Talking Politics - Keeping your promises in Politics by Council Leader Alan Taylor.

The last few years have been hugely successful for the Liberal Democrats in Rochdale - gaining seats across the board and of course we have gained an excellent local MP in Paul Rowen. A lot of nonsense has been spoken by the Opposition, last year we had a myriad of excuses as to why the Conservatives and Labour abandoned their principles and joined together in a Coalition. That is history now and rightly so - the Liberal Democrats put together an exciting manifesto for this Borough and you are seeing us keep our promises.

A Manifesto in politics is vital; it is almost like a menu. People need to know what they are voting for and that is why I am delighted to see our radical promises starting to make a real difference to resident's lives. The Opposition, taking comfort from their coalition didn't bother so it's no wonder that the Labour vote collapsed in the area covered by this paper. They won 1 seat out of the 12 that this paper covers, the Conservatives did no better - their worst performance for many years. The Labour Party are weak in Rochdale - using a Middleton Councillor to attack us in last week's "Talking Politics" Pages. This illustrates how shallow they have become, why not use Councillors like Darren Pedley? It is because he doesn't follow Councillor Allen Brett's increasingly authoritarian and unpopular party line?

Anyway, as Leader of the Council I am involved in many things - this includes of course Chairing the Council's Cabinet. The hours are long - but it is a huge privilege to do this vital job. These are exciting times for this Borough - pressing items include the long overdue regeneration of Rochdale Town Centre and of course the devolution of power to our Townships, this was just one of our promises to the people of this Borough - clear proof that we mean business. As part of this process - we have widened the scope of the Cabinet Member for Corporate Management, now including Townships. An excellent job is being done by Councillor Keith Swift in delivering power down to the communities of Rochdale.

Another bold step was to create a Portfolio for Older People - Rochdale is being widely praised by Senior Figures across the country. Unfortunately, short-sighted criticism from Middleton Labour Councillors is putting our bid for £1.038 Million POPPS Funding in jeopardy. Make no mistake - when we bid for the £1.038 Million to improve the lives of our older people, the fact that we have showed a clear commitment by establishing this post helped us get short listed. This unfortunately has been undermined by the continued sniping of the Labour and Conservatives. I will be delighted if the hard work of Councillor Angela Coric and Council Officers is rewarded with a positive decision. I sincerely hope the Opposition think clearly when making personal attacks in future when they are continually are relegated to B-Sides whilst we remain "Top of the Popps". I must make it clear that these 2 Cabinet Members come at no extra cost to the Council Tax Payers of this Borough. We have merely identified how it can be made stronger and we have strengthened some of the flabby, weaker positions so easily adopted by the previous Labour/Conservative ugly sisters.

Councillor Alan Taylor

Liberal Democrat Leader of Rochdale Council