SENIOR members of Swindon Council's Labour group are railing against their leader.

Leaked minutes to the Evening Advertiser of the last Labour shadow cabinet meeting of February 19 reveal serious unrest in Kevin Small's leadership.

Such was the level of criticism in his own camp that his long-term future as leader will be called into question.

The minutes show that Labour councillors felt that they were "bounced" into putting forward an alternative budget with the Liberal Democrats that inflicted a 7.3 per cent council tax rise on Swindon residents one per cent more than proposed by the Conservative administration.

The shadow cabinet minutes also show Labour councillors supported their own budget only out of "solidarity" and not because they believed it to be right or fair.

Coun Small (Western) and his deputy, Coun David Nash (Central), were both out of the country on holiday at the same time, missing the shadow cabinet meeting. Nash was in India for a month, while Small spent a fortnight in Tenerife.

"How can issues be dealt with and why was this temporary arrangement not put to the group?" the shadow cabinet is demanding to know.

The February 19 shadow cabinet meeting was chaired by Coun Derique Montaut (Moredon). Others in attendance were Coun Mavis Childs (Walcot), Coun Maurice Fanning (Gorse Hill and Pinehurst) and Maureen Dilley (Covingham and Nythe).

Missing from the meeting were the group leader, his deputy, Coun Teresa Page (St Philip) and Coun Jim D'Avila (Moredon).

Responding, Coun Small said: "I have to admit it was bad timing on my behalf being away at the same time as David.

"It was my fault and I hold up my hands to that and hope people will understand my position.

"The last six months have been very difficult for me, firstly with my dad being in hospital, then followed by his death.

"I felt that I needed a holiday and if I kept putting it off I knew it would never happen, so I just had to up and go.

"It's unfortunate that during all my personal troubles I couldn't give more commitment to the group."

On his long-term prospects, the former leader of the council commented: "It's an honour and privilege to lead the Labour group and I would like to continue, but if we get bad results in June (the date of this year's local elections) I will certainly have to consider my position."

When pressed on whether he expected a challenge to his leadership, he said: "It's difficult to say. If I say there's no one good enough to challenge that will only act as a red rag to someone."

But he firmly rejected claims that he had "bounced" his members into a flawed budget.

"It was discussed long and hard," he insisted. "Several drafts were considered before I made a presentation of the proposed final version.

"After that was approved, I then went off to the Liberal Democrats to see if we could come to an agreement and we did.

"To talk about being bounced into it is unwelcome mischief-making."

Coun Montaut said: "Because of the sensitivity of this I'm not in a position to comment. It's right to say, however, that there was a diversity of views within the group about the budget. But I mustn't say any more and I'm deeply disturbed that someone from within should have seen fit to leak this information which could be highly damaging to us. This smacks of sabotage."

Conservative council leader Mike Bawden (Old Town and Lawn) refused to comment, saying only: "This is an internal matter for the Labour group. It would be inappropriate for me to try to reap political capital from their internal troubles."

Michael Litchfield