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Feb 7th 6pm - Demonstrate against the Lambeth council budget

Finally got round to uploading some of my photos of the night

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I head a rumour down t'pub that the councillor who voted/argued against the cuts is facing a disciplinary. Always nice when local politicians play at being grown ups :facepalm:
 
Tricky Skills said:
Confirmed. More over here.
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Here's the full letter:

As group secretary, it is with great regret that I submit this complaint against Councillor Kingsley Abrams who, by his conduct during the Cabinet meeting on 7th February breached Labour Party Rules and has brought the Party into disrepute.

During the meeting he showed himself to be disloyal, divisive and abusive to his fellow members.

Confidentiality of Labour Group breached
Chapter 13 Clause II 1.Bi on the conduct of Labour Group meetings reads that “the content of internal discussion is not for communication outside the party, and internal disputes that are aired in the public domain will be subject to disciplinary action”

By publically disclosing the manner in which members voted at the Labour Group meeting held on 17th January and repeatedly alleging (falsely) that at that meeting members had “cried for [their] allowance” Councillor Abrams breached the confidentiality rule.

Confidentiality is pivotal for the effective operation of Labour group. Councillor Abrams’ decision to publically reveal the actions of group now make it impossible for us to operate openly and unencumbered, knowing that what we discuss and how we vote might become public knowledge.

Intimidation of members
Under Clause II Ci “Harassment or intimidation of members for any reason……is unacceptable conduct and subject to disciplinary action”. Councillor Abrams’ behaviour in swearing at Councillor Donatus Anyawu (I am advised that he told Councillor Anyawu to “piss off”) and his physically antagonistic conduct towards Councillor Anyawu amounts to intimidation. As does his promise to make Florence Nosegbe’s life difficult.

Bringing the Party into disrepute
Clause 2Diii provides that….”Through their council duties and activities in the community, members of the Labour group should seek to promote the Labour Party policies,……and act in a way that does not bring the party into disrepute”. By publically:

• disassociating himself from the decisions of Labour group and calling on cabinet members to resign,
• instructing cabinet members to “get yourself real jobs”,
• singling out a particular cabinet member by promising to make her life difficult,
• telling one member to “piss of” and behaving in a physically threatening manner towards that member,
• revealing internal discussions of Labour group,
• calling a cabinet member a liar and
• heckling cabinet members as they spoke,

Councillor Abrams has brought the Labour Party into disrepute and has undermined the office of local councillor.

Having recently had the whip withdrawn and only rejoining group less than two months ago, I had hoped that Councillor Abrams, would in future, act in a measured and comradely fashion. Unfortunately his conduct at Monday’s meeting shows that he has no intention of abiding by the Party’s rules. I am of the opinion that his behaviour, being so excessive, cannot be overlooked. In the circumstances I am left with no option but to ask that this complaint is formally investigated and that the appropriate sanction (if any) imposed
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While I was signing the petition at the Tate Library, I asked one of the petitioners whether the protest was against job cuts or service cuts. She looked at me uncomprehendingly, so I tried to explain that while I wanted services to continue, the number of staff needed to provide those levels is a separate issue. Presumably Lambeth COuncil is capable of increasing productivity - doing more with less, as all organisations strive to do. I'm not really interested in signing a petition to protect the position of someone with far greater job security and contractual rights than I have myself. I asked her if she would sign a petition to have the State guarantee my job, but she clearly thought I was a nutcase.
 
A bumping of an old thread - Cllr Kingsley Abrams is now the Unite preferred candidate for Brent Central. I'm not sure of the exact circumstances, but Cllr Abrams isn't a Lambeth Labour candidate for Vassall ward in 2014.
 
Tricky Skills said:
A bumping of an old thread - Cllr Kingsley Abrams is now the Unite preferred candidate for Brent Central. I'm not sure of the exact circumstances, but Cllr Abrams isn't a Lambeth Labour candidate for Vassall ward in 2014.
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Basically Cllr Abrams is not the sort of person Lambeth Labour want in there local party. He is decent old school Labour party. Definitely not New Labour.

I thought they had let him back into the Labour Group. But no he is at moment independent Labour.
 
Gramsci said:
Basically Cllr Abrams is not the sort of person Lambeth Labour want in there local party. He is decent old school Labour party. Definitely not New Labour.

I thought they had let him back into the Labour Group. But no he is at moment independent Labour.
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Apparently he has now resigned as a councillor totally - he tweeted

Kingsley Abrams ‏@KingsleyAbrams 21h
With great sadness, I have resigned from Lambeth Council. I will concentrate on fighting the #ConDem #cuts from another direction.

I have a feeling the timing is significant as it now less than 6 months to the Lambeth elections in May and so they dont need to call a byelection for his seat
 
se5 said:
Apparently he has now resigned as a councillor totally - he tweeted

Kingsley Abrams ‏@KingsleyAbrams 21h
With great sadness, I have resigned from Lambeth Council. I will concentrate on fighting the #ConDem #cuts from another direction.

