Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Labour Party Selection Fraud in St Ann's
After it was discovered at the St Ann's Labour Party selection candidate selection meeting that there were people present and voting who should not have been, I came home from the pub (where I'd heard about it) and wrote this article. It has subsequently been edited by site admins to remove the names of people who were embarrassed or in the final case where a journalist said it was potentially libellous. Well here I will attempt to summarise what we have subsequently found out and hopefully take people's attention away from my original appalling rant.
Back in May (The Ward AGM):
- The St Ann's Ward AGM was convened on Thursday the 23rd of May instead of the usual first Wednesday of June by the then Ward Secretary, Barbara Blake.
- Protests were made by members about this but they were rebuffed by the Ward Chairman.
- At this meeting The current Ward Secretary resigned and there was bloc voting to decide the new Ward Secretary.
- A person in the bloc opposing John Blake turned up late and was prevented from voting despite there being nothing about this in the Labour Party rules.
- John Blake was elected Ward Secretary by one vote.
The Selection Meeting:
- The meeting was run by The Secretary of the St Ann's Labour Party , and Steve Hart from Hornsey & Wood Green.
- A candidate who arrived early noticed the five members arrive with Ali Gul Ozbek, sensed that something was up and mentioned it to Barbara Blake. When the other candidate seemed unhelpful they mentioned it to Steve Hart. Then the candidate went looking for the five people but was barred from entering the room (3o minutes before the selection) by the Ward Secretary.
- By the time one member I have spoken to arrived, the five members were seated at the back of the room. Four men and one woman (who works in Ali Ozbek's Pharmacy).
- A blonde woman turned up before anyone had started speaking but was barred from entering the room by the Ward Secretary, despite remonstrating with him.
- Barbara Blake won in the first round (to select a female candidate) against Zena Brabazon and Emine Ibrahim by two votes. It was 11/1/14. Everybody voted.
- It is alleged that one candidate knew the questions in advance and had prepared answers.
- At the appropriate point in the meeting the secretary asked if everyone was OK with the others in the room and everybody laughed.
- There were various factions voting together in the room; the five new members, Charles Adje's family, Zena and David's people and the Ward Secretary's people.
- In the final round Ali Ozbek and Peter Morton were selected, beating Zena by one vote.
- Ali is a local chemist and businessman on Green Lanes who seemed very passionate about what should be done with St Ann's and spoke eloquently about the need to reduce business rates. He is also a property developer.
- At the time Peter worked as head of press for the Labour Party.
- Barbara is a trade union official and ex Ward Secretary.
After the Selection Meeting
- A fellow councillor calls David to commiserate with him.
- David Browne and Zena Brabazon did some investigation using the St Ann's Labour Party membership list and the electoral roll.
- They discovered that nineteen new members signed up that year did not actually live in St Ann's and that they had either given Green Lanes business addresses when they signed up or claimed addresses in the ward.
- Not one of these new members, many of whom were recruited on the 8th of July gave an address in the ward at which they are eligible to vote, which is required by party rules.
- Five of these members were "eligible" to vote because they signed up before the cut off date of the 30th of April, however they should have been barred from voting because they do not actually live in the ward.
- Zena and David wrote to their local Labour Party officials who sent their evidence on to the London Labour Party.
- Nobody can tell me for sure where Ali Ozbek lives but he claims an address in Finsbury Park Avenue.
- Ali Ozbek has donated money to the Labour Party.
- According to a twitter exchange with a Labour councillor in another ward, the membership list should have been gone through before the meeting by the person running it to make sure this kind of thing did not happen, it was certainly done in their ward.
- When one of the five members who voted was called at his home his partner informed the caller that he had been in Turkey for a while and was not due back yet.
- In Harringay several new Labour Party members were registered using Green Lanes business addresses but not before the cut off date.
- Barbara Blake has told local traders that it is OK to register as a member in the Labour Party from a business address (it is definitely not) and the Tottenham Membership Secretary has expressed a similar view in a meeting, only to be corrected.
The "Corruption in Haringey Labour" article.
- After I wrote the original article, in which I also made some allegations against Claire Kober, the only phone call to site admins was to remove the Secretary of the St Ann's Labour party's name from the discussion.
- There was a lot of comment on the original thread and as of Saturday the 12th of October it appears to have been viewed more than 7000 times, although I dispute that as a useful metric (I think the actual figure is much lower).
- After some badgering it was picked up by an overworked Stephen Moore at the Tottenham Journal, here.
Trying to get a re-run
- I have pushed the councillor who commiserated David on his loss on Twitter to join calls asking for a re-run of the election but they have resolutely refused, to the point where it's all a bit weird and "la la la, I can't hear you".
- As it stands the London Labour Party have agreed that the five people were not eligible to vote but they say that this was not picked up before or during the meeting so the result stands. Their investigation consisted of speaking to the Ward Secretary and Steve Hart. Steve Hart lied because someone did speak to him before the meeting.
- The London Labour Party have the attendance list and will not release it, presumably because it shows that people were not identified correctly and that at least two of the five were imposters.
- Appeals to the NEC have all been rebuffed, even with the full acknowledgement of what went on.
The Labour doorstep in Harringay
- The St Ann's Labour Party have a great deal of trouble getting members to help them out with canvassing. A photograph has been tweeted showing more than 20 people out in Harringay Ward above the same session in St Ann's, with just two.
