Forum Topic

Bell on the brink

Vote of no confidence from fellow Labour councillors underway now!https://skwawkbox.org/2020/09/28/exclusive-councillors-to-spring-emergency-motion-of-no-confidence-against-ealing-council-leader-bell-at-any-moment-and-expected-to-succeed/

Simon Hayes ● 1673d15 Comments

Well people need to write en masse to Grant Shapps and his Boss with the haircut.Shapes, I might add, sent his reply to my letter via the DfT and does not make any specifics. But it is supposed to be in areas where acute problems exist.He is as hopless and cut from the same cloth as Ealings political types. Does not matter what party they are it. It's the power and ego.

Raymond Havelock ● 1670d

They are government policy - Grant Shapps, delivered via the Mayor, but definitely government policy.

Libby Kemp ● 1671d

They're funding it

Kala Mitty Jayne ● 1671d

LTN's are NOT Government policy, they are London Mayor's policy, Government made money available to local councils to make roads safe, they did not specify blocking through routes.Who else believes that these only going in certain areas are to make the middle classes in those areas want to leave? A form of Gerrymandering?Maybe this is being done for the long term after Labour were shocked at the 80 seat Tory majority General Election results?Likewise all the others council's seem to be similar, Hounslow putting them in the nice suburban streets of Chiswick, even wanting them on Turnham Green Terrace. When is Southall's streets getting theirs?Does Conservative Hillingdon have any?Nice to see Wandsworth listen to their electorate and remove them.

Leslie Bailey ● 1671d

Tried posting reply before, it's not showing, anyway .....LTNs are Government policy. One of them came on telly early in the year to announce it, alongside change of access to buses.They are making local governments' funding depend on carrying it out.Buses can't run on time in heavy traffic,  ambulances can't get through roads blocked with today's wide cars, respiratory diseases are common, lots of bigger picture reasons for getting us cycling and walking as a first choice not a choreHopefully my other post will reappearI wish I still had my original 1970's Ladies Shopping Bike, it was much more comfortable than bikes we have now. (Not as comfy as Ocado electric vans though!)

Kala Mitty Jayne ● 1671d

Oh no The assasin is not him for sure. Someone with far more ambition.

Raymond Havelock ● 1671d

The motion was proposed by Gareth Shaw but the assassin never wears the crown.

Andy Jones ● 1671d

Interesting to see that the Judas Iscariot is among his close circle.But in all honesty the whole lot are culpable.Those with no gumption to speak out and bury their heads in the sand and those who are colluding with sheer contempt for their residents and electorate.

Raymond Havelock ● 1671d

Part of the problem is that there doesn't appear to be any obvious successor. Peter Mason resigned from the cabinet after the vote so he may have had designs on the crown but in political terms Julian Bell has done quite a good job and kept a lid on simmering potential disunity in the group for quite some time. The feeling seems to be that none of the possible alternatives would have managed that feat.

Andy Jones ● 1672d

When you survive a vote like this it usually means that some people voted for him through loyalty despite being unhappy. There a decent councillors who work hard for their areas but they know this damages everyone. hopefully some who supported him will persuade that change is needed

Peter Chadburn ● 1672d

Looks like he survived by one vote.His problem appears to go deeper than LTNs - he held together a very lose coalition of councillors who didn't want to see Momentum and Corbynistas taking over in the borough but now that they are no longer a threat the unity that prevailed before was always going to disappear. It looks like now the split in the party is more geographic than ideological with councillors in the West Ealing/Northfields areas working out that the concentration of LTNs in their wards means they are unlikely to get re-elected unless they can get them scrapped. The ambulance debacle has been a gift to them.

Andy Jones ● 1673d

Damn, ONE Vote!!!  😡

Rosco White ● 1673d

This is just tooooooooooooo good to be true?!!!!!

Rosco White ● 1673d

This is short of nothing but fantastic if Labour wake up and he gets the boot.Mind you, we'll probably just get a Clone in his place.Had to laugh my cojones off though, the article says "controversial centrist leader" ........  CENTRIST?!!!!!  🤣

Rosco White ● 1673d

The clip on YouTube hopefully the last nail in his coffin????

Colin Goodman ● 1673d