Tonight at the end of the Labour group meeting to discuss the agenda for next Thursday's (19th January) Council meeting, Councillor Ian Driver resigned from the Labour group. It has been well known that there have been differences in opinion recently on some issues.
I am not going to be hypocritical and say that Ian should resign his seat after taking this course, but I am very disappointed that he has decided to walk away. All Labour Councillors were elected on the same manifesto last May and I hope that he considers this when making future decisions at Council. The phrase 'united we stand and divided we fall' comes to mind in this situation. Ian joined the Labour party and signed up to its values, but now by taking this action he has let down both the members of the Labour party who voted for him to be their candidate, and the members of the public that voted for him.
9 comments:
Will, having said you are not going to be hypocritical, it does creep in with references to letting down the Labour group. Not so long ago, several of your colleagues were congratulating John Worrow on walking away from the Conservative group and those that elected him.
My own view is, and always has been, that anyone who crosses the floor and basically renounces the manifesto on which they were elected, should seek the endorsement of the electorate.
Interesting times ahead, but let's hope the best interests of the people of Thanet prevail over individual agendas.
Poor Will I'm afraid that was a pretty poor attempt to avoid hypocrisy!Would you like to revisit your previous thread on theories of representative democracy now? Or does it just feel like a betrayal?!
I wouldn't use the word betrayal and I fully admit that there is some hypocrisy in my response to this.
My point in reference to not being hypocritical is that I am not going to ask Ian to resign because I believe that Councillors are elected to represent several different, and often competing, interests. The Conservatives previously stated that John Worrow should resign his seat with full knowledge that they would probably win the resulting by-election. Will they be saying that same thing now that it is in a rock solid Labour ward? Either way my position has stayed the same on this because I don't think that in either case the resigning Councillor should stand down.
Naturally I am disappointed about Ian's resignation, and also worried about how this affects our administration in Thanet - hence the reminder that Ian was elected on a manifesto. However we will continue to work with ALL other political groups at Thanet Council to provide some stability in these difficult times.
Please correct me if I'm wrong but I believe Councillor Driver,as with Councillor Worrow before him,stood for election under the general umbrella of political parties.
There are many apolitical issues in the area that they both felt so strongly about that they believed that given the contraints of a political party they were unable to serve the people who elected them with any integrity.
I am sure that both of them will continue to serve their constituents to the best of their ability be it inside or outside of any political group,surely at the end of the day this should be paramount.
The internal wranglings of TDC are of absolutely no interest to the electorate and the sooner all the would be politicians realise that and all work together for the good of the area the better.
They should therefore both have the courage of their convictions, let people know where they stand on these 'apolitical issues', stand as independents and let the voters decide. Simples.
I believe that all Councillors are working at Thanet Council in the best interests of the people and the area. We are not very good at getting our message across because more often than not the negative things we do get the headlines more than the positive things we do. That is the nature of politics today though.
However I am confident that the current set of Councillors can work together to deliver the best for Thanet.
What, like the Broadstairs Community Centre, where the new Labour administration road rough shod over the town council and the people of Broadstairs.
Don't think TDC can rely on too much support or goodwill from the Broadstairs direction after that kick in the teeth, whatever one councillor out of fifteen my say and think.
There does not seem to be much public outrage about the decision. In fact we had a stall in Broadstairs high street last Monday and we kept on having people coming up to us and telling us that we made the right decision in the end.
Also if you look at the Gazette from today there are plans to still invest money into a community centre in Broadstairs. The problem with the rejected scheme was that it built on public space and involved the cutting down of mature trees. We have a manifesto commitment to ensuring the retention of public space and so it was rejected. The same logic that was used with regard to Margate Football Club and its proposed development.
A stall in the High Street on one day getting signatures for Dreamland does not make you an expert on Broadstairs public opinion. Furthermore, you were with Jenny Matterface who would attract those she knows from the protest group.
Had you been standing with one of the high profile campaigners for the Community Centre, you would have had people coming up and telling them of their dismay at its cancellation. As a Broadstairs resident I am appalled at the way the TDC have ignored the wishes of the town. I am even more concerned when a Margate resident District Councillor says there does not seem to be much public outrage.
As for refurbishing the old park hut, that would seem like throwing good money after bad. Whatever you do it is still an old hut of limited life expectancy.
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