Andrew Dismore

 

Andrew Dismore, Labour Parliamentary candidate for Hendon and London Assembly member for Barnet and Camden spoke out against the Mayor’s plan to change the membership of London’s Fire Authority to ensure that it has an inbuilt Conservative majority, when he spoke on the issue at Mayor’s Question Time on 19^th March. (see webcast link below)

At present, the Fire Authority consists of elected councillors and Assembly members, with two Mayoral appointees. These were originally intended to be independent when the Authority was set up, but the positions are now occupied by Conservatives appointed by the Mayor and not independents.   Currently the Authority  does not have a Conservative majority, which meant that it was able to scrutinise and oppose the fire service  cuts imposed by the Mayor last year. The local elections in May may well mean that the balance shifts even further from the Mayor, if the Conservatives lose several of the boroughs they now hold like Barnet , as the councillors are appointed pro rata.

The Mayor now plans to remove 4 of the elected members – two Assembly members and two councillors- and to replace  them with 4 more of his placemen, making a total of six unelected Boris Johnson Conservative  “yes men” and an overwhelming unelected Conservative majority on the Fire Authority.

 

Mr Dismore said:

“The existing checks and balances have worked well. The Mayor was rightly challenged over his fire station closures and cuts last year, but in the end he had the final say even though the cuts were not in his election manifesto.

Like a 1930s dictator, he now wants to make sure that any possible challenge to his authority and any further cuts he may propose are overwhelmed by his placemen who will vote to his bidding.

It also shows that the Mayor  has no faith in the Conservatives’’ chances in the May local elections. His lack of confidence in his council colleagues  must be very irritating to them, as he clearly is expecting  them to be defeated  and is putting these undemocratic plans in place in anticipation of a Labour victory on May 22^nd.”

 

http://www.london.gov.uk/webcasts/36277/asx

Fire authority debate at 3hours 23minutes.