The deputy leader of the council has called on a senior Green to “personally apologise and consider his position” after the i360 owner filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators.
Labour councillor Jacob Taylor, the cabinet member for finance, said that his Green counterpart Ollie Sykes was one the leading figures behind the £36 million i360 loan brokered by Brighton and Hove City Council in 2014.
Councillor Taylor said: “Amazingly, the current Green party finance spokesperson was one of the leading proponents for the i360 deal and is on record promising it would yield £1 million extra in revenue for the council each year.
“That has been proved disastrously wrong. Councillor Sykes needs to apologise to the city and consider his position.
“This isn’t political knockabout – this is about basic accountability in public life. His decision has lumbered the people of Brighton and Hove with debts for years to come.”
Councillor Sykes said: “I have a lot of respect for Councillor Taylor so find his request disappointing.
“Two previous Labour group leaders were among those promoting the i360 years ago, indeed making the exact same claims that this would raise £1 million extra for the council.
“The i360 was a collective endeavour, developed over a decade and a half under Labour, Conservative, and minority Green administrations.
“All parties were rightly focused on how we could bring more visitors, more jobs and more investment to the city.
“Labour councillors were on board with the project until there was a risk Greens might get the credit.
“Then, after they were back in charge in 2015, they began singing its praises again. Labour leader Warren Morgan called it ‘an engineering feat in itself … and a great addition to our seafront’.
“Labour seem more focused on political point-scoring than the fact that 150 people’s jobs are now on the line.
“We have heard nothing from the administration on what they will be doing to support the i360 or those who lost their jobs through this process and ensure the best outcome for the city.
“This should be their absolute focus.”
Yes Labour were initially onboard with the i360 but that was when it was all to be funded by private finance. Once that never materialised they realised it was too risky to borrow against the local taxpayer, unfortunately the Greens and four Tories thought otherwise – despite being warned that the projected figures were wildly optomistic, (and surely if private enterprise don’t see money being made that is a huge red flag). As for Warren Morgan, (who I am no fan of his), his final speech before the final vote, opposing the whole idea actually seems quite prophetic now questioning the visitor numbers and any realistic return!
Obviously Mr Sykes likes to keep digging saying the administration should be supporting the i360 talk about throwing good money after bad.
ALLof the Green councillors at the time should apologise for heaping £50m debt on to the local taxpayer. (They won’t, because they don’t have any decency or humility).Add to that the CEO of the Council at the time. KitKat needs to be investigated for malfeasance.
As Nathan said above. If the private sector saw something that spooked them (like totally exaggerated visitor numbers) why on earth did councilors think it OK to “have a punt” with £50 million (and counting).
Did the council’s own accounting team and lawyers point out the risks ? – were they ignored ?
In short where is the accountability ?