Muhammed Butt tells the PM that Brent is keen to roll up its sleeves and do its bit for change

 

Brent councillor Shama Tatler moves into national spotlight as she is parachuted into sacked candidate Faiza Shaheen's seat

 

 

Cllr Shama Tatler is in the spotlight after London Labour announced her as the parliamentary candidate for Chingford and Woodford Green following the unceremonious sacking of long-term candidate Faiza Shaheen by Keir Starmer yesterday. This means that she has been chosen centrally by Labour rather than going through the local democratic selection process.

Faiza Shaheen, a new mother and local had been campaigning in the seat for four years. It remains to be seen whether the Brent Lead Member for Regeneration will benefit from that work. 

Faiza Shaheen said on Twitter:

Really! Wow a Brent councillor with no history here at all. They would rather lose than have a left pro-Palestine candidate. This is offensive to my community.

It appears that Tatler has been parachuted into a bed of nettles amidst the current controversy over a 'Starmerite purge' and allegations of a negative attitude towards ethnic minority and female candidates in the wake of the leadership's treatment of Diane Abbott. Of course Shama Tatler is also ethnic minority and female.

 

There were mixed comments on Twitter with some pointing to Tatler's membership of the JLM as finding favour with Starmer.  LINK  One person accused her of 'trampling' on Faiza Shaheen.

Shama Tatler is on  Labour's NCC the party's disciplinary committee and backed Luke  Akenhurst for the NEC.  I understand that there is currently a conduct complaint against her lodged with the Labour Party.

She previously sought the Labour parliamentary candidate nomination for Watford. This video was part of her campaign.

Meanwhile people are flocking to the support of Faiza Shaheen after her emotional interview on Newsnight last night.

 

Faiza Shaheen's statement on yesterday's events:

 

Following boundary changes, what are the chances of Shama Tatler winning the seat previously held by Ian Duncan Smith for the Conservatives?  The website Electoral Calculus has the projection below but this does not take into account the latest developments and the possibility of an Independent campaign by Faiza Shaheen.

 

Join the call for Starmer to put Proportional Representation in the Labour Manifesto

 

The only way we are going to get real change is the introduction of Proportional Representation so that voting really matters to everyone. This powerful consortium led by Make Votes Matters has launched a a petition aimed at stopping Starmer's dithering.

They say:

The British public has been demanding Proportional Representation for years.

Support from voters is the highest it has ever been, including having doubled among Labour voters.

Thousands campaign for it every year. From First Ministers Mark Drakeford and Nicola Sturgeon, mayors Andy Burnham and Sadiq Khan, to grassroots activists up and down the country.

Every major party in Great Britain other than Labour and the Conservatives promised it at the last election.

Now, Labour is a big step closer to joining us.

Labour Conference has now passed a motion calling for Proportional Representation. This is an historic moment.

But you said this is "not a priority".

Without your support there is no guarantee that Labour will introduce Proportional Representation after the next election.

But we are not going away. We will not allow Proportional Representation to be kicked into the long grass.

We want you to take up the torch of electoral reform.

We want a manifesto commitment for Proportional Representation.

However we vote, all of us want to cast our next vote for a party that commits to PR in its manifesto.

 

This is the very similar petition wording: SIGN HERE 

To: Keir Starmer
From: [Your Name]

​The British public has been demanding Proportional Representation for years.

Support from voters is the highest it has ever been, including having doubled among Labour voters.

Thousands campaign for it every year. From First Ministers Mark Drakeford and Nicola Sturgeon, mayors Andy Burnham and Sadiq Khan, to grassroots activists up and down the country.

Every major party in Great Britain other than Labour and the Conservatives promised it at the last election.

Now, Labour is a big step closer to joining us.

Labour Conference has now passed a motion calling for Proportional Representation. This is an historic moment.

But you said this is "not a priority".

Without your support there is no guarantee that Labour will introduce Proportional Representation after the next election.

But we are not going away. We will not allow Proportional Representation to be kicked into the long grass.

We want you to take up the torch of electoral reform.

We want a manifesto commitment for Proportional Representation.

However we vote, all of us want to cast our next vote for a party that commits to PR in its manifesto.

We are closer than ever to achieving equal votes. Will you join us?

There's something rotten in the state of Labour when they expel well-known activist and former councillor Graham Durham

 

Graham Durham with Jeremy Corbyn

As a Green Party member you may think that what is going on in the Labour Party should not concern me - let them stew in their own juice... etc.

