Introducing your Green Party candidates for Brent Central and Brent North

William Relton making the case for  the Green Party in Willesden Green

My name is William Relton. I am honoured and delighted to have been selected as the candidate for the Green Party in Brent Central. This really is the most important election for decades. The timing is not right for a proper General Election on the broader issues concerning most people up and down the country, which is how a General Election should work. This election will be forever remembered as the Brexit election. Just as Caroline Lucas has been campaigning ever since the ’16 referendum, we really should have had a proper People’s Choice referendum before this election. However, Parliament, or at least the two largest parties, has decided that we should have an election now, so here we are.

This will be a very important election for the smaller parties. People have really begun to realise that our two party, first past the post system, just doesn’t work anymore. A total reform of our electoral system is urgently needed. A vote for the smaller parties is a step in the right direction towards Proportional Representation, a system that the vast majority of modern democracies use. The Lib Dems are still badly tainted by their record in the coalition government with the Tories. A vote for the Green Party will help support a movement for a fairer, cleaner, happier Britain. Please do vote for me, William Relton, Green Party, Brent Central on December 12.

Secondary school teacher Simon Rebbitt

My name is Simon Rebbitt. I am a secondary school teacher of History and Geography and the Green Party’s candidate for Brent North. I have lived in Brent for the last ten years and have taught in comprehensive schools in this community all that time. The things that are important to me I believe are important to all of us: the huge rents that stop people moving onto the property ladder, the general cost of living and especially transport costs. They affect me and they affect you too. First and foremost, as the representative for Brent I would want to make sure these concerns are known in Parliament. 

As a Green Party member, I care about the environment yes, but then again, I haven’t ever met anyone who doesn’t. We all want a healthy world we can leave for our children. That doesn’t mean banning all cars or forcing everyone to become vegans, it means finding workable solutions that can make us make positive changes to our lifestyles. But right now, the biggest distraction is Brexit. The leave result was a crude answer to a complicated set of problems championed by pandering politicians looking to advance their careers at the cost of everybody else. I first joined the Greens when I saw how impotently Corbyn tried to oppose the Leave campaign. The Green Party opposes division, it stands for unity, for the planet and for its people. I stand with them and for Brent now and for the future.

General Election candidates for Brent Central, Brent North and Hampstead & Kilburn

These are the candidates standing for the General Election in Brent constituencies following the close of nominations: (Alphabetical order)

BRENT CENTRAL
David Brescia (Conservative Party)
Dawn Butler (Labour Party)
William Relton (Green Party)
Deborah Unger (Liberal Democrats)

BRENT NORTH
Noel Coonan (Independent)
Barry Gardiner (Labour Party)
Elcena Jeffers (Independent)
Paul Lorber (Liberal Democrat)
Suzie O'Brien (Brexit Party)
Anjana Patel (Conservative Party)
Simon Rebbitt (Green Party)

HAMPSTEAD & KILBURN (Shared with Camden)
Johnny Luk (Conservative Party)
James Pointon (Brexit Party)
Matt Sanders (Liberal Democrats)
Tulip Siddiq (Labour Party)
David Stansell (Green Party)

Butt backs out of Village School consultation meeting and asks for strike action to be called off

There was disappointment and anger last night at The Village School when Brent Council leader did not show up for the consultation meeting about proposals that the school academise in order to become a Multi Academy Trust with Woodfield School.

At the lobby earlier this year Cllr Butt and lead member for children and families, Cllr Mili Patel, had been asked to make a strong and clear statement of opposition to the proposal. Both Brent Central and Brent North CLPs have passed unananimous motions against academisation.

Instead of appearing at the meeting and taking questions, Cllr Butt instead chose to write today to all members of staff about the issue. The position he takes on academisation is weaker than that requested by his own Labour Party members.  He expresses a preference for local authority oversight of schools but appears to believe that The Village has no choice. He also takes a traditional right-wing position on teacher strikes claiming that they 'punish' families and children for government policies and calling for next week's three day strike to be called off.

