Wirral Tory leader Jeff Green gives his views on the Lib-Lab pact

Nov 5 2008 by Matt Hurst, Birkenhead News

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SIX months ago, Wirral’s local elections threatened to change the peninsula’s political map as the Lib-Lab pact appeared doomed by Conservative gains. In a series of interviews,Wirral News asks each partyleader how they view progress since the resurrection of the Lib-Lab pact, and the sidelining of Conservative hopes of power.

ON MAY 1, Conservative leader Cllr Jeff Green was buoyant, but his optimism was dashed when the Liberal Democrats rejoined Labour to oust the most successful party on the night.

Now, six months on from the reformation of the status quo, Cllr Green says the administration has “lost its way” and reveals his “shock” at the “breathtaking and shameless” U-turn executed by the Lib Dems.

The Conservative leader told the News: “We made an offer at the time to have a Conservative cabinet, rather than the situation now, where members of Labour and the Lib Dems chair scrutiny committees and scrutinise themselves, which cannot be proper.

“We would take cabinet and be scrutinised by Labour and the Lib-Dems, but that offer was turned down and the Labour party said they were not prepared to go into three party control.

“In reality, there was no opportunity for us to take power.

“What I continue to say to them is they should, even at this late stage, listen to what residents told them and stand aside.”

Cllr Green rallied against council cuts, saying the Lib-Lab pact had called the budget “robust and sustainable” going into elections, but was now slashing school crossings and Christmas light displays, as well as proposing charges for the ERIC service.

When the reformation of the Lib-Lab pact was mooted, Cllr Green said: “My response was shock.

“Maybe I was naive but I actually believed the leader of the Lib Dems when he said he wouldn’t go into administration with Labour.

“I was shocked when he then decided to ignore everything he’d said previously. It was breathtaking and shameless”

The Conservative leader said his party would continue to work to challenge spending cuts, wants car parking charges suspended and says small businesses should be paid within ten days for providing council services, not the 30 days currently in force.

Cllr Green added: “I believe we will gain more seats and the public will help put us in the position to make the change the council so desperately needs.”

Next week: Liberal Democrat leader Simon Holbrook.