TOWN HALL TANTRUMS

Following a recent meeting at which Conservative Councillors refused to debate the large amount of money granted each year to Parish Councils,  Councillors Corbett, Harrison, Smith and Shaw have reported several Labour members to the Standards Committee. My crime was to call Cllr Corbett "Chicken" because he cowardly declined to enter into a debate on this controversial issue.

Eighteen of the Erewash Tory Councillors are also Parish Councillors and for years they have waved through money for their own Parishes whilst cutting services to Ilkeston and Long Eaton. Whilst denying Ilkeston a say in whether they should have a Town Council, on the grounds of cost, their own Parish Councils have been let rip. It even transpires that Tory Councillors have done paid work for Parishes. It's about time they came clean and discussed the matter honestly and openly.

Nearly a third of a million pounds a year may be chicken feed to the Conservatives but it's a significant sum which could have been used to bring jobs to the Borough. We demand to know whether transparency and probity has been maintained and whether we have had value for money. If anybody can shed light on this can of worms please let us know.