The Wrath of Khan

The last Full Council meeting saw Kirklees Council Leader Mehboob Khan attack the new Green Party Administration in Brighton in a response to one of the many planted questions he'd arranged for the meeting. His answer was riddled with inaccuracies and lies but I guess everyone has there own leadership style. If you want to follow the actual point in the meeting in the webcast it begins about 35mins 30 seconds in (my reaction to Cllr Khan's comments can't quite be made out on the webcast fortunately!)

The crux of his case was that the Green Party in the run up to the local elections had promised that cuts were unnecessary and wouldn't happen if they were elected. So I drew the Kirklees Webcast to Brighton Green Party's attention and Councillor Jason Kicat had the following comment to make,

"Cllr Khan is speaking complete nonsense. We never pledged not to increase council tax and we have never pledged not to implement a legal budget. He should be asked to withdraw such rubbish.

We pledged to resist cuts to maximum extent legally possible. Furthermore the council has an ongoing value for money (efficiency) programme which actually over-delivered last year and is continuing this year."

Jason's blog provides more details of dubious Labour and Conservative attacks on the Green Party's position on Budget setting in Brighton.

You do wonder whether Cllr Khan's comments are part of a general fear about the Greens in the Labour Party. At their next Conference in Liverpool they even have a fringe meeting entitled "Green to Red: How can Labour stop the Greens spreading?"

Of course Cllr Khan's 'wrath' is because we didn't join with the other parties in voting for extensive cuts to adult social care (which they have now been forced to backtrack on for legal reasons). He doesn't seem to recognise that for some of us voting for cuts to services for the most vulnerable when bankers get off scot free is a matter of principle and conscience. He may regard voting on the basis of your beliefs as a luxury or an indulgence. I believe by opposing the cuts we provided a greater service to politics as a whole by ensuring that people in the most difficult circumstances felt supported and that they had a voice.

               Khan Plots his revenge. " He tasks me"