Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Haringey Mayor Sheila Peacock says riots "best thing that's happened in Tottenham for a while".
Interviewed for a video, Haringey Mayor, Cllr Sheila Peacock is shown saying that:
"The second riots that we’ve just had was the best thing that’s happened in Tottenham for a while. My reason for saying that is, all of a sudden, the Government is now starting to pump money into Tottenham. Because Tottenham - Haringey is an outer London Borough so we don't get as much money as Islington or Hackney. And we've been struggling for years."
"— Cllr Sheila Peacock, http://bit.ly/11R2JxI
Tags for Forum Posts: Cllr Sheila Peacock, Haringey, Sheila Peacock, Tottenham, gaffe, riot
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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For those who didn't see it, on 27 September 2013, Sheila Peacock the Mayor of Haringey used her blog in the Tottenham Journal to issue a genuine apology for her remarks in August about the Tottenham riot. She wrote:
"In August this year, I was filmed by a student journalist for a project he was making exploring the impact of the 2011 riots on Tottenham. During that interview, I made some very insensitive comments about the riots, for which I apologise unreservedly. What I said was wrong, and I should not have said it.
As a local resident and a passionate champion of Tottenham, I shared the community’s sense of despair following the riots. My comments this summer understandably caused a great deal of anger and distress, and I am truly sorry."
I added my own comment that this is brave and honest. More like the real Sheila I've known for 30 years. Adding that we all get things wrong sometimes, saying things we deeply regret. People – me included – respect a sincere and clear apology.
(Tottenham Hale ward councillor)
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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AFTER the talk yesterday of "no justice, no peace", I was pleased to see Mark Duggan's Aunt call, responsibly, for "no more violence" :
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Permalink Reply by Colinloves on
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The Duggan family are asking the community to peacefully attend a Vigil at Tottenham police station.
We are still struggling to understand the inquest verdict finding that Mark was lawfully killed when he was shot dead by police on 4 August 2011, despite the same jury deciding Mark was unarmed at the time of the shooting.
As Marcia Willis Stewart, solicitor for the family, said: “On 4 August 2011 an unarmed man was shot dead in Tottenham. What we have seen ...is a perverse judgement. The jury found that he had no gun in his hand – and yet he was gunned down. For us that is an unlawful killing.”
But we have not given up the fight for justice.Saturday 11th 2pm
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Permalink Reply by John D on
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" The Duggan family are asking the community to peacefully attend a Vigil at Tottenham police station. "
Isn't that exactly how the riots started in 2011 ? Let's hope for a different outcome this time.
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Permalink Reply by pamish on
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As long as officer V53 believed he was in immediate danger, it was not unlawful. So the finding was not perverse. The only unanswerable question is whether he was telling the truth, the jury chose to believe him. They all agreed that MD had just picked up a gun.
Promising 'No justice, no peace' does not help a fight for justice. Ditto attacking the jury and saying, we know who you are. The Duggan family and supporters would be most impressive if they drew a line now and disappointed those who are expecting a riot by keeping the vigil as a vigil.
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Wise words Pam. I believe you write as someone who witnessed the initial riots from up-close.
Some national media reports suggest that Mark Duggan either led, or was likely to have led, a violent life. He certainly died violently. The days of riots that followed were violent, including several deaths.
Today's Times carries a story (pp 6 & 7) titled, Inside a gangster's world of guns, threats, torture and murder. It claims that one of the six targets of the police operation on the fateful day, was reported to have made threats that, in revenge for the killing of Mark Duggan, two police officers would be killed.
If anyone threatened the jury with the words you mentioned, then surely that is also gangster-talk.No one should condone, or appear to condone, riots, violence or intimidation.
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Dont matter if he believed that or not. He was wrong. He fucked up.
If I believed it was totally legal to rob a bank, I dont think I would get off in court. I see no difference.
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EVEN with her careless, foolish and insensitive language – two years after the rioting – I do not believe the Mayor intended to incite a (further) riot.
The same cannot be said for the inflammatory language used by others at the time of the shooting and following the recent inquest verdict.
Perhaps most crude of all, were claims that Duggan was shot because he was black. If such claims of racial motivation were true, then it might involve Haringey's new Borough Police Commander shooting himself (Victor Olisa, whom I've had the privilege of meeting).
The broad reason why Mark Duggan was shot, was because he was gangster behaving in gangster fashion. It's all regrettable. Perhaps the most understated remark, was by a family member who admitted he was no angel.
I wish Commander Olisa and his colleagues well in their jobs, that at times are extremely difficult.
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(This is a repost - with a slight clarification - of what I posted in the early hours of the morning. But the link does now work! My apologies for not testing it and to anyone who tried to use it.)
1. Inquest into the Death of Mark Duggan
For anyone who'd like to take a closer look, here's the link to the official website containing the record of the inquest - including each day's hearing transcripts; the Inquest jury's findings; and its votes on the questions posed by the judge. http://dugganinquest.independent.gov.uk/
2. Claim on video by Cllr Sheila Peacock
Sheila's comment in the video, which I quoted, included the claim that as a result of the riot: "... all of a sudden, the Government is now starting to pump money into Tottenham."
