OPPOSITION councillors walked out of a debate on the borough’s budget last night following an accusation of dishonesty.
The six-strong Liberal Democrat group reacted with fury after the Conservative administration refused to withdraw one of two accusations.
Nick Tiley, cabinet finance chief, and then leader of the council Andrew Williams told a full meeting of the council an opposition councillor was ‘dishonest’ for claiming there was not enough information provided to scrutinise the budget.
Councillor Tiley withdrew his comment but mayor Gillian Chapman over-ruled calls for Councillor Williams to do the same.
As the Lib Dems filed out Councillor Williams said: “We’ll wait while the children leave.”
Councillor Rosemarie Hollinghurst said: “We are the children? We are leaving.”