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Labour joins with the Tories to scuttle one of the rescue routes.
The attempt to get the decision to chop funding for the RUH Hopper looked at again failed on Friday.
The committee which decided not to instruct the Cabinet member to look at his reasoning again (the same one incidentally who imposed the 50mph limit on the HRR) is 'politically balanced' - which means that the Tories, as the ruling political group at County Hall, always get at least 50% of the committee seats.
However, the chairman is an Independent and he favoured the call-in. So, all it needed was for the Labour councillor on the committee to side with the Independent and Lib Dem groups for the Chairman's casting vote to get the issue looked at again.
However, he chose not to and voted with the Tories. In his email jusifying his decision he states 'Only the west of the County enjoys this Rolls Royce extra service. So why (sic) I totally understand that you and 5 other Councillors, all of whose residents are effected (sic) by this decision ,understandably fought to retain it, you should not be surprised if Councillors from other parts of the County looked at the issue in the round and concluded that all residents should have a level playing field. John Walsh, Fisherton and Bemerton Village.'
I find this attitude from a Labour councillor totally bizarre. At the risk of sounding horribly political, I cannot understand why a Labour politician is willing to do the Tories’ job for them, especially at County Hall where they (the Tories) have got everything, most of the time, stacked in their favour.
Compared to the Salisbury area (where Cllr. Walsh is based) the Hopper may seem like a Rolls Royce service but surely nothing is too good for ordinary people and you don’t make progress by cutting back on services. Instead, you try to raise them up elsewhere.
When (if) you get someone canvassing for Labour this time next year for the WC election, you might care to mention this disgraceful decision to them...