It’s not difficult to see why Haringey decided it should twin itself with Barbados. After all the two places have nothing in common.

You might think that town twinning is all about finding your area’s kindered spirit in the world, but it’s not. Which makes sense. Because if Haringey Council thought for one minute that they could pull the palm trees over anyone’s eyes that there was any similarity to be drawn between the tropical island paradise of Barbados and the grim reality of Haringey they were sorely mistaken.

But it’s ok, because the whole point of town twinning is to find towns or cities that are both geographically and politically different from your own so that you can learn from one another and forge cultural links.

So I can understand why Councillor Eddie Griffith decided to try a new tactic to improving the borough. Twin with paradise and try and emanate that here. It’s an interesting theory and while there’s not much we can do to mirror their weather or exquisite coastline (a few days of sunshine over the Lee Valley doesn’t really cut it) there are some things we would do well to adopt.

For starters Barbados has one of the highest standards of living in the world. The island’s measures of life expectancy, literacy, education and standards of living are consistently among the top 50 in the world.

Less than 10 per cent of Barbadians are unemployed.

And the island is well served by transport links. Special taxis and buses go to most places on the island and a helicopter shuttle service can also be used a means of travel.

What’s less clear is what the Barbadians can learn from the Haringeyians. Under the twinning arrangements there are plans to forge links with certain schools and to host cultural events, musicals and plays. It’s not hard to imagine what the Caribbean idyll can offer in the culture stakes for us, but what picture will Haringey paint to the Barbadians?

Crime and disorder? a severe housing shortage? a massive economic divide between east and west? high teenage pregnancy rates?

Still, this twinning lark has been done before. The borough is already linked with Koblenz, Germany; Arima, Trinidad and Tobago; Clarendon, Jamaica; Larnaca, Cyprus; and Livry-Gargan, France, and the influence on Haringey isn’t exactly prevalent. So I won’t hold my breath that the borough might suddenly become all tropical.

What I do think they need over in Barbados is a high quality weekly free newspaper though. And in the name of positive town twinning I am prepared to relocate to Barbados. Purely to aid the twinning process of course. Anyone prepared to sponsor me?