Tories storm out of Nuneaton and Bedworth Council meeting

Tory councillors staged a mass walkout after 33 minutes of last night’s Nuneaton and Bedworth budget showdown – in protest at how the meeting was being conducted.



All 14 of them were led out of the Town Hall chamber by group leader Peter Gilbert following a reprimand by mayor Don Navarro in his role as chairman.

Their absence left the controlling Labour group to have their budget figures for 2011-12 virtually unchallenged.

Proposals for an increase in costs for services, fortnightly refuse collections, changes in the Passport for Leisure scheme, no free parking for disabled Blue Badge holders and a freeze on Council Tax went through on a 19-1 vote.

Opposition councillors left the room during members’ questions, before the budget part of the agenda had been reached.

They were incensed over a point of order issue regarding attendance at the 2009 Local Government Association conference, when the Conservatives were in power.

Following an exchange between Tory councillor Matthew Grant and Labour’s John Haynes, Coun Navarro intervened. He said: “I do not want to have a side show.

" I am here for serious business. If you have come for a sideshow the door is there. We are here representing our constituents. We are not here to make a spectacle of it. Let’s approach it with honesty and integrity.”

At this point the Tories all left their seats and headed for the exit.

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