WARRINGTON North MP Helen Jones has been accused of “protesting too much” by council leader Ian Marks who has hit back at her claims of scaremongering over fresh concerns a new Titan prison could be built in the town.
Coun Marks said: “The MP for Warrington North protests too much over worries that a new prison might still come to Warrington.
“On October 30 the council received a letter from the Ministry of Justice advising us of a fresh search for new prison sites in the North West.
“My Deputy, Coun Keith Bland, and I then wrote to our two MPs asking for their help in making sure that no prison came to Warrington, anywhere, not just on Omega.
“Instead of confirming that she would work with residents and the council to stop a prison coming here, we just get a torrent of abuse in the media from one MP.
“The problem is that the MP knows that the days of her government being in power are numbered and come the general election there will not be two Labour MPs for
Warrington.
“She reminds me of a statement from the Justice Secretary, Jack Straw, last April that there will not be a prison on Omega. I am well aware of this, but Governments, in particular this one, have been known to do U-turns. His statement applies to Omega only, but our question to her covered all potential sites in the Borough.
“She has not answered this point, nor has she told us why her government is writing to us if we are no longer at risk.
“She did receive a letter dated early November from Maria Eagle, the Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice, confirming only that Omega would not be considered.
“I assume this latest letter was prompted by a recent approach by the MP to the Ministry – so much for her confidence in Jack Straw’s earlier statement.
“The people of Warrington deserve more co-operation from their MPs than we have been used to in recent years. All Warrington gets from the MP is negative publicity.”
Ms Jones had slammed the town’s Liberal Democrats for what she said was a damaging “scare story” about the possibility of a new prison being built in the borough.
She said: “This is a deliberate scare story put out by an increasingly desperate Lib Dem leadership who are trying to deflect the news away from their poor stewardship of our town.”
MP protests too much says leader
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About Author
Gary Skentelbery
Experienced journalist for more than 40 years. Managing Director of magazine publishing group with three in-house titles and on-line daily newspaper for Warrington. Experienced writer, photographer, PR consultant and media expert having written for local, regional and national newspapers. Specialties: PR, media, social networking, photographer, networking, advertising, sales, media crisis management. Chair of Warrington Healthwatch Director Warrington Chamber of Commerce Patron Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace. Trustee Warrington Disability Partnership. Former Chairman of Warrington Town FC.
