Stockport Labour Group- NEWS RELEASE!

14 January 2011

Labour Outraged as Council Tells Cuts Protestors: “You Can Only Come In If You Have a Ticket”

The Leader of Stockport’s Labour Councillors has demanded that the Council drops plans to limit the number of protestors able to attend a public meeting next week.


The Council’s UNISON branch plans to hold a “silent protest” against cuts and job losses when the Executive meets at 6pm on Monday 14 January. Parents, students and staff of Offerton School are also expected to turn out in large numbers for the meeting, where the Lib Dem-controlled Executive is expected to approve the school’s closure.

Councillors were informed today by email that admission to the meeting, which is by law a public one, will be heavily restricted, with members of the public, opposition councillors and members of the press required to queue up for a limited number of tickets (around 50) to be released half an hour before the meeting starts. Despite the expected numbers, the meeting is to be held in the usual Committee Room and not the adjacent 500-seater Ballroom, meaning that large numbers of protestors are likely to be excluded.



Cllr Andy Verdeille commented:

“It’s an absolute disgrace that faced with the prospect of local people coming to the Town Hall to make a dignified protest, this Council’s automatic response is to come up with a plan to keep as many of them as possible outside on the pavement. It’s quite extraordinary, and just as unacceptable, that they also expect to stop elected members of this Council from going into the meeting.



“This Lib Dem council is running scared, scared that ordinary people will want to object to the measures that they are introducing. Executive Councillors will be cowering in the Town Hall hidden from view, a fine example of the public openness demanded by their coalition government.



“I say move the Executive meeting to the Town Hall Ballroom and allow in anyone who wants to come along. To do anything else would be simply outrageous. This is an important public meeting, and must be open to all – not just an arbitrary number of lucky ticket holders”.