Peter Mason, the Labour leader of Ealing Council, has mustered a novel explanation for his borough’s failure to provide basic drainage and bin collection services. Some drains have not been unblocked for five weeks. When Rupa Huq inquired about the state of the council’s services, Mason’s first excuse was hardly original. The council which he leads has been left bereft of cheap labour which has led to “operational constraints” following, wait for it…. Brexit — and that there are simply no minions available to do the job. Peter has clearly forgotten much of his ‘Urban Regeneration’ MSc that he studied at UCL. Fortunately for him, he also has experience in political risk and intelligence, campaign strategy, and crisis management…
Oh, we’ve been really quite open about it. We have a shortage of HGV drivers able to drive the refuse and recycling trucks.
— Peter Mason (@_petermason) August 11, 2022
The cause is Brexit, a restrictive immigration policy, and a Govt without a plan to secure enough HGV drivers to go around for goods, petrol and more. pic.twitter.com/hj4Fss5Shh
According to a co-conspirator, more amusingly, however, was Peter’s second excuse. Alongside NATO, the most steadfast ally of Ukraine in its struggle against Russia is the Borough of Ealing. Due to the backlog in dealing with support for Ukraine, all other council responsibilities have been ‘pushed back’. Guido expects statues of Peter to be erected in Kyiv, shortly.
