Cllr Jayesh Mistry Resigns - By-election soon in Wembley Central

Cllr Jayesh Mistry

 The personable young Labour councillor, Jayesh Mistry, resigned from Brent Council this morning. Jayesh is a trade unionist and bus driver with strong roots in the local community. When I stood against him in a by-election in 2009 I found him a principled and friendly opponent.

No reason has yet been given for his resignation but the by-election will come at a time when the Labour administration is unpopular as a result of the cuts they have made in local libraries, street cleansing, adult day care and other provision. Their latest proposals are the closure of two nurseries.

Cllr Mistry represented Wembley Central Ward.

The resignation comes on the eve of the Brent People's Assembly where Labour councillors are due to join Brent Fightback supporters and answer questions from the public.

Borough Election Result May 6th 2010

Jayesh Mistry	Labour	2649	16%	Elected
Emad Al-Ebadi	Labour	2352	14%	Elected
Wilhelmina Mitchell Murry	Labour	2277	13%	Elected
Valerie Brown	Liberal Democrats	2122	12%	Not elected
Daniel Bessong	Liberal Democrats	1977	12%	Not elected
Afifa Pervez	Liberal Democrats	1917	11%	Not elected
Shaheen Butt	Conservative	1119	7%	Not elected
Ratna Kamdar	Conservative	1092	6%	Not elected
Miranda Colwill	Conservative	963	6%	Not elected
Rodney Freed	Green Party	210	1%	Not elected
Solomon Agbonifo-Ezomo	Green Party	174	1%	Not elected
Maya Sendall	Green Party	144	1%	Not elected

Brent Labour poll disaster predicted after library closures

A child puts the finishing touches to her poster at Kensal Rise library

The Wembley and Willesden Observer is running an on-line poll asking:

Will the closure of six libraries spell electoral disaster for Brent's Labour councillors? "Will the closure of six libraries mean electoral disaster for Brent's Labour councillors?" The results at present are:

Yes
82.2%
No
17.8%

Vote at www.harrowobserver.co.uk

Fur will fly on AV in Mapesbury Tomorrow

Mapesbury Residents Association holds its AGM tomorrow and top of the bill is a debate between Cllr Ann John, Labour leader of Brent Council and Cllr Paul Lorber, leader of the Lib Dem councillors, on Alternative Voting. Ann John and most of her colleagues have rejected Ed Miliband's stance in favour of a YES vote in Thursday's referendum and have publicly urged residents to vote NO. Little has been heard of any Labour dissenters from the John line - she is not well know for letting a hundred flowers bloom!. List of Labour Councillors opposing AV HERE

The current London Green News which we are distributing locally, urges people to 'Vote YES to fairer votes' with a message from Green MEP Jean Lambert saying 'This is an opportunity to move away from our out-dated unfair voting system'.  Greens are in favour of proportional representation and we were frustrated when the other parties blocked our proposal to have PR included in the referendum. At our autumn conference last year members voted to support a YES vote on the basis that AV was an improvement on the present first past the post system, albeit not our first choice.

The argument is that AV will enable people to make a positive vote for the party that they really support. This is a message from Caroline Lucas, Green MP and leader of the Green Party:

Under AV, voters rank candidates 1, 2, 3, etc. People can vote 1 for their first choice candidate, safe in the knowledge that their vote can still count just as strong for their second choice if their preferred candidate is not successful.

AV will therefore reduce tactical voting. This would be a good thing for the Green Party and for our democracy as a whole. It could have a significant impact on the way the big parties and the media approach elections. If people are voting positively, rather than negatively, parties and the media are likely to focus more on ideas rather than the political 'race'.

A Yes vote will also send a clear message to the Government that people want political reform. It will make further reforms, such as an elected upper chamber and voting reform for local elections, more likely. A No vote could set back political reforms by decades as the political establishment would be able to claim that there is no public appetite for reform - which we know is not true.

A No vote is primarily being pushed by the Conservatives, the right of the Labour Party and the BNP. Let's be on the side of progress in this referendum. Let's take the opportunity to make this small but important change to the voting system and send a clear message that we need political reform.

We urge you to vote Yes on Thursday and spread the message to your friends, family and collagues.

We had a good discussion on AV at a recent Brent Green Party meeting and although there was no 'split' there were inevitably differences in terms of enthusiasm for the option being offered. Central to the discussion was a concern that AV could lead to a soggy consensus politics that would blunt the cutting edge of the radical policies needed to combat the real issues facing us such as the need to restructure the economy and to combat climate change. On the other hand increased Green representation would mean that the arguments on these issues could reach a wider audience and our support in a finely balanced result could be decisive.

I will be voting YES on Thursday but won't be cartwheeling into the polling booth!

Support Grows for Monday's Cuts Protest Outside Brent Town Hall

As Council's across the country face protests as they vote on drastic cuts packages the various single issue campaigns across Brent are readying themselves to join the Brent Fightback demonstration tomorrow (Monday 28th February) outside Brent Town Hall. The demonstration will start at 6pm.

The Labour group will be meeting before the full Council and it is likely that there may be a few minor concessions from the leadership in order to keep some dissident councillors in line. However the vast majority of the cuts, despite the leadership's claims to the contrary, will go ahead and hit the most vulnerable of Brent residents, including falling disproportionately on children and young people and those with disabilities.

If Labour councillors are to remain true to their principles they should really vote against the entire package and ally themselves with trades unions and community groups fighting the Coalition's slashing of public services.

