During the worst cost of living crisis in living memory, the unashamed personal greed of Thanet’s Labour and Green Party Councillors seems to have no limits and no end.
In October 2023 Labour and Green Party councillors, who control the majority of votes at TDC, agreed to award themselves a stonking great 10% pay rise which was backdated to May 2023.
At next Thursday’s Council meeting the cash hungry councillors from Labour and the Green Party are at it again. This time they will be discussing, and almost certainly agreeing , to awards themselves a pay rise of 5.75% from 1 April 2024.
This means that in the space of just 5 short months Labour and Green Party councillors have voted twice to give themselves a total pay rise of 16%
Millions of nurses, doctors, hospital cleaners, teachers, transport workers, postal staff and many other groups of workers have over the past couple of years been fighting desperately hard to secure decent pay deals to keep up with rapidly growing costs of energy, food, clothing rent, and mortgages.
As far as I am aware not one of them has been awarded an increase of 16%. Maybe it’s because they don’t have the luxury of being able to decide and vote on their own pay rise as Thanet’s greedy Labour and Green Party councillors do.
Taking into account of the two pay rises in five months it now costs Thanet council taxpayers £435,000 a year to fill the trough in which its councilors dip their greedy snouts.
Top of the league of Thanet’s money grabbing politicos are council Leader Rick Everitt who will now trouser £26,360 a year, and his Deputy Leader Helen Whithead with £17,900. A Cabinet portfolio holder will now receive £14,622 a year and backbencher with no extra responsibility £5,316 a year.
As a lifelong socialist and environmentalist what angers me the most is that these two pay rises are being pushed through by Labour councillors, supported by the Greens. Both of the parties hypocritically masquerade as champions of the poor and deprived yet happily vote to line their own pockets with a 16% pay rise whilst thousands of people are forced to tighten their belts and live much more frugally.
It’s clear to me that these pathetic excuses for politicians are totally out of touch with the people they were elected to represent.
They appear for many reasons, including money, to have entered politics to help themselves and promote their own self-interests, rather than helping their constituents. With antics such as this, is it any wonder that voter turnout at elections is declining and that trust in politicians is at an all time low.
Not that I am in any way a supporter of the Tories, but I sincerely hope that just as they opposed the first pay rise vote in October last year they will do so again next week. Hopefully with the support of independent councillors and perhaps even some brave and principled Labour and Green councillors, if indeed there are any.
Last time around there were calls for votes to be recorded so electors would know which councillors supported or opposed the pay rise. To their shame Labour councillors voted down that proposal. This time around I hope that enough councillors insist on a recorded vote. After all we are supposed to live in a democracy in which politicians are accountable, aren’t we?
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