Wednesday 5 September 2012

SOME SELDOM SEE AN OPPORTUNITY UNTIL IT HAS CEASED TO BE

If visits to this site and comments therein are anything to go by, then my last post seems to have awakened and stirred some interest in the internal disciplinary procedures of the Borough Council Labour Group. As well as the published comments I have also had a fair few people (including on the group!) who have approached me and said "it's about time something was said and something was done". I have also had opposition members crowing, but that was before I reminded them that I know just as much about thier misgivings and skeletons. The Labour Party in my opinion can only benefit in the long term from being open and upfront in dealing with its issues and inaction is its only real enemy. I have also been double checking with the people involved if they are happy with the posts I have prepared ready to publish, and so the order of publication will tie in with approval given, as I have indicated these are not my opinions, they are not really my issues, they all belong to people within the Labour Party who have been affected by the actions of others and then see no action being taken and ending up feeling as if the party is more concerned with protecting itself and covering up it ills to protect its own image rather than dealing properly with complaints from its own members.

And so to be fair to all  I have posted these two short paragraphs as an update for you ( the blogs readers) and also as a last chance for exec on the Borough Labour Group to work for the good of the party rather than against it. The group exec know my email address tony.clarke@email.com and can contact me very easily, and if they contact me to inform me that any of the issues I have raised in my last post are now subject to proper investigation by the group, or want to sit down with me to discuss the matters further then I will postpone publication to allow an investigation to proceed. Either option is fine by me, I am not against anyone, I am for justice being done and trust being re-established. Without that, the only option left is for people is to feel that have got some closure from at least their problems being publicly acknowledged. Over to you.................

Sunday 2 September 2012

WAITING FOR A PARTY WITH A MORAL COMPASS AND A BACKBONE

Regular readers of this blog, and those I socialise with would acknowledge I hope, that I am very "up front" with my views and opinions and rarely if ever do I feel the need to hold back on the truth or water down my true feelings.  And those who have been here on this blog from the start will also know that I have had in recent years an ongoing love hate relationship with the Labour Party. To catch up on how it all began just click here

http://tonyclarkeindependent.blogspot.co.uk/2009/02/why.html

The Labour Party is of course a number of different entities these days National, Regional and Local and it wouldn't surprise many that individual members at National and Local level who we're my friends pre expulsion remain my friends to this day. I intend this week to go down to Parliament to meet up with old acquaintances,  Others however within the party treat me post 2007 with a mixture of either unnecessary fear and/or unexplainable indifference. I have become the family member who left home under a cloud and who nobody now is allowed to mention! I sometimes wonder, can I really after all be that bad a person? I am not "anti" Labour in any way, I actually believe that Andy Sawford will be a very good MP for Corby and I wish him well in his election campaign, if his values are anything like his fathers then Corby and the Labour Party have everything to gain. Equally Sally Keebles reselection as Candidate for Northampton North leaves me cold and asking "Will they never learn?"

Anyhow despite the views of others and much I am sure to the annoyance of some local members I have now decided to come clean on the recent events and attempts to woo me back to into the fold and to rejoin the party I left 5 years ago, and I will also try to explain to you all how difficult a decision it has been to make, being asked to put all the past to one side in exchange for a "lets move on" reconciliation.

Being expelled from the Labour Party in 2007 hurt me very deeply, I had given over twenty years to the movement and I represented them at all levels all the way up to Westminster, so to be treated in such a crass and unfair fashion by the very people you considered to be on your side, and seeing people you considered to be friends reluctant to stand by you in case they themselves were targeted left some very deep and open wounds. Of course the expulsions didn't just end with yours truly, they extended beyond any sensible trawl for supposed trouble makers and led to many good innocent people being wrongly judged and punished. Indeed whenever asked about rejoining I have always made it clear that if I ever said yes then those expelled would walk back in together rather than special favours been offered to individuals.

For the record my expulsion was automatic, having stood as an Independent candidate in the Borough Council elections in 2007, but that decision was only taken after the party had lied, cheated, abused it's own rules and accused good people of wrongful intent. And it is also worth remembering that when the Labour Party instructed me not to submit my nomination papers as a Labour candidate on the nomination day for the Borough Council elections, that I was a fully endorsed candidate, one of three fully endorsed candidates for two seats in Castle Ward for that election!

