Leadership at Northumberland County Council

It’s coming to the end of a long and winding road for the leadership at Northumberland County Council.
The road over the last few years have been littered with cock-ups, poor management of their best resource – Labour councillors, and oh yes simple bad luck, but we make our own luck to large extent don’t we.

This blog has never attacked or criticised the hard working councillors as we have always considered them to be the lions led by the proverbial donkeys – although it has to be said the lions elected the donkeys into the position they now find themselves.

We have found that the average councillor at NCC has been kept in the dark an awful lot over the true meaning of a single unitary county.

Let’s forget for a moment all the discussion over the practicalities of changing to two unitaries, even your own officers are saying they are more than viable.

Let’s forget the leadership for a while.

A bid for a single council is now doomed – it does not have broad support.
A bid for two unitary councils has the support of the people of Northumberland and all four MPs – it’s a rarity to get a consensus from two MPs let alone four from all different parties.
Even your reluctant ‘support’ from the likes of the NECC and the Police are shrouded in so many caveats as to be useless, we even here that two of the ‘supporters’ are withdrawing their names
I believe the Director of the NECC from Durham said it all when he said he is ‘minded to support Mark Henderson’s plans.’

Where does that lead you all?

The district councillors amongst you have had several opportunities to affect their bid and support it, and they have supported it in droves. It has messages of support from all quarters coming in daily.

The only common ground, if any, is that your leader cannot work with other councils – he has said so to the papers.

Two tier government does not work in Northumberland. The national Government says it is going.
The leaders at County Hall are still at this late stage trying to push their bid through to stay exactly the same – a continuing authority.

He has used the County to promulgate his own personal views whilst denying you the rights to a full consultation.
Where have we heard that before, how many times have the public been complaining of lack of consultation – now it hits home does it not.
When did the County party discuss this or even meet???

The single bid will go nowhere, if it did, as your own councillors have said, in the papers, it will be a hung council.
With the Tories and Liberals in charge that would leave a Labour wasteland from the River Tyne to Scotland – is that the legacy you want to leave?

THERE IS ANOTHER OPTION – YOU ALL HAVE A CHOICE

Whilst everyone recognises for some it would mean a loss of substantial allowances, this can be mitigated by working with the party in South East Northumberland.

By withdrawing support for the single unitary YOU can ensure a smooth transition and not the fight that your officers are predicting with the county trying to battle their way through a High Court case.

So far you have been denied a chance to debate, even at this time Cllrs Brooks and Hillman have tried to put this through without a vote – the Liberals and Tories have stopped them dead in their tracks, that’s even after the dynamic duo tried to negotiate with the other parties – you weren’t told about that were you?

There will be no massive support at County Hall on Monday that is another reason for the single option not going anywhere.

AND NOW we come to a certain whips letter, telling you that you cannot have a conscience, dire consequences, you cannot stand for district!!!!

Do you really want to part of a council that rules by fear, where hypocrites are preferred to councillors with integrity?
The electorate will never accept people who vote both ways at once, neither will the press.

After all the furore you have a choice – support the single option and step into oblivion, or vote with your head and heart.
The choice is yours.