London Blairite social cleanser resigns

This video from London, England says about itself:

Haringey Development Vehicle (HDV) Protest – 3rd July 2017

By Lamiat Sabin in Britain:

Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Haringey council leader steps down over resistance to gentrification plans

HARINGEY council leader Claire Kober announced today that she will step down because of clashes within the Labour Party over her plans to sell off public land and housing to a developer.

In a statement, she said she would be quitting in May as Seven Sisters ward councillor, chair of London Councils and, after almost 10 years, as leader of the north London borough.

Her position has come under fire over the widely criticised Haringey Development Vehicle (HDV), a scheme that involves transferring some £2 billion of public assets to a partnership between the council and the Australian developer Lendlease.

The divisive scheme has turned Haringey into a battleground between Momentum supporters on the left and so-called Labour “moderates”. The Labour-run borough’s cabinet approved the plan, which it said will create 6,400 homes and 20,000 jobs. It claimed that it was the only way to provide new homes, but many residents and grassroots campaigners feared that it would result in social cleansing.

Ms Kober fought off an attempt to topple her last year but saw a number of her allies deselected and replaced with Momentum-backed candidates while other councillors stepped down.

In an unprecedented move last week, Labour’s ruling national executive committee (NEC) backed the call for the HDV to be halted, preventing Ms Kober from signing off the deal. Twenty-two Haringey councillors had written to the NEC to ask it to intervene.

Ms Kober said she would let the next council leader decide the future of the HDV, which is subject to a forthcoming High Court judgement.

In her resignation letter, she accused supporters of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn of having an “ideological dogma” that would “do nothing” to improve people’s lives.

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Mr Corbyn announced at conference last year that a Labour government would block state-led “forced gentrification and social cleansing” of estates through public-private housing schemes.

Campaign group Architects for Social Housing had identified 195 council estates in the 21 Labour-run London boroughs that had undergone developer-led “regeneration” or been faced with it.

HARINGEY residents, especially those threatened with homelessness by the local council’s plan to sell their estates to a private developer, will welcome council leader Claire Kober’s decision to stand down: here.

HARINGEY workers and residents yesterday said they are glad to see the back of council leader Claire Kober and want her housing ‘regeneration’ scheme dropped: here.

The Labour leader of Haringey council, Claire Kober, announced she will stand down after the May 3 local authority elections, blaming supporters of Momentum (allied to party leader Jeremy Corbyn) for her decision: here.

HOUSING campaigners and Labour members responded with dismay today after Haringey council leader Claire Kober accused them of “sexism and bullying”: here.

Haringey Council leader Claire Kober: The social cleansing agenda of a Blairite “martyr”: here.

Haringey’s Labour council has voted to terminate the hugely unpopular Haringey Development Vehicle (HDV), claiming this marks a “new direction” in its housing policy. The project has already cost the north London borough’s council £2.45 million, as well as around £250,000 in fighting a judicial review brought by opponents of the scheme: here.