The letter requires close textual analysis to establish Butt's exact position and even then...

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POTENTIAL TO ESTABLISH A MULTI ACADEMY TRUST

I know there’s some concern and uncertainty about what’s going on so I thought it might help if I set out my position . First of all, I am opposed to the forced academisation of schools and find it deeply regrettable that TVS has been put in a situation with such limited options. 

Responsibility for this rests with government and government alone. That said, circumstances being what they are, I recognise why a formal relationship with Woodfield is a positive thing . I see why, in the present legislative context and financial climate, both schools feel that an official partnership would be in their best interests. And, while forming a MAT may well produce tangible education al benefits, as well as economies of scale, its main purpose will be increasing the likelihood of sustaining both schools’ outstanding status. 

TVS is a fantastic school, there’s no doubt about that – in fact, I’m not sure ‘outstanding’ does it justice. As I see it, its success is a product of all involved being so dedicated to what they do and so determined to ensure every student has every opportunity to realise their fullest potential. My belief is that the school’s greatest asset is this collective strength and I have no reason to suspect this will change as a result of formalising the partnership. 

As Leader of the Council in a time of austerity I know only too well the essential nature of closer collaboration. As a proud trade unionist , I will always champion the enormous value of collective bargaining . Being able to speak with a single, unified voice is a powerful thing and one of the many reasons I welcomed the NUT and ATL teachers ’ unions’ decision to join forces and create the NEU. And, as a member of the Labour Party, I hold on to the central tenet that , by the strength of our common endeavour , we achieve more than we achieve alone. On that basis, I cannot in good conscience seek to deny TVS and Woodfield the same opportunity for sustainable partnership. 

 Of course, I’d much prefer that responsibility for overseeing our schools remain devolved to local government. I think local people are best placed to understand local needs. Equally , I’m not sure that the Secretary of State , the Department for Education , or the Regional School Commissioner have the capacity for nuanced management of what, as a result of this government’s actions , is an unhelpfully centralised and drastically underfunded education system. 

I have said previously that my priority is the best possible educational outcomes for children and young people . What I should have also said is that those outcomes are best served, and can only be assured, by retaining a happy, motivated, stable workforce. I know that TVS is ordinarily a very happy, very special place to work. I also know there are genuinely held concerns that becoming an academy will mean that’s no longer the case. With that in mind, I think it necessary to challenge the suggestion that these proposals will have a detrimental impact . I also need to address claims that, even if a suitable deal can be agreed, any such agreement cannot be guaranteed in perpetuity 

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On the first point, I welcome the school’s pledge to ‘embed core principles’ in a legally binding agreement. This includes an explicit public commitment to abide by national terms and conditions for all existing and future teaching staff and local terms and conditions for all existing and future support staff. This process has the added advantage of being based on an existing Trustees Agreement – drafted in concert with NUT reps – that enabled Manor to convert to academy status and join BSAT without objection last year. On the second, to provide maximum possible certainty, a range of protections will be built into the agreement. This has been described as a ‘triple lock’ but may actually include as many as five provisions designed to make it impossible for fundamental changes to be made in the future by Trustees or Governors without undergoing rigorous public scrutiny or a substantial majority on any relevant vote. 

I’m aware that the NEU have requested a temporary halt to the consultation to try and find an alternative solution . Given how long this matter has been under discussion, and given how closely involved union reps have been throughout , were there another way forward, it surely would have presented itself by now. Again, I wish there was a way for TVS and Woodfield to protect their relationship without having to academise . But , as things stand, there isn’t. With that in mind, the responsible thing to do now is work together and ensure as robust and informed a decision as possible is made.

Furthermore, I think it would be a grave mistake to punish these children and their families for government policies to which we are ideologically opposed. Similarly, I know how hard a personal decision it is to take industrial action, especially when it disrupts the lives of people we care about. And I doubt anyone relishes the prospect of three days’ without pay. I ask then that any further strike action be called off and that those involved instead continue to engage fully in the consultation, ensuring that everyone’s views are made clear. 

