Row erupts over ‘bribe’ allegations for top roles
THE leader of the Portsmouth Independents Party has been criticised for claiming that Labour and the Tories took bribes to reach an agreement that saw them elected to the majority of committee chairman positions.
The two groups voted together at Tuesday’s Portsmouth City Council annual general meeting to elect four councillors from each to the head of committees, including planning and licensing.
But Councillor George Madgwick, whose party’s partnership with the Liberal Democrats was consistently outvoted, described the opposing agreement as ‘mindblowing’.
Writing on Facebook, he said: ‘Labour have clearly taken a financial bribe from the Tories and vice versa.
‘The scrutiny panels are explainable. But their narrative of “we want to hold the administration to account” disappears when they are supporting each other on every one, including planning, licensing and fire [Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire & Rescue Authority] all of which has nothing to do with the administration.
‘Backhanders everywhere.’
His comments have drawn strong opposition from the leader of the council’s Conservative group, Cllr Simon Bosher, who dismissed the claim as ‘completely false’.
‘It’s fair to say that both us and Labour are equally incensed by what he’s said,’ Cllr Bosher said.
‘The things he wrote are a total and utter lie and I challenge him to prove them.
‘There's been no financial payment at all.’
Cllr Cal Corkery, the leader of the Labour group, said legal advice was being sought and did not wish to comment further.
But Cllr Madgwick has stood by his claim, citing the increased allowances city council chairmen receive.
These range from just under £3,000 to just over £4,000 and are added on top of the basic £11,684 each councillor receives each year.
‘Fundamentally there’s a financial benefit to what they’ve done,’ he said.
‘Two groups who said during the election campaign that they would not work together have done just that behind closed doors.’