21/01/10 - Labour's 'Desperate' Development U-Turn Condemned by Swindon Tories

Rob Buckland & Cllr Justin Tomlinson Displaying The Conservative Pledge To
Rip Up The Regional Spatial Strategy

A massive U-turn over development by Swindon’s Labour politicians shows they’ll do anything to cling on to power, the town’s Conservative Parliamentary candidates said today.

Justin Tomlinson and Robert Buckland said Labour’s back-flip was a desperate attempt to pander to public opinion and was playing politics with Swindon’s future.

Yesterday, Labour bizarrely criticised the Conservatives for the Regional Spatial Strategy, which has led to plans for 3,000 houses next to West Swindon.

But only four months ago, Labour’s South Swindon MP strongly supported the RSS, saying, “it lays out important manageable growth figures for Swindon”.

Robert Buckland, Conservative Parliamentary candidate for South Swindon, said, “We now have proof that Labour just can’t be trusted on this issue.

“As recently as September, their MP wrote to the Council saying her government’s Regional Spatial Strategy was the best thing since sliced bread.

“Now, when she sees that public opinion is so strongly against the development, she does a complete U-turn and even tries to blame the Conservatives for the plans.  She’s trying to have her cake and eat it”.

Justin Tomlinson, Conservative Parliamentary candidate for North Swindon, said, “This is just disgraceful behaviour from Labour.

“It’s significant that yesterday’s statement was co-written by their new parliamentary candidate, who is a Surrey Councillor living about a hundred miles away.

“He clearly knows nothing about this issue and fails to understand how serious it is for local residents where I live in North Swindon”.