Calderdale Labour council leader Tim Swift today condemned Calderdale Conservatives for putting party politics ahead of public health.

His furious attack came after a mistimed letter from the Conservative group proved that they had been informed about Government decisions on change to local lockdown restrictions hours before such decisions had been officially announced.

Cllr Swift said:

“This alone is clear confirmation that the actions of the Government and the Conservative party over this issue have been solely motivated by party politics, with no interest or concern for the health and wellbeing of local people.

“The Conservative Government’s  disastrous handling of this pandemic has resulted in this country suffering from one of the highest rates of excess deaths, and one of the worst economic impacts, of any country in the developed world. Their decision making has been marked by repeated u-turns and inconsistencies.

“Against this appalling background, this council and this administration have done and will continue to do everything in our power to keep local people safe. We will also continue to strive for consensus, even when we have differing views of the way forward because we care about the borough. We now see clear evidence that the Conservative group are more interested in party politic point scoring than in working together to support local people. This is a sad day for Calderdale.”