I have a feeling the timing is significant as it now less than 6 months to the Lambeth elections in May and so they dont need to call a byelection for his seat
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Kingsley is currently suspended from Lambeth Labour. I've lost track of how many times they've tried to kick him out now :(

He had to resign his Lambeth seat to make himself available for selection in Brent Central. Labour Party rules state that you can't put yourself forward if you are currently suspended.

So bizarrely he has un-suspended himself by resigning. The Right of the local party has taken control in Vassall. His days as a local Cllr were always going to be testing.

Any by-election will be interesting. A short campaign, ahead of the same again in six months.

Here's Kingsley's take on his first suspension back in 2010:
 
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Onket said:
I'd vote TUSC.
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Steve Nally's campaign in the 1992 by-election in Bishops Ward had massive poster support on the Ethelred Estate (then in Bishops ward). Sally Prentice got in for the Lib Dems, but Nally's posters were the best!
Labour was in melt-down at that time due to the on-going corruption scandal and the split between official Labour and unofficial Labour on the council. Suspended Labour councillors were represented on council committees from 1991-1994. Committees had to be politically balanced, so "Suspended Labour" became a de political group factor on Lambeth Council.
I guess in practice many True Labour supporters voted Nally in the 1991 by-election, letting Prentice in.
Hopefully the same will happen again now. Lambeth Co-op Labour have a dangerously complacent attitude IMHO. The cabinet system is more like an aristocracy than a democracy, however many consultants the council employ to engineer "consultations".
 
CH1 said:
Steve Nally's campaign in the 1992 by-election in Bishops Ward had massive poster support on the Ethelred Estate (then in Bishops ward). Sally Prentice got in for the Lib Dems, but Nally's posters were the best!
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Prentice? I thought she was Labour party loyalist. So she changed parties?
 
Gramsci said:
Prentice? I thought she was Labour party loyalist. So she changed parties?
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She did indeed. She is a Roger Liddle loyalist (???). Liddle was a Lib Dem councillor in Princes Ward who had been a founder member of the SDP. He resigned his Lambeth council seat around 1997 to go and work for Tony Blair's office. Sally did not seek re-election in 1998 as far as I recall, but re-emerged as a Labour candidate in 2002.
Trying to check up on this has revealed that there is a deficiency in information - up to 2002 Lambeth committee records are on not on the net. One day I may write a History of Lambeth Council in the Twentieth Century - or at least the interesting period from 1978 to 1998.
This is from the front page of Liberal Democrat News dated 2nd April 1993 after Sally Prentice was elected.
SallyP.jpg
 
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OBV dragged up Prentice's past allegiances in their piece on the controversy over the selection in Larkhall http://www.obv.org.uk/news-blogs/lambeth-labour-party-stop-witch-hunt-0

And Kingsley Abrams' resignation was all for nothing - apparently he didnt make the shortlist in Brent Central: http://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/dawn-butler-makes-labours-brent-central-2015-shortlist. Interestingly I came across this website http://www.se16.info/labour/kingsley.htm and http://www.se16.info/labour/kingsleyphoto.htm from when he was seeking election in Bermondsey presumably against Simon Hughes: the online memory lives on.
 
se5 said:
OBV dragged up Prentice's past allegiances in their piece on the controversy over the selection in Larkhall http://www.obv.org.uk/news-blogs/lambeth-labour-party-stop-witch-hunt-0

And Kingsley Abrams' resignation was all for nothing - apparently he didnt make the shortlist in Brent Central: http://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/dawn-butler-makes-labours-brent-central-2015-shortlist. Interestingly I came across this website http://www.se16.info/labour/kingsley.htm and http://www.se16.info/labour/kingsleyphoto.htm from when he was seeking election in Bermondsey presumably against Simon Hughes: the online memory lives on.
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Interesting to know if Kingsley has a job. If he does you could understand him not wanting to be a new Labour poseur. If not he must be a head-banger.
 
CH1 said:
Interesting to know if Kingsley has a job. If he does you could understand him not wanting to be a new Labour poseur. If not he must be a head-banger.
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I think he has a job doing community work in Lambeth.

I have heard him speak. He is Labour but not New Labour. He must be "head banger" after the way he has been treated by the rest of the Labour group. I have heard it was very nasty.
 
Gramsci said:
I think he has a job doing community work in Lambeth.
I have heard him speak. He is Labour but not New Labour. He must be "head banger" after the way he has been treated by the rest of the Labour group. I have heard it was very nasty.
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I want to clarify my point written in haste. I meant that if he didn't have a job he would be mad to resign - as a guaranteed £10,000 p.a. for the next 6 months whilst looking around would be preferable to dealing with JobCentre Plus as someone who had voluntarily left a job. Obviously if he does have a job being a back-bench councillor was just the icing on the cake, and maybe not worth the stress/and or effort.
 
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