Ken Livingstone removed from office

The Standards Board for England, an unelected body set up in 2000,
have removed Ken Livingstone, an elected politician, from office for a
month.

Chris Flood, Socialist Party councillor, Lewisham

I would not support Livingstone’s remarks to the Evening Standard
journalist and more importantly I would not support his Blairite,
pro-big business policies. However, this board could equally be used
against elected representatives or MPs who are fighting cuts and
privatisation.

In the 1980s, 47 Liverpool councillors were removed from office for
the ‘crime’ of building houses and improving services by the
District Auditor and the courts. They had forced the Thatcher government
to retreat and the votes for these councillors had increased in every
election that they stood.

Contrast that with the treatment of Tesco heiress Dame Shirley Porter
who lied to auditors in the ‘homes for votes’ scandal of the 1980s.
Porter was found guilty of gerrymandering – altering the electorate in
eight marginal wards by selling council homes cheaply to people more
likely to vote Tory. It took seven years to complete the inquiry and
then she pleaded poverty!

These unelected bodies will naturally act against working-class
people’s interests and in favour of society’s elites. Moreover,
there is no doubt that such bodies would not hesitate to act against
socialist councils or pro–working class political organisations in the
future.

And what now of most councils? The main political parties seem to
have happily handed power over to unelected, highly-paid chief
executives who make the real decisions over cuts and privatisation.
Seems to be a bit of a consistent theme in society at present doesn’t
it?