Showing posts with label . Brent Green Party. Show all posts
Showing posts with label . Brent Green Party. Show all posts

Friday 20 April 2012

Air pollution: video on this silent and deadly menace




From the Guardian: LINK 


Jenny Jones, the Green mayoral candidate for London, has accused mainstream political parties of lacking the political courage to tackle air pollution – despite strong evidence that it represents a major public health risk. Jones issued a broadside against the political mainstream as she battles to get London's poor air quality a hearing at mayoral hustings between now and polling day, amid evidence that a problem invisible to the naked eye is now the second biggest public health risk in Britain after smoking, and is linked to around one in five deaths a year in London.

Jones sought to push the environmental agenda at city hall when she served as deputy mayor to Ken Livingstone between 2003-2004. She is urging supporters to give the Labour candidate their second preference vote in the election. In her view Livingstone "did ignore" the problem until his second mayoral term, when he introduced the low emission zone, but she reserves her strongest criticisms for the incumbent Conservative mayor Boris Johnson, who she says "has been absolutely ignoring all the evidence" despite a report landing on his desk mid-term in his tenure that revealed 4,300 Londoners were dying prematurely because of pollution, with an average 11.5 years taken off their lives.

 Jones has repeatedly criticised the incumbent mayor over his use of pollution suppressant vehicles near air quality monitoring stations to deal with the problem in the run up to the 2012 Olympic Games. The trucks spray adhesive to the road surface, effectively glueing pollution to the ground. Jones said this only serves to lower the pollution measured, rather than tackling the actual problem. She added: "He's burying the problem and pretending it doesn't exist. How does he square that with his role as mayor, trying to protect Londoners and make their lives better. He's actually making their lives worse."

Other air quality campaigners have gone further, with Birkett describing the move as "public health fraud on an industrial scale". Jones has outlined some of the radical measures needed to reduce harmful pollutants by cutting traffic and getting people out of their cars. This includes raising the congestion charge from £10 to £15, slapping a £40 daily charge on "gas guzzlers", an ultra-low emission zone in central London and replacing the central congestion charge zone with a region-wide road pricing scheme after three years.

Jones, whose pledges sometimes raise eyebrows at hustings, says the Greens are not prepared to shy away from radical policies that may be seen as "politically toxic" but are the only way to clean up the problem. "Either politicians are not recognising how serious the problem is, or they are choosing not to see it, but you can't argue against it. The facts are there." She added: "Greens are not frightened to tackle politically toxic things if they feel they are important."

Airborne pollution in the form of fine particulate matter – such as PM2.5, particles of less than 2.5 micrometres – comes mostly from combustion sources, including transport, domestic and industrial sources, and aggravates respiratory and cardiovascular conditions. Research shows these PM2.5s are likely to be inhaled deep into the respiratory tract and with other forms of air pollution can reduce the lung capacity of children. Air quality in the capital is the worst in the UK and also ranks among the worst in Europe, with research suggesting that up to 50,000 people die early in the UK every year as a result of air pollution.

Transport for London, which Johnson chairs, insists that trials in London and abroad have shown the effectiveness of dust suppressants in reducing particulate matter (PM10) levels . Leon Daniels, the managing director of surface transport at TfL, said: "Transport for London has always been clear that the use of dust suppressants across London is in combination with other measures to reduce harmful PM10 levels at a range of locations where we know there are higher levels of this pollutant. This is in addition to a range of longer terms, sustainable measures aiming to reduce pollution levels at source across the capital."

Britain is still facing fines of up to £300m over a repeated failure to meet key EU air quality directives since 2005, when Labour was in government and Livingstone was installed at city hall. Under the coalition government, however, there is little sign that concerted action os planned. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs recently claimed that the costs of meeting EU pollution targets may not match the benefits. But Jones warns politicians need to introduce the radical measures needed amid signs that the problem is worsening. Last month, pollution in London hit record levels due to a mix of weather conditions and traffic fumes, in particular from diesel cars, vans and lorries.

Jones says part of the problem is that the public don't realise the scale of the public health risks attached. "It's not like the smog of the 1950s that was really tangible. Now, the air looks quite clean but actually it's not, but people aren't seeing it. Though if you go to a high building, you can see an orange haze across the horizon and that's the pollution."

