Well there you have it. The letter that David Phillips says he never saw, or the cat ate, or whatever his excuse is today, in all it's glory.So much for his impassioned assurances to the Swansea Labour meeting on 30th January that it didn't exist - rather like his impassioned assurances to the same meeting that there is no PLC Coalition with Plaid, and Rene 'Dear Leader' Kinzett's New Model Tories - I suppose that doesn't exist either?
The question remains why did Labour turn the offer down? My view (Phoenix posts passim) is that they arrogantly expected to be back in a matter of weeks, and that such a letter from the upstart Holley and his crew was an insult to the Rightful Rulers of Swansea that did not deserve the courtesy of an acknowledgement, let alone a serious response.
However, one insider has come out and told me that it was the number of special responsibility allowances ...ahem...positions of responsibility available. As there wouldn't be enough for each Labour councillor to have one, some of them were threatening to go independent if they were not among the Chosen Ones. Hence no reply, and no scrutiny roles for Labour. If this is true, then Labour withdrew from the governance of this city because there wasn't enough cash to go round them all.
The resulting paralysis was only broken in the last few weeks when Rene 'Dear Leader' Kinzett managed to persuade David Phillips to grasp the nettle and challenge his internal opposition. After this, there can be little doubt where the real power lies among the PLC Coalition leaders; and it isn't Darren 'Baby Face' Price.
What is interesting, according to my source, is that now there is less money to share out than there was in 2004; (because their Coalition partners have to have their share) the rumblings of dissatisfaction are starting up again. He/she doesn't know whether any of the former Masters of the Universe will 'go independent' this time - but it is being seriously discussed by some. What larks!
