I I 1 % rI - a-t- I ¡-¡---t zr I I - ---' AND LAMBETH COM M UN ITY CAM PAIGN A$E BETH OUilGILLON$ Defeat the surcharge RI ITITROIIUGTIOII BT Tnu GOURT SE ltRUIIT Thirty two Lambeth Labour Councillors will appear in court on 14 January 1986 charged with "wilful misconduct" for having delayed making a rate in Chair of Local Government lnformation Unit 1985. lf they cannot prove their innocence they will each face personal bankruptcy and disqualification from office for five years. The "alleged" crime The real crime What is the crime that these Councillors have The real crime in Lambeth has been committed by the committed? The District Auditor, an unelected state Government, not Labour Councillors. since 1979 has been official appointed by the Government, has alleged that Since 1979 the Government has taken away millions attack on democracy the ratepayers Lambeth lost money rate The Government's of because a in grants to which the Borough is entitled. These grants was not set until 3rd July '1985. relentless. are paid for by the taxes of Lambeth people. Normally a rate is made by a local Council in March or Lambeth has been forced to raise the rates because April of each year. Why did this not happen in Lambeth MrsThatcherinherdeterminatio-ntosilence.everyvoiceraised it has lost so much of its income from the Government, in 1985? ln 1984 the Government rate-capped at the same time the Council has demanded the return aoainsther,hasaiiäleauniols,"oi,,iiãundnow-evenbrandsthe Lambeth. This meant that the Council would be forced as' Marxist'' of the stolen money. ;;i,' oi Èngtand to make large cuts in jobs and services to meet imposed i;;; ln 1985 the Government tried to stop Lambeth and the new Local spending targets. have been abolished''r-ate'capped Councilfrom deciding how much it should spend by Councils them' Labour Councillors in Lambeth were elected to imposing rate-capping. seexs Þ gas defend jobs and services. They know from their own c;;;;;;;'t-B¡tt The Government has robbed, penalised and rate- experience that Lambeth is one of the most deprived to protect their the people of Lambeth to the tune of over 11 13 Lambeth hlY1attempted only Boroughs in the country. Lambeth has very high levels capped The Councittors in That is their million. ãonts;equencerâïînãttn"rism' of unemployment, rising by over 250% in 6 years. community rrominá Lambeth has a terrible and worsening housing crisis. cnme. Thousands upon thousands of ordinary Lambeth of local citizens exist on meagre welfare benefits. The Labour poticy'of the Labour'f'"'t!and have supported the Councillors could not impose cuts in such difficult They òuí turn to support them' government unoÅi''iit"Åófr circumstances. lt was clear that the borough required O Celebrities meet Lambeth Councillors a body more resources not less to cope with increasing needs. to launch lhe Lambeth Fighting Fund. and to f ait be to 'woutd with For Lambeth Councitlors ?""u??ndonedàttto9 easv'ror those t,t1'12'tü6" e t i ev e t e v a n t' t b btow to rr" tuoo'lÏ'iå'""'ï'l' ø ø r e t n ¡t 9 o å''iå aü i oy,, 1o' ! s e t e ct i v e' ",i 1î'ì'á21 weshoutd'"'"'Ëàîlnáico'n"itt;it";';;a'¡lqiion2eshared"' " Lambeth'spositiåî7'tøiåîà¡'pofwitt 't'qry";E#:::i::::?'2"'#ål;^7Li' ha sr;;";';;ñøers ot councits their case. al'l'|hose who care importantjo and I The fate of Lambeth's Ç9u7c-i!?:t^it nat¡onal importance fuøtic serv.i.ce;. ä'iãá't about democracy-aln'a rcat it as such' hope we witt at 'åä'õ"iò 'AM i{'f",H'5"*":i[îÍ5s'"J'å'1'3!l3iL''" "..åË:îi#f LAMBETH 'Fìghting fund 3 Who are the accused? Why the aPPeal Some are The case to answer men and One or two are full time Councillors. Councillors are ordinary . The thirtv two Labour Some have jobs and f amifies' They are all must succeed Thev all live in the,Borough and unãmptoveO. Labour Counctllors said it was reasonable to delay ilå=mä;ä,îiutuËt. aUout one thing. rney know that they took the problems' They stood for the ððÀtiO'ení ãiãt". They did so in order to try and persuade councillors must go to court to prove thetr i;;y äo; its acute in delaying making a rate and fighting for rãr.iÃg Labour appálling economic and ¡ãnt ããcision to change its mind about how much Council in order to lmprove the for the people of Lambeth' if'ð öo"uãrnrent innocence. experienced every r-or" t".outces Lambeth's growing problems' J*iäiåé.Jitions wrr¡ðrrthey saw and was needed to solve Thev know that they have the majority support of the