Brighton and Hove’s Green councillors have reportedly been urged to vote for the party’s budget proposals at a crisis meeting this week.
The meeting was called after the party’s Brighton and Hove branch voted last month to refuse to set any budget – which meant councillors voting in favour of their own proposals would technically face expulsion from the party.
This week’s meeting reversed that decision – but added a clause saying that if the 5.9% budget fails, councillors are instructed not to vote for any alternative budget.
Meanwhile, five councillors said this morning they will be joining a march organised by the Brighton Children’s Centre Campaign, which is also calling for no budget to be set.
And one of those, Alexandra Phillips, said on Twitter she intended to defy the Tuesday motion and vote against the 5.9% budget.
One of the five, Cllr Ruth Buckley, stressed in a statement that the cuts were down to the Conservative government’s decision to cut local funding.
She said: “Brighton and Hove residents should know that the city’s two Conservative MPs Simon Kirby and Mike Weatherley both voted to reduce funding to local councils by 25%.
“It is because of their actions and those of their colleagues that the city is facing such a huge funding crisis.”
Cllr Buckley will be joined on the march by fellow Green councillors Alex Philips, Phelim Mac Cafferty, Mike Jones and Liz Wakefield, as well as the Hove Green parliamentary candidate Davy Jones and Independent councillor Ben Duncan.
Co-organisers of the march Leila Erin-Jenkins and Felicity Erin-Robinson launched their campaign in protest at a range of possible cuts to children’s services.
Depending on which budget is set today, this could range from cutting back on baby classes across the city to the downgrading of four children’s centres.
They are calling for the council to refuse to set any budget to “stand up to bullies,” and hope this will lead to the government ending its austerity program.
They said ” We are very happy to have the support of Green councillors and one independent, who will be accompanying us on our protest tomorrow afternoon.
“These councillors fully understand the devastating effect these cuts will have and as such have taken a strong anti-cuts position, which is the only way to protect children’s centres in the long term.
“Brighton Children’s Centres Campaign is very grateful to these courageous councillors for standing up for what is morally right and fighting back against the government’s intended destruction of our vital public services.”
According to Fig News, which is run by former Green councillor Ben Duncan, a motion was passed on Tuesday night calling on the local Green party to adopt: “a policy of support for the Green budgetary proposal to call a referendum on a 5.9% Council Tax increase; and requests that all Green Party Councillors vote in line with this policy and support the Green Party’s budget proposal at Thursday night’s Budget Council meeting.”
The previous motion, the report says, was overturned because there had not been enough people at the meeting – and the replacement one carried with proxy votes from people not attending.
It quotes Mr Duncan as advocating not setting a budget and risking having it set by central goverment: “Would the Tories really send civil servants to impose cuts on local people, against their wishes, a few weeks before a General Election in which they are fiercely defending two marginal seats in the city? I doubt it.
“And even if they did: would those civil servants cross union picket lines and protests to get into the council offices when they got here? I doubt that too.
“No. I suspect, faced with some resistance to imposing their cuts, they’d find some money down the back of a sofa somewhere in the treasury and give local people a much better deal.”
The march starts at New Road at 4pm, travelling along Western Road to Hove Town Hall, where the budget meeting starts at 4.30pm.
Brighton and Hove Unison are also holding a protest inside the lobby from 3.30pm, and the People’s Assembly are protesting outside the town hall at the same time.
Confused by this year’s budget? Here’s an infographic setting out how things could pan out at this afternoon’s meeting:
The referendum will not be allowed – by the Conservatives and Labour voting together. And once again – in a replay of last year, Labour will get to smugly carry the day with their just under the wire tax rise.
Voting for the referendum is a political blunder.
Refusing to set a budget that is about going along with the Conservative-led strangling of local government in some kind of brutal control from the centre motivation is the only way to flush out that Coalition intention so it can be seen in the full glare of light.
Forcing central government to set the budget would show residents (before the election) exactly what they are made of.
Whoever makes the cuts takes the heat at the election. The Coalition hopes to discredit non-Tory Administrations and con the public by blackening all other political colours. Don’t set a budget. Make them do their own dirty work DIRECTLY and in person.
All that said, I think a serious scrutiny needs to be made concerning exactly WHO is using the Childrens’ Centres and why. They were invented by Labour 10 years or so ago. Quite why needs to be compared with outcomes and use now.
All this is going to almost certainly put Labour back in power both centrally and locally – but please remember their annual council tax rises when in power before 2007 in this city. 14% anyone? It happened!