Tulip Siddiq's parliamentary assistant chosen to fight Willesden Green for Labour

Elliot Chappell, a parliamentary assistant to Tulip Siddiq MP (Hampstead and Kilburn) has been selected to be the third candidate on the Labour slate for the Willesden Green council election, following the death of Lesley Jones, whose funeral is on Tuesday next week.

Chappell, aged 26, who, despite appearances is not in a boy band, defeated Nyela Reid, Rajan Sellan, Iftekhar Ahmed, Conchita Varicak and James Powney who were also short-listed. He has previously worked on campaigns for David Lammy and Keir Starmer. His MSc (Democracy and Comparative Politics) thesis was on the 'European Union and the promotion of good governance'.

The election will be held on June 21st. Green candidates are Shaka Lish, who IS a singer, William Relton and Peter Murry.

Lesley Jones, former Mayor of Brent has died. Willesden Green election will take place at later date.

Cllr Lesley Jones after adopting a cat from the Mayhew

Cllr Tom Miller, has announced the death of his Willesden Green ward colleague Lesley Jones. Cllr Jones is a former Mayor of Brent.

On Twitter Cllr Miller said:

So very sad to hear of the passing of my comrade, ward colleague and partner in crime, Lesley Jones MBE. A beatnik in her youth, she was a warm person who took duty seriously - as a ward Cllr, a cabinet member, and as Mayor. Someone to look up to. Thinking of her family.

Lesley Jones was a candidate in Thursday's election. The Willesden Green ward election will now take place within 35 working days of the scheduled May 3rd election. There will be no need for nominations to be resubmitted. The decision was made by Brent Electoral officers in line with Electoral Commission guidelines:

If proof of the death of a validly nominated candidate at a contested election is received before the opening of the poll, the notice of poll is countermanded and the poll does not take place. The PARO must hold a new election.

Brent Labour Party has suspended all campaigning for the rest of the day as a mark of respect to Lesley Jones.

Brent Labour vote against an independent inquiry into Employment Tribunal case

Having previously voted down a suspension of standing orders to hear Philip Grant's deputation on achieiving high standards in council conduct, Brent Labour went on to vote down an independent inquiry into the Cara Davani Employment Tribunal case.

Only Brondesbury Conservatives and Helen Carr, the Liberal Democrat councillor, voted for the motion. Kenton Conservatives abstained.

In the process of supporting the motion 'with regret' Helen Carr launched a snarling personal attack on Philip Grant that went on far too long before the Mayor, Cllr Lesley Jones,  stopped it when new Chief Executive Carolyn Downs grabbed her arm.

Cllr Muhammed Butt was cock-a-hoop and came up  after the meeting to congratulate Cllr Carr on her attack, asking if he could have a copy of what she had read out.

Other Labour councillors approached Philip after the meeting to express sympathy and distance themselves from what Carr had said,

Welcome to Brent Carolyn.

Make Willesden Campaign hits the ground running

Willesden Green residents active in campaigns over the Willesden Green Library redevelopment, the Willesden Bookshop, Gladstone Park Primary School, council cuts and the Queensbury pub gathered together last night at the launch of the Make Willesden Green local election campaign.

Alex Colas, the candidate for MWG, spoke about how residents felt unrepresented and unsupported by local councillors and others talked of Willesden Green becoming a backwater as Wembley became the focus of the borough. There were fears that Willesden would lose its sense of community as the public realm was degraded and housing became unaffordable for ordinary  families. Recent developments were reducing the area to a dormitory.

Alex said that his campaign would be carrying forward values which had started with the library campaign but would look at the bigger and broader picture in order to influence the council. He said that it would be a local campaign but not a parochial one. The Coalition clearly had a major responsibility for the current situation but the campaign would not let the Council off the hook.  We must fight for a democratic, representative Council.

Alex's agent said that Labour were trying to distance itself from the present administration, which began with Ann John's library closures by choosing new, young candidates for 2014, but the policies remained the same. In Willesden Green, Cllr Lesley Jones, who was part of the Ann John regime, was standing again.

