'He’s jealous': Telford & Wrekin Council leader hits back at Shrewsbury MP in abolition row
The leader of Telford & Wrekin Council has accused Shrewsbury's Conservative MP of bully boy tactics over his calls for the abolition of the authority.
Shaun Davies, leader of Labour Telford & Wrekin Council, was reacting to Shrewsbury & Atcham MP Daniel Kawczynski's comments demanding that the authority is scrapped – with the entire of Shropshire being covered by one council instead.
It is not the first time Mr Kawczynski has suggested the move, but the latest remarks have sparked a stinging response, with politicians across the town wading into the issue.
The town's Conservative MP Lucy Allan questioned the suggestion, asking how Mr Kawczynski would react to her calling for Shropshire Council to be scrapped, but she also criticised the council's Labour administration for creating an "aggressive, hostile and highly politicised environment".
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Nicola Lowery, chairman of Telford Conservative Association has also had her say, insisting that the group does not share their Shropshire party colleague's view.
The issue has provoked strong feelings in the past, with preventing any merger being one of Telford & Wrekin Labour Group's key pledges in the recent local elections.
Councillor Davies has now accused the Shrewsbury Conservative of jealousy over the performance of Telford's council.
He said: “This MP has long sought our merger with Shropshire Council and I can only assume it is because he wants to rob Telford and Wrekin residents to pay for Shropshire Council and sort its problems out.
“Just look at what Telford & Wrekin Council has – a balanced budget for many years, lower council tax, free swimming for under 18s, state of the art schools and recreation facilities, high quality transport network, a thriving town centre, a buoyant housing market, great partnership working with all sectors and a borough that is a magnet for business investment including one of the biggest foreign direct investments in the country in the last decade. I’m not surprised he’s jealous.
“In local elections, only one month ago a key issue we committed to was no merger with Shropshire and the electorate responded by returning this administration with the biggest majority in 16 years.
“These bully boy tactics are an affront to the people of the borough and to local democracy. We are much better off out of Shropshire and have been for the last 21 years. The will of the people must be respected and we would fight any such move tooth and nail.”
However Ms Allan, while insisting that Telford was better off with its own council, also questioned the manner of political debate generated by the current council administration, and its ability to engage with government.
She said: “Telford Labour has created an aggressive, hostile and highly politicised environment on the council. At almost every council meeting a small clique of Labour councillors bizarrely attack the borough’s elected MPs for the sole reason that they are not Labour. It is exceptional for local Government to behave in this way and deeply unhelpful in promoting Telford’s interests."
She added: "The politicised conduct of Telford Labour on the council has the consequence that no one in authority or in central government takes notice of what they say. They completely undermine their own credibility.
“We have excellent council officers in Telford doing their best for the people of our borough and of course we must have our own council to represent our area. We are so different from leafy affluent Shropshire and have very different needs.”
Ms Lowery said: "A merger between Telford & Wrekin Council and Shropshire Council would have a significantly detrimental impact on local democracy and service delivery.
“There is no evidence to suggest that a merger will provide stronger strategic and local leadership which any proposal to the Secretary of State on local government structure would need to evidence”.
“Any application to the Secretary of State would also have to command a good deal of local support across the whole area of the proposal, which would see this scheme if ever submitted ultimately fail as it would likely receive little support from residents here in Telford.
“Any unitary proposals should truly be locally-driven, voluntary and bottom-up and there is evidence to suggest that people feel more removed from local decision-making if the units of democracy are bigger.
“Whilst neighbouring MPs are entitled to their views I can categorically confirm that these views do not represent the views of the Conservative Party nor the views of many residents living here in Telford.”
