28/01/05 - North Swindon Conservatives Slam Labour Over 24-Hour Drinking

The Labour government has succeeded in delivering a double whammy to local people in the form of its new 24-hour drinking legislation, the introduction of which will not only eat into council funds but further strip Swindon Borough Council of the power to stand up for our local community. At the same time, Mr Blair has highlighted once again just how wrong his priorities are as he works to push through this legislation instead of concentrating on real issues such as fighting crime, ensuring our hospitals are clean and cutting taxes.

The Labour government is already hitting Swindon hard with the licensing legislation, expecting the council and local taxpayers to pick up the bill for extending the binge-drinking culture. New costs will mean either less money to spend elsewhere on services for local people, or higher council tax bills.

Now it has also been revealed that the government plans to gag your local ward councillors from objecting to late licences, labelling them as biased and preventing the voice of local people from being heard. Councillors cannot object to licence extensions unless they represent the ward where the extension is being applied for; and in a classic Catch-22, if they DO live locally, they have to declare an interest and are thus disqualified from voting - just one of a catalogue of instances of the Labour government attacking your local elected councillors ability to act in the best interests of Swindon.

The Labour government is increasingly developing a stranglehold over local councils and turning them into little more than vehicles to enforce their ill-considered and unpopular policies. The government is ruthlessly determined to silence local opposition and to have its way over 24-hour licences. However, I believe that local people know what is best for their local community and I am determined to fight the introduction of current 24-hour drinking legislation in Swindon.

Cllr David Renard, Haydon Wick