Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
HARRINGAY: Council elections 22nd May 2014 -- THE CONSERVATIVES
Labour have been running Haringey for the best part of half a century and throughout that time have consistently refused to take responsibility for their own failings, blaming every mistake and foul-up on the government--especially if it was a Conservative one--and frequently refusing to acknowledge internal faults until some outside authority took charge.
That is why beautiful Harringay is today cursed by a legacy of HMOs, weeds in the pavements, overgrown trees, traffic mismanagement, late night licences, betting shops, uncollected rubbish, rubbish and more rubbish and a punitive, excessive and expensive CPZ. All of these are solely the responsibility of an out-of-control, self-obsessed and completely unopposed local Labour Party.
We say "unopposed" deliberately. Although some more imaginative Labour voters finally lost patience in 2010, the resulting LibDem group have had little effect on Labour's performance. Traffic is still a problem, speedbumps still damage house foundations, CPZ charges are still extortionate, late-night licences and betting shops still proliferate, unkempt trees still lift pavements and block light from homes. At the same time the "strategy" groups multiply, go nowhere and pile up attendance bonuses for the committee chairs. There is no change because Labour regard the LibDems as a 'lite' version of themselves and do not find it particularly embarrassing if a few council seats pass back and forth between them.
However, 50 years of extremist rhetoric and two generations of justifying all sorts of cheating on the grounds that they are in the service of Good against Evil have propagandised the local Labour Party into an absolute terror of any sort of Conservative gain--which presents voters with a unique opportunity.
Conservatives on the opposite benches would be a mortification for Labour and would send a message impossible to ignore. The shockwave could even be the saviour of the local Labour party itself, perhaps forcing them to abandon their vicious internal power-struggles and concentrate on restructuring.
Personal:
We, Lydia, Sean and Massimo, are not hung up in political theorising and we do not forget that the Council is using tax-payers' money. Borough-wide, this money should be used responsibly and to make the lives of Haringey residents easier, not more complicated and uncomfortable. We believe that the purpose of a Council at the very least is to keep the streets clean, well-lit and safe; to keep the traffic flowing, to educate our children and take care of our elderly. This is a basic requirement and any Council which does not do that, has broken down and needs repair or replacement.
What we want to do:
CPZ reform
Parking controls are clearly necessary on the Ladder, but why such punitive charges when we are already paying a heavy Council Tax? Why are we, in practice, being fined for having visitors? Fairer, cheaper–even free–parking control systems exist elsewhere in Britain. They do not exist in Haringey quite simply because the Council has learned that holding our cars to ransom yields easy pickings. The extra 'eco' charges fool no-one and are a tax on the least well off who cannot afford late model cars.
Borough of Haringey
Conservatives want to re-open the day centres for the elderly which were closed by Labour, and to focus on Children's Services. Lydia Rivlin has a long record of calling Haringey to account over their murderous inefficiency in this sector. Sean Rivers, a disability lawyer, is keen on coming to grips with provisions for the disabled in this borough and Massimo Rossini who was a council officer for many years, knows much about the inefficiency and wastefulness of this administration and how it can be rebuilt.
We all proudly support the Wards Corner Coalition. The approach taken to regeneration there will be a template for the rest of the borough, so we have to get it right. On our own patch, there is major construction proposed for the Arena. Detailed information is still difficult to find (possibly because the Planning department learned lessons of obfuscation during the Wards Corner rebellion). However, we worry that this "development", like others, will ignore local social unity, will be overcrowded, will force more vehicles on to surrounding roads, will create insoluble access problems and will lack adequate infrastructure back-up. Without sympathetic planning we could be opening the door to all sorts of problems for the future of The Ladder.
Council meetings
For several years now, there has been very little sensible deliberation in the Council. A noisy student-politics Labour clique turn debates into rows, stifling dialogue. Councillors are also paid far too much. Except in some specialised areas, being a councillor should not be a career but a civic duty and the current squabbles within the Labour group are battles for resources, not for the people of Haringey. We want to create an environment for sensible decisions to be made.
Tell Labour that they have got things wrong.
Tell them in the most powerful way available:
vote Conservative.
@tottenhamtories @loveharringay
loveharringay@gmail.com www.loveharringay.co.uk
Tel: 020 8374 6305
Promoted by Justin Hinchcliffe, on behalf of Tottenham Conservatives,
both of 178 Walpole Road, LONDON N17 6BW Tel: 020 8374 6305.
