Letter: Restore Shropshire Council meeting in democracy's name
I share the consternation of the Lab/Lib opposition at Shirehall regarding the cancellation of next month's meeting of the full council. It makes a mockery of Cameron's mantras of "transparency" and "localism".
The Conservative administration is clearly afraid of their cost-cutting policies being held up to scrutiny, and if the elected opposition are feeling disenfranchised, then so much for the tax paying electorate whom they supposedly represent.
Under the guise of "austerity" they have systematically decimated erstwhile statutory provision across the board, from the vulnerable elderly right through to the youth of our community.
Cuts, cuts and more cuts, that's all we seem to be getting from this 'cabinet' style of budgetary governance. In fact, the only things that haven't been cut, it seems to me, are councillors' allowances and council taxes! The Conservatives boast about freezing council tax, but what are we getting for it?
The latest ploy called 'local commissioning' is looking like little more than a cynical device to get rid of statutory provision altogether. A case of, 'if you want a service, do it yourself or go without.' It's just one cop-out after another.
The electorate have the right to hold those in charge of engineering this state of affairs up to transparent, public democratic accountability, and the April meeting should be reinstated forthwith.
A J Willetts, Craven Arms
