WEMBLEY MATTERS News and views on local politics, the environment, climate change, culture and local history
To executive members, Brent Labour Group
As secretary of Kilburn (Brent) Labour Party branch, I'm appalled to hear that Councillor Abdi Abdirazak is being removed from his position on the planning committee of Brent Council, and at such short notice that it will be ratified at the Council meeting this evening.
Although the pretext appears to be to make room for the newly elected Willesden Green Councillors, this is clearly not the case, since Abdi is only on one committee whereas there are councillors on several who could have made way.
It is clear that Abdi is being "punished" for voting "the wrong way" on the planning committee. Abdi reported to our branch last week on his work on planning committee and had the support of the branch.
On behalf of the branch, I ask that you withdraw this proposal.We will be discussing this at our Branch EC meeting and will decide what further action needs to be taken; I would therefore welcome an early reply so that this can be taken into account.
My statement on Channel 4's news report last night pic.twitter.com/fODWYgxATU— Tulip Siddiq (@TulipSiddiq) November 29, 2017
You can see the funding reduction in each school by following these links: (you will need to open the file in Excel)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.
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| Tulip Siddiq, Dee Searle (Chair) and John Mansook at last night's meeting |
Any electoral alliance needs to be a true alliance, not a one way street. Sadly there hasn’t been any movement towards this from the Labour Party nationally. While we are very grateful to Tulip for coming to speak to us and advocating electoral alliances publicly in recent days, any decision to stand aside would have been very difficult knowing Labour are not likely to reciprocate. One of the Green Party’s key platforms in the upcoming campaign will be to change our unfair voting system, so that discussions like this are unnecessary and people can vote for what they believe in.Camden Green Party co-Chair John Holmes said:
Brent and Camden Green Parties have selected an excellent local candidate in John Mansook, who is deeply connected with many of the issues facing residents of Hampstead and Kilburn. Voters deserve the option of being able to vote for him and for the Green Party’s unique policies, including a commitment to reverse privatisation in the NHS and measures that will dramatically cut Britain’s contribution to climate change. We can only deprive voters of that opportunity if Labour works with us to increase our Green voice in Parliament.This is the resolution passed last night:
1) To publicly thank Tulip Siddiq for meeting the parties, for the efforts she has made to secure a progressive alliance for the 2017 General Election and the undertakings she has made to work for a progressive alliance in future
2) With regret, unless the Labour Party agrees to the reasonable demands of the Green Party nationally to withdraw the Labour candidates in Brighton and the Isle of Wight by noon on Wednesday 10th May, we will submit our nomination for John Mansook to be our candidate.
3) If an agreement is reached nationally, the election agent is instructed not to submit our candidate’s nomination.
There are a variety of views within Brent and Camden Green Parties on the issue of electoral alliances, and we've had a very healthy debate. We've a terrific Hampstead & Kilburn candidate in John Mansook, and so any decision to stand down won't be taken lightly. We've created a process whereby Green Party members get a say on any final decision, and they will want commitments from Tulip on key Green issues in order to make this a true alliance.
Tulip Siddiq signed a letter to the Guardian on Monday calling for the Labour party to stand aside of Brighton Pavilion and the Isle of Wight:Our principled position is that we stand a candidate. We believe that Green voters are entitled to have the opportunity to vote for their party of choice and a Green General Election campaign will help us build support in our strongest wards for the May 2018 Council elections when we hope our first Green councillors will be elected. We recognise that some Green voters, faced with the prospect of another Conservative government will none the less make a tactical decision to vote Labour.
With the progressive vote split, the danger of a Tory landslide and all it means for our country now looms darkly on June 8. It is therefore important to maximise progressive votes and campaigning in some key seats.She told the Camden New Journal LINK:
It can’t be denied that Caroline Lucas has been a good MP, and I’ve worked with her on several issues including lowering the voting age to 16.