On three occasions now since 2007 I have been asked to rejoin the party in 2009, 2010 and most recently in December 2011. On each occasion I have listened to the reasoned arguments and tried to apply logic to any given answer.  I still remain after all the same political animal I have always been, independently minded but always of the left, and always mindful of the advantages and disadvantages of collective action, combined strength and cooperative engagement.

But now I still find myself in a period of indifference towards not just a party but towards a whole political system I find myself unable to make a final decision which I am comfortable with owning, so I am doing what I always do, taking council, asking for views, trying to explain my dilemma and then using the exercise to help form a decision.

But to offer advice, you the readers of this blog will need to know exactly what has been occurring, and also to understand my thinking, to understand what I feel is still wrong within the party and also share my discomfort that it's issues are still left undealt with,  after all it is easy to make a flash judgement which could then have a heavy cost for many people if not thought through fully, why bother rejoining if I find myself expelled again with weeks by saying something others think is best left unsaid?

The case made for my rejoining is made mostly but not exclusively in Castle Ward by normal electors and party members alike who tell me that they want me to continue as their Cllr,  they care not if I am Independent or Labour, both suit them, they say that with the vote being split between Labour and Independent that they risk losing my input unnecessarily. They believe that at a time of real need in the area that we need strong representatives who will bury past differences to collectively fight against continued cut backs and attacks on the vulnerable, their case is a compelling one.

In the opposite corner are those from a much wider base than just Castle Ward who have completely lost all faith with the political system and judge all party's to be as one, and as bad as each other, they wish me to contine to carry a torch for Independence and in doing so help lead the way to a different political future altogether. Again all well considered and intelligent expressions, after all membership of political parties and trust in the same is now at an all time low

The third factor, if I am allowed' is a personal one, do I really want back in? And at what cost to my reputation? If I went back in to fight the battle from the inside how long would I last? And what would I do about all of those open faultlines laying within, I couldn't bite my tongue and to be a member of an orginasition in which you knew wrongdoing was present but didn't act, that would be totally immoral. So what are the facts and how do we separate the individual from the plural? How do we encourage those inside to help with any subsequent cleansing and just what is my best individual course of action? 

After all doing absolutely nothing and sitting back and taking a rest from the whole cabana is an equally if not far more attractive alternative option.

So in this and a couple of other posts I will outline all the facts, warts and all as usual, and let you have your say, I will tell you things you never knew, draw venom from those who would prefer everything kept swept under an ever growing hump under the red carpet, and then I will make a decision.

So to start, and to set tongues wagging, I should reveal that the latest invitation to rejoin the party came as recently as December 2011 came via the County Council Labour Group who amazingly offered me instant party membership (meaning a guaranteed lifting of my then still in place expulsion) if I would consider being the Party's candidate for the forthcoming Police Commissionaire elections. A high prize indeed, but not necessarily an attractive one, and I also couldn't help draw a comparison with my reasons for expulsion (The Party fixing candidate selections in their favour) and my invite back (The Party fixing a candidate selection in my favour!) Will they never learn? Of course they are not alone, all three party's play the same game, open selection where it suits them, or a fixed coronation of the favoured son/daughter when it is more useful to their cause.

Needless to say the invite was not accepted and I was pleased to note that an open selection did indeed thereafter take place and a candidate was chosen fairly. The other irony being that if I had said yes I would have had to then withdraw Simon Weston style due to a conviction during my misspent youth, I can stand for Parliament, become an MP, and of course serve as a Police Officer for 4 and a half years in the Special Constabulary, but the crazy rules on this election bar all but those who are squeaky squeaky clean. 

But even after this prize had been offered and rejected the opportunity to rejoin the party still remained, and it was a tempting one in part because the County Council Labour Group are a thoroughly decent group of people, they are as a party group well organised, and well disciplined, they campaign effectively and more than hold their own in full Council meetings, they seem to work hard both collectively and in their respective divisions, they are also as individuals very nice people. No my problem doesn't lie with the County Labour group. it lies elsewhere, not too far away in fact just a few yards over the road at the Town Hall.

