• AS our MP, Jeremy Corbyn’s opinions are local news, and likewise, the opinions of various Islington councillors are often news.

However, as regular Tribune readers it has been interesting to note the sudden rise in the number of letters and articles from Labour councillors expressing political opinions. What could possibly cause this sudden rise in interest?

Islington Council has a huge Labour majority. For the last few years it has quite simply ridden roughshod over anybody’s opinions about anything, other than their own.

They have been like a tube train traveller with earphones in their ears, shutting out the world and listening to nothing but their own messages.

I suppose the Labour group now wants more of their overwhelming majority so they can return to their default position of deciding what is best for Islington, while taking no notice of local voices raising problems or suggesting alternatives.

The Green Party supports many declared Labour policies, both locally and nationally, and is supportive of progressive policies to the point where it even stood a candidate down at the last “snap” election, in a seat where the Labour majority over the Tories was much smaller than the Green vote at the 2015 election.

This was at the same time as Labour tried (unsuccessfully) to unseat our sole Green MP, Caroline Lucas, in Brighton.

Now, Labour locally is putting a lot of effort into unseating Councillor Caroline Russell, the sole opposition voice on the council.

As Cllr Russell has spent four years listening to local people and being their voice when Labour wouldn’t listen, it seems unlikely that the sudden surge of letter writing will make up for the years of neglect… or the potential for another four years of listening only to themselves.

We think it most likely that the attempt to unseat Cllr Russell will also fail, because Islington needs more councillors like her, rather than more like the present Labour group.

BENALI HAMDASH
ERNESTAS JEGOROVAS
CLLR CAROLINE RUSSELL
Green Party candidates, Highbury East ward