A political spat at last week’s County Council Cabinet meeting is massive warning sign.

Council employees, both the City Council and County Council, have been doing a fantastic job at this desperate time of crisis and, rightly, they have our praise. However, the Conservative Leadership at the County Council have been accused of shutting down democracy in an explosive exchange in Thursday’s Cabinet meeting.

Residents and Councillors have been writing to County Cllr Driver only to met with a blank response from the Leader of the Council. The Leader of the Opposition, County Cllr Ali, then claimed that another councillor had been told that a blank response had meant that letter or email had been binned. This alone is frankly unacceptable, the Conservatives appear to be playing a political game at an urgent time. Stifling debate and blocking scrutiny is not tolerable regardless of circumstances – residents across Lancashire deserve better than.

When confronted with these accusations Cllr Drive demised them and flat-out refused to work constructively with opposition councillor, replying bluntly “No.” Cllr Driver then took it upon himself took attack Cllr Ali’s own record from his time as group leader from 2013-2017 – incredibly childish behaviour from the leadership.

This is not the model elsewhere, across the UK at local representatives are putting aside partisan allegiances to protect their local communities. Cllr Driver and the Conservatives view cross-party cooperation and scrutiny as a “hindrance”, in statement give to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

For residents, this is a worrying sign that decisions are being made without the proper scrutiny they need – councillors are our elected representative and we deserve to be able to hold them accountable regardless of situation.

This is not how a County Council should be operating and electors should remembers come the elections next May. The Liberal Democrats will continue to work to stand up for democracy and fairness through scrutiny of those in power.

Click here to read more for Lancashire Evening Post Article

Click here to watch the Cabinet Meeting (14/05/2020)

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