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Bradford West: Labour needs to get its local councils in order

George Galloway won using the somewhat unhelpful term of Bradford Spring. He now says that the Respect Party will run in all council seats in Bradford and other similar places (do they have that many people?). Meanwhile the EDL are going political ready for local elections. Its a moment for British Politics. For what its worth I'm not sure that this is all about the war. Bradford West has many local intricacies which may be about berardari (sp?), long memories of Blair's war.. but may also be about the burgeoning gap between national Labour and its Northern councils. The reality is that the council in Bradford has not been wholly truthful about what is going to happen with a major piece of regeneration in the City Centre. Bradford's roads are a mess. People cannot afford to insure their cars in parts of Bradford. And presiding over the ineptitude is a Labour Council. I don't wish to be personal, but the Labour lead of council could have been dragged straight out of 1980's news footage. Its not just in Bradford either: my take is that across West Yorkshire there are politicians whose priority is to fight age old political wars whilst the place they are to serve misses out. I have personally witnessed a school get royally messed around by such politicking. And the Labour Party has to get its house in order. It has to have some progression across the party- not just in the affluent south. General elections might continue to mask this issue but there is a problem which needs to be addressed.. And either the Labour Party gets hold of that or we will start to see real fragmentation.

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