Concerns raised that Trump’s ‘illegal war’ could impact Welsh council’s budget
Elgan Hearn, Local democracy reporter
Concerns have been raised that a council budget could be thrown off course by higher costs due to US President Donald Trump’s illegal war in Iran.
At a meeting of Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council on Thursday, March 5, councillors met to debate the draft budget proposal.
In essence, the budget, which includes a 3.75 per cent Council Tax increase, had been unofficially agreed weeks ago as the Opposition Independent group had worked with the Labour administration on its construction.
Council leader Cllr Steve Thomas (Labour – Tredegar) said: “The settlement is better than we anticipated earlier in the year and it allows us to safeguard jobs and protect front-line services, limit Council Tax increases, and support the uplift of the living wage.
“In summary, this is not a cuts budget; this is a stabilising budget and gets us to a strong, responsible, and credible position for Blaenau Gwent.”
Opposition Independent leader, Cllr Wayne Hodgins (Brynmawr), said: “This isn’t a budget about any political group but the residents out there.
“We’re here to protect the community in any way we can and protect the services people rely on.”
He pointed out that discussions between the groups had brought the Council Tax down to 3.75 per cent from an initial 4.95 per cent.
Non-aligned Cllr Helen Cunningham (Llanhilleth) said: “This budget could be disrupted.
“We have a deranged president in the White House who is taking a sledgehammer to international law and unleashing hell in the Middle East.
“What assessment is being done on the potential destabilisation to affect prices and other things that impact public services?
“There’s potential for this budget to be disrupted.”
She asked whether work to “understand the threat” to the council’s budget is happening.
Cllr Thomas said that work to do this had started.
Cllr Thomas replied: “This is really early days. None of us know what’s going to take place, how long it’s going to be, or the outcome.
“We’ll have to do the best we can to adapt.”
He explained that this could mean using council reserves to balance the books at the end of next year.
Director of corporate services and s151 officer Rhian Hayden said: “I can assure you we will be monitoring the situation closely and identifying any emerging pressures.
“They will be reported as part of our normal budget management framework.
“There is potentially quite a bit of turmoil that could impact the budget.”
Councillors went to vote, and they all supported the budget apart from Reform UK’s Cllr Jonathan Millard (Ebbw Vale South).
The papers show that the budget estimate for next year is that Blaenau Gwent needs £213.78 million to run its services, which include schools, Social Services, rubbish collection, and road maintenance.
The council will receive a 4.9 per cent increase in funding from the Welsh Government, which is the third best among the 22 local authorities in Wales.
This takes its annual funding settlement for Blaenau Gwent up to £165.53 million, with the Council Tax fees and charges taking the budget up to £210.7 million.
This leaves the council needing to make £3.925 million in cuts and savings to balance the books.
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Get your excuses in first, eh!
Energy prices gonna up because of Reforms chum in the US.
There’s a real risk of a 70s energy crisis which ultimately ushered in Thatcherism. Perhaps this time it could be different if the cost of renewables were unhooked from the wholesale price of gas with emergency legislation, so Ed can save us all.
The UK need to be more self sufficient instead of relying on imported goods that escalate in price during situations such as at present.
That’s what Trump said.
He was right about that.
Brexit set us apart, it will be harder on us out of the EU than in. Really is a good job we have a chunk of re newables, but then BadEnoch and farage want to rip that out of the UK.
BUt we have never been fully self sufficient in food or energy, that is all affected by Trump. And that will hit councils.
I’d happily double my council tax if it meant the women and girls of Iran didn’t get murdered for the clothes they wear, or gay people weren’t hung from cranes.
Those aren’t really the options though!
So you’d be happy with another Iraq with over a million killed due to the invasion and subsequent violence there?
Or the warring factions in Libya still fighting after all these years? Due to the West and it quest for regime change without a plan or afterthought for the actual people living in that country.
I suppose you’re happy with the “double tap” missile strikes designed to kill any recuse workers attending the civilian targets hit by Isreali and US missiles.
What a bizarre thing to say. I presume you are a man…
Thats a bit sexist isn’t it? What difference does it make if the person you are debating with is a man or woman?
If the Iranian regime were to fall what could take its place? Another Taliban or ISIS style regime? Would that not be worse for woman and gay people?
Furthermore you have not answered the question: What gives the USA or UK the right to intervene in the affairs of other countries?
Because I mentioned what women have faced under the regime. No other woman would think like that or deflect in such an utterly bizarre way.
Being a man or a woman does not determine whether or not their argument is right or wrong. The point being raised is about the consequences of military intervention, no one here is defending the Iranian regime or denying the plight or women in that country. But, the question remains: what would realistically replace the current regime if it collapsed? Another Taliban or ISIS regime If the outcome were chaos or another extremist government, that could easily make the situation for women and minorities even worse. And it still doesn’t answer the broader issue: what gives foreign powers the right… Read more »
If we could only ask the late David Williams about it…
And I suppose you think Tomme ten names is a hero for women’s rights as well.
Trump, self confessed abuser and appears in latest files release with alegations of sexual child abuse, he does not care for any women unless he can grab them and abuse them.
His words.
Now we have Lindsey Graham saying “we’re going to blow the hell out of these people”
Meanwhile in the US school shootings are normal and the same religious nutcases that are taking away women’s rights in the US have a foothold in the Uk via the likes of Reform.
Was merely hoping people would remember the plight of women under the Iranian regime, but there you go.
The regime is evil. No one disputes that.
Trump is not doing this to help women, it will not help women, it will make it worse. And he is going a long way to murder a lot of women.
Remember he had his ICE shoot a woman in the face because she was a woman. His ICE shot another woman 5 times and she survived to give evidence. Trump is not a friend of women or a stable leader to bring about a safe regime.
Coupled with that, the girls school was bombed twice. The second bombing was during the rescue (I hear its called a double tap bombing). The Israeli’s did this a lot when they murdered all the women and children in Gaza, where did the US get that idea from? Trump was silent on that. Nothing from tump apart from more bombs to be sold.
So whenever a foreign dictator oppresses their own people, everyone’s council tax has to increase? The purpose of council tax is to fund local services, not to intervene in the internal affairs of other countries.
How reading 60 days and the global economy is stuffed. Unless the Straits are opened then trump has set us back massively.
For no gain, apart from murdering school girls and trump being an absolute idiot.
It’s astonishing that Russia has declared this action as “illegal unprovoked aggression which has no explanation, no clear goal, no planning, no exit strategy”. Perhaps Donald should’ve called it a “special military operation” instead.