My reply to Cllr Krupesh Hirani

Cllr Krupesh Hirani has a blog post in which he claims that the government's cuts are forcing the library closures. Here is my response to him:

I'm sorry I disagree that the coalition are forcing the removal of library services in Brent. It's down to each individual council on how to deal with the cuts in their grants.

Someone somewhere in the council has brainwashed the Labour executive into thinking that closing 50% of the libraries is the only solution. It isn't the only solution to meet the cuts, but the council has so far refused to engage us in a meaningful intelligent dialogue towards working to an alternative that keeps residents and the accountants happy. 

I think the council should appreciate that a U-turn on this policy would not be seen as a political climb down to be exploited by their feeble conservative opponents who I have on numerous occasions invited to come up with an alternative strategy without proper response.  Instead residents would see that the council is willing to put people before politics. The question is is a young councillor like yourself wiling to help put the argument forward?

I do hope so.