Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Labour blogger wooed at taxpayers expense

A blogging Labour councillor, Antonia Bance has made much of her trip to Budapest at the taxpayers expense. She was apparently contacted by someone in the Department for Communities and Local Government to go on three-day jolly to Budapest to talk about blogging.

Antonia does warn us that her blogging might slip and we should "bear in mind that the fluffy pillows on which I slept and the wine I drunk at the evening reception was paid for by the great British taxpayer, helped out by a variety of corporate sponsors, so I may fail in speaking truth to power."

It's good to see our money being spent so well. Check out the pictures of the hotel, five-star apparently. Note as well that she thnks the Evening Standard's coverage of her was all about trying to make a "cronie" link with David Milliband, rather than the outrageous way she's boasting about wasting taxpayers money on wine and fancy hotels.

Update: It appears that the lovely Ellee Seymour was the first blogger to pick this story up, good job Ellee.

4 comments:

Louise said...

I think this is a little unfair on Antonia. Antonia was invited to a conference as a councillor who blogs and her blog contains quite a lot of local information, relevant to her ward. Isn't this something that councillors should be encouraged to do?

Perhaps paying for councillors to attend this conference wasn't the best use of money but I do think Antonia is now coming in for a bit of undeserved criticism. At least she is honest about which freebies she has attended.

Rigger Mortice said...

bollocks,haev been on her site and left a message of good will.it's a disgrace and there is no defence just like there wasn't for Millibland spending 6k on his blog

Croydonian said...

Just had a quick mooch around her site. How can anyone - in 2006, for the love of God - actually use a cliche like 'young people are our future', because even if she then writes that the phrase makes her heart sink, she then bashes out all the usual not so much stale, as positively putrid, bromides that go with it.

Anyway, with a bit of luck her fun at the expense of the useful idiots who paid for her junket won't look quite so funny reprinted in LD/Tory/Green/etc leaflets at the next election.

Anonymous said...

What a dreadful blog she has.