On Wednesday on 24th April in the House of Commons there was a session entitled Engagements and towards the end of the session Sally-Ann Hart spoke about the “The Labour leader of the almost bankrupt Borough Council and several other Labour councillors”. The response came from Oliver Dowden who is the deputy Prime Minister. So the text below can also be obtained from this location

Sally-Ann Hart: The Labour leader of the almost bankrupt Hastings Borough Council and several other Labour councillors resigned from the Labour party citing that the national Labour party has become overly authoritarian, in a “dereliction of local democracy”, and has “lost its moral compass” and is suffocating local voices because its only objective is power for power’s sake. Would the Deputy Prime Minister agree that voting for Conservative candidates in upcoming elections will ensure local voters are heard, local democracy is upheld and better services are delivered?

Oliver Dowden: My hon. Friend is absolutely right to highlight the really serious concerns about Labour councillors in Hastings. One former Labour councillor said that Labour are no longer providing

“the policies, the support, or the focus on local government”.

I could not have put it better myself.