Dale Mulgrew's record is far from straight

Posted By: Ibrar Khan
Date Posted: 14/02/2009

I am not surprised to see Councillor Dale Mulgrew attack me in his latest diary entry. This is what the Lib Dems always do when they’ve been caught missing in action. But Councillor Mulgrew really should get his facts straight.

I did not vote against the development of an arts centre at the last budget. I voted against the recklessly extravagant and shameless waste of £100,000 worth of taxpayers’ money on outside consultants. Considering the Lib Dems have been promising for years that they would deliver an arts centre, why do they now need to conduct a feasibility study at enormous public expense? And why are they constantly sending unnecesary and costly business outside of our Borough when they tell everyone else to buy local? How many consultants has our Council wasted millions of pounds on?

Like many people in Rochdale I am getting tired of the Council’s reliance on spin and failure to deliver. Councillor Mulgrew has produced a huge amount of hot air about the arts centre and is yet to deliver anything tangible at all.

Let’s get this in perspective. The Lib Dems promised they would have a new arts centre in Rochdale by April 2008. They are nowhere near achieving this promise. In the time that has passed since, scientists have discovered a new element, America has elected its first ever black President, a new power sharing government has been created in Zimbabwe, a ‘big bang’ experiment that re-enacted the first moments of the universe was carried out in Geneva, Pakistan has a new President, Chelsea have had three managers and the men’s 100 metres world record has been smashed.

The world marches on while Dale Mulgrew treads water and the Lib Dems stand still. They don’t deliver, they just dither. There is a world of difference between the rhetoric and the reality where the Lib Dems are concerned and I will continually expose this failure.

So next time you have an announcement to make, Dale, save us the waffle about feasibility studies, progress charts and endless meetings. Let’s have something concrete for a change. Otherwise we’ll be waiting until 2029 before the Lib Dems actually deliver anything. 

In the meantime, I hope you will encourage every youngster you know to take advantage of the Government's great new policy that gives free theatre ticket to under 26-year-olds. Remember to tell them to visit www.anightlessordinary.org.uk to register for their free tickets.