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Mayor attacks Olympics war chest
DONCASTER'S mayor Peter Davies yesterday said a £607,000 Olympics war chest was nothing to do with him – and vowed to examine alternative uses for the cash immediately.
Mr Davies faced anger from unions and MPs after the Yorkshire Post exclusively revealed that Doncaster Council had set aside the money to pay for preparations for the games, including a "showcase event" next July.
Critics accused the council of a "disgraceful sense of priorities" and said the cash should be used to shore up the town's social services department, which was criticised over the deaths of seven children.
But yesterday the mayor hit back, telling the Yorkshire Post the fund had been set up by his predecessors. He revealed it originally stood at 1m, but said some cash had already been spent.
Mr Davies said he "was not in favour of funding the Olympics from the pockets of hard-pressed Doncaster council tax payers" and said he would now look to use the remaining money elsewhere. The English Democrat mayor took office in June this year, and said he had been popular with voters because of his plans to cut council waste and protect frontline services.
He added: "I couldn't have made my priorities any clearer than I have done, and the suggestion that I would spend 600,000 promoting the Olympic Games, which have no benefit to the people of Doncaster, is ludicrous.
"The decision to set up the fund was made by the previous cabinet nine months before I was elected, but my opponents have used this opportunity to attack me over something I knew nothing about.
"People may feel I should have known about this, but I have been in office for just five months, and nobody knows how big this job is.
"There was no reason why I should have known about it. Despite what some people think, I am not one for making snap decisions, but I will now
examine what to do with the situation, because it may be a
further opportunity to save money."
Following the Yorkshire Post revelation, Don Valley MP Caroline Flint hit out at Mr Davies,. saying he had decided to halt free fruit for schoolchildren while the council had the cash on account.
Yesterday Mr Davies demanded an apology from Ms Flint and others who had launched "personal" attacks against him over the fund and said they should "get their facts right" before making criticisms.
He added: "The electorate is in favour of my policies but some of my critics will take any opportunity to malign me and con the public."
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Weather for Yorkshire
Saturday 26 May 2012
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