Labour's 'Chucklehead Month' As It All Begins To Unravel
Our new masters are experiencing a 'Chucklehead month' as their 'Brave New World' begins to unravel in Lambeth and beyond our boundaries at the House of Commons. To parody Lord Reith - "they know what Lambeth people want and they're damn well not going to get it."
Our good citizens were treated to two days of free entertainment at the Lambeth Country Show where many queued for hours to buy huge quantities of Chucklehead cider in the exotic foods tent. That may be the only source of council-organised goodies for a while.
Meanwhile, in the Mayor's tent Labour bosses quaffed cases of wine and other beverages paid for by their cleaning contractor Cleanaway, whose contract is up for renewal in the autumn. While the party went on into the dusk, our library users were waking up to the fact that the new books fund had been reduced by GB pounds 160,000.
What interested New Labour bosses gathered in the Mayor's tent, however, is the triple prospect of a contest to succeed the MP for Streatham at the next election as well as possible challenges to the other two Lambeth MPs who include the Camden-based Cabinet Culture Secretary and the maverick pro-hunting MP for Vauxhall. The latter congratulates herself on having a good relationship with her local party, because she votes against the government so often. Last word on that story was the quote from Vauxhall Conservative Association Chairman Stuart Barr - "if Labour won't have her, we certainly will."
In the meantime, citizens of West Norwood have been punished by Labour's first 'big porkie'. When the Environment Cabinet Member responded in Full Council to our Councillors' questions about when a play area would open for the summer, she replied with real brass neck, "next week". After the week had expired with no play area, our Councillors were told: "I share the frustration and disappointment that the games are will not be ready for the summer holiday as promised."
August is traditionally the time when our Council officers take their holidays in Umbria or Portugal, while our citizens face the same old unacceptable levels of service. Our new Chief Executive has, since arriving in March, uncovered some good examples of poor service (as well as islands of good service) especially at our sports halls. Another contract is up for renewal there in the autumn and we await with interest what our new masters will do.
One or two of our well-paid officers enjoy nothing more than starting a legal action for unfair dismissal when they have left for better paid jobs or after being invited to fall on their swords. The common denominator is that all these actions stem from employees working for failing services where our citizens rightly complain about poor practice.
Privatisation is very much on Labour's agenda, especially for our 33,000 tenants who are to be exported to an Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO). Out of sight - out of mind is the Labour priority while they prepare our citizens for their next big project - upping their members' allowances at the next Council meeting in November. The initial document on the proposed changes show the Leader potentially going up from GB pounds 25k to GB pounds 51k.
It was indeed a Chucklehead month, but our citizens are unlikely to have the last laugh as services stagnate and dissatisfaction rises about Labour's broken promises. They are hoping to combat this by bringing in highly paid spin doctors to take over the press office - watch this blog for the details.
Cassandra
Our good citizens were treated to two days of free entertainment at the Lambeth Country Show where many queued for hours to buy huge quantities of Chucklehead cider in the exotic foods tent. That may be the only source of council-organised goodies for a while.
Meanwhile, in the Mayor's tent Labour bosses quaffed cases of wine and other beverages paid for by their cleaning contractor Cleanaway, whose contract is up for renewal in the autumn. While the party went on into the dusk, our library users were waking up to the fact that the new books fund had been reduced by GB pounds 160,000.
What interested New Labour bosses gathered in the Mayor's tent, however, is the triple prospect of a contest to succeed the MP for Streatham at the next election as well as possible challenges to the other two Lambeth MPs who include the Camden-based Cabinet Culture Secretary and the maverick pro-hunting MP for Vauxhall. The latter congratulates herself on having a good relationship with her local party, because she votes against the government so often. Last word on that story was the quote from Vauxhall Conservative Association Chairman Stuart Barr - "if Labour won't have her, we certainly will."
In the meantime, citizens of West Norwood have been punished by Labour's first 'big porkie'. When the Environment Cabinet Member responded in Full Council to our Councillors' questions about when a play area would open for the summer, she replied with real brass neck, "next week". After the week had expired with no play area, our Councillors were told: "I share the frustration and disappointment that the games are will not be ready for the summer holiday as promised."
August is traditionally the time when our Council officers take their holidays in Umbria or Portugal, while our citizens face the same old unacceptable levels of service. Our new Chief Executive has, since arriving in March, uncovered some good examples of poor service (as well as islands of good service) especially at our sports halls. Another contract is up for renewal there in the autumn and we await with interest what our new masters will do.
One or two of our well-paid officers enjoy nothing more than starting a legal action for unfair dismissal when they have left for better paid jobs or after being invited to fall on their swords. The common denominator is that all these actions stem from employees working for failing services where our citizens rightly complain about poor practice.
Privatisation is very much on Labour's agenda, especially for our 33,000 tenants who are to be exported to an Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO). Out of sight - out of mind is the Labour priority while they prepare our citizens for their next big project - upping their members' allowances at the next Council meeting in November. The initial document on the proposed changes show the Leader potentially going up from GB pounds 25k to GB pounds 51k.
It was indeed a Chucklehead month, but our citizens are unlikely to have the last laugh as services stagnate and dissatisfaction rises about Labour's broken promises. They are hoping to combat this by bringing in highly paid spin doctors to take over the press office - watch this blog for the details.
Cassandra
Labels: ALMO, Kate Hoey, Keith Hill, Labour Lambeth, Lambeth Country Show, Libraries, Porkies, Tessa Jowell
posted by Cllr John Whelan on Sunday, July 30, 2006