You see I have always been a "Borough" man, when elected to the County in 2009 BBC Northampton asked me what my hopes were for the 4 year term ahead and I replied "I hope the County Council gets abolished" I still feel the same way, our two tier system of local government in Northampton serves none of us well, apart from of course the Tories, who will if they get their way turn into a three tier system propped up by Parish Councils across the town providing services only to those who can afford them. To me a Unitary Northampton Council has always been the end game and any future Unitary Council will need strong local representatives to lead it, and that is where I see the labour Party failing at present.


In fact is is not just failing, it is irrelevant, and it is in my opinion corrupt, all the fault lines are there for all to see and all of the complaints and attempts to challenge any wrongdoing have been ignored, and for me or for that matter anyone else to wanting to join or rejoin the Labour Party in Northampton we would need to be assured that these underlying faults are being addressed before we put our names on any membership list.
Some good new Councillors were elected to the group in 2011 (others not so good) but the old guard are still holding sway and I am sure I am the last person in the world who they would want to walk back in. Sometimes you have to shake the tree if you are to allow new fruit to bud, sometimes you have to clear out the old in order to make room for the new. And sometimes you need to do nothing more than be prepared to tell the truth in order to start the cleansing.

And so in my next three posts, I will tell you of three separate incidents.  I will fairly explore the internal allegations made regarding three of Northampton Borough Labour Cllrs, one who we are told lied to a court and also committed what the judge concluded to be a forgery, one who allegedly feels that the cost of political support equates to sexual favours in return, and a third who we are understand thinks that it is perfectly reasonable to use their Council position to bolster their own private income. I will be fair to all of them and stay firmly within the law,  I will stick to facts and not rely on simply here say, I will not judge them, others in some cases already have done, but I will only reveal what has already been revealed both to me and to the party's whips and then leave others to question why in some cases no action has been taken, and in others why the victims rather than the perpetrators feel that they have been punished rather than the alleged wrongdoers,  I will also, for now refrain from naming any of them.

It was Groucho Marx who most famously said "I would not join any club that would have someone like me for a member" For me it is more of question of not wanting to be member of any party who preaches equality fairness and justice whilst presiding over an internal executive system which denies all three to its own members who have made complaints. And of course let no one think that the Labour Party are alone in Northamptonshire in buying ever more wardrobes to host an ever growing clutter of skeletons!

As always your comments will be very much welcomed.


Archives

Followers

Blog Archive

Thank You

Thank you for visiting "tonyclarkegreenparty" The views expressed here are mine and mine alone. They are made by me personally in my own capacity as free citizen and not as representative of any outside body or council that I may serve on or be employed by. However if anyone is offended by any of these comments or feels that they should be corrected then please contact me in the first instance at tony.clarke@email.com and I will do my best to consider your comments and correct any errors.

