“Who says that Peterborough is a sleepy backwater where nothing ever happens?” Writes Labour group leader Cllr Shaz Nawaz

It is, it appears, the place to come to when Boris and his chums want to go back on promises made. The Conservative administration promised, yes, that word, to invest £7.5 million into the Millfield area of Peterborough back in January 2017.

January is usually the start of the election season, but I am sure that this is just a coincidence? The money was to be used to address many of the, all too familiar, issues associated with the area. To date, the £7.5m promised (that word again) has not been made available apart from a small portion. It’s now been over three years since it was agreed at Full Council back in 2017.

So now we know where the leader of the Conservatives gets his inspiration. Make a promise (that word again) and then forget the place, the people and the economy of one of the most deprived parts of Peterborough once you have made the headlines.

Yet, all too often, we hear from the Conservatives how poorly Labour-run wards and councils are when the stark reality is it is invariably Labour councillors, elected to be the voices of the poorest and most vulnerable in our society, who are left to pick up the pieces when promises (are you beginning to see a pattern here?) are broken.

Think what an area, any area, can do with £7.5 million. Think of it is as an investment in the most run-down part of the city that is: the most socially diverse, the highest number of houses in multiple occupation in the city, the highest average crime rate, the least amount of green space. Then think of the good that might do if promises were kept and invested wisely by those charged with running our city.

And then consider how much of it those same people can invest that money in wards where people will, or, at least, may vote Conservative and leave Millfield’s issues to those elected to pick up the pieces.

Lest we forget, less than a year ago, the Prime Minister promised to ‘get Brexit done’ with an ‘oven-ready’ deal. Once the election was won he has ripped up the deal he agreed and signed because he has what he wanted, a large majority, and it no longer suits his purposes to keep the agreement made with the EU.

Perhaps he had a word with the leader of our council and asked how to misinform the electorate and go back on a deal when it didn’t suit?

I chuckled when I first saw the poster in the front window of the sadly departed trade unionist Ron Graves that reads: “Never trust a Tory”. I am not chuckling now. How prescient that poster has become. How achingly similar are the falsehoods told to people who they never really did care about but needed their votes when it mattered.

Maybe we should all bear this in mind when we next hear the utterances from our administration. Better still, we tell them what we think of those falsehoods at the ballot box when we finally get there next year.

Mind you, the leader, cabinet member for finance and other members who are all standing down won’t be around to pick up the pieces.

If it wasn’t so sad we might find it funny.

I am not sure the people of Millfield will be laughing any time soon.

Cllr Shaz Nawaz, Peterborough City Council Labour group leader