Andrew Dismore

Andrew Dismore, Labour London Assembly member for Barnet and Camden, has written by email to Cllr Richard Cornelius, Conservative Leader of Barnet Council, challenging him over the text a petition Cllr Cornelius has posted on the council website.

Mr Dismore has been campaigning against the closure of Barnet police stations, including Golders Green and is today launching a public consultation on the closures.

Mr Dismore said:

“Whilst I welcome Cllr Cornelius’s concern over the future of the police stations, his petition is directed to the wrong people. It is the Conservative Mayor of London Boris Johnson and the Conservative led Coalition Government who are imposing these damaging cuts on the police. The Met. have been put in the difficult position of having to administer, explain and justify front line cuts, which are  not of their own making: Boris Johnson should be doing this, not pushing uniformed officers into doing his dirty work for him.

More importantly, though, the text of Cllr Cornelius’s petition is somewhat disingenuous. He opposes the closure of two of the stations (and says nothing about the much shorter hours proposed for a third), but only in the absence of “alternative provision”. Of course, he knows there is a proposal for “alternative provision” already- the wholly inadequate idea of weekly 4 hour SNT stalls dotted around the borough. So Cllr Cornelius can claim to campaign against the closures, whilst giving himself enough wriggle room to escape a political row with his Conservative Party masters. Through this sham petition, he has yet again revealed himself to be a hopelessly weak leader, in the mould of the Grand Old Duke of York.

Today, I am launching my own consultation on the proposed closures, and I will be very interested to see the views and opinions of local residents.”

Email to Cllr Cornelius:

Dear Richard,

I see that you have posted on the Council website the following petition:

“We the undersigned petition Barnet Council to call on the Metropolitan Police not to close the counters at Whetstone and Golders Green Police Stations unless alternative provision is available”.

Can I suggest that your petition would be better directed to the Mayor of London and to the  Conservative and Lib Dem Coalition Government, whose cuts it is that are requiring the Met to make these decisions, going beyond what the Inspectorate of Constabulary believe to be achievable without  damaging the front line?

Be that as it may, I am concerned about your  wording, “ unless  alternative provision is made”.

I assume you are aware of the proposal to replace the closing police stations  with  stalls staffed by SNT officers  for 4 hours per week in various locations, which the Mayor considers to be an “alternative”. Locations that have been suggested to me by the Met. include, amongst other places, various public buildings in the ownership of the  council: (it is not clear to me if the council has been approached or agreed to do this, especially given the cuts in the council’s own budget); and a stall on Fridays and Saturdays at the Golders Green SNT base, some distance from the existing police  station, for the particular convenience of the Jewish community. I find the days suggested for this somewhat surprising, as I am sure you will too.

 

I also note your petition is silent  as to the proposed dramatic reduction in opening hours of Barnet Police Station.

The question I pose to you is this: do you consider these 4 hours a week stalls to be “alternative provision” within the context of your petition? Or do you, like me, consider that to be a wholly inadequate alternative?

If your view is the former, then there is little point to your petition, other than to pull the wool over the eyes of the people of Barnet, by suggesting that you are challenging these damaging cuts, when in reality you are accepting what is on offer. If the latter, then what would you consider to be an acceptable alternative?

Best regards

Andrew Dismore

Labour London Assembly Member for Barnet & Camden