Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by StephenBln on October 12, 2015 at 21:43

Apart from a brief period of Conservative Party rule in the early seventies, Haringey has been Labour-run since 1965: i.e. the best part of half a century.

That's what the people voted for.. and yes, I lived in Haringey at the time of Tory rule.. and they were shocking.

..are you suggesting there should be state controlled rotation?  Should we let Gladstone's descendants have a go every 15 years? Is that what you are saying?

Seriously, the LD's current situation must be pretty desperate.

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Permalink Reply by John D on October 14, 2015 at 10:17

How do you feel about living in a country run by the descendants of Otto von Bismark ?

Equally irrelevant.

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Permalink Reply by StephenBln on October 14, 2015 at 10:57

What a strange question? And as you say, equally irrelevant.

Just like Clive, I'm an economic migrant, living in a country in which the coalition government has 61% of the national vote. Your government rules arrogantly with just about 31% of the national vote. That's not democratic.

I don't think the descendants of Bismarck (with a C please) are in politics, they are too busy making money elsewhere.

You comments continually bring up the past, so I presume that's where you prefer to live your life.

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Permalink Reply by John D on October 14, 2015 at 14:33

It was you who brought up the past -" Gladstone " - and that was precisely my point.

The past is another country

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Permalink Reply by StephenBln on October 14, 2015 at 17:22

Yes, I did.

But the self-righteous, moral do-gooders in that party haven't changed much, have they?

I do understand why the 'German' Queen Victoria, hated them so much. Oops, we're back in the past again :-)

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Permalink Reply by JP on October 14, 2015 at 9:52

What a rubbish — pun intended — attempt to drum up support for a party which is past its sell-by date. 

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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on October 14, 2015 at 12:41

JP thanks for drawing attention to the article, whose scope is wider than Haringey and even wider than the Party running it.

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Permalink Reply by Heather Martin on October 14, 2015 at 22:07

Thanks Clive and JP for this.  It would seem (Section 3, Findings, page 9) that not only the past is another country, London is too.  "London boroughs represent a special case on their own due to the two-tier government structure and London's special economic position within all of England".

This is not exactly comforting; on the basis of this study, things may be much worse in London due to the larger sums of money involved and greater complexity of procurement procedures.  Therefore the figures for money wasted could be substantially higher, supposing anyone could be commissioned to do the research.

Where does this leave us in Haringey (the borough) in relation to Haringey (the Council)?  Whose interests do Council members (majority party) and officers really represent?  When are they going to wake up and realise the damage that spin in all its forms has done and is doing to the electorate's trust in public office?  When the boy who cried wolf eventually told the truth, no-one believed him.     

  

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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on October 17, 2015 at 22:10

And let's not forget Hilaire Belloc's poem about a girl named Matilda with the same fault.

"Matilda told such Dreadful Lies,
It made one Gasp and Stretch one's Eyes ...."

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Permalink Reply by Martina Weitsch on October 17, 2015 at 14:02

What this report addresses is strictly limited: the risk of corruption and inefficiency in awarding contracts by councils that are or are not essentially 'single party'.

Whilst this is probably a good indicator of why single party councils are bad - especially if that status continues over a long period of time - there are a whole number of other issues that are important in this context.

The problem with single party councils - and this is wholly evidenced in the way Haringey Council operates - means that the ruling party can become complacent and ignore the views of people. What we need to have a proper democratic governance of this (and other) councils is a multiparty system; and for that we also need an electoral system that can deliver this. First Past The Post (FPTP) isn't such a system and electoral reform is therefore an urgent priority not just at national but also at local level.

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