Hucknall Labour party slams "misleading" local election claims

Hucknall's Labour party has branded claims made in your Dispatch by the leader of the Ashfield Independents as "distortion, deflection and deceit."
John Wilkinson, left, with members of the Hucknall Labour Party canvassing ahead of the local elections on May 2.John Wilkinson, left, with members of the Hucknall Labour Party canvassing ahead of the local elections on May 2.
John Wilkinson, left, with members of the Hucknall Labour Party canvassing ahead of the local elections on May 2.

In an article in your Dispatch, published in Friday, April 26, Councillor Jason Zadrozny claimed Hucknall Labour spent £3 million on “shrinking our bins”.

However, John Wilkinson, a Labour Party campaigner, said: "Not content with claiming credit for many initiatives introduced by the Labour council, he continues to mislead residents by claiming that ‘when Hucknall Labour spent £3m on shrinking our bins, fly-tipping went through the roof’.

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"Ignoring the ludicrous notion that a town Labour Party could spend anything like £3m on anything, the truth is no-one spent £3m in relation to the bins.

"The previous Labour-led Nottinghamshire County Council made brilliant use of environmental credits from the government to bring about a system that continues to save millions for the Nottinghamshire taxpayer.

"It is under the Ashfield Independents, playing politics as usual, that fly-tipping increased in Ashfield.

“If Coun Zadrozny can only win by deceit, he, and his political party, does not deserve to win at all."

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Coun Zadrozny said: “I don’t know where this fake outrage from the Labour Party has come from.

“I’m afraid the facts are the facts and very nearly £3m was spent by Labour through both the county and district Councils on shrinking the dustbins across Ashfield.

“They did this despite more than 7,000 residents signing petitions asking them not to do it. This daft policy not only wasted money but led to fly-tipping soaring.

“It is clear this is a pretty desperate last-minute attempt to distance themselves from the mistakes they have made ahead of next week’s council elections.

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“Residents will not fall for this. Its not my place to advise Mr Wilkinson and his Labour group, but perhaps they would have been better advised to simply apologise to residents for their mistakes, instead of trying to cover them up.”