The Make Willesden Green campaign has people responsible for four main areas of policy: education, housing, public realm and local democracy and is welcoming policy ideas from supporters.  It was hoped that people would come forward as 'street reps' to further the campaign.

The Make Willesden Green blog is HERE   Twitter @AlexWG2014

The Stunner slips out of Brent. Mission accomplished?

Jack 'The Hair!' Stenner, Muhammed Butt's political adviser, is off to pastures new. Stenner has been busy since he left university in 2009 working for the Yes To Fairer Votes campaign, joining Ed Miliband's leadership campaign team, working for Barry Gardiner as Communications and Campaign Officer and managing Labour's Brent North General Election campaign. His association with Gardiner led him to become Director of Labour Friends of India.

Stenner became Muhammed Butt's political adviser, heading up the Leader's Office, just a month after Butt ousted Ann John as leader in May 2012.

His job appeared to be to remove Brent Labour's toxic image after the library closures under the Ann John administration which caused concern in senior Labour circles nationally.  A new approach was developed which promised dialogue with the community and  campaign groups but with the Labour Group committed to a 'No ifs, no buts; we must make cuts!' position very little actually changed except the mood music.

Butt, who is not a great public speaker, began,  as a result of Stenner's role as both minder and mentor, to make more coherent set piece speeches, although these were often derailed when he lost his cool during opposition interventions. Labour's public relations was improved by the appointment of James Denselow to head up communications for the party.

The group around Ann John, which included some experienced Executive members, continued to be a threat as Butt had only won by the narrowest of margins. In early 2013 there was a flurry of activity as Stenner found himself in a central role in Brent's version of the Thick of It as the John faction appeared to be ready to move a vote of no confidence in Butt's leadership. This failed to materialise when it became clear the votes didn't add up and instead an anodyne motion committing the factions to be nice to each other was adopted.

By the time of the May 2013 Annual General Meeting of the Labour Group plans were well advanced for a number of challenges to some of the Executive and Cllr James Powney, deeply unpopular over library closures was defeated along with Janice Long, Lesley Jones and Mary Arnold. A very new, but ambitious councillor, Michael Pavey joined the Executive along with Roxanne Mashari and James Denselow.

Perhaps rather insensitively this was spun to the local press as the victory of the young, dynamic, energetic and talented, perhaps by a young, dynamic, energetic and talented political adviser!

Some further tidying up is nearly complete over Labour candidates for the 2014 local elections and of course the selection, from an extremely crowded field, of a Labour candidate for Brent Central has still to take place, but Jack Stenner will perhaps be leaving Brent claiming 'mission accomplished'.

If that mission was to make Brent Labour more electable, and to bury the Ann John toxic waste so deep underground that the public will forget about it, we will only be able to judge in May 2014.

Meanwhile Barry Gardiner may well be feeling rather contented with what The Stunner has accomplished.

New look for Brent Council Executive after AGM

Muhammed Butt was elected leader of the Labour Group on Brent Council unopposed today at the AGM. Contenders for the various contested positions were all elected changing the age profile and ethnic composition of the Executive to younger and more diverse.
 

Cllr Powney was defeated by Roxanne Mashari for Environment and Neighbourhoods;  Lesley Jones by James Denselow for Customers and Citizens; Janice Long by Margaret McLennan for Housing and Mary Arnold by Michael Pavey for Children and Families.

Aslam Choudry took the Crime and Public Safety post defeating Wilhelmina Mitchell-Murray for the position vacated by Lincoln Beswick.

The first meeting of the new Executive will be on Monday May 20th 7pm Brent Town Hall.  The agenda can be found HERE

Margaret McLennan - Housing

Roxanne Mashari - Environment

James Denselow - Customers

Michael Pavey - Children

Aslam Choudry-Crime

Labour 'Young Turks' may challenge for Brent Executive positions

The challengers are probably too young to remember this!

The Brent Executive may have a more youthful profile following Labour's Annual General Meeting in May. AGMs of any organisation are an occasion for elected positions to be open to challenge and part of that process is for members to assess the performance of the incumbents and consider alternatives.

