We have an election here on Thursday 5th May. There have been some boundary changes but don’t let’s get bogged down in detail. Fifty candidates are standing to be councillors.
Postal voters like me have already posted their ballot papers. Yesterday the first manifesto slipped through the letter box, after I had voted, but well done Labour. The BBC have a propensity to fact check the government manifesto after elections so I’m going to do just that as Labour has had a majority in H&F since 2014.
I don’t like the Guarantee logo, top right; too bogus.
”Keep council tax low to help with the cost of living crisis. We have frozen H&F’s council tax this year and are the No. I council in Britain for keeping council tax low.”
This is almost true but many other London boroughs have a similar record. The lowest council tax in Britain is Orkney.
”Cut crime and anti-social behaviour. The Conservatives slashed police funding. So we’ve stepped in, introducing 72 new Law Enforcement Officers, a new Gangs Unit, the most extensive CCTV network in Britain and new steps to protect women and girls.”
I think this means there is an unresolved Law and Order problem in the borough. H&F does have more CCTV surveillance than any other council in Britain; one camera per one hundred residents. There are three or four in our street. It’s nothing to be proud of.
“Fix the 135-year-old Hammersmith Bridge. We’ll defy the Conservatives’ plan to make residents pay £800 per household for repairs and, instead, charge non-H&F motorists a toll.”
Bearing in mind H&F Band D council tax was £1,124 in 2020 it seems unlikely even the looniest Conservative would put forward such a plan.
“Prioritise quality homes for residents, not flats for overseas speculators. We will repair and enhance the housing estates which the Conservatives deliberately ran down and shamelessly tried to sell off.”
They need to get on with repairing and enhancing.
” A London council has apologised for being ranked the worst in the country for horror housing. Hammersmith and Fulham Council has apologised to residents after a watchdog found it was the landlord with the highest number of damp and mould cases in England. The Housing Ombudsman investigated 142 landlords between April 2019 and March 2021 over complaints. The Labour-led council was branded the worst authority for damp and mould issues and the worst at handling complaints in a study published in October.” (mylondon.news, Jan 2022)
I’m looking forward to reading the promises and “guarantees” the Conservatives, Lib Dems and Greens will proffer.
and to add – Hospitals do not come under Council care. Charing Cross Hospital was never listed for closure – this was always fake news. There is a glut of hospitals in the area – Hammersmith, Queen Charlotte’s, Charing Cross and Chelsea and Westminster. The plan was to make them focused centres of excellence whilst continuing their status as general hospitals – except Queen Charlotte’s. I think I am correct in saying that Charing X specialises in Cancer and Stroke care.
Never believe a manifesto promise!
This was covered, partially, in this 2017 post: https://christopherbellew.com/charing-cross/