Southwark Council tries to ban people talking about what they’ve already talked about

Liberal Democrats in Southwark claim the council is £26 million worse off because of decisions the Labour-run body has taken over a regeneration scheme for Elephant & Castle.

This figure has been the subject of political debate, it’s been mentioned in the council, it’s been mentioned in the press and it’s been mentioned online.

So what happened when Liberal Democrat councillors tried to put the figure in a motion to be debated at the council? The council said no – the figure is secret and can’t be mentioned.

As London SE1 reports:

A Southwark Council spokesperson said: “On the advice of the monitoring officer we removed commercially confidential information from public papers.”

Lib Dem councillors say that they believe that the censorship is politically motivated.

“This is an outrageous attempt by Labour to stop Liberal Democrat councillors speaking the truth,” says Cllr Geoffrey Thornton.

“The amount Labour lost through their incompetence is already in the public domain and for the council to try to maintain the fiction of secrecy is utterly ridiculous and pointless.