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Islington Tribune - COMMENT
Published: 18 July 2008

Lillian Ladele

Gay marriage -
Registrar row

Islington Tribune comment

TWO salient questions emerge from the legal maelstrom now gathering over the case of the registrar Lillian Ladele.
Could council officials have fudged matters to such a degree that Ms Ladele would have been able to continue to perform her function as a registrar?
And why were not councillors of all parties made aware at the end of last year that the council could soon sink into a costly legal quagmire?
An attractive proposition was advanced by the Bishop of Rochester, Michael Nazir-Ali (Daily Telegraph, July 14) that the council should have allowed Ms Ladele to exercise her conscience. He cogently argued that civilised nations are judged by the extent to which they allow citizens to be treated exceptionally by the law on the grounds of conscientious objection. During the last two world wars men were not forced against their conscience to take part in conflict. Recently, a serving officer refused to serve in the Iraq war on conscientious grounds.
In view of the fact that this brewing problem does not appear to have been tested last year by a wide discussion among officials and councillors other than by her immediate colleagues and managers, we cannot say with certainty that accommodation could not have been found for Ms Ladele’s beliefs.
Light needs to be thrown on to a situation where a matter of such importance was known only to a small circle of officials.
Our enquiries show that 10 years ago the then Labour council abandoned the practice of councillors sitting on disciplinary panels involving council staff. This practice is still continued by other London authorities.
If Ms Ladele had gone before such a panel the public would have been alerted much earlier – perhaps through the press.
It is paradoxical that councillors remain on panels that employ senior staff but fight shy from disciplinary panels. Council staff are employed by councillors acting on behalf of the electorate. Matters of breach of contract and terms and conditions involving staff should be determined by councillors.

Choice between faith and demands of job

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