onionbagblog

What a strange and slightly obsessive blog post from @cllrstevereed. At a time when a Labour council (a LABOUR council!) is planning 400 local authority redundancies, the Leader of @lambeth_council decides instead to spew out 1,300+ words on his personal pet hate subject: LibDems.

Oh Lordy.

I think we’re all in agreement that the nasty ConDem cuts need fighting, but to then turn this situation around into a very clumsy piece of local electioneering (um when there’s no election on the horizon) seems to somewhat miss the point.

When times are tight, I want to hear words from a leader on how we can improve the lives of those around us, and not yet another obsessive piece trying to score political points. I want to know how our local authority is going to stand up and fight the ConDem cuts, and not read another blame shifting piece of twaddle, ever keen to demonise the opposition with the obsession that has come to characterise Nu Labour within the Rotten Borough.

The public purse is tight, and we need new ways of working together. This almost happened for about five minutes at the last full council meeting. The joint motion between @LambethLabour and @LambethLibdems (Lordy!) just about held in place, until both sides started to point score once again.

But wait! What’s this?

There is a chink in the Nu Labour armour which goes against all previous principles of cross-party co-operation (geddin there!) No surprises that it is taking place at a #hyperlocal level around my little patch of South London.

@cllrstevereed is keen to stress in his rant:

“The unwary support of left-leaning voters saved one Lib Dem seat in each of Oval, Clapham Common and Vassall wards, and three in Bishops [how generous of him!] With the loss of that left-leaning support and the unpopularity of the coalition government as the pain of their cuts becomes more apparent you can see the Lib Dems facing annihilation in Lambeth even assuming their party survives long enough to fight another election.”

Left, Right – careful Comrade, you’ll be spinning around in circles before we even reach election time again. It’s all about the local you see, something that the fine @janeinlondon / E Hants, Jack the Lad Hopkins and Councillor Brown, the lone LibDem, know all about.

Whereas @cllrstevereed is keen to try and force a split in the wards where his Nu Labour machine doesn’t have complete control, the local councillors themselves are simply going about their ward business and working together.

We have the very real threat here in the Oval of opportunists from outside of the borough creating a social nuisance with the proposed bonkers 5am alcohol and live music license for Kelly’s pub along the Claph’ham Road.

The response from the fine @janeinlondon / E Hants has to be rally locals (and LibDems) together, so that the community can resolve the issue collectively. It is this type of co-operation that will succeed, and not some crazy rant trying to bring disharmony within the borough.

Politics will be put aside this weekend as Labour and LibDem councillors will be working alongside locals to build resistance against the license. @cllrstevereed is more than welcome to join us to see how localism can truly work when you put aside your political neuroses.

“There is a real chance their Faustian pact could see the party splinter as the realities of power expose fissures in a party built on the easy opportunism of opposition rather than the realities of taking and defending decisions.”

Having taken ten minutes to digest this text book Nu Labour speak, I’m still not sure if our council leader is talking about his personal pet hate subject, or possibly even looking a little closer to home within his own ranks.

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