Momentum councillors accused in ‘bullying’ row at Haringey
BITTER infighting at a town hall controlled by Left-wingers from the Jeremy Corbyn-backing group Momentum was laid bare today after councillors were reprimanded for “bullying behaviour”.
Haringey councillors have been accused of “barking and growling” at meetings and “rubbishing colleagues behind their backs” by a senior local Labour figure.
The authority was at the centre of a political storm last year following the mass deselection of sitting councillors in favour of Labour Left-wingers after a huge row about a regeneration and housing scheme in the borough called the Haringey Development Vehicle.
This prompted the resignation of Centrist Labour leader Claire Kober and the voting in of Joseph Ejiofor, who sits on Momentum’s National Coordinating Group. An email sent by the Labour group’s chief whip, Councillor Gideon Bull, and shared with the On London website, lists alleged bad behaviour from unnamed councillors.
He said it would leave residents “speechless, and would reinforce the very justified low opinion they have of politicians.” He added: “If this level of unprofessionalism was replicated in the workplace then colleagues would be reprimanded, disciplined and dismissed for misconduct.”
He demanded an end to “barking and growling at meetings” and “no more b a d mo u t h i n g a n d r u b b i s h i n g o f colleagues behind their back and, above all, no more bullying”.
The row between councillors is said to be about Mr Ejiofor’s leadership and council policies. Disgruntled Labour members are said to meet regularly in a pub to discuss alternative ideas.
A spokesman for Haringey Labour said government funding cuts and other pressures have created “heated, urgent debates inside Labour on how best to respond”.