Labour Group leader calls for Greens to step aside to allow a cross-party caretaker administration to take control of the council for the remaining sixteen months of the present administration.
Councillor Warren Morgan, leader of the Labour and Co-operative Group on the Council said on hearing about the proposed rise: “It is the basic duty of a council administration to set a budget. The Greens have absolved themselves of that responsibility, and put forward a 4.75% council tax increase that they know will not be supported by opposition parties at Council or by the public in a referendum. We cannot support such a huge increase when people are finding hard to meet rising bills. Instead they have handed the responsibility of dealing with the cuts to others.They cannot now remain in office playing these political games rather than running the city effectively.. I am calling on the Greens to resign and allow a cross-party caretaker administration to run the council till the elections in 400 days.”
All three Labour Party parliamentary candidates have come out in support of the Labour leaders call. Peter Kyle – Hove & Portslade, Nancy Platts – Brighton Kemptown & Peacehaven and Purna Sen – Brighton Pavilion have issued a joint statement.
The statment reads: “It shames our city that the Green Party’s answer to the cost of living crisis that so many residents talk to us about is an inflation-busting tax rise. The resulting referendum in Brighton and Hove would spend money that should be used elsewhere. If this goes ahead the Greens must set out how much it is costing tax payers.
“People in Brighton and Hove are already being hit hard by the cost of living crisis that this Tory/Lib Dem Government has failed to address. Now we have a local Green administration that doesn’t have any answers except a referendum. People on the doorstep are telling us that they have to make tough financial choices every day but the Green Party has shown it is not capable of doing the same.
“We are fully behind the Labour Group’s No Confidence motion, the Greens have shown they are struggling to cope and therefore it’s time for them to hand over responsibility so the people of Brighton and Hove can get the services and support they deserve.”
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