Councillor Tony Belton’s Battersea October 2022, Newsletter (# 160)
- As trailed last month, Penny and I went to Croatia on 30th August. We went by train, catamaran, bus and ferry, staying overnight in Munich and then Zagreb; and we returned through Graz in Austria, where Penny had a history conference. Travelling this way was our attempt to be “green” but, of course, it takes time and is more expensive than flying, with its highly subsidised fares – perhaps I should say low-taxed rather than subsidised. But terrestrial travel is certainly more interesting, more fun, and more ecologically defensible than flying.
- We have now been to the same small seaside village about 8 times. Consequently, the four restaurant owners
and 2/300 locals know us quite well. One of the charms of the place is the quiet, accessible, easy swimming. Every day, we swam across the bay from these steps, in a straight line to the other side, which is about 300 metres. There and back, the swim takes us about an hour, including time, floating about and admiring the view! We are not strong swimmers, but the water is warm and what you see is about as rough as it gets in this secluded bay!
- Our next stop was Graz, in Austria, a lovely regional capital city with a population of 60,000 people (slightly smaller than Battersea). It is a delightful
place to have a conference. The conference was largely for fledgling historians giving their first papers; and hence enjoyable for them and just a little challenging. The subject was “war and its impact” – a topic of perennial relevance. We had papers on meritocracy in the Spanish navy; Poland’s tragic history of victimhood; and elite women’s attitudes to war in revolutionary France; and more. The picture is of the city from the funicular railway that runs out of the city up to the old-time castle hill – the castle was demolished by Napoleon!
- On August 30th, we left an England, with some desert-like characteristics, under a Johnsonian PM and still in an Elizabethan Age. We got back and the grass is greener and healthier than ever, but the country is under a completely disastrous Truss administration in a new Carolean Age. All change! The French have a phrase “Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose” which translates as “the more everything changes, the more it stays the same” – we shall see.
- Much has been said about Queen Elizabeth, so I will simply add that it was very striking, in Croatia, just how many people of every nationality came up to us after her death and told us how they personally admired the Queen and how they wished us, and by implication GB, well. Now into a Carolean Age!
- Last month, I mentioned how the Tory Party had been entertaining us during its leadership campaign. Now surely all must agree that it is rather more serious than just entertainment. I can remember in the build-up to Harold Wilson’s first successful election in 1964, that Labour called the previous Tory years “13 wasted years”. Now surely the previous, so far, 12 years have been not just wasted but positively disastrous, and perhaps even dangerous. Truss and Kamikaze Kwarteng have set us on a path to financial crisis and have lost the Tories their undeserved reputation for prudent financial management. Just watch them try and shovel all the blame onto Putin – who deserves everything he gets but I don’t think his objective was simply to destroy Britain’s Tory Government!
- I had the Wandsworth Conservation Area Advisory Committee on the 27th September and the Planning Applications Committee
on the 28th. To be honest, both agendas were very thin and were largely, and unusually, mainly of interest to Tooting and Putney residents, so I will say no more. But take this opportunity to show a picture of me chairing the committee with the Development Manager, Nick Calder on my left, and our independent legal adviser, Duncan Moors, on my right.
- On 29th September we had the Finance Committee. There were several very technical papers about investment strategies, and about progress to date on capital projects, but probably the most interesting paper was about supporting the community in the current cost of living crisis. The Labour Council was under some attack from the Tory councillors, who wanted the Council to be specific about why it was planning to make £5 million available to support the community. Given that this sum was made available as insurance against, say the foodbanks running out of food, or for emergency funding to the Citizen’s Advice Bureau, or for funding for endless other potential disasters in this time of crisis, I thought £5 million was an absolute minimum!
- I came under attack – you may have seen a tweet from Tory councillors – for saying that £2 million expenditure on Northcote Road (to sustain the weekend closure scheme) was not one of our (Labour’s) top priorities. Very strange that! The Tories think that £5 million is not justifiably allocated for potential emergency expenditure in the Borough in this time of crisis, but they are prepared to criticise me for saying that support for one of the most successful of our town centres, in the heart of one of Battersea’s wealthiest areas (Northcote) is not a top priority. Oh well, it’s a good job that we do not all agree about everything!
My programme for October
- I have the Katherine Low Settlement’s annual meeting and associated annual party – always a fun occasion – on 5th October.
- A meeting of the Labour Group of councillors on 13th.
- Battersea Power Station’s public opening 14th.
- Planning Applications Committee is on October 18th and the full Council Meeting is on the next day, October 19th.
- On October 22nd, there will be a National Rejoin (the EU) March from Hyde Park to Trafalgar Square, which I intend to take part in. I, of course, realise that the Labour Party is not yet committed to that course of action and that it will be a bumpy ride, getting back into the EU from here. But the last opinion poll on the subject that I saw in August 2022, showed a 16% lead for those, who think that leaving was a serious mistake. I can only imagine that since that date the majority has increased, and I believe that for the good of the country we must maintain that momentum to re-join and ensure that the next government takes re-joining seriously.
Did you Know?
Last month, I said, “Pete and Polly have an affair; Polly is a rich girl slumming it; you might be forgiven for thinking that you were in Clapham but no, this is all set in Battersea (and Chelsea and Worthing). What’s the film?
Easy for those of a certain age but how many people aged under 50 know this one?” And it certainly turned out to be very easy for those of a certain age, who all knew that the film
was Up the Junction, made in 1969 and directed by Peter Collison. The “Reelstreets” Google entry for Up the Junction has many pictures of the Clapham Junction area as it was in the 1960s, just before the bulldozers moved in. For anyone interested in the sights of Winstanley Road and many other areas of North Battersea this really is a must! My picture is of the old station approach.
And this month?
From the same era, a smash hit (at least in the UK) at the time, this film stars a true Brit mega-star as a lothario – incredibly dated and sexist by today’s standards – it is almost impossible to imagine how successful it was then. Absolutely loaded with London references including many in Battersea’s St. Mary’s ward, which film am I talking about?
Tony Belton
Tony Belton 