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Petitioning himself
• THE other day I received an email from my local councillor, Lib Dem George Allan, about licensing issues. The late-night bars, and the crowds they attract, have been a major issue in Clerkenwell. For years we have been calling for controlled drinking zones and for sections of the ward to be officially declared “saturated” with bars, so we can try to get back control of the area.
We have been trying to get the council to understand Clerkenwell’s culture of being a place of good food and world-renowned pubs and how this has nothing to do with the sort of bars and clubs which people come from around town to get far too drunk in and cause chaos to the area when they leave.
Cllr Allan is chairman of one of Islington’s licensing committees. I had hoped that, after months of us residents campaigning, he was finally emailing to say what action he was taking. Instead, I found something bizarre. In fact, it took me a moment to get my head around how crazy it was. What Cllr Allan wanted was my signature for a petition calling on the council to make licensing changes. The Lib Dems, who control the council, and Cllr Allan were asking residents to sign a petition that would be sent to the council and licensing committee, demanding that they make changes.
Let me state plainly just how odd the request was – our Lib Dem councillor is asking residents to sign a petition which he would then send demanding change... from himself.
The evening I received the email I was with other residents at the most recent meeting of the panel with our local police team. At the meeting it was clear the police (who Cllr Allan has previously blamed) are keen to sort the area out, but their hands are tied until the council actually gives them the powers they need.
There was real anger at the dance Cllr Allan and the other Lib Dems were making us do. People, many of whom had supported the Lib Dems in the past, were furious with the silly political games being played. As one person at the meeting said: he tries to come across as just some local campaigner when he is really the person who has the power to make a difference.
I for one can see there’s no convincing these guys to come up with the goods. I’m just going to have to put up with them until the elections next May. In the meantime, I will now be working hard with the local Labour party to bring about change for the ward I live in and Islington as a whole.
ALASTAIR HARPER
EC1
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