Harlow Labour leader: “Tories are full of promises and no delivery”
News / Fri 11th Jul 2025 at 10:14am
AFTER THE leader of Harlow Council, Dan Swords rose to deliver a speech on the state of the town, past, present and future, the leader of Harlow Labour rose to deliver his response.
Councillor James Griggs centred his speech on “promises and not delivery”.
Councillor Griggs centred on affordable homes but also a lack of delivery. He made a specific reference to Arkwrights garages as one example.
“Things get knocked down and then nothing happens”
He also claims that Harlow Tories have waged war on the occupants of Terminus House.
“Where is the humanity?’ he said.
The eight minute speech is below.
Ted
2025-07-11 10:56:22
He's got some front , what did Labour do when they run the council. If they had been any good , the voters would not have kicked them out.
Mr Grumpy
2025-07-11 12:13:48
I am so fed up with this whole slagging off match between political parties. Stop acting like spoilt brats and work together for the benefit of all.
Sodthisforalark
2025-07-11 13:57:59
Mr Grumpy, I agree. I wish politicians worked as they should, for us the people who vote them in instead of this wasting of time and point scoring waste of time against each other. This country would be very different..
Peter Henegan
2025-07-11 14:54:16
There are some valid questions raised here. Of course, not so long back the same questions could have been asked of the labour administration. Were £millions not spent on the station roundabout whilst we had a labour council for very little benefit?
Resident
2025-07-11 15:23:43
They're all as bad as each other. It would make more sense to stop the petty point scoring and work together to sort things out.
Nicholas Taylor
2025-07-11 15:57:05
These two Parties will never work togeher, that is politics and the Westminster dogma that goes with it. What Harlow Alliance has tried to do is to create "Politics without Parties" in Harlow. All the time that people vote for who they have always done or not voted at all, nothing will change. Both parties are good at spending other peoples money, neither take any notice even when they consult with residents and at the moment they seem more concerned about the people who will live in the thousands of new homes around Harlow than those of us who already live here. Nichoolas Taylor, Leader of Harlow Aliiance
Ted
2025-07-11 17:46:48
HAP just as bad, constantly slagging off all parties
Peter Henegan
2025-07-11 19:17:28
Ted, HAP do not constantly slag off all parties. As I stated in my post, I felt that James Griggs raised some valid questions. HAP also raise valid questions, often based on their detailed knowledge of local gov't. I did like your comment about "if they had been any good, the voters would not have kicked them out". Presumably you also apply that perspective to the tory govt. I actually like that Dan and co are making the effort even though if it is not always perfect
Nicholas Taylor
2025-07-11 21:20:37
Ted, HAP are happy to give credit where credit is due, providing 1000 more carparking spaces across the town for one and the work that Labour did in creating the Innovation Park for example. The Conservative administration are continueing the house building programme which Labour set out in the Local Plan of 2020, albeit that they could make better use of the resources available. The problem is as I said earlier, both main Parties are tied to Westminster. As Peter said James Griggs made some very valid points, the removal of over 2000 applicants from the councils waiting list was one. Other issues he raised are ones that HAP have long campaigned about.
Sodthisforalark
2025-07-12 01:23:21
I like Ted's dry comment about HAP slagging off other parties below a comment by the leader of HAP doing exactly that and neither Nicholas or Peter noticed..
