Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Councillor Gideon Bull Suspended
Below is the email sent to party members. His crime? He asked questions about the risk to old people if the Haven Day Centre closes.
Democracy is officially dead in Haringey.
Dear redacted
Re: Suspension (removal of the whip) of Councillor Gideon Bull
Please see below emails (verbatim) from the Chief Whip of the Haringey Labour Group regarding the suspension of Councillor Gideon Bull.
I am conscious that the Tottenham CLP has many new members and there maybe confusion about what this means. By way of a brief explanation and foresee questions you may have:
- The CLP only deals with the disciplinary of members if the case they have been accused of is in regards to their membership of the Labour party.
- All Councillors belong to a Labour Group (as well as a CLP), in Haringey they belong to the ‘Haringey Labour Group’ as Councillors are borough-wide based on the geographical boundaries of Haringey Council. (i.e. there is no such thing as a Tottenham Labour Group as Tottenham is a Parliamentary Constituency boundary not a Local Council Boundary).
- If a Councillor is subject to disciplinary based on their role as a Councillor (not as a member of the party), then the case is dealt with by the [Haringey] Labour Group.
- The Labour Group can impose action on the membership of Councillors to the Labour Group and not his Labour Party membership.
- As Councillor Gideon Bull’s case is about his role as a Councillor it has been dealt with by the Haringey Labour Group.
- Councillor Gideon Bull’s suspension is a suspension from the Haringey Labour Group and not from the Labour Party. Gideon still remains a full member of the Labour Party.
- A suspension from the Labour Group means he is still a Councillor for the London Borough of Haringey as he has been elected to serve for 4 years.
- The technical term for this action is called the “removal of the whip”.
- The ability to remove Councillors from their role is covered by the Local Government Act and Representation of the People Act which has specific rules when Councillors can be removed from their role as Councillors.
- The decision to ‘remove the whip’ (suspend) is not an action that can be taken by one person, it is subject to a vote by the whole of the Haringey Labour Group. In this case the vote concluded to suspend Councillor Gideon Bull.
- The local MPs, the Assembly Member and MEPs have no vote and no decision making powers over the removal of a whip of a Labour Councillor.
As Gideon is still a full member of the Labour Party, he remains the Vice Chair of the Tottenham CLP and Secretary of the White Hart Lane Labour branch.
Councillor Gideon Bull has the right to appeal the decision to London Regional Board. If Councillor Gideon Bull decides to appeal and is successful then the suspension is withdrawn and you will be informed.
I hope my attempt to explain has helped.
As this is a decision by the Haringey Labour Group and not by the Tottenham CLP, I cannot not respond to any questions about the decision and I am writing to you solely to share the information.
Regards
Seema Chandwani
CLP Secretary | TottenhamEmails from Liz McShane - Chief Whip of the Haringey Labour Group To Be Shared With Members.
(Please note there are two emails)Dear Seema
This is to formally notify you that the whip has been removed from Cllr Gideon Bull, following the Special Labour Group meeting on Thursday 21st January, where the Labour Group voted for the recommendation.
The period of suspension is for 3 months, from 21st January 2016 to the end of the day on 21st April 2016.
I have written to Cllr Bull to confirm this and to formally notify him of the terms of his suspension.
Regards
Liz
Second Email [Following Request for Reason]:
Dear Seema,
You can say it's because of Gideon’s intervention at the Cabinet meeting on 10th November, where he spoke out against an agreed group decision, that the Labour Group voted on a recommendation to withdraw the whip based on concerns about comradely behaviour and collective responsibility in accordance with the Party’s rules and our own group standing orders.
Regards
Liz
Link to the meeting http://www.haringey.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/191461 the relevant part is 1 hour and 22 minutes.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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A local council infamous for wastefulness at a time of cuts.
Given, on the one hand, the parlous state of the Council coffers and, on the other hand, the spendthrift in certain areas, it is vitally important that a stop is put to the vanity projects and an Emergency Brake is applied to "Regen", whose endless spinning is yet a small further example of waste.
Many of the Borough's residents have to live within their shrunken means.
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Permalink Reply by Lydia R on
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I might not have minded about the expense of the new logo were it not even more obnoxious than the old one--having changed from a hideous exploding swastika, to something that looks like it should have been written in green crayon on an anonymous letter.
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Permalink Reply by Antoinette on
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If you were worried about damaging Haringey's "reputation" you wouldn't spend so much time slating everything they do....
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Antoinette, the Council's costly new logo reads: Haringey London.
Much of the reason behind the dropping of "Council", is that the more accurate description, "Haringey Council" has unfortunate connotations and this is widely recognised.
A reputation isn't earned in one day or by one person. There is nothing that I could do to damage Haringey's reputation. Moreover, I wouldn't want to: after all, I am a resident in this Borough.
You shouldn't be surprised when—as an Opposition Councillor—I do suggest from time to time how the Council could perform even better. Are you perhaps confusing the message with the messenger?
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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Clive, "Council" means the elected body that runs the local authority and is subject to change, "London Borough of ....." is the administrative area which doesn't change so the title should be London Borough of Haringey or Haringey. A number of other boroughs have changed to having London after their name. There was a bit of debate about if on another thread (page 12 near the bottom)
http://www.harringayonline.com/forum/topics/new-brand-identity-for-...
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There is a Haringey LibDem website but I couldn't find anything about alternative spending proposals on it
http://ldharingey.nationbuilder.com/news
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Michael much work has been done over the last few weeks on Budget Amendments.
You'll appreciate that this is a structured process, involving Council Officers. Any suggested change has to be costed. i.e. if we suggest spending an extra X amount here, we have to nominate cutting X amount there. So the net effect is close to zero.
The Opposition Group's Budget Amendments are proposed in a formal way, rather than posted on a website – sorry but it can't be shared just yet.
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Michael, the Opposition's alternative spending proposals (or more formally, the proposed Budget Amendments) are now complete.
They are publicly available from today, in advance of tonight's Full Council meeting.
I hope you might find my post here useful, if not interesting.
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Billy, You never explained where that statistic came from... can you enlighten me please?
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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Antoinette, there's a key difference between Haringey the place where we live, and the right-wing regime which currently controls the borough Council.
I see one task of an active citizen to critique and if necessary resist bad decisions by our elected representatives. As for my own role - well I'm not the Chief Whip and I haven't suspended Cllr Gideon Bull for asking detailed, serious and important questions about how Cllr Peter Morton intends to provide Day Care services services to vulnerable residents in the future.
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Critique all you like....but don't kid yourself you're not adding to Haringey's poor reputation in the process...
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Antoinette, are you seriously suggesting that everyone should keep quiet about errors, mistakes, and wrongdoing by senior people elected to or working for Haringey Council, to avoid damaging the reputation of Haringey the borough we live in?
Do you think that Cllr Gideon Bull should not have read the cabinet papers? Or having read them, kept quiet about his serious concerns?
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