Manchester City Council’s Executive met to rubber stamp its latest budget – and its climate change “plan” – on Wednesday. Meanwhile a space heater was blazing away in the empty room that they had said they were going to use, just across the corridor. And we have the photo to prove it.

On Weds 12th February the Council’s 9 member executive – and assorted assistants, officers and precisely two members of the public – squeezed into the “Scrutiny Room,” on the second floor of the Town Hall Extension. According to the staff member on the reception desk downstairs, the meeting of the Executive was actually scheduled for the Council Chamber across the way. That would explain why a space heater was blazing away in there from at least 9.30am…

As reported on Wednesday, the Executive Member for the Environment declined to say that the nine actions in the Open Letter submitted by citizens of Manchester were sensible suggestions and that she would work to the best of her ability to make them happen. Instead, she delivered a mini-lecture about effective behaviour change. [Happy to be a guinea pig, but hopefully that advice can be recycled somewhat closer to home in the near future.]

The Executive then studiously ignored the fact that the Council will miss its long-promised 2014 target of a 20% carbon reduction. Instead some of them they chose to snicker at the sole Liberal Democrat politician in the room. .Sixty feet away, a space-heater heated empty space.

Perhaps the next time the Glorious Leader tries to score cheap political points by asking rhetorical “how do we cut building emissions?” questions to the political opposition, this photo will be used. Oh, but wait – after May 22nd there will be no political opposition in the Council whatsoever. Happy times for Manchester, oh yes. #1partystate

Marc Hudson
mcmonthly@gmail.com