But when our main Opposition party is being rent asunder by what appears to be an old fashioned purge, when natural justice is ignored and guilt by association deployed, and retrospectively at that,  then everyone must acknowledge the threat to democracy.

It is doubly concerning that these actions characteristic of despotic regimes are being carried out in a party  led by  a former lawyer and Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer.

Recently Wembley Matters has carried stories about the suspension of Kilburn Labour Party member  Pete Firmin for allowing discussion of a motion calling for the restoration of the whip to Jeremy Corbyn LINK, and the threatened expulsion of Harrow Councillor Pam Fitzpatrick for writing an article for a magazine that was only banned by Labour a year later  LINK

Graham Durham is a long-time Labour and trade union activist, who served decades ago as a Brent Labour councillor. He is well-known in Brent and I have often seen him in action. I do not always agree with him or his tactics but few can doubt his sincere commitment to the Labour Party and the cause of socialism.

However he has now been freed from a period of limbo - the Sword of Damocles hanging over his head for a long timehas fallen - he has been informed of his expulsion. Once again it is applied retrospectively.

This is his own account on Facebook:

The Labour bureaucrats have advised me that I am expelled from the Party for, ‘calling for a leadership challenge to Keir Starmer.’ After 51 years I am sad and angry at the witch-hunt of socialists but at least their politics is clear

 

I have received today notice from the Government and Legal Unit expelling me from the Labour Party (of which I have been a member for 51 years).

 

The Labour bureaucrats state that my defence that the Zoom meeting of Labour In Exile occurred on 27 March 2021 and so I could not know they would proscribe this organisation on 20 July 2021 is irrelevant.

 

Moreover, they have studied a tape of that meeting and claim I said, ‘We should organise a conference to plan a leadership challenge to Starmer.’

 

I did and, although I am angry and upset at this witch-hunt, at least it was for a correct political call I made.

 On a previous occasion when the Labour Party suspended Durham in the midst of NEC elections, effectively excluding him from the ballot,   Brent Central CLP's GC approved a motion which said LINK:

Removing candidates in this way smacks of totalitarian regimes who deal with "opponents" in this way rather than letting the electorate decide.

Many will find the sifting of evidence from recordings of zoom meetings ominous and on a practical level wouldn't Labour Party staff be better deployed helping organise opposition and campaigns against this dreadful government?

It remains to be seen what the reaction from the local party and prominent figures in Brent Labour will be to this turn of events.

Brent Central Labour condemn Starmer's stance on school closures and praise Dawn Butler for her support of the NEU and Unison

Spot the Leader of the Opposition
 

Brent Central  Constituency Labour Party last night passed a motion condemning Keir Starmer's position of pressing for schools to stay open as cases rose during the pandemic. Secen members of the CLP voted against the motion on the grounds that the leader of the party should not be publicly attacked. They agreed with the demands of the of the motion. Starmer's failure to hold the government to account was contrasted with the robust efforts of Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid on Good Morning Britain.

The motion:

Brent Central CLP congratulates Dawn Butler and others in supporting the coalition of trade unions – particularly the NEU and UNISON – and other organisations which called for learning to be shifted to remote teaching and learning, and for schools to be physically closed except to key worker children and those deemed vulnerable.

We condemn Keir Starmer's failure to oppose the government stance of keeping all [schools] physically opened, contrary to the scientific evidence that supported closure. This led to millions of primary children attending school on 4 January 2020 before the government was compelled by the weight of scientific evidence, the unions, Labour councils, MPs and wider public pressure to close them. This one day of mixing is likely to have risked teachers, support staff, parents, grandparents and other members of the community to coronavirus.

Currently early years and nursery schools continue to be pressured by the government to stay physically open or lose funding. Brent Central CLP urges Keir Starmer and the Labour Party to now oppose this with utmost urgency, and to demand that the government does not tie funding for early years and nursery schools – Dedicated School Grant (DSG) – to the headcounts of attending students. Staff are being unnecessarily exposed to danger, and parents are already rightly keeping their children away from early years and nursery schools. These settings deserve state support, not threats of punishment.

Brent Central CLP 'deplores' removal of whip from Jeremy Corbyn and calls for its restoration

 

 

Brent Central Constituency Labour Party has passed the following motion regarding the removal of the parliamentary whip from Jeremy Corbyn:

Brent Central CLP welcomes the reinstatement of Jeremy Corbyn to the Labour Party.

