A political row has broken out between the Chairperson of Warrington Conservatives and the town’s Labour MP over the council’s engagement with the Government over the handling of the COVID-19 crisis.
The Chairperson of Warrington Conservatives Wendy Maisey OBE, is asking Warrington North MP Charlotte Nichols (Lab) to come clean on COVID discussions. Speaking in the House of Commons earlier this week Ms Nichols said that there was “absolutely none” of the “promised engagement.”
Meanwhile the Labour Leader of Warrington Borough Council Cllr Russ Bowden mentioned dialogue with the Government in his COVID broadcast on Wednesday evening.
Cllr. Bowden explained that there had been “important engagement” with the Government last week and at the weekend.
Speaking in the House of Commons Ms Nichols said:“Increasingly, it feels like the North is being treated as an afterthought, with decisions taken by people in Whitehall who could not even point to Warrington on a map.
“We had absolutely none of the promised engagement over the weekend with our local authority and there was a concerted push to make us subject to tier 3 restrictions of the Liverpool City region, despite not being a part of those conversations or, indeed, of the Liverpool City region.”
Chair of Warrington Conservatives Wendy Maisey OBE said:“It is time for Ms Nichols to come clean with constituents and the House of Commons. We simply can’t have a situation where the MP is saying one thing and the Council another on an important issue like COVID.”
“The Leader of the Council confirmed engagement with the Government, yet the MP said that there had been none of the promised engagement.”
“The time has come for Ms Nichols to work with the Council for the benefit of residents in Warrington.”
Ms Nichols responded: “It’s disappointing to see Wendy trying to score cheap points like this in an attempt to create a false division between myself and the council, on an issue she knows nothing about. I work closely with the council on a range of issues including the response to Covid, and what I said in the Chamber is a matter of fact- while the Government were busy engaging with the Liverpool City Region over the weekend, there was no engagement with Warrington Borough Council until Monday morning.
“It’s a transparent attempt to deflect attention from the shambolic way her own party in Government has handled this crisis, and is frankly pathetic.”
Cllr Russ Bowden, who worked alongside Ms Nichols as her election agent last year, added: ““This is a shallow attempt to try and claim a divide where one doesn’t exist, purely as a diversion from the Government’s shoddy handling of the covid-19 crisis. I work closely with the Warrington North MP – as residents would expect – and her statement from Monday is entirely accurate.”
“I participated in a meeting with No. 10 on Friday afternoon, along with other regional leaders. This was a general meeting to discuss the situation in the North West at which I stated the Council’s position that it wanted to be considered on its own situation rather than within a larger regional group. There were no further discussions with Government until Monday afternoon at which it was confirmed that Warrington would be placed in Tier 2.”
“We have got a very serious job to do here in Warrington, managing this crisis and ensuring that we do our utmost to protect the local economy and jobs. It is surprising to see others engaging in childish games like this – they really should have better things to do.”
Cllr Russ Bowden
