The principal debate wasn't about Havering's impending bankruptcy. Conservatives chose, instead, to discuss Romford Market. This illustrates why Havering is in a mess after 20 years of Conservative rule.
In the 1990s Arthur Latham listened to the traders and spent £1,000s on cobble stones and £1,000s removing them because shoppers hated them. Traders spoke, Latham listened: it was an expensive mistake.
David Taylor (@1:06)1 discussed the survival of the market. Adopting a conspiracy theory, he accused HRA of attacking Romford itself. Graham Williamson (@1:11) pointed out the market was very costly.
Romford Market is in a death spiral. The,
"….number of traders was in long-term decline with 339 traders in 1985, 266 traders in 1995 and 170 traders in 2005. By 2015 the number of regular traders had declined to 90."2 Reducing once more to 60 in 2023 according to Williamson.
Veteran councillor Michael White (@1:29) said blaming Conservatives for doing nothing after 20 years in power was unfair. Timothy Ryan (@1:32) recounted stories about his childhood. Ray Morgon (@1:35) was surprisingly enthusiastic.
Conservatives demanding subsidies for lame ducks is strange. The Administration refused to say that subsidising Romford Market was throwing good money after bad. This is despite the fact that Romford Market has been on life-support for 30 years.
What would Margaret Thatcher do?
Addendum: Margaret Thatcher on lame duck industries
"…her policies had consigned out-dated, lame-duck industries to the nostalgia books…"3 Ironically she's revered by Romford's Conservatives, especially their MP.
Notes
1 Annotator Player (sonicfoundry.com) Times in brackets indicate when speeches begin and relate to this webcast
2 Romford Market - Wikipedia
3 An economic dawn in the wastelands | The Northern Echo
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