So instead I thought I'd look at the news that Wales' most senior Conservative MP says councillors in Conwy should consider their positions after a series of costly issues.
Clwyd West MP and Welsh Secretary David Jones cited overspending on a bridge, legal battles over Colwyn Bay pier and a £125,00 grant handed to a conman.
He said councillors were "shrugging their shoulders" on the issues.
But the council said he is trying to make political capital and "find something negative".
Mr Jones made the comments after the latest court case about who owns Colwyn Bay pier.
Conwy council signed a deal to buy it in March 2012, but on Wednesday, a High Court judge ruled that another court hearing will be needed before a challenge from its former owner can be resolved.
He said:
"I think that the council have got a duty to the council tax payers of the county to make sure that they're getting value for money,"Interesting this attack comes out on the same day that Mr Jones has made the largest capital gains repayment to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) as a result of the increase in the value of a London property.
The Clwyd West Conservative MP paid Ipsa £81,446 but claimed that he had made a loss on the sale of his Westminster base.
Ipsa moved to ban the use of Commons expenses to pay mortgage interest in May 2010, in the wake of public fury over “flipping” and other abuses.
However, transitional arrangements were put in place permitting MPs elected before 2010 to keep claiming the money up to last August – as long as they agreed to return any potential capital gain.
Mr Jones said:
“I haven’t made a penny profit out of it. In fact, I’ve made a loss out of it.”So it looks to me that Mr Jones was getting his retaliation in first in order to divert any negative criticism.
Perhaps the electors of Clwyd West should take Mr Jones comment of "value for money " to heart".
.
No comments:
Post a Comment