The Green party has made a six minute film to highlight the threat to people's health from poor air quality, drawing on the expertise of air quality expert, Professor Frank Kelly, of King's College London, and Simon Birkett, founder for the Campaign for Clean Air in London. Jones believes if parents understand the damage to public health, the public will be more willing to accept that a change in behaviour is necessary. Research by the Campaign for Clean Air in London has found that 1,148 schools in London are within 150 metres of roads carrying 10,000 or more vehicles per day, putting children going to these schools, and living near them, at increased risk of developing asthma, and their parents of developing heart problems.

The Green mayoral candidate, who polled just 2% in the latest survey of voting intention on May 3, wants more Green party members to be elected to the London assembly to pressure the next elected mayor to show political leadership on the issue. Jones, currently one of two Green assembly members, will also defend her assembly seat in May. She says that one of the measures that needs to be considered by the next elected mayor is simply to close roads from traffic, but admits it is tough getting the message across. "That's why it's incredibly important to have a strong assembly team because then we can speak much more loudly and get the mayor, even if it's not me, to do the right thing."

 Jones is taking part in an event organised by eco-activist group Climate Rush on Thursday evening in protest at the capital's dirty air. The event will begin outside the offices of Defra and protesters will then take over a road, calling it London's "first true clean air zone", and holding a picnic and street party.

Thursday 12 April 2012

If Brent Council can't keep our streets clean, what can they do?

Barnhill Road, near Lidl
Out and about leafleting and canvassing in the Preston Road area of Barnhill ward and on Chalkhill this morning it is clear that after library closures and general frustration over Brent Council's poor consultation record, dirty streets is a big issue. Street sweeping was cut last year LINK and when Brent Fightback organised a petition to get the cuts reinstated we were told that residents would not notice any difference,

'If they can't keep our streets clean, what use are they?' seems to be the general view. Of course the public are to blame for dumping rubbish in the first place but the council has an enforcement and a preventative role. On 'The Avenue' I spoke to one man who was using a litter picker to pick up cans, plastic bottles, vodka bottles and crisp packets from his front garden. They had all been discarded by people sitting on his garden wall waiting at the bus stop. He said he had repeatedly asked the council to install a rubbish bin there but to no avail. A simple solution.

On Chalkhill I was struck by the contrast between the cleanliness of common areas within the 'Science blocks' and the street. Metropolitan Housing Association and Pinnacle are clearly doing a good job. Outside as the pictures show Brent Council and Veolia are not:

'Flower beds' on Wembley ASDA's perimeter

The Chalkhill Park site
Chalkhill Road
Corner of Chalkhill Road and Bridge Road
On the Town Hall doorstep at King's Drive
The contract for waste management in Brent comes up for renewal in 2014 and should go out to tender soon. Will it be possible for the bidding contractors to meet the necessary standards of street cleanliness on the reduced budget Brent Council will give them?


Monday 9 April 2012

Sign today to delay the destructive Willesden Green redevelopment

After Brent Council's dismissal of the petitions to allocate space in the proposed Willesden Green Cultural Centre for the Willesden Bookshop and to retain the Old Willesden Library building, it is understandable that people are cynical about the usefulness of petitions when the Council is clearly not prepared to listen.

However, we must continue to ram the message home and the demand of the 'Pause, listen and reflect' petition on the Willesden Green Library Regeneration is perfectly reasonable. Citizens should have the right to a say in major new developments and the Council cannot be allowed to get away with sham consultations that merely tick a statutory box and are subsequently ignored.

The lamentable performance by Cllr Crane at the Dollis Hill Hustings and Cllr Ann John's uncertainty over some of the processes and detail at her meeting with Keep Willesden Green campaigners, and the massive majority rejecting the plans at the Galliford Try consultation, show that it is to everyone's benefit to pause and reconsider plans that will impact on the area for years.

Today is the last day of the 'Pause' petition so if you have not done so please go on-line now and sign up.LINK.

THE FULL PETITION TEXT

We the undersigned petition the council to Pause the Willesden Green Library Centre regeneration plans to allow for full consultation with residents in order to ascertain their views on how the area should be developed and the amenities that should be provided or retained.

Brent Council is handing over public land worth £10.4 million to a property developer in exchange for rebuilding the Willesden Library Centre. The original 1894 library building on the High Road will be demolished, The Willesden Bookshop is likely to be driven out of business, the public car park will be reduced to 8 spaces and a children’s play area will be lost. Over 18 months, three five-storey blocks of 90+ luxury flats will be built behind the existing Library Centre.

