It’s a good job Green councillor Chip Sherwood doesn’t get paid by the word. ‘Silent’ Sherwood, who is hardly renowned for his verbal contributions to council meetings, was the subject of cross-party trash talking at this week’s crucial County Hall budget summit.

The Isis county councillor, pictured right, was goaded for remaining tight-lipped, and found himself the subject of a tongue lashing by Labour’s loquacious legal-eagle Richard Stevens who dubbed the Green party member “he who does not speak”.

Mr Sherwood later secured a raucous ovation and an apology from the Leys and Lye councillor for making a brief statement in support of the Green party budget’s budget proposals.

However the budget itself dubbed “tax and spend” by critics did not quite receive the same rousing reception.

Labour’s Oxfordshire county councillors were derided by all parties this week for failing to even submit their own alternative budget proposals.

Conservative members declared the party had now run out of ideas at a local as well as a national level, and took it as a sign that they agreed with the Tory budget.

Even the Liberal Democrats and Greens expressed surprise that Labour had not put forward their own ideas for how they would like the council’s money to be spent.

However, Labour leader Liz Brighouse claimed the alternative budgets were a waste of paper as they had no hope of being voted through.

She also said there were too many unspecified savings in the Tory budget and it would be a waste of council officers’ time – and around £4,000 – to draft their own budget.

Keith Mitchell has earned himself a new nickname – but the Insider isn’t predicting a riot about it.

The Tory leader of Oxfordshire County Council, has previously been landed with the moniker ‘Kaiser’ Keith.

However Conservatives at the budget meeting joked they have now turned to calling their leader, right, the ‘Kaiser Chief’ as there are so many Tory councillors at County Hall.

Heaven knows what Ricky Wilson, lead singer of the Leeds band, would make of the tribute.

Let’s hope Mr Mitchell has no plans to start a recording career.

The Insider set his own annual budget this week and plans to spend £300 on inappropriately named ‘Niceday’ stationery, £500 on a new bike to get to and from council meetings and £3,000 on cornish pasties.

Let’s hope there are no budget rows at Insider Towers over the forthcoming weeks.