As I’ve said, the Labour Party, the Council, and the teachers unions all recognise, value, and benefit from the enormous power of formal partnerships. On that basis , whatever our views on the mechanism, we should all be able to understand and accept the rationale for these outstanding schools doing the same. 

Thank you for taking the time to consider my thoughts – do please get in touch and let me know what you think.

Brent General Election Results

Figures in brackets is for that party's candidate in 2015

HAMPSTEAD AND KILBURN

·      Siddiq, Tulip – Labour Party, 34,464 votes  (23977)

·      Leyland, Claire-Louise – The Conservative Party Candidate, 18,904 votes (22839)

·      Allan, Kirstie Roberta – Liberal Democrats, 4,100 votes (3039)

·      Mansook, John – The Green Party, 742 votes (2387)

·      Easterbrook, Hugh Laurence – Independent, 136 votes (-)

·      Weiss, Rainbow George – Independent, 61 votes (-)

Turnout for the election was 70.6 per cent which is 3 per cent up on the 2015 General Election.

BRENT CENTRAL

·      Butler, Dawn - Labour Party, 38,208 votes (29216)

·      Bhansali, Rahoul - The Conservative Party Candidate, 10,211 votes (9567)

·      Georgiou, Anton - Liberal Democrats, 2,519 votes (3937)

·      Lish, Shaka - Green Party, 802 votes (1912)

·      North, Janice Marion April - UK Independence Party (UKIP), 556 votes (1850)

Turnout for the election was 65.25 per cent which is 4 per cent up on the 2015 General Election.

BRENT NORTH

·      Gardiner, Barry - Labour Party, 35,496 votes (28351)

·      Jogia, Ameet - The Conservative Party Candidate, 18,435 votes (17517)

·      Lorber, Paul - Liberal Democrats, 1,614 votes (2607)

·      Lichten, Michaela Mary Constance - Green Party, 660 votes (1539)

·      Jeffers, Elcena - Independent, 239 votes (197)

Turnout for the election was 68.61 per cent which is 5 per cent up on the 2015 General Election.

Keep up the pressure on school funding by using School Cuts website

The School Cuts website has been updated.  You can now see which candidates have made the pledge to support proper funding for schools and the impact on particular schools of the manifesto promises of the three main parties.

The School Cuts site is embedded here so you can get information by typing directly into the search engine above.

At the time of writing this was the candidate response for Brent seats:

Where to hear your candidates debate GE2017

Brent Central Public Political Debates: 

Education Question Time
Friday May 26th 2017 at 18:£0
Queens Park Community School, 
More info HERE

Brent North Political Debates

Brent Carers
Carers and Social Care Hustings
Wednesday 31st May 2017 6:30 - 8:30pm
Church End & Roundwood Unity Centre
103 Church End London, NW10 9EG
Buses 260 & 266

Hampstead & Kilburn Political Debates

West Hampstead Life Hustings
THIS TUESDAY May 23, 2017
@ 7.30 pm – 9.15 pm
WHERE:
Sherriff Centre
Sherriff Rd
London NW6

We would love to see you attending, but if not they have promised to live stream this event.
https://www.facebook.com/WestHampsteadLife

To make the evening flow smoothly, they are encouraging you to send questions in advance – the candidates will not see these beforehand. They will then ask some of the popular submitted questions before handing over to the floor.

To send a question, simply drop Jonathan Turton an email before midday on Tuesday. There will also be a question box in St James’ Church over the next few days.

Format:
Each candidate will get a 4-minute slot to pitch themselves, and then we will structure the evening in three parts. First, questions on Brexit, then questions on other national issues (incl. foreign policy), and then questions on local issues. If there is time then there’ll be time for free questions at the end.

Doors open at 7pm and will start at 7.30pm. They will aim to finish around 9.15pm. The Sherriff Centre café/bar will be open.

Granville Community Kitchen and South Kilburn Trust Hustings
Wednesday 31st of May  Time: 7-9pm
At Granville Plus Centre
Carlton Vale, NW6 5HE.

