Sarah Teather: an MP who’s afraid to face the electorate on her record

When I read the news that Sarah Teather is to stand down at the next election over breakfast last Sunday morning, I couldn’t help feeling that the people of Brent would be better off now if Sarah Teather had discovered her political conscience three years ago.

As MP for Brent Central, Ms. Teather has voted for successive Coalition Government budgets, shifting the burden of deficit reduction onto society’s most vulnerable and reducing funding for vital Brent Council services by £104 million. As Schools Minister, she voted to abolish EMA and oversaw the elimination of the Labour Government’s crucial Building Schools for the Future programme- taking £85 million from Brent schools.

Ms. Teather hasn’t offered Brent Council any assistance in its ongoing efforts to to tackle slum housing and rogue landlords through introducing private rented sector licensing, or to reduce her constituents’ bills through our bulk energy buying scheme. Instead of supporting our response to the Government’s Shaping a Healthier Future programme, which sought to protect the capacity of Northwick Park and Central Middlesex Hospitals to meet North West London residents’ healthcare needs, she has colluded in the disastrous backdoor privatisation of the NHS.

Finally, last Christmas, when Brent’s food banks broke their own record for the number of vouchers given out in a single day, Sarah Teather remained silent.

Some have suggested that Ms. Teather has opted to stand aside now because she fears that Brent residents would not reward this record by voting her back in come 2015. I can’t pretend to have any insight into her private considerations – and on a personal note I have always found her courteous and decent – but I haven’t heard any of my constituents mourn her decision to go and I can’t say I will either.

Reflecting on last weekend’s big announcement now, however, I can’t help but feel also that it’s a shame that Brent Central voters will not have the opportunity to offer their verdict at the ballot box on an MP who voted to abolish the Education Maintenance Allowance, treble university tuition fees and dismantle our NHS after campaigning against each of these policies. It’s undeniable that the Liberal Democrats’ litany of broken promises has done a great deal of damage to public trust in our politics, the condition of which had already deteriorated significantly as a result of the MPs’ expenses scandal.

There can be little hope that our broken political system might be mended as long as politicians like Ms. Teather feel they can make up for the havoc their decisions can inflict on our communities through broadsheet mea culpas. Brent residents deserve an MP who is grounded in their community, who will stand by them through thick and thin and who won’t be afraid to face the electorate on their record.

Muhammed Butt is the Leader of Brent Council