A talk with Shrabani Basu, local author of the book 'Spy Princess: The life of Noor Inayat Khan' - 31st March 2.30pm

 

From Preston Community Library

 

We are delighted to welcome local author Shrabani Basu, whose new book, 'The Secret of the Parsee Lawyer' is making waves worldwide, and who also wrote 'Victoria and Abdul', since made into a film.

She comes to tell us the incredible story of Noor Inayat Khan: a descendent of the legendary Tipu Sultan, the 18th century ruler of Mysore.

Noor was brought up in London and Paris, and was recruited into the Special Operations Executive during WW2.  She was parachuted behind enemy lines as the first woman radio operative - average life expectancy, six weeks.  Betrayed, captured and incarcerated in Germany, she was tortured, but revealed nothing.  Finally taken to Dachau Concentration Camp, she was shot.  Her final word was 'Liberté'.  

 

 

Noor was posthumously awarded The George Cross by Britain and the Croix de Guerre by France.  Shrabani led the campaign for a statue of Noor, which was erected in London in 2012.

 

 

HOW IT WORKS:

Book via Eventbrite on the link below.  This event will livestream on Preston Community Library's Facebook page, and ticket holders will be given a link to join within their emailed ticket.  You don't need a Facebook account to watch it, everyone has access to join, with a chance to leave questions for a Q&A at the end.

More details about are on the poster below:

To book a ticket please click on this link: 

https://spyprincess.eventbrite.co.uk .   Your Free Ticket from Eventbrite will contain a link to join the event on 31st March. Just click on the link on the day. 

 

OFFICIAL: Brondesbury Park by-election announced after resignation of Cllr Gill - polling day May 6th

 From the Brent Council website LINK

A by-election for a vacant council position in the electoral ward of Brondesbury Park in the London Borough of Brent will be held on Thursday 6 May 2021.

This follows the resignation of former Councillor Kieron Gill who informed Carolyn Downs, Returning Officer and Chief Executive of Brent Council, of his decision to step down earlier this week.

The by-election will take place on the same day as the Mayor of London and London Assembly Elections on 6 May, meaning eligible voters in Brondesbury Park ward will be voting in four elections on the same day.

Apply early if you want to vote by post

Voters have a range of options for casting their ballot – in person, by post or by appointing someone they trust to vote in their place, known as a proxy vote.

As with the London elections, Brondesbury Park residents are encouraged to apply early if they want to vote by post, which is the easiest and safest way to vote during the COVID-19 pandemic.

To apply to vote by post, residents must download an application form, complete and sign it and then return it by email to Electoral.Services@brent.gov.uk or by post to Electoral Services, Brent Civic Centre, Engineers Way, Wembley, HA9 0FJ.

All applications to vote by post must be received by the council by 5pm on Tuesday 20 April.

Paper application forms can also be requested by emailing Electoral.Services@brent.gov.uk or by calling 020 8937 1372.

Find out more about voting by post.

Register to vote

In order to register to vote by post, residents must first be on the electoral register. The deadline to register to vote in time for the May elections is midnight on Monday 19 April.

It takes just five minutes to apply online.

This is particularly important for anyone who has recently turned 18 or moved address.

You can vote in local elections if you are:

• A British citizen - excluding overseas electors;
• A qualifying Commonwealth citizen (including Cyprus and Malta);
• From Ireland;
• A European Union citizen.

Nominations to stand in by-election

The deadline for nominations to stand in this by-election is 4pm on Thursday 8 April. View election notices.

Conspiracy Theories and the Digital Dark Arts: How Worried Should We Be? March 25th 7.30pm

 From Kensal and Kilburn Better 2021

Thursday 25 March 2021 7.30pm to 8.30pm

19:30 – 20:30 GMT

 

LRB contributor James Meek, QAAnon's Annie Kelly, psychologist Alexandra Stein & former QAnon believer Jitarth Jadeja talk to Tom Lennard

When QAnon shaman Jake Angeli became the face of the storming of Congress on January 6th this year, the wider world was exposed to this worryingly influential conspiratorial sect. For many, QAnon seemed to appear from out of nowhere. Not so. Conspiracy theories have proliferated in recent decades, aided and abetted by digital technologies and social media platforms.

