Camberwell Green Labour Councillor John Friary has surprised many of his colleagues, and with what appears to be an outspoken attack on the Labour government.
"More possible bad news on the horizon as I recieved a letter with proposals to close the Job Centre in Camberwell! I will of course object but I really put the blame squarely at the feet of this disgraceful administration who have made it clear that they want to strip out Camberwell"
I sincerely doubt that the Government or any other authority wishes to do anything of the kind with Camberwell or any other community, however as Councillor Friary is well aware, Job Centre Plus are run by the Department for Work and Pensions, so what else could he mean?
Monday, March 17, 2008
Labour Councillor slams own government as 'disgraceful'
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5 comments:
Andy,
It simply isn't fair to 'pick on' Cllr Friary - he is still reeling from having to withdraw his piece about all the voters in Riverside ward being racists, because they didn't elect the zany marxist millionaire. Cllr Friary obviously has time on his hands, as he makes his way along the esteemed corridors of the University of Brick Lane, wielding his Safety Clipboard, checking the fire extinguishers and exit signs are all in place. That's not when he is taking time off his 'job' to 'work' for the local branch of the trade union, making sure his brothers and sisters are not exploited by the unacceptable face of er... secondary education, or taking facility time from his 'job' to deliver leaflets (?) for Labour covergirl Vile Shawcross.
Still reeling from having to apply for retrospective planning permission for his gut, he is coy about his arse having it's own postcode.
Let's be fair Andy, anyone who has time to calculate their name in binary can't be taken serious at work, nor can be the full ticket, especially if they are proud enough to publish it on their blog!
Shame on you for allowing your blog to purposely misrepresent one of Labour Southwark's crack troops.
Anon.
Incidently, what is your star sign/power animal?
i was some what suprised by his comment also, esspecially when the DWP have a closer list, no unlike the post offices across London.. wen are you going to start on the two hypercrite MP's hardperson and jowelliwantaseatolypicks
great result in vassal ward lambeth
the wider issue is the decline of Camberwell
I have to say I blame the Tory-Liberal Democrat council in Southwark for the general poor state of Camberwell - they just dont seem to care.
Maybe it is because there is little chance of them being elected in Camberwell and so they dump all their problems on it.
I know that job centres are central government but the local government should be putting strategies in place to facilitate job creation in this part of the borough which is sandwiched between Elephant/ Walworth which is to receive huge amounts of regeneration money and Peckham which is also undergoing regeneration. Southwarks response to Camberwell is to shut down their offices, moving them to SE1 which will lead to further decline in the area.
Andy,
Thanks for the mention!
I am especially interested in the "unhinged" Anon who seems to be stalking me!!!
Good to see the calibre of people the Lib Dems are attracting!!
Anyway what exactly is this Lib Dem administartion doing for camberwell apart from close everything down and exactly what message is that sending out pray tell?
As a Bermondsey party member, as opposed to a member of the Council Administration, I'm afraid I've not seen what the Camberwell and Peckham Liberal Democrats have been putting on their leaflets.
I would assume though that given most of the Borough's major regeneration schemes are happening in Camberwell or nearby for the next ten years that this would have some significant benefit for the area... alongside the day to day improvements in Council services that, political crap aside, is evident by continued improvements in the resident satisfaction ratings (MORI) and good service ratings by the Audit Commission.
I am though slightly puzzled as to why it is the strategy of the Camberwell and Peckham Labour party to bad mouth and run down the area where most services and infrastructure, not to mention general accountability for economic well-being and growth, are the primary responsibility of a Labour MP, Labour GLA member, Labour London Mayor, and Labour government.
Further, and correct me if I'm wrong but haven't Camberwell house prices been rocketing up in recent years along with the rest of Southwark. South Camberwell prices are very similar to Rotherhithe, whilst the north is similar to Walworth and South Bermondsey. That wouldn't tend to happen in an area in serious decline, more one with challenges on how to sustain improvement in an economic downturn. But those problems are Southwark/London/UK-wide not special to Camberwell.
Where I would agree with you is that the Liberal Democrats could always do more to counter your party's strange attack messages.
Although this latest attempt at building an embittered sense of Camberwell-exceptionalism should probably be left alone - it simply highlights how little interest your local party has in the other parts of the Borough, and that there is a strong risk that a Labour administration would attempt to concentrate public money in one area, regardless of need, or any credible strategy of building a self-sustaining local economy.
My own view is that the best thing that could be done to further improve the middle of the Borough is better transport links that will encourage business, jobs and sustainable development. For that to happen though requires a lot of investment from central government and London, and the co-operation of the Council to consult and work with residents and businesses on the ground. It also requires a spirit of optimism and ruthless focus on attracting people to your area by local leaders.
I think in that regard John, you need to ask yourself whether you're actually helping Camberwell with all this self-serving doom and gloom...
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