Labour accused complaining councillors of using their questions to “grandstand”
A constitutional row has erupted over the way questions are asked of the Labour group at Wigan council meetings. Opposition councillors, most of who are Independent, accused the ruling party of being afraid of scrutiny claiming they were “shutting down democracy”.
But leading Labour councillors in turn accused protesting councillors of wanting to use their questions in meetings to ‘grandstand in front of the public’. Following a motion at the latest town hall meeting, the right for councillors’ to speak for five minutes when posing a question to one of the authority’s portfolio holders was removed.
This means councillor may now only submit a single comment or question at any one council meeting, reports the Manchester Evening News. The maximum number of comments submitted to any one council meeting is now limited to five.
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Councillors must not ask a question which relates to a function or decision of the council’s officers. Independent Network Cllr James Watson accused the controlling Labour group of setting the council ‘on a pathway to tyranny’.
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He said: “If this council is afraid of public scrutiny and difficult questions, maybe they shouldn’t be making those decisions to begin with.” Steve Jones, another Independent, said: “Well you don’t like scrutiny do you? First of all, you stopped councillors going upstairs [in the town hall]. You even took the phone out of the members’ room.
“The whole point of asking questions is to have debate. You already have the power. Today was the day that the many were frightened of the few.
“You’re that scared of a handful of Independent councillors that you’re changing the constitution. I look around at this big powerful Labour Party and I know that whatever we’re doing is rocking the boat.
“You may take away motions, take away questions, you may stop me going upstairs, but we will always find a way to scrutinise you in these meetings.” Responding, the deputy leader of the council Cllr Keith Cunliffe argued Cllr Watson had been at the constitutional working group meeting when the move to restrict the questions was discussed.
Addressing the Independents opposite the chamber, he said: “This council has all of you on scrutiny committees. Every one [of the scrutiny committees] has representation from the opposition.”
“There is no limit to the number of questions you can ask in scrutiny committees. At the health and social care scrutiny committee, Cllr Watson frequently asks questions and they’re answered. The reason you want questions here is to grandstand. That was evident at the last council meeting.”
“If you want to ask a question, ask it and get an answer, not speak for five minutes and bring up all sorts of other things that you haven’t notified were going to be asked. It [restricting questions] is not damaging the democratic processes of the council.”
