Jon Ball welcomes Tory capitulation on Southall Black Sisters

6.49.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Sun 20th Jul 2008

Cllr Jon Ball attended Southall Black Sisters' demonstration outside Ealing Town Hall

Ealing Council withdrew its case in the High Court on Friday where Southall Black Sisters had taken action against the Council's decision to cut their funding.

Reacting to the news, Cllr Jon Ball, Lib Dem parliamentary spokesperson for Ealing Central and Acton, said, "I am delighted by this news as it means that Southall Black Sisters will be able to continue the good work they do to help Asian women who are suffering violence. The Conservative administration should never have made the decision to cut Southall Black Sisters' funding. As well as causing worry to hundreds of women, the Tories have now wasted large amounts of taxpayers money on court costs defending this action until now."

Cllr Ball took a keen interest in the case, attending the demonstration held by Southall Black Sisters before the Cabinet meeting that first made the cut and calling on the cut to be reversed in his budget speech.