Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
This is no way to treat an honest man
Good friend to Harringay Online and hard working councillor, Alan Stanton, is being made to pay for his open and principled stand against the financial mismanagement in the council. He is now being threatened by Labour Group chief whip, Harry Lister, with disciplinary action for writing the truth on his blog
See the letter and emails from Lister here and updates on Alan's response
here
See the letter and emails from Lister here and updates on Alan's response
here
Tags for Forum Posts: Ally Pally
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Liz on
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I hope you share my shock at this behaviour by the Labour group towards a well respected and hard working councillor.
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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No wonder it's mostly jobsworths and "professional politicians" in local politics.
I need just one small excuse to continue to vote the way I do and I'm not getting it.
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Permalink Reply by james walsh on
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We should encourage alan to resign from labour and become an independent.
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Knowing Alan, he is perfectly aware of the risk and would not have undertaken this stand without a lot of soul searching. His contributions to this site and to his Flickr blog show him to be an intelligent and caring person who thinks hard before opening his mouth.
No, Tom, that Lister should have come after him in this fashion is not really a shock, but strikes me as vindictive in the extreme. Adje is stepping down soon, but it seems that the Party is not going to let him go as quietly as he claims to wish to go.
Taking a step back from this, is it any wonder that political parties struggle to recruit the 'real' people they claim to want in the council and instead get the "jobsworths and "professional politicians" mentioned above. Who in their right mind would submit to the bullying behaviour of the likes of Lister (whose own conduct in the Ally Pally affair is in some question) just for having some principles?
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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IF ANY councillor needs to be under investigation, then it would include Councillor Lister – who seems to be some kind of crony of Adje's.
Lest anyone forget, Cllr. Lister is the Member who in March 2006 – about the time A.P. chairman was Cllr. Adje – tried to bring a casino into the Borough at high-profile Alexandra Palace.
As the then cabinet member for regeneration, Cllr. Lister publicly advocated a casino, at our Charitable Trust, which is controlled by the council. Fortunately, most of his cabinet colleagues did not agree.
But Lister vowed to continue the fight to get the most potent form of gambling into our Charity's premises. 12 months ago, when the council applied to itself for a permanent gambling premises licence at AP, who was it that chaired the council's gambling licence committee that approved their Application? Despite the appearance of glaring bias, it was none other than Cllr Lister, who dominated the committee, none of whose other members spoke.
Apart from objecting on principle to the embedding of gambling in a Charity, many saw the council's awarding of a premises licence to itself, as helping to set a precedent for the casino that Cllr. Lister wanted. The council had already made a promise of casino-use to Firoka in the Lease, a document which they went to extraordinary – and even unlawful – attempts to keep secret.
Even a "small" casino would have dominated AP's profits and reputation. It would certainly have had an impact – but community regeneration? With Firoka's withdrawal, the spectre of a casino in our Charity's premises is off the agenda for now.
Cllr. Lister appears to be oblivious to the social effects of gambling, especially on the poor and disadvantaged. The Casino Proposal report that Cllr Lister presented to the Cabinet committee on 21 March 2006, concluded that:
"Such an impact [of a casino] would be of particular benefit to black and minority ethnic communities and socially excluded neighbourhoods".
One can imagine a Mafia crime boss lobbying for a casino, but an elected councillor of the Labour Party? One has to wonder what the councillor's motives were, but regardless, Lister should be ashamed of himself.
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Well think how much social housing you could build with all that money you make on the backs of the evil conservative voters who gamble.
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Permalink Reply by John D on
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Is it only Conservative voters who buy Lottery tickets and frequent Bingo Halls ?
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OMG.... perhaps councillor Lister could be wrong and it's actually Labour voters they'd be ripping off. I just hadn't thought... Thanks John D.
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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I have real sympathy with what Alan's doing and I'm sure he's coming from the right place. I also recognise what Tom's saying. I'm quite sure that Alan's long enough in the tooth and sassy enough to see the reaction as par for the course. And I don't see him complaining. I imagine he fully expected the reaction he's caused.
I do have sympathy with some need for group solidarity, but each of us must draw a line beyond which we will not go. The trouble often is that the benefits of holding the group line are great eenough that many of us indulge in creeping compromise. Alan's drawn his line. He's saying that something stinks and needs to be aired. Arguably the local and national party will benefit from letting the air blow through.
Knowing as he probably did what reaction he'd cause and going ahead anyway on an issue that he's probably right to expose, makes me respect Alan all the more. I'd say the same about a councillor in a similar position whatever the colour of their money.
Interesting in this context to see the public joking between ex Blair aide and now head of the RSA, Matthew Taylor & Councillor Matt Cooke at a conference in London earlier this week. As Taylor introduces Cooke they joke about red flags flying etc. (Scroll down to find Matt Cooke's section. The exchange I'm pointing to is at the start of the clip). The allusion to a Communist past is interesting as a backdrop to this discussion.
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Permalink Reply by matt on
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Councillor Lister clearly enjoys an expensive cigar or two;
[ H Lister 4th Submission Cigars £45/£50 Andre Grant Solicitors. 18.04.06 Retained. ]
Source ( REGISTRATION OF MEMBERS’ INTERESTS QUESTIONNAIRE ) attached.
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12 MONTHS ago, Cllr. Lister ensured the council received its gambling premises Licence at Ally Pally when he chaired Haringey's Full Licensing Committee (which was actually outnumbered by the half-dozen formal Objectors).
I understand that, before issuing his inevitable (and probably forgone) conclusion, Councillor Lister went outside for a fag break. Cigars to the value of at least £45 was a gift from someone who apparently knew the Councillor well.
I have never received the gift of cigars or any other form of gift from Andre Grant & Co. Solicitors. I have never performed any kind of favour for this firm and I don't expect to have to do them any favours.
Andre Grant Solicitors was the firm that Cllr. Adje turned to, for "independent" (but irregular) advice over a property the council was selling. Andre Grant and a colleague appear to be directors of a property development company (Planet Homes [Welbourne]).
What is Cllr. Lister's connection with this firm?
What contact (if any) did Cllr. Lister have with Firoz Kassam of Firoka, who was set to buy Alexandra Palace for perhaps as little as £1,500,000? (no, that's not a typographic error, you read it right the first time).
On the question of private contact with Firoka, in Walklate 1, Lister-crony Cllr. Adje prevaricated and disembled but in the Walklate 2 report, Adje now admits (obliquely) to direct contact with Firoka, contact about which no records exist.
Why did this firm of solicitors decide to give Cllr. Lister a box of cigars, apart from feeding the councillor's apparently heavy-duty tobacco habit? Has Andre Grant bestowed other benefits to councillors that we don't know about?
Is it not time for a blast of fresh air about these matters?
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