Cleansing the Stables?

by Les May

ON the evening of the local elections a lady who had spent the afternoon watching the antics of two Tory ‘number takers’ at a Castleton ward polling station described them to me as ‘a couple of daft lads’.  Later that day when the votes were counted one of those ‘daft lads’ came close to unseating the Labour incumbent, Aasim Rashid, whose majority was only 41 votes which was by far the smallest in any ward. How could this have happened?

It too easy to point to the report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) and the subsequent resignation of Richard Farnell.  But I believe the problem goes much deeper.   Farnell made the mistake of supporting the gone, but unlamented, ex MP Simon Danczuk, for far too long.  From the last day of 2015 until Labour refused to endorse his candidature in mid 2017 Danczuk had the support of Farnell and his cronies, which included some of the people who still hold the strings of power in the Rochale Labour group.  As a result the present regime just looks like ‘Farnell Lite’.

Danczuk brought to Rochdale an unpleasant style of politics.  If Labour in Rochdale is to avoid any more election night scares in what should be a safe Labour seat, it is going to have to show that it has broken completely with the past.  That means clearing out of the seats of power all the councillors tainted by too close an association with Danczuk.  Are they prepared to do it or will short term ‘horse trading’ open the door to the Tories in the long run?

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Castleton Councillor Collects Stipend Top-up

Council Leader says he has 'confidence' in Aasim Rashid

CASTLETON Councillor, Aasim Rashid, found himself under attack in the Rochdale Council Chamber on Wednesday night from the Lib-Dem leader, Andy Kelly, for snatching the stipend top-up he and others in the Labour and Tory parties voted through for themselves in December 2016.

At that time the Manchester Evening News headlined a report on this decision:  'Councillors booed as they vote to accept a 34% pay rise'.

Some councillors who voted for the pay hike said at the time that they wouldn't take the money.  One such was Castleton Councillor Aasim Rashid.  Yet, on the 19th, March 2018, the Rochdale Online Blog revealed:  'Labour councillor Aasim Rashid, from Castleton, who promised, “I’m not taking even a single penny increase in my allowance”, took the increase.'.

That's why at tonight's full Council meeting a flustered Labour leader, councillor Allen Brett had to declare: 'Councillor Rashid has my total confidence, he has my backing'

Councillor Brett also said 'Councillor Rashid didn't know that he had taken the extra allowance.'

Coumcillor Rashid wasn't in the Council Chamber last Wednesday to hear this spat, so he couldn't defend himself.  Perhaps he, like many other labour councillors tonight were out on the stomp to save their own seats at the coming local elections on the 3rd, May.*

But did Councillor Rashid really overlook his extra stipend as Councillor Brett suggests?  After all innumeracy isn't something he declares in his election literature.  Quite the contrary in his declaration he boasts:  'As a business owner I am familiar with finance and hence I have also served you on the Council by being responsible for council finances during what has been an exceptionally difficult time...'

So clearly Councillor Rashid, an economics graduate, has a better basic background in accountancy than most of us, and one would have thought that with his solid familiarity with finance that he would easily be able to get his head round a simple bank balance showing that his councillor's allowances had soared by some 30% or so.

When this week I asked him to explain why he took the money, Councillor Rashid fail to respond.

Councillor Kelly said that he well remembered a local Labour MP, who had had habit of claiming too much in his expenses claims.   Perhaps it is just a necessary family trait in the Rochdale Labour Party, because black sheep like Labour Councillor Chris Furlong, who tonight attended his last Council meeting found himself deselected by the party for failing to support the super stipend boost in 2016.


* About 30 Labour councillors failed to attend last Wednesday's full Council meeting.