We believe that Jeremy Corbyn is a man who has for decades championed powerfully the values of anti-racism, internationalism and solidarity, as both a Labour MP and the Leader of the Labour Party. We express our solidarity to him, and all those who have campaigned for his reinstatement.

We therefore deplore Keir Starmer's unwarranted intervention to deny Jeremy Corbyn's parliamentary whip. At a time when we should be fighting the pernicious effects of austerity, privatisation and failing capitalism, this decision – which does not seem to be grounded in truth nor justice – greatly damages the labour movement.

We call on Keir Starmer to immediately restore Jeremy Corbyn's parliamentary whip.

Cllr Butt: 'We need to feel uncomfortable' to bring about the necessary change in Black lives

Stonebridge Adventure Playground users protest against closure

Youth Centre users protest against closures

1,000 strong protest against Bridge Park sell-off

In a message to residents Cllr Muhammed Butt, Leader of Brent Council, said that in considering positive changes to Black lives 'we will need to feel uncomfortable.'  

The decision to close Stonebridge Adventure Playground, so important in the lives of many BAME young people over the last 40 years; a review of the cuts the Council has made in youth provision; and very much of the moment, the Council's ongoing high court fight with Black residents over the Bridge Park Complex are all Brent policy issues that in my opinion might make the Council 'uncomfortable' but need an honest review.

This is the relevant section of Cllr Butt's Newsletter:

Last week I told you that Brent Council stands with our Black residents, and the Black Lives Matter campaign, against all forms of prejudice and injustice. I now want to promise you that these were not empty words. We are fully committed to positive action to improve life for all our Black residents.

Yesterday (June 11) the Council’s Deputy Leader, Cllr Margaret McLennan, and I met with leaders and young people from Black communities across the borough. The council’s Chief Executive, senior council officers and the Police Borough Commander were also present. Despite the deep pain we all feel at the current situation, the talks were both constructive and productive and there was a willingness to turn our pain into positive action. It was clear that to bring the changes that are so vital and necessary, we will need to feel uncomfortable. Neither community leaders, role models nor the council can make the changes that are needed alone. We must all work together, and we will. Whatever happens internationally, nationally and at a London-wide level, discussions and action will continue in Brent, as we work in partnership to create an action plan to stamp out inequality in our borough in the short, medium and long term.

In his current Kilburn Times column Cllr Butt calls the community action in removing the  slave trader Colston's  statue 'Vigilantism':

Butt is following Keir Starmer's line in condemning the action but Brent Central MP Dawn Butler disagreed with Starmer's approach. She told ITV's Peston:

He did say that the activists were completely wrong, and I disagree, I don't think the activists were completely wrong. I think the activists in Bristol have been fighting for many years, probably over a decade to get the statue removed, and to get the statue put into a museum, and that didn't happen.And essentially they made it happen, and so I don't think that they were completely wrong.

Barry Gardiner out of Shadow Cabinet

Barry Gardiner MP for Brent North has just tweeted that he is out of the new Shadow Cabinet:

Just received a courteous phone call from Keir Starmer standing me down from Shadow Cabinet. I wished him and his new team well. I will continue to do all I can to serve the party and ensure a Labour victory at the next General Election.

Yesterday  Gardiner welcomed the election of Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner:

Principled and united, Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner will lead our party forward to create a better future for our country. Warmest congratulations to them both.

Brent Central CLP backs Starmer for Labour Leader and Butler for Deputy

When I was campaigning in the Barnhill by-election a resident told me confidently that Momentum had taken over Brent Council.  I chuckled.

I respect many of the local activists in Brent but they are nowhere near taking over Brent Council which remains a stronghold of Labour managerialists. Although Brent Momentum had mobilised to campaign for Gaynor Lloyd  in Barnhill the other candidate was Muhammed Butt's brother-in-law. Mo Butt joined Momentum not out of an ideological commitment to socialism but in order to keep an eye on his potential challengers. He is by no means a Momentum activist- indeed someone suggested the group rename itself Mentum in order to remove Mo.

Last night Brent CLP met to nominate their candidates for the Labour leadership and narrowly nominated Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership rather than Rebecca Long-Bailey the Momentum supported candidate, and loyally supported Brent Central MP Dawn Butler for the deputy leadership rather than Richard Burgon.

