Lambeth Council Watch - news and updates about the 'co-operative' council

[Gramsci]

Interesting read from ultra Blairite bottom licker Jimbo Dickson.



And here was me thinking the campaign was about presenting their ideas to residents about how they could improve their neighbourhoods and lives

Interesting read from Cllr Dickson.

I do have some time for him. He is , as this article shows, one of the leading lights of the Labour Group. Not a leader. He has been that but nowsomeone in the background of the New Labour local Cllr faction who is an ideologue. Which is in my books not an insult. Unlike some of the Cllrs he has a brain. It always surprises me the low intellectual calibre of some Cllrs. They get by due to 110% loyalty to the leadership.

I deal with him sometimes. Always found hime civil. He knows what Im like and unlike and does not have a go at me. He is someone who I could have a pint with.

He got a fright when almost losing his seat to Greens over libraries.

On his article.

Correct he see Greens as where pissed off socially liberal Green voters go. Bit irritated he talks about liberal home owners. As though working class cannot be "socially liberal"

As a Blairite perhaps he sees the old Blairite contempt for Guardian reading socially liberal anti Iraq war people as now a mistake.

Recent discussion where I said something about Council housing and too my surprise he agreed. Said he had been at recent he meeting attended by Lisa Nandy MP and she said future Labour government should be pushing Council housing.

So what Im saying is that Cllr Dickson is pushing New Labour mark 2.

They realise they need to get the socially liberal progressives and working class in social housing onside. So less of the adulation of the being "relaxed" about the super rich. Less of contempt for Labour core vote. Which those of us old enough to remember was one of cornerstones of Blairite Labour. Vying with Tories on how patriotic they were and how hard on law and order.

What I find annoying is that the right of the Labour party are taking on board some of the things Corbyn led party were trying to put forward whilst expelling them from party.

Council housing and Green issues were both things Corbyn led party pushed Labour back to the left to do. Green New Deal was left idea.

In USA the Democrat leadership under Biden have not , once they won leadership, set about expelling the left of party.

Its a big difference. Sanders is still treated with respect in US. Corbyn has been cast out completely. The message being from present leadership is anyone who supported any of Corbyn era policies is not welcome.



I could go on.

 

[CH1]

Interesting read from Cllr Dickson.

I do have some time for him. He is , as this article shows, one of the leading lights of the Labour Group. Not a leader. He has been that but nowsomeone in the background of the New Labour local Cllr faction who is an ideologue. Which is in my books not an insult. Unlike some of the Cllrs he has a brain. It always surprises me the low intellectual calibre of some Cllrs. They get by due to 110% loyalty to the leadership.

I deal with him sometimes. Always found hime civil. He knows what Im like and unlike and does not have a go at me. He is someone who I could have a pint with.

He got a fright when almost losing his seat to Greens over libraries.

On his article.

Correct he see Greens as where pissed off socially liberal Green voters go. Bit irritated he talks about liberal home owners. As though working class cannot be "socially liberal"

As a Blairite perhaps he sees the old Blairite contempt for Guardian reading socially liberal anti Iraq war people as now a mistake.

Recent discussion where I said something about Council housing and too my surprise he agreed. Said he had been at recent he meeting attended led Lisa Nandy MP and she said future Labour government should be pushing Council housing.

So what Im saying is that Cllr Dickson is pushing New Labour mark 2.

They realise they need to get the socially liberal progressives and working class in social housing onside. So less of the adulation of the being "relaxed" about the super rich. Less of contempt for Labour core vote. Which those of us old enough to remember was one of cornerstones of Blairite Labour. Vying with Tories on how patriotic they were and how hard on law and order.

What I find annoying is that the right of the Labour party are taking on board some of the things Corbyn led party were trying to put forward whilst expelling them from party.

Council housing and Green issues were both things Corbyn led party pushed Labour back to the left to do. Green New Deal was left idea.

In USA the Democrat leadership under Biden have not , once they won leadership, set about expelling the left of party.

Its a big difference. Sanders is still treated with respect in US. Corbyn has been cast out completely. The message being from present leadership anyone who supported any of Corbyn era policies is not welcome.



I could go on.

Jim Dickson is well intentioned as a person, but surely the blow-back on him was because of his association with the PR industry at the time of the surge in "development" - particularly involving replacing council estates (Aylesbury/Myatts Fields etc in both Lambeth and Southwark) with private, shared ownership and "affordable" housing.
Admittedly social and ethnic cleansing is a national Blairite policy happily taken up by Boris Johnson in London and the Tories at local authority level.
I think if Jim Dickson - and Labour - are to be taken seriously on social measures they need to come up with a coherent housing policy.