Etiketler

100 key seats 1980's 1997 2013 50th Birthday 96 Abington Park absent parents abuse Academy Status Adam Simmonds Adam Simmonds. Police and Crime Commisioner Northamptonshire. Class A drugs Adam Simmonds. Police commisioner. Northamptonshire County Council Afghanistan Afro Caribbean Agent airbrushed for change airlines Al Quida Aldi allowances AlQuida Anarchist ANC Andrew Mitchell animated fairy story Anjona Roy Ann Frank Ann Timson Apathy Arab League Council Archway cottages Arms raid arrears. Northamptonshire race Equality Council Ashes to Ashes Ask a Socialist astragate Asylum seekers Audit Baathe Party bamboo joint Banana Banker barbecue tax Bashar Assad bbc BBC radio 4 Bedroom Tax Benefits benito mussolini Benjamin Netanyahu Big Freeze Big Society Billy Bragg Binners Birds black and white cats Black Swans Blair blogger blogs Blood Blowing smoke up your skirt Blue Light Services BNI BNP boardroom buffoons Bone marrow Boris Johnson borough council boot and shoe borough council elections Borough Solicitor BP Bradlaugh Brian Binley Brian Hoare brighton Britain in Bloom British Government broken britain Brown Pelican Bryn Estyn Children's Home budget cuts Bulgarian Bullingdon Club Burglars Bus Interchange Bus Station Bush businesmen Cabinet Call in campaigning Cannes canvassers capitalism Captain Ska Car Park Revenue car parks career wreckers carillion carlisle Carrillion CASPAR Castle Ward Castle Ward 2 Catherine Tate CDC censorship Census 2011 change Charity Commision cheating cheats chicago Chicago Fruit Police Chickens Child Abuse China Chloe Smith Chris Grayling Christmas Christopher Myers chronicle and echo Clement Attlee Cllr Andrew Simpson Cllr Andy Mercer cllr Bill Parker Cllr Brian Hoare Cllr Brian Markham Cllr David Mackintosh Cllr David Palethorpe Cllr David Perkins Cllr Dennis Meredith Cllr Elizabeth Gowen Cllr Gareth Eales Cllr Jean Hawkins Cllr Jim Harker Cllr Jim Harker Road Safety Cllr John Caswell cllr John Yates Cllr Malcolm Mildren Cllr PD Varnsverry Cllr portia wilson Cllr Richard Church Cllr Robin Brown Cllr Sally Beardsworth cllr Scott Collins Cllr Tony Buckley cllr Tony Clarke Cllr Tony Woods Cllr Trini Crake Clr David Perkins Clyde Loakes Coalition government cobblers combustion committee places Community Basher conference 2013 Conservative Conservative Party Conservatives consumption Contracts Corby corporate fools corporate spin corrupt Council Council tenants councy council County Council Election county council elections CPS credit crunch crime Crimea cuts CWU Daily Mail daniel hannan mep. NHS Daventry District Council David Cameron David Harvey David Perkins. Brenden Glynane David Ross day fotlu DDC debt decent homes Defend Council Housing Delapre Abbey democracy wreckers destruction disaster DIT Britain Dostiyo Dot Cotton Duckenfield Duckinfield Ealing Council Earworm Community East Midlands in Bloom East Midlands Labour Party easy read economy Ed Balls Ed Millaband Ed Milliband education election Elections 2013 Electoral iregularity Ellis Island email Emilie Oldknow Emily Oldknow Empowerment fund Enterprise Enterprise Managed Services Environment Agency Eric Pickles ester ranzen EU euro European parliament expelled F W De Clerk F*ck you facebook FAir is worth fighting for Fairground ducks Fairytale of New York Far Right fire Fish MArket Fitzy fixed penalty notice Flashman Floods Florence and the Machine flytipping Fountain free Friends of Delapre Abbey Full Council Gaddafi Gang Culture Gaza GDP general election Geoff Howes George Bush George Bush Jr George Osborne George Osbourne Germany Glasgow mosque GMB Golden Handshake google gordon brown government Government Cuts Grant Shapps greed Greedy Bankers Greek economy Green Green Party Greyfriars growth 1980's Guantanaomo Bay. Shaker Aamer Guernsey Harry Enfield Havelock Havildar Gaje Ghale haymarket Hazel Blears health Helicoptors Help the aged highways Hillsborough hoodies hope not hate House of Commons House of Lords Housing Housing numbers Housing. eviction human rights Ian Gibson IDF il duce Immigration imprint Independent Independent Green Independent Network independents India Injunction inquiry international internet Iran Iraq Iraq war ISIS Islamaphobia Israel Italy IVA jedward Jeremy Clarkson jerk chicken Jihadists Jimmy Carr Jimmy Saville jingles Joe Joyce John Dickie john gardner John Lennon Johnston Press Journalists justice justice for the 96 KBC Ken Livingstone Kevin Quigley Khudadad Khan KPMG Kraken Kurdistan La Madala Labour Labour Group Labour Party Lady Wantage Lampedusa Land Tax Lansbury last of the summer wine Leadership