We all want a thriving, welcoming and dynamic library and cultural centre, but the current deal has been sealed with virtually no public consultation and very little available information, ignoring the wishes of over a thousand local residents who have expressed opposition to these plans in two Brent e-petitions.

While the developers get a healthy profit from the sale of luxury flats and Brent councillors get some fancy new offices, the cultural and financial cost to rate-paying citizens is disproportionately high. It smacks of ‘profits before people’.

Borough residents need to have a say in the content and design of the library centre redevelopment, but we have not yet been given the chance to do so.

The Council says: Plans for the development of the library centre were raised at the executive committee in February 2011, and quickly followed by two public consultations to ‘test the market’. The council had to abide by commercial confidentiality, so no detailed plans could be made public until a deal was signed with the developer on 15 February 2012.

We say: Did you know about this in 2011? Not a single local resident or tradesperson we spoke to knew about the plans until Jan 2012, and only then through word of mouth. The Feb 2011 consultations were conducted with, respectively, 5 and then 7 people. One person present recounted that they were asked for their opinion, then shown plans for the centre that were drawn up before the meeting. This does not conform to the generally understood definition of a ‘consultation’

Wednesday 4 April 2012

Lib Dem mystery in Barnhill by-election

There is no Lib Dem candidate listed for the Barnhill By-election according to Brent Council's website. I will be standing for the Greens, Michael Pavery for Labour and Ratna Pindora for the Conservatives.  There is another candidate named Venilal Vaglela with no party or other description. Vaglela stood as a Conservative candidate in Queensbury ward  in 2002 which Labour won.

Unless Venilal has made a clandestine switch to the Lib Dems this means there is no Lib Dem candidate for the seat which Labour unexpectedly won from the Conservatives in 2010.

In Dollis Hill some reckoned that tactical voting by Tories for the Lib Dems enabled Alison Hopkins to win. The Tory candidate's voted was slashed. Lib Dems won 16% of the vote in Barnhill in 2010 with Labour only 10% ahead of the Conservatives at 44%.  Where those 16% of votes go will be of crucial importance.

Cllr Krupesh Hirani has  tweeted that this may be a Lib Dem tactic to help their Coalition partners but two Tory candidates (or one current and one ex-Tory)  looks like a shot in the foot.

Friday 30 March 2012

Five candidates to fight Brent and Harrow GLA seat

The complete list of nominations for the Brent and Harrow GLA constituency has now been published on the London Elects website. LINK

The candidates are:
  • ALI Shahrar - Green Party
  • HENRY Charlotte Alexandra - London Liberal Democrats
  • McGOUGH Michael Jack - Fresh Choice for London
  • RAJPUT Sachin - The Conservative Party Candidate
  • SHAH Navin - Labour Party Candidate
'Fresh Choice for London' is UKIP's election guise.  The lack of 'novelty' candidates means that this should be a relatively straight-forward contest.  George Galloway's victory in Bradford may help ignite the GLA campaign which so far has been relatively low key.

2008 Result

Election Candidate Party Votes %
Navin Shah Labour 57716 37% Elected
Bob Blackman Conservative 56067 36% Not elected
James Allie Liberal Democrats 19299 12% Not elected
Shahrar Ali Green Party 10129 7% Not elected
Zena Sherman Christian Party 4180 3% Not elected
Sunita Webb UK Independence Party 3021 2% Not elected
Pat McManus Left List 2287 1% Not elected
Avind Tailor English Democrats 2150 1% Not elected

Thursday 29 March 2012

Livingstone supports fight to keep Cricklewood Library Open

This is an extract from the Q and A session at the London Federation of Green Parties meeting on Monday when we discussed whether to urge voters to give Ken Livingstone their second preference mayoral vote. At 14.00 mins I ask Ken, noting Brent Council's library closures, whether he will provide leadership to London councils, and particularly Labour London councils, on the cuts issue:



All the videos from that meeting can be found HERE

Wednesday 28 March 2012

Ken 'far from perfect' but we must prevent four more years of Boris


Green Party Mayoral candidate Jenny Jones said: "The voting system gives Londoners a chance to make a positive Mayoral first choice for a more equal, healthier and affordable London.

“However, should I not be counted among the top two candidates after the first round, then I want a Mayor who will work with Green Party Assembly Members to deliver on pay equality, less pollution and cheaper fares.

“Ken Livingstone is far from perfect, but we know from his last time as Mayor that we can work with him to make positive changes in a way that would be impossible with either Boris Johnson or many other senior Labour politicians.”

