Calling Cllr Banwait ....

Some of UKIP's local election candidates in Derby have got a question for the Labour leader of Derby City Council, Cllr Ranjit Banwait ...

Cllr Banwait accused the leader of the UKIP group, Cllr Alan Graves, of being "borderline racist" for arguing that it's not unreasonable to expect an immigrant to learn English before coming here rather than expecting the taxpayer to fund English lessons or translation services for them once they've arrived.

UKIP Derby steps in to carry out rubbish collections over Christmas

UKIPpers in Derby have collected over 300 bags of rubbish from households after Derby City Council cancelled Christmas refuse collections for the second year running.

The leader of the UKIP group in Derby, Cllr Alan Graves, received complaints from some residents that they would have to wait until at least 4th January before their Christmas rubbish was taken away and organised a group of volunteers to do the collections between Christmas and New Year.

Labour councillor, Paul Bayliss, dismissed UKIP's volunteering efforts as "daft" and said it was just a cynical ploy to attract votes. The next elections in the wards in question are in 2018 so there's very little electoral gain to be had this far in advance of an election. Cllr Bayliss was the leader of the council last year when Christmas waste collections were cancelled.

Over 100 households benefited from the UKIP's free waste collection this week.

UKIP Derby group leader criticises decision to pay more councillor allowances

The leader of the UKIP group on Derby City Council has criticised the decision to pay more money out in councillors' expenses.

Cllr Alan Graves says that the council is spending money that it hasn't got at a time that it is sacking staff to cut costs.

I don't understand how a personnel committee chair can sit in front of our staff, knowing they are going to sack them, knowing they are getting extra money

The decision was made to create two new cabinet positions on the council with a special responsibility allowance and to award a special responsibility allowance to the chair of the personnel committee responsible for cutting staff.

Whenever they are able to, UKIP councillors abolish the cabinet system in councils that allow decisions such as this to be taken undemocratically and replace it with the committee system that gives all councillors an equal say on decisions.

Cllr Graves attempted to reduce the number of councillors by a third last year which would have saved a quarter of a million pounds but was thwarted when his motion to the council was illegally amended by members of the ruling Labour cabinet to remove references to cutting the number of councillors and turn it into an attack on government cuts.

Dirty tricks by Derby Labour

UKIP's Cllr Alan Graves proposed a motion to reduce the number of councillors on Derby City Council by a third, saving at least £250k a year that could be put back into vital public services. The ruling Labour administration didn't agree so they voted through an amendment to turn his motion into an attack on "government cuts" and take out the proposal to cut the number of councillors so the record wouldn't show them voting against saving money.

By law, amendments to a motion must be to improve or correct the motion without altering the meaning of it. Cllr Graves' motion made no reference to criticising "government cuts" and was clearly about cutting the number of councillors so the meaning of the motion was altered. Cllr Graves pointed this out so the council's legal officer, already prepared for the objection, stepped in and said "the amendment does take away slightly the point regarding cuts to councillor numbers" but it's still about "government cuts" so it's legal.

Watch the whole outrageous exchange on video below ...