'TORIES MUST CANCEL £1 MILLION SPIN CHEQUE' SAY LIB DEMS

5.15.00pm GMT Fri 28th Mar 2008

Liberal Democrats are today calling on Kirklees Conservatives to cancel their plan to spend an extra £1 million on Council spin doctors, and invest the money in services for residents instead.

Liberal Democrats are today calling on Kirklees Conservatives to cancel their plan to spend an extra £1 million on Council spin doctors, and invest the money in services for residents instead.

The Tories revealed their shock plans to up spending on marketing at the Council's budget. Over the next three years Tories will spend an EXTRA £1m on media management, including more glossy Council magazines.

Now Lib Dems would rather see this money spent on extra care for elderly residents, more youth services and measures to tackle crime.

Lib Dem Leader Cllr Kath Pinnock said "I think residents will be angry to learn that the Tories put propaganda ahead of frontline services for people in Kirklees. There is simply no need to publish even more copies of the Council magazine or employ extra staff to promote Tory policies. This is taxpayers' money, and should be spent on taxpayers' priorities - fighting crime, caring for the older people, providing activities for young people and tackling climate change.

"We pledge that, if we run the Council after the local elections in May, we would reverse the extra spending on spin doctors and invest the money in frontline services for residents.

It is the Liberal Democrats who have the ideas, the commitment, and the energy to significantly improve services for local people and to provide value for money. The Tories have clearly failed on both counts in their two years of running the Council.

As for Labour, their leadership locally is tarnished following the misuse of council phones. They have no ideas and no commitment to improve services locally.

Only the Liberal Democrats have shown a commitment to local campaigning on issues that matter to local people."