CASH FOR CUTS: Labour Hand Library Role to Major Party Donor

Labour Council Leader, Cllr Claire Douglas, is set to hand a key role in delivering their £600,000 cuts to library services to one of Labour’s biggest financial backers. 

Owen Trotter, who has given £55,521.75 to York Labour since 2019, including £10,000 straight into the coffers of the City of York Council Labour Group, has been nominated by the Labour Group as City of York Council's director on the board of Explore York Libraries and Archives.

This is the very organisation Labour are using to force through their huge £600,000 cuts to library services across the city. 

Liberal Democrat councillors have slammed the move as cronyism of the worst kind. 

With libraries facing staff reductions, service closures, or shorter opening hours, Liberal Democrat Councillors say Labour’s decision shows contempt for local communities. 

Labour’s £600,000 cuts are set to hit every corner of the city, while the person now charged with helping deliver them is a man who has bankrolled the very councillors making the decision.

Councillor Christian Vassie, Lib Dem Spokesperson for Culture, Leisure, Human Rights and Communities said: 

"Cllr Claire Douglas and York Labour are taking Owen Trotter’s money with one hand and handing him a position of power with the other. This isn’t about protecting York’s much-loved libraries, it’s about protecting Labour’s own interests and rewarding their large donors. Residents will see straight through this grubby deal. 

“Given other recent decision by the administration, I fear we will again have to fight to protect the mobile library service that is so valued in rural wards that don't otherwise have access to libraries. 

"Libraries should be run for the people of York, not as a political plaything for Labour donors."