Quote:
Originally Posted by andrewb
As you well know it's a private members bill, not that of the Conservative party. It's not up to David Cameron whether to 'allow' it. You know that the national Conservatives under David Cameron support the minimum wage, and you know that the local Conservatives in Hyndburn do too. The motion was nothing more than posturing as Mr Britcliffe put it.
It's quite rich that in today's climate the Labour party would accuse anybody of not understanding public opinion!
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Andrew I am quite aware it is a private members bill, but I fail to see why David Cameron has not condemned it, if he does in fact support the minimum wage.
I can assure you that the motion was not posturing and as you were not responsible for writing the motion, you can only hazard your wild (and inaccurate) guesses as to the motives of the Labour Group. The members of the Labour Group feel very passionate about the minimum wage.
Peter Britcliffe has not always supported the minimum wage - I asked a question at a public meeting (in Accrington Town Hall) of all the candidates (seeking election to Parliament for Hyndburn) in the 1997 general. I asked if the candidates supported the introduction of a minimum wage and whether they were prepared to work for £2.50 an hour (which was the wage quoted for a job that had appeared in the Observer the previous weekend). All the candidates - with the exception of Peter Britcliffe- supported the intoductionof a national minimum wage.
Also, as you were at last night's meeting maybe you would like to tell everyone, how Peter Britcliffe changed the Constitution of Hyndburn Borough Council to appoint a Chairperson to chair meetings of Full Council, instead of the Mayor. This demeans the role of the Mayor and reduces them to a mere figurehead. Maybe you agree, with members of Hyndburn Borough Council only being informed of important changes to the constitution being presented to them as they enter the Council chamber for the meeting. A similar thing also occured at the last Council meeting, when the spending for the Civic Theatre was brought to the meeting as a late item. Cllr Dave Parkin was quite correct last night when he said that we were being subjected to the 'Britcliffe Bulldozer'.