Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Lack of elected politicians at Hornsey Remembrance Service
Today, for the first time, I attended the service at Hornsey World War One Memorial (to lay wreaths for 2 relatives).
It was particularly important to me as I have very recently got one relative, my great uncle Reuben Leggett, added to the memorial.
It is also an important year in commemorating the war dead of World War One in this centenary year.
I assumed our local council would ensure local, elected representatives would attend such an important event.
I understand that the Hornsey and Wood Green MP, the council leader and the mayor always attend Wood Green memorial and that the deputy mayor, this year Hornsey councillor Jennifer Mann, attends Tottenham memorial.
Hornsey is allocated another councillor decided by the council leader. This year ex mayor Cllr Eddie Griffiths.
I assumed some local ward councillors, whose war dead are commemorated on the Hornsey War Memorial, would also attend of their own free will and out of respect.
After all some of their constituents, myself included, have relatives on the memorial.
As far as I know 6 current wards (Hornsey, Crouch End, Stroud Green, Harringay, Muswell Hill and Fortis Green) were part of the old Borough of Hornsey when the memorial was dedicated in 1921.
I hope I am wrong but I did not see any councillors from any of those wards at today’s service.
I wonder where they were today and what was more important to them than to attend this act of remembrance?
I would have thought that at least one councillor from each of those wards could have shown up.
Who I did see was ex Muswell Hill councillor and Hornsey resident Jim Jenks and his wife.
He had worked hard on my behalf when in office to get my great uncle’s name added to the memorial so I was especially pleased to be able to thank him today in person.
I hope the current councillors make a better effort in 2015 than they appear to have done this year.
If I am wrong I would like to know who was there from our elected representatives - Parliamentary candidates don’t count in my book. Remembrance services are not the place to play politics or canvass for votes.
Happy to be corrected by our local Labour or LibDem parties.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Liz on
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I expect Dana's is the correct one being actually there and able to identify who is who.
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Permalink Reply by Lesley Ramm on
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Possibly! I do think that people seeking my vote, as Cllr Jogee did earlier this year, and continues to do on behalf of Catherine West, should use more measured language when replying to a simple question from one of their constituents. And might want to check facts with their Party friends beforehand before sending out conflicting “facts” .
Enough now I think.
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Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on
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Lesley, I'm sure the word you were searching for in response to Dana was "Thanks."
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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Catherine West tweeted that she went to BOTH Wood Green and Hornsey services. Now there's someone working hard for votes.
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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Or, John, someone who takes the idea of remembrance ceremonies very seriously?
The more I find out about the nasty realities of local politics, the more deeply contemptuous I become of our rulers and would-be rulers. With some heartening exceptions. Catherine is one.
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This has been an interesting discussion about Remembrance Sunday Day with very little discussion about why the act of remembrance is so important. It is precisely why so many of our ancestors who fought for us and who died in the last one hundred years gave their lives. So that, one hundred years later, we have freedom of choice about what we do and where we go without worrying about what someone else will think. As it happens, my grandfather and his five brothers, most of whom lived in Muswell Hill at the time, all went off to war one hundred or so years ago and all thankfully came back uninjured several years later. For this reason their names are not on Hornsey War Memorial, but I do remember their service to their country round about this time of year. My father and his brother, who were born in Stroud Green but who lived in Muswell Hill also went to war about seventy years ago and came back uninjured. Their names are not on any war memorial either, but I'm thankful for what they did at that time. I served in the Royal Artillery about forty years ago in Belfast and also on the border between East Germany and West Germany and came back uninjured, unlike one of my colleagues who was shot dead by a sniper. I don't know if his name is on a war memorial somewhere but I always remember him at this time of year. Lesley Ramm may not have noticed me, but, along with Cllr Eddie Griffith, I was first up to lay a wreath on the bench inside Hornsey War Memorial. I didn’t do that because I was told to by “someone” in the Council or for a photo opportunity but because I have been doing it at the closest war memorial to where I was living at the time every year for the past fifty years since I was in Our Lady of Muswell Scout Troop. I went to the Royal British Legion ceremony in Muswell Hill on 2nd November and laid a wreath and I went to Hornsey on 9th November. I went there because it is the nearest one to where I live and because I appreciate the true meaning of the act of remembrance. I have never had to explain my reasons before to anyone until this year and I think that it is sad that, particularly in this particular year, I have felt the need to do so now.
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