The Leader of the Opposition and of the Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, Cllr Howard Sykes MBE, expressed his disappointment at a Labour move to gag and silence the Lib Dems from two important motions at tonight’s Council meeting.
Cllr Sykes said: “At the instigation of the Council Leader and the Labour Group, the Lib Dem Group was tonight gagged. We were informed less than two hours before the start of Full Council that, at the request of the Council Leader, our motions on free prescriptions for people with long-term illnesses and on lowering the drink driving limit would be ruled out of order, by the Mayor.”
“Labour claimed that the two motions were not constitutional because they were not about “some matter over which the Council has a direct influence” and that they are of no relevance to the business of Oldham Council. Council legal opinion differed. Despite this, the Mayor agreed to the Leader’s demand.”
“So according to the Labour Administration, Oldham Council has no business in trying to improve the lives of Oldham residents who live with long-term medical conditions or in preventing further needless deaths from drinking and driving in the Borough. This view is totally contradictory to the responsibilities and legal duties placed on Oldham Council to promote public health and to maintain road safety, so these motions surely fall within the Council’s constitutional remit.”
“According to Labour, Oldham Council can have no influence in changing Government policy on these matters; yet Council Leader Cllr McMahon was happy to work with me to support our Council making representations to Government to grant local authorities more powers to restrict betting shops on our High Street and to continue to allow camera cars to monitor poor parking at school gates. Both of these have been successful campaigns, in part because of the ‘direct influence’ of Oldham Council. If we follow Labour’s logic, the Council should not be lobbying Government ministers for anything.”
“We are not so naïve as to say that passing these motions will in themselves change Government policy – if only we were so influential – but the Lib Dems do have more faith that Oldham Council with other local authorities and the Local Government Association can together bring about change.”
Cllr Sykes added: “The deadline for submission of motions was Friday 3 July. At no point since that time has Labour or staff from the Council’s Legal and Democratic Services Team raised any objections to either motion. The article has never been used in this manner before, and certainly Labour has had many motions that could be deemed to be outside of the scope.”
“For example, in September of last year Labour proposed a motion objecting to the Transatlantic Trade and Agreement Partnership (TTAP). This is an international trade treaty being negotiated between the European Union and the United States of America. Did the Lib Dems object to bringing this motion? No, because we felt that it was an issue that was worth debating, despite it having no direct relevance to the people of Oldham, in application of Labour’s interpretation of the rules.”
Cllr Sykes added: “Council legal opinion was that the motions did meet the ‘scope’ requirement. This is yet another example of the Labour Administration attempting to stifle the effectiveness of the Opposition in raising issues of legitimate concern to the people of Oldham Borough or in challenging their actions. Last time, Labour cut our questions, now they are seeking to cut our right to propose motions. Who knows maybe next time they will be meeting separately from the Opposition and taking all of the decisions in our absence.”