Cats out of Bags

[fred c]

If i had been hounded out of the Political Party that i had supported & worked hard for over the years i think i would have felt the same as Cllrs Hargreaves & Brash, they have been ostracised & vilified by former labour colleagues & consequently provoked the following comments from Cllr Hargreaves.

Cllr Hargreaves commented: "I was part of the Labour Group for 10 years so I know the level of deviousness and spite that my ex-colleagues are capable of but this is a new level of petty politics. Refusing to let us make a positive contribution to the running of the town is yet another example of how they are intent on stifling any form of debate and disagreement and shows just how frightened they are of being challenged." "What makes me most sad about this whole situation is when you consider the actual reasons for their petty display - standing up for the public's right to ask questions of their representatives and defending the rights of workers to be paid at least the minimum wage. These are both one-time Labour principles that I, for one, am still proud to stand up for. I sincerely hope that the small group of self-interested Councillors who seem to have put themselves forward for every committee can manage 100% attendance over the next year, otherwise their attempt to  effectively 'ban' me from taking part in the democratic process will look even more shameful.'

She is absolutely right to voice those concerns & i have to admit the pair of them shot up in my estimation after the Amendment they made about Public Questions, I have to say though, that if it was me that had been Sha* On from a great height, i would be inclined to loosen the string on the "Bag That Contains The Cats"

[steveL]

Both Hargreaves and Brash come with a certain amount of baggage. Hargreaves, for example, once famously told us all that the Transport Interchange would do much to improve the employment prospects of the town while Brash played a big part in the fiddle to get Mandelson his Freedom of the Borough.

In addition, there will always be the question as to why both were apparently content to live with the spite and pettiness they now speak of for so long; the suggested implication being that such things were tolerable so long as the intrepid pair were at the forefront of the group's activities.

Even so, we shouldn't be too churlish. This site will always support those who put principle and beliefs before party and no one can argue that they haven't done that - and at some cost to themselves.

Labour's stupidity, which ended with the pair leaving the group, has had the effect of halving the groups average IQ in one fell swoop.

It may have taken a while for them to see the light but a principled socialist certainly has a claim in helping to promote this town, as does anyone else from across the political spectrum prepared to say what they themselves think rather than party drones like Barclay who think what their party tells them to think.

Brash should be considering standing as an Independent or Independent Labour MP in 2015. He's bright and his gift for verbosity would prove useful for once and give the town a real voice in Westminster and, I suspect, in other national forums too. The Drummond affair has shown that the town is not averse to doing its own thing in such matters and Brash's stance on public accountability will have done him no harm at all with the electorate.

Let's face it, he couldn't do any worse than the greasy pole, climbing Wright whose two-faced manoevering over the hospital has shown everyone where his own loyalty lies - to himself.

He'd get my vote - and that's saying something from someone who has had no problem criticising him in the past. I certainly think he would give Wright a run for his money.

[marky]

Brash is known to have held long standing ambitions as such. Perhaps, now is his chance.

[norfolkngoode]

I have no allegiance to any party (I dislike them all), but I would consider voting for him if he stood. The clown we have as MP now is worse than Mandy, who did nowt for the town. Shighty will never do anything for us, hes in it for the money.

[Private Fraser]

Have to agree with Norfolk. We've had no real representation at Westminster since Ward Jackson! Go for it Brashy.