Dawn Butler made her pitch for the deputy leadership on Novara TV LINK:



Meanwhile some Green Party members were quite impressed by Rebecca Long-Bailey's pitch on climate change

Rebel Tulip Siddiq vows to keep fighting on HS2

The first stage of the HS2 route was approved by the House of Commons yesterday in just 37 minutes. Keir Starmer (Holborn and St Pancras) and Tulip Siddiq (Hampstead and Kilburn) rebelled against Labour's three line whip  and voted against the £56bn project.

In a message to constituents yesterday Tulip Siddiq said:

Today in Parliament, I voted against the High Speed Rail 2 (HS2) Bill that will devastate areas of Camden and Brent.

I have campaigned against HS2 for the past seven years as I believe it is an ill-thought out scheme that will lead to bedlam on our roads, disruption to the education of school children and a compromised local environment.

Further, these plans will cost taxpayers billions of pounds. I believe this money could instead be spent on projects that will actually bring real improvements to living standards across the country.

Having spoken against this Bill at the Select Committee, and again in today’s debate, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank residents who engaged with the lengthy and costly petition process. Though the Bill received support from across Parliament, it is your voice that will force HS2 to fulfil its assurances to compensate and mitigate the worst of the impacts.

My first priority as the MP for Hampstead and Kilburn is to protect residents in Camden and Brent. Therefore, I am proud to have voted against High Speed Rail 2 today in Parliament.

The scheme have now been granted permission by parliament, but I will keep fighting for mitigation for constituents.

This is what Keir Starmer had to say in the debate:

New clause 22 deals with Euston, which is in the middle of my constituency. It is not easy to convey to the House the devastating impact that HS2 will have on my constituency, but let me try. HS2 will come into Primrose Hill and crash through to Euston, destroying everything in its path.

Let me give the House the sheer numbers affecting my constituency: 2,986 people live within 60 metres of the construction site, a further 3,186 live within 120 metres, and 11,414 within 300 metres. That is 17,568 people in my constituency within 300 metres of the construction site. Some 220 family houses will be demolished, and up 1,000 people will lose their homes. Unless there is a plan for an integrated station at Euston, there is the risk that another 150 family homes will be lost, affecting another 600 people—1,600 people are at risk of losing their home.

Many of the family homes that are not destroyed will be affected by noise, and according to HS2’s own figures, 1,025 family homes—that is 4,000 people—will be affected by noise that requires mitigating measures. Measures are already in place to consider up to another 850 homes and another 3,400 people. Some 7,000 people in my constituency could need noise mitigation measures because of what will happen with HS2 at Euston.

That is not the end of it. If Euston is redeveloped, 3.5 million tonnes of spoil will need to be removed from the site, which is the equivalent of 26 miles of tunnelling for Crossrail. All that must come out of Euston, and there is no guarantee or assurance that that will be done by rail. The net effect for my constituents is the risk of 800 two-way lorry movements a day to remove that spoil, and 90% of those lorries will be HGVs.

That brings me on to air quality, which is notoriously bad in London. It is particularly bad in the Euston area, and the HS2 environmental statement indicates that HS2 will have a substantial impact on nitrogen dioxide levels in a third of locations in the Euston area. If that was not enough on its own—it will have a devastating impact on the constituency—let me throw in two further factors.

The first factor is time. The original HS2 Bill was premised on the completion of a new HS2 station at Euston by 2026. For my constituents, that seemed like a long time. In September 2015, the Government lodged “Additional Provisions 3”, their current plans for Euston. A new station is now to be developed in three phases. Stage A, to the west of the existing station, involves the construction between 2017 and 2026 of six platforms needed for phase 1. Stage B2, the construction in the second phase of further platforms within the existing station but not all of it, is intended to be completed by 2033. The redevelopment of the existing station, stage B2, is unfunded and unplanned, and may begin before or after 2033—half a station in twice the time.

Another factor—there are more I could add to this litany of devastation in Holborn and St Pancras—is that even in 2033, having endured a construction site for the best part of 20 years, my constituents will not see a complete and integrated station in their constituency. On 1 December 2015, Tim Mould QC, HS2’s counsel, outlined to the Select Committee that a new integrated station at Euston is:

“not deliverable within appropriate funding constraints” and that this is the assessment of

“the government, the Chancellor, the Prime Minister”.

