HERE WE GO AGAIN

Kieran Quinn, opened his recent blog with the following sentence: “Every so often I find out that, despite my long years in politics, I still have the capacity to be surprised.”

"I have the capacity to be surprised!"

Paradoxically, and speaking for myself, I find the opposite to be true!

As a consequence of living in Tameside, nothing that Kieran Quinn and the rest of the Labour controlled Tameside Council does or says ever surprises me!

Let’s look at the twisted statistics that our leader is trying to get us to swallow regarding the ‘Budget Simulator’ - the council’s excuse for turning their inability to priorities their funding by getting a few of their acolytes to complete the ready set questions contained in their latest edition of their online budget consultation.

Last year, he tells us, “… they knew that the people of Tameside would be willing to take part, and they absolutely delivered. By the end of the consultation period they (the council) had received over 1,000 responses through the online budget simulator alone, and nearly 3,000 responses if you include other ways of getting in touch like e-mail, letters and social media.

To put that into perspective, the population of Tameside is over 220,000 people. So, even if we assume that half are under the age of voting, it still remains the case that only 0.83% bothered to take part in the simulator scheme.

He went on to proclaim that “…the truly important thing is what you told us.”

Firstly, 73% supported rolling out the bin swap as a way to protect vital services and the environment by reducing the amount of waste we send to landfill.

Sounds convincing, doesn't it?

But that means that 730 people thought it a good idea, whilst over 219,270 didn't pass a comment!

So, based on that we are supposed to believe they had our blessing to go ahead and do it!

Next he tells us that when faced with the choice, 78% of us supported an average council tax increase of 4.2%. That’s over twice the amount they were legally allowed to raise council tax by without having a costly referendum.

"What colour is it this week Gladys? 

Again they pressed ahead by allegedly taking the say so of 780 people, whilst 219,220 said nothing!

He then goes on to say:

“Honestly, if somebody had told me that would be the outcome at the start I don’t think I would have believed them!” 

– And I thought satire was dead!

So now, undeterred he is launching the council's second online budget consultation. Where from now until 22nd December anybody in Tameside can give their views on how to manage the cuts imposed on us by the government.

Now here he starts to get ironic, because he tells us that in order to help as many people as possible reply they’ll be putting on over 150 budget simulator events and drop-in sessions throughout Tameside in libraries, Active Tameside centre’s, community groups, children’s centre’s and more.

The problem with this simulator scheme is it only gives those attempting to take part a pre-set group of answers to budget saving areas.

For instance, I’ll bet a pound to a pinch of salt, nowhere will there be a facility to ask how much could be saved by cancelling 150 needless simulator events and drop-in sessions, along with the unnecessary literature, videos, and personnel needed to man these already cut and dried council concluded shows.

Nor the facility to ask the powers that be why they have spent over £2million building a 240 space multi-story car park in St Petersfield that has been open since Christmas 2014 yet is only open to permit holders, whilst every street and alleyway in that vicinity is cram packed with cars on yellow lines?

In his dramatic Press Release back in July 2014 he told us: "the new car park will provide 'much needed' parking in this expanding business quarter." So why is it closed to the general public?

It could have been open to taxpaying drivers for 12 months and making money?