|
|
 |
| |
CAN LABOUR
HANG ON?
ALL the signs suggest local politics are at a tipping point.
Subtle changes have been taking place since the late 1990s in
the minds of the electorate.
At the local elections in 2002 we warned that the yellow tide
of the Lib Dems was threatening the tenure Labour has held in
Camden for more than 30 years.
Politicians will try and deflect attention to local issues –
and Labour have been doing exactly this in the past few days
– but the fact is that local elections reflect a general
political mood. Yesterday (Wednesday) this descended into mob
politics as the Tories and Lib Dems in the Commons bayed for
the Home Secretary’s blood over the release of foreign
criminals into the community. But more likely than not they
were less concerned about public safety, more about how this
would bring in votes in next week’s elections.
There is little doubt Labour is in deep trouble. Who can doubt
that the scandal of loans for peerages and the NHS crisis have
sapped public confidence in Labour?
Labour is all adrift even in its heartlands.
This week we show how Labour is wobbling in its old heartland
of Gospel Oak (see pages 6 and 7). Perceptively, the resurgent
Tories spotted this weakness some time ago selecting three very
local candidates backed up by what appears to be a slick machine.
Labour is also vulnerable, for the first time, in the Kentish
Town and Camden Town wards. Can Labour hang on?
Unfortunately, all these battles are, in effect, taking place
on the fringes of real politics.
The fact is that local government, has been in a straitjacket
for years, both under the Tories of the 1980s and the 1990s
and New Labour.
Few, if any decisions, of real importance, can be taken by a
local authority.
Council tax funds only a small part of its expenditure –
most of it is provided by Whitehall.
Emptying the dustbins, keeping the streets clean – that’s
where a local authority can do a good or bad job. And though
these services are important, they amount to very little compared
to the great works of local authorities from the 1950s to the
late 1970s.
Criticised in the early 1990s, in particular, Labour in Camden
has since turned the corner. For those few services where a
local authority can make a difference Camden scores a high mark.
Its schools are clearly among the best in London. In the provision
of housing for the low paid it is doing badly.
But the fault lies with tight Whitehall control, something both
Labour and Tories are enamoured of, not with the Town Hall in
Judd Street.
But will the electorate see it that way? |
| |
|
|
|