be day. for They asked that some of the lost 11 13 million o"oóid oi Lãmbeth in this campaign for a better deal the needs UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT' in Lambeth come from a wide local by- returñéO to the Council. They knew best what THEY ARE GUILTY Labour Councillors ir," ã"tótõÀ. This has been demonstrated in quite working people and represent many and of the Borough were. They believed that the The onus is unfairly on them to justify the cross-iect¡on of äiã.t¡ónt.irley have the support of the communrty these acted and .oð¡ät ttäo¡tions' women and black be reaêonable and recognise r"o¡tirnãtã decisionä they took. fhey believed they ãìriãi""i ðrrtural of the Council' öo"ãtñt""t"tigr't both in numbers and in their the workforce needs too. ñil b";t i;teiests of tñe ratepalers arìd people of Ë;îË fäiåiiéniri."ntlv part an responsibilities' They even asked the Government to take in Lambeth. but this inOepãnáent inquiry to establish the true facts was turned down. date for IS VITAL THAT THEY WIN THEIR CASE. WHY? exPre ss their democrat¡c The Government is now planning a specific IT They deserve to win and to thts was not the f ighting for their personal il-re lãtt.g ót à rate. However in 1985 Labour councillors are not only it to be quite possibly their intent on destroy¡ng ð"ið. Lu'io"th Labour Councillors believed .rr¡"ãf . they have much t'o lose: oppos¡tion to a Govern ment in order to on certainly their positions as f to delay rate making ñót"t and liveiihoods, SOqly-Oressurepeople of right to stand nd for. thË"gáf Government, to get riore money for the ãt".t"O councillors uná theit democratic everythin they sta each and Lambeth. toi ófi¡.". They face a surcharge of Ê4000 way from office for five years' The Labour Councillors had no control over the disqualification fails! certáin Government departments withheld essential But much more will be lost if their appeal was not made' on subsidres and rates while a rate Much of the future of local government depends non- in the The District Auditor based his allegations on the ilr¡i ðóurt case. The consequences for councils p"VÅ"ntãithese subsidies and rates' lt is still not clear i"tt ór iÀ" .ountry will be profound Local councillors withhold of whether Government departments can tegally Wi Oã int¡miOateá into obeying the dictatorship the Government these å"nttár Oóu"tnment' lf theystãnd up to PaYments' they will be ,n oiOãtio O"fend the peopte they represe-nt äiil úã"Oed law breakers or, like the GLC and métiopotitan"t councils be abolished altogether' lf Labour Councillors in Lambeth lose, then central power Covãinment wrll have dramatically increased its over the lives of ordinarY PeoPle' However, if they win a great victory wrll have been t ordinary u.'f,iãu"O tor tocaidemociacy and the right of local councillors' óáôpf" to control and elect their I DESERVE SUPPORT THESE COUNCILLORS t \rt J J HotJ9tt6 ! z ot- OH H0Ñ o toò¡ 9 \ ô LAMBETH fignting fund 5 4 TnuG0uilGrrr0ns I FTTES O Janet Boateng, is a busy mother of four, who has represented Oval Ward since May 1 982. At Lambeth she is Chair of Social Services and she is also a member of the Association of Metropolitan Authorities' Social Services O Sharon Atkin, 34, is a full time Councillor who has represented Town Committee. Outside the Town Hall she is active in the Anti-Apartheid Hall Ward since 1984. She is married with a 16 year old son Neil. As well as Movement, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the ACER Project. being Chair of Amenity Services and Vice-Chair of the Police Committee joined poverty within the Council she is also Chair of the Alcoholic Counselling Service and She the Council to try and alleviate hardship and in the Chair of the National Labour Party Black Section. Borough and is particularly concerned to represent the interests of black people. lf she is disqualified this right will be denied her. She stood as a Councillor to serve those in the community who are unable to speak for themselves and to improve the quality of life for the people of tF Lambeth both socially and economically. l-' ,r't I Of the surcharge threat she says "As a full time Councillor my income has .#' been halved, if we lose the case I would therefore be bankrupted and probably lose my home". u O B¡ll Bowring, 36, has been a barrister sinc e 1974 and a Councillor for O Des Atkinson, 29, is a computer analyst/programmer who was Angell Ward since 1978.