Livingstone said: ”What we are seeing is that as we get closer to the election a broadening alliance of people wants a fairer London.

“The Green endorsement for second preferences is a key building block to winning change on May 3rd. I am very pleased that the Green Party has decided to encourage their supporters to cast their second preference votes for me.

“I look forward to working again with Green Assembly Members, including tackling air pollution, creating a fairer London, and improving pedestrian and cyclists’ safety.”

Discussions focused on the clear desire among members to help prevent a further four years of Boris Johnson’s Mayorship, and the clear differentiation between recommending the Labour Party and Livingstone as a candidate, the man himself frequently opposing Labour Party policy.

Members emphasised that the priority of the campaign was to increase the number of Greens elected to the London Assembly in order to best hold the successful Mayor candidate to account.

Members raised particular concerns over Livingstone’s record on road building, the poorly regulated financial sector and air pollution.

However, the meeting meeting voted to support the recommendation after hearing pledges to curb top pay at City Hall, help the lowest paid workers, end cheats and evasions over air pollution used by the current Mayor and Government and financially support boroughs wanting to introduce 20mph zones.

Friday 23 March 2012

Vote for clean air for our children

With the North Circular streaming fumes across the borough, the dust and emissions around the waste hanbdling and processing sites of Neasden and Park Royal, and the number of children and adults suffering from respiratory illnesses, we in Brent are very much aware of issues around air quality. Things will get worse if there is any further airport expansion.

The Green Party is making air quality a major issue in the GLA elections:

Sunday 18 March 2012

Dollis Hill shenanigans continue with scurrilous leaflet

Following the controversy over the Lib Dem leaflets with a near invisible imprint which was last week  raised in Parliament via a Labour attack on Sarah Teather, a leaflet emerged this weekend with no imprint at all.

Printed on one side of A5 in black and white it is is headed  GUILTY . Beneath that word are portraits of Sarah Teather and two Lib Dem councillors and a list of their alleged misdemeanours it goes on to urge 'Vote for whoever you want. Don't vote for Lib Dem losers'.

I am not sure of the legal situation regarding this particular leaflet but it does not state who has produced it nor have any details of the printer.

As the leaflet makes a couple of environmental points I should make clear that it has nothing to do with the Greens and we disassociate ourselves from its contents.

We have distributed the London Green News in some parts of Brent, including Dollis Hill, but are delivering only one A5 leaflet for the by-election.  This is at the most 1/20th of the Lib Dem's distribution per household!

Saturday 17 March 2012

Housing: The Brent crisis and Jenny Jones' solutions

As a result of rising rents, housing benefit cap and demographic pressures the crisis in housing is likely to deepen in Brent over the next year. Green Party Mayoral candidate Jenny Jones has launched a 'mini-manifesto' to address the issue across London.

At present the media private rent for a two bedroomed resident in Brent is £1,300 a month compared with £975 in Harrow and £1,100 in Ealing. As a proportion of the media of local  individual take home pay that is 74% in Brent, 49% in Harrow and 61% in Ealing. So Brent residents pay more in cash terms and as a proportion of income.

The proportion of the population claiming housing benefit is of obvious relevance to future pressure when the cap hits and this is 14% in Brent, 7% in Harrow and 10% in Ealing.

Brent has 2,370 empty homes which is 2.13% of the housing stock. 27% of these have been empty for more than 6 months. Of Brent's total 59 are owned by the council, 290 by housing associations, 24 by other public bodies and 1,997 are privately owned.

Jenny Jones has issued a mini-manifesto which seeks to address the roots of the problem:

LET’S MAKE HOUSING AFFORDABLEWe will build genuinely affordable housing and refurbish over one million homes to cut energy bills. We will push to give private tenants more security and stabilise rent levels. We want to change the housing market from a playground for speculative investment to a source of secure, affordable homes. (In Brent the proposed Willesden Green regeneration includes NO affordable housing in Galliford Try's development)

1. Build genuinely affordable homesBuild at least 15,000 affordable homes per year, of which 40% will be family sized. Calculate an annual London Affordable Rent for the average household and use public land to keep rents at or below that cap.

2. Build homes that are affordable to runEnsure all homes are actually built to high energy and water efficiency standards with enhanced building control checks, making them affordable to run as well as rent or buy.

3. End fuel poverty and cut carbon emissionsRoll out the RE:NEW home insulation scheme to over one million homes in London by 2015, helping people to install simple measures and to access the Green Deal, and work with councils and housing associations to bring all social housing up to an enhanced Decent Homes standard by 2016.

