Derby's News

10/06/2024

New Labour Mayor for the East Midlands Claire Ward will be paid £93,000 per year.

In the first month since being elected she has so far not turned up for her very first meeting but has announced that she will have a Walking and Cycling Ambassador on the payroll... Salary TBC

Value for money or a complete waste?

02/06/2024

01/06/2024

Cllr Shankers role as Leader of Derby City council could be brought to an end following his failure over the Sinfin waste plant after potentially lumbering Derby taxpayers with a bankruptcy level invoice from the County Council.

Saying one thing while doing another may well have caught up with him?

Derby City Council leader Baggy Shanker's job hangs in the balance

21/05/2024

Culmination of the first year of Labour being in control of Derby City Council...

But is it really so bad?

23/03/2024

Labour unsure of which train to catch...

The recent news of the end of production at Alstom will of course be of great concern to those both employed directly and in the supply chain to the local train maker.

But while there has been focused pressure and lobbying from some elected members in Derby it appears the Labour candidate for Derby North is somewhat confused with her approach being anti HS2 while at the same time being pro Alstom!

Does she and her party not realise that maybe the two are perhaps linked in some way?

This type of low grade political con trick is exactly what turns voters off and for good reason.

You cannot be taken seriously when you try to be all things to all people. You either stick to your morals and principles or you join the Labour party and sell out to political opportunism...

17/03/2024

Labour's post election mask has now slipped....

At the last local election the Derby Labour Group went to the electorate with a heavy cost of living message, highlighting how bad things were and how much better it would be under a Labour controlled council. Further, there was a promise (particularly to local residents) that the proposed reopening of the waste recycling plant in Sinfin would be stopped and the site decommissioned.

Fast forward just under 12 months and not only have Labour increased council tax by its maximum of 4.99% despite having received an unexpected £2 million extra from the government settlement (which could have removed at least 2% off the almost 5% rise) but to add insult to injury, the Labour Administration has now given the green light to council officers to sign the Inter Authority Agreement 3 (IAA3: Agreement between Derby City and Derbyshire County Councils) which they have now done and are awaiting County counterparts to do the same, meaning that the waste plant will reopen and operation will progress, as planned.

Labour, led by Leader Cllr Baggy Shanker have hoodwinked residents professing to be their saviours when in reality they have done less than nothing to help hard working tax payers to try and keep council tax as low as possible when in fact they have added to their burden, hoping to blame Government cuts when it was Labour's choice, Labour's budget and Labour's Leader that has raised council tax to its maximum.

With regards to the Sinfin waste facility, it has been nothing short of a deception and betrayal by Labour particularly to local residents who were promised so much but have subsequently been dropped and ignored now that Labour have won their prize of position, power and extra allowences.

Labour's grand prize of running the country is still to come and for Cllr Shanker replacing Dame Margaret Becket MP will fulfill a long awaited ambition, something which is taking a higher priority than the concerns and needs of Derby residents by him and his Labour minions who will clearly say and do anything to get what they want regardless of the cost.

02/03/2024

This week saw the delivery of the first budget under the new Labour Administration at Derby City Council.

In what was a real opportunity for the new Labour run council to demonstrate their achievements and direction of travel their lacklustre Leadership merely listed all of the previous Conservative Administrations projects that will come to fruition under their watch.

The redevelopment of Duckworth Square, including the Condor Building, the Becketwell Performance Venue (which Labour rubbished when in opposition), The Market Hall refurbishment and Friar Gate Goods Yard were all touted as wins from Labour who only took control of Derby City Council 9 months ago.

This clear act of plagiarism by Labour demonstrates their inability to think independently (much like most of the Zombie Cabinet who merely repeat their Leaders words and many have to be prompted by him when answering council questions) even their so-called library policy is a re-packaged version of what was proposed by the Conservative Group last year.

Labours biggest reveal was their announcement on increasing Council Tax by the maximum 5% despite being against such a move in previous years and having an unexpected and additional £2 million from the Government to play with.

Labour was also caught out on their plastic concerns for Climate Change when Conservative Cllr Miles Pattison called out the grand hypocrisy of Labour Deputy Leader, Nadine Peatfield whose pre election crocodile tears on green issues seemed to have dried up now they are in control, as the issue was not mentioned once in any of Labours speeches and promises to put Climate Change at the forefront of every decision has clearly been forgotten by Labour.

It should come as no surprise that Labour are out of their depth and out of ideas and it would appear that not having annual local elections has bred contempt and laziness from an unremarkable Leader and Deputy and sadly it will be Derby residents who will pay the price.

08/11/2023

Health and Safety gone mad or a dictat from a left wing Labour Council?

The Conservative group leader has branded the instruction 'utter nonsense'

02/11/2023

The Leadership of Derby City Council have defended their upcoming taxpayer funded visit to Japan as being vital for the city at a time when the Leader himself (Cllr Baggy Shanker) has described the city's finances as "dire".

