Conservative leader's column: 2% council tax rebate, abuse received by councillors and the scrapped Richard Farnell Avenue

John Taylor is the leader of the local Conservative party in Rochdale and a councillor for Wardle and West Littleborough.

This month he dedicates his column to discussing the 2% council tax rebate, abuse received by councillors and the scrapped Richard Farnell Avenue.

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Last month as a council we held our budget meeting where we had a legal requirement to set a budget for the coming year.

We did so unanimously and on this occasion, we as the opposition group did not table an alternative budget. This is something that rarely happens and there are two reasons why it did so this year.

My overriding consideration remains to ease the burden of the cost-of-living crisis for everyone across our borough and when the Labour administration proposed a 2% rebate across the board it would have been churlish to oppose it, after all, it is precisely what we proposed last year.

I have always maintained how the current financial squeeze is felt by everyone and therefore, everyone needs support equally. I was pleased to note how our point of view has now been accepted by the Labour group too.

The second point of note is that I have worked with Councillor Neil Emmott and his cabinet members over recent months to help find cost savings as we move into the coming financial year.

I was very clear when I took on the role of group leader how I will always work across the political spectrum when appropriate for the good of our borough and I do believe that has been the case here.

The topic of trans rights and safe spaces for females has been a recurring theme in the press for several weeks with a number of high profile cases making headline news. There seems to have been a plethora of seriously concerning cases that in my opinion undermine the safety of women and girls. This topic has contributed to the downfall of Nicola Sturgeon and the question “what is a woman” has been too difficult for many politicians to answer.

Much of the most recent debate was sparked off by the case of Isla Bryson, convicted of raping two women and who was then sent to a female prison as they had decided to identify as female. It beggars belief that could ever happen and I believe the vast majority of people would say the same. Surely the risk to female prisoners is obvious, or am I missing something?

Alarmingly, this isn’t the only case of concern and of course those put at unnecessary risk are not confined to prison inmates.

Ruby Sampson, a councillor from Enfield, wrote in the Daily Mail recently how she was intimidated in female toilets by another male purporting to be female and Ian Bullock, a sexual predator from Birmingham, has recently been convicted of sexual assault in female-only toilets as he identified as female too.

Those examples are not local to us, however, the issues they raise are. My view on these matters is quite simple – the safety of all females is of paramount importance and access to safe spaces, be it toilets, changing rooms, hostels or any other space must be their right without intrusion of this nature.

Perhaps it’s my thirty years' experience as a police officer that makes me cynical about the deviant intentions of some criminals or maybe it is just a common sense approach to appropriate and acceptable behaviour in public places.

I anticipate the latter as those I speak with on this topic share my point of view. Either way I think the wider population has had enough of these ridiculous decisions and it is time for a reality check.

From next year, new legislation could make wolf whistling an imprisonable offence yet a sexual predator can intimidate and harass women in what ought to be safe spaces simply by identifying as female.

I am not alone in thinking it is high time for this nonsense to be stopped and for the safety and dignity of all females to be properly preserved and maintained.

The Local Government Association (LGA) has recently conducted a survey of elected councillors and found 7 in ten have experienced abuse or intimidation during the last year.

The survey also found that the intensity of abuse is increasing in severity. As a result, they have launched a “Debate not Hate” campaign with the aim of addressing the culture of intimidation.

I have personally witnessed unacceptable abuse of elected members, candidates and even community activists who simply want to stand up for what they believe to be right.

All of those people have the right to express their opinions without fear of receiving excessive and unacceptable abuse and intimidation either in person, over the telephone or via social media.

The electorate will always hold the ultimate sanction for who they choose as their representative through the ballot box. With local local elections just a few short weeks away the intimidation of some candidates has already started and in my view, there is no place for it within our council.

Disagreement and debate are the cornerstones of a healthy democracy and persuasive arguments are welcomed by all. However, intimidation and abuse have no place in our society and the increasing trend, particularly on social media aimed at local politicians does prevent elected members from representing the communities they serve as effectively as they might, it deters individuals from standing for election and it undermines local democracy too.

The modern-day culture of trolling people on social media dehumanises those subjected to it and that needs to be tackled head on. I have, therefore, submitted a motion to council calling for all political leaders to support the LGA campaign and add their voices to it as I have already done.

Collectively our voice will be both stronger and louder.

Over the weekend I read an article on Rochdale Online about the decision to name a new street on the Kirkholt estate “Richard Farnell Avenue.”
 

Read more: Plans to name street after council leader who lied to child sex abuse inquiry ditched after outcryPublished: 09 March 2023

Thank goodness the decision has been overturned as it was an insensitive blunder by the council. The reputation of the late councillor was tarnished during the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse and as such it was wrong to celebrate his achievements in this way.

If lessons of the past are to be learned from, we must always take a victim focused approach and in my opinion those victims and the impact such a decision would have on them ought to have been the leading and most pressing priority.

Those are the people who ought to have been considered and consulted first, either directly or via their representatives. The last thing those victims need is an unnecessary and constant reminder of the trauma they were subjected to.