Instead of attacking the Greens, Councillor Les Hamilton should consider the Labour Party’s role in stopping Brighton and Hove City Council services being protected (Letters, October 26).
The minority Green council was forced to change its priorities earlier this year when its budget proposals, designed to protect services from the Government’s cuts, were overturned by Conservative and Labour councillors acting together. The annual budget is the basic policy of any council.
The Greens proposed an increase in council tax but the Tories and Labour combined to reject it. The proposal was less than ideal since council tax is very unfair, hitting those of lower and middle incomes far more than the rich. But it was the only option if services which help the poorest and most vulnerable people were to be preserved.
Coun Hamilton’s letter was published on the same day The Argus reported on the poverty crisis.
The council would find it much easier to tackle that crisis, in this and coming years, if the Greens’ budget last spring had been voted through instead of the Tory and Labour budget.
Tom Lines, St Peter’s Place, Brighton
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