Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
The Greens Manifesto - know what you're voting for
The electioneering pamphlets from all parties only provide slogans and sound bites. In search of more information about the Greens' agenda I read the most recently available manifesto (2024) on their website which you can read here.
Now I generally advocate for people to cast their vote in local elections based on local issues (and general elections on national issues) but I wanted to better understand what sort of world view the local Greens candidates have signed up to before deciding whether I would want any of them to be my local counsellor/s and potentially control the delivery of local government services in Harringay.
There are some things I like in the manifesto mostly about actual environmental issues as well as animal welfare (However, they are silent on the need to ban cruel, religious slaughter - both Halal and Kosher).
There are many things I don't like mostly about economics (very high spending), Defence (scraping Trident) and immigration (no efforts to reduce the unsustainable volume).
In my view the core national issue is immigration. Some immigration is needed (genuinely niche skills) but the essentially uncontrolled immigration since Blair (and particularly the Boris wave) has stretched public services and social cohesion to the brink. None of the Greens policies seek to counter this. In fact, many of them will provide additional incentives for more illegal immigrants (removal of mandatory detentions, ability to work from day 1, removal of protections around access to public funds).
That, combined with the recent antics of their leader, and the apparent infiltration of the party by Islamists mean they won't be getting my vote.
Like many people I want bike paths and free range eggs but not at that price!
Have a look at who Clive never criticises and vote for them or the Trade Unionists.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson
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This is the local manifesto
https://haringey.greenparty.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/224/202...
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Permalink Reply by Neil Ford
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I liked the Green Party candidates that I spoke to but my feeling is that their expectations and plans are not feasible. The council is skint, there's little room for manoeuvre. That's the reality of local government.
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter
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The council is skint
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This is what the council claims.
The council would have tens of millions more had they not made (a) a loan to now-bankrupt Fusion Leisure of possibly £14,000,000 and (b) generated losses in property services of at least £12,000,000 and £20,000,000..
So in just two examples we know of, there's perhaps £30 million of waste. There may be other wasted taxes we don't know about
Due to the time value of money, the fact that these losses occurred some years ago, makes the council's financial situation today, all the much worse.
That is the reality of local government.
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#FreshStartFriday
The problems that rotate around the council's Major Events policy in Finsbury Park (FP) are far from the only election issue, but IMO, they seem to encapsulate a lot of this council's failures.
The park trashing policy is more accessible than the huge, hidden, multi-million pound losses in council property deals that are far less visible.
The shabbiness that surrounding the council's business arrangements in a public park, culminated a few weeks ago in the dirty deal signed by the Cabinet Member for Parks & Culture. That deal, allowing park-denial and park trashing to continue for two years after the election in 2030. That is what a corrupted democracy looks like.
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In the previous two council elections, I've voted for a Labour candidate not because he was Labour, but in spite of that. I voted for Eldridge but due to his known personal qualities. Cllr Culverwell was also a Vice-Chair of Registered Charitable Trust, the Friends of Finsbury Park (FoFP. I might have voted for his successor had it not been for their scurrilous, leaflet on FP.
In Stroud Green Ward it's no secret I'm voting for Anderson, Beth, a fellow former co-chair of the FoFP. Bethany is a truly excellent candidate.
Photo credit: Green's website
I was as disgusted with Labour's quickly-produced scrap of paper leaflet about FP (which was a tissue of … untruths) as I was pleased yesterday to receive the Green's leaflet on FP. The two sided, A4, full colour in leaflet was aimed at residents in Harringay and Stroud Green Wards. The title is:
PROTECT FINSBURY PARK
LABOUR HAS LET CORPORATES RULE OUR PARK. THE GREENS WILL TURN THE TIDE.
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The Greens' Manifesto is not silent on the small matter of Finsbury Park:
BREAKING: HARINGEY COUNCIL RUSHES THROUGH FIVE-YEAR LIVE NATION DEA...
WIRELESS FESTIVAL SHAMBLES: HARINGEY COUNCIL MUST ANSWER QUESTIONS
Greens raise alarm over lack of consultation for 5-year Finsbury Pa...
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Who would you vote for in Harringay, Clive? Presumably the incumbent Labour candidates' inaction on the park and cycling would instantly disqualify them for you.
I'm minded to split my vote - 2 greens and one Lib Dem. It's a bit of a gamble but I could see a Green Lib Dem coalition being functional. The difficulty is the Lib Dems' track record of aligning themselves with ratbags. A coalition with Labour would be disastrous.
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AS I suspect many in Stroud Green Ward are minded to, I will also split my vote ;-)
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If I were an elector in Harringay Ward, which I am not, I'd also split my ballot and I'd vote for Brabazon, Zena.
Not because Zena is Labour but—as with my previous voting for my friend Eldridge Culverwell—in spite of the fact she is Labour!
Her personal qualities known to me include hard work, diligence, integrity, intelligence, independent thought and a willingness to listen to others' views.
These personal qualities would override my distaste for the tired Majority Group that expires on Friday and which is coupled tightly to their current Leader, who exhibits authoritarian tendencies.
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Character and personal qualities above Party
Zena was a Councillor when I served as an Opposition Councillor. We served on several Committees, including Licensing, once or twice on Corporate and on Member Appeals.
Unsurprisingly I don't alway agree with her, but Zena also certainly deserves recognition for her support of Chilrens' Services, which has seen a huge and welcome turnaround, as many will know.
The partly-expected Haringey outcome on Friday, is no overall control.
IMO, if Labour are still the biggest Party, then no other Party should enter into any coalition with them. If they did, it would seriously damage that Party, damage the council, damage the Borough and would in effect, leave Labour continuing to pull the levers behind the scenes.
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Both candidates enjoy a slight AB-advantage on the respective ballot papers: Anderson, Brabazon. Disclaimer: David Lammy MP once described me to a friend and I as "a local trouble-maker". I'm grateful for David's endorsement!
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They also seem to be keen on 'reparations' for slavery. This is quite ironic given that their 'Reparations Officer' is the daughter of a Nigerian billionaire whose own ancestors were some of the biggest slave traders in Africa. You can look up Antoinette Fernandez online. She is standing for the Greens in Lea Bridge ward, Hackney.
Not surprisingly, you won't read about that in the Grauniad.
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