The Elephant in the Labour Room

The story of Newham Labour seems to limp from problem to problem.

First there was the realisation that Newham Labour had more than a fair number of antisemites in its ranks and had produced a “culture of political and institutional antisemitism”, (xiii). Despite this, and despite the most heavy-handed interference in the selections of the local parties,  Labour still had to suspend one candidate on the evening before the last election.

And then there was the allegation of bullying by the mayor.

It suggested a council that was not pulling in the same direction.

To many it seemed that Newham Council had simply become a vehicle to promote the personal ambitions of certain party members. A time on the council was there to embellish the CV of a handful of councillors whilst they waited for their chance of greatness.

There have been at least three defections Ahmed, Chowdhury and Gulamussen. We’ve lost count of the number who have resigned.

There are at least two currently who are under a cloud, one facing a standards inquiry and possibly both facing criminal sanctions. And of course, there was the revelation that the mayor intends to take her own council to court.

And then there was the ‘Peer Review’ which found “real personal animosity between certain councillors, and between certain councillors and the Mayor” and a “culture of distrust”. This might be the underlying cause of the falling out between Mayor Fiaz and a former cabinet member that resulted in mutual complaints. We are still awaiting the outcome of an ombudsman’s investigation in order to get publication of the report into the complaints.

We have also noted the rapidity with which the mayor appears to go through chief execs. Five in five years and another one in the offing.

This is quite apart from the truly dreadful state of the council’s finances, the depressing state of the streets, damning service level reports (e.g. Housing and Complaints), the threats of widespread staff redundancies etc etc.

It therefore came as something of a surprise to learn that the Labour Party is contemplating the imminent suspension of the Newham Labour Group by way of putting the group into special measures.

Both Constituency Labour Parties remain suspended. Our understanding is that there has been a widespread cleansing of the parties with expulsions in four figures. It would seem that this has not been enough. The national party does not trust the local members to run the party and there is no indication that they ever will.

This seems to be the pattern. The council and the Labour Group are in a mess. The answer, it seems, is to remove the opportunity for ordinary members and ordinary councillors to influence any change.

The suspension of the Labour Group will simply consolidate power in the hands of the mayor, and councillors will lose what little chance they currently have, to hold her to account.

Without a constituency party operating, Labour has little chance of renewal. The only prospect they currently have is in the hands of those councillors who are willing to work to forge a new vision for the party and the borough.

If the Group is suspended, then Labour is effectively telling the electorate that the national party has no confidence in any of its members locally. If the Labour Party doesn’t trust its candidates, why should the electorate?

We have a suggestion.

The Labour Party makes it clear that Fiaz has no future in Newham. She has lost the confidence of the electorate and the Group members. When there are Group elections, the Fiaz candidate is regularly defeated by a 2:1 ratio.

It is not Labour Group that is the problem. It is the Labour Mayor.

The Labour Party will need to work with back-benchers and Scrutiny leads to forge a coherent vision for the future and a plan to meet the budget crisis. And to allow a leadership that has the confidence of their peers to emerge.

Alternatively, they could simply give up on Newham.