Maybe he'd had a couple of hot todies?Seriously though, this extraordinary motion, proposed by independent councillor John Connelly and supported by the Labour members on the CHAC, answers a lot more questions than it asks.Most curiously, it announces a withdrawal of co-operation from the Executive in response to a motion passed by Borough Council, thus revealing it to a cynical and politically motivated manoeuvre.Its purpose, presumably, is to allow Councillor Connelly to demonstrate to those sections of our community who habitually disregard planning law that he is prepared to turn even more of a blind eye to their activities than is the Labour Group, and that they should therefore vote for him instead. He is a canny operator and would have calculated, as Councillor Sharma and his colleagues would appear not to have done, that any resultant backlash will afflict New Labour and not himself.As soon as this resolution was passed I found myself wondering how Vanessa Smith, one of John's most loyal supporters and a frequent contributor to this forum, was going to spin her way out of this one, bearing in mind she is on public record as having berated the administration for not having come down hard enough on those councillors who tip the wink to planning abuse. To her credit, she has not attempted to do this and seems to have stuck to her original position.The introduction of race and ethnicity into an argument in which it does not feature is not only hugely irresponsible, but also typically New Labour. We have seen time and again that these people's alleged commitment to good community relations is never permitted to stand in the way when it is a perceived that there is political mileage to be made. Anybody who has witnessed their antics during election campaigns in Isleworth and Hanworth Park will have seen instantly that they inavariably place what they believe to be their party interest before the greater well-being of the community. To me this makes them, as an organisation, the lowest of the low, and is what stands them apart from all the other political parties and groups in the area which recognise that there are basic minimum standards below which one does not allow oneself to fall. If you witness them at the Council Chamber and during debate, they give an appearance of being immensely proud of their uniquity in this department.This particularly unsavoury feature of this resolution effectively levels allegations of racism not only against the Executive and the two parties and groups which comprise the administration, but also against the Liberal Democrats and John's two very recent former colleagues who now comprise the West Area Independent Group and who supported the temporary withdrawal of enforcement powers from the Heston & Cranford Area Committee.That it emanated from Councillor Connelly for me demonstrates two things. Firstly that in spite of his now quite sustained absence from the ranks of the Labour Party he has failed to shake off the cynical and opportunistic mentality which characterises that organisation in its present-day form, and secondly that he is in all likelihood angling for a return to its ranks. It will not after all have been lost on some of the Labour Group's newer and more ambitious members that he was prepared to make a stand where their own leaders would have appeared impotent.I have asked for a legal opinion as to the implications of the motion passed by CHAC. I would assume that a withdrawal of co-operation must involve as a matter of principle a refusal to accept administrative assistance in the form of meeting facilities, officer input, agenda preparation and financial support. Whether the committee remains competent to make robust decisions of a quasi-judicial nature without such assistance is a matter for conjecture.The new administration is determined that the "nudge nudge, wink wink" practices of the old administration will not continue to be a feature of life in Hounslow. Standards in planning, as in all other matters, will be applied uniformly irrespective of the allegiances or voting preferences of those concerned. Those who, as we have seen, do not like it are going to have to get used to it. We do things differently now.
Phil Andrews ● 6449d