Their candidate for Ward 3 (Inverclyde North), which covers Central and West Greenock, has been claiming in his election leaflets that the West End's two primary schools - St Mary's and Ardgowan - are at the end of the queue for refurbishment. This of course is just a downright lie as Jim pointed out at the Council meeting.
Only last month the Education and Lifelong Learning Committee UNANIMOUSLY approved a proposal that Ardgowan would be the next primary school to undergo major refurbishment, starting in July 2013, at a budgeted cost of £4.5m. At the same meeting the Committee endorsed Labour’s budget proposal – which Liberal Democrat and SNP Councillors voted against - to spend £2.6m on a number of other primary schools over the next two years, including £604,000 on St Mary’s for electrical rewiring, toilet refurbishment, new floor finishes, decoration and new external doors.
Since May 2007 the Labour-led Council has invested £581,000 in improvements at St Mary’s and a further £426,000 on Ardgowan. This is significantly more than the previous Liberal Democrat Administration spent on these schools between 2003 and 2007.
While the Lib Dems successfully played politics with their campaign to keep Wellington Academy open at the 2003 election, only to vote to close it shortly after the election, they were hammered at the 2007 election for the arrogant way they handled the school estates programme.
They clearly have not learnt any lessons.
I was speaking to a Lib Dem activist today who told me that the local leadership had been warned against using these tactics again but the warnings were ignored.
I suspect that parents in Greenock's West End will be far from pleased that their children are being used in this way by a discredited party who are on the verge of electoral wipe out.
There are some good people in Inverclyde Liberal Democrats.
When are they going to stop listening to Alan Blair, who has led them so disastrously since 2003?
He is yesterday's man.
If there is ever to be a way back for the Lib Dems - remember they had 13 out of 20 Councillors before the 2007 election and now have just 3 - they must learn a bit of humility and quickly!
While the Lib Dems successfully played politics with their campaign to keep Wellington Academy open at the 2003 election, only to vote to close it shortly after the election, they were hammered at the 2007 election for the arrogant way they handled the school estates programme.
They clearly have not learnt any lessons.
I was speaking to a Lib Dem activist today who told me that the local leadership had been warned against using these tactics again but the warnings were ignored.
I suspect that parents in Greenock's West End will be far from pleased that their children are being used in this way by a discredited party who are on the verge of electoral wipe out.
There are some good people in Inverclyde Liberal Democrats.
When are they going to stop listening to Alan Blair, who has led them so disastrously since 2003?
He is yesterday's man.
If there is ever to be a way back for the Lib Dems - remember they had 13 out of 20 Councillors before the 2007 election and now have just 3 - they must learn a bit of humility and quickly!
Oh I forgot to say that the two Lib Dems on the Education Committee - Councillors Blair and Fyfe - actually left before the Committee agreed to refurbish Ardgowan Primary. Shows you how much they care!
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