According to my sources among the incumbents under particular scrutiny this time round are Cllr Lesley Jones, Cllr Mary Arnold and Cllr James Powney. 'Alternatives' that have been mentioned include the very able Cllr James Denselow who has a background in journalism; Cllr Michael Pavey, energetic Barnhill by-election winner, who is  a school governor and has launched a high profile campaign to safeguard Children's Centres; and Cllr Roxanne Mashari who yesterday announced she was not standing for the Brent Central parliamentary selection. Presumably experience as a member of the Brent Executive would stand her in good stead in any future parliamentary bid. I have heard that Cllr Lincoln Beswick is not expected to carry on but Jim Moher, contrary to weekend reports, is to stand again.

Meanwhile Cllr Butt himself has contributed a new blog on the Council website which calls on residents to campaign on cuts to the fire service and on the A&E closures. This adopts a slightly harder line than previously.  LINK

Following my posting yesterday on the front runners for the Brent Central selection I have had somewhat conflicting information. There has been a suggestion that Cllr Ann John has joined James Powney in backing Catherine West but others claim that West is seeking nomination in another constituency.

Apparently there has been some disquiet that members of the short-listing panel, who it is claimed should remain neutral, have been involved in backing particular candidates. Meanwhile I have let all the  prospective candidates I am aware of  that in the interests of an informed public I am happy to carry their Guest Blogs on this site.

Cllr Revd Clues must resign after attending only one meeting in 6 months

Rev David Cues, Liberal Democrat councillor for Dudden Hill, now resident in Brighton, has attended just one council meeting or committee in the last six months out of eight that he was supposed to attend.

Councillor Gavin Sneddon, another Liberal Democrat, who has also moved out of the borough -  albeit not so far, attended 5 out of 8 meetings.

The best attender was Cllr Pat Harrison (Labour) with 19 out of 19, closely followed by Cllr Lesley Jones (18/18) and Cllr Janice Long (17/17).

Former Labour leader Ann John managed only 8 out of 13 meetings. However Pat Harrison attended 19/19 with one extra meeting, closely followed by Lesley Jones 18/18 and Janice Long 17/17. Ketan Sheth appears to have over-stretched himself managing only 16 of 3 expected attendances.

Liberal Democrats Paul Lorber and Barry Cheese both attended 8 additional meetings out of personal interest or to represent their constituents.

Obviously the number of meetings is not necessarily a guide to how effective a councillor is. If they sit there like a bag of potatoes and make no contribution except to rubber stamp decisions and do little case work they are not doing a good job.

However, Clues' 12.5% attendance rate is an insult to democracy and a betrayal of the electorate, and must reinforce the call from Brent Green Party that he should resign with still a year to go before the next council election.

Full attendance details for all councillors can be found HERE

Festival cuts go ahead amidst confusion over equalities legislation

There appeared to be some confusion from Labour councillors members last night when discussing the cuts in funding of faith events at Scrutiny Committee.  At first Cllr Lesley Jones said it had been a financial decision  and that the Equalities Act, previously cited as the reason for stopping funding of religious festivals, did not require the cessation of funding. The required Equalities Impact Assessment had been done after the initial report and further additional responsibilities had been published in April of this year. She said that some respondents in the Consultation had  said the festival grants were divisive.Under questioning she later said that both the equalities legislation and financial issues were prime factors in making the decision. Cllr Powney said that this was an Act of Parliament and not a matter of choice. He said that the Council could not decide to ignore it because of what people said during consultation: "Someone will need to explain why funding different religious groups at different rates is not discriminatory."

Addressing the public gallery, overwhelmingly consisting of Hindus concerned about the ending of the Navratri grant, Cllr Helga Gladbaum  reminded them of the support given by Brent Council when East African Asians fled Kenya and Uganda and came to settle in Brent. She said that the Council had funded a highly qualified Language Team that had helped children as they settled into Brent schools and the outcome was that our schools are now full of highly achieving children. She told them that times had changed and the Council could no longer afford the Navratri grants: "You are a proud people and are well able to organise events without holding out your hands for money. The money is needed for the elderly and for disabled children."

