LABOUR REFUSES TO 'MUCK AROUND' WITH ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR PROPOSALS AMID LIB DEM CRITICISM

Liberal Democrat councillors have rounded on the Labour bosses of Cambridge City Council for their cursory dismissal of proposals to improve the management of anti-social behaviour.

This follows Labour Leader Cllr Mike Davey saying in the council’s budget debate yesterday that he couldn’t “muck around with things that may not be significant to the council as a whole”.

The Liberal Democrats had brought forward proposals to double the number of Community Action days to reduce fly-tipping, increase environmental patrols, fund noise cameras to deter noisy road racers, ban mopeds, motorcycles and unlicensed e-scooters from paths on council open spaces, and start planning a replacement for the city’s worst public toilets on Jesus Green. All proposals were easily funded within the council’s budget strategy.

Their leader Cllr Tim Bick said:

“It was incredible to see the proposals we put on the table just swatted away like this. It is an insult to the the many people who have wanted the council to do more about the kind of nuisances that harms their quality of life. It is not ‘mucking around' to expect the council to take these proposals seriously.

“Cllr Davey said he had more difficult decisions to deal with. But what is more important for city councillors than doing what we can to help people with this sort of thing? Perhaps it is reconciling the two wings of the Labour Party over their Middle East policy? We heard a shovel-load of synthetic, hastily concocted and ill-informed objections to literally everything we proposed, and no willingness to engage in them seriously. I don’t think residents of the city will be very impressed with this complacency. 

“We value cross-party working in the interests of the city, but in practice with Labour that appears to be just one-way traffic and the public just loses out from this macho tribal behaviour.”