 

[Gramsci]

Jim Dickson is well intentioned as a person, but surely the blow-back on him was because of his association with the PR industry at the time of the surge in "development" - particularly involving replacing council estates (Aylesbury/Myatts Fields etc in both Lambeth and Southwark) with private, shared ownership and "affordable" housing.
Admittedly social and ethnic cleansing is a national Blairite policy happily taken up by Boris Johnson in London and the Tories at local authority level.
I think if Jim Dickson - and Labour - are to be taken seriously on social measures they need to come up with a coherent housing policy.

If I remember correctly it was the library issue that almost did it for Cllr Dickson in Herne Hill. Libraries are one of the totems of the middle class liberals who used to be Labour supporters but change to Green. As Dickson found to his cost:

values-based messaging is critical. A big part of the Green vote is made up of socially liberal homeowners who might otherwise support Labour.

He does not mention the Kerslake report which was damning on how it consults its working class core vote on the Council estates. Despite the good work done by the Greens over supporting those on estates opposing New Labour "regeneration" it did not translate into Cllrs. So unfortunately Cllr Dickson has a point.

In inner London unlike the Red Wall the working class will not vote UKIP or defect to the Tories. As they are socially liberal on things like immigration etc. So New Labour lot can still ignore them.

I do not think green issues are at the forefront of the working class main concerns. They come second. Cost of living is big issue. As is cost of renting. The green policies that Cllr Dickson lists did not go down well in LJ. Planting trees does not do much for reducing inequality when the Council have hiked up your rent big time ( see thread here on this), Find it comic to be told that trees are way to reduce inequality.

Also costs of service like Leisure centres. Recently brought back inhouse by Lambeth. Many want to exercise more but are put off by the cost. As one person said to me prices are going up but my wages are not keeping pace. New Labour need to be careful about this. Whilst Leisure centres are not statutory service many people believe they are. Especially now that Labour have made a big thing about bringing it back in house. If New Labour want to do something about health in equalities they can reduce prices or keep them at same level. The average working person is struggling now.

So Im afraid it is back to they have no where else to go. If they get some help it is because the wooly Guardian readers in focus groups support it.

 

[Gramsci]

The one thing Cllr Dickson does not mention in his article is the the Greens got about 20% of the vote last Council elections but this did not translate into seats.

 

[CH1]

If I remember correctly it was the library issue that almost did it for Cllr Dickson in Herne Hill. Libraries are one of the totems of the middle class liberals who used to be Labour supporters but change to Green. As Dickson found to his cost:



He does not mention the Kerslake report which was damning on how it consults its working class core vote on the Council estates. Despite the good work done by the Greens over supporting those on estates opposing New Labour "regeneration" it did not translate into Cllrs. So unfortunately Cllr Dickson has a point.

In inner London unlike the Red Wall the working class will not vote UKIP or defect to the Tories. As they are socially liberal on things like immigration etc. So New Labour lot can still ignore them.

I do not think green issues are at the forefront of the working class main concerns. They come second. Cost of living is big issue. As is cost of renting. The green policies that Cllr Dickson lists did not go down well in LJ. Planting trees does not do much for reducing inequality when the Council have hiked up your rent big time ( see thread here on this), Find it comic to be told that trees are way to reduce inequality.

Also costs of service like Leisure centres. Recently brought back inhouse by Lambeth. Many want to exercise more but are put off by the cost. As one person said to me prices are going up but my wages are not keeping pace. New Labour need to be careful about this. Whilst Leisure centres are not statutory service many people believe they are. Especially now that Labour have made a big thing about bringing it back in house. If New Labour want to do something about health in equalities they can reduce prices or keep them at same level. The average working person is struggling now.

So Im afraid it is back to they have no where else to go. If they get some help it is because the wooly Guardian readers in focus groups support it.

I guess if "one" is to a degree "lumpen" - ie an all appropriate benefits etc rent hikes may not be an issue.
Do you think now the housing benefit safety net means people moaning about housing costs are actually more the "squeezed middle"?

 

[Casaubon]

Let's never forget that when Dickson was leader of the council he spent a lot of effort, and hundreds of thousands of pounds of our money, on destroying the long-standing communities of Rushcroft Rd and Clifton Mansions.

As I've said here before, I wouldn't cross the road to piss in his mouth if his teeth were on fire.

