

Conservatives |
8068 | 26.65% |
|---|---|---|
UKIP |
7383 |
24.38% |
Labour |
4559 |
15.06% |
Lib/Dems |
3100 |
10.24% |
BNP |
2832 |
9.35% |
Greens |
1815 |
6.0% |
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Grimsby Labour Party |
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Grimsby Labour Party 19/6/09 |
Council fails to support The Grimsby Telegraph Most newspapers have been struggling in recent years, and more especially now because of reduced advertising income. Yet the Council chose this time to stop giving much of their advertising to the Grimsby Telegraph. The Telegraph is an important part of our local community. By its action the Council is failing the community as well as the Telegraph. To see Austin Mitchell's letter click here.
Votes for the main parties:
This is obviously a very poor result for Labour. An interesting fact is that if these results in percentage terms had been the same at regional level, UKIP would have had two MEPs and the BNP none. The overall consequence will be a reduction of British influence in the parliament, especially if the Conservatives do leave the main centre right group as planned. For further information about the Parliament click here, and for comments about the UK and the EU click here. MEPs Salaries and Expenses With the present row over MPs' expenses still in full flow, we can only watch in horror. Trivial abuses have got mixed up with the more serious. Taking expert advice provides no mitigation. Legal tax avoidance, which is mostly what MPs have indulged in, has long been generally accepted as the sensible thing to do. Let us hope that the public attitude will now change, and that more will be done to crack down on such abuses, first of all on the use of tax havens. Budget Reactions Too much emphasis is being put on forecasts. Economic forecasts are never wholly accurate, and in the present very uncertain times they amount to little more than indications of how the economy may develop, especially forecasts for some years ahead. The total level of government debt should not in itself be a matter of great concern. It has been higher than presently anticipated in the past and for quite long periods. The level of debt of many individuals, however, may well be a burden for some years. The present recession is more serious and will probably last longer than many people think. An early significant turn round seems unlikely. On the other hand, the actions of our own and other governments have hopefully limited its depth. The government's stimulus may have been too little rather than too much.
Political Control of the CouncilWe in the Labour Party watch with interest the Liberals and Tories falling out. The Council is now being run jointly by the Lib/Dems and Tories. The Tories do not just give lip service support at full council meetings. They have four members in the nine member cabinet. So they must take their share of responsibility when things go wrong. Labour Councillors well remember when their leaders were blamed for council failures that they were not directly responsible for. And their transgressions were small beer in comparison with the situation facing North East Lincs Council today. But in our democracy the politicians in charge take the blame if they are in control. In our Icelandic fiasco nobody is saying that councillors themselves should have been investing the Council's money but they should certainly have woken up and smelt the coffee after many national warnings that the bubble might burst. Tory Councillors must also take some blame for the loss of the £7 millions. Come the Council's annual meeting in May, will the Tories and Lib/Dems continue to work together in a coalition ? If not, what then ? More Money for the CouncilThe Government are giving the North East Lincs Council £405,731, an unexpected addition to all other grants for the year. It is not ring-fenced i.e. it is not provided for a particular purpose, although the government's intention is that it should go to help those suffering from the recession. So how will it be used? One source informs us that it is scheduled for buying more CCTV surveillance. We hope this is not true. There is a much more urgent need for extending advice services or retraining. We will wait and see. Financial Crisis Deepens - 2009
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Grimsby Labour
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