Progressives hold Labour council's feet to the fire in Kirklees

A hustings in Kirklees, West Yorkshire, showed progressives are fully intent on holding the controversial Labour council to account at the upcoming local election.

The 23 April event took place in the Ashbrow ward of Huddersfield, which is more diverse and has higher levels of deprivation than other parts of Kirklees. The question and answer session saw independent and Green candidates highlight why local people need to challenge Labour’s behaviour in Kirklees.

“We need fighting councillors who put people first” in Kirklees

Independent Mike Forster, standing as a People’s Alliance for Change and Equality candidate in Ashbrow, was the first to speak. He has campaigned hard against unpopular council decisions to privatise dementia homes, allow a local property development to cause a public health crisis, and close leisure centres.

Criticising the lack of democracy on Kirklees Council and how the ruling Labour cabinet has failed to listen to local people, he insisted:

We need fighting councillors who put people first.

Labour has passed on central government cuts by making highly unpopular decisions. And Forster believes councillors absolutely can and should “demand more resources” from Westminster. As he stressed:

let’s stop playing by the rules that they set, and instead by the rules that people want, which is resources for the community and not for the rich.

With the council putting the burden of tight finances onto ordinary people, Forster asked how:

the council has found £36m in their back pocket to go to a private company to renovate the George Hotel.

The private sector had failed to maintain the prominent historic building. So the council took on the risk to invest in its refurbishment so the private sector could benefit from it in the future.

Forster also queried why:

they want to spend £26m, together with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, on a brand new bus station.

As he asserted:

I was talking to some young people the other night, and they said, ‘we don’t need a new bus station. We need youth services.’

Why are they wasting this money?

Forster reiterated his point again and again. The council’s priorities are wrong. There is money available, both nationally and locally. But political elites won’t just hand it to communities. Ordinary people need to push to get it, and elect people who will fight for it.

The council missed out on government money for no good reason

Green candidate Martin Price, meanwhile, highlighted that having just a small number of councillors pushing the cabinet hard can make a difference. He explained that a previous government scheme for insulation ran in Kirklees for seven years. As he said:

It was instigated by the Green Party when we had one Green councillor. Labour needed that one Green councillor to vote with them. The price was a Warm Homes Scheme that cost £11m that insulated thousands of homes across the whole of Kirklees. It also created lots of jobs because Kirklees people did the work.

A similar government scheme is currently running and was “available to all councils”, he said. It would have given funding for:

free wall, loft and underfloor insulation, air source heat pumps and solar panels.

However, he insisted:

Unfortunately, Kirklees Council decided it was not for the residents of Ashbrow and Kirklees. They did not apply for the funding. A bit of paperwork has cost council taxpayers dearly.

He also spoke about the need to prioritise local services and oppose privatisation. And when there was discussion of the money the council has spent on unnecessary legal fees, defending its unpopular decisions, Price suggested this could have all been avoided if the council had simply listened to and consulted local residents.