Kirsty is the Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats and as a wonderful sense of humour. I was in stitches at this bit.
Liberal principles urgently need to be brought back into Government. Outlining the need for bold, honest leadership,Click. Lib Dems? Lib Dems honest? Click. Article recalled from memory and a received email brought to top of stack. I know what Liberal principles are... and in a few minutes, so will you.
I remember reading this over on the Liberal Democrat site.
"The Courts do not take benefit fraud lightly and neither do we. We must ensure money goes where it is intended - to genuine claimants. And I urge anyone who suspects fraud to contact us without delay. All calls will be treated in strict confidence. Our investigators have a good track record in bringing the fraudsters to justice and their efforts will continue without let-up."Good stuff. Until one of their councillors, an ericher by the name of Arif Waghat, got caught with his hands in a the Benefit Fiddle Till.
The oh so principled Liberal Democrats refused to sack him from the party, But you can undertand why, when I tell you that the thief was the Deputy Leader of the Lib Dems in that area. You can read that story here and I recommend that you do.
Then of course there was this little story here from this Monday, in which revealed how their activists were instructed to lie to members of the public when out canvasing.
“you can secure support from votes from voters who normally vote Tory by being effectively anti-Labour and similarly in a Tory area secure Labour votes by being anti-Tory.”Not too sure I can handle much more of Liberal Democrat principles and honesty. But I will try, and finally get to the purpose of this post. A Tale of Two Councils. Trust me on this next bit of info. It is the real McCoy.
Figures from the websites of Ashfield D.C., Amber Valley Borough Council and Notts County Council
Latest figures available on all websites are for 2007 / 08
The astonishing greed of the twelve Liberal Democrat councillors on Ashfield District Council is truly jaw-dropping.
For the year in question, and remember most of them were only elected in May 2007, they pocketed between them a total of ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY ONE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTY SEVEN POUNDS of OUR TAX MONEY.
£171,267 – with the average ‘D’ band property rate for Ashfield being £165 that is the equivalent of 1,040 households paying their Tax straight into the greedy Lib Dem pockets. Or put another way, that is almost EVERY house in Underwood or EVERY house in Jacksdale PAYING JUST FOR THE LIB DEMS.
For contrast, and to show the extent of their greed, compare their allowances to that paid to neighbouring Amber Valley councillors.
BEAR IN MIND THAT AMBER VALLEY HAS BNP COUNCILLORS KEEPING AN EYE ON THINGS!
Councillors are paid a basic allowance plus special responsibility for extra duties.
BASIC ALLOWANCE AVERAGE: Lib Dem in Ashfield gets £5,554 Amber Valley Councillor gets £2,865 – that’s almost DOUBLE
SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITY ALLOWANCE AVERAGE: Lib Dem in Ashfield gets £7,372 Amber Valley Councillor gets £1,096.91 A MASSIVE 600% DIFFERENCE
In AMBER VALLEY (45 councillors in total) only SIX claimed over £4,000 in Special Responsibility Allowances, whereas in Ashfield (33 councillors) EVERY LIB DEM but three claimed OVER £5,000
Well enough of Liberal Values. They are the same as those of Parliament. Filth that wil eat one more potateo than a pig.
For those who wish to see what Liberal Democrats are really like then just click here.
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