My thanks to Martin Ball who sent a Freedom of Information Act request about the supposed "£1 billion" now coming to Tottenham. For a while I've suspected this figure was highly dubious. It now turns out that Sheila Peacock was more wrong than even the most cynical of us had guessed.
Here's the information obtained by Martin Ball who is a neighbour of ours in Tottenham Hale and not a member of any political party.
From Haringey Feedback and Information Team
"The figure of £1bn investment sets the context and scale of potential incoming investment into the regeneration programme for Tottenham. It is referenced in A Plan for Tottenham (published in 2012) and in the materials to publicise the Tottenham’s Future events. The £1bn is not a single grant, loan or guarantee, but is in fact an aggregation of the current best estimated value of all proposed infrastructure investments, grants and anticipated private sector leverage. The specific figure of £1bn been derived from the key announcements below (including details of the sources of funding), but in real terms £1bn is an estimate and actual investment may exceed that.
• £75m investment in the West Anglia Main Line (Funding is grant from the Department for Transport, TFL and Network Rail)
• £90m investment to electrify the Barking - Gospel Oak London Overground Line (funding is grant from the Department for Transport, TFL and Network Rail)
• £40m investment in Tottenham Hale Gyratory (funding is grant from TFL and match funding from the Council)
•£41m Tottenham Regeneration Programme investment including Growth on the High Road projects in Bruce Grove and Tottenham Green (Funding is grant from the GLA and match funding from the Council and other sources, full details of which can be found in the Cabinet report of 7th February 2012)
•£20m for Tottenham Hale station (funding is grant from TFL)
•The £700m or so in private sector development value (this an estimated based on assumed development values of THFC, Hale Village, Lawrence Road, Wards Corner, Brook House and others)The £500m of borrowing guarantees announced in the government spending review earlier this year will be used to underwrite borrowing for infrastructure, housing and commercial projects on terms that are yet to be agreed."
My Comment
So the "Billion" includes projects planned and in some cases underway before the riot; imputed values; estimates; and "anticipated private sector leverage". And there's £500m which will be borrowed. Extra debt loaded onto the borough, to be paid back for many years into the future by every Haringey resident.
Hardly the Government "pumping money in" is it?
The really unfortunate and sad thing is that behind the smoke and mirrors; the spin; PR and "narrative", there are some solid positive projects underway. Although most have little or nothing to do with the riot.
I don't hold Sheila Peacock responsible for this. She simply repeated the Party Line and believed what she was told in good faith. But for some other Haringey politicians, truth is another country.
(Alan Stanton, Tottenham Hale ward councillor)
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One further clarification Alan pls - Which party line ? Presumably the ( dubious ) assumption was that it was the Coalition government that was making these funds available ? Or was it Haringey Labour Group who dreamt up the 1 billion figure and if so, why ?
It seems to be accepted that the main problems in Tottenham are youth unemployment and lack of social facilities. I don't see how any of the FOI projects address these issues.
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John, I don't know who thought of totting-up all these chunks of real, estimated and imaginary money, permission to borrow etc etc. And then claiming credit by pretending it was a cunning plan and the Council's doing. It's a shameless electoral fraud on the residents of Haringey, of course.
As your comment suggests, it's almost entirely disconnected from the causes of the Tottenham riot and possible solutions. Such a pity there's no effective opposition in Haringey to expose this. Although wouldn't you agree that they are complicit in the actions taken by the Coalition Government in deepening poverty and widening inequality? Thereby increasing the likelihood of future riots?
Just to clarify, by "Party Line" I don't mean that there was some sort of grown-up discussion and collective agreement about what Labour councillors would do and say. Things don't happen like that. You have to imagine a more ritualistic process.
I think of it as a "serial monologue". You probably know about the work of the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget. He observed that when young children are acquiring language and play together their conversations are "parallel monologues". They talk to but don't often listen to one another.
The serial monologues in Haringey Labour Group follow a convention that councillors put their hands up and are called to speak by the person chairing. While other people are speaking, most councillors politely await their turn, passing the time in various ways. Perhaps they prepare what they're going to say. They may read or send messages or pictures on their Blackberries; sometimes to other people in the room. Or they might play games on their phones. (I'm told "Patience" is popular.)
To be fair, some do make useful points and refer to points made by others. On the other hand there are those who rarely if ever speak on other than topics such as councillor's allowances. And a few for whom I discovered no way of detecting the presence of intellectual thought processes. But then I have no psychological training.
The further convention is that at the end of each series of mostly unheard monologues, the chair announces a consensus in support of the view of the Dear Leader (or her appointed representatives on earth). If someone presses the point there's a vote to endorse the Dear Leader's wise view. But troublemakers wasting the group's time in this way can hardly expect future favours and positions carrying an extra allowance.
Returning to Sheila Peacock, for all her faults - the traditional ability to open her mouth to change feet is one - she is actually a hard-working, passionate and compassionate person who cares deeply about Tottenham. Though recently she's fallen under the influence of a bad bunch from Muswell Hill. It can happen.
(Tottenham Hale ward councillor)
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