“Tories and Labour unite to condemn low paid staff to pay cuts” Cllr Glynane

The Leader of the Official Liberal Democrat Opposition at County Hall, Cllr Brendan Glynane, has attacked both the Conservatives and Labour after a Liberal Democrat call to protect Council staff earning under the "Living Wage" (£7.45 per hour) from being forced to take a pay cut. The motion from the Liberal Democrat group would have protected 1373 low paid staff from having their pay cut if it had been passed.

Cllr Glynane said "I was appalled at the behaviour of both the Conservatives and Labour yesterday. The Tories not only didn't support our calls to protect low paid staff but tried to use their majority to shut down democratic debate amongst all Councillors on how our staff should be treated. Officers work for the whole Council and Councillors have a right to express a view about how they treat their employees, especially the lowest paid. The Conservatives have already cut down the number of Council meetings to avoid being held to account - now they want to shut down any debate at all."

"Nevertheless, whilst I did not hold out much hope that the Conservatives would back our calls to protect low paid staff, I did not expect the Labour party to refuse to join us. Labour's actions in sitting on their hands shows how far they have come from the party of the working poor. I suppose I should not be too surprised - after all the gap between the rich and poor grew massively in their 13 years of Government and they doubled tax on the lowest paid by abolishing the 10p rate."

"Yet I still held out hope that they would behave responsibly and ditch their usual approach in the Council Chamber of the last two years, which has been to single out the fellow opposition Councillors in the Liberal Democrats, rather than to hold the Conservative administration to account. Clearly their ideological hatred of the Liberal Democrats is of greater importance to them than protecting 1373 hard-working, low paid people from pay cuts."

"The Labour party have failed in their duty as an opposition party and yet again let the Conservatives off the hook. One can only wonder if this is a precursor to a cosy Labour/Tory coalition at County Hall after the next elections."