Phil Briscoe - on Labour U-turns
Phil Briscoe is the Conservative councillor for Blackwall and Cubitt Town
The new age of post-crunch consensus arrived at the council chamber last week, as Labour councillors tried to brush the last few years under the carpet and support a number of Conservative initiatives.
Labour supported the Conservative lead to reverse the closure of the Bancroft Library, to appoint an independent auditor to examine leaseholder service charges and to take a tougher stance against One Housing and its failure to deliver promises for residents on the Isle of Dogs.
I believe the latest plan to close housing offices is a serious betrayal of local people.
Council leaders have now even plagiarised the long-standing Conservative proposal to use council funding for more police officers.
It is welcome to see such progress, and party politics should be second to real outcomes on such serious issues.
But it is a little un-nerving to see politicians change their minds so freely – Gordon Brown has defined a whole new benchmark in how to cause a problem and then claim the credit for delivering the solution.
The last couple of weeks have also been busy for local development, as Wood Wharf was approved and the Trafalgar Way twin towers were rejected.
I spoke at planning meetings in Tower Hamlets and Greenwich, in opposition to the new super-yacht hotel and to the noise threat of the latest event in a tent at The O2.
Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful in stopping both of these applications – the solution-seeking consensus has yet to reach local planning issues.
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I didn't realise the Wharf was such a Tory propaganda page - has gone down in my estimations after this.
Why don't you update us on your long standing committment to boycott all council committees, yet still take up your allowances at the taxpayers expense.
Maybe if you actually sat on planning committees you could make a difference and these things wouldn't get passed you didn't want to.
I hoping you will also soon change your tune on the petition against the closure of Limehouse Police Station. Typical rabble rousing nonsense. As Boris is now the one in charge of the proposals "which don't really exist" i assume you will be taking the petition to city hall and criticising him - or will we be seeing a tory u-turn?