Croydon Council Meetings. An attempt at an impartial review.

Mob mentality is a big news story at the moment. What happens to so many people which makes them act in a manner which would be abhorrent to all but the most base of that group. Mob mentality is feared with good reason. You can't reason with a mob.

I've experienced it myself when watching football matches. Your player crudely takes out an opponent and your first reaction is to think "ooh, he meant that, that's not good". You feel ashamed that this player is representing you and 'your mob'. The ref whips out the red card and immediately you start to boo. Why? Is it because everyone else is doing it? Is it because you're afraid of appearing to be disloyal? Is it because your afraid of the consequences?

Well, yes it is. Hold that thought.

The last Council meeting I attending had a running Twitter football-esque commentary from a former MP. I quite enjoyed it, to be honest, although it may not have quite lived up to the standards of BBC neutrality. To continue the football analogy somewhat, it was clear that this game was not being played on a level field. One team had more players than the other and, irrespective of the efforts of every player, the outcome had already been decided. I understand this is based on election results but why bother having an opposition when no Conservative Councillor will ever vote against his party because of the mob mentality described above. I debated with myself over the merits of a secret ballot voting system but then we could never trust the word of a councillor [insert your own joke here] as we would never know if they had voted in line with their public position.

The vote on the 54 story Menta Tower catastrophe provides an excellent example of the problem. 11 members on the Committee, 6 Conservative and 5 Labour. This imbalance guaranteed the planning application would be passed despite impassioned pleas against it from the local Conservative MP and other prominent Conservative Councillors. My colleagues and I cynically disgust discussed the likelihood that, with the outcome predetermined, the Conservatives mentioned could appear to be on the side of the public opposition while still pandering to the business interest who are set to make a killing. Now, we may be wrong in our cynicism or we may be right but it does seem like a convenient truth.

Anyway, back to the meeting analysis. The next time I hear the phrase "...unlike the party opposite..." I may well scream. As for Councillors standing up to ask "Does the Leader of the Council agree with me that everything is better now that we're in charge?" What on earth is the point of that? It's just a waste of everyones' time. I may also point out that if the leader of the Conservatives slaps his Labour counterpart for huge percentage rises in council tax he must then undo those hikes to avoid looking like a hypocrite. For example, a Conservative 0% increases which comes the year after a 26% Labour increase is still 2 years of higher taxes for the public and extra expenditure for the Council. You can't have it both ways.

The follow up questions from the public gallery (to the Councillors answers of previously submitted written questions) are allotted about 15 Min's which is too short when you listen to the rubbish which arrives soon after (and I'm not just talking about the 'follow up' answers). Later, some questions from Councillors deserved some respectable discussion, but most were just trying to impress their own party leader. Even the debates usually have some valid arguments on both sides if you can stay awake to listen. Of course the debates are doomed to the fate of the predetermined vote which is another waste of time.

So what to do?

Well, I can only foresee two situations which would lead to a better Council make up. A couple/handful of single issue candidates or Resident Associations representatives would help clear some of frankly embarrassing exchanges which we are forced to endure.
The other option is one I've heard about from Brighton. Apparently each Green Party Councillor is allowed to vote on each issue as they see fit. How refreshing!
But then I would say that, wouldn't I?
I'm biased.

The riots were my fault.

