Saada Mohamed, Enfield and Lea Valley Socialist Party
After a Labour landslide in parliament in the general election, you would think things would improve, especially in places with Labour MPs and Labour councils. However, in Enfield the opposite is happening.
Enfield is the London borough with the most libraries. But the Labour council is closing half of them.
Enfield is the London borough with the most dementia. You’d think that dementia services would be fully funded, and not at risk of being shut down. But the council is selling off a centre used for dementia day care.
Edmonton Green Leisure Centre was scheduled only to be closed for two months for repairs last year. But it has not opened its doors to this day.
Under Keir Starmer’s Labour, this is happening in councils up and down the country, as he continues Tory austerity.
Enfield Trades Union Council organised a rally outside the council. Socialist Party members were present, local people, trade union reps, and Enfield Community Action Group (ECAG) that has brought local people together to challenge pro-war and pro-cuts politicians in elections.
There was chanting, and a petition from the ‘over-50s forum’ demanding the council reconsider the libraries decision.
We spoke with a Tory councillor, who was going to the council scrutiny committee meeting. He outrageously claimed that in Enfield, the Tories were the only ones who were campaigning for the libraries.
This prompted a Socialist Party member to ask how many libraries the Tories closed whilst in government. One in every five libraries closed during 14 years of Tory reign.
This demonstrates how outrageous it is for the Tories to act as if they care about funding services, or are the defenders of libraries in Enfield. Our challenge prompted the Tory councillor to disgracefully refuse to sign the petition!
The Labour council is still ‘consulting’ on the libraries, and has raised cutting spending in other places. This is just an excuse for the council to act like they tried to stop the closures, or to cut another service.
The council should not make these cuts. Instead, it should demand that the Labour government give councils the money that they need. If they can’t do that, they should step aside for those that will.
