Tories attacked for "strange" priorities

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Sat 12th Jul 2003

Cllr Chris Maines says Tories should be discussing borough's priorities - not playing politics

Liberal Democrat Leader, Cllr Chris Maines, has attacked Tory councillors for their actions at a Council meeting last week.

Tory councillors tried to cut short a debate on school funding in the Borough, but later voted to extend the Council meeting to debate a motion sent from Tory Central Office.

Orpington Councillor, Chris Maines, said that he was amazed at the strange priorities of some of the Conservative councillors. "I was amazed by the actions of some Tory councillors," he said. "School funding is a huge issue locally at the moment. Most residents have children or grandchildren in local schools so there is a lot of interest in the finances of the schools. I couldn't believe it when some Tories tried to shorten the debate on this issue, only to vote to extend the meeting to discuss a motion from their own Party Headquarters. It says a lot about their priorities."

Luckily, some Tories and Labour councillors voted with the Liberal Democrats to ensure that the debate on school funding was not cut short.