Brent Central Conservatives released the foloowing Press Release yesterday
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The Conservative Prospective
Parliamentary Candidate for Brent Central has called for the Labour controlled
Brent Council to cease its internal argument over whether to raise the rate of
Council Tax by 1.99%, and instead to work together to reach a decision which is
best for the residents of Brent.
Dr Alan Mendoza, a former Brent councillor who announced that he would run as the candidate for Brent Central in January, made his call for unity after an anonymous letter emerged on community blog site WembleyMatters.blogspot.co.uk, claiming to be written by a current Labour councillor.
The letter has revealed an internal argument in Brent Council’s Labour Group, over whether to raise the rate of Council Tax, with backbench Labour councillors accusing the Council Leader Cllr Muhammed Butt and Deputy Leader Cllr Michael Pavey of refusing to accept a vote to raise the rate in order to protect Brent from further proposed service cuts.
The letter, which likens Cllr Pavey’s actions to those in George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm, claims that the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council refused “point blank” to allow the Council to vote on the Budget, and that, when members of the Labour Group did force a vote, the Leadership chose to “completely ignore it”. The letter also referred to the incident as “an affront to democracy” that will “will bring the council in disrepute.”
Dr Mendoza said: “This internal dispute is indicative of how the Labour controlled council is failing residents in Brent. Instead of working together to reach the best decision for Brent residents, it is focused on playing politics and squabbling amongst themselves.”
Speaking on the proposed increase in council tax, Dr Mendoza said: "The lie that Brent Council has no choice but to make massive cuts because of central government policy has been exposed by this rift in the Council's Labour Group. It turns out that this policy has been enforced by the Labour leadership against the will of backbench Labour councillors. I look forward to the 'nonaffiliated' anti-cuts group Brent Fightback organising its next march outside Cllr Butt's and Cllr Pavey's offices".
Dr Alan Mendoza, a former Brent councillor who announced that he would run as the candidate for Brent Central in January, made his call for unity after an anonymous letter emerged on community blog site WembleyMatters.blogspot.co.uk, claiming to be written by a current Labour councillor.
The letter has revealed an internal argument in Brent Council’s Labour Group, over whether to raise the rate of Council Tax, with backbench Labour councillors accusing the Council Leader Cllr Muhammed Butt and Deputy Leader Cllr Michael Pavey of refusing to accept a vote to raise the rate in order to protect Brent from further proposed service cuts.
The letter, which likens Cllr Pavey’s actions to those in George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm, claims that the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council refused “point blank” to allow the Council to vote on the Budget, and that, when members of the Labour Group did force a vote, the Leadership chose to “completely ignore it”. The letter also referred to the incident as “an affront to democracy” that will “will bring the council in disrepute.”
Dr Mendoza said: “This internal dispute is indicative of how the Labour controlled council is failing residents in Brent. Instead of working together to reach the best decision for Brent residents, it is focused on playing politics and squabbling amongst themselves.”
Speaking on the proposed increase in council tax, Dr Mendoza said: "The lie that Brent Council has no choice but to make massive cuts because of central government policy has been exposed by this rift in the Council's Labour Group. It turns out that this policy has been enforced by the Labour leadership against the will of backbench Labour councillors. I look forward to the 'nonaffiliated' anti-cuts group Brent Fightback organising its next march outside Cllr Butt's and Cllr Pavey's offices".
Pained to say that I agree with a Tory on this one, but this is spot on.
ReplyDeleteRemains to be seen whether some of the loyalists (particularly young pretenders such as Tom Miller and Sam Stopp) put their principles ahead of their loyalty to the leadership. Both are apparently strongly in favour of a rise...
The outcome of this dispute could well determine Butt's future.
"Exposing the lie" Mendoza does make a point if they could save services the blame does not entirely fall on the coalition.
DeleteAlmost forgot about the Tories, normally it is the Greens providing scrutiny and they don't even have a councillor.
ReplyDeleteAlmost 20-25 elected Labour Cllrs are member of Unions, Unite, Unison, GMB, NUT (Cllr Tom Miller is also GMB Political Officer Hendon, Brent Central Labour Trade Union Liaison Officer) Cllr Pavey is also member of GMB union so do Cllr Sam Stopp. Not sure about Cll Butt if he is member of any Union. Dr Mendoza has exposed the lies of Brent Labour that they have no choice but to make massive cuts, Unions are anti cuts I have been told.
