A Labour councillor has sparked outrage after deliberately driving his car towards a man filming a protest against cuts to school bus services in Coatbridge, Lanarkshire. Councillor Pat Patton, who was celebrating his 59th birthday at the time of the incident, now faces disciplinary proceedings and has been fined £420 for his reckless actions.
The protest, involving concerned parents and children, was a direct response to North Lanarkshire Council's decision to implement drastic cuts to school bus services. This decision has ignited widespread discontent among communities, reflecting a growing frustration over the Labour government’s failure to prioritize essential public services. Changes introduced by the council now dictate that only children living more than three miles from their schools will qualify for free transport, raising significant safety concerns about young children walking along increasingly busy roads alone.
During the protest, Graham Cloughley, who was recording the event, described his shocking encounter with Patton. The councillor’s vehicle moved forward, making contact with Cloughley’s knees, an alarming display of aggression that has no place in public life. “I wasn’t injured but I was shocked, taken aback that someone would do that,” Cloughley stated in court, with footage of the incident further exposing Patton's erratic behaviour. Testimony from Cloughley’s wife corroborated the serious nature of this event.
The implications of such reckless behaviour extend beyond this isolated incident, glaringly illustrating systemic failures in the Labour administration to address pressing issues like road safety, particularly for children. Across the UK, similar protests have been erupting, driven by fears that proposed cuts to transport services pose a direct threat to child safety. In Bradford, protests illuminated the potential fallout from cuts, which could drastically impact school admissions and accessibility for vulnerable pupils, leaving them stranded.
Meanwhile, in Wattsville, Wales, concerned parents articulated their fears regarding proposed eligibility changes for free school transport. This sentiment finds sharp resonance in North Lanarkshire, where residents have raised serious alarms about children being forced to navigate busy dual carriageways without adequate safety measures or reliable public transport alternatives. The urgency of these concerns has also resonated in Meath, Ireland, where a protest following a school bus crash underscored desperate calls for improved road safety measures.
Reflecting on the Coatbridge incident, Sheriff Walter Mercer deemed Patton's actions as constituting assault, albeit “towards the lower end of the scale.” Still, this case ignites a crucial debate over the responsibilities of elected officials, especially concerning public safety and community representation in the face of detrimental policy changes.
This incident serves as a stark reminder of the escalating tensions surrounding educational transport provision in the UK. It is a call to action for communities to demand accountability from local councils, particularly those aligned with an administration more focused on cuts than on the welfare of its constituents. If the recent protests will prompt a crucial reassessment of school transport policies remains uncertain, but the overwhelming demand for accountability from both parents and local authorities is unmistakably on the rise.
Source: Noah Wire Services