The priority list for Labour is somewhat at odds to the rest of us and it would appear that money can be found when it is convenient to them. Some may argue that these types of visits have value and there is no doubt that on an international relations level there are positives. However, for a council that has strained budgets and more importantly Derby residents who are feeling the pinch this not only smacks of hypocrisy but a huge error of judgement from two politicians who represent one of the most deprived wards in the city (Sinfin).

To add insult to injury this trip will mean that the city is leaderless for it's duration and will also result in no senior political representative being present for the city's Remembrance service.

Does this trip really require two Labour politicians to attend? And why no invite to the Mayor of the City?

Sadly, there will be no legitimate answers to these questions from Labour only defence of what is in essence a Taxpayer funded holiday.

21/09/2023

When is racism not racism? When its coming from the Labour Party....

Describing someone as a "Token Candidate" because of their ethnicity can only be described as abhorrent and a blatant racial slur. To compound this, the comment was made not only by an elected Labour Councillor who himself is of African origin but it was part of a debate on a motion he proposed to encourage more diverse candidates to stand for election.

In what was initially a fairly benign and well meaning proposal unfortunately culminated in revealing a disturbing and worrying undertone.

Is this what Labour Councillors really think? Are their virtue signalling members just covering up thier true feelings which appear to readily come to the surface when things don't go their way?

What would be the response had a Conservative Councillor made this comment? Outrage? Calls for resignations? Are Labour exempt and beyond reproach when it comes to using race as a weapon?

Racism can and does come from all directions and has no place in our society let alone in politics but sadly it continues to rear its ugly head.

The comment triggered a loud shout of 'out of order' inside the council chamber

18/08/2023

How impartial are City Council Officers?

Around 80% of the services delivered by the Council would remain largely unchanged regardless of political changes at election time. Bins will be collected (with varying reliability), grass will be cut (with varying frequency) but by and large these core services continue without much issue. The remaining 20% is where politics intervenes with the hope of creating enough change and associated recognition that the electorate repay their gratitude at the ballot box.

Up until recently Derby held elections by thirds (elections every year with a third of Councillors up for election), however in May this changed to all out elections that now occur every four years with all Council seats on offer. This change was enacted to bring about stability, preventing a change of control of the council every year and of course save money.

Despite political changes the constant over the years has been the Council Officers of varying levels within the authority, these mainly unseen figures are guiding/informing/controlling (delete as necessary) all of the key functions of the council and the larger strategic decisions with regards contracts, infrastructure projects and capital investment projects.

All of these Officer roles are politically restricted (no political affiliation allowed) and should remain impartial whatever the political party colour in charge. But is this a realistic or even practical requirement? With a very senior Officer within the Council being quoted as saying “What we need is a Labour Government” in relation to local authority settlement in addition to being a self-confessed card-carrying member of the Labour Party in their younger years, how can this be impartiality? It should also be noted that the same Officer has openly declared that “Derby will have to have a clean air zone” something that the Labour Group in Derby has hinted at historically and has stated that Low Traffic Neighbourhoods will indeed be part of their plans now that they are in control of Derby City Council.

To take this issue further, does this then mean that a party with socialist values would be better received by such an intrinsic figure within the council and therefore receive a better service than that of a party that was not of their persuasion?

Therefore, would an Officer cohort with Labour leaning values be more inclined to deliver on manifesto commitments from a Labour Group and equally be obstructive and unhelpful to that of any other party?

Derby City Council has seen many, significant changes and projects over the years. The introduction of Westfield (now Derbion) to the city, the Derby Arena, Duckworth Square development, the Assembly Rooms and of course the Sinfin Waste plant. All have been overseen by differing political parties but all have always and continue to have so called impartial Officer involvement. How impartial, that’s clearly up for debate….

07/08/2023

Labour wants the public to suffer in the name of election success.

It has now been a little over 3 months since Labour took over control of Derby City Council.
In that short period of time, there has been a consistent message from the Council Leader, Cllr Baggy Shanker that the finances of the Authority are in a parlous state and that both the previous Conservative Administration and the current Government are indeed to blame. Despite this claim Labour have already committed in excess of £36.5 million in spending, most notably on the Sinfin Waste Plant, which they have no intention of using.

Further, less significant spend has also occurred in the form of bail out money for the Quad. £150K loan of which no one knows where this money is to come from or on what terms it is to be repaid.

Notably, Cllr Shanker is Labour’s Parliamentary candidate for the Derby South Constituency at the next General Election. It is clearly in his interest to paint the worst picture possible in order to bolster his chances at the ballot box, with electoral uncertainty for Labour in many areas of Derby South (Alvaston Wards having Reform Party Councillors well embedded along with a full slate of Independents in Chellaston) with the addition of lack of familiarity to that of Dame Margaret Beckett MP, with whom he intends to replace, it would appear every available opportunity at Cllr Shankers disposal to ensure success needs to be explored.

Running down council services and maxing out Council budgets while blaming the main opposition party would appear to be a very tempting strategy for someone in Cllr Shankers uncertain circumstances….

22/07/2023

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