It comes to something when the Chief Rabbi is turned away from the polling station because polling officers don’t have his name on the list, but that’s what happened this morning. At a time when there is huge concern about ant-Semitism the incident couldn’t be more unfortunate. It was accidental, but hugely symbolic.
Barnet is “Easy Council.” Everything has been boiled down and services outsourced. It might cut costs, but in cutting salaries, pensions and outsourcing the Council’s services, it appears that competence and loyalty have been outsourced as well.
The fact that huge numbers of voters had been left off the lists sent to polling stations in Barnet today must have been pretty obvious to anyone with any knowledge of the borough. Either the people responsible were completely out of touch, or they just didn’t care. Whichever it was, it is a damning indictment of the Council and its approach to service provision. Barnet has betrayed democracy.