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No paltry matter
THE leader of the decimated Labour group in Camden, Anna Stewart, made a hash of it at the council meeting on Monday when she dismissed the manifesto pledges of the Lib Dems as a “list of paltry promises”.
Not only did her remarks make a hostage of her group to inevitable barbs from the Tories and the Lib Dems, but they also exposed an extraordinary failure either on her part or that of her colleagues to have carried out what should have been an exhaustive post-mortem into how and why Labour collapsed at the local elections.
Unless Labour make a thorough-going analysis of their failed policies, they will spend a long time in the political wilderness.
One of the ‘paltry’ promises by the Lib Dems was to end clamping.
In the politically-correct world inhabited by too many Labour councillors car ownership became unfashionable.
This led to the creation of an army of traffic wardens and the raking in of their takings, artificially boosting council revenue. Not only that but in the eyes of the car owning public – the majority of residents in the borough – each repressive warden became a representative of the council. Every time a parking ticket was slapped on a motorist or a car was clamped and driven away, a vote was probably lost.
Of course, parking has to be controlled. Equally, parking fines are inevitable.
It wasn’t the parking control system that was at fault. It was the way it was imposed.
It needed constant fine-tuning. It required close monitoring by councillors. Too often it was simply left in the hands of officials.
Result: Bitterness built up and support for Labour drained away. This wasn’t a ‘paltry’ matter. And Labour should be aware of their failings.
The real test
IF the Lib Dems and Tories are to consolidate their control over the Town Hall they will have to win over more council tenants. To do that, they will have to press the government hard to ensure Camden is part of Whitehall’s pilot scheme to allow authorities to borrow cash to repair run-down estates.
Failure will allow Labour to exploit their weakness. This will be the coalition’s first major test. The old administration failed to make much headway with New Labour.
How will the coalition come through its test? |
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