ReplyDeleteSam Stopp and Tom Miller are both obsessed with the GMB. Would be good to know how they justify Brent's cuts agenda when their own union is opposed to it.
DeleteIt is also compulsory for Labour councillors to be unionised, so I don't know where you got your figures from...
DeleteThis is a massive conflict of interest. Cllr Miller, Cllr Stopp and any others who are trade union officers (at least one is a Unison officer) will be attacking their own members by voting for these cuts. They should either resign as councillors or resign as officers of these unions.
DeleteCllr Stopp is not a trade union officer, but he is seemingly very active in the GMB.
DeleteNo it is not compulsory for Labour councillors to be unionised. Some Labour Parties, such as Camden, make it a pre-requisite for selection to stand as a councillor, but not Brent.
DeleteDo the Tories have a councillor?!
ReplyDeleteYeah - Mo Butt.
Deleteyes there are 3 in Brondesbury Park, and 2 in Kenton who don't do anything
DeleteStory is in the paper.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.kilburntimes.co.uk/news/politics/labour_councillors_forced_to_back_cuts_in_brent_1_3962674
This has flushed out some rarely-seen species in the Comments!
ReplyDeleteQuote from Mendoza: "The lie that Brent Council has no choice but to make massive cuts because of central government policy has been exposed by this rift in the Council's Labour Group.”
Presumably he's attempting to make some sentient being somewhere believe that massive cuts are NOT a consequence of the stated policy of his own party (with the tortured acquiescence of the Lib Dems). Bit of a sticky wicket that one, Doctor!
Or could it be he believes it himself? In which case, send for the doctor, Doctor!
The second of these is unlikely, however, as Mendoza is head of the Henry Jackson Society, a neo-conservative 'think tank', and precisely the kind of body which dreams up and presses for budget-cutting and state-shrinking in the first place.
Not an impressive start, Al. Still, Brent Central was always going to be the short straw for a Tory candidate and there's only 76 days of it left to go. I'd stick to banalities about 'long-term economic plans' and 'hardworking families' if I were you.
I agree entirely that much of the pain of the cuts which will be made to Brent's budget for 2015/16 and 2016/17 are the result of the policies of the Conservative-led government.
DeleteThe remainder of the cuts will be the responsibility of Brent's Labour Leadership, unless there is a last-minute realisation that they should listen to their fellow Labour councillors, and at least allow the free consideration of a rise in Council Tax of 1.99%.
It is sad to see Cllr. Butt extolling the virtues of a sixth successive Council Tax freeze. Yes, the Council should consider the effects of an increase in Council Tax on those residents least able to afford it, but by allowing the amount of income it raises from Council Tax to fall behind inflation, year after year, it inevitably means that the Council has to cut services and jobs, even if there were no cuts in funding from Central Government for those services.
Freezing Council Tax is a Tory policy, as is reducing the role of Local Councils, yet Cllr. Butt seems determined to enforce the doctrines of George Osborne and Eric Pickles on his fellow Labour councillors, and the people of Brent. He may think that he can score political points against the Conservatives as a result of doing so, but on this occasion he has scored an "own goal".
Dr Mendoza, in the press release above, is taking advantage of this, but he is also 'playing politics'. Perhaps he would answer the following questions:
'If Brent's Full Council on 2 March were to be given a vote on whether to increase Council Tax by 1.99%, would he advise the five Conservative councillors, who have also been 'squabbling amongst themselves', to vote in favour of the increase, in order to mitigate some of the cuts to vital local services?' and:
'If the Government can afford to pay Brent Council an "extra" £1 million (over and above its much reduced funding for Brent's local services for 2015/16) if the Council does not increase Council Tax, why can't it afford to pay that £1 million if it does raise Council Tax?'
Philip Grant.
Mr Mendoza should note that Brent Fightback will be protesting outside the offices of Butt and Pavey on 2nd March, the night when the cuts will be voted on by the council.
ReplyDelete