RCT Cabinet broadcast shows their flaws

The second ‘live’ RCT Council Cabinet broadcast took place today, although if you don’t follow @rctcouncil on Twitter you may have missed the fact altogether as it is not exactly prominent on the Council website. 

It took the esteemed Labour Members 20 minutes to authorise significant changes to special education provision, pass the new policy regarding charging parents who allow their children to truant and welcome a 22 page report on integrated health and social services.

The entire scene was scripted, and with the exception of Cllr Forey, who actually appeared to ad lib for a few seconds, the script was carefully followed.

I would have been thoroughly ashamed to allow this to be seen in public.  Cabinet Members are paid £31,900 a year, plus expenses.  The Deputy Leader, in the Chair yet again today as the Leader continues to battle with ill health, picks up £37,100.  They are paid it, but evidence suggests they certainly do not earn it.

People elect their councillors to represent them, but also to run the Council, to deliver what they said in their manifesto – also known around here as the Labour joke book.  These Cabinet Members are paid full time salaries to do just that.

These broadcasts show what we have been saying for some time is true – the Labour lot are nothing but a bunch of sheep, they collect their pay checks but are led completely by Officers.  There is absolutely no independent thought.  It is presumably one of the main reasons why they are afraid to meet with the public.

They are not even clever enough to try and pretend they are in charge and actually making decisions.  In fact could all do with some lessons in public speaking and presentation – and definitely need to practice reading their scripts. As long as that is done at Labour party expense and not the taxpayers.

Of course, having said that, they were, as they never tire of saying, elected in large numbers by the good people of RCT.  So it is for them to judge their performance.

Have Labour members got nothing better to do?

With everything that is going on in RCT – rising council tax; education cuts; library; day centre; swimming pool and theatre closures; controversial changes to school catchment areas, etc ., you would think that Labour members, elected or otherwise would have better things to do than waste their time trying to wind us up.

Yet that is what apparently some of them like to spend their time doing.

Two of them were removed from the RCT Welsh Lib Dem facbook site yesterday – David Morris and Jeremy Williams.  Now we have no problem with open debate, or with people disagreeing with our views, but personal attacks are certainly not going to go on unchecked.

We are without doubt the most open and accessible party in RCT.  Cllr Mike Powell and myself in particular, but other members too, engage widely with members of the public in a variety of arenas. Facebook, Twitter, our website, this blog, not to mention public meetings and events.  Unlike the Labour party we don’t hide away in case people say something ‘nasty’ about us.  However, neither will we allow Labourites to spam our own sites with personal abuse.

There must surely be something more useful they can be doing within their communities rather than indulging in such childish practises.  They could even try entering into some decent debate with reasoned arguments – except it is not, it seems, the Labour party way.

In a comment on the post he left (pictured above) David Morris stated that “Myself and Jeremy Williams have been un-democratically banned by Karen Roberts the Lib Dem Councillor from RCT who runs their facebook Page.” 

Now this is factually inaccurate to begin with – I am not a Councillor, I am the Chair and Campaign manager of RCT Welsh Lib Dems which gives me the authority to speak on their behalf.  As for being “un-democratically banned”  maybe Mr Morris could ask the parents who oppose the nursery cuts, or those against Y Pant catchment changes, or the residents furious at the closure of Rhydyfelin library what they think of a Labour party member talking about something being undemocratic.