Labour Reject Lib Dem Plan to Clean Up Southwark

At last night’s Southwark Council Assembly, Labour chose to reject a Liberal Democrat plan to clean up the streets. In the wake of shocking reports of a light touch approach to litter and fly-tipping fines, and the exploding rat problem, the measures would have taken action to crack down on the problem.

The motion, proposed by Cllrs Rachel Bentley and David Watson, would have created a fly-tipping taskforce, increased the number of times street cleaners visited, and used innovative technology to clean up the streets.

However, at last night’s full council meeting, Labour bosses slapped down the motion, responding with a battery of misleading figures and outlandish claims.

Despite being one of the worst boroughs in London for fly-tipping and rats, Labour tried to claim that their record on the issue was positive.

Labour claimed that 98.6% of flytipping is removed by the council within 24 hours. However, at the meeting, Cllr Rachel Bentley revealed she had reported multiple incidents of flytipping over 24 hours prior that still had not been removed.

In one shocking statement, a cabinet member claimed that the situation as presented by the Liberal Democrats on the state of flytipping and waste was “not the experience [he] has had”.

Commenting Cllr Rachel Bentley said:

“As a constructive opposition group, we’re always keen to not just point out problems, but bring solutions. It’s very telling that Labour are more interested in playing political games than listening to what residents are telling them.

People only have to look out their windows to see that there’s a problem that needs fixing. If Southwark Labour are serious about creating Streets for People & attractive shared spaces, then they must start by keeping them clean and rubbish free.

The Liberal Democrats will continue to fight to clean up our neighbourhoods, whilst Southwark Labour congratulate themselves over a record they’ve chosen to invent.”