I was recently sent the "Draft Manifesto" of the so-called "Independent Labour Group" in Harrow, and it makes for a curious read. Of course, you might expect a strange document to be produced by such a set of people.
For those unfamiliar with the recent story of Harrow, the Independent Labour Group was formed when the proper Labour Group decided to replace its leader. Rather than accept the majority vote, nine councillors decided to split from their colleagues. The defeated Labour Group Leader, who remained as Leader of the Council, did a deal with the Tories to keep himself in power. His nine strong administration lost the support of the Tories quite recently, who proposed themselves as a Tory minority administration. Rather oddly having just been voted out by the Tories, the "Independent Labour Group" apparently voted in the Tory Leader to form an administration. During this bizarre episode, the detached councillors have made a series of I am sure unfounded accusations around racism.
The "Draft Manifesto" proves worthy of such an outfit. It quotes Clause 4 of the Labour Party constitution at the beginning, presumably to try to signal continuing commitment to the Labour Party despite having voted in the Tories. It then has a strikingly threadbare analysis of the functioning of Harrow Council, full of wishful and confused thinking. It is a striking piece of evidence that the Labour councillors, and then the Tories voted them out for sheer incompetence.
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