In a reversal of that New Labour maxim, 'August may be a good month to bury good news' - for rats that is. Labour Lambeth has just cut more than £300,000 from the housing estates' pest control budget, giving rise to fears that rats will be rampant in the hottest summer on record.
Worse than that the news follows a warning from newly elected Councillor Dr Neeraj Patil that conditions on Stockwell's Springfield Estate are a perfect breeding ground for rat-borne diseases and in a worst case scenario could spread Bubonic plague.
Speaking off the record a senior Council officer described the cut as "naive" and an illustration of Labour's immaturity. Rats spread Weil's disease, an infection in their
Conservative Councillor Clare Whelan, who exposed this cut in the local press, says: "This is good news for rats in Lambeth but no one else. Rats are a horrendous problem in this borough. I've no idea how Labour will tackle pest control without proper funding."
CLICK HERE for Cllr John Whelan's weblog entry on this issue >>
This issue in the news
Pest control cuts are good gnaws for rats - South London Press, Friday 4th August 2006 [Web]
Pest control cuts are good gnaws for rats - South London Press, Friday 4th August 2006 [PDF]
It's open season if you're a rat - South London Press editorial, Friday 4th August 2006 [PDF]
A £300k cut? Rat's not the way to do it - The Post, Thursday 10th August 2006 [PDF]
Weblinks
Wikipedia - Bubonic plague
Wikipedia - Weil's disease
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