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ELECTION COUNTDOWN By RICHARD OSLEY
 



From left: Lib Dem candidate Chris Basson, Sir Menzies Campbell, candidate Ed Fordham, candidate Laurence Nicholson and Lib Dem leader Cllr Keith Moffitt at the Chalcot Estate
'Labour has failed you,' says new Lib Dem leader Ming

Sir Menzies Campbell visits crumbling Chalcot Estate to see ‘extent of neglect’

LIB Dem leader Sir Menzies Campbell visited a crumbling council estate on Thursday and told residents that Labour had failed them.
In a coup for local party organisers, the recently elected Lib Dem chief was persuaded to see conditions at the creaking Chalcot Estate in Adelaide Road, Swiss Cottage, for himself.
The four tower blocks are widely recognised as being amongst Camden’s worst kept estates due to its history of cockroach infestations, leaking windows, lift breakdowns and interruptions to gas and water supplies. During his visit, Sir Menzies saw how paint is peeling off the wall and windows rattle in the wind.
Repair work is only beginning this year after negotiations surrounding a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) took seven years to complete.
Sir Menzies told the New Journal: “Here you can see the extent of the neglect on this estate. The fact is that people are being asked to live in conditions that they should not have to. Look at the outside of this building, I guess you get extremes of temperature, I guess you get wind and rain penetration.”
He attacked the Labour government’s rigid policy of withholding the millions of pounds needed to bring homes up to national standards. Ministers earmarked £283 million to Camden two years ago but snatched the money back when tenants voted against transferring control of their homes to an independent company.
Sir Menzies told the New Journal: “Money has been held back because people didn’t vote the way the government wanted. There is not much democratic about that. The government has essentially fined the people of Camden £283 million.”
He said that Lib Dems would follow choices made by tenants but campaign directly for investment in homes. Camden members are discussing whether it is possible to launch a judicial review against the government’s refusal to fund repairs.
Sir Menzies said: “It’s not for me to say how it should be done. It’s for residents to decide what it is the best way forward. They are entitled to exercise democratic choice. If they do that at the moment, then they get penalised by Labour. That seems to me to be unfair.”
Two Chalcot tenants, Chris Basson and Laurence Nicholson, will stand as Lib Dem candidates in council elections on May 4.
Mr Basson, who invited Sir Menzies into his weather-hit 20th floor flat, said: “When you get a hard westerly wind, the rain pours through the top of my window. We have to put a towel across it.”
Even patch-up repairs have been delayed during the PFI negotiations.
Sir Menzies, voted as the party’s leader last month, is visiting a series of key Lib Dem targets ahead of the elections.
In a dig at former Labour council leader Dame Jane Roberts, he said: “There is a strong sense that Labour has let people down. People feel that Labour has not fulfilled its promises. When people have been in control for too long then they lack ambition and take the electorate for granted. One or two senior members of the Labour administration seem to have taken voluntary early retirement which tells us something. It won’t be easy but it’s finely balanced.”
Rival parties have dismissed Sir Menzies’ visit to Camden as opportunist and have questioned the Lib Dems commitment to council housing. They say that the party has not appeared interested before.
Conservative leader Councillor Piers Wauchope said: “Sir Menzies is the first Lib Dem politician ever to set foot inside the Chalcot Estate. It is the Conservatives that have campaigned for a better deal for tenants and leaseholders.”
Labour leader Councillor Raj Chada added: “We welcome the Lib Dems to the party but it’s a bit late. We’ve been battling for improvements for years and that why the estate will be refurbished this year.
“We won’t let a single tenant down.”
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