ELECTION: UPROAR OVER COUNCIL LEADER’S CHILD CARE COMMENTS Labour re-take Croydon; Crystal Palace’s Tom Papworth among the night’s Lib Dem casualties….

COMMENTS MADE by Bromley council leader Cllr Stephen Carr at the election hustings meeting in the Queens hotel have caused uproar among young mums.

Catherine Fleming Wood who attended the meeting organised by Crystal Palace and Norwood Chamber of Commerce, has posted the following on the Crystal Palace Mums Facebook site:

“I’ve never been to anything like that before, but found it really interesting to hear from councillors from different parties and different wards talking about Crystal Palace.

“The panel started to discuss child care and education, “I plucked up the courage to ask a question: I told the panel that my son’s nursery fees were currently three-quarters of my take home pay, and if I have another child and send them to nursery, the fees for both children would be more than my take home pay.

“I asked the panel what their thoughts were on this and what they plan to do about childcare costs in Crystal Palace.

“Stephen Carr (Conservative leader of Bromley council) answered first. “He said people have to be responsible for themselves and if they can’t afford children they shouldn’t have them. “I was completely shocked by this response.

“I have what I think to be a well paid job. “If I “can’t afford” to have children, what hope do people on a lower wage have? “Is Stephen Carr seriously suggesting that people that earn the national average wage or less shouldn’t have children??

“After the event my sister went to speak to Stephen Carr about his response. He told her that he didn’t think his taxes should be used to subsidise other peoples childcare.

” My sister pointed out that if women can’t earn more than their childcare costs then they won’t be able to go back to work, I’m paraphrasing slightly but his response to this was ‘so things go back to how they used to be, fine by me’.

“Again I found this completely shocking. “There are approximately 5.3 million working mothers in the UK, that’s 5.3 million people going to work and importantly paying tax.

“Is Stephen Carr suggesting that these 5.3 million mothers stop working, and stop paying tax?? “How does he expect to run his council, or the Government to run this country, without taxpayers??

“I found his attitude not only ignorant but incredibly offensive, and irresponsible. “I only wish I lived in Bromley so I could do my damnedest to get him off the council come the 22nd May elections.”

STEPHEN CARR, asked for a response to Catherine Fleming Wood’s comments,  told News From Crystal Palace:

“I am happy to make clear my response to the question.

“I simply made the point that people have to accountable for their lifestyle choices/decisions and that parents should not automatically expect the state to pick up the bill.

“There is no question that over the last decade or so there has been the growth of what I call, “I have a right” culture and I simply do not accept that should be so.

“Additionally I expressed the opinion that family and extended family should play a greater role as indeed used to be the case and that where possible and appropriate the state should make a contribution.

“I stand by these comments and can inform you that a good number of local residents have approached me to offer their support to my remarks.”

Cllr Carr’s comments – which were inaudible to the News From Crystal Palace reporter covering the event – can be found on the first website listed at the end of this article.

On the website Cllr Carr can be heard to say: “Yes of course we need to be more sympathetic but at the same time we need people to be more responsible ble about their responsibilities.

“Can you afford children? What do I need to do to afford children? “I know it’s not a popular statement but what you don’t see ladies and gentlemen are where things go wrong because of overcrowding in families, because of the violence, because of the domestic abuse.

“We have nearly 300 children have to be looked after by the borough. “I make no apologies – a lot of these issues are totally ignored.”

AMONG the (many) responses to Catherine Fleming Wood’s post on the Crystal Palace Mums Facebook site have ranged from the pertinent:: “I have two under three years old children and I can’t wait to work again. “Unfortunately I will have to work in the evenings and weekends to start with, at least until my eldest gets her 15 hours free of nursery…”   to the impertinent:  “What a Tory a***.”

And Catherine Fleming Wood, in response to one questioner who asked if the local press were there, responded: “Actually yes there was local press there, can’t remember the name of the paper but a reporter did come over to me afterwards to get my name.”

(Actually it was News From Crystal Palace! – Ed.)

TO HEAR A RE-RUN OF THE DEBATE:

http://tinyurl.com/ngymez4 (Cllr Carr’s comments cab be found about I hour and seven minutes into the debate)

http://www.eastlondonlines.co.uk/2014/05/cross-borough-debate-what-needs-did-the-candidates-address/

ELECTION UPDATE

LABOUR RE-TAKE CROYDON COUNCIL

LABOUR HAVE taken control of Croydon council after an eight-year gap winning 40 seats to the Conservatives 30.

