This in from Geoff Lumley – Ed
Labour IW Councillor Geoff Lumley has condemned the probable loss of 535 plus Council jobs as a combination of economic illiteracy at Westminster with a desire by local Tories to destroy the public sector. A sector on which the IW particularly depends, economically and socially.
Cllr Lumley has always maintained the widely held view that the planned public expenditure cuts by the ConDem coalition government are too much, too fast and too soon. He now feels that the IW Council Tory leadership are putting ideology before the needs of the Island.
Requests to lobby government blocked
In September Cllr Lumley proposed to Full Council a motion seeking to defer Council cuts to services, whilst real and strenuous efforts were made to lobby government for more favourable treatment for the IW. Despite his pleas about the special nature of the Island’s economy and population, his motion was lost with the 22 Tories present all against and all 13 opposition members in favour.
Cllr Lumley said, “And now we see the realities of their refusal to even try to lobby the coalition government. By the end of next March hundreds of Island families will have had their lives effectively ruined. And all because the ConDem government, together with their Tory allies at County Hall, are determined to cutback the public sector whilst pretending its all about the government balance sheet. I urge all those families under threat to put their local councillor in no doubt as to the damage these vicious cuts will have on their lives and the Island economy.”
Cllr Geoff Lumley BSc Econ.
