A CONTROVERSIAL proposal to fund mailshots by councillors at Warrington from public money has been ditched.
Members of the borough council’s audit and corporate governance committee unanimously voted against the proposal to agree a protocol governing the use of mailshots by councillors.
But Liberal Democrat councillors lashed out at Labour over the issue.
Lib Dem leader Ian Marks said: “Labour clearly wanted this to go ahead or it wouldn’t have been on the agenda in the first place.”
Cllr Marks said both he and Conservative leader Cllr Paul Kennedy had written to the controlling Labour group voicing their strong opposition to the proposals.
He said: “I can think of hundreds of better ways of spending up to £3,420 of public money. A number of other councils in Manchester have been contacted and none of them waste money in this way.
“But it’s not just the money, it’s the principle. Drawing a dividing line between council business and party political business is a very grey area and open to abuse.
“The protocol is complicated and full of conditions. We don’t need a protocol because we shouldn’t be agreeing to mail shots which for all intents and purposes are party political propaganda on the public purse.”
Senior Lib Dem councillor Brian Axcell added: “The Labour Party should do what the rest of us do and deliver letters themselves. Whether they hand deliver the letters or post them using their own stamps is down to them. It is outrageous that the public is being asked to pay for this in these difficult financial times.
“We are delighted that this proposal has now been thrown out due to pressure from the opposition parties. This is a very welcome U-turn.”
1 Comment
What exactly is Cllr Marks having a Hissy fit about does he not understand the word ‘Unanimous’ obviously not?
I joined Cllr Paul Kennedy last week expressing my opposition to the idea on Warrington Worldwide.
I understand that there have been occasions when mail shots have gone out over many decades but is only recently, under the current administration that this practices, has been questioned.
I believe that it needed approval and was only for specific instances when for example a street or a few residents were impacted.
By asking for clarification of what can and can’t be done has now put to rest once and for all.
All this hand bags at dawn just gives the public the wrong impression of Councillors or may be it just confirms it?