Tory councillor Richard Frampton quits party in protest at public service cuts

A FURIOUS Conservative district councillor has quit the party in protest at cuts to public services which he says are leaving residents at the mercy of criminals.

Cllr Richard Frampton, a farmer who represents the Bransgore ward, spoke out after the village’s Co-op store, whose premises he owns, was targeted by armed raiders for the second time in a fortnight.

He declared: “I am leaving the Tory party with immediate effect and becoming an Independent for I can no longer defend the indefensible. Maybe the politicians will wake up to reality one day, or even just wake up, and put country before party.

“Once you’re a member of a political party you can’t speak out against anything because you have to toe the party line. I am just not willing to do that anymore. If I lose the true blue vote then so be it – I won’t put up with my village being short-changed anymore.”

The latest robbery at the Co-op in the Oak Tree parade took place at around 9pm on Sunday when a man – carrying what police described as a “bladed item” – threatened staff before leaving on foot with cash, cigarettes and alcohol.

It follows a previous robbery at the same shop on 15th January, when a knife-man threatened staff before escaping with a similar haul.

Police have linked this incident to another attempted raid on a Christchurch Nisa store minutes before the first at Bransgore.

Cllr Frampton told the A&T: “It was clearly a copy-cat robbery but there is just no police presence to act as a deterrent. Poor old Tracey Cooper, our community police officer, is doing her best but the frontline has been cut so much that it’s an impossible job.

“Police are so thin on the ground it and have no resources it must be soul destroying.”

As reported in today’s A&T, Hampshire’s Conservative police and crime commissioner, Michael Lane, is proposing to axe 110 officer posts in 2018/19 while increasing his office’s budget. He has blamed the cuts on several years of declining government funding.

Cllr Frampton, who previously defected to the Tories from the Liberal Democrats, reacted: “We are seeing police stations being sold off for building to keep the service going and central government loading the local rates to cover up their cuts in services.

“The potholes are nearly big enough to break a tractor wheel and people are dying in corridors of hospital – if they can even get there. I had to ask myself, should I be proud to be a member of a party that is standing by to watch this happen?

“Successive governments have tried to buy the electorate by cutting taxes but the problem is we have gone below critical mass, and unless we all pay a little more we cannot expect to see return to quality of service.

“When the effects of lack of investment in our front line services starts to hit the villages that until now have not been affected, it is time to say enough is enough.

“Central government are so het up with Brexit and looking good by cutting taxes that everything is just falling apart.”

Cllr Frampton was elected to NFDC in 2014 in a by-election following the death of Cllr Ann Hickman. He is also a landowner, sits on the planning and licensing committees, and is a member of the national park authority.

He will become the only Independent councillor on NFDC, which has 60 members of whom 57 are Tory.

Despite his decision to resign from the party, Cllr Frampton was quick to praise the efforts of NFDC’s Tory leader Cllr Barry Rickman.

He said: “At district level, Barry Rickman is doing a sterling job despite central government continually cutting the grant funding and threatening reorganisation. I applaud his efforts although I suspect even he is frustrated.

“So it’s sorry to all the true blues but I love my village too much not to make a stand for their security. I love my elderly relatives too much not to see them have quality of life removed and I respect all the front line services too much not to see them sold down the river by another tier of useless management.”

Cllr Rickman said: “I respect Richard’s position. He is a true local man who really understands the New Forest at a local level. However, he has made a decision based on other factors. Most of the councillors at NFDC are there to work for the district at a district level.”

Although Cllr Frampton could potentially lose his seat on the council’s planning committee, Cllr Rickman acknowledged that he had “very valuable local knowledge” on planning issues.

He continued: “I really understand that Richard has the village in his heart and I very much hope that my group will wish him well.

“I don’t like the council chamber to be used for trailblazing of party colours. We all have to the best we can for the Forest and on the whole, most of the time, we are all fighting for the same cause.”

New Forest West MP Sir Desmond Swayne was less forgiving and claimed Cllr Frampton’s decision to leave the party was motivated by Brexit.

He added: “Richard has been a very good councillor. He did, however, previously hold that position as a Liberal Democrat.”

Villagers' views

WHEN asked about policing presence in the village, a number of Bransgore residents expressed concern.

Dave Wiseman said: “There are no police anywhere and the government don’t seem to care. I would like to know where all the money is going.

“You never see a policeman anywhere in the village. When I moved here from Boscombe we had our own policeman and there was one for Burley, Bransgore and Sopley.”

Of Cllr Frampton quitting the Tories, he added: “Richard does a huge amount for our village but I worry that he won’t be able to change things if he is on the outside.”

Bill Brownlie said: “You sometimes see the odd police car but there is not really any visible presence – it is worrying.”

Another villager, Ray Sherred, who owns New Milton Construction, said he had been burgled twice in the last 14 months losing £12,000 of valuables and power tools.

He continued: “Police have been cut and cut and there is no investment in infrastructure. I am very concerned. I would say that the police need to be focusing on the real criminals and not the drivers who are doing a few miles over the speed limit.”