Community Cohesion Meeting (Leeds Liberal Democrats)

Leeds Liberal Democrats <info@leedslibdems.org.uk>

Community Cohesion Meeting

September 14, 2006 3:02 PM

Cllr Mark Harris, Lib Dem Leader of Leeds City Council, took the opportunity of yesterdays (13/09/06) meeting of the full Council to explain how Government Ministers visiting the City a week earlier had shown how out of touch they were with local views.

After responding to a question from Cllr Martin Hamilton, Cllr Harris explained "Last weeks Community Cohesion Conference, organised by the Home Office and with three Ministers attending, turned out to be a waste of time. The start of the meeting was delayed by half an hour because, according to one Minister's aides, he was having a hair cut. When the meeting did take place it seemed the Ministers spent more time with pagers than they did listening to local people."

"Ministers appeared unwilling to accept that local views, or views which did not fit with their own ideas, had any merit. It just seems that national politicians are totally divorced from local reality. If Government's refuse to listen to ordinary people, or indeed to local government, then their chances of influencing and improving community cohesion is greatly reduced. In Leeds the events of a year ago when it was discovered three of the London bombers had links with the City could have caused great harm to the City and diverse communities which make up its population. But those events have not caused lasting harm to community cohesion, instead the City came together and has worked to tackle the issues raised by those tragic events in London 14 months ago. Central Government needs to listen to local people, not make a sham of pretending to."

Cllr Martin Hamilton (Lib Dem, Headingley) added "Representing a diverse area like Headingley I can see how Community Cohesion works on the ground. Local Councillors across the City, regardless of Party, work hard for their local communities and to ensure that all are treated equally. Central Government needs to realise that local communities are essential to maintaining community cohesion and that arranging media events to make them look good have no real impact. They need to provide local communities with the tools, and the backing, to promote community cohesion where it really matters."

Cllr Kabeer Hussain (Lib Dem, Hyde Park & Woodhouse), who attended the Home Office Conference added :- "Key among the messages from local communities that the Ministers ignored is the one that their Foreign Policy has alienated young people from all communities, not just those from a Muslim background. They ignored the massive opposition to the invasion of Iraq, which has turned out to be a disaster for the ordinary people of that country, and they have left young people feeling powerless and ignored by their own Government. Until they understand that their actions have had this effect their efforts to promote community cohesion are fatally flawed."