Your report that Claire Kober will not seek re-election as leader of Haringey council (31 January) headlines the assertion that she has stood down due to “sexism and bullying”. In fact Kober’s advocacy of the Haringey Development Vehicle housing project has left her almost completely politically isolated. The campaign against the HDV is by no means limited to the left, with the borough’s two moderate Labour MPs, David Lammy and Catherine West, opposing the deal. Handing billions in public assets over to a private sector company notorious for its gentrification of Elephant and Castle was presumably too much for them. Certainly that was the view of hundreds of local people who took part in marches and lobbies and raised funds for an ongoing judicial review.
The recent collapse of Carillion has only further highlighted the dangers of such public-private partnerships. The claim that recent events are nothing more than a Momentum plot is an insult to all these people. The end of the HDV, which must follow Kober’s resignation, is in fact an example of revived local democracy which merits celebration. Such community involvement will be vital if effective solutions are to be found to Haringey’s housing crisis.
Colin Wilson
London
• Your report of the decision of Haringey council leader Claire Kober to stand down in May, and with it the likely end of the grandiose Haringey Development Vehicle regeneration project, misses the key aspect of what has happened. The HDV, unpopular in north London, was at root a scheme for the few, not the many. The campaign against it, by contrast, set a new template for modern campaigning. Stretching from the Lib Dems to the Socialist Workers party, it included many Labour activists, trade unionists, council housing campaigners and local residents. It relied not on spin or glossy brochures but on grassroots activity. That meant persistent and consistent leafleting, meetings, speaking to people door to door and – most of all, perhaps – the detailed and painstaking scrutiny of what the HDV really meant: housing demolition.
Keith Flett
London
• As Haringey Labour councillors who have served under Claire Kober’s leadership, we learned of her decision to stand down as councillor and council leader with sadness, but also a sense of pride at what she has helped the party achieve for this borough. Claire became leader in the aftermath of the tragic death of Peter Connelly, taking on the daunting task of turning the council around at the age of just 30. A decade on, she is one of the most respected council leaders in the country, chair of London Councils and chair of the LGA Resources Board.
Her successes in Haringey speak for themselves. Almost 100% of the borough’s schools are rated good or outstanding, up from just 65% in 2008. The borough has secured record levels of investment from both public and private sector, without which we have no hope of addressing Haringey’s vast inequalities. And in 2017 the council was presented with the LGC Children’s Services of the Year award – a phenomenal achievement given Haringey’s notorious failings in years gone by.
All this was achieved against the background of huge Tory budget cuts, 40% since 2010.
Then there are the political achievements. When Claire became council leader we had a wafer-thin majority of just three, and a real fear that we could lose the council to the Lib Dems. But under Claire’s leadership Labour’s majority increased in both the 2010 and 2014 elections, to the point where we now hold 49 seats compared to the eight Lib Dems in opposition – election success which also laid the basis for taking the Hornsey and Wood Green constituency back from the Lib Dems in 2015.
We all joined the Labour party because we believe in something, because we recoil against the gross injustices that pervade our society and because we want to do something about them. Often we won’t settle for gradual, piecemeal changes; we want to see transformational reform to tackle the unfairness and inequality around us.
But as elected councillors, we also recognise the realities of decision-making. Pragmatism and compromise are essential parts of politics, and nowhere is this more true currently than in local government, where legislation and funding cuts place such constraints on what councils can deliver. Achievement in local government requires a pragmatic response to real problems, and Claire has embodied this approach throughout her time as leader.
Haringey is a better place thanks to Claire’s commitment and determination. We would all like to place on record our immense admiration and gratitude for the leadership Claire has shown and the changes she has brought about under such challenging circumstances in Haringey.
Cllr Kaushika Amin Northumberland Park
Cllr Jason Arthur Crouch End
Cllr Eugene Ayisi West Green
Cllr Dhiren Basu Seven Sisters
Cllr Barbara Blake St Ann’s
Cllr Clare Bull Bounds Green
Cllr Joanna Christophides Bounds Green
Cllr Ali Demirci Bounds Green
Cllr Natan Doron Crouch End
Cllr Sarah Elliott Crouch End
Cllr Tim Gallagher Stroud Green
Cllr Joe Goldberg Seven Sisters
Cllr Eddie Griffith West Green
Cllr Toni Mallett West Green
Cllr Jennifer Mann Hornsey
Cllr Stephen Mann Noel Park
Cllr Peter Mitchell Woodside
Cllr Ali Gul Özbek St Ann’s
Cllr James Patterson Alexandra
Cllr Sheila Peacock Northumberland Park
Cllr Lorna Reith Tottenham Hale
Cllr Raj Sahota Stroud Green
Cllr Alan Strickland Noel Park
Cllr Bernice Vanier Tottenham Green
Cllr Ann Waters Woodside
Cllr Elin Weston Hornsey
Cllr Charles Wright Woodside
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