All is not well in Labourland. Now it transpires that 20 councillors have quit Sir Keir Starmer’s party in a rather extraordinary protest at the direction of the party under the new Prime Minister. Those involved will now sit as independent councillors in Broxtowe Borough Council in Nottinghamshire. Dear oh dear…
The disillusioned lot have even discussed the establishment of a new independent party after losing faith in Starmer’s army, with some claiming Sir Keir’s crowd had ‘abandoned traditional Labour values’ and blasting winter fuel payment cuts. The BBC notes that council leader Milan Radulovic was driven to leave the party, despite being a Labour member for 42 years, over recent policy decisions by the PM. The group have also claimed that as many as ten of their lot had been blocked from standing for the party at the looming local elections after pushing back on the winter fuel policy. So much for healthy debate, eh?
In a scathing statement, council leader Radulovic fumed about the Starmtroopers:
I cannot support and will not support another centrist government intent on destroying local democracy and dictating national policy from a high pedestal. I believe the concentration of power in the hands of fewer people and the abolition of local democracy through the current proposals of super councils is nothing short of a dictatorship, where local elected members, local people, local residents will have no say over the type and level of service provided in their area.
Shots fired…
While the group is adamant that 100 grassroots members had also turned their backs on the party, the remaining Broxtowe Labour councillors have insisted that ‘these defections have no effect on the commitment of the Labour councillors in serving our residents’, adding: ‘It is incredibly disappointing that some Broxtowe councillors have decided to leave the Labour party and sit as independents when they were elected on a Labour ticket just over 18 months ago.’
But if the Labour leadership are keen to avoid this pattern repeated elsewhere, they can’t simply bury their heads in the sand. Will more councillors follow suit? Watch this space…
Comments