Questions to: granvillecommunitykitchen@gmail.com

Voters urged to ask GE2017 candidates to pledge opposition to school cuts

Fill in the above to find the cuts faced by your local school and to see which candidates have signed the pledge to oppose the cuts

From Brent NUT

At the last General Election, the Conservatives promised to protect the money ‘following your child into school’. This promise was broken and we are now seeing the worst cuts to school budgets in a generation, with schools facing cuts of up to £3 billion a year by 2020.

Brent faces larger than average cuts. The table below shows how the cuts affect local constituencies:

The NUT, ATL and NAHT have updated the Schools Cuts website – www.schoolcuts.org.uk – so voters can email each Parliamentary candidate asking them to oppose funding cuts. By putting a postcode into the website, candidates in your area will appear and you can send an email to each one, asking them to oppose the real terms funding cuts for schools.

Lesley Gouldbourne, Brent Secretary said:

Already head teachers are saying that they cannot cope with the current levels of funding. This is a situation that will only get worse if the previous Government’s National Funding Formula is implemented.

It is vital that all candidates standing in the General Election for Brent promise to increase school funding. Failure to do so will see our schools continue to be desperately under resourced, teacher posts cut and drastic measures, such as closing schools earlier, may be considered.

Parents and children in Brent deserve better and our politicians should be standing with us in demanding investment in our schools.

You can see the funding reduction in each school by following these links: (you will need to open the file in Excel)

Brent Central

Brent North

Hampstead and Kilburn

Additional comment by Martin Francis:

It has emerged that in addition to these cuts Brent schools will also be hit by increases in employer contributions to the Brent Council Pension Fund over the next 3 years. This is to ensure the Fund is solvent and raises questions about the management of the Fund compared with other local authorities. Schools will need to find the money to pay increased contributions for support staff including teaching assistants and adminstrative staff. Source LINK

Official list of GE2017 candidates for Brent

BRENT CENTRAL

Rahoul Bhansali (Con)
Dawn Butler (Lab)
Anton Georgiou (Lib Dem)
Shaka Lish (Green)
Janice North (UKIP)

BRENT NORTH

Barry Gardiner (Lab)
Elcena Jeffers (Ind)
Ameet Jogia (Con)
Michaela Lichten (Green)
Paul Lorber (Lib Dem)

HAMPSTEAD AND KILBURN (shared with Camden)

Kirsty Allan (Lib Dem)
Hugh Easterbrook (Ind)
Claire-Louise Leyland   (Con)
John Mansook (Green)
Tulip Siddiq (Lab)
Rainbow Weiss (Ind)

Brent Green Party reveals its General Election candidates

Shaka Lish, Green Party candidate for Brent Central

Shaka Lish has been selected to challenge Dawn Butler in Brent Central:

I am a life long Brent resident, conceived in Harlesden, born in Kilburn, grew up in Queens Park and now reside in Willesden. I wasn’t always political but like many, after the Iraq war I was left with so many questions about politics in the UK. Questions like, what makes democracy work for the people, not just the powerful? Since then, I have become more engaged with issues that I am passionate about and also more informed.

Since the global crash in 2008, there has been a change in the world. What appeared at first as an opportunity to change the way we are living – address climate change, inequality and neoliberalism – has actually appeared tighten the grip of disaster capitalism.

There comes a time when we have to stand up to be counted and take part in effecting the change that we wish to see in this world. By standing for the Green Party I believe I am doing just that. The local, to the national, to the global, are all intimately interconnected. We begin locally but this inevitably has echoes further afield.

I have been a professional singer pursuing a career in music since leaving school and been lucky enough to make music, travel the world and share my creativity on a platform. Although I still make music, I have nurtured another passion - for social justice and for helping others.

I recently became a mature student and finished an undergraduate degree in Philosophy, Politics and History and currently I am finishing an MA in Traditions of Yoga and Meditation, at SOAS. Being lucky enough to get a grant to study, I know how enriching education is, so I am adamant tuition fees should be scrapped and that we should not create barriers to knowledge through eye-watering debt. Education is a social good for all.

