Brockwell Park: Annual Cannabis March & Festival 5th June 2004

[Donna Ferentes]

Curious to now what actually goes on in Lambeth Group on issues like this. As in some ways the ones i meet are fairly liberal in the attitudes.

Are they in public, though, or only when talking to you?

 

[lang rabbie]

I think Cllr O'Connell was just stirring - this administration is an odd alliance with differences between small 'c' conservative and small 'l' liberal attitudes to drugs (and other social attitudes) cutting across the Lib Dem/Tory party divide.

[For Gramsci's delectation, follow up on another thread, I think - Kennedy's speech on ASBO plus]

 

[William of Walworth]

Trying hard to work out whether the above really will make the Festival less likely to happen, but it doesn't look too good does it? Hoping a few people can offer informed speculation about whether we'll get a Festival in 2005 or not ....

 

[Bob]

Trying hard to work out whether the above really will make the Festival less likely to happen, but it doesn't look too good does it? Hoping a few people can offer informed speculation about whether we'll get a Festival in 2005 or not ....

I would imagine less likely - if Labour are going to accuse the council of being 'soft on drugs' then there's not much political cover for them... incidentally the quote from the Lib Dems on legalising 'some hard drugs' is entirely made up - Cllr O'Connell appears to be quoting the News of the World. The News of the World appear to have made up the quote (my best guess is that they have paraphrased something less harmful).

 

[Gramsci]

Are they in public, though, or only when talking to you?

The impression i get when they talk to me

 

[Gramsci]

I think Cllr O'Connell was just stirring - this administration is an odd alliance with differences between small 'c' conservative and small 'l' liberal attitudes to drugs (and other social attitudes) cutting across the Lib Dem/Tory party divide.

[For Gramsci's delectation, follow up on another thread, I think - Kennedy's speech on ASBO plus]

The Lib/Dems seem to be allowing themselves to be pushed to the right by New Labour.Also the "Orange Book" looks like some in the LD want to move them from "nanny state liberalism" to "tough Liberalism".Most of the marginal seats that the LD are targetting are held by Tories.So it makes sense tactically when as in Lambeth the Labour party are attacking their seeming "soft" approach on crime and drugs.

See here on Orange Book:

http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/2004/364/index.html?id=pp4.htm

 

[TeeJay]

Trying hard to work out whether the above really will make the Festival less likely to happen, but it doesn't look too good does it? Hoping a few people can offer informed speculation about whether we'll get a Festival in 2005 or not ....

To be honest I think this is just party political shit-stirring and won't really have an impact on next year's festival. After all there was a significant police presence at last year's festival as well as the hired security and the march stewards. They all had different roles. I haven't seen the official police report on the event, but this will cut far more ice than this kind of point-scoring political knock-about in the chamber. After all, is the cllr claiming that the police or emergency services had any serious reservations about how the events was run? Did the parks, licensing and health and safety officers have any complaints? How do the vast majority of local residents and other parks user groups feel the event went from their perspective? I would hope - and as far as I know - these are all positive. I think the point the cllr was trying to make was that the Lib Dems and the Conservatives tend to have different points of view about drugs etc. I'd hope that all parties would be honest enough to admit that the festival was well run by any criteria or standard, that there was no trouble (and remember that thousands of people passed through the park that day), there was no damage to the park, the license conditions were all furfilled and all money was paid up front and in full. Lambeth council made a net financial gain from the event, whcih was funded by the voluntary efforts of all those campaigning for sane drug laws. Hopefully this year they will support the event and treat it like a proper, free, not-for-profit event that benefits the community and local economy and actually achieves something positive for the people.

However I am not holding my breath, since it seems that cllrs have more fun playing their games than trying to actually cooperate and agree on anything.

 

[William of Walworth]

I really hope TeeJay's right ....

And that we don't have a wet April

 

[TeeJay]

The biggest problem will be getting quoted an outrageous sum of money for using Brockwell Park. It seems you can make a total mess of the place - as long as you have lots of money to throw at the council (or you *are* the council).

 

[Streathamite]

To be honest I think this is just party political shit-stirring and won't really have an impact on next year's festival. After all there was a significant police presence at last year's festival as well as the hired security and the march stewards. They all had different roles. I haven't seen the official police report on the event, but this will cut far more ice than this kind of point-scoring political knock-about in the chamber. After all, is the cllr claiming that the police or emergency services had any serious reservations about how the events was run? Did the parks, licensing and health and safety officers have any complaints? How do the vast majority of local residents and other parks user groups feel the event went from their perspective? I would hope - and as far as I know - these are all positive. I think the point the cllr was trying to make was that the Lib Dems and the Conservatives tend to have different points of view about drugs etc. I'd hope that all parties would be honest enough to admit that the festival was well run by any criteria or standard, that there was no trouble (and remember that thousands of people passed through the park that day), there was no damage to the park, the license conditions were all furfilled and all money was paid up front and in full. Lambeth council made a net financial gain from the event, whcih was funded by the voluntary efforts of all those campaigning for sane drug laws. Hopefully this year they will support the event and treat it like a proper, free, not-for-profit event that benefits the community and local economy and actually achieves something positive for the people.

However I am not holding my breath, since it seems that cllrs have more fun playing their games than trying to actually cooperate and agree on anything.

this is probably right; strikes me as just more pre-election jockeying by the various parties (espesh when, if you're the lib dems, you tend to take a panoramic, scene-shifting approach anyway!)