Labour must now cough up the dosh

Like the Spinning out of Swansea website we are puzzled by the small amount of coverage given to the stock transfer ballot. After all the behaviour of some opposition Councillors in spreading misinformation and downright lies should come in for some scrutiny.

In compiling our own response we can do no better than this on the South Wales West Liberal Democrats website:

"Swansea tenants have made it very clear that they wish to remain with the Council as their landlord and that view must be respected.

We believe that it was right that the option of stock transfer was put to them as the only one that could have delivered the resources to improve their homes. However, the Council has always been clear that it was the democratic right of tenants to reject that solution if they wished.

The problem facing the Council now is that they still have a £195 million shortfall in the money needed to bring homes up to the Welsh Housing Quality Standard. A 'No' vote does not change that fact, nor will it get tenants the new windows, kitchens and bathrooms that Tawe Housing would have delivered. It is now likely that many will miss out on having their homes improved.

It is our strong view that the campaign conducted by Defend Council Housing and the local Labour Party was dishonest and misled tenants into believing that they could have the benefits of stock transfer whilst remaining with the Council. That is not the case. Both the Welsh Assembly and the UK Governments have ruled out the possibility of a fourth option.

Labour has let down Council tenants. They have set housing standards which cannot be paid for and restricted Councils to a single choice in how to meet them. Their behaviour during the recent ballot was a disgrace. At a Welsh Assembly and UK level they are advocating stock transfer, they supported that solution in Torfaen, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Monmouthshire and Bridgend and yet in Swansea they jumped on the opportunist bandwagon and campaigned for a 'No' vote. It is now up to Defend Council Housing and the local Labour Party to get the resources they promised to improve tenants' homes."

Stuffed of Swansea

If the Labour lot over at Inside Out think that the Administration 'got stuffed in two successive debates over school sprinkler systems and housing stock transfer' then perhaps they need to stop and think what exactly they are achieving on the Council.

Our recollection was that so incompetent were the drafters of the two motions that they were forced to run with heavily emascualated versions after the intervention of the Council's legal eagles.

Despite the fact that the Adminstration's amendment to the Housing Stock Transfer motion failed to pass, the fact is that what was eventually voted on was a meaningless and inaccurate mish-mash that will not stop the ballot. In fact the only person it is likely to embarrass is the Labour Minister for Social Justice, who just happens to represent Gower and is clearly out of step with her local party. Even her cousin voted against her.

Fireman Phillips

This morning's phone-in on Swansea Sound generated heat from the usual suspects, but for once it also brought two shafts of light.

The first of these came from a more thoughtful than usual Ray Welsby, who at last acknowledged that there is no fourth option to bring Council Housing up to scratch by 2012. This long-awaited admission leaves those opposing stock transfer in a bit of a quandary. Their opposition is now more than ever about political posturing. They have nothing to offer to tenants except false hope.

The second moment to cherish was David Phillips' diatribe on the failings of the Administration. His claim that the Administration are not installing fire alarms into schools because we have no policy was bizarre to say the least. It would also be contrary to building regulations and commonsense.

Still, Phillips' fascination with fire protection measures may well go some way to explain his obsession with the burnt out remains of Penyrheol School. After the fire he made several appearances there, each strangely coincided with visits by the media. It is reputed that he even brought his own hard hat.

Penyrheol School has now been subjected to two serious fires. The first time it burnt down Labour rebuilt it without a sprinkler system. That is not a mistake we will be repeating.

Large clunking fist

Talking about people who need to check their facts, comments by Labour AM, Val Lloyd, in today's Evening Post, seem remarkably off-message.

She is undoubtedly aware of the enthusiasm of her Labour colleague, Leighton Andrews, for transferring Council housing stock to a community mutual housing association in Rhondda Cynon Taf and also of the way that Labour run Councils in Bridgend andTorfaen have led the way on this agenda. She will also be aware, because she was there, that both First Minister, Rhodri Morgan, and Social Justice Minister, Edwina Hart, have reiterated the policy of Chancellor, Gordon Brown, that there is no fourth option. And why should there be? After all, to secure such a fourth option the Government would need to find an additional £300 million of public spending in Wales alone.

Despite all of this Mrs Lloyd continues to advocate a 'fourth option' and suggests that this is also the policy of the Assembly Government. If she is not careful the great clunking fist of the Chancellor of the Exchequer or the Social Justice Minister will strike her down for being seriously off message.

Dumb and Dumber

Rumour has it that Lis 'bandwagon' Davies has now joined up with Ray Welsby in his campaign to single-handedly prevent stock transfer.

We are told that Lis is helping organise a public meeting in Sketty next Tuesday in which the gruesome twosome hope to rally thousands of tenants in opposition to the proposal. Alas, if the meeting is anything like those Ray Welsby has held previously then it will consist of about two dozen Trots and a couple of bemused tenants.

Quite why Lis is interested in this issue is not clear. She has never previously shown any knowledge or awareness of Council housing. We can only speculate that she views this campaign as yet another opportunity to bash the Swansea Administration.

Hitting out at the Administration is a speciality for Lis Davies. For many she has become a cartoon villain as she has increasingly sought out any ally and any issue she can, irrespective of logic or principle, in an effort to hit out at her sworn enemies. In doing so she has got herself into trouble with the ombudsman and completely undermined any respect she may once have had. This latest partnership with Ray Welsby may well be the final nail in the coffin of her credibility.