Save me from Tories

7.42.48pm GMT Sat 9th Feb 2008

The never-never land that some of the Conservative councillors live in continues to surprise me.

Coun Henry Mitchell's call for a £1.5m cut in the wages bill at Blackpool Council does however take the biscuit (Gazette, October 22).

If the Conservatives had wished to save money, why weren't they able to do it when they were in power?

I once asked for a small group of councillors to be set up, with the sole purpose of saving public money.

What happened? The Conservatives were joined by the then Labour opposition to vote it down.

In what department does Coun Mitchell want to save money?

Education? Social Services? Housing? The Economic Regeneration of the Town?

And with these massive cuts, what does Coun Mitchell want us to do?

Reintroduce the weekly collection of our dustbins!

The actual cost quoted by Coun Fred Jackson (portfolio holder for the urban environment) was £1.5m.

However, this is a quote on current day prices, and does not include the ever increasing costs as we run out of landfill to throw our unsorted rubbish away.

Coun Mitchell, instead, should be joining the Liberal Democrats' call that manufacturers should be held responsible for the waste that they cause.

And that:

n Bottles should be made re-useable

n Manufactures should abandon harmful toxins, use recyclable packing materials and be encouraged to develop products that are built to last

n We should follow the Irish lead and stop the use of the non recyclable bags.

n Fast food shops should be encouraged to make sure that the goods and wrappings that they sell aren't the next day's rubbish.

None of these can be sorted out at local council level, but are government issues.

Instead this Labour Government doesn't tell the multinationals what they can and cannot do in the UK but, like the Tory governments before them, does nothing.

Coun Douglas Green