Rumours And Reality - What To Do

A rumour has been bunged about that Worrow is going for TDC Council Chair this coming Thursday. I haven’t really believed it but these rumours have a nasty habit of becoming real. Labour’s desire to retain power has seen it bartering with TIG and this does TDC no good at all given the numbers involved in this. Labour must have realised by now that this isn’t tenable as a strategy for running TDC and this is visible on Members' faces as they watch their speeches. So what can be done? I propose a simple solution.

Just Say No

TIG needs Labour for justification for their actions by providing some form of, for lack of a better word, compensation in return for the crucial votes. It gambled away all its eggs on a Labour administration but has no fallback position to retreat to should Labour cut the arrangement. Would it vote for a Conservative administration? No chance. Unfortunately Labour has been tied to TIG for long enough now that it sticks. Parking fees will now be the bond between Labour and TIG that will last till the next TDC elections.

What should they do then if not making Worrow Council Chair? Easy. Clive Hart and Bob Bayford should sit down and agree a joint nomination that would carry both Groups’ votes. Worrow must not be Chair. You might remember that Cllr Cohen quit Tom King’s Independents for TIG because of the possible Cllr Bob Grove Chairmanship. The issue wasn’t Cllr Grove as a person, it was apparently because of the lack of consultation on the move. So why not him? It makes sense.

It may take a long time to do this on a more than occasional basis, but Labour and the Conservatives have to find a way to co-exist in order to block TIG and whatever damage it might inflict. It will require changes in mindset of both Groups but if we are to make this argument that Thanet’s problems are bigger than the differences between the Groups a reality, then this coming Thursday is the best opportunity to start that process.