Look where the cuts are made

“Mole10 nothing to say as normal then? Just the say old same old - I PITY YOU!”

“When I read Stan, I cringe.
He offers himself up as a mouthpiece of Labour wisdom which I can't even link to Labour thinking, never mind the Labour Party.
So odd, so strange, but very in line with the weak member approach with no socialist brain.

So Pervez will forgoe a referendum on a tax increase because of the cost of it all?
Nope.
He will be buried alive as Labour die hard voters will join everyone else in sending back a polite refusal.

You clearly don't understand the cost of a move to Hanley and the raising of finances, so I think you'd better re read Alan's critique again.

Your personal attacks upon Alan and Stoke itself is about par for the course you lay but offers no real insight into your own case of unapologetic Labourism that is so so very weak.

Can't you find anyone, and I mean anyone, within the Labour ranks to come in here to put the case forward in a more grown up manner?

Best not send an Ex Mayor.”

“Yes, a bit of paving and street furniture is all they've got to offer for Stoke, pathetic really. And Alan is right, if council tax had risen there would still be massive cuts. Especially when it's not an election year eh?

Stan, you're right that central government are on a mission to eradicate local authorities, but what you don't make clear is that central government were on this mission even when it was the Labour government! As for 'staged borrowing', why should I as a council tax payer in the city be lumbered with this unwanted debt?

As for shopping, I'm not a great fan but sometimes it's got to be done. So Sainsbury's yes and Woollies when it was there, now of course I have the delights of Bargain Buys and Poundstretcher. But to be honest I tend to shop in Stoke more because the Civic Centre is there and I go and ask questions at full council sometimes and watch the proceedings there.

http://tinyurl.com/c8gj4ak

So once that goes to Hanley I'm sure I'll go to Stoke less. Ah but maybe I should take a special trip to Stoke just to sample the pavements and feast my eyes on the beauty of the new street furniture.”

“What a morose outlook by Alan Joynson (FAILED Councillor) which displays the same level of negativity as he did in his entire time in the council chamber.

a) It isn't the council leader who wants to inflict more by the way of austerity on the city - the councils hand is being forced by central government who are on a mission to eradicate local authorities as we know them. In a few short years all councils will be commissioners of services to the private sector - just how the Tories have always wanted it.

b) It is pure guess work by Mr Joynson that council tax is frozen because of Mr Pickles and for the record, council tax rises have NOT been capped. The government have now insisted that councils ballot the electorate should they wish to raise the tax higher than 2%. This has probably forced Pervez's hand somewhat as the cost of the said ballot would be extortionate. But Mr Joynson's inaccurate claim shows how naive he truly is.

c) Joynson claims: "And if the rise had been as last year you would still see even more cuts" - the reality is the opposite is true. If Pervez could raise the tax without triggering a ballot there would probably be less cuts not more.

d) Joynson's next statements is staggering: "Not, I guess, in their allowances, or the wages paid to senior officers. And, of course, they could save over £45 million by staying in Stoke, but will they listen?" - Why should the councillors take a cut in their allowances? They get a pittance for the amount of aggro they get off the likes of Joynson et al. Cut in allowances will lead to less people putting themselves forward for public duty. I have sympathy for his view about senior officers taking a voluntary pay cut (they took a 7.5% cut in the Moorlands). Joynson saying the council can save 45million is completely inaccurate. For a start it will cost the council nowhere near that figure and he is making it out we already have the '45million' to use on other services. This is staged borrowing over a long period of time. Joynson needs to wise up he's showing himself as the true dinosaur he is.

Finally, apart from Sainsbury's, who really shops in Stoke Town? I mean c'mon - who really does take a trip to Stoke Town to take a walk around the vast array of interesting shops (not) on offer?

If I was Joynson, I'd jump at the opportunity of any development of the Spode site, Civic, Kingsway which will surely be a massive improvement on the current offer.

Will Dinosaur Joynson see this? Nah, never - he's too blinded by negativity and NIMBYism to see the opportunities..”