- When David Lammy, after a lot of badgering apparently, stepped out in St Ann's for the Labour doorstep he was met by a picket of local men calling on him not to support the St Ann's fraudsters. As I understand it he will not be going out with them again.
The Police are involved
- On Monday the 10th of February Haringey MPS made a visit to me on behalf of the secretary of the St Ann's Labour Party and his partner.
- It was alleged that I had called him filth on Twitter (which I have not, that was someone else) and that I said "I know I'm hassling you but...". I was served with a Notice of Harassment Letter which will now appear in extended CRB checks.
*An individual has asked that their name be replaced with their function in this post on the grounds that they are not seeking public office. This has been done.
Tags for Forum Posts: election2014, labour, st ann's labour, stanns
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Keith Waterhouse on
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To Liz and Hugh: After all this time legal representation should be arranged and in place. Volunteers are good but are you up to the stage of a para legal? One day something will bite you on the backside and you will have no option but to get legal assistance-horse, stable door and bolted come to mind. The saddest thing is that many of us keep in touch elsewhere.
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Permalink Reply by Liz on
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To Keith
If something 'bites us on the backside' then the site would close, since we have no money. You do know this site isn't financed by anything but small ads and the odd donation, don't you? Both of us have day jobs that are nothing to do with this site.
We are aware of the legal situation with regard to publishing and that is why we have terms and conditions which members agree to when they sign up. We rely on the common sense and good will of our members not to contravene the rules to ensure that 'biting' doesn't happen. We hope they value the site enough to protect it.
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Permalink Reply by Margaret on
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So Harringate rumbles on.
Let's not forget that it wasn't the break in but the cover up that really made Watergate the scandal that it was.
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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A cover-up is no more than 'business as usual' by the people currently in control of Haringey Labour. Nor is it surprising to find the Party's hired apparatchiks in the London and National offices taking the same line. Although to be honest I was surprised at the spinelessness shown by members of Labour's National Executive Committee who were sent details of the St Ann's vote-rigging.
Perhaps I shouldn't have been. With Richard Nixon there were at least enough principled Republicans prepared to initiate impeachment proceedings.
Whereas in Britain, people will recall how Speaker Michael Martin MP tried to block Heather Brook's investigation into the Parliamentary Expenses scandal under the Freedom of Information Act (F.o.I). And even at a late stage, when the Information Commissioner and courts ordered release of the information, the House of Commons voted to amend the Act to exempt MPs. (The House of Lords did not support the proposed amendment.) And even then, MPs were still at it - redacting information - until it was leaked to the Daily Telegraph.
At the Labour Party's 2012 Conference Sadiq Khan MP committed a future Labour Government to extending the F.o.I. Act to cover private firms contracting to provide public services. He said this would bring "disinfecting transparency".
Transparency and vast quantities of disinfectant. That should definitely be on the list for Haringey next May. Does anyone know Sadiq Khan who could introduce him to John McMullan?
(Tottenham Hale ward councillor.)
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Permalink Reply by Jay Owens on
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I moved to Harringay a month ago - St Ann's ward.
After a decade of renting and moving around North London, I'm finally living somewhere settled & long-term and liked the thought of really getting to know my local area. I was interested in getting involved in the local Labour party and other community meetings as a way of learning how local politics and government operated.
Well.
Quite the lesson.
Thanks Harringay Online, it's incredibly valuable to have this forum. I don't know how I'd learn about events like this otherwise. I'll keep reading to find out more about what is to be done, and perhaps what I can do as part of it.
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Permalink Reply by pamish on
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Also check out Our Tottenham, an umbrella group of many local campaigns. You're in the Tottenham constituency even if it feels more like that western lot from your walking distances.
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Just discovered this saga, might explain why Dave Browne doesn't reply to us mere mortals, not that he did much in my case anyway [short version: Private tenant house being knocked down around my head, by VERY dodgy Landlord/builders exposed to massive amounts of building dust, possibly also asbestos....brought to Cllr Browne's attention palmed off by being told "I" have to take the Landlord to court] http://www.harringayonline.com/forum/topics/advice-needed-building-...
Amazing that Labour have the cheek to critise 'Unite' when they've stooped this low, wonder who i'll be voting for next election???
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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Not much more can be written on here at the moment but this issue is still very much alive. If you want to know more, come to the pub tonight and get me drunk.
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So did they have to drag the truth out of you with Badger's Tanglefoot? (Contains real badger.)
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Absolutely! But I also told them that to stop it happening again they had to join the Labour Party and attend the selection meetings. You'd think I told them to murder a dozen kittens...
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Tonight the hardcore of the St Ann's Labour crew will be out canvassing. They've been quite short staffed actually so it is no doubt with some relief that they are able to call upon the services of Claire Kober this evening. Fortunately the dark evenings are not conducive to wonderfully tweeted #labourdoorstep photographs so Councillor Kober has no fear of pictures of her with a dodgy candidate making their way onto the internets to live forever.
On another note, how would we feel if the mayor, councillor Peacock, were to be seen interfering in Harringay Labour group candidate selections? You may scoff and say that the candidates have already been selected but I hear rumours that she is conducting a personal vendetta against one of the candidates here in Harringay, trying to get her deselected. A shame nobody saw fit to do this with any of the candidates in St Ann's.
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