At a recent Special Housing Committee Meeting it allowed me to revisit the reason why I became a councillor. The dishonesty and scaremongering displayed that night by Labour and Liberal Democrat members made me very angry but all the more determined to speak the truth and work even harder in the interests of the people of Harlow.
The Liberal Democrats choose to jettison there credibility in pursuit of party advantage. On a recent Housing Working Party The Liberal Democratss supported specific recommendations in respect of Sheltered Accommodation wardens which enjoyed all-party support. However, come the Housing Committee Meeting They saw an opportunity for cheap grand-standing and chose to disown there involvement,
Not wishing to miss out, Labour members happily backed-up The Liberals bout of amnesia. But they were not able to confirm details as Labour member for the working party, who is not even on the Housing Committee, was not in attendance.
When challenged, The Liberals denied having stated at the Working Group Meeting "I am not prepared to point score these properties and I am happy with the recommendations the officers came up with".
To my surprise and shock, this claim was then supported by The Labour party who piped up with "I will go along with that".
Dismay soon followed when the Lib Dem leader claimed that he had spoken to the working group member midweek and they had confirmed not having made as such statement.
Quite frankly I find it sickening that the Liberal Democrats say one thing one day but when seeing an opportunity to scaremonger, then say something else.
The Labour party then tried to claim that the changes in warden provision would be a disaster for residents and wrongly claimed that all residents would lose access to a warden.
The truth of the matter is that it was Labour that kicked the live-in wardens into touch, and also with their counterparts, the Lib Dems, decommissioned Hester house in 2005.
The facts are that only some residents will lose their daily warden, but contrary to the misinformation of the Liberal Democrats this will be reflected in reduced charges, and the option of a weekly warden will still be available.
They will also keep the Careline and pendants for added peace of mind. Care provided by the PCT or Social Services will not be affected.
I am keen to provide a warden service that will actually spend time with residents and not a quick “Hello” and “Goodbye”. The proposed structure will allow that and enable us to focus on people with the greatest need of support.
Just to reinforce how muddled the Lib Dems are they then proceeded to abstain when the proposals were being discussed. At first they were in favour, then violently opposed and then couldn’t quite make up their mind.
It is just because of these kinds of childish antics that made me decide to become a Tory councillor. People may not always agree with what I and my colleagues do, but they can be sure that we will be honest and our decisions will be driven by what we genuinely believe is in the best interests of the Town. A task made more difficult by the financial mess left by Labour and the Lib Dems.
