Leader – Why so scared of dissent?

The Labour Party is running Hackney Council like a dictatorship, according to Tory councillor Simche Steinberger.

His description may be over-the-top, but what is certainly true is that Labour’s hold on power in our borough remains rock solid.

The party’s massive majority is a source of frustration for opposition councillors, so no wonder they are up in arms about the scrapping of the Overview and Scrutiny Board, a body meant to hold the council to account.

The Labour leadership’s dismantling of this structure is of symbolic significance for the Tory opposition, which fears the closing down of debate at the Town Hall.

In truth, the council’s governance structure is in need of reform, but the lack of avenues for criticism is still a valid concern.

The main problem is the cabinet system, under which councillors are appointed to senior positions by Hackney’s democratically elected Mayor, Jules Pipe.

Ambitious Labour councillors have an incentive to toe the line in order to win the patronage of Mr Pipe, who has been Mayor since 1998.

In a borough where so much power is vested in the hands of the Mayor and his cabinet and opposition councillors are so numerically weak, the local press can play an important role in scrutinising decisions and decision-makers.

But in Hackney councillors in the Labour group have their correspondence to local newspapers vetted by the chief whip.

And, unlike in other Labour-run boroughs where cabinet members regularly speak directly to the press, here the Town Hall’s press office discourages journalists from quizzing councillors directly.

There is a whiff of insecurity about the eagerness to avoid dissent or tough questions, the irony being that Labour’s position as our borough’s governing party is incredibly secure.

On a national level, power changes hands relatively frequently, meaning humbling periods of opposition for whichever party was previously in control.

It is extremely unlikely Hackney’s Labour group will experience any such a humbling any time soon, meaning the group’s control-freakery seems surplus to requirements.