Cheese defection to Labour no surprise

Barry Cheese (blue lapels) with Lib Dem comrades

I am not surprised by former Lib Dem councillor Barry Cheese's defection to Labour.

He was one of those, who also included former councillor Ann Hunter, who joined the Lib Dems in disgust at Blair's war-mongering and was impressed by the Lib Dem, and particularly Sarah Teather's opposition.

He still had many 'Old Labour' and trade unionist views and was vociferous on the closure of Central Middlesex A&E and the impact of the bedroom tax. He loudly applauded the SWP's Sarah Cox on the former and spoke out on the bedroom tax when speaking with a visiting group of Swedish councillors.

In June 2013 he surprised many by voting with Labour to give Christine Gilbert an extension as Chief Executive until after the May 2014 local elections, despite the opposition of the then Liberal Democrat leader. Paul Lorber's opposition to the extension. LINK

He was defeated in his ward in the May election and told me a few months ago he had left the Lib Dems.

I think he will find himself on the left of Brent Labour Party on many issues and I hope he will galvanise his new comrades to act on the current Human Resources scandal at Brent Council.

'Sickened' Sarah Teather and Brent Lib Dems should disown the Coalition

Sarah Teather has said that is is 'appalled and sickened' by George Osborne's statement on the Philpott case and welfare benefits and today's papers report 'deep unease' amongst senior Lib Dems.

Sarah Teather MP, when in opposition and before she joined the Coalition government, had great respect among leftwingers in Brent but forfeited that by her actions and statements when in government. Since her sacking she has distanced herself from some of the Coalition policies, some would say she has rediscovered her conscience, others, more cynical, claim she is worried about losing her Brent Central seat. Whichever is the case the Coalition's policies are now so extreme and damaging that if she is really to stand up for her constituents she should be arguing for Lib Dem withdrawal from the Coalition.

So what of our local Lib Dem councillors? Where do they stand? There have been rumours that a Lib Dem councillor was preparing to defect to Labour but I have been unable to get any confirmation. Despite my political disagreements with Brent Lib Dems I do think that they include people of principle who must be sickened by their party's role in the Coalition.

I cannot deny that Paul Lorber has shown real commitment to the libraries campaign in the Save Barham Library group where he has been unstinting of his time and energy. Similarly I have respect for Ann Hunter's decision to leave the Labour Party over the war in Iraq. Recently Barry Cheese has been a passionate campaigner for keeping Central Middlesex A&E open and opposing privatisation of the NHS. Alison Hopkins has impeccable credentials a s a community campaigner.

So far Brent Lib Dems locally have been remarkably untainted by the party's role in the Coalition and they have been helped by Brent Labour's supine approach to making council cuts. The Lib Dems have been able to oppose cuts at the local level but avoid the electorate making a link with the Coalition's austerity measures. Although they have entered local government ostensibly with a view to making life better for people  Brent they have failed to challenge the Coalition's attack on local government.

 However as Teather increasingly distances herself from the government positioning herself for the fight of her political life at the General Election, chickens will start to come home to roost.

Brent Lib Dems though should go beyond electoral manoeuvrings and consider the principles and practicalities involved. Can they, as liberals, standby while major sectors of the population are stereotyped, maligned and scapegoated? Can they remain silent while families are disrupted, pulled up by their roots and made to move outside of Brent away from their family and friends. Are they going  to tolerate more children falling into poverty? Can they tolerate the poor being made to pay for the economic crisis while the rich get richer?

 Does the argument that by participating in the Coalition the Lib Dems are restraining the more extreme elements of the Conservatives hold water any more when anyone can see the extremism of current policies?

Surely Sarah Teather and her colleagues in the local party must now call on their party to leave the Coalition.

Cllr Revd Clues must resign after attending only one meeting in 6 months

Rev David Cues, Liberal Democrat councillor for Dudden Hill, now resident in Brighton, has attended just one council meeting or committee in the last six months out of eight that he was supposed to attend.

Councillor Gavin Sneddon, another Liberal Democrat, who has also moved out of the borough -  albeit not so far, attended 5 out of 8 meetings.

The best attender was Cllr Pat Harrison (Labour) with 19 out of 19, closely followed by Cllr Lesley Jones (18/18) and Cllr Janice Long (17/17).

Former Labour leader Ann John managed only 8 out of 13 meetings. However Pat Harrison attended 19/19 with one extra meeting, closely followed by Lesley Jones 18/18 and Janice Long 17/17. Ketan Sheth appears to have over-stretched himself managing only 16 of 3 expected attendances.

Liberal Democrats Paul Lorber and Barry Cheese both attended 8 additional meetings out of personal interest or to represent their constituents.

Obviously the number of meetings is not necessarily a guide to how effective a councillor is. If they sit there like a bag of potatoes and make no contribution except to rubber stamp decisions and do little case work they are not doing a good job.

However, Clues' 12.5% attendance rate is an insult to democracy and a betrayal of the electorate, and must reinforce the call from Brent Green Party that he should resign with still a year to go before the next council election.

Full attendance details for all councillors can be found HERE

Lib Dem councillor speaks out on benefit cap 'disaster' for families

It is refreshing to hear that one of our Liberal Democrat councillors spoke from the heart recently, rather than from the party script, when asked about the impact of the housing and other benefit caps and benefit cuts.

In response to a question from a member of a visiting delegation of Swedish councillors and council official  last week, Cllr Barry Cheese (Lib Dem Brondesbury Park) said.

The benefit caps and cuts will be a disaster for families and in particular children who will be forced to leave their schools. This will cause anxiety to the child who will feel insecure and it will have  a serious impact on their learning ability.   The Government created the Pupil Premium to help these very children and now the children it was meant for won't be there.