Lynne Featherstone

Now you see it (Labour taking bigger allowances on Haringey Council) - now you don't - because they've tried to hide it in extra Special Responsibility Allowances rather than an overall rise for all their councillors!

The reality though is that Labour have actually awarded themselves £44,751 in extra allowances - through the back door. What Labour have done is vote unanimously for the total of their Special Responsibility Allowances (SRA) to be increased from £676,533 last year to £721,284 this year. In contrast, the Liberal Democrat councillors on Haringey are committed to cutting the number of SRA positions altogether.

This news goes against Council Leader Cllr Claire Kober’s comments that Haringey Council should tighten its belt and “any savings can go straight into providing essential services for the people of Haringey.”

As my Lib Dem colleague Cllr Ed Butcher said: "The Labour leader has been quoted as saying councillors should tighten their belts too in this financial crisis. Well, this looks like they sadly added a few extra notches instead.”

(There's more on this story on my website and on Liberal Democrat Voice.)