Wembley & Alperton Residents' Meeting March 18th

Brent Council's ambiguous approach to immigration

Cllr Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent Council acted quickly on the 'racist van' issue and UKBA raids on local stations. He appeared in the media to denounce the impact of such strategies on a diverse community and also condemned the estsate agents who were alleged to discriminate against prospective black tenants.

However, the Council also took part in raids on shop premises in Willesden Green alongside the UK Border Agency and have imposed dispersal orders, support by the police and UKBA on workers waiting for a day's labour in the traditional Cricklewood picking up points.

Now the lead member for Crime Prevention and Community Safety, Cllr Aslam Choudry, has circulated his March Report to councillors that states:

I have received complaints from various people in Mapesbury, Dudden Hill and Dollis Hill wards that there are Bulgarian illegal immigrants sleeping rough in Gladstone Park. This is an ongoing issue but has deteriorated recently. brent Safety, Police and Immigrations department are working together to find a solution. Again this will not be an easy but efforts must be made to ensure the safety issues are addressed.

Bulgarians of course have EU rights as I am sure Cllr Choudry  noticed during the recent UKIP induced media panic. Sleeping rough may be unsightly and inconvenient but is there any evidence of any crime result from sleepers' presence in the park - or is there an underlying assumption that they are criminal in the same way that this was applied to Romanians?  There is even some doubt about the extent of the problem and it would be interesting to see some hard evidence.

It was intersting that Cllr Choudry's email was copied in to Lee Skevington who is not a councillor but Brent Labour Party's borough organiser.