I know that Sompting is the other side of the river from me, but we're all part of Adur, and so I should be inclusive even if our local Tories seem to have a problem with lovely little leafy Sompting.
This week saw the "resignation" of three councillors from Sompting Parish Council, along with a selection of Loughton based digs about it being like "Dibley Parish Council", (which although fictional, was Tory controlled).
Here's the "resignation" letter, (explanation for quotes to come). Find it here.
Well, obviously when the entire Tory contingent of any organisation ceases to be active, this is a cause for celebration, but just like everything else Tory, this is not quite as simple as it first appears (or as they wish it to appear).
You see, just like when Loughton claimed to have "sacked" me as a constituent, even though he had no ability to do so, these councillors are essentially doing the same thing, except rather than resigning, one of them had already been de selected by the council (for not bothering to ever turn up) and the other two were in the process of the same, so one of them resigned after he was sacked and the other two resigned because they were about to be sacked. They didn't tell you that did they?
The whole thing stinks of the standard Tory spin machine, (the only thing about the Tories that is truly transparent), but people of Sompting should really think about what actually happened here.
Three councillors have, after not bothering to attend meetings for a period of more than six months, deserted their posts and their constituents, be that by their choice or the electoral commissions rules.
These three, are as far as I am aware, standing in the May elections despite clearly only being interested in being councillors in an environment which is controlled by their fellow party members, as Sompting is the only council within Adur that is not controlled by a Tory majority and also the only one not chaired by a Tory. Draw from that what you will, I don't do spin, just honesty and allowing people to judge for themselves after being given all of the facts.
Like everything else spread by the local Tories, they are only giving you half of the story, like the claimed "above inflation" increase in SPCs precept, yes, this may be above inflation but as it is such a tiny percentage of the overall council tax bill, this increase will equate to pennies over the year in real terms. They forget to tell you that these councillors also sit on Lancing Parish Council, the council that Loughton claimed in Parliament a couple of months back, had increased their precept by 28% last year. This increase was approved by these same councillors, who are now attempting to lambast another council for a smaller increase than the one they had instigated 12 months previous. But they wouldn't tell you that either.
I think they must enjoy giving us a laugh, because after complaining that they don't like other councillors taking the rise out of the fact that they're barely out of short trousers, and likening the meetings to children's birthday parties, they counter these problems by taking their ball and running off home to tell Timmy all about how mean the bigger kids are being to them. I think they proved their point well, don't you?
Remember the names though, because if they are successful in their attempts to make Adur District Council, how can you be sure that they won't have another hissy fit and desert the role of district councillor with as little care as they have deserted the role of parish councillor, they obviously are only there to further their own interests and not ours.
TTFO
I CBM
