Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Elevation of the Patron of The Friends of Finsbury Park
I NOTE that the long-time patron of The Friends of Finsbury Park is today, in effect, a Member of the Privy Council. The Member for Islington North is now leader of the Parliamentary Opposition and may be styled, The Right Honourable Jeremy Corbyn. I feel sure that Jeremy will continue his protective work for our public park.
Disclosure:
I am a Member of
Haringey Council; the
Liberal Democrat Party; and the
Management Committee of the Friends of Finsbury Park
Tags for Forum Posts: Jeremy Corbyn, Patron, Privy Council, The Friends of Finsbury Park
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Heather Martin on
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Let's hope that he has already signed the FoFP events policy petition or does so before turning his attention to other matters.
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Permalink Reply by StephenBln on
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At least his party is gaining membership.. unlike your sorry rabble.
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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Funny how democrats can't keep from falling into take-me-to-your-leader attitudes.
I didn't vote for Jeremy Corbyn, but I'm consistently impressed by his gentle but firm repetition of the collective 'We'. And it's clearly not a 'royal we'.
Plus the strong hints that he wants to break with the dysfunctional Dear Leader/ Supreme Leader / if-only-the-Tsar-knew style of leadership. For example, he said this to Robert Peston. https://youtu.be/lhVT9c33QuQ?t=2m59s …
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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Alan, having met our patron Jeremy at last December's Annual General Meeting of the Friends, I have to say I was impressed not only with his knowledge of our park, its history and the history of the Friends, but also with his civility and manner. That counts for a lot.
Mr. Corbyn is a long term resident of the area. Although I'm sure there are many policies he advocates with which I'd disagree, I do not doubt his commitment to Finsbury Park as a public park, with free access by all. He has expressed reservations about Haringey's major events policy to LBH, in writing, since November 2013. Maybe in that respect, he can be an influence for the good amongst the local New Labour group.
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Clive, do please re-read your own kick-off paragraph at the top of this page.
"Member of the Privy Council. ... "Member for Islington North"... "Leader of the Parliamentary Opposition"... may be styled, The Right Honourable ". All flummery, Clive. (OED: Meaningless or insincere flattery or conventions.)
Alan Bennett's play The Madness of King George, includes this bit of dialogue:
Charles James Fox: Do you enjoy all this flummery, Mr. Pitt?
William Pitt No, Mr. Fox.
Fox: Do you enjoy *anything*, Mr. Pitt?
Pitt: A balance sheet, Mr. Fox. I enjoy a good balance sheet..So let's forget the flummery and try looking at the reality. Now it may be true that as Leader of the Party, Jeremy Corbyn might have some sway among the Koberites when it comes to renting out Haringey's parks, greens and other open spaces.
I honestly don't know. And I don't think anyone knows. Because the huge surge in Labour's membership and the election of Jeremy Corbyn takes us into new territory. Well, some people think they know. And are busy offering to misapply lessons learned from other times and other places. (When they're not "mourning" the outome - as one former Hackney councillor put it. What a cause for grief, eh? A party gaining a couple of hundred thousand addtional members and supporters.)
But again, let's stick with the immediate reality. Which is that Jeremy Corbyn has no power to tell Claire Kober and her chums how to run Haringey.
More important, he has no direct influence on the national programme of cuts - 'the balance sheet' imposed on local councils across the country. Cuts which force them to slash services, increase fees, and treat publicly owned wealth as cash cows. Or worse, as assets to be flogged-off quickly to the private sector as a short-term solution. (Think of Apex House.)
Others have had an opportunity to speak out against the national decisions, but have chosen not to do so. Perhaps - like Alan Bennett's Mr Pitt - believing that the only thing that matters is the balance sheet. Perhaps, Clive, its time for you and others to question that theory.
P.S. Our friend Mary Mellor calls it "handbag economics".
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Non-flummery: It seems to me that the current local administration is taking maximum advantage of the fact that local authorities are under no statutory obligation to maintain either parks or libraries.
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Of course, Clive. The Kobertories worship the same gods of Austerity and follow the same religious practices as your own Party. Continually making sacrifices of the poorest and most vulnerable to appease those gods. It clearly works, as Mount Muswell has not recently erupted in anger.
However this discussion thread - which you began - is about the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn. You once told me you didn't have much time to read. But I hope you'll make an exception for someone whose work I've recently come across, Amanda Sinclair at the University of Melbourne Business School.
In January 2004 she published an article called "Journey Around Leadership" which described her own shift in viewpoint from accepting and teaching (to MBA students) the traditional, hierarchical and mostly male model of the "successful" leader. And becoming sceptical, disillusioned, and then critical.
If you have only a little time, then I suggest her: "Destination 6. Looking for Inspiration for Unconventional Leadership".
I'm not making any claims about Jeremy Corbyn. As I've said, I've never met him and know very little about him. Though as someone who spent several years on the right-wing of the Labour Party, I heard a lot of warnings. (That was before the Kobertories swept past me, far to the right.)
But so far in these interesting times, my old curiosity about organisational behaviour and psychology has been reawakened.
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Alan, given the recent events in Finsbury Park – where it is treated as little more than a cash cow – do you think that Haringey Council is an appropriate custodian for the years ahead?
I know that Jeremy has expressed concern about the mega events even before the Cabinet's policy came into effect (i.e. by letter in November 2013).
There is no inevitability that Haringey has to control it (previously it was with the GLC). I can only hope that, if this major asset for north London has to remain in the current, careless hands, Jeremy may be able to wield some influence for the good.
The current period of decline is nothing new: it's fortunes have ebbed and flowed under the current local one-party state. And there's been only one consistent guardian: The Friends of Finsbury Park – a registered Charity and a Company limited by guarantee – of which Mr. Corbyn is Patron.
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Apologies as that link no longer works properly. Here's one which does. https://rwer.wordpress.com/2013/12/12/handbag-economics-the-ideolog...
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Privy Council not all "flummery" : here.
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