on the matter, going so far as to suggest that the decision was made for the "for the most venal and personal reasons". I wonder whether, when the new Unitary councils come into being, that certain property developers that personally donated to Hazel Blears will find planning application gliding through somewhat easier?
8 comments:
Wiltshire is to become another Unitary Council, against the wishes of the people and the District councils;
http://tinyurl.com/yow38v
Is all this so that they can then steamroller the 'regions' through as required by Brussells?
Briansj
probably. Although the official line is that we've got nothing to worry about from the EUSSR evil empire. Oh well, come the civil war.
We saw them off in Somerset. No Unitary authority for us!
Not long ago Aunty Ruth was trying to get numerous Unitaries to join their adjoining Counties (and the 4 Unitaries in the Bristol area to form a new Avon County - sorry: Greater Bristol County) in order to streamline things. Herding cats would have been easier.
Methinks that the Cheshire incident is punishment for the County Council deciding to pull out of the "Regional Assembly" a year or two ago.
Disagreeing with this government is a career or life limiting move! Of course it is all to do with the imposition of Regional Government.
As soon as all the Counties have gone, watch out for the Provincial governments, such as Westminster or Dublin. For it is obviously far too bureaucratic to have the Provincial layer in between the National government in Brussels and the Regional governments.
Dunwoody almost certainly knows quite a lot about this episode. If she is prepared to stand up in the chamber of the Commons and call Blears out then you can guarantee that something's up.
Shame that Dunwoody is going to retire so soon. She's done a great deal in her time - nearly all to the good.
Did I read somewhere that if this goes through Dunwoody will resign the whip?
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