Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Dear local election candidates - my bucket list
I've been reading the various posts and leaflets from the parties standing candidates in Harringay ward and have come to conclusion that what I want (my personal preference) is as follows
As it's inevitable that Labour will be in the majority (please don't try to deny that candidates, you know it's the case) an effective opposition that really hold the Cabinet to account for their actions and promises.
Local candidates of any party who make realistic commitments to local people about local issues, not national ones, that they will deliver and if they can't, tell us why and what they are doing about it.
Candidates who don't just materialise at election time and even if they are not elected keep plugging away between elections.
Candidates who respond to questions with answers, not cleverness or rudeness.
Anyone else have a wish list?
Tags for Forum Posts: 2014 elections
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by ant on
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Hi Karen, anything yet?
Tony Kennedy from the council has recently said:
I confirm that we are replacing the original pedestrian railings at the Falkland Road junction. This was agreed at the site visit with the Ward Councillors. Ian from the LCSP and a school representative also attended at the request of a councillor.
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Permalink Reply by Lydia R on
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Hello Michael,
I want to point out that I was not connected to anything political until about 4 weeks ago. However I have been around Harringay for years and have contributed to HoL and read its articles since it started.
Also, I have never stated that Labour will not be in a majority. In fact I deal with that very straightforwardly in my leaflet. If you have not got a copy it is online at loveharringay.co.uk
As for my online answers--when I am asked serious questions in a reasonable way, I respond both seriously and reasonably. When I am asked irritating nonsense by obvious plants, I reckon they deserve anything they get.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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Thanks Lydia. The comment on the Labour majority is aimed at all non-Labour candidates, not just the Conservatives ( see Chris' response from the Greens above). If you get elected I'm afraid you'll have to get used to irritating questions!
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Permalink Reply by Cllr Emina Ibrahim on
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Hello Michael
I do take your point about candidates who materialise at election time and then disappear. I think that can leave residents angry – what I would also say is that Jonathan Velapah is an example of someone who didn’t do that and the amount of work he puts in for the ward is amazing. Jonathan has been out on the doorstep without fail since 2010 but simply chose not to stand again this time. I did choose to stand for the first time and within the Labour Party we have a selection process and this means that no one can decide unilaterally that they are the candidate for the ward prior to this process. However I have been on the doorstep in Harringay ward since 2010.
Of course first time candidates like me and James face an uphill struggle as it’s only natural that incumbents have the advantage on being able to engage with residents in an official capacity and that’s right, they should they are the elected members. I also certainly wouldn’t as Karen points out make promises as a candidate that I cannot keep.
I really do think that communities benefit from rigorous debates during elections because they need to know what and who they are being asked to vote for. My great hero is Tony Benn – he said ask 5 questions of the powerful: What power have you got? Where did you get it from? In whose interests do you exercise it? To whom are you accountable? How can we get rid of you? Sorry Karen with wry smile on my face I am sure you accept that you are in a position of power too
These questions apply to Cllrs of all political persuasions and being a member of a ruling group does not mean that a Cllr cannot challenge the Cabinet on issues that affect their ward. In fact, I have seen the biggest challenge in Haringey coming from Labour Party Cllrs and members – the forced academies debate being one of them. That battle continues and we can see what has happened with E-ACT Hartsbrook and the creaming off by the sponsor of the Pupil Premium meant for children in Tottenham.
I must say that I am often disappointed when I hear abdications of responsibility simply because a Cllr is not a member of the ruling group or not a Cabinet member. All Cllrs receive the same basic expenses and your answerability should never be based on position or hierarchy. Cllrs have the same legal responsibilities and whether that means asking the Cabinet the right questions or making proper use of the scrutiny function there is no excuse for saying “it’s beyond my control” if you haven’t properly challenged. If anyone receives a penny from the public purse to represent people then they have no less collective responsibility then the person who receives 2pence. If you believe something is wrong then stand up and fight for it, if you don’t believe your national party is right – don’t walk away I think Karen is right on that. There are deal breakers of course and I would argue that the coalition has broken a lot of deals. What I do think is that any member of a party should stand up and challenge rather than staying silent.
The root of my politics is in the Labour movement and that is of course very much broader then party politics. Michael I cannot offer you a non Labour message but will say that there are many Labour messages in the borough – we don’t always agree with each other but we hold the same basic values.
Emine Ibrahim
Labour Party Candidate (Harringay Ward)
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Permalink Reply by Gordon Peters on
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I think what is needed in Haringey is a challenge to the taken-for-granted, austerity-driven agenda of the current Council and of the three larger parties.
