Bananas or refreshingly different?

Scores of people have had their say on news that mediators will be brought in to reconcile warring Green councillors.

On Saturday The Argus revealed Green Party members in Brighton and Hove have tasked two peacemakers to help bring the non-whipped group of councillors together.

It comes after a series of internal dispute with politicians in the party splitting into “watermelons”, for those on the left of the party, and “mangoes”, for those with more centrist views.

Party bosses claimed the mediation move was needed to “remedy the malaise and move forward”.

But opposition figures took to Twitter to blast the Greens for their disunity.

Former council leader and current Labour lord Steve Bassam raged: “Pathetic attempt by Brighton and Hove Green Party to paper over cracks of massive internal dissent through mediation. Hope no public money is wasted.”

'Group hug'

Caroline Penn, chairman of Brighton’s Co-op Party and a Labour member, wrote: “Fruit salad of mangos and watermelons needs resolving.

“And maybe a leadership election to finally resolve things? Then a group hug.”

More than 100 people commented on the story on The Argus website.

Auser called Pebbles said: “How on earth can any party think it can continue to ‘run’ the city.. make extremely important decisions...including negotiating with the bin men, when it literally cannot keep its own house in order?”

Another commenter called AGT999 said: “It really is time that the Tories and Labour got together, forgot their differences for a while and, in the interest of Brighton and Hove residents, called for a vote of ‘no confidence’ in the Greens and got rid of them before any more damage is done.”

But it wasn’t all bad news for the Greens, with some users suggesting the peacemakers would help the ruling party mend their differences and move forward.

A user called HJarrs argued: “Mistakes along the way? Sure there have been a few, I would have wanted to do many things differently, but overall the administration has been a reasonable success so far considering the intense financial pressure it is under.”

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