An outspoken politician claims his exclusion from the Haringey Labour party is a “badge of honour.”
Councillor Alan Stanton had the Labour whip withdrawn from him last night after failing to support the appointment of the chief executive Nick Walkley and refusing to attend council meetings.
He took to Twitter early this morning, posting: “The Labour whip was withdrawn from me as I voted in council against Nick Walkley's appointment as Haringey Chief Executive. Badge of honour.”
And in another early morning Twitter outburst against Haringey’s politicians, the Tottenham Hale councillor posted: " 'We must become the change we want to see.' Ghandi. Even my fellow Haringey councillors can try to model free speech and transparency.”
His dismissal means he will not play a part in decisions made by the Labour group, but he has confirmed he will continue working as a councillor for Tottenham Hale.
The politician, who has been a member of the Labour party for more than 40 years, told the Haringey Independent this morning he is not fazed by his exclusion.
He said: “I was on the phone to Cllr Pat Egan and we had a good old laugh about it, and I said 'I'm withdrawing the whip from all of you lot.'”
He hit out at the council leader Cllr Clare Kober, claiming she is a “disaster” for Tottenham, and said he is a politician who follows “democracy and openness".
He added: “I think if Kober in the next year does something sensible and shows that she is keen to lead Haringey Council then I will support her, otherwise I won’t.”
If he decides to return to the Labour party, he will have to enter a training programme to relearn his party's policies – which he likened to being "sent to the countryside to work with the peasants”.
Cllr Egan said this morning that the door is "certainly not" closed for the politician and he can reapply to join the party in three months time.
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