If you want to identify your local councillors so that you can speak to them tomorrow, follow this LINK which includes portraits as well as contact details.

Could a 'Needs Budget' unite us?

It was clear as I was chatting during the by-election count on Thursday evening that there is a great deal of disquiet amongst some Labour councillors about the Council's cuts programme.

 "Me! Closing libraries... I can't believe it!" was the comment from one Labour councillor, while a former Lib Dem councillor lamented the lack of political power of ruling group councillors who aren't on the Executive. He said that the new 'cabinet' form of local government sharply reduced the role of 'back-bench' councillors.  It is those Labour councillors, often newly elected, who stood last time in order to improve the quality of life of Brent residents, who will be faced with a stark choice on February 28th when the full Council meeting is due to vote on the budget.

The Labour leadership has undermined its own position to some extent because they have denied that the cuts they propose will have a detrimental impact on already disadvantaged local people. To make the cuts palatable they have sought to placate opposition by insisting that those most in need will be protected and that the quality of service, despite massive staff cuts, will be maintained.   Added to this they have sometimes echoed David Cameron's 'Big Society' smokescreen by calling for volunteers to run libraries and other services. The people of Brent aren't fools and can see through the spin.

The Labour leadership thus separates itself from local community activists, users' groups and trades unionists who seek to defend public services. Rank and file councillors find themselves at odds with erstwhile friends, colleagues and comrades and some are sickened by the position they find themselves in.

Rather than act as the Coalition's bailiff's, Labour could be taking the lead in fighting the Coalition's cuts imposed at local and national government level by constructing a 'needs-led' budget in collaboration with local activists.  Rather than deny that the cuts will hit the most vulnerable they would analyse what services local people need to survive the forthcoming period of  economic turn-down and social stress and cost them.  They would also look at what investment and job creation needs to be made locally order for Brent  to move out of recession.   Such a budget would, for example,  immediately show that cuts in children centres, youth provision and Brent Law Centre are counter to the needs of local people.

Armed with this budget, and the detailed analysis on which it is based,  the Council could fight a campaign, alongside organisations such as Brent Fightback, against the Coalition cuts and make the case for fair funding for Brent based on the needs of the population.   They could also unite with Labour councils elected across London at the last election in a London wide campaign publicising the irrevocable damage public service cuts will cause.

LINK to report on similar campaign in Portsmouth

Does Ed support Brent Library closures?

From today's Independent:

The Labour leader Ed Miliband said yesterday his party would back campaigns to save libraries as "a place where community is built, as families get to know each other and form friendships".

Gardiner leaks cabinet election results

Barry Gardiner didn't get elected to the shadow cabinet but he still managed to get his name into the story when he leaked the result on Twitter  before the expected 9pm announcement and it was picked up by the New Statesman. Here are his postings:

1. #ShadCab Cooper 232 Healey 192 Balls 179 Burnham 165 Angela Eagle 165 Johnson 163 Alexander 160 Murphy 160 Jowell 152 Flint 139 Denham 129 3 minutes ago via Twitter for iPhone
2. #ShadCab Contd: Benn 128 Khan 128 Creagh 119 McKechin 117 Maria Eagle 107 Hillier 106 Lewis 104 Byrne 100 You heard it here 1st Gardiner 41! 

Figures for those not elected were:


Thornberry 99, Hain 97, MacTaggart 88, Keeley 87, Coaker 85, McFadden 84, Goodman 80, Lammy 80, Timms 79, Bryant 77, Woodward 72, Thomas 71, Jones 68, Brennan 64, Blackman-Woods 63, Abbott 59, Harris 54, Twigg 55, Bradshaw 53, Wright 43, Gardiner 41, Hanson 38, Lucas 34, David 30, Irranca-Davies 28, Leslie 26, Flello 15, Gapes 12, Michael 11, Joyce 10

WELSH HARP DEVELOPMENT DEAD IN THE WATER?

Housing on the Hendon side of the Welsh Harp - not wanted in Brent

Following on the opposition of Brent Green Party, Welsh Harp Labour Action Team and the Welsh Harp Joint Consultative Committee to the proposed development of the Greenhouse Garden Centre for housing, Sarah Teather MP,  the Brent Council Liberal Democrat, Conservative and Democratic Conservative groups have all declared their opposition to the scheme.

Sarah Teather has circulated a newsletter in the ward opposing the development and echoing many of the comments made in this blog. The Welsh Harp ward is in the new Brent Central constituency that she will be contesting at the General Election.

The newsletter also contains a petition against the proposed scheme. This adds another petition to those already being circulated by residents and the Labour Party.  The Liberal Democrat group on the council have joined Sarah Teather in opposing the application.

Bob Blackwell, Leader of the Conservative Group told Wembley Matters: "The Conservative Group are totally opposed to any form of housing development on the two sites, both in Brent and in Barnet. The Conservative Group has always supported retaining this open space and campaigned against proposals to develop this area some 10 years ago."  Robert Dunwell, leader of the Democratic Conservative group said that in his considered professional opinion the application should be opposed in principle.

This will all help the campaign against the development ahead of the Planning Committee hearing which is likely to be held on December 16th.  However it is important to remember that as the Committee is a statutory one it is not whipped in the same way as other Council committees. It makes an independent decision, taking into account officers' reports and representations by all parties concerned. Residents should continue to make representations via the Brent Planning Website here.