My undergraduate dissertation was on the subject of climate change and it has been frustrating to watch how science has led the way but unfortunately our leaders have been slow to act. My priority would be to hold the government to account and to keep campaigning for investment in green initiatives, transport and technology.

I am passionate about community, the environment, equality, the NHS, animals and education. I often feel so inspired by what could be possible, how the country can be transformed for the good of all, not just the few. I see a country where we have clean air, renewable energy, we look after our environment, we care for the vulnerable, have meaningful and secure work and where everyone gets the opportunity to thrive and fulfill their potential. I know this is possible but I also know it can only be achieved together.

My local campaign would focus around these areas –

• Put pressure on the council to make commercial recycling mandatory, not optional.
• Campaign for more local cycling hangers – and for this to feed into a more coherent transport policy.
• Push for procurement of local land for community resources such as youth activities and allotments
• Create a plan that gives locals more power to decide on their dominant energy sources and scrap any disincentives to renewables.
• Strive for any new developments in Brent to be accompanied by appropriate services to sustain the growing population of residents – such as medical care, childcare, community resources and activities. Not just shopping facilities.

The opportunity to stand as an MP is humbling as it is a service to my community. Brent is a community that has given me opportunities and support and I would be proud to stand as a Green Party representative and spread the message to make sure people know, a better world is possible.

Email: shaka.lish@greenparty.org.uk

Michaela Lichten, Green Party candidate for Brent North

 Michaela Lichten has been selected to challenge Barry Gardiner in Brent North:

I’ve been a resident of Brent for over 30 years and am passionate about the built and natural environment.

So much of society is weighted against ordinary people and with the crisis in Housing and Education worsening, new and innovative solutions need to be found to halt further inequalities.

With Brexit now triggered The Green Party can ensure we don’t stop being Europeans. I’m proud to stand for The Green Party which has long been a feminist party, with policies including improved maternity services, quotas for women on boards and working with organisations to advance women's equality and employment opportunities.

I’d strive to be a good constituency MP concentrating on local issues such as housing, schools, open spaces, pollution and the provision of good quality care for the elderly that doesn’t solely rely on the, often unpaid, contribution of the families of those effected. I’d work to provide better support for carers.

There are around seven million carers in the UK with 700,000 being under 18; I’d work to ensure that young carers and young adult carers are given vital support throughout their education. Having been a carer myself, for my husband who suffers from Alzheimer’s, I identify with the many carers that are over 65 and struggling with their own health issues and who deserve better support.I

believe that it’s the duty of MPs to listen to, and be reachable by, the constituents that elect them. If elected I will work to raise the concerns of Brent residents with relevant Ministers ensuring a local influence at Westminster.

email: michaela.lichten@greenparty.org.uk

tweet: @michaelalichten

John Mansook, Green Party candidate for Hampstead and Kilburn

 John Mansook has been selected by Brent and Camden Green Parties to challenge Tulip Siddiq in Hampstead and Kilburn

I have lived in Brent all my life and I am also active in my community raising awareness and giving advice to residents. I believe because of my occupational and life experience I am able to identify and communicate with younger voters in Brent.

I am aware of the issues such as poor health, pollution, crime, cuts to youth services and lack of affordable housing all of which affect the quality of life of all residents in Brent especially the next generation. My daily exposure to different groups such as elderly and disabled people has allowed me to gain a deep understanding of the impact cuts to funding has had on the quality of life for the most vulnerable society. This awareness has motivated and mobilised me into action.

I am a diabetes community champion and I attend community events to raise awareness about diabetes and to educate the citizens of Brent on health and wellbeing. I have also previously volunteered in Camden working with the Leighton Project as a swim buddy which helped disabled young adults overcome their fear of water and become self- confident in water and ultimately learn how to swim. I have also volunteered in Camden on health and activity awareness days promoting health and wellbeing within the Borough.

