Friday 31 January 2014

The difficult questions for Barnet Labour at the Council elections

In May, we will see elections for Barnet Council. For the past 12 years, we've had a Conservative administration. The Barnet Eye has covered in depth many of the failings of this administration, but the important question is whether Barnet Labour would be any better? So the Barnet Eye has some questions that we'd like Barnet Labour to answer, because their position is less than clear.

1. Your Choice Barnet. The Labour Party representatives on the task and finish committee investigating the failure of this company concurred with their Tory counterparts, stating that there is no alternative to the outsourced model. This is a huge issue for many disabled people. Labour has to state what its plans for Your Choice Barnet are.

2. The Committee system. The Tory administration has recently voted for a return to the Committee system, abandoning the Cabinet system brought in by Labour/Lib Dems in 2001. We believe the Cabinet system is undemocratic and corrosive. Alison Moore, Labour Leader stated she prefers the Cabinet system. We believe this system is the reason for One Barnet. What is the official Labour Position.

3. One Barnet. Labour has not said what its plans are for this. Will they modify the agreement, try and scrap it or accept the status quo.

4. Parking. Cashless parking has been a nightmare for residents. Will Labour restore it?

5. NSL Parking contract. We have seen aggressive cash raising parking enforcement by NSL in Barnet, with ticketing being seen as a cash cow by the Council and NSL. What are Labours plans for this and the NSL contract.

6. Green Belt and Overdevelopment. Sadly Labour seems even worse than the Tories in this respect. The Brent Cross scheme and much other overdevelopment was originally instigated by the Labour party when in control. What is there official position on this?

We know from their record what the Tories will do. Now Labour must demonstrate that they will be different. We invite the Barnet Labour party to tell us their position on these issues.

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