Mayor accused of ‘Scrooge-like meanness’ in Christmas tree row

Mayor Marvin Rees has been accused of “Scrooge-like meanness” for failing to honour the tradition of having a Christmas tree in the foyer of City Hall.

Veteran Conservative opposition Richard Eddy said the lack of festive decorations in the huge public entrance to Bristol City Council HQ was “disgraceful and an affront to Bristolians”.

Eddy said he had received complaints from council officers and residents about the bauble-free area and that he suspected the Labour mayor was “pandering unnecessarily to the forces of anti-Christian political correctness”.

The council says it once again licensed and supported the Christmas market in Broadmead with its “enormous Christmas tree for all to see” and that local Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) had installed festive lights around the city, including up Park Street next to City Hall.

Eddy said the local authority had for decades organised a large traditional real tree to be mounted in the foyer of the building on College Green.

He said this was paused during the pandemic when fewer staff worked from the civic offices but that most believed it would return, especially as many employees were moved there this year from the organisation’s second main base at 100 Temple Street.

Eddy said that instead, the main entrance had remained “bureaucratically bleak” without one.

He said: “Numerous council officers and members of the public have complained to me about the council’s pitiful treatment of the foyer during this joyous festive occasion.

“The failure to mount and decorate the traditional Christmas tree may be prompted by the mayor’s Scrooge-like meanness at this time of year or his determination to pander unnecessarily to the forces of anti-Christian political correctness.

“Either way, his motivation is disgraceful and an affront to Bristolians, of all creeds and of none.

“Especially as we approach Christmas, there are plenty of Bristolians, such as the tenants of Barton House and those suffering abroad, who are bound to be dejected and are without much confidence in their immediate future.

“Surely the Christmas message of peace, joy and hope is worth celebrating publicly?

“I am equally not convinced by any spurious argument about the use of taxpayers’ money.”

He said the estimated £600 cost of a real seasonal tree was a “minuscule fraction” of what Rees’s administration squandered on the £43m Bristol Energy company disaster and the £132m refurbishment of the Bristol Beacon concert hall, whose costs nearly tripled.

A Bristol City Council spokesperson said: “We were pleased to once again license and support the Christmas market in Broadmead this year, with its enormous Christmas tree for all to see.

“Local BIDs and traders have once again installed festive lights around the city, including up Park Street alongside City Hall.”

Adam Postans is a local democracy reporter for Bristol

Main photo: Martin Booth

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