4. Help co-operatives build more housingEstablish the London Mutual Housing Company to help communities set-up Community Land Trusts, which will give them control over the design, development and management of permanently affordable homes.

5. Help co-ops restore empty homesSet-up a clearing house to make all suitable publicly owned empty homes available to be brought back into short-life or permanent use by self-help co-operatives, and encourage private owners to list their properties on the system.

6. Protect the rights of private tenantsLobby for comprehensive and smart reforms of the private rented sector to bring down rents, make tenants more secure in their homes with a default secure five year tenancy agreement, protect tenants from exploitative landlords and improve the condition of private rented housing. Guarantee these rights for homes built on public land and with public money.

7. Create an Ethical Lettings Agency Set-up an ethical lettings agency for private tenants and landlords, and a web site for tenants to post feedback on landlords and letting/managing agents.

8. Protect the rights of tenantsOppose all elements of the Government’s housing agenda that weaken security, raise rents for social tenants, and that reduces housing benefits for private and social tenants instead of reducing rents.

9. End rough sleepingBring all grants for pan-London homelessness services into the GLA to protect frontline services, and work closely with homelessness organisations to ensure nobody needs to spend a second night out sleeping rough on the street.

10. Campaign for root and branch reformUse our influence and new research to build momentum behind radical reforms such as land value taxation and a ban on foreign investors, solutions which could stabilise house prices. Our housing crisis will only deepen if we fail to fix the roots of the problem. 



Angry residents question Cllr Crane on Willesden Green Library plans

At a public meeting - called by the Keep Willesden Green Campaign - the Green Party candidate for Dollis Hill, Pete Murry, has called on Brent council to rethink its plans to demolish Willesden Green Library. The meeting, which was originally intended as a hustings for the by-election, saw a huge amount of anger directed at Councillor Crane; the Labour executive member for regeneration. The public demanded to know why the regeneration plan did not include any provisions for social housing. The audience also asked why there has been no proper consultation on the plans and why their  petition of 5700 names was being rejected by the council. 

Pete Murry, who is a long standing Brent resident and user of the library said:
It beggars belief that the petition submitted by Keep Willesden Green is being fobbed off on a technicality. We will continue to press for the petition to be accepted and for a full council debate to be had.

The Green Party do not agree with the demolition of the library in the first place and are fighting against it. If, however, the Labour plans do come to fruition it seems absurd that there will be no social housing built as part of the project; especially considering the fact that almost 15,000 Brent residents are on the housing  waiting list.

Saturday 25 February 2012

Pete Murry the REAL alternative in Dollis Hill

Pete Murry with the Green Party banner
Brent Green Party have selected Pete Murry as our candidate for the Dollis Hill by-election which takes place on March 22nd.

Pete, who lives in the ward, worked at the College of North West London for more than 20 years, and has deep routes in the borough. Pete although not as physically active as he would like to be, has involved himself in local issues including the early days of the Brent Cross Coalition and currently the Brent Campaign Against Climate Change and Brent Fightback's campaign against council cuts.

Pete's candidature is strengthened by his work in the Green Party Trade Union Group where he has been successful in getting the Green Party's policies on the economy and the creation of green jobs a hearing  in the trade union movement. These policies are particularly relevant at the moment when all three mainstream parties have accepted the austerity agenda which is deepening the recession and creating unemployment. Pete says, "Current Coalition policies are almost the exact opposite to what is needed which is a programme of investment and job creation focussed on building the infrastructure that the country needs to combat climate change."

Locally Pete is opposed to what he sees as the  wasteful plan to demolish the existing Willesden Green Library Centre.

With Labour doing the Coalition's dirty work locally by implementing their cuts in Brent, the Green Party is the real alternative for residents caught in the pincer movement of a Labour council and a ConDem government.

Saturday 18 February 2012

Labour council leaders support Green council on local government finance call

The Labour  leaders of Chesterfield and Darlington councils are supporting calls from the Leader of Brighton & Hove council for the government to come clean on their future proposals for local government finance.
 
Ministers recently made comments at public events and in the House of Commons, suggesting that a future review would undermine councils' management of local finances.
 
Green-led Brighton & Hove began its budget-setting process early, and was the first to declare its intentions at the beginning of December. However 26 councils of all political stripes have since followed after recognising the ‘financial cliff-edge' they face after one year if they accept the one-off grant.
 
