Rerun of old library battle

Published: 3 March, 2011

• IT is all Eric Pickles’ fault, according to Councillor Theo Blackwell (February 24). It is Pickles who is closing Camden’s day centres, play centres and libraries. Cllr Blackwell and his fellow Camden cabinet members have no power to mitigate the effects of the government’s funding cut, apparently. Well, the backbench Labour councillors are not so sure, according to the CNJ. 

The suspicion is that the easy path has been chosen, rather than the difficult one of trying to accommodate the cuts without seriously impacting essential services. The cabinet has simply signed up to the main proposals from its officers and set about selling the idea that it is all someone else’s fault.

Of course, some Labour backbench councillors are unhappy. They are backbench councillors purely because they have beliefs and commitments that they do not wish to compromise to gain advancement. 

This is nothing new. It is just a rerun of the 1998 library battle. Then, a few backbench Labour councillors were at the forefront of resistance to the needlessly draconian measures proposed by party bosses. 

Ernest James, Eileen Hammond and Gloria Lazenby are remembered and honoured as people who put the interests of residents above those of the party machine. 

Who can remember the names of those who resolutely ignored the needs of the communities they were elected to serve?

ALAN TEMPLETON
Chair, Camden Public Libraries Users Group