If it wasn’t the Labour Party in County Durham you couldn’t have made it up. I am thoroughly disgusted.
The two highest profile issues coming into my message message box over the past few weeks have been the imminent closure of the Durham Light Infantry Museum in Durham City and changes to the pay and working arrangements of Teaching Assistants (TAs) in County Schools.
At Full Council this morning there were motions on both these issues put down. One on the DLI by me, and another by Cllr owen Temple on teaching assistants. We were asking for further discussion and consultation on them. Also on the agenda was a motion put down by a Labour councillor attacking the proposed Tory government changes to trades union legislation (this was a standard motion created by the TUC that has been put down by Labour councillors in many councils across the country).
Unfortunately for the DLI and the TAs, the Labour motion was submitted first and so was debated first.
Here comes the problem. Some years ago, Labour forced through a provision in the council constitution (against opposition wishes) to limit debate on motions to a total of 30 minutes at council meetings. That’s 30 minutes total, not 30 minutes for each motion!
The constitution also allows for councillors to agree to extend the 30 minute period. So we did that and, with a vote recording the names of everyone and how they voted, Labour refused to extend the debating time.
So the TU debate started, and after w while we tried to move the debate to a vote. Again Labour voted this down and Labour Councillors queued up to filibuster the 30 minutes away, after which that debate was curtailed and voted on, with the TA and DLI motions timed out. There is a chance that these could be discussed at the next meeting, however timing may mess this up, certainly for Teaching Assistants perhaps for the DLI but I will resubmit.
So where do sprouts come in? As part of the timing out, Labour councillor Patrick Conway (Belmont division) told a tale of how his mother had worked in his native Lincolnshire picking brussels sprouts in darkest December. I doubt that TAs and DLI supporters would feel this was as important as their jobs or the future of the DLI museum.
This was a shameful day for Labour, so when you come to vote next time, you know what to do.
My previous post can be seen here: http://markwilkes.mycouncillor.org.uk/2015/12/01/call-to-delay-dli-closure/
For the record, here is the list of Labour councillors and one independent (ex Labour) who refused to extend time and allow debate:
| Adam | Eddy |
| Armstrong | Joe |
| Avery | Brian |
| Batey | Alison |
| Bell | David |
| Bell | Eddie |
| Bell | Jennifer |
| Bennett | Harry |
| Blakey | Jan |
| Bleasdale | Geraldine |
| Bonner | Anne |
| Brookes | Peter |
| Brown | Jane |
| Carr | Colin |
| Carr | Joanne |
| Chaplow | Jean |
| Clare | John |
| Clark | June |
| Conway | Patrick |
| Cordon | Jim |
| Crathorne | Pauline |
| Crute | Rob |
| Davidson | Keith |
| Davinson | Mark |
| Dearden | Katherine |
| Dixon | Mike |
| Forster | Sonia |
| Foster | Neil |
| Geldard | Ian |
| Glass | Bob |
| Graham | Barbara |
| Gray | Joan |
| Gunn | Olwyn |
| Hampson | Carole |
| Hart | John |
| Henig | Katherine |
| Henig | Simon |
| Hillary | Jed |
| Hodgson | Michele |
| Hopper | Kate |
| Hovvels | Lucy |
| Huntington | Eunice |
| Iveson | Sarah |
| Jewell | Ivan |
| Johnson | Ossie |
| Kellett | Bill |
| Laing | Audrey |
| Lawton | Pat |
| Lee | June |
| Lethbridge | John |
| Liddle | Heather |
| Lindsay | John |
| Liversidge | Alan |
| Lumsdon | Rachel |
| Maitland | Joyce |
| Marshall | Carl |
| Marshall | Linda |
| Measor | Janice |
| Milburn | Olga |
| Moir | Bill |
| Morrison | Sue |
| Napier | Alan |
| Nearney | Thomas |
| Nicholson | Henry |
| Patterson | Andrea |
| Pemberton | Trish |
| Plews | Maria |
| Potts | Christine |
| Pounder | Lynn |
| Shaw | Kevin |
| Smith | Heather |
| Smith | Tracie |
| Stephens | Brian |
| Stradling | Paul |
| Surtees | Angela |
| Taylor | Leo |
| Tinsley | Fraser |
| Tomlinson | Eddie |
| Turnbull | John |
| Turner | Andy |
| Williams | Mac |
| Wilson | Christine |