Another own goal

IT is another own goal that shows why the red card needs to be given to those bureaucrats, and contractors, who decreed that a large barrier should be built through a set of football goalposts on a York playing field.

By The Newsroom

Published 22nd Jun 2011, 07:00 BST

The whistle needs to be blown on such incompetence. It is even more embarrassing as details emerged on the day that York’s council leader, James Alexander, requested an advance on his allowances because his two £1,500 overdrafts are “maxed out” and that he “spent his last tenner yesterday”.

Residents will command little confidence in a local authority leader who, for whatever reason, cannot properly manage his personal finances – even though he is the recipient of allowances worth £30,000 a year? No favouritism should be shown.

Nor should East Riding Council have given preferential treatment to MP Graham Stuart over the resurfacing of the road leading to his Beverley home.

Rightly or wrongly, it only perpetuates the view that public servants are playing by one set of rules – while it is a totally different ball game for their constituents or employees.