election league two Learning difficulty Learning Disability Lebanon Lee Barron leeds Legal and General Liar Liar Lib Dem Liberal Democrat Liberal Democrats Liberals Libya libya. david cameron Likely lads Lily allen Liverpool lloyd grossman local candidates local governance local government Local Government Association local press localism bill Loft insullation London Labour London Olympics london riots Loo of the year Lord Mandelson Lord Michael Ashcroft Lord Stuart-Smith Lord Taylor Lord Waterhouse LSE Mackenzie mad as a box of frogs Madiba Mahmoud Abbass Malcolm Mildren Margaret Thatcher Market Square Market Square Fountain Market Trader Martyn Gilleard martyrs May 2ns Medhi Hussein media Michael Ellis Michael Foot Michael Turner QC Micheal Ellis MP micheal martin Middle Classes Middle East migrants Mike Ferrigan Milk Snatcher millions Miserable old sod mk dons mortgages MP's Expenses mps expenses Multi Agency Group Muslim community mydavidcameron.com Narrowboats Nasseem Nicholas Taleb Nathan Worrell National Debt national front Nato Nazis. EU NBC NCC Neil Lewington Neil Magregor NEL. MIPIM Nelson Mandela Neo Nazis NEP New Statesman New Year NHS Nick Clegg nick clegg.norman clegg Nick Griffin Niel Kinnock NNDC NNJPU Noor Inyat Khan North Wales Police Northampton Northampton Borough Council Northampton Chronicle and Echo Northampton Conservatives Northampton Independent group northampton independent voice Northampton Labour Party Northampton Labour Party. Northampton Borough Council Northampton Liberal Democrats Northampton Saints Northampton South Northampton South Conservatives Northampton Town Football Club Northamptonshire County Council Northamptonshire County Council Elections Northamptonshire Enterprise Limited Northamptonshire Enterprise Partnership Northamptonshire Music Service Northamptonshire Police Norwich North not all party's are the same ntfc Number 10 Observer Oil Old Labour Oliver Tambos Paddy Tipping MP pakistan Palais de Festival Palestine Parish Poll. Police Commissioner Elections parking parking services parliament parsons Party Political Broadcast Paul Blantern Paul Varnsverry PCC Pegasus Penalty Charge Notices pensioners pest control pest express Peter Mandelson Peter Righton pfi phillip mears photos for all occasions Pinky and Perky Plain English planning police Police and crime Commissioner Police Commisioners Police Commissioner elections political Polycythemia Pope Francis poplar porkie pies President Obama privatisation Professor Pongoo proportionality public consultation public deficit Public Service cuts purdah que sara sara Racism Radio 4 rats Rebekah Brooks reccession Recycling referendum refuse collection regional labour party relegation Rememberence Sunday residents parking retail Richard Hannon right wing riots Robert Cottage Romanian roofing RPA act RSA Rushden Sainsburys Sally Keeble Sam King Scrutiny Seb Coe Second Life Shame on you shameless Shami Chakrabarti Sheltered Housing Shire shirkers Shona Deans Messinger silver medal Simon Cox Simon Williams Skateboarders skivers. scroungers Slipping back in time SNC Snow Spad speaker spies spring boroughs Spring Boroughs Residents squandering St Andrews st andrews road St James Stagecoach stagnation standard and poors standards board stealth tax Stephen Pound MP. Jeffrey Archer Steptoe and Son Steve Messham Stock Market street lights supergran suspended Syria Taliban Tax Evasion tax the rich tea team GB Terry Waite Tescos Tess Scott Thatcher The Cobblers The Conservative Party The Green 'Un The Green PArty The Press The Queen The Report The Ridings The Saints the story of broke the story of change the story of stuff The Sun through the keyhole ticckle Till Death do us part" Tom Watson MP Tony Blair Tony Clarke Tony Clarke MP Tony Woods Tory Tory Government Tory Party Tory's town centre trade unions Trees Trevor Kavanagh TTIP TUC Trident Tuck Inn TVC E-coli and coliforms tweets twitter UAF UK debt UK floods UK Government UK riots UKIP UKIP. Green Party UKIP. Labour Party Ukraine Ulric Cross ULT UN unemployment union flag unitary authorities unitary government Unite against Facism United Learning Trust united nations Unity College Upper class USA usual channels Vara Varnsverry. Guildhall vat Virtual vlog vote Walter Tull Waltham Forest Wardens watchdog WDC Welfare welfare cuts west northamptonshire joint planning unit Westbridge Westminster Weston Favell School what's the point of Nick Clegg wicked William Hague window dressing winter wonderland witch hunt WNDC WNJPU workers Working Class working mens clubs workshy written questions WWII youth services