ISLE of Wight Council leader Jonathan Bacon and deputy Steve Stubbings have quit — saying they can no longer deal with the government's continued austerity-driven cuts.
Cllr Bacon said: "Steve and I have done our best to lead the council through the difficulties it faces, but, in the face of the unwillingness of government to lift a finger to help and the preference for too many elected members to act negatively rather than try and help, we are of the view that our positions as leader and deputy leader of the council are now untenable and, perhaps more pertinently, intolerable.
"Therefore with apologies to all those who have worked, whether with us or otherwise, to address the problems the Island faces, we are resigning from the leadership roles of the Isle of Wight Council and the council executive."
Cllr Stubbings said: "The Isle of Wight Council has been forced into a corner where, with the best will in the world, the opportunity for anyone with even a modicum of compassion and concern for residents to do anything to address issues that need to be dealt with is pretty much impossible in the face of the cuts that have been and which continue to be imposed."
More to follow.
Reporter: emilyp@iwcpmail.co.uk