Councillor Bill Randall commented:
"The Green administration published our draft budget early to allow for proper consultation with residents. But how can residents get involved in a meaningful conversation about how to protect services from government cuts if the government threatens to move the goalposts so late in the day?
 
"It flies in the face of localism to claim to give councils more power, but then apply penalties if they do something the government disagrees with.
 
"I've asked other council Leaders to join me in demanding that the government come clean on their threats." 
The following councils have decided  increase Council Tax in order to safeguard services:

Brighton & Hove City Council Grn 3.50%
Chesterfield BC Lab 3.50%
Darlington BC Lab 3.50%
Leicester City Council Lab 3.50%
Middlesbrough Council Lab 3.50%
Preston City Council Lab 3.50%
Redcar & Cleveland BC Lab 3.50%
Stockton-on-Tees BC Lab 3.50%
Barrow BC Lab 3.49%
North Dorset DC Con 3.49%
Stoke-on-Trent City Council Lab 3.49%
Gravesham Borough Council Lab 3.48%
Dover DC Con 3.45%
Taunton Deane BC Con 3.45%
Luton BC Lab 3.44%
Gedling BC Lab 3.40%
Nottingham City Council Lab 3.40%
Tunbridge Wells BC Con 3.30%
Scarborough BC Con/Lib/Ind 3.00%
Surrey CC Con 2.99%
Cambridgeshire CC Con 2.95%
East Cambridgeshire DC Con 2.95%
Peterborough City Council Con 2.95%
York City Council Lab 2.90%
South Hams DC Con 2.50%
West Devon BC Con 2.50%
Chelmsford BC Con 2.46%

 

Sunday 15 January 2012

The battle for Brent schools - which side is Labour on?

The battle against academies and free schools has reached a tipping point, author and campaigner Melissa Benn told the AntiAcademies Alliance AGM yesterday. The battle being waged by teachers, parents and governors of Downsides Primary School against enforced conversion to an academy had exposed  the contradiction between Michael Gove's rhetoric of freedom and autonomy and his actual use of coercion.

Benn said that the over-funding of 'good schools' converting to academies or of parents setting up free schools was the government 'empowering the affluent'.  She said that there were three main element's in Gove's programme:

1. A fundamental change in the provision of state education with the academies' links to outside bodies separating them from the local community. Despite government denials the long-term aim, via the 'educational chains' such as E-ACT, ARK and Oasis was privatisation and profit-making. She said that there was no evidence that autonomy itself led to improvement. Where there was improvement it was probably due to increased funding, however that was drying up and the Financial Times recently revealed that the DfE had to bail out eight financially failing academies at the cost of £10m to the tax payer.
2. Gove wants to preserve and expand all forms of current non-LA provision including the expansion of grammar schools via 'satellite' schools and changes in the Admissions Code. This will increase selection and social class and religious segregation.
3. Fundamental changes in the learning culture of schools. She contrasted the broad and creative curriculum and relaxed learning culture of Eton and Wellington public schools which she had visited recently  with the narrowing of the curriculum in academies (depth replacing breadth) and a coercive ethos producing a climate of fear. Academies had in effect 'captured' children for longer hours (often 8.30am until 5pm) and teachers, parents and pupils were often frightened of the management as the school pursued its aim of 'results at all costs'. Anyone arguing against this culture was told that they were supporting failure.
Melissa Benn advised the audience to keep an eye on the US Chartered Schools which served as a model for Gove. We need to argue that some of the most successful schools internationally are non-selective and make the case for increased government funding, small classes, time for teachers to prepare lessons and ongoing teacher assessment rather than SATs.  Subsequent discussion focused on how Ofsted was being used as a political weapon against local authority schools  with the appointment of ARK adviser Sir Michael  Wilshaw as Chief Inspector.

A group of parents from Downside Primary School started by extolling the virtues of a school that did not just concentrate on SAT results but had a broad and enriching curriculum in a child-friendly atmosphere. The children had recently won a national art prize. They were shocked at the enforced academy move by Michael Gove based solely on SAT results but quickly organised, speaking personally to members of the different communities of the school, publicising the issue and using social media to spread the word, They have been lucky in that local MP David Lammy was an ex-pupil of the school and although pro-academy had been against enforcement and had spoken at their public meeting attended by more than 600 people LINK as well as raising the issue in the House of Commons. LINK The parents said that the under-funding of Haringey schools compared with neighbouring boroughs was of fundamental importance and a campaigning on the issue would appeal to parents. There will be a demonstration on Saturday 28th January at noon in support of Downside. I will post details when they are available. It seemed to me clear that primary schools with their strong parent links, good school gate communication opportunities and community ethos will be in a good position to fight academy conversion compared with the more isolated secondary schools.