Barry Gardiner raises Sellafield safety concerns after Panorama programme

Following the Panorama report on Sellafield questions were asked in the House of Commons by several MPs.

The programme can be viewed HERE

This is what Barry Gardiner, Labour MP for Brent North and Shadow Minister for Energy and Climate Change, said:

Yesterday evening’s television report on Sellafield was profoundly disturbing, and my hon. Friend Mr Reed was absolutely right to request this urgent question—I thank you, Mr Speaker, for granting it. My hon. Friend expressed his concerns at the revelations and referred to the importance of the storage and reprocessing facility for his constituency. Of course, the House must raise such concerns on behalf of the country.

I want to focus on a number of questions on which I believe the Minister should give the House either further information or reassurance, and preferably both. On minimum staffing levels, will he confirm that as recently as five days ago a formal notice was sent to the management, raising the unions’ concern about critical manning levels and the ability to comply with the appropriate procedures and practices when minimum staffing levels are not met?

Will the Minister also say whether he agrees with Dr Rex Strong, the head of nuclear safety, who said in last night’s programme that not meeting the minimum safety standards or staffing levels did not mean that there was a safety risk?

In 2013, the manager of the site, Nuclear Management Partners, produced its somewhat ironically entitled excellence plan, cataloguing the safety problems and the critical nature of the infrastructure with respect to both electricity and water supply on the site. Why did the Government not insist that further resources—staffing and, of course, financial resources—be invested in the site to clean it up at that point? The Minister will know that expenditure in 2012-13 was £7,348 million, with £3,157 million from the Department of Energy and Climate Change itself. The year following that report, the figure had fallen to £5,345 million. Will he explain why, after such a damning report, the resources going into the site decreased? Will he also confirm that the cost estimates for the clean-up of the site have increased at an annual estimate from £25.2 million to £47.9 million?

The programme also cited problems with alarms, and it was said that these were turned off repeatedly, without checking. Will the Minister confirm that that practice is no longer in force? Finally, will he confirm that he has absolute confidence in Dr Rex Strong as head of nuclear safety at Sellafield and John Clarke, the chief executive of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority?

Gardiner did not get a very full reply from Nick Hurd, Minister of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

Again, I thank the hon. Gentleman for a constructive response, which reflects the cross-party concern to get this absolutely right with no equivocation. Issues were raised in the programme about minimum safety levels. I think they were responded to adequately in the programme. We were reassured that the NDA always has enough people on duty to maintain the site safely, and if the work cannot be done safely it will not get it done. I think the programme and the response to it have reassured us on that front.

As I said in my opening statement, cleaning up Sellafield safely costs £2 billion a year, and maintaining the NDA’s overall annual spend on cleaning up the UK’s nuclear sites at some £3 billion reflects the continuing importance that the Government place on cleaning up the civil nuclear legacy and Sellafield.

The hon. Gentleman asked about the reaction to the number of alarms raised—another issue raised in the programme. Those alarms, as he knows, are not unusual, given the types of material that people are working with and do not necessarily mean that there is a safety issue. However, we are reassured that staff are briefed never to be complacent and always react to alarms if they are serious, which is a point that was made in rebuttals in the programme.

On levels of confidence, yes, we do have confidence in the NDA. We also have a great deal of confidence in the independent regulator, which has made it quite clear that, as far as it is concerned, the programme does not raise any new issues and that Sellafield is safe.

Reassured?

Brent Central and Hampstead and Kilburn Labour Parties nominate Corbyn for Labour leadership

Queueing at the Kingsgate Centre tonight (photo ex-Twitter @inductivestep)

Brent Central CLP nominated Jeremy Corbyn for the Labour leadership by 69 votes to 24 tonight. Hampstead and Kilburn nominated Corbyn by 96 to 54.   Brent North does not vote until August 9th.

Brent Central nominated Corbyn in 2015 and Hampstead and Kilburn nominated Yvette Cooper.