How worried should we be about conspiracy theories, and are they a threat to democratic norms and digital freedoms? Who benefits from these theories, and how do we help to stem their proliferation and draw people away from such destructive beliefs? How can we distinguish between "conspiracy fact", such as Watergate or MKUltra, and "conspiracy fiction", such as chemtrails and vaccine-microchipping?

Joining the discussion will be Jitarth Jadeja, a former QAnon believer-turned-spokesperson for those re-emerging from conspiracy-led beliefs, Booker Prize long-listed James Meek, author of the recent LRB essay Red Pill, Blue Pill that looks at the power of conspiracy theories in the UK, educator and social psychologist Alexandra Stein, author of Terror, Love and Brainwashing: Attachments in Cults and Totalitarian Systems, and QAnon Anonymous Podcast's UK correspondent and researcher Annie Kelly, writer of the article Mothers for QAnon.

TICKETS

Brondesbury Park Councillor Kieron Gill has resigned

 

Cllr Kieron Gill (Labour - Brondesbury Park)

Reliable sources confirmed tonight that Cllr Kieron Gill who represented Brondesbury Park  ward for Labour has resigned. As yet no reason has been given for the resignation.

Cllr Gill was one of the new cohort of councillors elected in May 2018. Labour made a clean sweep of the ward that previously had Conservative representation.

Cllr Gill made a number of interventions beginning in 2018 moving a motion in Council condemning the deaths of 130 unarmed Gazans at the hands of the Israeli forces. LINK

In 2019 Gill seconded the motion declaring a Climate Emergency in Brent which continues to make an impact on council policy. LINK

In 2020 Cllr Gill hit the headlines when he resigned from the Labour Group's Task Force on Democracy  and went public with his criticism of the Chair of the Task Force, Cllr Thomas Stephens (now in the Cabinet) for producing a 'soft report' and urging his fellow councillors to reject the 'weak offer.' LINK

Finally in February of this year Cllr Gill abstained on the Labour budget. LINK

It appears that another councillor with a streak of independence has gone.

It is likely that the by-election caused by the resignation will be held on May 6th which is the polling day for the GLA and Mayoral election.

The contest is likely to be close as it was in Barnhill and Alperton. 

 

Who is responsible for maintaining the 'disgusting' canal feeder on the Hyde Housing estate in Stonebridge? Action needed.

 

Brent is lucky to have a number of waterways including the Grand Union Canal, the canal feeder, River Brent, Wealdstone Brook and Wembley Brook plus a number of others that are now mostly underground but reappear  above ground after torrential rain.

New developments often boast of the amenity value of the waterways but as the situation in Alperton demonstrates the amenity value is rapidly devalued if the area is not regularly cleaned and properly maintained.

In a guest blog a resident of the Hyde Housing Estate in Stonebridge describes their experience:

Residents of Hyde Housing estate in Stonebridge Park, NW10, are facing an issue with a canal feeder that runs along the Orchid Mews, NW10, and is inside Hyde Housing Association’s estate and next to benches and gardens where residents are supposed to enjoy the sun.  

 

The canal is not maintained or cleaned at all, and a large amount of litter and animal carcases is what we face daily. The canal’s banks are also full of rubbish. If you chose to enjoy the sun with your family using the provided benches, or if you want to open your window for fresh air, you will need to put up with the canal’s disgusting view.

 

We contacted the Canal and River Trust who confirmed that the responsibility falls with the Hyde Housing Association who took on the responsibility for 125 years (I assume under current land lease). Nevertheless, Hyde Housing have been unable to accept responsibility and maintain the canal. As a result, rubbish and dead animals is the everyday reality for us:

 

From London South East Canal and River Trust

We use three metal grates to prevent rubbish from entering the canal culverts.

However, after talking to colleagues in the area, I can confirm that the Canal and River Trust doesn't own the feeder. The feeder belongs to the Hyde Housing Association.

 

Hyde have never responded to our requests for comments or help and no any action have been taken. They are acting irresponsibly and in breach of their service agreement with the residents, who are paying service charges for cleaning. I assume they are in breach of their lease with the Canal Trust or the Brent Council as the leaseholders of the land the canal is in.  

 

 

The London Borough of Brent has also been unable to help. We have been is several discussions with Cllr Promise Knight and other councillors from Stonebridge Ward who has been unable to help. We only hear promises but there has never been a single action from them.

