I attended the “Stand up for Radcliffe” march on sunday afternoon organised by Churches Together and the local MP, however I am concerned that what was ostensibly a successful event with over 100 taking part, may have been marred by public comments by the local MP suggesting the Chief Executive of Bury Council had lied and had been dishonest regarding assurances given that all necessary contract had been (or would be) signed prior to Labour losing control of the council.

The allegations followed speakers including myself. First of all a representative of Radcliffe Churches Together was followed by a parent and a former head girl.

I then addressed the assembled marchers in Bury Council’s Town Hall car park. I thanked the organisers for providing this opportunity for concerned residents, parents and pupils to make their voices heard and made it clear that I was concerned that Bury Council was not listening to the concerns being raised about proposals for Radcliffe Riverside and The Derby High Schools. I said that Governments start failing the people when they stop listening to those that elected them. That leads to mistakes and in this case the mistakes they are about to make could disrupt and damage the education of many Radcliffe young people. Parents have a fundamental right to expect that their children will receive the best possible education from the local council.

Radcliffe deserves a first rate high school like every other town in Bury. Bury’s decision not only jeopardises the future of the new school to be built but will also have a damaging impact on Riverside pupils.

My comments were followed by Ivan Lewis’s allegations. Allegations that centre around apparent pledges made just prior to Labour losing control of the Council. According to Ivan Lewis the Chief Executive gave assurances that all necessary contracts re: the land for the new Riverside School were or would be signed before polling day. Subsequently this turned out to not be the case.

These allegations are extremely serious and will need to be investigated and responded to that is clear. However I am concerned that over and above these allegations the key issues are hear and now, not something that happened or didn’t happen two years ago.

We need to address real concerns faced by parents and pupils around the possible disruption of education, transport issues, disabled access and more.Sadly Ivan’s comments distract from those very real concerns and it is now likely that an almight row will now blow up about who said what and when, at a time when we should be addressing the concerns of the school community.