Liberal Democrat leader, Paul Lorber, who had called in the Executive decision, said that all Brent councillors were aware of the kind of comments they got on these issues and they shouldn't take these few comments into account while ignoring the wider number supporting the festivals. The negative comments were from an underlying 'element' that all councillors know about 'and we wouldn't tolerate racist comments'. He asked about the wider implications of the legislation for the work of Brent Council and whether any other areas were 'at risk' from the legislation. He gave the example of Stonebridge councillors who had financed Jamaica Day from ward working funds and Black History Month.

The Borough Solicitor, Fiona Edden, said that the Council had to pay 'due regard' regard to the legislation and the impact of decisions on 'protected groups' (1) . in consultation some groups had the perception that they were not being provided for. She said that if looked at historically this could be claimed to be the case. She said that the legislation (2)  was new and case law on it was still being developed and the law interpreted. It was clear that the libraries case was casting a long shadow over her comments.

Cllr Jones said that the fact that Navratri gets far more money than other, more modestly funded groups, could be seen as divisive. It was nobody's fault but a problem that had developed over the years. She defended spending on a team to promote corporate events, and extolled the virtues of one massive community 'Brent Celebrates' event. (3)

A speaker from the Hindu Council had earlier told the Committee that Brent was renowned all over London for its Navratri celebrations which was the biggest and best in the UK with thousands attending from the different communities. He said that cessation of funding would cause a loss of respect and goodwill and end the positive community engagement involved. He said the the Hindu Council would like to work with the Council on how to deal with the equalities legislation.

Lorber's motion asking the Executive to look again at their decision and its impact on a large section of the community. He called for the money being used for a special Events Unit to be distributed instead to community groups in line with the equalities legislation. He said that such community groups would be better at putting on events than the Council. His motion was lost.

1. Protected  characteristics are age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief, sex and sexual orientation.
2. Extract from the Equality and Human Rights Commission website:

With major reductions in public spending, organisations in Great Britain are being required to make difficult financial decisions. The equality duty requires public authorities to demonstrate that they are making financial decisions in a fair, transparent and accountable way, considering the needs and the rights of different members of their community. This is achieved through assessing the impact that changes to policies and practices could have on different protected groups.
The duty does not prevent public authorities from making difficult decisions such as reorganisations and relocations, redundancies, and service reductions, nor does it stop public authorities from making decisions which may impact on one group more than another group.
Assessing the impact on equality of proposed changes to policies, procedures and practices is not just something the law requires, it is a positive opportunity for public authorities to ensure they make better decisions based on robust evidence. The assessment does not necessarily have to take the form of a document called an Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) but you can choose to do so if it is helpful. It will help you to demonstrate compliance if you:

• Ensure you have a written record of the equality considerations you have taken into account
• Ensure that your decision-making includes a consideration of the actions that would help to avoid or mitigate any negative impacts on particular protected groups.
• make your decisions based on evidence
• make your decision-making process more transparent

The equality duty is a legal obligation which should remain a top priority for public authorities, even in times of economic difficulty. Failure to meet the equality duty may result in public authorities being exposed to costly, time-consuming and reputation-damaging legal challenges.

3. Such events can be fraught with difficulty as it is often difficult to untangle cultural and religious strands and there is a danger of the format not respecting aspects of some cultures. It is probably an urban myth but at the extreme end is the story of the Japanese store that celebrated Christmas with a huge model of Santa on a cross. I worked for a primary headteacher a long while ago who was determined to have a 'multicultural Christmas' and was miffed when, at the height of the cultural revolution, the Chinese Embassy gave a shirty reply to her request for information on how the Chinese celebrated Christ's birth!

Local MPs and Councillors speak on green issues

Photo by Jon Goldberg www.jongoldberg.co.uk

For those of you who missed last week's Brent Green Fair, or wish to relive every minute of the proceedings, videos of the politicians' contributions are now available on the Brent Greens Blog LINK  Many thanks to Pete Murry of Brent Green Party who did the filming and stayed loyally behind the camera for several hours.

There are appearances from Sarah Teather MP (Brent Central), Barry Gardiner MP (Brent North) and Willesden Green Councillors Lesley Jones, Ann Hunter and Gavin Sneddon.