Councillor Brian Haley, one of the country’s most senior black Labour councillors, resigned from the Labour party today and joined the Liberal Democrats. He had been a Labour member for 16 years. His move comes after Haringey was rated one of the worst councils in the country.
This brings the number of Liberal Democrat Councillors in Haringey to 26 – well on course to take control of the council in May – while Labour now have 30.
Councillor Brian Haley, of St Ann’s Ward said:
Over the last few months it has become ever clearer that Labour has absolutely no vision to lift Haringey out of its current mess.
It is for this reason I have taken the difficult decision to leave Labour and join the only party that has the ideas and ability to turn things around.
The Liberal Democrats in Haringey are the only party with the drive and determination to provide local residents with the quality of service they deserve.
I would urge anyone wavering in their support for Labour to join me and back the Liberal Democrats which offers positive local change.
The leader of Haringey Liberal Democrats, Robert Gorrie, said:
I’m delighted that Brian has decided to support the Liberal Democrats to bring real change and a fresh start to Haringey after 40 years of Labour control.
He will be a welcome addition to our local party.
Lynne Featherstone, Liberal Democrat MP for Hornsey and Wood Green said:
It is a damning indictment that someone at the heart of Labour for so long has lost confidence in Labour’s ability to solve Haringey’s many problems.
See here for the full organisational assessment of Haringey Borough Council, published in December 2009, but here’s just one example of the Labour council’s serious failings:
Children’s services in Haringey perform poorly. There are significant weaknesses in areas of social care provision. Services to safeguard children are inadequate. There has been limited progress in addressing these weaknesses and the ability to improve children’s safeguarding services within the Council and across partners is limited overall. More needs to be done to improve the health of children.
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5 Comments
This is a real coup for Haringey Lib Dems and the wider party. I worked with Brian Haley on the North London Waste Authority and London Councils, on issues like extending recycling and protecting the Freedom Pass. There are always some people in other parties you like and respect, and Brian is one of those. He will be most welcome in the Liberal Democrats.
Hold on: a month ago he was “unacceptable”, “sexist” and had a poor little jelly-trifle of a LibDem councillor in tears. Six months ago he was being held responsible for some the CPZ cock-ups.
Labour deselected him (on good grounds). The Tories, apparently, weren’t too keen to give him a home. Yet: “He will be most welcome in the Liberal Democrats.” Hmm: a wee tweet tells me not all Haringey LibDem councillors feel that way.
“He had been a Labour member for 16 years. His move comes after Haringey was rated one of the worst councils in the country.”
I’m not sure you quite meant that the way I read it!
Aphrodite Kallipygos
But you must know that the donning of an orange rosette is enough to transform the devil incarnate into an angel of light – at least as far as the political tribalists are concerned, though the general public may have a bit more savvy than they’re usually credited with …
As a Haringey Lib Dem councillor, I am happy to welcome Brian to the party. Defections are always going to happen from time to time – and while it’s easy to pick out past disagreements or criticism (from either side), it’s better to look at the future. I’ve blogged about Brian’s move here: http://mattdaviesharingey.blogspot.com/2010/01/defection-haringey-labour-carelessly.html