Barry Gardiner joins Corbyn's Shadow Cabinet

Barry Gardiner, MP for Brent North, was reportedly booed by fellow Labour MPs yesterday evening when he had the temerity to speak up in defence of Jeremy Corbyn's leadership. Corbyn has now appointed him shadow Energy and Climate Change Secretary.

Gardiner is my member of parliament and I have clashed with him many times, as well as agreed with him on some issues, such as the Prevent Strategy. I stood against him in the General Election before last as the Green Party candidate.

We share a concern about the environment and climate change and although our specific policies, not least on the major question of whether our current economic system based as it is on continuing economic growth is compatible with tackling climate change, may differ, I welcome his appointment as strengthening the Labour Party's approach to the issue.

This is what he had to say in a recently updated Huffington Politics LINK article that demonstrates his ability to analyse the political implications of resource competition.:

Exactly one week before the Queen’s Speech President Obama gave a speech - not in London, but in New London, Connecticut - to the United States Coast Guard Academy. He said: “I am here today to say that climate change constitutes a serious threat to global security, an immediate risk to our national security, and, make no mistake, it will impact how our military defends our country... And so we need to act - and we need to act now.”

He said that climate change would shape how every one of America’s services plan, operate, train, equip and protect their infrastructure, because climate change poses risks to national security, resulting in humanitarian crises, and “potentially increasing refugee flows and exacerbating conflicts over basic resources like food and water.”

Last summer I was critical in this House of the government’s decision not to provide financial support to the Italian government’s coast guard operation to rescue refugees from Libya. The Government’s responded to me then that such rescue operations acted as a “pull factor” and were only increasing the number of attempts. I thought it an obscene argument then and in the intervening months we have seen that it was not only obscene, but wrong. The numbers have increased. This Saturday the Italian Coast Guard announced that more than 4,000 migrants had been rescued off Libya’s coast in 22 separate operations in just one day.

We need to look deeper into why those migrants are coming in the first place. It would be convenient for me to point to the British and French air strikes, not to mention the failure to prepare a post-Gadhafi strategy that left that country in chaos. But I want to look deeper still into why the civil war started in the first place. It was part of a much wider pattern of regional upheavals that we called the Arab Spring that began in Egypt in 2010 with the uprisings in Tahrir Square.

If we track back those disturbances we come inexorably to the 2010 drought in Russia’s wheatbelt. It was the longest and most severe drought in Russia in over 50 years. The country lost 25% of its crop and it led Russia to impose an export ban on wheat that it had traditionally exported to Egypt. The food crisis in Egypt was the pre-curser to the Arab Spring. It was the same in Tunisia and the rest of the Arab world.

On the 9th September 2010 when the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation warned that Syria’s drought was affecting food security and had pushed 2-3 million people into “extreme poverty” few people took any notice. In fact Syria had suffered four successive years of drought: the longest and deepest failure since records began in 1900. The losses from these repeated droughts were particularly significant for the population in the northeastern part of the country, in Al-Hasakeh, Deir Ezzor and Al-Raqqa.

Small-scale farmers were worst affected — many of them not able to cultivate enough food or earn enough money to feed their families. Herders also lost 80-85 percent of their livestock. Thousands left the northeast and migrated to informal camps close to Damascus. Experts warned at the time, that the true figure of those living in “extreme poverty” was higher than the official 2-3 million estimate. What is astonishing in military terms is that nobody predicted in September 2010 that such a tinder box might give rise to civil unrest and civil war only six months later.

The International Institute for Strategic Studies is very clear on the impact of resource shortages. In 2011 they published a report claiming that climate change “will increase the risks of resource shortages, mass migration and civil conflict” and the MoD has said that it will shift “the tipping point at which conflict occurs”.

The degradation of natural resources such as forests and freshwater has removed much of the resilience that societies formerly enjoyed. And what is perhaps equally disturbing is that we are beginning to see evidence that efforts to mitigate or adapt to climate change by some countries can actually shift increased risk onto others.

