Councillors slam Labour candidate's leaflet

Simon Danczuk's Rochdale Rose leaflet

Rochdale's Labour Parliamentary candidate Simon Danczuk has delivered a leaflet in the Littleborough area which states: "The Liberal Democrat controlled Council is cutting your weekly collection of household waste from every week to every fortnight." Mr Danczuk claims to be leading the campaign to save weekly waste collection and offers residents the chance to sign a petition to keep weekly bin collection in the leaflet. A Littleborough Lakeside Councillor has responded to the leaflet's claims by saying that the Labour candidate is 'out of touch'.

Councillor Pauline Maguire said that the alternate weekly collection has been running in the Pennines Township since 2006 and stated that the decision to fulfill this scheme was made by Labour in the first place, when they ran Rochdale Council in coalition with the Conservatives.

Councillor Maguire said: “I am disgusted with this scare mongering leaflet that will simply frighten people in my ward. This leaflet is misleading in that the Alternate Weekly Collection is already working fine here; in fact it was Labour who made the decision to introduce it in the Pennines when in coalition with the Conservatives in 2006. Mr Danczuk is obviously out of touch and I am afraid this is what happens when you play the politics of fear and negativity. I know a lot has been made of the fact that the Labour Candidate is an outsider. To me that is not the issue. The least I would expect him to do is check his facts, it all looks pretty embarrassing for him.”

Council Leader Alan Taylor has also spoken out against Mr Danczuk's leaflet. He said: “This is one of the reasons that politics has a bad name. This is an attempt to score political points but is yet another own goal by a Parliamentary Candidate who is becoming increasingly desperate. Launching a campaign to save something that his own colleagues scrapped is pretty stupid, especially when you consider that his Agent is Councillor Allen Brett; He was leader of the Council when an all-party agreement was made to introduce this in the very area that they are campaigning in.

"Mr Danczuk again ignores the facts – preferring to scare residents in the Pennines with stories of rats and other vermin.  The fact is that reports of such incidents have actually gone down since we implemented Labour’s decision to introduce it in 2006. Yes, there have been minor problems but they are being dealt with.

"This is the worst type of politics – but people in the Pennines know the facts and will not be misled. I think it is a shame and a smack in the face for our hardworking Council Officers who have worked their socks off to make it work. Labour’s environmental credentials are today exposed as an absolute sham.”