Manchester's Liberal Democrat Leader Coun Marc Ramsbottom slammed the decision by Labour's Town Hall bosses to remove long serving Moston Coun Henry Cooper from the Fire Authority, where he served as Vice Chairman, as spiteful and vindictive. The move comes after Coun Cooper resigned from the Labour Group over the Council's backing for a new stadium for FC United in his Moston ward.
"Coun Cooper has effectively been punished by Manchester Labour leaders for speaking his mind and standing up for local residents. The removal of him from the Fire Authority is a vindictive and spiteful act by Labour Leader Richard Leese and fellow Moston Coun Paul Murphy", said Coun Ramsbottom.
"Local residents living nearby have genuine concerns about the impact this stadium will have on their local area. Local councillors should be entitled to stand up and voice those concerns, even if the Council leadership don't agree, and should not be bullied into silence" he added.
what part of 'most Moston Residents want FC Uniteds stadium built on RJPF' do you not understand. Henry cooper lives at the top of broadhurst fields and does not want it for that reason, did he declare that to the planning committee when he opposed it? No, instead he represented the minority in the area and opposed it. Please get your facts right before spouting rubbish
ReplyDeleteI'd have thought FC United and their whole ethos would have fit right in with your 'big society'
ReplyDeleteWhat is most concerning is that when a Labour Cllr stands up for residents who disagree with the Labour Council's official line they are punished for it. How can that be good for Democracy and Accountability? I think John Leech said it well on his Blog about this subject (http://johnleechmp.wordpress.com/2012/03/29/cooper-knocked-out-by-leese/):
ReplyDelete"This is the problem when you remove opposition to Labour on the Council. They become unreasonable, and stop anyone who takes a different view to them from having an opinion."
Oh Mr Anonymous! since when are you not allowed to be opposed to something in your own ward then? Cooper stood by his principles at least. Yes, so what if its near his house its not directly opposite the proposed site though either, as i know where he lives. He's speaking for many of the 2000 and odd people who also wrote in to appeal against this ridiculous situation people have found themselves in. Its not fair and its the wrong site completely i mean a residential area next to an old folks home adjacent to a school, accident blackspot, church and cemetary too? I notice how you dont pass an opinion on whether the planning decision was the right one! If you did your homework you'd realise that for a so called cash strapped council so spend over 750k AND provide loan facilities for a semi pro club parading itself as a Co-op which then proceeds to ask its fans for 200 quid each and then systematically applies for every single ounce of funding going (to the detriment of anyone else who may need it doing community stuff in around Moston) is totally unethical. Then you find out theres a few wealthy bods (including a multi millionaire no less!!) on the board, a certain Scott Fletcher, then you may have some credibility. No doubt you are one of the council spies!! Well done Victor keep exposing this phoney bunch at Town Hall Ivory Towers...you really need to get hot on their trail now....
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