The Labour leader of Ealing Council, Cllr Bell is well known for making wild claims without ever blushing or even blinking. This weeks piece is the Gazette is no exception.
Bell makes 4 claims, all of which are totally misleading and assume that the electorate is as thick as two planks.
Claim number one.
We have frozen Council tax now for three years in the face of unprecendented government cuts. What he leaves out of this is that the council tax freeze is paid for by the Conservative led coaliton. Any Council that keeps Council tax increases below 2.5% are given a grant to pay for the increase which doesn't then get passed on to council taxpayers.
Claim number two.
We are protecting frontline services despite a cut in government grant of £85m. The cut is actually closer to £55m. The other £30m is money that Labour have taken from one part of the Council, called it a government cut and then spent it elsewhere.
Claim number three.
We are spending over £260m on providing new school places, £18m on regenerating Acton and money on roads resurfacing and footpath maintenance.
Bell tells us that £103m of the £260m is from the Council, this is good money, but he fails to metion the £157m provided by the bad old Conservative led coalition. The £18m for Acton is £6m more than we set aside in 2010 for this project. How did the bill go up £6m.
He also forgets to mention that his administration is spending 40% less on roads and footpaths than we did when we ran the Council. What Bell leaves out basically is the truth and what he puts in is barely worthy of the name half truth.
Claim number four.
Bell claims that even after suffering terrible cuts from the terrible tories, service standards are higher. Anyone who looks out there window on their rubbish collection day or cycles or drives on our pot holed strewn roads, or rings the Council will tell you that their experience of the Council is not one that is improving.
Cllr Bell, stop talking rubbish, there is enough rubbish on our streets without us having to read your rubbish in the Gazette too.
See here for Bells article.