Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Councillor Stanton Sent into Wilderness by Local Labour Group
The Labour whip was withdrawn from long serving Tottenham councillor, Alan Stanton last night.
A meeting of the local Haringey Council Labour group last night took the rarely used step of withdrawing the whip from one of its longest serving councillors. The official reason given was Councillor Stanton's voting in opposition to the appointment of new Council Chief Executive, Nick Walkley.
The action was taken by the Labour political group on the Council. It's party business, rather than official council business. However, I do wonder at the meaning of that distinction; when it's a decision by the ruling group over the issue of the appointment of the Council boss, it seems barely relevant to draw a line between the two.
Being deprived of the whip cuts a concillor off from the party’s support machine, labels them as a bad boy, and can lead to their being deselected as the party’s candidate for the next election. It's the grown up political equivalent of playground kids sending someone to Coventry.
So that must be awful for a serious councillor like Alan Stanton with fifteen years of office behind him, right? Wrong. Stanton made clear how he felt about it at 3:00AM this morning on Twitter:
Kober threw me in the briar patch. This is really gonna be fun!
— Alan Stanton (@AlanStanton_) December 7, 2012
(For those of you less familiar with Uncle Remus, Stanton's briar patch refers to an apparently awful thicket into which clever B'rer Rabbit tricked Bre’r Fox throwing him and from which he quickly escaped to make more mischief.)
In conversation with Alan, some hours before the briar patch tweet, Alan told me, "I'm so disillusioned with the level of secrecy in the local party, the need to control from the top, that I'm glad to be out of it".
The current censure applies to Alan for three months. Whist it's by no means certain whether the party want the independent minded Tottenham Councillor back amongst their number when that time is up, this Councillor is certainly not for turning. Alan told me, "No, I won't reapply to rejoin the Labour group that's enough for me." Their loss I'd say. Independent minded he may be, but he's a politician who is a serious thinker and has his heart in the right place. I have to question where a party who doesn't have room for someone like Alan is headed.
As for Alan's future, he has a big agenda he wants to get his teeth into with the big issues around making Tottenham a better place to live, short of simply allowing it to gentrify. He seems to think the chances of his serving as a councillor again are slim though since he sees little chance of an independent councillor ever being elected in his neighbourhood.
Let's not bid farewell to Alan yet, though. This is after all a rabbit that lives by its wits.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sarah_24 on
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I am very disappointed in the Labour party when I read the above. I have read many of Alan's comments and views on local issues and although I don't necessarily agree with them all I think politics, local residents and the Labour party would be worse off without characters like Alan. I have been a life long supporter of Labour but they really could do with a massive kick up the arse!
I am very glad to hear that he plans to continue regardless of this setback.
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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I SUSPECT this has been brewing for some time. Long observers of local politics will note that Cllr. Stanton nearly got into the briar patch when then Chief Whip Cllr. H. Lister threatened discipline over the Flckr blog. Lister lost the post the day before the execution.
To Cllr Stanton's credit, his blog remained up and is still there. The blog poses serious questions about his 'fellow' councilor Charles Adje. These questions - in connection with the disposal of the Welbourne Community centre – remain unanswered to this day.
I was shocked when Mr Adje was re-admitted to his party after serving a four month suspension as councillor, after he was Found to have brought the council into disrepute on a matter related to another attempted disposal of council controlled property.
Things will only get better when competence is rated higher than loyalty.
I look forward to reading any comments that Alan cares to make about the latest development.
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After exactly 9 hours since Hugh posted above there have been exactly 2 comments (now 3) on Alan's koberskewering. Have HOL members all lost their balls or even their curiosity? You can't all be dyed-in-the-wool koberista sheep, surely?
On various ways to "Contact the Leader", see the Haringey website.
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Permalink Reply by StephenBln on
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Yes, Eddie you're right. But you know, those who have views that differ from what is expected are often cast out !
Surely Alan should stand next time as an Independent?
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Permalink Reply by aidan on
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I think it's more a reflection that while people are interested in local issues, most are not interested in local politics. And with examples like this, you might say, it's easy to see why.
I don't always agree with Alan but he really engages with this site and his posts are always worth reading. Most of his Labour colleagues (or former colleagues) are more notable by their absence.
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Permalink Reply by David Schmitz on
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Anyone who has ever worked in a political group knows that people who think for themselves can be irritating, but any sensible person who works in such a group also knows that that is a small price to pay for keeping debate open, honest and productive. Any group which rejects such people impoverishes itself and reduces its capacity to govern.
I often disagree strongly with Alan but, as I hope appears from my comments on the pages of this site over the years, I respect him for the intelligent, thoughtful and well meaning man that he is. He is a good bloke and I wish him well.
