Passport not sufficient ID to get into Brent Council meeting

There was increased security at last night's meeting of Brent Council and a ticket system for getting into the building. When I arrived there was a small group of lobbyists outside from the Counihan Family Campaign and Brent Fightback. Brent Fightback had been giving out a leaflet making the case for the Council to set a needs based budget. Railings had been erected at the foot of the Town Hall steps and two police cars were in attendance.

When I asked if they were going to observe the meeting one of the lobbyists told me that the council meetings were so tedious and mind-numbing that she did not wish to go in.  Others however said that they had been denied entry by an officer from Democratic Services who stood at the door with a security guard. He told them that they were going to keep out the people who had caused trouble at the previous meetings. or who might cause trouble because previous meetings had been interrupted and they wanted the business of the Council meeting to be completed that evening.

The officer's action seemed particularly targeted at the Counihan Family Campaign but was applied in a blanket way to everyone who had been lobbying.. Three women who tried to get in were asked for ID in order to gain admittance. Carol, a retired TfL worker went all the way home to collect her passport and library card but the officer refused to look at it saying, 'We know you are part of the campaign' without saying which campaign.

I was granted admittance and a woman was also allowed in but only after she had to ask that the officer to ring  Carol Shaw, her local councillor,  to check her credentials.

When we eventually arrived in the public gallery we were the only two people in attendance with 50 empty seats and more on the floor of the council chamber.  After half an hour or so two young women joined us but soon got bored and went home. Ex- Democratic Conservative Councillor Robert Dunwell, who has his moments in the Town Hall, was happily trotting around the Council Chamber.

Clearly this raises issues about democratic accountability if the public are not allowed to attend full meetings of the council.  The 'Summons to attend council meeting' clearly states 'The press and public are welcome to attend this meeting'. How can democracy be seen to be done if the electorate are not allowed to see it in action? Is it legal or moral for the council to decide which members of the public are acceptable?

A further troubling aspects is the question of how the council has identified previous and potential trouble makers?  I have never been a conspiracy theorist but is there a list or photographic record? Does the council believe in guilt by association? If you are opposed to council policy does that make you a 'trouble maker'. Would library campaigners have been asked for their ID?

Interesting Lib Dem Cllr Jack Beck who tweets as @digitalliberal tweeted during the meeting:

Brent Fightback at the Town Hall tonight, very unimaginative literature, looks like a member of the Brent Labour Party wrote it. 

So a Labour Council bars entry to a group of people, some of whom are Labour supporters, who are advocating a policy supported by many on the left of the Labour Party as well as other socialist groups including Green Left,  as well as those supporting a Brent family suffering as a result of the housing crisis.  l Muhammed Butt,   leader of Brent Council went to speak to Brent Trades Union Council earlier this year at a meeting attended by many members of Brent Fightback. LINK  He stressed that he wanted to have a dialogue with them and return to 'what Labour stands for and why we are here'. Asked how he would organise a fightback against Coalition cuts he said:

Me being here is just a start. I am willing to go anywhere, whether to a warm reception or a hostile one, to have a dialogue.

In the same meeting he said that he had not ruled out a needs based budget.We are entitled to ask, what has happened to that dialogue, but more importantly, what has happened to democracy?

Recently I attended an Extraordinary Meeting of Barnet Council where the Labour group had tabled a motion of 'no confidence' in the Conservative Leader of the council calling for him to be replaced. Feelings were running high but not only was the public gallery full but the council had provided seats in an overflow room with a television link. Officers from the council politely greeted us and showed us to the viewing room. There was some spirited heckling but the Mayor was able to keep things under control and a proper debate took place.

Can Teather detoxify in time for 2015?

Michael Gove and Sara Teather in happier times

Sarah Teather's interview with the Observer on Sunday has given rise to a rash of speculation about her future intentions.  Not everyone has been impressed by her statements against  the benefit cap suggesting that they are based on pure political opportunism.

On the Tom Pride blog LINK the spoof quote from Teather says:

Clearly we couldn’t give a toss what happens to people in safe Labour seats, but it is immoral of the government to try to save money by attacking the worse off people in marginal constituencies such as mine. It’s time the government stopped attacking the most vulnerable people in society such as Liberal Democrats  -  and found ways to reduce future levels of unemployment amongst the hardest-hit MPs in the country like me.

The General Election result was close between Lib Dems and Labour in 2010:

Sarah Teather	Liberal Democrats	20026	44%	Elected
Dawn Butler	Labour	18681	41%	Not elected
Sachin Rajput	Conservative	5067	11%	Not elected
Shahrar Ali	Green Party	668	1%	Not elected
Errol Williams	Christian Party	488	1%	Not elected
Abdi Duale	Respect	230	1%	Not elected
Dean McCastree	Independent	163	0%	Not elected

Since the General Election the Lib Dems in Brent have returned to grassroots campaigning, particularly over library closures, but have not managed to remove the taint of betrayal over Coalition policies. They did not stand a candidate at all in the Barnhill by-election where Michael Pavey had a comfortable win for Labour and the Conservative vote fell away. The Lib Dems have refused to call by-elections in two seats where their councillors have moved out of Brent. Expecting defeat they are putting off the evil hours while .Labour is on the doorstep most weekends.

