Droylsden West Councillor Ged Cooney's Son Fined for Possessing Cocaine

In this weeks Tameside Advertiser, hidden away in the named and shamed column was an interesting nugget of information about a "Simon John Paul Cooney, of Parvet Avenue, Droylsden was fined £400 with £125 costs for possessing cocaine". Would this be the same Parvet Avenue in Droylsden where the Labour Councillor for Droylsden West, Gerald "Ged" Cooney lives?

Cooney, who claims a £31,998 allowance for his work as a councillor including special responsibility allowances for his executive cabinet position for "learning and achievement" and the Greater Manchester Pension Fund Panel. This figure excludes any external bodies not paid for by the council such as being a member of AGMA's board for Housing and Planning or for his position as Chair of the New Chater Housing Trust. In his declaration of interests, he states that he works as a joiner for Manchester City Council. He isn't, he's actually been sidelined as a union branch secretary for UCATT.

It couldn't have come at a worse time for Councillor Cooney as InTameside revealed yesterday that Tameside ranks as the worst authority in Greater Manchester for education and the fifth worst nationally. Not only do we have one of the third deadliest hospital in the country, but we now have one of the worst education systems too. To say that health and education are supposed to be Labour's strong points, they are heavily letting down the people of Tameside.

It would appear that Councillor Kieran Quinn needs to reshuffle his cabinet. Cooney has clearly failed his remit in his executive cabinet position responsible for the boroughs schools. He position is untennable, not with the poor Ofsted results, but the fact he can't control his own children living under his roof. If he can't control his own kids, how is he expected to instill the discipline needed to take control of our under-performing schools?

Don't Tell Joan!

Councillor John Taylor, the long serving Labour councillor for Dukinfield and Deputy Leader of Tameside Council, has a habit of sticking his foot in with his classic letters to the local press. In the past, Taylor has wrote to the Tameside Reporter boasting of his holiday to Benidorm where he saw "Sticky Vicky" and recommended that she should do a show in Stalybridge. Admittedly, they have got slightly better of late as they are now sub-edited by Tameside Council press officer and cheerleader in chief, Mike Pavasovic.

It's a surprise that Councillor John Taylor doesn't ask Mike Pavasovic to edit his Tweets as he made sexual advances towards another Labour Party member on Twitter. She Tweeted about a sex tip she had saw in the Cosmopolitan Magazine which read:

"Raw chillies in your mouth while giving head can really add spice to your sex life. #fakecosmosextips"

Our respected Deputy Leader, who is married to his wife Joan, responded by asking her to get in bed with him!

"@Lefty_Lisa lisa go to bed or call round and see me ."

A picture can be found below, but you can view the conversation on Twitter here.

In the past we have seen celebrities like Jason Manford for posting lewd tweets in private resign from their jobs. Can you see John Taylor resign? Well like all other councillors, Taylor has no talent to fall back on. His only job is to work at the council where he gets a reported £35,135 a year as deputy leader and that excludes any external bodies he sits on. And that Spanish villa he just bought isn't going to pay for itself now is it?