THE Government is trying to give itself “maximum discretion” to do whatever it wants, according to Sir Christopher Chope.

Christchurch’s MP raised several issues in relation to Local Government Reorganisation in Dorset during a debate in the House of Commons on Wednesday.

Sir Christopher has been questioning the merger that will see Christchurch join with Bournemouth and Poole authorities.

Speaking to the Daily Echo, he said: “The next step is the Government producing the order which will be secondary legislation and will have to be debated and agreed in both Houses.

“The Government is trying to give itself the maximum discretion to do whatever it wants. They have moved the goalposts.”

Cllr David Flagg, leader of Christchurch Borough Council, said a meeting with counsel on Tuesday advised the authority there was “no realistic prospect” of mounting a successful legal challenge to the merger. However, Sir Christopher said it was not possible to summarise the discussions in a “couple of sentences”.

The veteran MP said several areas were highlighted by counsel. It is understood the legal advisor asked for more information and will be providing a report in writing.

Following the meeting, Sir Christopher addressed MPs, including Communities Secretary Sajid Javid, in the House of Commons to raise a number of issues on Wednesday.

He said: “I find it a cause for shame, frankly, that I am a Conservative MP who campaigned against this, and I find that I’ve been let down very badly by my own Government.

“My right honourable friend has also told me that he’s going to try to limit exit payments to local government officers to £95,000, in accordance with the government’s pledge.

“He did, at my behest, go off and say that he would ask council officials in Dorset about that. The response from them was ‘********’ - ‘We’ve worked our ******** off, no way are we going to allow our exit payments to be limited to £95,000’.

“I am an extremely dissatisfied bunny as I go towards Easter because I believe in localism.”

Sir Christopher told the Daily Echo that he felt the public “would like to know” about the officer’s comments.

He said even if there are just a few exit pay outs above £95,000, there was still a justifiable case for putting a clause in the merger’s Parliamentary Order.