Riots and financial turmoil just short-term issue say Quintain

Reuters report that Quintain, developers of the regeneration site around Wembley Stadium are unfazed by the riots:

Quintain Estates, the urban regeneration specialist behind Wembley City in north London, said rioting in the capital over recent days will not damage the city's long-term appeal

The company, which is also developing part of the Greenwich peninsula on the river Thames, said sentiment would only be affected in the short-term by the rioting and current financial market turmoil.

"I firmly believe over the long-term London prospects remain robust," Chief Executive Adrian Wyatt said in a statement today..

In June the company said it had sold land and development contracts to Keystone Partners for a 660-bedroom student accommodation building at Wembley City for £53m..

Barry Gardiner concerned about 'dangerous tipping point;' as youth loses faith in a society which doesn't provide jobs or respect

The Willesden and Wembley Observer website is carrying these remarks from Barry Gardiner MP on the current disturbances: LINK

I was out until two in the morning last night meeting with different groups of youths. There were a lot of people out on the streets, mostly aged from 16 to 26, but I think most of them were there to see if anything was happening. They weren't going to start any trouble. There was only one incident involving a theft from a car, but this could have happened on any night of the year.


The police posted people where they thought there would be trouble, but the situation didn't develop. I would like to think nothing happened because people didn't want to see the things that had gone on across London happen in their community.

It is a very dangerous situation when you have people losing respect for society and not wanting to be on the side of the law. They ask themselves 'why should I help to protect the society which doesn't provide me with a job and which respects other people more than me?'. That's a very dangerous tipping point indeed.

Boris hasn't handled the situation. Where has he been? He said when he became mayor that he would increase police on the streets, but look what has happened to the Safer Neighbourhood teams in Brent, they have all been amalgamated and people don't have any contact with the police in their area. They are more likely to report crimes if they know their local policeman.

Should we be subsidising PoundWorld's low pay?

Green Party member and disability rights campaigner Simone Aspis has sent me copies of these letters she has sent to the CEO of PoundWorld and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

To Chris Edwards, CEO PoundWorld:

I have just watched the C 4’s Undercover Boss, a feature of PoundWorld.    I understand that PoundWorld has made millions of pounds profits and can well afford to pay all their staff more than the minimum wage.  Please do not tell us that you cannot afford to pay your sales assistants more than the minimum wage.   I work for a charity and get paid more than your sales assistants.   I am sick and tired of subsiding national and multinational companies’ staff wages in form of Government’s benefits and in-work tax credits.   Anyone who works hard for 35 hours per week should be paid enough to live on without Government’s subsidies.   No one can live on the minimum wage whilst working and living in London.   Many of your staff would still need to claim housing benefit in order to live in rented shared accommodation.    It’s an absolute disgrace.  

You are in a position to pay all your sales assistants enough money so they can:

1)     Rent a self-contained flat in a relatively safe area
2)    To pay for all bills (fuel, food, television licence etc)
3)    Have some leisure
4)    Provide for their family

Please stop forcing me and other hard paid workers from subsiding big companies sales assistants wages through their taxes.   PoundWorld and you are more than financially capable of paying every member of staff a sufficient wage so they do not become a “burden on the state”.   What angers me the most is not subsiding the unemployed, but rather your company’s employees’ wages. 

To  Lord Freud, Minister for Welfare Reform

I am urged to ask the Government what its policy will be to ensure that employers pay all their full-time workers a sufficient wage so they are able to maintain themselves without relying on Government’s subsidies through in-work benefits after watching Undercover Boss.  Please see letter I wrote to Chris Edwards, Pound World’s CEO.  I am getting really sick to death of my taxes being used to subside big profitable company’s wage bills.  For example every time I enter into any chain store (Pizza Express, McDonalds, Tesco, Sainsbury's, Pound World), I am mindful that my taxes are being used to subside their wage bill.  This is because many of their staff’s wages do not cover the cost of living and renting a flat.   

All but one of my friend’s wages is being topped up with in work tax credits.   All my friends are paying rents for one bedroom flats.   

As a tax payer I much rather pay for someone looking for a job rather than subsiding a company that chooses to pay their staff poverty wages.  

When you respond to me, please refer to only what will the Government do to make sure employers pay a sufficient wage for their workers to live on.   I know about the welfare reform programme and the universal credit.   I think employers should be increasing their employees’ wages rather than Government increasing the amount of money that benefit claimants can keep if they accept low paid work.   Please do not tell me that many of the well-known employers you and I know, cannot pay employees a sufficient wage so they can provide for their family in a self-contained rented accommodation.   And please do not tell me none of these companies are not making a profit even during a recession because they are!  

