CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
Back to Lambeth in the good old days (was searching for Lambeth's corruption Tsar - who has disappeared from history apparently)
Lambeth Council Watch - news and updates about the 'co-operative' council
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CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
Some context might help here.
As I understand it Charlie Fairbank - the (former) councillor named in the early day motion was a left-wing Labour member for Angell Ward.
Charlie lived as a long-term council tenant in a block on the old Loughborough Estate.
Unfortunately for him, his father died up north in Yorkshire, and Charlie inherited the family home in northern England.
This put him in breach of social housing rules - you can't own a house and be a council tenant.
Look at the tit for tat here in this early day motion - just before the council elections.
Charlie lost his job - the only Labour MP prepared to stand up for him being Margaret Hodge.
Compare that to Angela Rayner who had two homes - one of them bought under right to buy - and whose transgressions are now excused by the Statute of Limitations.
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
That's ridiculous. Imagine you'd been a Lambeth Council tenant for 10 or 20 years, and you inherit your father's £10,000 house in Huddersfield or wherever (in 1996) - so you get kicked out of the Labour party, and prosecuted for fraud because you are a council tenant.
Then consider Angela Rayner who made a nice turn buying her council house, moving in with her husband and claiming still to live in her RTB council house. So she then makes her capital gain free of tax out of Right to Buy meanwhile claiming to be a poor working class waif with her Manc accent.
These Labour people are chronically dubious. I don't share former Cllr Charlie Fairbanks politics - but I knew him a bit - I had to sit next to him for 4 years in the Lambeth Council chamber. He was definitely Mr Spiky - but he was also unfairly treated - compared to Angela Rayner, who suffered trial by Daily Mail, but got off with ripping off the public purse - with the support of Keir Starmer, Mr Rectitude who sent political opponents to prison for a speeding offence.
felonius monk
Well-Known Member
"a speeding offence"- If you mean the Chris Huhne/Vicky Pryce case, it was for perverting the course of justice for which both were found guilty in 2012. Starmer was head of the CPS at that point but would have had no say in the original speeding offence in 2003. It was the Daily Mail that tipped off the CPS about Vicky Pryce who had tried to anonymously alert the CPS to the original attempt to hide who was driving (she was separated from Huhne by then). In the Rayner case HMRC haven't pursued a prosecution and the police only got involved because of local Tory MPs putting pressure on. It does, of course, seem unreasonable to turf someone out of a council house due to inheriting a house in another part of the country.
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
Thanks for taking my point.
On Huhne I hadn't remembered it was a 2003 offense - in which case how come THIS was not covered by the statute of limitations?
Chris Huhne: timeline of denials
The Lib Dem MP has repeatedly denied allegations about passing on speeding points
The amount of prison time and financial penalties for Chris Huhne, his then wife and the judge is amazing - compared to Scot-free Rayner.
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
No - she needed to have a "second home" for this reason
You are able to sell your home at any time, but if you sell your home within the first five years, the landlord has the right to ask for repayment of all or part of the discount. After five years, you can sell the property without repaying any of the discount you received. The amount you pay back also depends on the value of your home when you sell it.
| If you sell within: | Proportion to be repaid: |
|---|---|
| The first year of purchase | The whole discount will have to be repaid. |
| Second year | Four fifths must be repaid |
| Third year | Three fifths |
| Fourth year | Two fifths |
| Fifth year | One fifth |
AND
she had to pretend to live there to avoid capital gains tax.
Nothing to see here!
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
If tax dodging was illegal they'd close the Isle of Man. Monaco, Turk & Caicos &c.
It's just ultra cynical on the part of a supposed old Labour politician there to keep Starmer in check - and surprising you think its OK.
As for Lord Ashcroft - he has hundreds of Victoria Crosses on show on the top floor of the Imperial War Museum, and one of his companies (at the moment) owns the freehold of the Crown and Sceptre as a meanwhile operation.
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
My enemy's enemy is my friend?
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
What has Lord Ashcroft got to do with profiting from Thatcher's right to buy policy?
If you read his Wikipedia entry he is a sort of asset stripping spiv, along the lines of Slater Walker.
I believe you may find he was also first in with local authority privatisation - didn't Wandsworth get Pritchards to empty their bins 40 years ago?
To be clear - I am simply complaining about a cynical Labour politician realising their financial asset - to wit a council tenancy - turning it into a delayed wedding gift (from the council).
When for years they have (quite rightly in my view) complained that Right to Buy has decimated public housing.
Not that she's alone - I have noted at least one Lambeth Labour councillor said (on here) to have been in a similar position - although in their case it was said they bought their property from Lambeth under right to buy and then rented it out.
In my opinion this is even worse morally - though quite likely more common that what Angela Rayner did.
In an age where pensioners get sent to prison for not having TV license I'm surprised you consider Right to Buy abuse "trivial".
GarveyLives
Well-Known Member
Residents on Tulse Hill Estate in the heart of Tulse Hill continue to demand action from their Lambeth Council slum landlord:
The rundown South London estate where residents say mould is so bad 'kids have to sleep in living room'
(Source: High Trees)
Residents of Tulse Hill Estate protested about conditions in their homes outside Lambeth Town Hall in May.