Local campaigns on schools, on defending the NHS against privatising and for more and better mental health care at St.Anns, on local traders and residents rights at Wards Corner, on a listening to and involving communities in any regeneration as a real and better alternative to swanning off to Cannes to seduce rich investors, are what should matter more to the Council.
There is great wealth and skill in the people and the capacity to mobilise them. For instance several thousand Latin Americans are not even recognised as an ethnic minority.
If elected in Alexandra ward for the Green Party I would fight for social and environmental justice from the Council. And that includes helping families and individuals threatened by the Bedroom Tax, and both campaigning within the Council and at large, wherever it counts, for rent controls and a regime which will actually limit rent exploitation and provide decent homes [not just a few so-called affordable homes in prime new real estate.
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Permalink Reply by Chris Henderson on
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What I'm trying to do as a Green Party candidate (Tottenham Green ward) is shine a spotlight on the three largest parties - the national level is relevant because it says a lot about the parties' overall values, culture and ability to deliver... Few people can be excited about voting for Haringey Lib Dems right now, and with all due respect to local Lib Dem activists who aren't to blame for Nick Clegg, it's not a surprise. But then the conversation does need to be translated to the local level.
Haringey Labour has lots of good, conscientious councillors and activists, but I believe that as an institution Haringey Labour has become tired and complacent over its 43 years of uninterrupted rule.
We need a progressive alternative and in Haringey the Green Party are working very hard to achieve this. I'm delighted to be running on the 5 points of our summary manifesto (http://www.haringeygreens.org.uk/manifesto_summary) calling for a local green new deal, protection of local public services, a more equal Haringey, a better deal for young people, and a greener calmer Haringey.
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Permalink Reply by Finsbury Park Ranger on
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How will the Green Party 'fair rent scheme for private tenants' work Chris ?
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The private rental market isn't one of the topics I'd try to speak for the party on. But undoubtedly if Greens were swept to power in Haringey Civic Centre this 22nd May (
) we'd engage a lot of expert help with our bravest and most radical policies such as this one.We'd have our work cut out because central Government these days only wants to allow councils to act as Government's local implementation agents. But Green councillors will always be a pain in the arse to the Coalition Government's millionaire-enrichment agenda and talk about real people instead.
If elected as a minority Council group, we will scrutinise the Haringey Council administration relentlessly to see if they're grasping every single opportunity to be more progressive. 'Fairer rents' and 'better landlords' must be highly popular sentiments across Harringay and Haringey.
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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FPR we do not need politicians to impose rent barriers, we just need a unionised tenancy sector and this should be possible to organise with social media. Of course I would expect a few people to end up in jail and beaten in the early stages but that happened when the workforce was unionised too. This would work because so many landlords own multiple properties. The trick is in the organising and solidarity.
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Used to have this wonderful thing called controlled rents for many years until the early 80s (I think). The Rent Officer service would decide on a reasonable rent for a property and a tenant could go to them for rent setting. I lived in a rent controlled flat I shared with two other people in 1979 and 1980. Couldn't have possibly afforded to live in central London otherwise. Abolished by the Thatcher government as I remember.
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Permalink Reply by David Schmitz on
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This is almost entirely correct. Under the Rent Acts (of which the most recent was passed in 1977) Tenancies which were created by agreement between the landlord and the tenant were called "protected tenancies" and when they expired or were brought to an end by notice, they became "statutory tenancies". In both instances the rents chargeable (called "fair rents") were determined by a rent officer or on appeal by a rent tribunal and the tenant could not be removed, save for one of a very limited number of reasons.
The regime was brought to an end (but not retrospectively) by the Housing Act 1988 which came into force in 1989. Although that was the work of the Thatcher government, no-one has since touched it, probably because the Rent Acts tended to cause the supply of rental properties to dry up. The abolition of rent assessment, and most importantly, of security of tenure, led to an increase in rental properties, though with unfortunate results in the affordability of rents and in the quality of provision offered.
There have been unintended consequences to the abolition of the Rent Acts, particularly in the case of Council properties where the tenants had been exercising the right-to-buy since about 1981. What happened was that many former council flats became buy-to-let properties, with the tenants enjoying little or no protection.
My opinion is that this area is ripe for review, though the answers are by no means obvious.
David Schmitz
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In the last election in Haringey, the GLA 2012 elections, the Greens finished second behind Labour in 9 of Haringey's 19 wards. Harringay was one of them.
http://data.london.gov.uk/datafiles/transparency/gla-elections-vote...
There are Green councillors in Camden and Lewisham.
(I am a Green Party candidate, Tottenham Green ward)
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