Not fit to lead (From The Northern Echo)

Not fit to lead

6:08pm Friday 3rd February 2012 in Letters

YOUR report about how the North-East is bearing brunt of spending cutbacks (Echo, Jan 28) contained a comment by Simon Henig, the leader of Durham County Council: “The poor areas are being hit the hardest. It is totally unfair.”

The same man and his supporters voted down a council motion in 2010 calling on the Government to abolish the Barnett Formula, seen by many as an outdated and unfair distribution of Government funds in favour of Scotland.

It has been calculated if this was done it could release more than £2bn for English councils.

Mr Henig and the councillors who voted to defeat this motion are not worthy of representing this area as any opportunity, however slight, should be taken to bring funds into the region.

At the time we had a Labour government and like sheep they only follow their political masters.

I agree with Mr Henig’s sentiments that the poorest councils are being hardest hit by the present Government strategy and the divide between north and south will increase unless the balance is redressed.

As a first step it would assist if politics were removed from local government and we avoided those, like Mr Henig, whose views and actions change in line with changes in government.

When it comes to unfairness this council cannot even support English business – it prefers to award contracts overseas.

Alan Thompson, Middleton in Teesdale.