Town Hall Madness!

No sooner had I finished complaining about the excesses of the socialist elite who are running local councils across the country than the Daily Mail detailed the depths to which some of them are sinking. You can read it here. It is quite clear that these councils are waging a war against the Coalition government and are quite prepared to make the public suffer to make a political point.

They are beginning to make the MPs look like amateurs in the manner that the socialist councillors and officers are helping themselves to public money. At one time if a councillor or an officer spent money unwisely they could be surcharged and the District Auditor would stringently monitor the expenditure of councils.

Clearly that is not the case in our modern society. We all know that IPSA ensures that the expenses claims of MPs are genuine and necessary but who is monitoring the councillors? If they are going to play this dangerous political game then they have to be censored and the government should set them targets to protect the public.

If a council such as Manchester City Council has proven themselves to be irresponsible then the government should step in to ensure that the public have toilets, libraries, homes for the elderly, swimming pools and decent transport. That is why we pay council tax. I have no objection to paying good officers a reward for good management but firstly they must reach an acceptable target. The attitude of Manchester is crass. We have got to find a way to punish them severely for letting their electorate down even though their concrete brained electorate probably deserve their fate!

The point is that there has to be a minimum standard beyond which councils are not allowed to fall. The Coalition should now fight back, establish that minimum standard and then come down like a ton of bricks if these idiots don't achieve it. It is called government.