A political bunfight has broken out after all 10 Conservative councillors walked out during a key cost of living debate.
Ruling Liberal Democrat members have lashed Tory opposition councillors for leaving empty chairs at a meeting of the shadow Westmorland and Furness Council last Wednesday.
The meeting in Kendal was debating a Lib Dem motion about what the incoming council should tell the Government about the effects of rising energy and fuel prices, as well as VAT, Universal Credit, energy firm profits and help for struggling businesses.
John Murray, who represents Kirkby Stephen and Tebay for the Lib Dems, said he was “stunned to see Conservative councillors choose to walk out en masse rather than discuss how we can help our residents”. And the party’s MP for Wesmorland and Lonsdale, Tim Farron, branded it an “appalling dereliction of duty”. It showed, he said, that the Tories were “out of touch with the needs of people in Westmorland, Furness and Eden”.
In the wake of the row, Hilary Carrick, the Penrith-based councillor who leads the Conservative group, hit back. One of the last two of her party to leave, she said it was “disappointing” at how a photo of empty seats had been presented.
She insisted: “We didn’t walk out en masse, neither was anyone whipped to leave and it wasn’t a deliberate act and we didn’t all leave in the same time frame.”
Ms Carrick said the meeting was scheduled to last from 10.30am until 1pm but over-ran and was then extended by an hour.
That left a significant number of “young, working” Barrow-based Conservative councillors running late for work commitments, she said.
Other Conservative councillors in the group, including Kirkby Stephen’s Phil Dew, had also over-stayed in the hope of taking part but had to go as the meeting dragged on.
Ms Carrick suggested the over run came after a “comfort break” for councillors during the meeting intended to be a couple of minutes lasted 25 minutes.
However, after the meeting she formally sent an apology to the Lib Dem and Labour leadership for there being no Conservative members left.
She said her party were keen to take part as it was an important issue and they had intended to make the case about the steps the Government had taken to help people in the cost of living crisis.
Mrs Carrick left because she had a pre-meeting to attend on the council’s standards committee scheduled for 1.30pm before a meeting at 2pm — which was late starting.
Pat Bell, the Penrith-based Lib Dem responded: “This is about priorities. So many people I talk to in Penrith are massively worried about the cost of living and how they are going to cope over what will be incredibly difficult coming months.
“There is no doubt that this is the biggest issue our local residents face, so as Lib Dem councillors we will always ensure that tackling this takes priority over anything else.”
It comes after a week of turmoil on the financial markets and concerns about the nation’s finances after the Government’s mini-budget by Kwasi Kwarteng backfired.
