THE TORY LEADER of Cornwall council has been booted out of office amidst another privatisation row. Councillors accused Alec Robertson of showing ‘disdain for democracy’ as he tried to push ahead with the sell-off of Cornish libraries, care homes, job centres and advice centres – despite his nutty proposals being shot down by his own council! Despite the widespread opposition to his plans, designed to shave 20% off the council budget, Robertson and a small clique of fellow Tories attempted to smuggle the plans through behind the council majority’s backs. After getting caught blue-handed in the middle of chatting up B.T., (eager themselves to operate Cornwall’s libraries and other services), Robertson was ousted in a raucous council session which saw one councillor removed by security! Independent councillor Graham Walker summed up the situation, saying “I no longer have confidence in a leader who chooses to put party politics and ideology before the clear decision… of the people of Cornwall”. Get used to it mate, that’s Tories for you.
While Cornwall’s rejection of the politics of public service sell-offs is a good news story, it’s worth reminding ourselves that privatisation has never worked in our favour. Wherever public services are flogged to the highest bidder, standards drop, prices soar and working conditions plummet. The Tory wetdream of private companies running all our services should be the rest of ours’ nightmare and needs to be resisted wherever it rears its head.
