Reform gains in Doncaster should be a wake up call for progressives - Yorkshire Post Letters

The election of Reform to a majority on Doncaster Council is a wake up call for Doncaster Labour, Doncaster Green Party, Doncaster Lib Dems and other progressives to act and provide the leadership needed to oppose racism and elitism that Reform are spouting.

The landslide victory for Reform is, more than anything, an act of frustration amongst Doncaster residents at the way Labour have run the city for the last decade and a half.

All but four of Doncaster's 26 public libraries now do not exist as staffed libraries run by the council library service, two having closed and 22 being reduced to relying on volunteers.

Volunteers that is, many of whom have enough on their plates with health concerns, paid work commitments, caring commitments and the rest of it.

On top of everything else they have to work for free to keep their library from closing down.

One of Mayor Ros Jones's first acts back in office needs to be to look at this policy in detail and in collaboration with the South Yorkshire mayor Oliver Coppard come up with a strategy for putting staff back in all Doncaster libraries, starting with the most deprived areas.

I urge all Doncaster residents to write to the mayor to politely ask for a return to properly resourced council run library services at all 26 Doncaster library sites.