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| Disgraced Cllr Swaine |
The first awful decision was for huge cuts in services. The cuts run from reducing grass cutting on verges, so you won't be able to see around the corners when you are turn, to a huge reduction in the services for schools.
The Education budget are truely shocking, these are a couple of the highlights which amount to cuts totalling £3.8m
- Cutting funds for the Connexions service, so if you are a teenager, like my children, you won't get any support.
- Cutting support for schools so they won't get the support they need to help Park's children.
- 33% increase in the costs of Council after school clubs.
These cuts were opposed by the Labour councillors, however the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats pushed them through. After taking their first henious decision they moved from their attack on hard working families, like yours and mine to defending disgraced Liberal Democrat Cllr Swaine. You may remember that he had already resigned from the cabinet because of his racist Tweets.
The Labour group brought a motion to Council demanding that in the spirit of Reading Declaration disgraced Cllr Swaine do the decent thing and resign. This was callously voted down by the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats and Swaine survived to fight another day.
Two awful decisions, a bad night for Reading, however the story wasn't completely over.
The Liberal Democrats nationally decided that enough is enough and have suspended Cllr Swaine. This seems to raise an interesting question, with Swaine suspended, does this mean he is still a Liberal Democrat councillor? If he isn't does the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition have a majority? I don't know but its fun to speculate.
So as Oliver Cromwell said, "You have sat too long here for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go."
