THE leader of one of the opposition parties on Hillingdon Council has slammed the Conservative-led administration for investing tax payers money in the Icelandic banks.
Councillor Mike Cox, leader of the Liberal Democrats, likens the recent collapse of banks like Icesave to the controversy surrounding the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) which was liquidated in 1991.
Hillingdon Council invested £20m in Iceland's financial institutions and despite deputy leader Councillor David Simmonds reassuring residents services will not be affected Mr Cox is unwilling to forgive.
He said: "The first duty of the Conservative administration must be to protect the assets of residents. In this they have clearly failed. This crisis is on a par with the crackpot investment Local Authorities undertook in BCCI before it crashed. The Judge in that case said 'If the return seems too good to be true it usually means it is.'
This potential loss comes on top of the stock market crisis which is having a dramatic affect on the value of the Councils Pension Fund which is underwritten by Hillingdon's tax payers"
Mr Cox fears if the money proves to be unrecoverable it will wipe out all the council's reserves, including the grant to cover the cost of caring for unaccompanied asylum seeking children.