 

[Gramsci]

I guess if "one" is to a degree "lumpen" - ie an all appropriate benefits etc rent hikes may not be an issue.
Do you think now the housing benefit safety net means people moaning about housing costs are actually more the "squeezed middle"?

Benefits do not include the service charges on heating.

So the big increase in heating service charges affects all in Council owned property.

 

[BusLanes]

Presumably someone just asked him to knock out an article after they saw the results and this is what he came up with. He's probably been invited to go speak at Labour meetings in Islington or Brighton too.

My version of the same article would be shorter: Labour seemed more organised / focused and the Greens less so in 2022 compared to 2018. The Greens being a very small local party, compared to Lambeth Labour, have to get it right almost every time and Labour doesn't. Well, so long as Labour is getting over half the vote.

 

[Tricky Skills]

I'd love it if a future Labour government relied on Green support to form a majority.

Or even better - if a future Labour government relied on an independent Jeremy Corbyn to form a majority.

 

[Gramsci]

The "social values" line that Cllr Dickson goes on about in his article is connected to the latest thinking in New Labour aka Progressive Britain.

New New Labour? Values-based Social Democracy - Progressive Britain

Social democratic parties are having an electoral resurgence, but need to embrace core values to sustain this revival

www.progressivebritain.org

What this article says is the the old Third Way politics of Blair years was "technocratic" and did not appeal to people who were more engaged by emotive social values. Hence these people started to drift to supporting "populists". I take it he means so called populists of left or right.

So a new mark two New Labour must put social ethical values at its core.

Now the problem I have with this is that , unlike the Oxford student who wrote this, I was around when Blair was first in power.

And they did "social values" big time. Had a go at single parents and "tough" on law and order under Blunkett. All to show they were supporting "values" not pandering to weak will Guardian reading Labour voters.

Same with Iraq war. Couched in terms of supporting our boys and moral case to replace dictator with democracy. Once weapons of mass destruction were not found.

The line from people like Brown is now that they wished their had been more planning for what happened after Saddam was defeated.

Anyone who did not support the war at the time was seen by New Labour as:

A) unpatriotic

B) lacked moral fibre when up against nasty dictators.

So basically what Im saying is that this Oxford student is talking bollox.

The original Third Way New Labour was full of itself when it came down to ethics and social value.

Now seeing this all over again with Starmer.

 

[CH1]

Sorry to digress but there there is Tweeting going on linking Steve Reed to the latest national Labour publicity campaign.
Not only that, according to Inside Croydon, the new Labour senior management is like the Croydon (and ex-Lambeth) mafia

Grey man’s appointment places Gray with Croydon clique

Political editor WALTER CRONXITE delves into the shadowy south London connections that Sue Gray will encounter when she starts work as the Labour leader’s Chief of Staff The grey man of Briti…

insidecroydon.com

This Guardian article Yvette Cooper was ‘not told’ about Labour’s Sunak attack ad in advance
quotes David Blunkett:
In a comment piece for the Daily Mail, he wrote: “Once you resort to personal abuse, you create the risk that Britain’s public discourse will degenerate even further – to the levels that we have seen recently in the US.
“When baseless allegations and spurious slurs replace fair and robust political debate, not only is the standing of our leaders undermined, the very foundations of our democracy are compromised.”

Personally I thought Starmer's priorities were exposed when he had Mrs and Mrs Huhne sent to prison for a year for speeding. Looks like Starmer, Reed, former Lambeth deputy leader Imogen Walker and right-wing strategy thug Morgan McSweeney (also ex Lambeth leaders office) have a cosy thing going on.

No wonder they are bringing in Sue Gray to get them out of hot water!

 

[felonius monk]

Sorry to digress but there there is Tweeting going on linking Steve Reed to the latest national Labour publicity campaign.
Not only that, according to Inside Croydon, the new Labour senior management is like the Croydon (and ex-Lambeth) mafia

Grey man’s appointment places Gray with Croydon clique

Political editor WALTER CRONXITE delves into the shadowy south London connections that Sue Gray will encounter when she starts work as the Labour leader’s Chief of Staff The grey man of Briti…

insidecroydon.com

This Guardian article Yvette Cooper was ‘not told’ about Labour’s Sunak attack ad in advance
quotes David Blunkett:
In a comment piece for the Daily Mail, he wrote: “Once you resort to personal abuse, you create the risk that Britain’s public discourse will degenerate even further – to the levels that we have seen recently in the US.
“When baseless allegations and spurious slurs replace fair and robust political debate, not only is the standing of our leaders undermined, the very foundations of our democracy are compromised.”

