COMMENT: Blears Highlights Labour Lambeth's Blurred Vision

6.04.11pm UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 11th Jul 2007

Hazel Blears has used her first major speech as Communities Secretary to set out ideas to let every neighbourhood have control over a 'Community Kitty' within five years.

Meanwhile back on Planet Lambeth her radical Labour chums are rowing desperately in the other direction. You see Lambeth Lib Dems thought of it first.

Unfortunately, though, Blears couldn't see across the Thames to the fine work going on in Lambeth under the Liberal Democrat-led administration where each Town Centre had hundreds of thousands of pounds devolved to it for Area Committees to spend locally - she had to go to Brazil for inspiration..

Foremost among Blears 'revolutionary' ideas would be freedom to allow local funding of Community Safety Wardens - you know the same ones Labour has just scrapped in Lambeth.

Another 'revolutionary' Blears idea will allow for improvements to play areas - done that Hazel - greening public spaces - that, too - and improving the local environment. We did that, as well, Secretary of State. Such a shame your boys and girls running Lambeth are so set on centralised control.

Hazel Blears declared, " We must put communities in control of the services that affect their lives."

She added, " Local action is more important today than ever, especially for tackling anti-social behaviour, creating social enterprises, and environmental action."

It's not often we quote a Labour Minister, but in this case we can only agree. After all we were doing just that between 2002-2006. Only here, Labour has just spent a fortune dismantling our Town Centre-based Area Committee structure and sacking experienced staff along with the crime wardens who were improving services locally.

Even Prime Minister Gordon Brown has talked about the " reinvention of the way we govern - promoting the active citizen, the empowered community, open-enabled government."

Back at fortress Lambeth Town Hall, down in the bunkers, Labour politicians wait for Brown and Blears to go away. Such radical ideas don't come easily in SW2.