There is no timetable for Government funding to complete the final phase. As a result of the lack of planning and integration, Crossrail 2, which hopes to have an integrated station, is now planning on the basis that it may have to build part of its station in Somers Town, removing 150 buildings and displacing another 600 people—half a station in twice the time, with twice the damage.

A child born next year in my constituency will grow up and leave home knowing nothing but construction work. A pensioner beginning retirement at 70 next year will live out their entire retirement knowing nothing but construction work around them. It is no wonder that at every meeting and everywhere I go in my constituency, anxiety is etched on the faces of everybody who talks to me about HS2. It is an appalling situation, one that is wholly unacceptable on any basis.

I was elected to represent the people of Holborn and St Pancras. It is my privilege to do so; it is also my duty. I speak to each and every one of my constituents when I say that I will stand with them and fight with them to resist the wholly unacceptable damage that HS2 will bring to our communities.

Labour decision to back HS2 will anger local campaigners

The Independent, which sadly  publishes its last Sunday edition today, reports that Jeremby Corbyn and John McDonnell, despite earlier opposition, will whip Labour MPs to support the HS2 Bill when it goes to the House of Commons on Tuesday LINK

The newspaper reports that Sir Keir Starmer,  Labour MP for Holborn and St Pancras, a fierce opponent of HS2, may be persuaded to support the Bill via a Labour amendment that would protect social housing around Euston and mitigate construction disruption. Starmer was opposed at the General Election by Green Party leader Natalie Bennett. The Greens oppose HS2.

In the  South Kilburn Estate opposition arose when Brent Council who are in favour of HS2,  persuaded HS2 to move a vent shaft to a site right next to St Mary's Primary School on the Estate. LINK 

Pete Firmin gave evidence on behalf of South Kilburn residents to the Select Committee. LINK

Kensal Triangle Residents Association have been vehemently against the project.

Corbyn raised issues around HS2 and its impact on other necessary rail projects as recently as last October LINK  leading to this comment from the Stop HS2 Camapign:

Stop HS2 Campaign Manager Joe Rukin responded:

“It is a breath of fresh air to have a party leader who is actually trying to assess what the real-world implications of HS2 would be, opposed to simply swallowing the spin put forward by proponents. It has been clear since the outset that spending such a vast amount of money on HS2 would only mean other, more deserving projects will be squeezed out, and even the Department for Transport have admitted that HS2 could suck up all the rail investment money.” 

“Following the on-off and now delayed status of some rail upgrades, there is still the Hendy report to come which will surely cut back on other projects. In this climate, we simply cannot see Mr Corbyn getting the guarantee he seeks.”

“With the costs of HS2 set to spiral when they are finally worked out on current prices, there is no way other projects can be guaranteed. We welcome the fact Mr Corbyn is seriously looking at the implications of HS2, and remind him that if he finds the project to be deficient, it can be stopped when the bill comes back for third reading.”

Sir Alan Davies gets 18 month suspended sentence for false accounting

Former headteacher Sir Alan Davies of Copland Community School, Wembley received 12 month sentence suspended for two years today on 6 charges of false accounting.

Full story on Kilburn Times website HERE

The ATL and NUT in Brent have issued the following statement:

Today in Southwark Crown Court Sir Alan Davies, who yesterday pleaded guilty, although at
the very last minute, to six counts of false accounting, was sentenced to one year's
imprisonment suspended for two years. In passing sentence the Judge said that he showed
‘dishonesty with criminal intent’ and that his conduct was ‘disgraceful’. She made it clear that,
had he not pleaded guilty, his conduct would have resulted in an immediate custodial sentence.

The judge was also minded to make a compensation order against Davies regarding the costs
of Brent's investigation. However, she was informed that Brent Council is considering
pursuing their costs through the civil court.

Before the trial commenced a deal was struck, involving Keir Starmer, Head of the Crown
Prosecution Service.

Hank Roberts said, “It appears that a school can set up a company, and legally pay the
headteacher hundreds of thousands of pounds out of the pupils education budget for project
management. At the moment technically legal it may be, but shouldn't a headteacher of a
secondary school paid over £100, 000 a year expend their energies on the children's education?

And shouldn't this legal loophole be closed? Sir Alan has been found guilty and sentenced and
now has a criminal record. That at least is some justice.”

Lesley Gouldbourne said, “What action is going to be taken to get back the money lost from
the kid's education? What action is going to be taken to remove his knighthood? ”