Uncovered: Merton Council shock spending
In a shocking admission at Merton Full Council held on 1st February Merton Labour Councillors admitted they were spending £229,000 of Council taxpayers’ money on decorating rooms in the Civic Centre which are only for their use.
Attempting to justify this at a time when gas, food and Council Tax bills are going up, Cllr Billy Christie, Labour’s finance boss told councillors the shock spending was "actually irrelevant", adding "I think residents would agree with me."
Lib Dem Cllr Simon McGrath who uncovered the expenditure hidden away in Council documents said “The Labour Council are closing Eastways dementia care centre to save £180k whilst splashing out £229k on fancy new chairs and plush new carpets. It is disgraceful.”
At the same meeting a Conservative councillor called the expenditure “trivial”, demonstrating how out of touch they are with real people’s concerns.
Today, we ask - do you agree with Cllr Christie that Labour spending nearly £ ¼ million on their rooms at the Civic Centre is “irrelevant”?
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