Friday 15 April 2016

Now it's three Brent Councillors pledged to fight austerity



In a welcome move Cllrs Sam Stopp and Keith Perrin have now added their names to the People's Assembly Against Austerity letter from local councillors pledging to fight austerity and local government cuts LINK

Other councillors can add their names by emailing office@thepeoplesassembly.org.uk

LATE NEWS Cllr Tom Miller has added a comment that he would like to sign but thwarted by a dud link. I have taken that as support for the pledge.


17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Any chance of them doing something physical like voting in the opposite direction to their crew?

Anonymous said...

Hahahaahaaa

Philip Grant said...

I seem to remember that Keith Perrin was one of only three Brent Councillors (along with Janice Long and Helen Carr) who voted against the recent increase in allowances for councillors, saying that Council members should not be increasing allowances for themselves while cutting services for the people they were elected to represent.

I agree with him on that, and welcome his signing (along with Cllr. Stopp) the anti austerity letter. I hope that any other independent-minded Brent councillors will follow their example.

Philip.

Alison Hopkins said...

I imagine neither will be standing in 2018. Keith once told me he thought Brent Labour was best changed by working within, rather than challenging in public, so this is interesting.

Anonymous said...

Would be a shame if someone decent like Keith Perrin gets pushed out by the plastics.

Anonymous said...

Councillors showing integrity. What a pleasant change. Hopefully they will still be around to support their constituent's views and not be dropped.

Alison Hopkins said...

Agreed. I think he got a very nasty surprise after he was eleced. Courted before, pooped on after.

Anonymous said...

But do they support their constituents? Or do they just look for ways to boost their CV?

Anonymous said...

We know for a fact, and from experience,that Keith Perrin supports his constituents. His work in opposing the Byron Court School expansion and his representation on behalf of residents has been unquestionable.

Anonymous said...

Keith Perrin has certainly supported his constituents, most likely to his detriment but at least he will have a clear conscience and our support in return.

Alison Hopkins said...

Yup, Keith has listened to his residents, as he properly should. A shame that the same can't be said of the Dollis Hill councillor who spoke in favour of a planning application bitterly opposed by residents. And knew they were doing so, too.

Friends of King Eddie's said...

Cllr Sam Stopp supported Friends of King Eddie's Park in saving the Bowls Pavilion last yr and continues to support us in our efforts to create a community space. We are grateful for his time and efforts.

Anonymous said...

Great to hear one of the Cllrs is adhering to basic standards of his post.

Anonymous said...

Sam Stopp told us not to align ourselves with people hostile to Labour when fighting a planning application which is a completely corrupt approach to planning. He also spoke in favour of the Wembley Twin Towers monstrosity despite it's deep unpopularity.

Philip Grant said...

In reply to Anonymous (20 April at 10:02):

Brent Council has a Constitution, which sets out the rules that should be followed in conducting the Council's activities. This includes (in Part 7, "Codes and Protocols") a Planning Code of Practice, which is supposed to govern the Council's 'approach to planning'.

The first part of the principles that Code sets out includes the following wording:

'Members of the Planning Committee shall determine applications in accordance with the Unitary Development Plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. The Brent Members’ Code of Conduct ... must be complied with throughout the decision making process. Decisions should not be influenced by the interests of Councillors or
because of pressure exerted by applicants, agents or third parties. Members of the Planning Committee must take decisions in the public interest and take account only of material planning considerations. They should not allow themselves to be influenced by members of the public and applicants, agents or third parties who
might approach them and they should not be influenced by party politics.'

I know that I have often gone on about Brent's Constitution, and "Standards", but as these are rules which the Council itself has adopted - in order (it would claim) to ensure that it conducts itself honestly, fairly and openly - then Brent residents have the right to expect that those rules will be followed. If any councillors are bringing party politics into the planning process, and allowing it to influence planning decisions, then they are breaching the Council's Code, and action should be taken against them.

Philip.

Anonymous said...

need to chat.

Martin Francis said...

To Anonymous, 20 April at 23:45 - who would you like to chat to, and what do you need to chat about?

If you would like me to try and help, in confidence, to put you in touch with a known contributor to this blog site, please email me at martinrfrancis@virginmedia.com