In my contribution from the floor I drew the meeting's attention to the importance of making the link between cuts and academy conversions. Conversions took money away from the local authority while the cuts in services made by local authorities made arguing  for the benefits of remaining a local authority school harder.In Brent the council in planning to set up a 'public enterprise' provider along the lines of the Cooperative Trust offer, was undermining its own existence.

Alasdair Smith, National Secretary of the AAA, said that Gove was pursuing a full 'for profit' agenda. The shortage of school places was being used as an argument for more 'energetic providers' (private chains) to move in. He felt Downshill was a turning point with Michael Gove worried about the slow down (perhaps because of forecasts that extra money was drying up) in conversions that had taken place since October 2011. He said that he had addressed 50 meetings on the issue over the lasy year but that we now needed a mass movement against Gove's policies.  He praised the Green Party for its consistent anti-academies policy.

The last session was devoted to a discussion on the Labour Party and Academies.  There was recognition of the divergence of local Labour group's attitudes with some fiercely for academies and some militantly against (The Brent Executive has both within its ranks). Stephen Twigg, the Labour shadow had avoided the issue by saying that he did not want to 'get into a hackneyed debate about structures' while Labour was not saying the same thing bout the NHS. Labour needed to live down its pro-academy history and think again, adopting a clear policy against academies and free schools. A Labour councillor said that we should beware of 'friends' such as the Cooperative Trust with their ethical cooperative claims when schools had always been cooperative institutions. Local authorities needed to come out and defend their role rather than be supine in the face of the Coalition's attacks.

Richard Hatcher (joint author of No country for the young: Education from  new Labour to the Coalition- Tufnell Press) said that Labour needed to fight on both structure of education and content of education, support campaigns against academies and free schools , and debate what a Labour government would do with what it will inherit in 2015 if elected. One speaker from Unison said that she had joined the Labour Party in  order to influence their education policy. Other speakers aid there was a need to focus on the huge salaries paid to academy headteachers and chief executives as well as the amount of public money being spent of academies and free schools as a whole.

All these issues are extremely pertinent as Brent Labour has organised a meeting for Labour nominated governors and anti-academy teachers on Wednesday, 7.30pm at the Stonebridge Hub which will be addressed by Melissa Benn.

Melissa Benn, School Wars-The Battle for Britain's Education, Verso


Wednesday 4 January 2012

70,000 page views and counting

Wembley Matters, launched in May 2009,  had its 70,000th page view this morning. I would like to thank you all for your support and encouragement. 

Monday 26 December 2011

Brent Council: 'Philistines of the year 2011'?

This letter was published in the current edition of the Brent and Kilburn Times:
I was dismayed to hear that  the Willesden Bookshop has been given notice to quit by the Council ahead of the redevelopment of Willesden Green Library. No retail space has been set aside for the bookshop in the new development and they are unlikely to be able to afford the rents demanded elsewhere on the High Road.

Half our libraries have already been closed, Willesden Green Library will be closed from July 2012 until March 2014, and the lease on  Kingsbury Plus expires in September 2013 - and now we are likely to lose our excellent local bookshop in April next year. Kilburn High Road is a poorer place following the closure of the Kilburn Bookshop in March 2010 - is Willesden High Road going to be similarly deprived?

It seems extraordinary that we have to remind a Labour Council of the importance of books to a community such as that of Brent where the hunger for education and self-improvement unites people across the spectrum of social class and ethnicity. The Willesden Bookshop offers a nationally renowned service to local schools through its expertise in the provision of children's books for a diverse community. Teachers are able to browse the collection and hand-pick books matched to the needs of the children and curriculum of their particularly schools - and get a 10% discount in the process.

For the adult  customer Amazon may be cheaper but nothing beats the sheer pleasure of handling a real book, sampling a paragraph or two and the serendipity of spotting other attractive books nearby when browsing. In addition there is a knowledgeable person behind the counter who has an affinity with books that your keyboard lacks!

The Willesden Bookshop has always supported local authors and thus makes a contribution to the intellectual and cultural life of the borough. They make an economic contribution through creating local jobs, bring money into the local economy and contribute to the diversity of our high street. Labour seems ready to see all this wiped out, leaving us with high streets dominated by betting shops and take-aways, and of course the much lauded 'designer outlets' they are building near Wembley Stadium.

