Proposed by Councillor Ann McLachlan

Seconded by Councillor Denise Roberts

(1) This Council condemns the Conservative “do nothing” approach to politics both nationally and locally.

(2) Council notes that:

this is the bankrupt Conservative policy that left our schools run down and dilapidated, our children without books to learn from or materials to work with and teachers demoralised and exhausted with large class sizes;

this is the bankrupt Conservative policy that slashed affordable house building programmes and sold off the nation’s stock without replacing it;

this is the bankrupt Conservative policy that preached that wealth would “trickle down” from the richest in society to the poorest;

this is the bankrupt Conservative policy whose non-intervention saw the highest levels of unemployment ever.

(3) Council believes that the only thing the Conservatives have learnt from their period in the wilderness is how to create a new wilderness, both locally and nationally.

(4) Council therefore condemns local and national policies that seek to persuade the electorate that in a time of economic difficulty nothing need change and no intervention is necessary, and which promise to do what they believe will gain them votes while making plans to cut the very finances that would be needed to deliver on those promises.

(5) Council believes, with regret, that ultimately Conservative politics will always be dominated by the in-built drive to protect those in positions of privilege at the expense of the more vulnerable in society.

Amendment submitted in accordance with Standing Order 7(2):

Proposed by Councillor Green (7 minutes)

Seconded by Councillor Mrs Rennie (3 minutes)

Delete all after ‘This Council’ in paragraph (1) and substitute the following:

(1)  ……is surprised that, in the Notice of Motion that this amendment seeks to change, the Labour Group has chosen to accuse Conservatives locally and nationally of doing nothing and notes with interest the comments of Frank Field MP:

“Week after week MPs have been turning up but with almost no serious work to do. There is the odd bill, to be sure. But there is no legislative programme to speak of. Even the debates that are put on to fill in time are ones that deny MPs a vote. The whole exercise is vacuous.

Labour MPs are left staring into the abyss - that nothingness of Harold Wilson's statement. There is a wish amongst all sections of the PLP for the government to start governing. We wouldn't care too much whether the ideas were Blairite or non-Blairite, as long as we could give the impression of supporting a government that was using the next year to mark out why we should stay in office.”

(2) Council is also surprised that the Notice of Motion that this amendment seeks to change uses the word ‘bankrupt’ four times when even Vince Cable has pointed out that Labour has lost its moral authority, that economic failure has killed the New Labour brand. Just as good banks are being separated from bad banks, there is a separation in progressive politics, and Labour is the bad bank with a legacy of toxic policies and failed management.

(3) Council believes that:

(i) whatever the Budget spin, Gordon Brown can’t get away from the fact that he has run out of money and saddled Wirral families with massive debt. Only months ago, the Prime Minister was calling for huge extra spending, but he has had his credit card ripped up by the Governor of Bank of England.  Council is therefore drawn to the conclusion that, like every other Labour government, this one has run out of money, and no amount of spin can cover it up.

(ii) the e-mails from No 10 Downing Street show a terrible misappropriation of Government time when the country is struggling to get through a recession. It makes it look like the priority of the team around Gordon Brown is not about saving jobs but is instead about saving the Prime Minister’s skin, and, in the words of Chris Hulne:

“The Prime Minister doesn’t get that British politics needs more than tinkering, it needs to be fundamentally fixed.”

(4) Council expresses the hope that the Labour Party locally disavows smearing its opponents and spinning its activities to Wirral residents and will demand that the Labour Party nationally does the same.

(5) Council calls on the Wirral Labour Group to abandon their juvenile tactics and start using its opportunities to put down Notices of Motion in the Council Chamber to highlight issues of concern to Wirral residents and offer suggestions on how to improve their quality of life.

Having applied the guillotine in accordance with Standing Order 7(8), the Council did not debate this matter.

The amendment was put and lost (24:36) (One abstention). The motion was put and carried (36:24). (One abstention).

Resolved (36:24:1) –

(1) This Council condemns the Conservative “do nothing” approach to politics both nationally and locally.

(2) Council notes that:

this is the bankrupt Conservative policy that left our schools run down and dilapidated, our children without books to learn from or materials to work with and teachers demoralised and exhausted with large class sizes;

this is the bankrupt Conservative policy that slashed affordable house building programmes and sold off the nation’s stock without replacing it;

this is the bankrupt Conservative policy that preached that wealth would “trickle down” from the richest in society to the poorest;

this is the bankrupt Conservative policy whose non-intervention saw the highest levels of unemployment ever.

(3) Council believes that the only thing the Conservatives have learnt from their period in the wilderness is how to create a new wilderness, both locally and nationally.

(4) Council therefore condemns local and national policies that seek to persuade the electorate that in a time of economic difficulty nothing need change and no intervention is necessary, and which promise to do what they believe will gain them votes while making plans to cut the very finances that would be needed to deliver on those promises.

(5) Council believes, with regret, that ultimately Conservative politics will always be dominated by the in-built drive to protect those in positions of privilege at the expense of the more vulnerable in society.