PROVIDING THE ONLY OPPOSITION

Full Council last night. First 45 minutes was a debate on a Tory motion criticising the Government for only funding Police Community Support Officers across the UK to the level that the Association of Police Authorities (Hants Constabulary are a member of that association) and Assoc. of Chief Police Officers wanted - which is a reduction by a third nationally, in Hants, and in the IW, from what the government originally suggested last year. Deborah and I opposed this motion as it is nonsense for the IW Council to be setting itself up as an expert on these matters, when the professionals know better. Of course we are now accused of being advocates for mayhem on our streets and I will require police protection wherever I go in future ! It doesn't seem to have ocurred to them that if they are so unhappy they could employ extra Community Wardens out of their generous government grant settlement; as so effectively deployed by the Council in Ryde and by PNP in Pan.

After that was my motion attempting to stop them politicising the Council publications, which they are already doing in contradiction of our own constitution. Of course it went down with only Cllr Stephens supporting us. Later they agreed constitutional changes that will allow that increased politicisation in the future, as well as removing a number of other democratic tenets which had the elected member at the heart of the Council.

Later the Councillor for Ventnor East was appointed as the Commissioner for the Economy, Transport, etc - as accurately predicted by this blog at the time of the previous incumbents promotion to the Cabinet.

That was about it. One comment I would make is that it is becoming increasingly evident that only Deborah and I provide any opposition at all to the Tories in this Council. The independents are tied into a cycle of support for the Tories or abstention, and the LibDems are biding their time in the futile hope that the electorate will forgive them at the next elections.