Robbie Moore MP said:
"At this critical moment in time, our Labour leadership are desperately scrambling to find someone else to blame, pointing fingers at others and attempting to clear themselves of any kind of responsibility for this mess whilst the Bradford District slowly sinks into bankruptcy. It tells you all you need to know about the dismal leadership Keighley and Ilkley has had to suffer under Cllr Hinchcliffe’s Bradford Council.
It wasn’t the government who decided to spend £15m on the Kirkgate Centre whilst at the same time failing catastrophically to protect our children; it wasn’t the government who decided to get involved in the £35 million “One City Park” city centre white elephant whilst attempting to slash Keighley and Ilkley’s statutory services; and it wasn’t the government who decided to splash nearly £200,000 on staff gift cards as the District sunk into financial ruin.
A huge amount of Bradford Council’s damage is self-inflicted - and if they can’t even take an ounce of responsibility for their complete and utter mismanagement of our local finances, then how an earth can Bradford Council's current leadership be expected to put these issues right.
But don’t just take it from me. Take it from the Liberal Democrats and the Greens, who have directly attributed up to 65 per cent of this deficit to years of Labour's own failure in Children's Services.
The case to take Keighley and Ilkley out of Bradford Council control and form our own unitary authority, which puts local priorities first, has never been stronger. And as Keighley and Ilkley's MP, that is exactly what I will continue to fight for.“