David Schmitz
Lib Dem Councillor for Harringay Ward
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Permalink Reply by william spring on
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Not unexpected news. Is Adje featuring somewhere in this? And of course shades of the great but fortunately not late Sheikh Thompson. Didn't he lose the Labour whip before the last Council election? Anyone with the remotest independence of mind & willingness to work in the ward is pushed out by the ruling Labour clique, which shows the dangers of the one party state system, as Haringey Council has been since about 1966. Something has to be done. I don't agree with Alan saying he has no chance as an independent. Independents shd get together asap to plan a challenge both @ Council level & to find a credible "Popular Front"alternative MP to David Lammy. A 1st step is to persuade the Camden New Journal to start a Tottenham edition, to replace the Tottenham Journal which closed as a print publication. Wm Spring
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It is certainly frustrating that, under our "winner takes all" system, the Labour group gets to run all of the Council's services and that it even chairs the Scrutiny Committee. However, it is, I think, inaccurate to describe the Borough as a one party state.
Since 1998 the Liberal Democrat group (which is now 21-strong) has become increasingly effective in holding the Labour administration to account. Within the past week alone, for example, we have exposed the £38m being spent on agency staff since 2010 and the £1.6m spent on consultants in the last 18 months, and we have pointed out that the Council has yet to accept £889,000 of government money that could be made available to help defray the portion of Council Tax which the recipients of some state benefits would otherwise have to pay themselves.
On Ward level, Karen and I spend a great deal of time chasing Council officers to make sure that they are doing right in response to complaints by individual residents.
The difficulty with independent councillors and MPs, as I see it, are three-fold. First, it takes enormous commitment from a team to run a credible election campaign in the first place, and this cannot be done unless people are like-minded to some extent, as opposed merely to being against something. Secondly, there is a need to master a lot of sometimes boring detail if one is going to conduct an opposition or administration effectively. No individual has the time to do that and to become an expert in everything. Thirdly, and most importantly, input from colleagues is essential if one wishes to refine ones ideas and get them right. And as we are learning from the incident which has started this posting, if a leader doesn't listen to colleagues what hope is there of his/her listening to the people that s/he is supposed to represent?
It is, I think, fortunate that the only alternative to Labour in this Borough is one which is already hard at work on behalf of local residents.
David Schmitz
Lib Dem Councillor for Harringay Ward
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Is Adje featuring somewhere in this?
I don't know the answer to that William, but I know one thing. It surely cannot be right that Charles Adje remains a member of the council's majority group – arguably in 'good standing' – whereas Alan Stanton has been booted out.
Last year, Mr Adje was suspended as councillor for four months, after having been Found to have brought the council into disrepute, at the end of a formal Standards Committee Determination Hearing (2011-March-31).
This former council leader has cost the Borough's taxpayers huge amounts of money through, at a minimum, poor judgement. The formal complaint (about the Licence-to-Firoka) took 18 months to bring to a Hearing and the investigation alone took nearly 12 months. If anyone feels any lingering support for this man, I invite them to read the full transcript of the Hearing.
Note, that this was brought about by complaint from a member of the public (me) and prosecuted by council officers (Monitoring Officer etc.) and not by the majority group.
Cllr Stanton, on the other hand, has been in the tricky position of knowing of questionable conduct by his 'colleague' over another attempted council property disposal, the Welbourne Centre. One of Alan's offences was trying to bring attention ("sunlight") to this via his Flickr Blog.
It is worrying that the majority group themselves have not taken any action over the serious questions posed about their member and indeed at one time (NB. Whip H. Lister, above) wanted to shoot the messenger.
With this background, how can the public have confidence in governance?
I often disagree with Alan. His highly-honed distraction techniques are world-class! But he is thoughtful, provocative and interesting and I too wish him well.
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Great photo thanks for this bad news
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Permalink Reply by Karen Alexander on
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Alan and I have had our fair share of differences of opinion but I have huge respect for him and always enjoy our discussions - they are always food for thought. I genuinely believe that he has his residents best interests at heart and wish him well in what ever direction he takes. We should all thank him for his insights into Haringey Labour which are both entertaining and sometimes disturbing. Any political group which treats free thinkers and those with the bottle to stand up for what they believe even when it doesn't confirm to the party line do so at their peril. Good luck Alan.
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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I've been sitting on this information for a couple of days wondering if how I felt about it was appropriate. Well I still feel this way so:
I AM REALLY PLEASED FOR YOU ALAN!!!! Well done! I just need to get you a hooded brown cape and a light sabre!
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