Lib Dem Let Downs

May 2009

Sadly we've all got used to Lib Dem let downs over the past few years. Here are a few of their greatest hits, feel free to send us yours.

Our first list:

• Folk Festival
• Icelandic Investments
• Grass Verges
• Marshall's Move
• Free Swimming
• Chainsaw Massacre

1. Folk Festival

The Lib Dem City Council allowed a small Internet ticketing firm to fold with over £644,000 of OUR money - the entire amount they took from Cambridge residents and tourists. The full story is a comedy of errors.

First of all, there was a provision in the contract signed to allow the firm to hold the ticket sale money, and therefore make interest on it, for 3 months after the festival. This wouldn't have happened if the company was forced to sign a contract prepared by the council. It is standard practice for large organisations like Councils to write up their own contracts - why not Cambridge?

Secondly, the failings last year were hardly out of character. The Council used the firm in 2007 as well, when too there were problems. The firm dragged its feet and took several months to stump up the cash then. So, we have to ask, why was the decision to stick with this dubious firm made, with a complete lack of scrutiny?

Finally, a look at the accounts of the company, now that it has gone bust, reveals the full extent of the Lib Dem Council's incompetence. We were the ONLY people the firm owed money to. Why did we take risks no other customer would do?

This failure of leadership and financial responsibility from the Lib Dems cannot be ignored. Yet they have tried to do so - promising a full public inquiry and then reneging on it, trying to blame Council officers, and claiming that seniour Councillors have no responsibility for the decisions. We know who is to blame - the Lib Dems and their refusal to allow any proper scrutiny. When will they be held responsible?

2. Icelandic Investment

The Council had invested £9million in Icelandic banks which have since gone bust. Although there is now word that we may be able to get some of the money back, it is far from clear how much we could get back. The Road Crash budget passed by the Lib Dems this year promised cut-backs to vital services, a massive council tax increase and an emergency loan to cover some of the losses.

Whilst of course Cambridge City Council was not alone in having money invested in Iceland, questions have to be asked as it seems that once more the Lib Dems were dangerously reckless in their financial decisions. The Council has a rule that says it cannot invest £9million in one place - so we have to ask, how did the Council managed to lose this much money? They utilised a clever loop-hole and invested £5million in now defunct Icelandic bank Landsbanki, and the other £4million in the UK subsidiary of Landsbanki, called Heritable. Having a different name didn't prevent the same result when the entire company went bust!

We were somewhat nonplussed to read that the City Council could be getting £7million back from the banks. This was down to a statement from the administrators of Heritable, who suggested they might, eventually, be able to return up to 80% of investments. This is by no means guaranteed, and the only money it is close to certain we will get back is just over £600,000 - less than the Lib Dems lost on the Folk Festival!

As £5million of our money was invested directly in Iceland (and not in Heritable) it is unlikely we will ever see any of it again. More importantly, the only reason any of the money could be recovered was because the government used laws related to anti-terror provisions to keep the cash in the UK. Will we now see the Cambridge Lib Dems thanking the government for introducing this legislation and protecting the money they were supposed to be managing?

3. Grass Verges

It was 2002 when then Council Leader, now Cambridge MP David Howarth pledged to make verges his council's top priority. In the first 6 years since this pledge the council managed action on only 2 roads - at this rate it would take 600 years to repair the worst of Cambridge streets!

Labour councillors have been at the forefront of the campaign to get action taken on the state of the verges. We have proposed a range of innovative approaches. We have asked the Liberal councillors to:

• Allow residents to 'adopt' the verge outside their house and give out free painted white rocks along with guidance on safe use.
• Complete a £250,000 protection and repair programme on the verges most neglected by the Lib Dems.
• Put yellow lines along main roads so that anyone illegally parking on a verge can be ticketed.
• Introduce the use of 'Grasscrete', a honeycolmbed concrete block which allows grass to grow through but at the same time can support the weight of a car.

Sadly we have seen little in terms of action from the Lib Dems, be it on the council or from our MP. Given how much we see of him in London and how little in Cambridge, we have to wonder what his top priority really is.

4. Marshall's Move

Cambridge Labour knows that new housing needs to be built in the City. The waiting list for Council housing is unacceptably long and nationally the Labour government is leading on an ambitious programme of affordable housing stock building. We are especially interested in making sure that new developments have housing that is genuinely affordable so our key workers can be looked after.

However we have always been opposed to the Lib Dem and Tory plan to force Marshall Aerospace out of Cambridge and build over 12,000 homes on the site. The site was unsuitable for so many reasons. For a start, there was no thought given to how the new houses would affect traffic in the city. Coldham's Lane and Mill Road are already over-burdened with traffic, and given how often we have to bounce along the worn-down roads on our bikes, we do wonder how we're supposed to cope with more traffic! On top of that we have to wonder what people have against the skilled jobs that Marshall's provide.

We would have thought the Lib Dems would have been on the side of hard-working people here in the City. They would want to keep more than 1,000 jobs here in the City, and wouldn't want to add further to the traffic chaos in Romsey, Petersfield and Abbey. Perhaps we are too optimistic!

5. Free Swimming

The Labour government has introduced free swimming for the under 16s and the over 60s. We want to encourage a healthy society, and give real social alternatives to people. Whilst people, sometimes fairly, criticise the young for being involved in anti-social behaviour, we believe in providing alternatives. Kids often complain that there isn't much for them to do, and everyone knows that children are not intrinsically evil!

We believe in tough enforcement, which is why we increased funding to the police, introduced PCSOs for added high-visibility patrols, created Anti-Social Behaviour Orders and allowed councils to designate areas as alcohol free. Sadly the Lib Dems chose to ignore most of these measures, and free swimming is just the latest example of this!

Neighbouring constituencies and similar cities such as Oxford are all offering the scheme, and it is a real shame that children here can not benefit. On the up side, at least our government has given older people the chance to get exercise and, with the concessionary fares scheme, can get the bus to the pool too!

6. Chainsaw Massacre

More to follow!...