In a desperate attempt to buy votes, it’s been revealed today that Labour forced through last minute spending in key marginals despite opposition from civil service mandarins.
One of the most recent cases that has come under scrutiny is the acquisition of Blackpool Tower and Winter Gardens from Leisure Parcs by Blackpool Council, a project to which £25m has been contributed through various Government channels (£15m from the North West Development Agency, £10m from Blackpool Council). There’s also a £10m plan to refurbish the Tower, but I’m not sure who’s paying for that: if it’s the NWDA then add another £10m to the government funding.
According to the Guardian, senior civil servants tried to shut down this plan but against all advice privileged private schoolgirl Rosie Winterton steamrollered it through Parliament. Subsequently, Gordon Marsden and Joan Humble jumped on the back of it saying what a great deal it was and how they fully supported the bid.
But MPs are just spokespeople. Front men. They don’t go into the finer details of the costings, and will do anything to provide security for themselves. Given the opposition from civil service accountants to this project, you have to ask why they approved it.
Were the Labour government so desperate to remain in power that they were seeking to buy votes in marginal seats like Blackpool North and Cleveleys and Blackpool South; or was it just a spiteful scorched earth policy because they knew they would lose the election?
But a deeper question remains, and is asked over at Steve Dunthorne’s blog. Is this project the holy grail that many thought when we saw this picture?
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Well on the basis of how much money London has had wasted on it with the Olympics and umpteen transport projects, I don’t mind any extra public sector money coming our way.
This deal was the right one for Blackpool, especially for the Winter Gardens and the addition of the Merlin Group as a player in Blackpool
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Zim is right, the previous bunch of idiots wasted billions,now we proabbly wont get the railways electrified, which is needed badly.
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Bill Lewtas, voice of REASON!
“SleeplessInSouthShore
Many thanks for your support. In about one hour Blackpool Council Executive will decide this. Meanwhile the 30 year old buses they own (as the main shareholder in Blackpool Transport Services) will continue belching out smoke and creating a poor 1st impression of Blackpool for visitors. Double standards like this are hard to accept.
Taxi driver earnings have plummeted over the last 12 months or so and all the experts say the recession is going to get worse now that we as a nation are 2 trillion in debt. Not sure where Blackpool Council thinks taxi operators will find the funds to replace vehicles. Not by a fare increase. If the Gazette hadn’t cut my statement down readers would have seen that we have ruled that out. The last fare increase was 2008 and we have agreed not to seek an increase this year.
We have seen our day time trade decimated by free buses and at night the stag and hen visitors think it is ok to kick and abuse our cabs.
As Sleepless said cabs which are 5 years old can be sheds if they aren’t maintained properly. That is why the Dept for Transport advises councils not to have age limits. But we do have more tests now and this HAS driven up standards already.
Bill Lewtas
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Where’s this from?
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Gazette website,though i would put it on before it got deleted.
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When I originally saw this deal had been done, I wondered how on Earth could Blackpool Council make it pay when private enterprise couldn’t. Looks like they went dizzy at the sight of all the money and weren’t thinking. It didn’t even win Labour the Blackpool North and Cleveleys seat. This is going to be a millstone around the necks of council-tax payers for years. Thank goodness I live in Wyre.
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