Public Discussion: The Legacy of World War 1/Hero Stones in Willesden Green

From Brent Stop the War

A discussion with DEFEND SCHOOL HISTORY on Teaching WW1

and with the NO GLORY CAMPAIGN ARTISTS GROUP

on Hero Stones in Willesden Green

The Government is trying to rehabilitate WW1 as a noble war fought for a just cause and to use the centenary as a celebration of Britishness. Michael Gove tried to introduce a new history curriculum modelled seemingly on Billy Bunter’s at Greyfriars School and has criticised Blackadder, Oh What a Lovely War! and Horrible Histories for detracting from the glorious sacrifice of those who died. Defend School History is a campaign that was set up to counter Gove’s proposals for the History Curriculum and has succeeded in forcing considerable changes.

One of the Government’s schemes to celebrate the glories of the war is to lay paving stones commemorating every soldier who was awarded a Victoria Cross. This is something that the VCs themselves would have opposed strongly. The first of these ceremonies will be in Willesden Green in August. The No Glory Campaign aims to use art and performances to counter the myth of the Glorious war. Their artists group is looking for ways to shift the emphasis from individual “heroes” to the many whom were killed or maimed in the conflict.

There will be speakers from these two campaigns at our meeting. Camden Stop the War and teachers from Brent and Camden are cordially invited.

Monday June 9^th  Doors open 7.00 pm, meeting starts 7.30 pm sharp  Rumi’s Cave 26, Willesden Lane NW6 7ST

London and Brent European voting figures

The main party results for the European elections in London and Brent were:

(Brent in brackets)

Labour 806,959 (34,451)
Conservative 495,639 (13,277)
UKIP 371,133 (6,414)
Greens 196,419 (5,123)
Liberal Democrats 148,013 (7,333)

Full results for each London borough LINK

Greens celebrate election of three MEPs in Euro poll

I was relieved this morning this morning to find that Jean Lambert had been re-elected as a London Green MEP.  In the face of UKIP's gains and signs that the other parties are moving right in an effort to match their anti-immigrant policies, it is important the Jean's principled anti-racist voice has a platform.

In spite of the national swing to UKIP, the Green Party has been able to overturn the odds and now has triple the number of MEPs that the Lib Dems do. The wins, powered by 1.2 million people voting Green on May 22, come on the back of extremely positive local elections results which saw the Greens become the official opposition on Solihull, Liverpool, Lewisham, Norwich and Islington Councils.

Jean Lambert, who has been Green MEP for London since 1999, said:

I am delighted and honoured that Londoners of all backgrounds have supported the Greens in this European election and voted again for a strong Green voice in the European Parliament. Greens will continue to put forward positive policies to tackle the growing inequalities between rich and poor, whether in London or beyond, and to continue the push to a low carbon economy, which combats climate change while creating new jobs.

I was delighted to see Molly Scott Cato elected as the new MEP for the South West and reacting to her win she said:

It is fantastic that the South West now has a Green voice in Europe. I would like to thank everyone who voted Green on Thursday and I am looking forward to representing the South West in Brussels.

Keith Taylor was also returned again as Green MEP for the South East region. He tweeted:

So very proud to be re-elected as an MEP. Will stand up for my constituents, wherever they come from, every single day.

Green Party Leader, Natalie Bennett, put the wins in context:

The growth of our number of seats in the European Parliament reflects growing support for Green Party policies and values around the country. Increasing numbers of voters are inspired by our message of positive change for the common good. They support, as do a majority of the public, our views on many issues, from renationalising the railways and reining in banks, from banning fracking to making the minimum wage a living wage.

Clean up tasks for the new Labour Brent Executive

As the new Labour group prepares to meet to decide the size, portfolios and membership of the new Executive, just a reminder of the issues that need to be addressed.

First there is the matter of the Human Resources management at the Council and associated issues of interim contracts and salaries paid into private companies.

The Green Party has called for an independent investigation of:

1. Corporate Management Team officers being paid through their private companies rather than normal pay roll
2. The contractual arrangements for CMT officers and interim appointments
3. Previous employment and business connections between senior offices appointed by Brent Council on an interim basis
4. The working culture of the Human Resources department 
5. Brent Council's Whistle Blowing Policy to ensure that it adequately protects whistle-blowers from harassment and retribution

To which a reader has added:
6. Instances of council policies, procedures, standing orders, scheme of delegation etc being circumvented.

Secondly, there is the important issue of the appointment of Chief Executive.  Christine Gilbert's acting role was extended by the Brent Executive  until after the local elections on the recommendation of Fiona Ledden, Head of Legal and Procurement. The report stated:

The recruitment process for a new permanent  Chief Executive should be delayed because the current recruitment process for  three other CEs in London boroughs would limit the quality of candidates, to allow the restructuring of council senior management to go ahead smoothly, and  to ensure continuity and reputation management over the move to the Civic Centre and the 2014 local elections. 

At the time Paul Lorber, Liberal Democrat leader of the opposition, opposed the extension and raised the important issue of how the permanent appointment would be made.  Given the new overwhelmingly Labour composition of the council and the revelations about previous connections between members of the Corporate Management Team at Ofsted and Tower Hamlets, as well as personal relationship connections, a transparent recruitment process is essential.

Such a process would exclude from the recruitment process any officer with such connections and include opposition councillors as well as Labour backbenchers.

Thirdly, there is the task of ending all interim arrangements so that a permanent team with fully compliant contracts and paid through the council payroll are in place for the next four years.