Harringay online

Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

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

Views: 2154

Replies are closed for this discussion.

Replies to This Discussion

I'm not getting this I'm afraid. Are you really saying Gove has not said this and that the Guardian is making it up (and the Telegraph and the BBC)?

"Because it's in The Guardian does it make it untrue?"

Not in my book, Michael.  I read the Guardian quite regularly and it is very informative athough I do disagree with some of the conclusions it reaches.

However, I have to ask you your own question, slightly modified: If the Conservatives propose something, does that make it automatically bad?"

Lydia Rivlin: Conservative candidate, Harringay Ward

Absolutely not. They proposed and fought to get same sex marriage on the statute books, in the face of real opposition from people of all or no political persuasion. If you look at Parliamentary business the great majority of stuff goes though with consensus from all parties.
In this particular instance though, dealing with the most vulnerable members of society is not something that should be subject to politicial dogma, from either side of the house. It feels like Gove is thinking about privatisation because it is in someway intrinsicly better than state provision.
And no, I do not think that state provision is the best option in all cases but in this one I think that the stakes are so high and the consequences of getting it wrong so terrible that he has to listen to people who have a real understanding of what is best for the child. Even floating an idea like this is wrong before an open an informed debate about the best way to care for children looked after is had. It really feels like his press officer was either on holiday or had a lapse of common sense.

Just had another thought -- about that woman I met canvassing.

Let's reverse the situation.  I suppose your immediate response was that this woman is an aberration in the Labour camp.  

Now, if I had been a Labour canvasser and had told you about such a person, making such a comment, but who claimed to be a Conservative supporter, what would you have thought?  Would you have instantly thought that she was typical of ALL Conservatives?

I am not trying to talk you out of your voting preference, after all, you tell me you have already voted.  What I am talking about is your perception of the difference between people who belong to the two parties.  I am posing this question not for gain (as stated--there isn't any).  I am simply interested in the mechanism.

Lydia Rivlin: Conservative candidate - Harringay ward

Actually when I first read what you had posted I missed that she was a Labour support, so in my view she is a $*#~ who votes Labour. Similarly is she was a Conservative supporter. So, no.

RSS

Advertising

© 2024   Created by Hugh.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service