Lib Dem leader denies deal with Conservatives after budget cuts approved

At a crunch Dudley Council meeting on February 24 the Unity Group, made up of three Liberal Democrats and independent councillor Andrew Tromans, voted with the Tories to pass the budget after winning two amendments with Conservative support.

The manoeuvring was branded a disgrace by Clr Pete Lowe, Dudley Labour group leader, but Unity’s leader, Lib Dem Cllr Ryan Priest, insists he has done no deals with the Tories.

Cllr Priest said: “There is no coalition, that budget would have looked very different if we had more influence on it.

“Cllr Harley (Patrick Harley, Conservative group leader) and Cllr Clark’s (Steve Clark, Conservative cabinet member for finance) job was to present a budget that would command a majority in the chamber.

“They asked what our red lines would be and what we would like to see. As far as I am concerned that’s the end of that, it’s a negotiation per vote.”

The successful Unity Group amendments halted the closure of two public toilets, delayed cuts to the council’s Welfare Right’s Team by six months and approved up to £75,000 for a feasibility study for a town council in Cradley – an area represented by the three Lib Dems on the council.

Cllr Lowe said: “What we have seen is self-interest from Lib Dem councillors in Cradley to protect their position for a parish council, self-interest by a Conservative administration to allow that amendment to go through and allow the budget to go through. It’s a disgrace.

“We have seen the capitulation of the Liberal Democrats, it’s worse than a deal this is playing politics with people’s lives.

“It is an appalling misuse of democracy, politics should be better than this.

“Politics is about people being elected by their communities to represent their interests not self-interest.”

Cllr Clark defended Unity, he said: “They obviously saw sense, they saw a budget that was a good quality deal and they have gone for it.”

One of the Unity Group’s stated red lines was the potential closure of leisure centres and town halls which Cllr Clark said were under threat if the budget was not approved.

Cllr Clark said: “If we didn’t get this budget through we would lose so much money that we could not afford to keep them open.”

Reform UK are not currently represented on Dudley Council but campaign in local and national elections.

In December Reform UK came second in a by-election in Brockmoor and Pensnett and, according to political website Electoral Calculus, would return MPs in Dudley and Halesowen if there were a general election in February 2024.

Richard Tasker, Dudley Reform UK chairman, said: “Liberal Democrat councillors in Dudley chose to side with the Tory-controlled council, voting in favour of life-changing cuts that will disproportionately impact the most vulnerable members of our society.

“This deeply concerning decision stands in stark contrast to the values of fairness and social justice that many of the Lib Dems claim to champion.

“The decision to back the Tory council’s devastating cuts is a clear indication that the Liberal Democrats are more interested in political expediency than standing up for the people they are meant to serve.”