Why  cannot Hyde Housing Association accept responsibility and maintain the canal, keeping it in an acceptable condition? Why are residents paying service charges for cleaning but still they have to face this disgusting canal?      

 

 

Controversial Queen's Walk development one year on after Brent Council granted planning permission

 

There was a pause due to Covid19 but now the new development of flats on  the corner of Queens Walk and Salmon Street is taking shape. The flats replace a detached suburban house that was in the style of other houses in the road. LINK

Responding to criticism of the plans Brent Planning Officers said:

The building does not have a 1930s appearance but does respond appropriately to the neighbouring developments in terms of scale. The corner plot presents an opportunity for a building of a differing architectural style and slightly greater prominence to sit comfortably without detracting from the character along either of the streets it adjoins. 

 

 

 

Check air quality in your street, workplace or school with one CLICK

 

The Report for Brent Civic Centre

 

A new national website is allowing people to measure air quality on their street using their postcode. This is particularly useful when consideraing Healthy Streets/Low Traffic Neighbourhoods.

Research from the initiative shows that one in four UK addresses – almost eight million – are exposed to air pollution levels exceeding World Health Organization safety limits.

addresspollution.org offers a free air quality report for every UK address based on data from the Environmental Research Group at Imperial College London.

The work was commissioned by campaign group the Central Office of Public Interest (COPI), which wants the property sector to mandatorily disclose air quality information in the same way it does with asbestos. And it hopes this will also put pressure on governments to act.

A pop-up ‘demand action’ button is displayed to visitors using the site, which takes them through to a petition calling for estate agents and sites such as Rightmove and Zoopla to disclose air quality info at the “earliest opportunity”.

COPI founder Humphrey Milles described air pollution as a “dangerous, invisible killer” and said it would be “shameful” for the property industry not to inform people now this air quality information was so readily and easily accessible.

Legal opinion obtained by COPI goes further and suggested there is a strong legal argument that estate agents, property websites, surveyors and conveyancers will need to inform prospective buyers and renters of air pollution levels.

In their opinion Jessica Simor QC and barrister Neil Fawcett refer to the ground-breaking recent ruling on the re-opened inquest into the death of nine-year-old Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, which found her death was “contributed to” by exposure to excessive air pollution. Previously, deaths were only "linked" to exposure to air pollution.

Mark Cunningham, chief executive and co-founder of Whenfresh, which provides property data to major lenders, said that if the problem of air pollution isn’t dealt with, “it will clearly have an impact on the saleability and value of properties in high pollution areas”.

He added: “So like asbestos, radon, flood risk and Japanese knotweed, if data is available the mortgage lenders will want to understand it. Lenders take any environmental issues that might impact the value of the properties they effectively co-own very seriously."

The website’s national roll-out – it was previously available in some London areas – follows a report published in the journal Environmental Research last month that concluded that 99,000 early deaths across the UK are due to dirty air.

Another piece of research published by the European Society of Cardiology in October 2020 found 15% of COVID-19 deaths globally could be attributable to air pollution.

Earlier this month the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that the UK has “systematically and persistently” exceeded legal limits for dangerous nitrogen dioxide (NO2) since 2010.

The UK has agreed to abide by court decisions initiated before it left the European Union. It could therefore face fines if it continues not to comply, and has been ordered to pay the European Commission's legal costs.

Imperative that Brent Scrutiny Committee seeks answers on US takeover of Brent GP surgeries at Wednesday's meeting

 

 

The main agenda items tabled for Wednesday's meeting

This blog has reported the huge concerns of local councillors, Barry Gardiner MP, Brent Patient Voice  and Patient Participation Groups over the takeover of two GP surgeries in Brent by a US company. The concerns have been echoed across London in a joint letter by London borough chiefs to Matt Hancock.

One of the main issues is the alleged lack of due diligence by Brent CCG in coming to the apparent decision to back that takeover and the fact that the decision (it it wasa decision) being made in a private session.

Surely then it is incomprehensible that the only vehicle that the Council has to holding the Brent CCG to account, the Community and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee, does not have  this as an item on its Agenda (above).

One can only hope that councillors will put such an item on the Agenda under Any Other Business in accordance with Standing Order 60.  

Many questions were left unanswered or unsatisfactorily answered at  Wednesday's meeting of the PPPG LINK this is a chance for Scrutiny to really do its job.