but the presence of the press if often inflammatory (sorry no other word), they often seem to play both sides off against one another (#1), and if you heard the reports this morning from female
councillors at the meeting who were afraid of a breach of the peace at the meeting, you can see why he stopped the meeting.
(#1 many examples :C4 resident interviews - what do you think about ex judges appointment to head inquisition given tha he was unsympathetic/over-ruled in a previous hearing )
I think:
- Paget-Brown's decision to cancel the meeting was the cause of why the female councillors feared a breach of the peace
- Surely, it's not in the press interest to cause a breach of peace
- Paget-Brown failed to respect the High Court's decision to allow the press to attend
Is Sadiq Khan's not empowered to organise an intermediate leadership ? I read it as he is not taking any responsibility to help the residents either, and just passing the buck,
he does not see any merit in cross-party unity in this situation, just worried about his popularity - he has the opportunity to do something useful ?
Sadiq Khan or the GLA have no statutory duties to intervene in the council's affairs. The GLA and the local authorities in London have a statutory duty to work together. I think this was intentionally done in memory of Red Ken of London County Council. DCLG have the powers to intervene in Local Governments. You may recall the issue of Eric Pickles intervening in Tower Hamlets a few years ago.