Will Brighton council leader Jason Kitcat melt as heat is turned up?

“A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

When Abraham Lincoln uttered these words, it was a warning shot against those who thought that the United States of America could exist with different laws on slavery.

It took years of debate and an all-out civil war before a country ripped apart could finally be meshed back together.

Key to it all was unwavering leadership from President Lincoln himself, a stance which eventually cost him his life.

The end result was a stronger and united USA, one which had the maturity and stature to become the world’s most powerful country.

Fast forward 150 years and the words that Lincoln uttered in a simple state debating chamber are now echoing around again, both at a local and a national level.

Once again, matters across the Channel are tearing apart a Conservative-led Government.

Almost daily the Prime Minister is facing pressure from backbenchers, frontbenchers and those on park benches to look again at Europe.

With the UK Independence Party on the rise and a general election two years away, some MPs are really feeling the heat as squeaky bum time approaches.

The latest news is that, in an unprecedented move, ministers may not vote for the Queen’s Speech due to a Downing Street instruction not to support a call for a referendum on Europe before 2017.

Yet it is more locally that the “house divided” sentiment is ringing loudest.

As the first Green-led local authority in the country, the political leadership of Brighton and Hove City Council was always going to face intense scrutiny.

For the first time, the Greens’ system of no whip and consensus decision making is being put to the test.

Those on the red and blue benches, who had lost colleagues due to the rise of the Green machine, were always going to sink their teeth in at any opportunity.

But, with no one councillor in charge in a system which demands authority, it was the internal debates that were always going to be the most testing.

For a year, under the leadership of the likeable Bill Randall, the group of 23 councillors stood firm with any conflict kept behind closed doors.

But, shortly after Jason Kitcat became council leader, the cracks started to show.

First there was the issue with Green councillor Christina Summers, who said her Christian conscience forbade her from supporting a commitment to back equal marriage.

Despite the Greens supposedly welcoming free speech, within a few weeks an internal investigation had been set up with the result seeing Coun Summers pushed out of the group.

Divisive issue

Now there is an even more divisive issue – a pay dispute with council workers.

After months of negotiations on how it would revamp its system of allowances and expenses to staff, the local authority produced its offer just over a week ago.

The result is that 90% of the workforce will be unaffected. But the big losers were those at the Cityclean depot in Hollingdean, with union rep- resentatives claiming some staff would be up to £4,000 worse off.

The effect has been like placing a stick of dynamite in a birthday cake.

Wilting Greens

Staff refusing to work, waste piling high on the streets, a demo outside Brighton Town Hall – and with full industrial action weeks away, this is just the start of things to come.

One thing is clear: the Greens are wilting.

Split right down the middle, about half of the 22 Greens on the council are behind Coun Kitcat and maintain that the unelected council officers should complete negotiations.

After all, this is what the group decided when they discussed the issue at one of its regular meetings in January.

But others blame the council leader for “misleading” them on major issues.

Completely contrary to Coun Kitcat’s stance, Brighton Pavilion MP Caroline Lucas has already addressed workers at the depot while deputy council leader Phelim MacCafferty publicly told those protesting he did not support cutting pay.

With Coun Kitcat saying one thing, his deputy saying another, and the party’s only MP a law unto herself, just how long can the Greens last?

As it stands there are up to ten councillors in the “watermelon” group – named so because they are Green on the outside, Red on the inside – looking to oust the council leader.

But the manoeuvring is taking time.

As one “rebel” told me: “Unfortunately, the watermelons [socialists] aren’t as organ- ised as the mangos [liberals].”

The fruit reference to Green divisions is perhaps the only refreshing thing in this sorry state of events.

Dirty laundry

No one likes to see dirty laundry washed in public.

The only problem is that the Greens have moved their entire kitchen outside so every indiscretion is on display for all to see.

The ethos at the root of the party is to make the party more democratic and accountable.

But currently the only thing they are doing is making a mockery of the freedom of speech and not actually doing what people elected them to do: make decisions.

What the city needs is a leader with a strong backbone, not one who will scheme in the background and then wilt away whenever anyone questions what they are doing.

Has anyone got the metaphorical spheri- cals to challenge the current leader?

Will Coun Kitcat melt under the heat? Or will we see the emergence of a consensus candidate, much like John Major, who can hold both factions together?

The answers to these questions will become clearer in the coming days.

But one thing is clear: with rubbish circling in the wind and more political backstabbing to come, the journey will be far from pretty.

Do you agree with Tim? Or are his views completely different to yours?

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