COUNCILLORS’ PRINCIPLES GO UP IN SMOKE

On reading the council’s advertisement and the usual self congratulatory, but prosaic ‘Press Release’ announcing the aims behind ‘The Party in the Park ‘where ‘council health chiefs’ launched a ‘Smokefree’ campaign; it reminded me of yet another council initiative that these duplicitous councillors launched last year.

 

According to the minutes of the ‘full council’ meeting held on 22 May 2012, councillor Lynn Travis, seconded by councillor Bowden; claiming that it was the responsibility of all levels of Government to try to ensure good public health, proposed, amongst other things, that the Chief Executive should write to the Secretary of State for Health, asking him to bring forward legislation to introduce standardised packaging of tobacco products in an effort to protect Tameside’s children and young people, from the evils of tobacco marketing.

This laudable submission, they said, was in order to promote good health in our borough, to support the reduction of local rates of smoking, and to protect children and adults from tobacco harm.

Now we all know that introducing policies in ‘the public interest’ can be a vague thing, which shifts under competing values, with each of us interpreting the message through our own moral standards. But in this case; according to the council’s own recorded minutes, the full council membership resolved to accept this substantive motion. 

Therefore, councillors, it falls on all of you, regardless of position or political persuasion, to demonstrate a degree of ethical leadership.

It’s all very well spouting ones ethical beliefs in public and erecting a tent and running a poster painting competition for local school children in order to garner a few column inches in the local paper, but the true test of ethical leadership is what transpires, when and if, those beliefs are fully applied. Belief is one thing; actions are another. While many councillors claim to be acting in the public interest, their inaction in areas that matter, shows they are not. In fact, in some cases, their behaviour shows them to be the very opposite of what they claim to be.

If that was not the case, perhaps those fine upstanding moralists could tell us why the council are still investing millions of pounds of their pension funds, in tobacco companies? Where is the ethical leadership recommending the exclusion of these toxic companies from the fund’s investment portfolio? Where are the examples of social responsibility that councillors tell us exists in Tameside?

Despite the fact that smoking is now widely accepted as a severe and potentially fatal health risk, why hasn’t the managers of the MBC/GMPF changed its investment practices and divested themselves of their unethical stocks?
 
Surely, if Tameside council claim that they have a moral duty to try to help cut smoking rates across the borough, how can it be ethical to spend taxpayers money running a ‘Smokefree’ event, if at the same time, they are sinking over £45million of their pension fund, in tobacco companies like, Imperial Tobacco, Philip Morris, BAT, and Japan Tobacco, to name but a few? 

Why haven’t these councillors lobbied the Council Leaders to change their investment practices? 

As is becoming habitual for this duplicitous council and its leaders, they show a great ability talk a good social justice talk, but, when it comes to doing something about it, their commitment to a social, moral or environmentally responsible agenda, is often found severely lacking.

There also appears to be a similar story concerning the acceptable levels of air pollution, and the councils monitoring standards.

It’s really not acceptable Tameside council declaring that improving healthy life expectancy, reducing the burden of chronic disease, promoting a healthy start in life and tackling the determinants of health deaths from heart disease and respiratory disease, as their priority, whilst, simultaneously they continue to invest and promote in unethical companies, purely to boost their dividends. 

But there again, what would today's 'Champagne Socialists' know about the Labour party’s political ethos of “putting people before profits?”

To say that these investments are subjective, (a word that Tameside bosses use to avoid answering criticism) simply isn't good enough. We expect our council to invest our money responsibly, in companies which make the world a better place rather than a worse one. 

"Cig's are bad for you, but good for me"

So, whilst Cllr Lynn Travis publicly tells us, “It’s a really positive step towards protecting the health of our children.” In private, she is in full support of a council who are damaging our children, by investing their money in the purveyors of cancer!

Perhaps Cllr Travis and those other holier than thou individuals who publicly stated their unfaltering ethical beliefs regarding the tobacco industry and its effect on public health; should now, 11 months after delivering their steadfast resolution; tell us specifically just what they have done to protect Tameside’s children and adults from tobacco harm, and explain why they have not followed up on their adherence to their ethical beliefs; published a copy of the CEO’s letter and any response they may have had from The Secretary of State for Health.

Alternatively, in the light of inaction (other than arranging face-painting and giving away a few balloons) being members of a council who controls; and year on year directs millions of pounds in investments into an industry that thrives on nicotine addiction and human weakness; should now offer to do the honourable thing and resign on principle?

However, when one is pulling in over £32k in councillor allowances, it really doesn't seem likely, does it?