Cllr Iain Lindley – Prospective Conservative MP for Worsley & Eccles South
I have just received the following message:
Following a number of breakdowns earlier today, crews will be working late in the following areas to complete:-
CADISHEAD/IRLAM/WALKDEN AND LITTLE HULTON.
Any outstanding work will be completed in the morning.
This is about the fourth week in a row that bins have not been emptied on the correct day. It is simply not good enough.
The results of the Government’s “place survey” – a huge survey detailed how local people feel about how well their Council is doing – has been published. David Ottewell has helpfully published the results in full.
What they show is that only 33.7% of Salford residents are “satisfied or fairly satisfied” (hardly a high barrier!) with Salford’s Labour Council. This is an appalling figure and in the table places Salford City Council at the giddy heights of nineteenth from bottom, out of every single Council in the country.
Funnily enough, I don’t see any mention of this survey on the Council website. I wonder if there will be a big article in Life in Salford magazine? I’m not holding my breath…
This is a damning indictment of decades of Labour misrule. It’s time for a change!
There’s an interesting comment piece on SalfordOnline entitled “the demise of Salford democracy has begun”. Whilst I understand the sentiment - and I certainly agree that Hazel and her Labour colleagues have let the people of Salford down badly – I think reports of the demise of democracy are premature.
Hazel should not be apologising to her Labour colleagues. She should be apologising to the people of Salford as a whole – she has let them down badly. Ultimately Hazel Blears is accountable to her electorate, and her fate will be decided not behind the closed doors of a Labour Party meeting, but in the ballot boxes of the Salford & Eccles constituency at the next General Election.
The public need to have the opportunity to pass judgement on Hazel and her Labour colleagues. What we need is a General Election to give local people the chance to pass that judgement – that’s the real test of our local democracy.
Tomorrow we are having a full Council policy day on the effect of the recession on Salford people and Salford businesses. This is very welcome, but as Conservative opposition Councillors we asked for an economic summit back in the autumn. It’s taken the Labour leadership six months to organise this. How many Salford people have suffered in the interim?
I’ve just got back from the verification of votes cast in today’s European election. They won’t actually be counted now until Sunday night, but I’d just like to take this opportunity to thank all the local residents who came out to vote Conservative today, and the Conservative members and volunteers who have campaigned over the last month or so.
The turnout was 27.54%, for those who may be interested.
Hazel Blears has jumped before she was pushed, and has resigned from her Cabinet post. She says she is “glad to be going home to the people that matter, the people of Salford” – but what has Hazel achieved as a Secretary of State for the people of Salford? What has Hazel supported as a Minister?
I am of course pleased that Hazel thinks that the people of Salford matter, so why when she had access to the levers of power did she endorse (or directly make herself!) so many decisions which disadvantaged the very people she claims to represent.
Hypocrite.
On Thursday 4th June, local residents across Salford will go to the polls for the European elections. If you’re voting by post, you may well have already received your postal ballot paper, or will do over the next day or two.
Local people have a real chance in these elections to show that they want change. We have a Labour Council, a Labour Government, and Labour MEPs who have all let our local area down.
By voting Conservative on 4th June you can:
We have a strong team of Conservative MEPs and candidates who have shown a strong interest in standing up for the interests of local people in Worsley, Eccles, Irlam & Cadishead and Salford. Indeed only last week Cllr Alex Williams joined our team in Walkden to knock on doors and listen to the concerns of local residents. Unlike Labour and the Liberal Democrats who vote against the British interest, and unlike UKIP whose Brussels grouping has descended into a disorganised rabble, our Conservative team will always stand up for the North West and for Salford.
It’s time for change - vote Conservative on Thursday 4th June.
Much amusement this afternoon as myself and fellow Councillors watched the media scrum outside the Town Hall as Hazel Blears made a rare visit to Salford.
David Ottewell reports that she looked “remarkably chipper” - for me that’s part of the problem, shouldn’t she be looking contrite? Many of her constituents don’t earn £13000 in a year never mind able to write a cheque for that amount at the drop of a hat.
Local Labour sources are sending out mixed messages on Hazel Blears – the Labour Group of Councillors have issued a strongly-worded statement yet her Constituency Secretary (Labour Councillor for Ordsall, Ray Mashiter) and Labour colleagues continue to give her full support.
The whole scrum rather overshadowed the installation of the new Mayor which I thought was a bit of a shame – and rather than stay on the sidelines Hazel seemed happy to milk the publicity for what it was worth. Congratulations to Cllr Roger Lightup the new Mayor and Cllr George Wilson the new Deputy Mayor.
Now that the small print behind this week’s transport announcements has sunk in, it’s clear that once again the people of Salford have got an extremely raw deal.
The Leigh Misguided Busway has received the green light. As I’ve commented many times before, this is a bonkers white elephant scheme which does not serve local communities in Salford but will significantly worsen congestion.
Worse, the Misguided Busway is the only significant element of the scheme based in Salford. So, we get one item that we don’t want, along with plenty of other schemes (mostly, unsurprisingly, in the City of Manchester) which we’ll barely use.
Guess what – we also get to pay through the nose for it! Our Council Tax is going up to fund improvements in Wythenshawe and Didsbury, that’s for sure.
Just as importantly, Salford’s local transport grants is being top-sliced to the tune of 40%. So, next time residents want a new cycle-way, or improvements to a road junction outwith the usual maintenance budget – forget it. Thanks to our Labour leadership all that money got blown on the White Elephant busway and on improvements in Manchester City.
Local residents are once again paying through the nose for no discernable benefit. If we were going to raise money, where were the common-sense improvements to rail services?
The money spent on the busway would have been much better deployed on improving infrastructure on the railway lines through Walkden, Eccles and Irlam, and on the much-needed changes at Salford Crescent – but no, our Labour leadership wanted the Leigh Guided Busway instead. Thanks.
Conservative Party News
David Cameron On The European Elections
Watch David Cameron’s reaction to the European election results…
Here in Salford, we narrowly failed to top the poll, with Labour ahead by just 900 votes and the Liberal Democrats in a poor fourth behind UKIP. This is a great result and we would have been comfortably ahead across the Worsley & Eccles South constituency.
Conservatives are now the only Party to have MEP representation in every part of the country, and now thanks to our link-up with the Ulster Unionists there is now an MEP elected under the Conservative banner in Northern Ireland too.