22 July (Part 2) - The party divide
One
of the questions at last week’s Council meeting came from Erith Councillor
Nicola Taylor who had
organised a Pride event on Erith Pier. She asked the Council Leader if she
was in favour and would support it becoming an annual event.
Councillor O’Neill congratulated Nicola on her successful initiative and said
she was absolutely in favour of events at which the community, not the Council, takes the lead.
Councillor Taylor regretted the fact that there was no Council involvement and
no Officer time expended. She then went on the offensive in both senses of the
word. “There was cross party support but it was without any funding. Do you think that the LGBT Community
are not worthy in which case you are morally bankrupt or could it just be that
you are financially bankrupt?” Catty or what?
Quite rightly the Leader objected to the tone of the question. “The Council
publicised the event and it was in line with our policies on diversity. There
has been an abundance of community events in Bexley this year and none received funding.”
The exchange neatly summed up the difference between Labour and Conservative rule in
Bexley. Should taxpayers be forced to pay for every minority interest and see Council Tax go up by 40% again?