Thread by @Andrewwood17

How to divide a community using race, class & mis-information
A story about the immaturity of Tower Hamlets & why I got angry Wednesday night
Some people wanted to improve their local area in Spitalfields using a 2007 Act of Parliament introduced by a Labour government
1/25

What they were trying to do has the full support of people like Andrew Gwynne MP Labour Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
Very clear if you read his comments below that Labour fully support devolution & town councils in England
2/25

Hilary Benn MP, his predecessor in 2014 also promised to devolve more power to parishes & towns
You will find no evidence that Labour nationally do not support & encourage the devolution of power to local councils
Why is Tower Hamlets so different?
Immaturity?
3/25

Andrew Gwynne MP himself said "too many areas where local councils are viewed with suspicion" he was talking about Tower Hamlets

There are thousands of Labour Parish Councillors (although many parish Councillors like my uncle who do not represent political parties)
4/25

Some more evidence that Labour support local Councils (the blanket term for Parish, Community or Town Councils)
Have a look at Queens Park Community Council, the only local Council in London so far
Set up by local people as a response to austerity!
queensparkcommunitycouncil.gov.uk
5/25

"In total, there are some 10,000 parish councils in England, some 730 community and town councils in Wales, & some 1,200 active community councils in Scotland
Parish councils cover only some 30% of the population of England: historically they have not existed in urban areas"
6/25

I hope I have proved that Labour (+Lib Dems & Conservative) support principle of Town Councils
So what happened in TH?
Labour last October decided to split the community along class & race lines (this is an internal Labour document)
I added red box to highlight key comment
7/25

There is no evidence from elsewhere of parish councils splitting communities
They have limited powers (which is why Labour manifesto wanted to give them more power!)
We already have ward & local authority boundaries
How can local democracy bring harm to communities?
8/25

More evidence of dividing the community
Facebook post from Cllr Tarek Khan "people who have proposed this are the affluent people (white middle class)"
Inaccurate as he knows campaigners included BAME members, a teacher living in a housing association flat, none wealthy
9/25

This was a comment on WhatsApp when discussing the town council
From a white middle class Labour party member!
If these are comments they think were OK to put in the public domain on social media can you imagine what was said in private?
10/25

Every conversation by Labour on Town Council included words like Trump, EDL, BNP, far right
Trying to paint Town Council campaigners as fascists, dividing the community
Rushanara Ali MP joined in, this is what she said in May 2019 on the BBC

11/25

Cllr Bex White used the words "damaging impact on community cohesion...rise of far right...do not agree that comment racist" at full Council on the 17th July 2019
From 2 hrs 50 minutes in
towerhamlets.public-i.tv/core/portal/we…
But who is dividing the community? who is creating division?
12/25

Apparently none of this is racist, this is what John Biggs said
"I regret comments made by a couple of councillors but I wouldn't consider them to be racist in the way they have been labelled"
eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/news/politics/…
13/25

The only evidence that local Councils are divisive come from Labour in Tower Hamlets
They decided to divide the community along race and class lines last October
Then over & over again repeat as fact that this will divide communities
Labour chose to create that division
14/25

Original proposal was to call it Spitalfields Town Council, to differentiate it from Spitalfields & Banglatown ward
Some local people objected to the loss of the Banglatown name so in the middle of 1st consultation name was changed (& proposed area) in response to concerns
15/25

Quick reminder below of what local Councils are responsible for, these are really divisive powers?
Putting in new litter bins & street lights will divide community?
There are 12,000 local Councils in UK
Would Labour support nationally if so divisive?
localgov.co.uk/Parish-council…
16/25

Evidence of mis-information from Labour leaflet
"15% of developer money will be used to gentrify the area rather then for essential services"
This is inaccurate & misleading as regards how Community Infrastructure Levy CIL works
Note reference to dividing community again!
17/25

CIL can only be spent by the Council on infrastructure not essential services, see list below
If you have a Town Council 25% not 15% of CIL goes to the bank account of the Town Council not Tower Hamlets
This is one reason why the Council officers also dislike Town Council
18/25

This is why Mayor Biggs set up the Local Infrastructure Fund to reassure residents that CIL would be spent locally
Why did Labour leaflet not mention this?
Lack of knowledge?
He did it to try & discourage town councils by offering local people CIL!
19/25

More misinformation on Labour leaflet
"1 Could add £100's to household bills"
Average town council tax bill Band D £64.05 a year
Anti-campaigners & Will Tuckley CEO of Tower Hamlets Council emphasised cost of Council tax but TH has increased Council tax by 14% in 4 years!
20/25

Have a look again at Labour leaflet point 5
"Could let Independents & Conservatives in the back door"
This is why Labour last October chose to divide community, worried about other people getting elected as parish Councillors
Did not trust residents to vote correctly
21/25

Imagine you are a local resident, you do not know much about parish Councils but your local Councillors & MP tell you that this is divisive, that rich, white people are trying to divide you, that it will cost you £££

No surprise many local people objected, wouldn't you?
22/25

As a reminder here are 7 Nolan Principles as to how we as elected politicians should act in public life;

Selflessness
Integrity
Objectivity
Accountability
Openness
Honesty
Leadership

Do you think Labour in TH has followed Nolan principles on this?
23/25

They decided to divide community, to lie to them, to mislead them on Council policy
Other more mature local authorities like Birmingham & Westminster gave local residents the final choice via a referendum as to whether or not have a new parish Council
Both voted yes
24/25

For only the 2nd time in my life I got angry in a public meeting, see here
From 2 hrs 58 minutes
towerhamlets.public-i.tv/core/portal/we…
Town Councils not a perfect solution, they have issues not least that they do cost £ but a mature local authority would have handled this better
Not us
25/25

Of interest to you @CampaignTown @LoveWapping @RachaelBurford @ELAdvertiser