Tags for Forum Posts: 2014 elections
Replies are closed for this discussion.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on
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Hi Lydia - you're cutting it a bit fine, aren't you? Shouldn't the poor innocent voter have a rest day from vote scavengers on Polling Day - especially within 3 minutes of the start of voting?
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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Whilst I'm not a natural Conservative, in the interests of fairness, I might suggest that you check which was the party that passed the legislation that allowed the spread of betting shops and further than that who was the Minister for Culture (the responsible department) at the time, although I understand not the originator of the legislation.
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You're right to draw attention to the issue, David. It seems to have become something of a political football - an issue that nobody seems willing fully to tackle. There has however been some new legislation very recently.
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The 2005 Gambling Act was steered thru parliament at a time when (Haringey resident) Tessa Jowell was Secretary of State at the DCMS. But I think Richard Caborn was the Minister of State in the DCMS who had responsibility for gambling at the time. Interestingly, Tottenham's own David Lammy was a minister in the same department (DCMS) at the time this went through. I have long thought that was a bit close for comfort, and wondered if that is why he has tried so assiduously to distance himself from that particular piece of the last government's legislation.
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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The problem is not the shops, it is the machines inside them which the Labour government allowed in the 2005 Gambling Act. They did have some idea of how bad they might be because they limited them to four per shop, hence the clustering and proliferation. If you ban the machines (and they were banned before) then the problem will go away.
FOBTs exploit a loophole in the legislation which bans machines that allow so much to be staked. You're allowed to bet what you like on a view of a remote event such as a horse race so they built these machines to have a server that the game ran on in a remote location and the terminal just displayed a view of that "game". I would like to see the virtual event vs. real event challenged in court rather than a local council given more powers.
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Permalink Reply by Lydia R on
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"If you ban the machines (and they were banned before) then the problem will go away."
No, it's the shops too, John. I don't mind gambling in principle -- I do it myself from time to time (athough that tends to be more of the lottery variety). But when I walk along a suburban shopping street I don't want to find one betting shop after the other instead of fruit and veg, and shoes and clothing. Also, with or without the machines, betting shops seem to attract drug dealers. There is no law about drugs following gambling but for whatever reason, at least in this part of the world the two do seem to go arm in arm.
The betting shop and gambling machine mess is entirely the fault of the Labour Party. Under Blair's admin, they seemed to be obsessed with trying to get people gambling and not just in betting shops. They also tried to establish super-casinos here and there. I think there was a push for one in Manchester and one in Newcastle, and of course our own, dear local Labour fought like cats to get Alexandra Palace turned into a punters' paradise (well, maybe not so much of a paradise for the punters but certainly a pot of gold for the owners). I was in the opposition to this but Clive Carter was one of the most vigorous supporters of the anti brigade and you lot will probably never know how much you owe him for his hard work.
The Tories introduced controlling legislation recently. For our convenience, Hugh provided a link (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/l...).
Lammy has been against the idea of gambling establishments only since Labour lost.
Lydia Rivlin: Conservative candidate for Harringay Ward.
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Lydia Rivlin and Charles Tannock (our MEP) canvassing in Fairfax Road on Friday.
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Charles Tannock - Lydia sm.jpg, 350 KB
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Canvassing in Burgoyne Road today.
The poor buggers, that's all I can say.
Traffic jammed all the way back to Wightman Road, and loud radio noise from jammed cars, hooting from jammed cars, engine revving from jammed cars and the only reason for the jammed cars is the pinch-point at the Green Lanes junction. It's a disgrace.
Lydia Rivlin: Conservative candidate - Harringay ward.
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What do we think of Gove's plan to privatise child protection?
Haringey has a shameful track record in this area, but I don['t for a moment believe that G4S and Serco will be able to take a profit and provide a better service. Both companies have screwed up in technicolour, or pulled out, of previous privatised roles. We had to call in the army for Olympic security, who will we call in to protect kids? The NHS? Don't think so, that's getting sold off too.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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Saw this in the paper this morning and did a double take to make sure it wasn't 1 April. What the hell is this man thinking.
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Sadly he's thinking there is a profit to be made from the misery of neglected and abused kids.
It is beyond repugnant
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Permalink Reply by Justin Hinchcliffe on
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Michael Gove is, himself, adopted. You may wish to delete that comment? Haringey Council has allowed children to die in their care. Stop with dogma. I don't don't care who's looking after our kids - the private, public or mixed sectors - as long as they're doing a good job. The idea that *only* the state can run services is wrong.
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