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Tory councillor Keith Baker accused the Lib Dems of "double standards" in a row over a new libary in Twyford
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Tories broke Twyford library election promise, claim Lib Dems

By Jon Nurse
March 04, 2013

Ruling Tories were accused of failing to deliver their election promises after offering no replacement for Twyford’s ‘grotty, dilapidated portacabin library’.

Twyford Liberal Democrat Councillor Dee Tomlin called Conservatives ‘obsessively secretive’ at the borough’s executive meeting on Thursday, February 21, as no money was set aside in the budget for a new community hub.

Cllr Tomlin said: “For years we have campaigned to replace Twyford’s grotty, dilapidated Portakabin library with a decent community facility.

“For years we have had Tory half-promises. We have even had to put up with Conservatives knocking on doors telling people to vote Conservative to get a library. But year after year it doesn’t happen.”

Cllr David Lee, leader of the council, replied: “We have had ongoing meetings with two groups and we are doing our best to bring for the people of Twyford what they desire. Either work with us or go into a corner and complain constantly.”

Cllr Lee explained former Lib Dem councillor Stephen Conway misquoted a few years ago the a supermarket chain was set to put £500,000 towards the project, but the funding only totalled £50,000, halting the scheme.

Cllr Tomlin added: “I have been over the budget papers from top to bottom and have found no money for Twyford library.

“It is just possible there could be some non-specific funding but that would mean you are deliberately hiding it. That would be taking your obsessively secrecy over the budget to new heights. And let’s face it, you are obsessively secretive.”

Cllr Keith Baker took offence at the Liberal Democrat’s attack and accused the group of double standards.

He said Conservative councillors had just as little time to react to Woodley Town Council’s budget, put together by the Liberal Democrat majority.

Two plans for a new hub have been put to Wokingham Borough Council by Twyford Village Partnership and The Polehampton Charity.

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Most recent user comments 13 of 13

Shock horror!!!... politician accused politician of playing politics!

Local Woky, Wokingham
04/03/2013 at 22:19

I think the promise of funding for a library was always a figment of the imagination of the Libdems and the community groups in Twyford. Now we are in the 'we're all in it together' mire such things have become a nicety.

Snowdrop, Twyford
04/03/2013 at 13:13

Like you are saying, honesty is the right thing. This is why I will always be honest, and never tell lies, be a hypocrite or completely contradict myself.

Anyway, the Lib/Lab/Con are the capitalist elite who lie through their teeth. For example to think that, in Wokingham, the Conservative Party are actually "Conservative" is absurd. They are happy to radically change the market town of Wokingham into a corporate town where there is radical change to the environemnt and business structure only in a way which benefits the global corporate capitalist empire.

wokinghamworker, Wokingham
04/03/2013 at 12:08

wokinghamworker, Wokingham
04/03/2013 at 12:06

Cheers wokinghamworker, glad I've got the basics right.

I do think that to have real success you'd have to change the name, though; maybe you'll prove me wrong, but I think people will associate it with other things, and it'd quickly be used and abused by other parties when the inevitable smearing starts. I mean, the national Conservative party (I presume) decided to smear the Lib-Dems by releasing the Rennard allegations JUST BEFORE the Eastleigh by-election, and these two parties are supposed to be in coalition together!

I'm not in PR, but political parties can't have names that are perfectly clear and honest, like the name you want to use after all, if he Tories called themselves the 'Reverse Robin Hood' party, or 'To Hell With The Common Man' party, or the 'Eton' party, they'd get fewer votes. As would Osborne if he called himself by his actual forename (Gideon). Sad but true, because I'm a massive fan of honesty; politics isn't.

Damiano_Tommassi, Wokingham
04/03/2013 at 11:49

Damiano Tommassi_The word "Contemporary Marxist Party" won't scare people off, because we will explain to people that capitalism lies and that we promise a better society. I mean, the vast majority are fed up with capitalism, believing that it has failed, so we have nothing to lose.

Also, your basic idea of communism just about sums up society and what the difference is between communism and capitalism.

wokinghamworker, Wokingham
04/03/2013 at 11:40

wokinghamworker, I don't think you'll ever get any support for a 'Contemporary Marxist Party' or a 'communist party'. If you were able to find a more neutral name for it you might get somewhere, but those will just scare people off.

But essentially, the basic idea of communism (feel free to correct me) seems to be 'let's share things out for the benefit of us all', whereas capitalism is 'what can I get for me, and to hell with everyone else'.

Damiano_Tommassi, Wokingham
04/03/2013 at 11:02

Damiano_Tomnassi I agree with you regarding communism, because eal communsim has never been put into practice and countries such as the Soviet Union were state capitalist dictatorships. The Lib Dems, though, are not anywhere near real socialist, as they are quite happy to sell ordinary people down the line while, at the same time, the likes of Nick Clegg become mega rich.

We need to educate the masses, and in a few years time the Contemporary Marxist Party will get active locally in Wokingham and show people that communism is for the common good of the vast majority, unlike capitalism which only benefits a tiny minority.

wokinghamworker, Wokingham
04/03/2013 at 10:55

Reds as in Labour, yes. There is no relevant communist party. Too many people are frightened by the word and what they believe it means - it doesn't mean Russia, Stalin or the cold war - so it doesn't get discussed. Instead we are locked in to capitalism, where 1% of any population has 99% of the wealth (and use it to maintain the status quo).

The closest we come to any real socialism is the Lib Dems, who when they speak largely make sense and seem to want the right things. Mostly, though, the blues don't let them speak.

Damiano_Tommassi, Wokingham
04/03/2013 at 10:33

Damiano_Tomnassi What do you mean by the reds?

Do you mean New Labour, also known as red capitalist, bourgeois socialists and tories in red.

Or do you mean red as in REAL socialists who support equality and veer more towards communism than what they do towards capitalism.

wokinghamworker, Wokingham
04/03/2013 at 10:25

wokinghamworker, I don't think there's any local 'con-dem' coalition going on; seems to me that in our borough, those two parties are very clear about how much they hate each other and can't work together. And the reds stay out of it.

Damiano_Tommassi, Wokingham
04/03/2013 at 10:22

The current borough Council are rubbish, full stop. We have the Con-Dem coalition (tweedle dum-tweedle dee) running the Council. Of course they won't deliver on promises, they don't care about us, the people.

A message to Con-Dem voters in Wokingham, stop voting for these parasites.

wokinghamworker, Wokingham
04/03/2013 at 10:17

I spend all my time on this website correcting stories spun by Cllr Baker.

He says "Conservative councillors had just as little time to react to Woodley Town Council’s budget, put together by the Liberal Democrat majority".

Not so Cllr Baker; but readers can decide for themselves :-----

Wokingham Borough Council:-

There was no cross party discussion preceding the Full Council meeting and the budget information is only made available to all members and all parties a week prior the Full Council meeting that was on 21st February.

Woodley Town Council

All committees are cross party and at all stages of the following process all members of both parties receive budget information and took part in discussions and made amendments.

19th January - Leisure Services committee discussed their element of the budget 29th January - Community Services committee discussed their element of the budget 5th February - Strategy and Resources committee considered all budgets and recommended them for approval by Full Council. 12th February – budget approved by Full Council.