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 Red: Revd McBratney |
Priest candidate says ‘we got parking wrong’
Labour’s reverend makes confession in by-election battle
THE Labour party candidate standing in the knife-edge Kentish Town by-election has admitted his party got it wrong over parking policies.
The Reverend Sam McBratney said his party’s devastating defeat at May’s council elections and loss of power at the Town Hall had been a “wake-up call”.
He said it was clear that parking had been an important issue with voters who marked their protest at the polls.
Mr McBratney said: “What you can pick up from May is that Labour got it wrong. It is clear that parking was a big issue and that people didn’t think we got it right.
“They did not think it was a fair system. I think people felt that there wasn’t enough discretion, not enough of a grace period. I think that is still an issue in Camden.”
The university chaplain is standing in the by-election caused by Labour’s deputy leader Councillor Lucy Anderson’s decision to leave the Town Hall.
Mr McBratney said: “I think any election defeat is a wake-up call. We didn’t get everything right. That’s not to say that everything that Labour did was wrong, you can’t say that Camden hasn’t improved in the last 20 years under Labour.
“There were a lot of things that Labour did really well. But it is clear that parking was an issue where people felt there wasn’t fairness.”
He said that while the Liberal Democrat and Conservative decision to axe clamping had been popular, the policy could have been extended to cars on council estates.
Mr McBratney said: “Whatever policy is used, it has to be a fair system to everybody, whether it is on the streets or on council estates. I don’t drive. I used to have a car but I gave it up partly because of environmental reasons. I can see that parking is a problem in the area and that it can be frustrating if you can’t park in a space outside your house or on your street.”
He was adamant, however, parking penalties had not been enforced under Labour just to raise money.
Mr McBratney said: “That was not the purpose of the penalties but if you make a profit, you can invest it back into making the area into a better place.”
During Labour’s wipeout in May, two of the party’s councillors lost their seats in Kentish Town to the Lib Dems. Cllr Anderson clung on to her seat by just 15 votes.
Lib Dem candidate Ralph Scott said his party had scored a hit by banning clamping.
He said: “The Lib Dems have done what they said they would do. They ended clamping. They saved the Prince of Wales Baths swimming pool – but we can’t rest on our laurels or take anything for granted. That’s why we have been going out campaigning hard and listening to what people have to say.”
The Lib Dems have a series of visits from senior MPs planned for the next few weeks.
Green party candidate Sian Berry, the party’s principle speaker on a national level, said Labour’s record on parking would continue to haunt their election campaign.
She said: “I think that Labour did use it as a bit of a revenue raiser and people did think that it was unfair. What we would do is bring the service back in-house. If you use a private company, you will always, in one way or another, have an incentive to ticket as many cars as possible. Camden didn’t monitor what was happening and I think that it got out of hand. There were a lot of tickets issued in error.”
The Tory candidate is Richard Merrin.
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