Tories put Toilet Closers Back in Power

In an astonishing move the Conservatives have done a deal with the very people who, just a year ago, tried to put Council Tax up by nearly 40%, closed the toilets and stopped cutting grass across the district.

As a result of the deal announced at Wednesday night's Council meeting, Cllr Linda Cufley, former leader of the Cabinet that took the decisions that caused so much anger across the district, is back in Shepway District Council's Cabinet.

Lib Dem Deputy Leader Cllr Lynne Beaumont said:

"Many people across the district will be angry to see the people who caused so much hurt last year back in power. They will be even more amazed that it is the Conservative Council Group has put them there."

Hythe Cllr Neil Matthews added:

"It was quite an unbelievable sight - the Conservatives have spent the last year viciously attacking the decisions taken by Cllr Cufley and her cohorts while she was Council Leader. Now they have put them back in power. This is breathtaking double standards."

Last summer Cllr Cufley was forced to resign from the Lib Dem Group after she lost the confidence of backbencher Councillors following a series of decisions including the closure of the district's toilets.

Below is a selection of quotes from the local Conservative Party website from last year when Cllr Linda Cufley was running Shepway Council BEFORE they went into coalition with Cllr Cufley and her followers:

15/4/04 Michael Howard on Council led by Cllr Cufley

Michael Howard said: 'This shows a shocking disregard for both the views of Shepway residents and visitors. This Liberal Democrat council clearly does not care about the people of this district anymore - but I, and local Conservative councillors, promise not to let this anti democratic decision drop.'

17/5/04 Tory leader Robert Bliss on Council led by Cllr Cufley

As the temperature hit the seventies and the beaches of Shepway once again started to fill Conservative Group Leader Robert Bliss questioned the sanity of the Liberal Democrat group in even thinking about closing the toilets in the District.

Robert said "It really does beggar belief. How on earth do they think that the thousands of tourists in Shepway would have coped if they had closed all the toilets. It is a move which the Conservative Group simply would not have allowed."