Standing on sidelines is poppycock

Independent, Hipperholme and Lightcliffe

Ibelieve that democracy works and that the electorate never make mistakes. We always get the government, national and local, that can therefore rule. I also believe, that when elected, you should use whatever power and influence the electorate have given you to best represent those who elected you. This year the five Liberal Democrats on Calderdale Council have decided they will not use this power. They say that they will not do a deal with either Labour or Conservatives to form a stable coalition, but will rather stand on the sidelines and let a minority administration stumble on without the certainty needed for stable, long term planning. What are their motives? The deputy leader, Coun James Baker, says they could not But wait, after annual council, when all the positions of authority are handed out, the five Liberal Democrats have two scrutiny chairs (both paid) and their leader, Coun Janet Battye, is chair of the hugely important Health and Wellbeing Board. Why are they still saying no deal has been done? It couldn’t be that in the general election the Liberal Democrats were hammered for going into a coalition in the last government, could it? Could this decision be influenced by the fact that three of the five surviving Liberal Democrats are up for election next year and see better chances for themselves if it seems they haven’t done a deal. So they maintain no deal has been done. My Auntie Joyce, who lives in Morley, says: “If it looks like a fish and smells like a fish, there is definitely something fishy going on.”