HARLOW Labour Group has accused the joint administration at Harlow Council of selling out on its principles of fair voting and proportional representation following the appointment of councillors to outside bodies.

Labour claim that the allocation of seats bears no relation to the votes cast for each party at the May election.

Group leader Kevin Brooks said: "I think most reasonable people would agree that the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have acted unfairly in allocating just five per cent of these places to the Labour group despite the fact that we won 38 per cent of the vote at the last local election.

"Many Liberal Democrats must feel embarrassed that their leaders have ignored past commitments to proportional representation, preferring to grab 95 per cent of the places for themselves and their Conservative allies.

"Voters who were promised a better style of local government will be alarmed at the frequency with which the new administration is trampling over the principles of tolerance, fairness, open government and sound corporate governance."

However joint council leader Andrew Johnson said: "In a spirit of openness we offered Labour members proportionately more nominations to outside bodies than they offered to the other parties in previous years, just as we have given them the opportunity to chair the council's scrutiny committees, and given them more than their share of representatives on the council's working parties.

"We have also delayed making appointments to a number of bodies to which the Labour group is still entitled to make nominations at a future date.

"It appears that even so Labour are still not satisfied and have chosen to continue to carp on the sidelines rather than be actively involved in the community life of our town."

June 20, 2002 16:00