Titbits – Fuelling splits and political mis-hits

◆ MP Diane Abbott has signalled her displeasure with Hackney Council over its pension fund investments in fossil fuels. Having, along with Hackney South MP Meg Hillier, signed a pledge to get Parliament’s pension fund to divest, her spokesperson said that MPs were “concerned about the Hackney Council Pension Fund being heavily invested in fossil fuels”.

A recent report revealed that the authority is indirectly investing £37,231,315 in fracking companies. Last January, the Town Hall vowed to divest 50 per cent of its investments in oil, coal and gas over the next six years. Meanwhile, campaign group Divest Hackney has been calling since 2015 to have the fund divest the lot. What has happened to good old-fashioned Labour solidarity?

◆ Cllr Jon Burke seems to be making unusual comparisons, describing the group of core council buildings as Brasilia, the administrative centre of Brazil. Given that country’s recent Operation Car Wash was dubbed by the Guardian ‘the biggest corruption scandal in history’, one wonders if the analogy is perhaps misguided.