If Brent Council is to escape the title of 'Philistines of the Year 2011' it must make sure that it finds a way of safeguarding Willesden Bookshop  for future generations.


Martin Francis
Brent Green Party spokesperson on children and families

Friday 23 December 2011

What does the Wembley by-election tell us about cuts?

Wembley Central by-election candidates (Brent and Kilburn Times)
 Just before the declaration at the Wembley Central by-election count last night Labour supporters left the committee rooms, to return in a procession surrounding Krupa Sheth their candidate, for all the world like a Royal Court protectively escorting their shy young princess into her first public arena. Barry Gardiner and Ann John performed their roles as proud King and Queen as if born to it..

There followed a raucous cock-a-hoop Labour celebration that contrasted sharply with earlier glum comments I had heard from Labour stalwarts on the street who had come out to canvas but with major reservations about the cuts. The extent of their victory seemed to take Labour by surprise and the Lib Dems, who had expected at least a closer result were visibly crest-fallen.

Before attempting any analysis of the result it is important to recognise the particular characteristics of the Wembley Central ward. Ethnic, religious and cultural organisations are influential as is clan solidarity and the predominance of large family businesses. This means that party labels may not be as important as other factors.

It was certainly not council policy, experience, or a high public profile that propelled Krupa Sheth to victory as these were all absent from her campaign. The election material from Labour that I saw did not attempt to justify the council's cuts and did little to shift the blame on to the Coalition. The focus on Ken Livingstone's promise of lower fares was the only real policy promise and Labour may be tempted to see that as a portent for the Mayoral election.

The Lib Dems had put a lot of effort into their campaign with half a dozen leaflets/newsletters concentrating on library closures and street sweeping cuts as well as personally addressed letters to voters. The Tories were much less visible on the streets and concentrated on the rights of motorists. They seemed unsurprised by the decline in their vote.

We Greens had concentrated on canvassing in one particular sympathetic polling district to maximise our support there and this tactic worked. However we lacked the resources, in terms of people on the ground, to repeat this across the ward. This was never ideal Green territory and Labour and Lib Dems were able to persuade voters that it was a two horse race.  If there is one lesson I would draw from our campaign it is that we have to build up our activist base so that we can engage face to face with the electorate and have high visibility during election campaigns. Those discussions are probably more important in giving our environmental and social justice policies a high profile than the number of votes cast. Certainly I see myself more as a community activist than an electoralist, as  I believe this blog demonstrates.

It will be tempting to portray the Lib Dem and Conservative result (down 6% and 3% on the 2009 by-election respectively) as the electorate's verdict on the Coalition and the 16% Labour increase as support for Ed Miliband's leadership but for the reasons already discussed I don't think this is realistic.

What perhaps is more dangerous in the short-term from a Green and left perspective, is the possibility that the Labour Council will be emboldened by the result to cut further in the next budget round. I did ask last night, 'What else must Labour cut before the voters turn against them?' and it is does seem that the disapprobation over library closures and other cuts had little impact on the result. It will be important for Brent Fightback, our broad-based local anti-cuts campaign, to reflect on what this means for our campaigning.

Shahrar Ali's report on Brent Greens blog HERE

Labour win Wembley Central by-election

Election Candidate Party Votes %  (2009 by-election by party)
Krupa Sheth Labour 1402 48% Elected   (32%)
Afifa Pervez Liberal Democrats 1022 35% Not elected (41%)
Madhuri Davda Conservative 349 12% Not elected (15%)
Martin Francis Green Party 130 4% Not elected (3%)





Voting Summary
Details Number
Seats 1
Total votes 2903
Electorate 10574
Num. ballot papers issued 2916
Number of proxy votes 44
Number of ballot papers rejected 13
Number of postal votes sent 1165
Number of postal votes returned 653
Turnout 27%


Share of the Votes (%)
Krupa Sheth 48% Elected
Afifa Pervez 35% Not elected
Madhuri Davda 12% Not elected
Martin Francis 4% Not elected

Thursday 22 December 2011

Wembley By-election: lowest poll on shortest day?

Despite being a sunny and mild day, polling was very slow in the Wembley by-election today. By mid-afternoon a quick tour of polling stations indicated we will be lucky to see a turnout of over 25%. Some observers suggested that early darkness on the winter solstice may make people reluctant to leave their homes to vote this evening.