The move brings renewed hope that Upper Norwood library will start to get significant and proper funding from Croydon council again following Labour pledges in the Croydon election campaign that they would match funding from Lambeth council for the library.

Croydon North MP and former Lambeth council leader Steve Reed has already posted the following:

@saveUNlibrary I’ve already discussed this with the new council leader. Looking forward to an early announcement…

In the two key marginals Labour gained all three seats in  Waddon ward – which went Conservative in 2010 as well as regaining one of the two seats in New Addington ward and retaining the other.

Simon Hoar, cabinet member for community safety and public protection, was one of two sitting members who lost his seat in Waddon. One of Waddon’s new Labour councillors is Andrew Pelling – formerly Conservative MP for Croydon Central.

In the one surprise result of the night Labour also took all three Tory-held seats in Ashburton ward where the gap between the third-placed Conservative candidate and fourth-placed Labour candidate in 2010 was 632 votes. Previous council: Con 37    Lab: 33

Conservative leader Cllr Mike Fisher told the Croydon Advertiser he blamed Conservative voters who voted UKIP for the results.

RESULTS IN THE KEY CROYDON WARDS:

IN BROMLEY the Liberal Democrats lost all four seats including that of Crystal Palace ward Cllr Tom Papworth. New councillors for Crystal Palace ward are Labour’s Angela Wilkins and Richard Williams.

Labour held Penge and Cator by a substantial margin. In Clock House ward the vote was split with two seats going to Labour and the third to the Conservatives. (2010 election the Conservatives took two of the seats, the Lib Dems the third).

The fourth loss for the Lib Dems was in Cray Valley East (2010 election 2 Cons I Lib Dem) where all three seats went to the Conservatives with just 16 votes separating the third-placed Conservative from a lone UKIP candidate.

UKIP gained two seats in Bromley in the three-seat Cray Valley West ward and the third going to the Conservative. In an incredibly tight vote the first-placed UKIP canidate polled 1245 votes with an Independent candidate in seventh place polling 1,095 votes. Previous council Con 53 Lib Dem 4 Lab 3 New council Con 51 Lab 7 UKIP 2

Crystal Palace ward result:

CHANCE, Tom Hugh Green Party 575
HOUGH, David UK Independence Party (UKIP) 361
MCILVEEN, Robert Conservative Party Candidate 280
MORAN, Karen Conservative Party Candidate 352
PAPWORTH, Thomas James Liberal Democrats 838
PAPWORTH, Victoria Anne Liberal Democrats 768
WILKINS, Angela Labour Party Candidate 1411
WILLIAMS, Richard Wyn Labour Party Candidate 1151

IN LAMBETH the Liberal Democrats were wiped out losing all 15 seats.

The Green Party took a seat in St Leonards ward. (The Greens lost their one seat on Lambeth in the 2010 elections). In Gipsy Hill ward all three sitting Labour councillors were re-elected with a huge majority.

New council: Labour 40 Conservative three Green Party one

SOUTHWARK

LEWIS ROBINSON lost his seat in College ward in what was a bad night for the Conservatives in Southwark. The Conservatives finished with just two seats in Village ward with the third seat going to Labour. The results in Lambeth and Southwark prompted the South London Press, in its Tuesday edition following the election, to ask on its front page: “WHO WILL HOLD TOWN HALLS TO ACCOUNT?”

Lindsay Chatli Conservative Party 1174
Theresa Philomena Connolly Liberal Democrats 230
Brigid Catherine Gardner Liberal Democrats 219
Robert Nicholas Goodman Green Party [The]370  
Jon Hartley Labour Party [The] 1987 yes
Helen Elizabeth Hayes Labour Party [The] 2287 yes
John Hedley Liberal Democrats 201
Kirsty Alice Lothian Green Party [The] 389
Stuart Richard Lewis Millson Conservative Party 1137
Lewis Robinson Conservative Party 1286
Andy Simmons Labour Party [The] 2070 yes
Jamie Vincent Green Party [The] 346

New council Labour 48 Liberal Democrats 13 Conservative two

RESULTS AWAITED from   Lewisham.