In 2010 Sarah Teather fought a left-wing campaign based on her record in opposing tuition fees, opposition to the Iraq war,  support for the Palestinian cause, bolstered by a visit to Palestine and a record of efficient casework. As a result she probably captured some votes from Dawn Butler, the Labour candidate who had been caught up in the expenses scandal.. LINK

However, this left-wing platform left her exposed when she became a minister in the Coalition. When I carried a copy of her 2003 speech against tuition fees on this blog in December 2010 it got the highest ever number of retweets I have ever received.  The shift in her position was glaring and left her open to charges of hypocrisy. Her closeness to Michael Glove an an education minister and her acquiesce in Tory academies and free school policies further alienated her previous supporters.  As a minister Teather moved away from supporting the intergration of children with special needs and disabilities into mainsteam education, earning further approbrium.

Teather saw the Pupil Premium as a popular policy that would help her claw back some  of her support and her press team were active in trying to claim the subsequent increase in some Brent school budgets were result of her personal intervention.

When Teather absented herself from the vote on benefit reforms right-wing Tories rose against her but others on the left thought she should have gone further and resigned at this time.

She appeared to be writhing on the end of the Tory's Coalition hook and was finally put out of her misery in the recent reshuffle.

Here claim that she left the Coalition to concentrate on her constituents has been challenged by campaigners who say that if she is truly going to do that she should be opposing the closure of Central Middlesex A&E and the privatisation of the NHS, come out against the cuts in local government funding, and oppose the housing benefit and welfare benefit caps.

The question is, having addressed the latter in the Observer, how much further will she go to fundamentally challenge the Lib Dem's collusion in the Coalition?  Is her own collusion in the Coalition such a toxic legacy that she can never escape from it? Is this this the first of a series of distancing  statements that she hopes will give her a firm base from which to fight the 2015 General Election?

Will we see her at the head of marches again in the months ahead?

Dawn Butler has signalled her determination to gain Labour's nomination again in 2015 although it is by no means certain that she will succeed. A candidate may well emerge from among the ambitious youngsters on the current Brent Council Labour Executive.

Speculation is rife on the UK Polling website LINK with even a mischievous suggestion that she may defect to Labour, which would certainly put the cat among the pigeons!  Another possibility mooted by some is that she is preparing the ground for a senior position in the Lib Dem leadership with Nick Clegg  likely to go ahead of the General Election.  Teather showed that she can be ruthless when back in 2006, then a junior Lib Dem spokesperson,  she signed the letter calling for Charles Kennedy to resign. Will she do the same for Clegg?

.If she is sufficiently detoxified by 2015 she may by then represent the acceptable (and rather different) face of the Lib Dems for a potential coalition with Labour. This seems most unlikely at present but an awful  lot can happen between now and 2015.

Music, chat and politics as Green Party leader visits Wembley

Natalie Bennett joins Brent Green party members at Sunday's social

Natalie Bennett addresses members

Brent Green Party hosted a social for members and their guests at The Torch, Wembley on Sunday. Music was provided by a Cajun band and new party leader Natalie Bennett chatted to members about Green Party policies and her aspirations for the party.

In a set piece speech she talked about sustainable transport and the Party's policies on 20mph speed limits in built up areas, integrated public transport, renationalisation of railways and opposition to HS2. She linked the transport issue to issues of health and equality.

Green Party condemns Israeli attack on Gaza and challenges other parties to join them

I joined hundreds of others at the demonstration against Israeli attacks on Gaza on Saturday. It appears that the attacks are as much about the upcoming Israeli elections and the need to exercise military muscle to gain votes as they are about rocket launches into Israel.

The Green Party has condemned the attacks.

 Green Party International Co-ordinator Dr Derek Wall said: 'The Green Party deplores Israel's attack on Gaza.  There can be no peace in the Middle East without justice for the people of Gaza.  The attack which has killed many civilians, announced on twitter and widely seen as part of an election campaign is both cynical and sordid.  The Green Party calls for an end to violent incursions in Gaza.’

Israel has sought to justify the attack by arguing it was responding to rocket attacks on its citizens from Gaza by Hamas. The state says ‘more than 200’ rockets were fired, one of which killed three people, and wounded a four-year-old boy and two babies.

While The Green Party accepts that the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is too complex to be regarded as ‘black and white’ it also notes that Israeli commentators and peace campaigners are despairing of their own leaders’ seeming unwillingness to engage in a meaningful peace process – the only way the senseless killing of civilians in Israel and Palestine can be brought to an end.

 We also believe that in common with previous Israeli military acts, this latest attack – the most intense since 2009 – is out of proportion both to the activities Israel argues led to its response, and to the ongoing disputes between Israel and dispossessed Palestinians.

Dr Wall continued: ‘The conflict will only end when Israel is prepared to discuss a plan for peace with Palestinians. Violence only leads to more violence.  The killing power of Israel puts their state at a huge military advantage however without justice, the future of both Palestinians and Israelis is bleak.’

 The Green Party notes with sadness reports that mere hours before he was killed in the latest missile attacks, Hamas military commander Ahmed Al-Jabari had received the draft of a permanent truce between Hamas and Israel.

And we hope other political parties, and people across the world will join us in our condemnation of the attacks, and call for meaningful, lasting peace in one of the world’s most violently, and tragically, disputed regions.

Dr Wall said: ‘We challenge other UK political parties to condemn Israel's violence and to support an inclusive process for peace and justice. Green Party members support the ongoing protests against Israel's military attack.'