Darren Jones: Finding it hard to put positive spin on Bristol council budget meeting

By Darren Jones

I spent nearly seven hours in the public viewing gallery of the Bristol Council House on Tuesday evening as I sat to absorb the debate on the Liberal Democrat budget for our city. I was prepared for intense but intellectual debate, for difficult but prioritised decisions.

Instead what I got was seven hours of depressing, undemocratic intolerance — the highlight being, for perhaps the wrong reasons, the steady removal of public protesters by the police.

I was promised a set of important amendments to the budget cutting millions upon millions of pounds from the city budget, coupled by the removal of hundreds of public sector jobs. Whilst the promise was correct — with amendments on yellow school buses, school pupil scholarships, reversal of increased prices for Meals on Wheels and others — the promise we all hold dear of just and democratic procedure was not delivered.

I arrived at the council house to be told the meeting had been adjourned because of protests by members of the public in the public gallery. This occurred on a number of occasions — arguably, rightly so — each time resulting in the police entering the gallery to forcefully remove those with a view so strong rendering them unable to hold it in. I was one of the calm ones but even my tolerance began to wane when the Lord Mayor instructed by mayoral decree (through his staff) that the public gallery was to close and the budget meeting continue without us.

We were persuasively ushered into the adjoining room by the police and directed to watch the proceedings on the projected screen. Hardly suitable. At this point a scuffle in the corridors bought good news as the entire cohort of Labour councillors walked in to join us in the ‘viewing room’ in protest to the closing of the public gallery. After some negotiation we were allowed back in — at least, the calm ones were (dwindling our numbers to single figures).

The meeting proceeded with hotly debated Liberal Democrat proposals — the major issues being the new ‘Director of Place’ (who’s job is to organise city wide events) on an annual salary of £72, 000; the £60,000 cost for a Hydrogen powered ferry and the expensive city wide council newspaper ‘Our City’.

It is perhaps understandable that many felt these projects to be of less priority than the cuts to public services and public sector workers. But for all of the thoughtful amendments — from both Labour and Conservative groups — each one was voted down by the majority Liberal Democrat administration.

What struck me the most was the sheer arrogance of the Liberal Democrat benches, both in its responses to amendments, in its attitude whilst personally attacking councillors of other parties and in its despicable outbursts at the public gallery for daring to make a stand. The whole process was thoroughly depressing. For the seven hours of my life (that I’ll never get back) all that I saw was the council leadership laugh at and vote down motions put forward to help the most vulnerable in our city in order to pay for hydrogen ferries, unwanted newspapers and expensive unnecessary jobs.

I’m usually one for finding the positive solution in a situation but I’m finding it hard to put my finger on it in this one. All that I can consider is that communities themselves will come together to find the solutions right for them and their neighbours, in defiance of the cuts-only policy of both Westminster and College Green, and together create a positive for a very negative tomorrow.