Jim Dobbin accused of being 'all spin'

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 10th Oct 2007

Councillor Wera Hobhouse, Heywood and Middleton's Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesperson has accused Jim Dobbin MP of 'spin'. This was after Mr Dobbin released a press statement praising the recent Comprehensive Spending Review claiming, "I believe that the people of Heywood and Middleton constituency want not only a more prosperous future but a fairer one too. Labour's plans deliver on all counts."

Wera said, "It is quite clear that Mr Dobbin is cherrypicking parts of the Spending Review. Yes, I welcome the fact that they are finally looking at inheritance tax, stealing Lib Dem green tax policies and looking at our housing problems. Let's not forget though that they have governed for 10 years. Mr Dobbin cannot simply airbrush out the failings of the Labour Government over a decade. He talks about these proposals being good for the family and the elderly. This is hypocritical in the extreme, one of the major problems for families and the elderly is the unfair Council Tax system. This review will simply make it worse - cutting much needed cash to our Council. This could well lead to higher Council Tax increases. This Comprehensive Spending Review has done absolutely nothing to placate those suffering from Labour's Poll Tax. This was also an opportunity to do something about Free Personal Care for the Elderly. People with Alzeimers or other serious mental illnesses having to sell their houses to pay for care is a national disgrace. To claim that this plan 'delivers on all counts' is all spin. Maybe Jim Dobbin has listened to Labour spin doctors instead of listening to the residents in Heywood, Middleton, Castleton, Norden and Bamford"

Wera has also criticised his comments on the NHS saying, "In case Jim has forgotton, Fairfield Hospital and Rochdale Infirmary have just lost vital services because of his Labour Government. Yes, any investment is welcome but much of the previous decade's money has been mismanaged and lost in the overwhelming beauracracy that blindly dogs this Labour Government. I also find his comments about the Conservative Party to be blind arrogance. He's happy to delete the last 10 years but still happy to try and shape any debate throwing mud at anyone but themselves. Yes, I've got issues with the Conservatives but at the end of the day, most of the headlines from the Comprehensive Spending Review have been stolen from the Lib Dems and the Tories."