In Parliament, Richard Benyon voted for the council cuts. That is what the Conservatives do, they vote along the party lines. All the MP's do the same regardless of the party. This is what the party whips do, they make sure MP's do vote according to party line.

Now Mr. Benyon says "“I am using every trick in the book to try and make ministers see that this is wrong and won’t work."

Mr Benyon is a very nice man. Saying that, he would never vote against the party, even when he knows it's wrong.

This is the problem with today's politicians. None of them have the guts to step up and vote what is right for their constituents.

He also says "I want to help those organisations who will be affected by council cuts. I may or may not be successful. I’m not claiming to have a silver bullet, but I want to try and minimize the impact as much as I can."

As the richest MP in Parliament, surely he could reach into his pocket and increase the amount of the donations he makes. As a reason why the cuts are so deep, surely this could be the appropriate thing to do...

You are quite right, Richard Benyon is a nice guy. Trouble is, politically, what he is saying doesn't quite add up. If these cuts are so devastating and the worst anyone can remember, how come Conservative Newbury Town Council can continue spending on luxuries and vanity projects as if money is going out of fashion? Which story is right?

He could minimise the impact by telling his Councillors not to spend all that money on Viccy Park.

Indeed! We will need all of the proposed new housing and more besides to have even a small chance of having enough punters to use the rather, over the top sizewise, cafe that they are proposing, even in the summer let alone the winter months?
I would have thought that Newbury had more than enough food outlets without one supplied by the council and more that likely having to be subsidised by precept payers.

It does seem bizarre, to say the least, that more cash the council doesn't have is being thrown at a perfectly good park. As we're endlessly told by Mr Smarm himself, de facto Prime Minister George Osborne - we're still in the midst of an economic crisis which means he's having to cut over 40% from departmental spending. Children's centres are being closed and even public toilets shut down.

Having said that, the voters of West Berkshire either voted in (or couldn't be bothered to oppose) a council and government which had promised very clearly that massive cuts in public spending would be made, regardless of whether they're needed. The council's consultation on its strategic plan said it would cut 'the State' and transfer assets and services 'to the community' (ie volunteers) where possible.

Perhaps, like David Cameron himself (see http://goo.gl/oKr6uq ) Mr Benyon had no idea what '40% cuts' actually meant.

No one would suggest that our MP isn't nice. But it seems very likely that he is, sadly, quite dim.

Just to be clear, this isn't Newbury Town Council we're talking about here - ask to self-manage Town Council services and you'll get a visit from the Stasi.

Let's be frank, 'the community' means Newbury Town Council. They believe they are there to do things to us certainly not for us!

Indeed, although as others have pointed out as both councils are Conservative dominated, and a number of councillors sit on both, they presumably share the same policies.

These people awarded themselves a whopping increase in allowances as soon as they were elected. I'm sure that, with the severe reduction in council services and responsibilities, our elected representatives will be shamed into a corresponding cut in the number of councillors and the direct costs that they incur.