I'm a Green Party activist. The riots were my fault. You see, I've been undermining the police and I'm feeling guilty about it. I have looked at the way they have behaved in many high profile cases over the last decade such as the Stockwell shooting, Ian Tomlinson, Fortnum & Masons, student kettling. Of course the police have a duty to protect people and property but it did look like they were picking and choosing which people and property they were protecting. It is easy to think that way. The police have done themselves no favours in this by (for example) their mistreatment of the Fortnum & Mason peaceful protesters who did no damage but were arrested on mass while black bloc anarchists were left to run riot. I bet the riot police this week were missing a bit of gentle UKuncut activity. However the bit I got wrong was to always presume the police are there only to protect the interests of big business. The recent riots were a stark reminder of their wider role. I'm guessing it was a reminder to the acting metropolitan police commissioner too. Pity for him that this has happened on his watch due to most of his colleagues leaving their posts for one reason or another. (That's another story).
I have faith in the majority of people to do the right thing. I believe that given the right opportunity people will reward you for putting your trust in them. This is central to my vision of how a more equal society will work in the future. I have argued long and hard that if you give people a greater sense of liberty their sense of self worth will be enhanced for the benefit of everyone. This liberty can only work if everyone feels a sense of belonging to the community. If they are left outside of society then they have nothing to lose if the society crumbles. We need to create a more equal society first before liberty for all becomes a free for all. While the wealth of the Nation remains in the tight fists of the few this can never happen. So, perhaps a little bit more reality in terms of responsible policing and responsible politics when talking about policing is in order. The police aren't all saints, but they are not all sinners either. I'll try to keep that in mind.

I'm a former Labour Minister. The riots were my fault. We spent 17 years watching the Thatcher/Major governments dismantling society. We got our chance do make a change and we bottled it. We slipped straight into the shoes of our Conservative predecessors and found them strangely comfortable. I found I could make good friends in the City. We got on so well and at one point (before things went wrong) we were collecting 28% of the treasuries income from the City and all they wanted was to be left alone and cut some of the regulatory red tape. It seemed too good to be true. It doesn't look so good now. If we get another chance before another 17 years go by I hope we wont bottle it again. I'm not going to promise anything.

I'm a Conservative backbencher. The riots were my fault. It was hard to stomach watching the looters parade in front of the media with bravado as if to say "we're untouchable". It was hard to stomach because it reminded me of our frontbenchers who bragged, yes bragged, about the cuts we were going to inflict on the public. The cuts to the police force are currently the favoured topic of the press. Many other cuts (forestry sell-off, NHS reforms, Prison sentencing) were subject to what the looters are now seeing - a public backlash. Having second thoughts now, maybe we should start thinking of the destruction we cause. It's just as real. Just not so easy to show on TV.

I'm a Liberal Democrat Deputy Prime Minister. The riots were my fault. The deal was pretty straight forward. I was to rein my coalition partners back from their policy of looking after their chums at the top of the social pyramid. I got caught up in the whirlwind of the media spotlight and while I was spinning I forgot about my election promises and tried to impress the big boys. It didn't take long for the public to spot the failure. Since then I've been busy keeping my fool mouth shut. The public wont let me get away with that either, I suspect. The people who voted for us to avoid a Conservative government certainly wont.

I'm a Public Relations supremo of the Police Force. The riots were my fault. The guys on the front lines make mistakes sometimes and when they do I seem to make the situation gets worse. When we got the wrong guy in Stockwell tube station, we told the press that Jean Charles de Menezes was a terrorist who leaped the ticket barrier to evade arrest. We lied. We were caught. When Ian Tomlinson died after being pushed by a police officer we denied it was anything to do with us. We were caught again by video evidence. Every time we try to hide the truth, public confidence is eroded. When Mark Duggan was shot in Tottenham our silence intensified the anger. When an outraged woman was pushed back by a policeman in front of an angry crowd, the touch paper was lit. After that, everything became too late very quickly. Well you know what? This is what you're vulnerable to when you cut the resources down to the bare bones. My opposite number at the Fire Brigade is saying the same thing. They were dismissed by the media as social pariahs when they had to go on strike to protect their working practises a few years ago. The cost of these cuts are taking their toll.

I'm a Green Party activist. I do what I think is best for everyone, and not just myself, in any given situation. I'm lucky my circumstances, education and moral compass mean I never have to stoop to looting. Some are not so lucky. We can work to eradicate inequality. For arsonists, and opportunist theft, we need a respected police force. For all that to happen, we need a Government with integrity. We haven't had one of those for a long, long time.
That is why I'm a Green Party activist.