Adrienne
2025-07-12 07:45:45
I personally like James Griggs. He is a hard working councillor and actually gets his hands dirty .I have seen him working at the food bank shifting heavy items.He is a credit to Harlow council.I have not a bad word to say about him.Ted maybe you should do a bit more research. James personally helped me when I could have been made homeless. He is integral in helping the downtrodden. And even though he thinks I am a self opinion acted ,loud,,and sometimes downright off the scales mad women.He has never been a more supportive, funny and happy person. Quite frankly,he is a stable , sensitive and sensible person.Not afraid to get stuck in when a friend is in need. So stop giving the bloke crap. I won't hear a bad word about him. The new Yuppie village is just that .And if Dan Swords ⚔️ can't see that we need more council housing and for people to be treated with respect,then I agree with James. At least he has got the blinking courage to stand up for the people of Harlow. He is mature, generally kind and a decent human being. Quite frankly I agree with him.Stick up for Harlow and stop trying to push your own political agendas Get some decent homes that working class people can afford. And if you are not willing to do as much as James does at least stop throwing stones at him. Do something constructive.hugsx
Ted
2025-07-12 14:27:51
Adrienne. I have nothing against James Griggs. (I dont know him). My beef is with the Labour party doing zero when they run the council , unless of course you know what they did , to improve Harlow. They certainly did not build many if any properties for the Harlow people homeless or not.
Ted
2025-07-12 14:36:24
Peter. The Tory goverment were terrible and I was glad to see the back of them. But I am only talking about our local governing bodies.
Adrienne
2025-07-12 22:19:51
The labour council are not in power.The labour government are. Even so Ted I respect your point of view. I have been trying my hardest to support the refitting of our hospital. There are a lot of people, especially pensioners that rely on the hospital. I know quite a few and ev n though doctors surgery s are over run. It is hard for me to watch and say nothing. We need alot of rebuilding in Harlow but not at the expense of the people that live hear. I expect you have lived hear for along time too as have I. We should try our best to stick together.. That way our voices have more impact. By highlighting things that need to be done. I nearly gave up trying to highlight issues that I thought were important. But David Foreman gave me he strength to carry on.I just don't want to see Our Harlow become a carbuncle .It has some lovely people in it and I think it's a shame when profit comes before the good people of Harlow I can tell you care that's good. Passion is heard.We must be kind to each other. Try our best to get a little progress I know I sometimes sound hard,but I have learnt if you are a pushover people won't listen.So I say shout louder. Already Parliament MPs are listening and I do believe take Ng a few questions from this newspaper. The power of the pen lets people get together and express their concerns. This in itself has had a snowball effect already So keep going Ted Your opinion is heard and I for one value it Hugs.
Adrienne
2025-07-13 09:38:49
Great speech James Griggs. Action speaks louder than words. By the way,I may be wrong.But isn't the council getting money from the government. It's about time it was spent a little more evenly.Dan Sword Sweetheart could you possibly get something done about the lack of buses in Some Wards. I did read a post a while ago about no body s service in one of the wards. Also,I would like to request some major works to pavements.It is a long time due. Also, could you please use your sway to sort out PAH 1. Without this PAH 2 will never get built Plus I would personally like to see a higher percentage of proper council houses built There are alot of people in Harlow that feel strongly about this It is there town not a major portfolio collection for you. Also, could you please tell me what happens to my net worth hat is written off Surely if you have insurance this should enable you to get the monies back. And could you please let the readers s know why people are being bullied out of there homes. And what you have done to make sure these poor souls are rehoused and too make sure that in building the new Yuppie village we the original people of Harlow are not bulldozed out of our homes And that the 90 percent of council houses you are going to have to build in order to stop a major home town rebellion for you are equipped with top of the range utilities and old school maintenance. While you am at it, would you mind awfully making sure that the council houses you have have been fully maintained. Thankyou,that's all for now. And well done to James Griggs for highlighting the plight of homeless Harlow people.hugs That's all for the monent
James Gamble
2025-07-16 14:06:47
This Council are delivering the old crap time and time again. How many times has Market Square been redesigned?
James Gamble
2025-07-16 14:26:53
If only. Russia sat down with Ukraine or Iran sat down with Israel, and worked together to make the world safer. Get real people are elected to represent individual opinion. A party may win the election and take control, they are not going to ignore the people who voted them in and take on the opinions of the losing parties. Neither will the opposition ignore the opinions of the people who voted for them. Hence the name opposition.
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