The Greens launch their local election campaign in Cadmen

WITH  just eight weeks to go until the Town Hall elections, Sir Keir Starmer has criticised the Green Party over drugs – claiming soft policies will cause chaos in hotspots like Camden Town.

The New Journal was this week given the chance to ask the Prime Minister how he felt about the upcoming polls which will decide who runs the council for the next four years.

His party is reeling from Labour’s loss to the Green Party in the recent Gorton and Denton by-election, while there have been a raft of predictions that some London local authorities could fall.

Mr Starmer has responded by branding the Greens as an “extreme” and questioning manifesto pledges to legalise drugs.

Speaking exclusively to the New Journal after a function at Downing Street on Monday, he urged Labour’s traditional base in Camden to stick with the party on May 7.

He said: “The Green Party wants to legalise all drugs, including crack cocaine and heroin. That is not what we want to see in Camden. We need to be really clear about these policies on drugs and the impact this could have.

“It would end up making crack cocaine and heroin freely available on streets in Camden Town and the hard work the council and others are doing to help people with addiction issues could easily be undone.

“The crucial thing to remember is Green Party councils are saying it would be fine to legalize these hard drugs, and without a sensible roadmap as to how it would deal with this very serious public health issue.”

Camden Town has had a historic drug market which police have found hard to break up over many years, if not decades.

Sir Keir Starmer spoke to the New Journal after a Downing Street function this week

Some have argued that hard drugs are already easily accessible to users here, and the council this week announced it was opening a testing service for them to check purity on illicit substances obtained in the area.

The Greens only have one councillor in Camden, Lorna Jane Russell in the Highgate ward, but is looking to increase its presence in the council chamber by persuading the borough’s historically left-leaning voters to side with them.

The term the “Prime Minister’s backyard” has been repeatedly used for Camden by opposition parties who believe the May elections are the perfect opportunity to send a message over the government’s first 18 months in power.

Cllr Russell said: “The war on drugs has failed. That’s why hard drugs are freely available on the streets of Camden.

This has brought misery to many and has left Camden suffering the highest drug-related deaths in London.

“Keir Starmer should spend less time on attack lines in the paper and instead look at evidence based solutions to problem drug use.

“The Green Party wants an approach led by public health experts, not politicians. Greens will regulate and tax drugs through a legalisation policy designed to take drugs out of the hands of criminals.”

SEE ALSO THE FALLOUT FROM ‘THE FIRE’: WHAT COULD SAVE THESE STREETS FROM THE SUPER DRUGS?

The Greens kicked off their election campaign on Saturday with a visit from party leader Zack Polanski.

“Knowing that he is unable to defend Labour’s terrible track record of failure, Keir Starmer is spreading misinformation about drugs and the Green Party approach to them,” said Cllr Russell.

“This is a desperate attempt to distract from our popular policies on taxing wealth fairly, protecting the NHS, investing in public services, introducing rent controls to make housing affordable and protecting our green spaces.”

Labour will also face a challenge from the Liberal Democrats, particularly in north-west of the borough, and independent candidates could prove tricky opposition in one-off wards.

The political consultancy, Cavendish, last week predicted Labour would lose its long-held majority to a council with no party in overall control.

Others are less sure that Labour really could lose that many wards for such a dramatic outcome.

Mr Starmer, who was speaking to the New Journal after a St Patrick’s Day reception at No. 10, said: “Labour councils have managed to provide vital services despite difficult years of austerity under the Conservatives.

“Camden Councillors have worked tirelessly to maintain these vital services despite the pressures, and this Labour government is intent on clearing up the mess the Conservatives left behind. Only a Labour government working alongside Labour leaders in Camden can deliver for working people.”

SEE ALSO CAMDEN SETS UP DRUG TESTING CENTRE – FOR ONE DAY A MONTH

The forecasts that Labour will not find the elections as easy as previous years ­– the party has only lost power once in 55 years – have been partly based on the idea that people will bring national and international issues into the polling station.

Campaign organisers would rather people voted on the record of the council ­– which has “outstanding” inspection ratings for all of its departments apart from housing.

Mr Starmer said: “Camden Council is providing really important services for people and doing it really well ­– it is a good, well run council vital for so many of my constituents and the people who use their services.

“We must continue to have a Labour-run council so everyone gets those high quality local services, and it is a positive case for hard-working local councillors who really know the patch, and have real experience of helping people when times have been tough.”