Lambeth Council didn't listen to them.
urbanspaceman
Well-Known Member
I thought people might be interested in this brutal and detailed takedown of Lambeth Council by the Times, which has taken its paywall down for the weekend.
Rushy
basically a scrotum
Thanks for that.
Nice one Jason!
This from the people's audit summed it up for me:
"Part of the problem is they’ve been doing things wrong for so long, they don’t really know what right looks like."
Tricky Skills
Well-Known Member
It was a frustrating conversation with the journo. It was clear from the start that he wanted to frame Lambeth's poor performance on "wasting millions" on active travel policies. I explained that this is one of the few success stories. I encouraged him to look instead at housing.
"So do you think Lambeth will go bankrupt because of LTNs?" etc
"So do you think Lambeth will go bankrupt because of LTNs?" etc
Rushy
basically a scrotum
Agree. It's a shame that's the angle.It was a frustrating conversation with the journo. It was clear from the start that he wanted to frame Lambeth's poor performance on "wasting millions" on active travel policies. I explained that this is one of the few success stories. I encouraged him to look instead at housing.
"So do you think Lambeth will go bankrupt because of LTNs?" etc
Gramsci
Well-Known Member
I thought active travel policies received funding from TFL
Googling found this for example
www.lambeth.gov.uk
Googling found this for example
Low Traffic Neighbourhood Plan (Appendix B)
www.lambeth.gov.uk
Gramsci
Well-Known Member
On climate emergency. In the Rec still waiting for the new heating system we were promised ages ago.
It appears getting improved green technology for such things as heating require Council getting outside grants to part pay for these things.
I do wonder exactly how Lambeth will get its climate aims done in time
It appears getting improved green technology for such things as heating require Council getting outside grants to part pay for these things.
I do wonder exactly how Lambeth will get its climate aims done in time
Gramsci
Well-Known Member
It was a frustrating conversation with the journo. It was clear from the start that he wanted to frame Lambeth's poor performance on "wasting millions" on active travel policies. I explained that this is one of the few success stories. I encouraged him to look instead at housing.
"So do you think Lambeth will go bankrupt because of LTNs?" etc
Its the narrative that has been pushed by the hard line opposers to any traffic measures.
I do think Lambeth should be more transparent about where money for some of these projects come from.
Its not all money that adds to Council tax or is taken from other needed services.
Unfortunately Lambeth have this tendency to big up some things they do as though its all them. And its not. Funding comes from elsewhere.
This leads to impression they are wasting money.
LTNs as I've said before were brought in without proper consultation. Initially as emergency for pandemic.
I agree with you should have say looked at housing. Kerslake report for example is not mentioned. And it was a thorough independent report.
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
I would have thought a sports complex with swimming pool would be the ideal place to ugrade to state of the art heat exchange technology?
I'm sure it used to be said 60 years ago that the Southbank Centre was heated from the river Thames.
-----------------------------
Oh - indeed it was - but whoever owned the Royal Festival Hall at the time sold off the equipment when the Festival of Britain ended.
"Faragistas before their time"?
A water source heat pump was used to heat the building in the winter and cool the building in the summer.[20] Water was extracted from the River Thames below Hungerford Bridge using a centrifugal pump. Heat was extracted from the river water using a heat pump. The compressors were driven by two Rolls-Royce Merlin engines, adapted to run on town gas. It was highly successful, providing both heating and cooling for the Hall, but over-sized, and was sold off after the Festival of Britain.[21]
(Wiki)
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
I was talking to a resident of Belle Vue Gardens - social housing flats on the opposite side of Clapham Road to Stockwell tube station.
The person seemed to think plans were afoot to demolish and redevelop.
Anyone heard about this?
I used to work at Dolby Laboratories on the station side (346) in 1979 - and this terrace was a bit run down then - see Lambeth archives picture
More recently it's looked quite smart, and apparently managed by Hyde Housing.
Here is a 2005 Lambeth image
Surely not another Cressingham Gardens?
The person seemed to think plans were afoot to demolish and redevelop.
Anyone heard about this?
I used to work at Dolby Laboratories on the station side (346) in 1979 - and this terrace was a bit run down then - see Lambeth archives picture
More recently it's looked quite smart, and apparently managed by Hyde Housing.
Here is a 2005 Lambeth image
Surely not another Cressingham Gardens?
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
Here is Hyde Housing:
"Our priority is that our customers live in a high quality home that's safe, decent and energy efficient. Based on both residents’ and our maintenance team’s feedback, we don’t believe Bellevue Gardens provides this in its current condition. Unfortunately, residents are currently suffering with issues around damp, the condition of the communal areas, windows, the cost to heat their homes, security issues and the layouts of some of the homes."
see here: Bellevue Mansions, Clapham Road
wemakeyousoundb
hopefully not gimboid
I have a couple of friend swho used to live there I could try and ask, one a tenant the other a leaseholer IIRC.
