They’ve got the money for this!

It pleads poverty when necessary, refused a grant to Canterbury’s Pride festival and is to double the council tax paid by the poorest people in the district. But when it comes to rewarding its own, Canterbury City Council has the cash for a champagne reception and gold trinkets to recognise former councillors as honorary aldermen. The timing, however, couldn’t have been worse. At the meeting of the full council on January 5 the Conservative-controlled authority voted through a decision to reduce council tax benefit for the very poorest people in Canterbury, Herne Bay and Whitstable.

Four days later, the Canterbury area member panel – comprised of members of all three main parties – turned down a bid for £1,000 from the organisers of the Pride festival, which last year drew thousands of people into the city.

And then a week ago, the full council met again for an evening of ceremony in the Guildhall in which 25 former councillors received a certificate and a £175 gold-coloured medal.

The council revealed that all the parties supported the creation of aldermen – including opposition councillors who while railing against cuts are content to see money spent on champagne and trinkets.

It shows that despite their divisions, politicians of all colours tend towards collective thinking when it comes to congratulating their own.

That is not to say congratulation is undeserved. Councillors are essentially volunteers on small allowances. Most work hard in the service of their wards and the wider district.

But to choose to reward former members with champagne and medals courtesy of the taxpayer in the middle of the worst local funding crisis ever known in local government is incredibly poor timing.