Labour MP condemns Labour Council for 'indefensible' executive pay rises

MP Simon Danczuk has condemned huge council executive pay rises as "indefensible"

Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk has responded to the council executive pay rise scandal by condemning his Labour party colleagues who control Rochdale Council for what he says are "indefensible" pay rises for Council Chief Executive Jim Taylor and other senior council executives.

Rochdale Online asked for a response from Mr Danczuk Wednesday last week when we broke the story that the council's bosses are in line for pay rises of more than 30%, but a representative of Mr Danczuk said he did not want to respond.

Initial incredulity at the scale and timing of the increases has given way to increasing anger at what is seen by residents of the borough as "insensitive greed" among senior council executives at a time when hundreds of council staff have been made redundant, with more still at risk, staff who have kept their jobs restricted to a 1% pay rise, despite having to take on the work and responsibilities of redundant colleagues, and front line services being decimated by council funding cuts.

Mr Danczuk's right hand man, and architect of his election victory in 2010, Matt Baker, has referred to the increases as "political suicide" on Twitter.

Defenders of the massive pay increases, almost exclusively Labour councillors, appear to have badly misjudged the public reaction and are still seeking to justify the increases.

An e-petition calling for council executive pay restraint has already been signed by over 850 people since going live on the Council website on Friday evening.

http://democracy.rochdale.gov.uk/mgEPetitionDisplay.aspx?ID=53&RPID=1097758&HPID=1097758

It is also understood that a protest is planned outside the Town Hall  prior to the meeting (6.00pm on Wednesday 16 October at Rochdale Town Hall) were the increases look set to be rubber stamped.