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Seeking a solution over school for deaf children
• IN the past few weeks I have been roundly abused by certain Labour councillors for my public utterances on Frank Barnes Primary School for the Deaf.
To paraphrase, they have accused me of fiddling while Rome was burning, of fine words from the stable door after the horse has bolted. Yet if you ask the staff of Frank Barnes I think you’ll find they’re grateful for the work I and other Lib Dems have done to find a satisfactory solution for their beacon school.
I went into active politics because I wanted to do something about climate change. I believe we have less than 10 years to shift the world onto a low-carbon trajectory if we are to avert disaster. Climate change doesn’t leave me much time to go into the detail of all local issues. But when one of my colleagues told me he thought our partnership administration was making a mistake on Frank Barnes, I resolved to find out the truth for myself.
In the process I established that there was no sound reason for mergering with Blanche Nevile School in Haringey, a preferred option at this stage, that the proposed fallback option – integration with Torriano Infants – wasn’t suitable, and that the discounted option – integration with Primrose Hill Primary – was in fact perfectly feasible and possibly even the best option.
I argued privately and publicly for the cross-party working group of the children, schools and families scrutiny panel to be given time to look at all possibilities without the Sword of Damocles of a preferred option hanging over their heads. To their credit, Camden’s executive members listened and withdrew the preferred option.
There’s no shame in that. I for one feel happy that I’m a foot soldier in an administration that’s really able to listen.
One last thought. It’s easy to be credible when you care. It’s not so easy when you view politics as nothing more than a word game as some Labour councillors seem to do. That’s why their words sound so hollow. Over the last year no less than seven members of the Camden Labour group have asked me to rejoin the Labour Party I left because of Iraq and Tony Blair.
These are people I like and respect. But the trouble is that the party is still riddled with new Labour sycophants who see politics as a career move rather than a matter of principle.
I may not always agree with my Liberal Democrat colleagues, but at least I know they care. And they showed that by engaging, listening and acting on Frank Barnes – rather than shouting weasel words from the sidelines.
Cllr ALEXIS ROWELL
Lib Dem, Belsize Ward
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