Personally I thought Starmer's priorities were exposed when he had Mrs and Mrs Huhne sent to prison for a year for speeding. Looks like Starmer, Reed, former Lambeth deputy leader Imogen Walker and right-wing strategy thug Morgan McSweeney (also ex Lambeth leaders office) have a cosy thing going on.

No wonder they are bringing in Sue Gray to get them out of hot water!

Chris Huhne and Vicky Pryce were jailed for perverting the course of justice, not speeding itself, for which Starmer can't really take the blame. Times journalist Isabel Oakeshott (of Matt Hancock Whatsapp fame) grassed up Vicky Pryce which no journalist should do.

 

[CH1]

Chris Huhne and Vicky Pryce were jailed for perverting the course of justice, not speeding itself, for which Starmer can't really take the blame. Times journalist Isabel Oakeshott (of Matt Hancock Whatsapp fame) grassed up Vicky Pryce which no journalist should do.

True - Isabel Oakshott grasses everyone up it seems. Jezebel to Richard Tice's Ahab!

 

[Tricky Skills]

Buzzed: No change to the Lambeth Cabinet as the Labour Administration sets out its priorities for the year ahead

"If you are a Labour Councillor without a title these days, then you must be worried"

 

[Tricky Skills]

Buzzed: Lambeth Children’s Services told they “require improvement” once again as Council consider response to Ofsted report

 

[Tricky Skills]

Buzzed: Lambeth Council announces modifications to School Street scheme to further improve safety for school children

 

[editor]

Latest: Lambeth council sponsors property developers’ jolly in Leeds

 

[GarveyLives]

 

[BusLanes]

What's that all about

 

[Tricky Skills]

Buzzed: Photofusion set to move into Brixton Rec as Lambeth Council cuts corners on funding for Station Road project

"The Brixton Rec Cultural Quarter project is continuing at a pace – despite a few snags in getting the scheme up and running. Photofusion is set to be one of the anchor tenants in the basement of the Rec. Meanwhile Lambeth is cutting a few corners when it comes to funding for the building works"

 

[Tricky Skills]

Buzzed: Lambeth invites internal departments to bid for £495k of funding to help the Council achieve Net Zero by 2030

"Brixton Buzz reported last year how Lambeth Council admitted that it is not on track to meet net zero by 2050 – let alone 2030. The March 2022 Cabinet meeting heard how it will cost “many billions of pounds” to reach this target"

 

[DaphneM]

Lambeth council tenants ‘in precarious position’ after 350% service charge rise

Price hikes of up to £300 a month for communal heating and hot water driven by rapid increase in energy costs

www.theguardian.com

 

[Tricky Skills]

Buzzed: Lambeth sets out plans to use central government money to help residents suffering with the cost of living crisis

 

[CH1]

Something odd at Lambeth's website: Team Lambeth Volunteer Fair
This volunteer fair event is in the Assembly Hall - but the map on the website seems to point to Battersea Arts Centre!

 

[Tricky Skills]

Buzzed: Lambeth Council appoints contractor to build green screens around local schools in the borough

 

[Rushy]

Buzzed: Lambeth Council appoints contractor to build green screens around local schools in the borough

The ones planted around St Judes are all dead!

 

[CH1]

Lambeth Archives are thrilled to be moving into their new home where Olive Morris House once stood (see Tweet below).
Meanwhile study this:

How many millions did Lambeth Council spend, starting in 2006 to create a Customer Service Centre in Olive Morris House - opening in 2014 - enter it for a New London Design Award competition in 2014 only to close it a couple of years later having done the deal with MUSE turn Olive Morris House into flats?

Lambeth Council and its property developer bed-fellows are only marginally more annoying than South London and Maudsely Hospital Foundation trust - who built a new psychiatric Hospital in Landor Road in 1995 only to declare it was no longer fit for purpose once they go into bed with THEIR property developers.

Never mind rentier capitalism like Jerry Knight - our own state institutions are pretty good at the demolition derby stakes!

 

[Tricky Skills]

Buzzed: Lambeth Officers recommend approval of Acre Lane redevelopment in Brixton – despite affordable housing offer falling short

"According to the planning officers’ recommendation, the application should be approved, despite the affordable housing offer falling short of exact compliance"

 

[Tricky Skills]

Buzzed: Lambeth Council Faces Housing Ombudsman Inspection Over Repeat Complaint Handling Issues "This marks the first time these powers have been used"

 

[Tricky Skills]

Buzzed: Brixton Hill Studios, housing repairs and toilets in public parks all feature in Questions to Cabinet Members at next Lambeth Full Council meeting