What would Corbyn’s future Britain look like? Just ask these residents of the borough where his Momentum mob has taken over
The London borough of Haringey is a hotchpotch of football, music and diversity, but now an ugly turf war has broken out after hard-left activists seized control of the council
COMRADES, rejoice! Wave the red flag! Break out the vegan beer! Yes, after decades in the political wilderness, the hard Left are celebrating as they stand on the verge of real power.
Following the ousting of Haringey council’s chief Claire Kober last month, it’s now a dead cert that Momentum will take control of the London borough - and its £800million budget.
The people of Bradford, Birmingham and Bournemouth might be thinking ‘So what?’ But this development should concern us all – because it points to the rapid and ruthless rise of the hard Left.
Just a few years ago they were a disorganised rabble. Socialists spent their time muttering about capitalist conspiracies with other nose-ringed agitators and posed no threat to the rest of us.
Then came Jeremy Corbyn’s meteoric rise, giving the hard Left a shot in the arm. Suddenly the nation’s Marxists and Trots got a whiff of power – and the grassroots group Momentum was formed.
In just over two years Momentum has grown like a political version of Japanese knotweed, infiltrating Labour and strangling its more sensible elements.
Their tactics are notoriously ruthless. Decent Labour MPs are bullied and intimidated. Across the country moderate councillors – like the Haringey chief – have been forced out, with pro-Momentum candidates taking their place.
Maybe the bully-boy tactics would matter less if their policies really were going to lead us to the land of milk and honey.
But socialist ideas are always a disaster, as the people of Haringey are already finding out.
Sensible plans blasted as outrageous
Take the big local row over housing. A chronic housing shortage led the council to go into partnership with private developer Lendlease.
There were plans for a £2billion public-private deal to build 6400 new homes. It would have radically improved the local area.
It was sensible - but to Momentum it was sacrilege. Doing deals with the evil private sector? Outrageous!
A group of Left-wing activists (some of them living in Haringey’s most affluent areas themselves) wailed that it would mean gentrification.
Now the housing scheme looks dead in the water, with the dream of regeneration killed off too.
Nice ideas but where's the money?
That’s the problem with the hard Left: their obsession with class warfare over common sense policies that would actually improve people’s lives.
Their other ideas for Haringey sound wonderful on paper but bear little scrutiny in the real world.
They say they will scrap council tax for the poorest, give free school meals to every child, house the homeless in council properties and bring all outsourced contracts back under council rule. Sounds great – but where’s the money for all this?
Because of course, the grand ideas of socialists routinely lead to bankruptcy.
The last time the hard-Left seized control of a council was the Trotskyist group Militant’s take-over of Liverpool in the 80s.
Remember how that ended? With multi-million pound debts and redundancy notices sent to 30,000 council workers.
As Mrs Thatcher put it, the trouble with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.
So keep a close eye on Haringey. As a test-bed for hard-Left ideas it should sound the alarm never to let die-hard socialists near power – and NEVER to let Jeremy Corbyn near Number 10.
Momentum activists have split the area right down the middle, facing claims of being champagne socialists and anti-progress
What life is really like where Corbyn's mob have taken over
The London borough of Haringey is known for Tottenham Hotspur, Alexandra Palace - Ally Pally to its regulars - and housing north London’s most affluent areas including leafy Highgate, Muswell Hill and Crouch End alongside some of the most impoverished wards in the country.
As the ugly fallout rumbles on, Sun Online's India Sturgis wanted to find out what local residents really think about housing, Labour splits and the prospect of Momentum moving in.
'Momentum want to keep poor people poor and hold them down'
Roger Geoffry-Perkins, 49, is an assistant contracts officer for the local council. He voted Labour in the last election and lives in Bounds Green.
“I think regeneration is good and haven’t got any problems with a private-public initiative. If it benefits the community it shouldn’t matter.”
“I also don’t think there is anything wrong with gentrification. It seems like the Labour party, and especially the far left elements such as Momentum, want to keep poor people poor and hold them down because it might get them more votes.
"The more affluent people become, the more likely they are to change their politics.
“Momentum has become the main face of the Labour party while Jeremy Corbyn stays in the background. They seem to be propping him up. If it weren’t for them he would probably fall flat and disappear.
"I don’t think he is an effective leader. He is too wishy-washy. Even his position over Brexit is unclear.
“I’ve lived in Haringey for 11 years and love it for its diversity. Not just the people but the different wards, too.
"I’ve voted Labour but I’m tired of them. They are causing too much trouble here. I would love a change at the local council election. I doubt it will happen, we can but hope.”
'Things need to go up, not down'
Domnica Iacoban, 24, has lived in a privately rented property on the Northumberland Park Estate with her husband, a painter, and three young children for two years. This area is marked for regeneration.
“Of course the council will try to expand the area and make it feel newer. It’s normal. It is progression. Things need to go up, not down.
“This area needs so much. We lived in Shadwell in East London before and there was such a difference. When we moved here it took two weeks for the rubbish to be collected.
"If they can make the area cleaner it will benefit a lot of people.
"We also have major problems with parking and the library here is busy so I don’t go, a bigger one would be great.
"Some people are not satisfied with the idea of change.
"When you have been living here all your life it is difficult to adapt, even if the changes are good.
“We are near the [Tottenham Hotspur] football stadium and when they are playing here the streets are full of people. The redevelopment will be good for the area and bring more jobs.”
Chaos in the council
- Recent months have seen Haringey council descend into shambolic in fighting, division, de-selections and resignations as around 17 centrist councillors have been replaced with pro-Momentum candidates.
- When leader Claire Kober resigned she blamed the “sexism, bullying and undemocratic behaviour” of Momentum who were said to have infiltrated key residents' associations, despite living nowhere near planned development areas, to lodge complaints about proposals.
- Her plan, now on ice until after May, was to build a new library, school, health centre and shops to provide new jobs and improved standards of living across the borough.
- Those opposing the regeneration have yet to offer an alternative to ease 10,000 strong waiting lists for council housing or the lives of those 3,000 living in temporary accommodation.
- There were also whispers of Momentum-inspired plots to cap council employee salaries above £60,000. The move, quickly rejected and discredited, would have hit heads and senior teachers hardest.
"They are trying to say class is the new race. Corbyn became a like a superhero"
Naomi Rodriguez, 24, is teaching assistant who lives near Edmonton. She has lived in Haringey all her life and voted for the Green party in the last election.
“I’m concerned about the politics of the far left.
"They are trying to say class is the new race. As a black woman who has lived all my life in Haringey I know it is not true. They are dividing us along class lines but it is not like that.
";Middle class white people are treated the same as working class white people here. It doesn’t matter who you are.
“After the election Jeremy Corbyn became like a superhero here and people became a lot more politically aware.
"I like him but I’m worried about his views on class. It doesn’t come from him, it’s his supporters who are pushing it.”
'It's like social cleansing'
Cliff Cullen, 58, is a chef. He lives near Northumberland Park in Haringey.
“I’m glad Claire Kober has gone. She had to. What the council is trying to do here is a shame. It’s almost like social cleansing. It is a lie that they will guarantee residents can come back.
"The rent will be more expensive and the accommodation smaller. It just won’t work. We have a lot of families living here and those who have grown up here. Why should they move?
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"We don’t need a new library or a new gym. We have those. If anything, we need a social club or sports club, somewhere to play tennis, snooker or pool and adolescents can go.
"I’m not pro-Momentum but I voted for Labour at the last two general election.
"I thought Cameron was a child and Boris was even worse. Now I just feel sorry for Theresa May. Politicians are like lunatics.”