Dan Byles Accuses Labour MP Of Misleading Public Over ‘Council Merger’ Claims

Dan Byles has expressed his anger at what he calls an 'outrageously misleading' leaflet being distributed in Bedworth by a local Labour MP and a Labour Borough Councillor. The Labour leaflet refers to a 'Tory plan to merge Bedworth with Rugby' - a claim which Dan says local Labour politicans know to be untrue, and accuses them of deliberately setting out to scaremonger.

The background to the row came last month when Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council announced that it was looking into ways to save money and run services more efficiently by combining some 'back office' administrative functions with Rugby District Council in a move to improve efficiency and slash bureaucracy. The move is in line with Government recommendations publicised recently by Communities & Local Government Minister John Denham.

In a public response to a question at the last full council meeting, Leader of the Council Peter Gilbert confirmed that suggestions of a merger between the two councils was nonsense.

Dan Byles, said this week: "It is no wonder that people are disillusioned with politics when some MPs and councillors continue to peddle deliberate untruths.

"I first left the Army to enter politics because I too was becoming disillusioned with politicians, and I am trying to campaign in a positive manner. I believe in treating the people of North Warwickshire & Bedworth with respect, and telling them my views without trying to distort the facts.

"So I am very disappointed that our local Labour MP is leafleting people about a 'council merger' he knows full well is nonsense. His own fellow Minister, John Denham, has urged councils to save money by sharing back office and administrative costs. Yet when Nuneaton & Bedworth Council follow a Labour Minister's advice, they find the local Labour MP attacking them for it.

"There are no plans to merge our council with anyone else, and local Labour politicans know that.

"At a time when councils up and down the country are struggling from a drop in revenue due to the lasting effects of Gordon Brown's recession, our local MP should be supporting the council's efforts to save council tax payers money and not using it in an attempt to score cheap political points."