Council leader hits back after pub bin strike spat

COTTON: ‘GOOD OFFER ON THE TABLE’

- JANE HAYNES Politics Editor

CITY council leader John Cotton today defended his role in bin strike negotiations and hit back at union tactics after an encounter in a city pub.

Cllr Cotton (Lab) was at the bar of the Post Office Vaults in New Street when he was approached by a supporter of striking binmen, who accused him of being ‘missing in action’ in negotiations to end the dispute.

The encounter, filmed and shared online, featured a large green plastic hand that was waved in the councillor’s direction.

The supporter told him there was a Unite campaign under way against him because he was ‘missing’ from negotiations, telling him ‘the finger is pointing at you’

While the brief filmed encounter was good natured, Cllr Cotton said he believed it was driven by ‘misinformation’ about dispute negotiations and part of a personal campaign which had also seen his home door-stepped.

He said family and neighbours had faced questions about his actions, with posters and leaflets distributed in his local neighbourhood - tactics that he described as ‘unnecessary. The strike has now been running for 12 weeks, causing chaos to residents and damaging the city’s reputation at home and abroad, with tales of giant rats and rubbish mountains making headlines.