When Peter Davies ran for the office of Mayor of Doncaster in 2009, he made two notable pledges to his electorate. To slash his own salary by over 50 per cent to £30,000, along with getting rid of the mayoral chauffeur-driven car, and to put an end to the practice of twinning foreign cities to Doncaster (there were five).
The first pledge was easy to fulfil. But the second required Council approval and the process – according to Mr Davies in an interview to the Guardian – “was like wading through treacle”, taking six whole months.
Rumour has it that when the mayor of one of the twinned cities wrote to Mr Davies following his election, the letter ended up in the bin, unread. The new Mayor of Doncaster had done away with all the translation services offered by the Council and so nobody in his office could read the foreign note.
The point Mr Davies was trying to make sixteen years ago is more pertinent than ever today: the function of local politicians and council officials is to respond to local community needs.
Anything else is a distraction, taking time and precious resources away from mundane but crucial functions of rubbish collection and road maintenance to instead serve the ego of politicians struggling to come to terms with the fact that they’ve ended up at town halls rather than the UN General Assembly.
Take Brent City Council for example. Last Wednesday, the Labour-led Council in North London voted to be twinned with Nablus, a Palestinian city. Council Leader Muhammad Butt declared, [t]his is all about making sure the diversity of Brent and its community is being recognised.”
Concerns were registered by Conservative councillors who voted against the partnership, claiming that the decision to twin with Nablus could be seen as “appeasing a terrorist organisation” as the city in West Bank is reportedly governed by a council “the majority of which, including the Mayor, are members of Hamas”, a proscribed terrorist group.
Labour councillors refused to engage with what they dismissed as “lies, misinformation and fear-mongering” as they extolled the virtues of the partnership of the two cities based on their “shared values”.
“We will build real partnerships here and in Nablus, working to face shared challenges”, said Labour Councillor Ihtesham Afzal, who originally tabled the motion last year. Council Leader Muhammad Butt declared, “[the twinning] is all about making sure the diversity of Brent and its community is being recognised.”
When Peter Davies ran for the office of Mayor of Doncaster in 2009, he made two notable pledges to his electorate. To slash his own salary by over 50 per cent to £30,000, along with getting rid of the mayoral chauffeur-driven car, and to put an end to the practice of twinning foreign cities to Doncaster (there were five).
The first pledge was easy to fulfil. But the second required Council approval and the process – according to Mr Davies in an interview to the Guardian – “was like wading through treacle”, taking six whole months.
Rumour has it that when the mayor of one of the twinned cities wrote to Mr Davies following his election, the letter ended up in the bin, unread. The new Mayor of Doncaster had done away with all the translation services offered by the Council and so nobody in his office could read the foreign note.
The point Mr Davies was trying to make sixteen years ago is more pertinent than ever today: the function of local politicians and council officials is to respond to local community needs.
Anything else is a distraction, taking time and precious resources away from mundane but crucial functions of rubbish collection and road maintenance to instead serve the ego of politicians struggling to come to terms with the fact that they’ve ended up at town halls rather than the UN General Assembly.
Take Brent City Council for example. Last Wednesday, the Labour-led Council in North London voted to be twinned with Nablus, a Palestinian city. Council Leader Muhammad Butt declared, [t]his is all about making sure the diversity of Brent and its community is being recognised.”
Concerns were registered by Conservative councillors who voted against the partnership, claiming that the decision to twin with Nablus could be seen as “appeasing a terrorist organisation” as the city in West Bank is reportedly governed by a council “the majority of which, including the Mayor, are members of Hamas”, a proscribed terrorist group.
Labour councillors refused to engage with what they dismissed as “lies, misinformation and fear-mongering” as they extolled the virtues of the partnership of the two cities based on their “shared values”.
“We will build real partnerships here and in Nablus, working to face shared challenges”, said Labour Councillor Ihtesham Afzal, who originally tabled the motion last year. Council Leader Muhammad Butt declared, “[the twinning] is all about making sure the diversity of Brent and its community is being recognised.”