Fury over Coventry Council’s ‘Lack of Transparency’ in Wasps Talks
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Fury over Coventry Council’s ‘Lack of Transparency’ in Wasps Talks
The Opposition on Coventry Council are demanding answers
Wasps Rugby Club has gone into administration costing the jobs of 167 people. This is not the first time that Wasps have gone into administration and they were saved last time by a bailout by Coventry City Council in 2013.
The issue with the bailout in 2013 is that it was done behind closed doors which caused much controversy, which later ended up with the council in court.
This time, the Leader of the Labour-run Coventry City Council, Cllr George Duggins told the BBC that any talks would be open and transparent, saying that no talks had taken place.
The BBC had reported that a labour group meeting was due to take place to discuss action on potential bailouts of Wasps RFC behind closed doors and without scrutiny, however this meeting was cancelled at the last minute.
Leader of the Conservative Group on the council, Cllr Gary Ridley had asked the Leader if they had been in talks with Wasps and the answer was that there were none.
However, the CEO of Wasps told the Times that he had been in talks with Coventry City Council about some financial support. This goes directly against what council Leader Duggins has said.
The CEO’s comments to the Times has caused fury among the Conservative Opposition who have called for the transparency that they had been promised.
Cllr Gary Ridley told Counter Cut, “Coventry City Council have admitted talks have taken place but are trying to say that because elected leaders weren’t involved the Council haven’t been involved.”
Cllr Ridley took to Twitter and asked for a response to the accusation that Coventry City Council and Wasps have had talks behind closed doors and was met with silence from Council Leader Duggins. Duggins finally broke his silence to discuss the sale of the CBS stadium but hasn’t answered a straight question on financial support for Wasps.
Coventry Council Labour leadership has basically tried to keep everyone in the dark on its actions. When Cllr Ridley called for a comment on this mess from the Deputy Leader Abdul Khan, Khan responded with a tweet promoting a Christmas light switch on.
Ridley said about Duggins leadership, “either we have a Leader of the Council who has sanctioned these talks and hasn’t answered a straight question accurately, or we have a Leader who doesn’t have a clue what is going on in his own Council”.
This damning verdict of Duggins leadership of the Council comes after two Labours Councillors were suspended for antisemitism but were allowed to continue with normal duties and are still a part of the party (read about this here).
This Wasps saga raises yet more questions about the honesty and integrity of the Labour leadership under George Duggins and the Labour Party’s management of Coventry City Council.
Written by Jack Dixon