Climate change brings pressures that will influence resource competition between nations and place additional burdens on economies, societies and governance institutions around the globe. These effects are threat multipliers. They will aggravate those things that lead to conflict: poverty, environmental degradation, political instability and social tension. If Britain is to play a positive role in the world then this must be understood by our military and we must adapt.

We as politicians have to understand that the greatest threats to our security are no longer conventional military ones. You cannot nuke a famine. You cannot send battleships in to stop the destruction of a rainforest. But you can spend money on clean technology transfer that enables countries to bring their people out of poverty without polluting their future. You can invest in adaptation measures that will protect communities from the effects of climate change that are already placing their societies under stress.

Barry Gardiner seeks constituents' views on Referendum - Public Meeting on Monday

From Barry Gardiner MP (Brent North)

Public Meeting on EU Referendum

On Thursday, 23rd June 2017 the British public have the opportunity to determine the future of the United Kingdom and whether or not we play a part in the future of Europe. This may well be the most important vote that many of us will face in our lifetime and will, undoubtedly, have a profound impact on future generations.

Many of my constituents will not yet have decided how they intend to vote or may not have had an opportunity to consider the arguments for and against remaining in the European Union. With this in mind, I will be holding a public meeting to allow residents of Brent North1 to question me and so that I can listen to their views before any such vote.

The meeting will take place as follows:

Time: 7:30pm
Date: Monday, 20th June 2016
Venue: St Cuthbert’s Church2, 214 Carlton Avenue West, North Wembley, Middlesex HA0 3QY (just off the Watford Road)
 

'Speak Up for Libraries' - Will our MPs respond?

Alan Wylie, Barnet library  campaigner spoke for many today when he made the case for publicly funded, professionally staffed libraries today at the rally that preceded today's Speak Up for Libraries lobby of MPs. As well as local libraries the plight of school libraries was also touched on by many speakers. School libraries are not a 'statutory requirement' (unlike prison libraries) and thus are vulnerable to cuts as well as pressure on space as schools expand to cater for increasing pupils numbers.  Most school libraries cannot hope to stock all the books that teachers and students may require but many local authorities have cut the education library lending service which previously had a comprehensive stock.

George Hamerton, who is a pupil librarian at his primary school wowed the audiencve with his calmly presented case for the prpotection of libraries.

A common theme of contributors, whether authors, library workers or users, often  speaking from their own experience, was the contribution that libraries made to hard up working class families who would otherwise not be available to afford books. This is as true today as it was for many of the speakers as they were growing up but closure of local libraries, school libraries and education library services means that the current generation is at a disadvantage compared to the previous generation - internet or no internet.

Barry Gardiner MP was not in London to listen to the views of Brent North residents who gathered to see him so here are the demands we would have put to our MP. None of the Brent or Harrow MPs have signed the Early Day Motion LINK

Demands 

Enforce the law that says local authorities must provide a “comprehensive and efficient” library service by developing and implementing, with the Leadership for Libraries Taskforce, statuto y guidance on the responsibilities of public library authorities

Acknowledge that libraries are important to people – especially during a
recession – by implementing policy during the 2016 Parliament which secures their statutory rights to a quality library service and recognises the contribution of libraries to overall policy objectives including economic prosperity, skills development, literacy, health and wellbeing and community cohesion

Give libraries a long-term future with a clear vision for their development and standards of service by including a programme of library development and modernisation in the 2016-2020 DCMS Business Plan

Ensure councils have enough money to provide quality services that are well planned and sufficiently staffed

Support the EDM 1025 (Early Day Motion) from Speak Up for Libraries Campaign :

That this House recognises that public libraries are hugely important to our communities; acknowledges that many have already closed or are under threat; welcomes the Speak Up For Library lobby of Parliament in support of the public library service on 9 February 2016; and calls on the Government to ensure that councils have enough money to provide well-staffed quality services to enforce the law that says local authorities must provide a comprehensive and efficient library service, to implement policy which secures people’s statutory rights to a quality library service and to give libraries a long-term future by including a programme of library development and modernisation in the 2016 to 2020 Department for Culture, Media and Sport Business Plan.