Cllr Simon Morrall receives a round of applause in the City Council Chamber after slamming Labour’s budget!
Waving a parking ticket in the Birmingham chamber, Cllr Morrall telling the Labour Council he was contributing this year!! He then lay into the Labour Council, arguing “Why is it that ordinary citizens of Birmingham know how to manage a tight budget, but the largest council in Europe can’t!” Five years on since that damming independent report into this City’s Finances – “I wouldn’t trust Labour to run a bath, let alone a budget!”
BUDGET SPEECH: I wave a parking ticket in the chamber telling the Labour Council I was contributing this year!! I then lay into the Labour Council, arguing "Why is it that ordinary citizens of Birmingham know how to manage a tight budget, but the largest council in Europe can't!" Five years on since that damming independent report into this City's Finances – "I wouldn't trust Labour to run a bath, let alone a budget!"
Geplaatst door Simon Morrall op Donderdag 28 februari 2019
In 2014, Birmingham City Council was warned following an independent review, that it had to radically improve or face being taken over by central government. This lead to the then leader Sir Albert Bore standing down in 2015 for what he said was ‘for the good of Birmingham.’
Then in 2016, an independent auditor was called in yet again to review the budget following a SHOCK £49 million overspend. This was followed by Labour’s bin strike in 2017, which costs the city further millions.
Finally in 2018, it’s revealed the Council used £116.9m worth of reserves to ‘MASK’ it’s true financial position; it was actually running an annual deficit of over £75m.
This all provoked a ‘rare warning’ from auditors to issue a THIRD Section 24 notice;
a severe warning of financial mismanagement.
Birmingham is THE ONLY Council in history to receive two!
Of course, Labour won’t take any responsibility for this, instead they continue to blame their failings on changes to national grants! There are three major problems with this argument :
1. Other cities have been in exactly the same position and have taken on the opportunity to radically transform the way their city works, benefiting their citizens.
2. The City Council’s own policy is to become more self sufficient and less reliant on grants from central government.
3. IT’S THEIR OWN BUDGET! They set this every year, and every year, they over spend it… THIS IS THEIR OWN FAULT!!
“Everyone, from the doctor, to the single mother, has to manage tight budgets. So why is it ok for the largest Council in Europe to fail everytime? I wouldnt trust Labour to run a bath, let alone a budget!”
– Cllr Simon Morrall speaking at City Council.