The more I read about Peter Davies the more I like him.
He is the directly-elected mayor of Doncaster and is responsible for the local services of just over 250,000 people.
He has ordered budget cuts across the city of 10pc to 15pc. Decades of monopoly Labour rule have convinced him that the savings can be found.
He is planning a 3pc cut in council tax.
He has already cut his own pay in half to £30,000. Next he wants to cut the pay of his own chief executive in half. That would save £85,000 more.
He wants to cut the number of councillors by two-thirds to just 21.
He has ended Doncaster's twinning with five other cities.
Another £80,000 has been saved by leaving the trade union of local councils (otherwise known as the LGA).
He believes immigrants should learn English and has scrapped the translation services that were slowing integration.
His war against political correctness is also evident in his cancellation of funding for gay and race pride events. He says they can go ahead with his blessing but not with money from Doncaster taxpayers. Also on the way out are community cohesion officers.
He may have scrapped the chauffeur-driven car he inherited but he is otherwise very positive about the motor car. He is increasing the number of parking spaces because he wants Doncaster to be business friendly. Incidentally he does not believe that Doncaster has a duty to save the planet from global warming but it does need to provide jobs for its people.
This retired RE teacher wants schools to run themselves.
What a guy.
I am indebted to Gerald Warner, Harry Phibbs, Robert Hardman and Wikipedia for the content of this blog.