It is the Council causing pain to librarians - not us, say library campaigners

Graham Durham,Secretary of the Save Cricklewood Library Campaign, has responded to Brent Council Leader Ann John 's comments on Brent librarians in which she said that the delay in the Judge's decision means uncertainty for Brent librarians and is painful to them:

The suggestion that campaigners to save libraries are causing distress to librarians in Brent is bizarre.Ann John has sanctioned an unnecessary spend of £50,000 of scarce  Brent council taxpayer resources  to defend in the High Court  the indefensible proposal to close six libraries.In the consultation organised by the Council 82% of public respondents rejected the closure plans but Brent Council proceeded anyway.

Librarians across Brent  have been subjected to crude and insulting competency tests and been issued with notice of redundancy - it is unsurprising  that many are demoralised at their treatment by the Council.Ann John needs to accept responsibility for this disgraceful situation.

Those of us campaigning to save libraries know that once vital community resources and opportunities are destroyed young people are denied all hope.The  youth rebellion this week in Brent, London and across the country is a direct result of so-called Labour councillors carrying out the wishes of the Tory/Liberal Democrat Cabinet of millionaires rather than defending their communities against this attack by the richest on the poorest.

6pm - all appears quiet in Wembley

Central Square, Wembley, this evening

Having heard this afternoon that there were rumours that Wembley would 'kick off' evening I had a stroll around to assess the atmosphere. If anything Wembley High Road was a little less busy that usual with fewer young people  around but there were half a dozen or so pairs and sometimes trios of police officers spread along the street and in Central Square. However people seemed calm and there was the usual commuter traffic at Wembley Central station and on the bus routes and the regular al fresco drinkers in the square seemed relaxed enough.


A number of shops were shuttered (although it needs a good local eye like mine to know which ones shut early or are closed for good, rather than closed as a precaution!)  TK Max , Wilkinson and Tesco had closed early but the pubs and most of the fast food joints, including McDonalds and KFC, remained open.

A policeman told me that although things appeared calm on the surface they were keeping their eyes on several small groups of youth in case they came together. He confirmed that shops had closed early in case of trouble later today.

There were no police that I could see in Wembley Park but Currys and JD Sports in the Stadium Retail Park which have proved popular in 'consumerist rioting' were closed and shuttered and some of the bars were open but with doors and windows boarded up. ASDA remained open and busy. Tesco at Wembley City was closed. Wembley Park station and Wembley Stadium station were both operating normally.

No Brent Libraries Court Ruling until October

It has been confirmed that the judge's decision in the Libraries Judicial review case has been delayed until October.It will be given some time after October 2nd when the new judicial term begins.   As Brent Council promised to keep the libraries open until the decision this means that the Summer Reading Scheme should go ahead as normal at the six threatened libraries. Bindmans the solicitors handling the case will have talks with Brent's solicitors to ensure that no significant damage is done to the Brent library service in the meantime.

The financial appeal for the SOS Brent Libraries fund now stands at more than £20,000, two thirds of the way to the target. More may be needed if the case goes to appeal

Brent SOS Libraries website (where you can donate)  HERE

Brent Council statement on disturbances

Cllr Ann John, speaking for Brent Council, has made the following statement:

There is no justification for the mindless violence London has witnessed over the past few days. We have a history in Brent of very strong communities working together with the council and police to tackle crime related issues and it remains important that the whole Brent community pulls together to get us through the difficult times we currently face.  There is never an excuse for looting and wanton destruction and I call on local community leaders and parents to ensure that Brent businesses and streets remain safe and secure for all our residents.

• Brent Council will do all it can to support the work of the police and other emergency services in ensuring that Brent's majority of law-abiding citizens can to go about their business as usual.
• Crime, disorder and anti-social behaviour will not be tolerated in Brent. The council will do all it can to support the police in bringing anyone involved in criminal activity to justice.
• We would ask parents and communities to continue to demonstrate good leadership and keep their youngsters off the streets during this time. This will allow the police to do the good job they have been doing in making sure our streets are safe.
• The council's senior team is closely monitoring the situation in Brent and is working in close partnership with the emergency services to ensure that contingency plans are in place should we experience the disruption experienced elsewhere in the capital.
• The council has commended the resilience and community spirit already demonstrated by Brent's residents in responding to minor disturbances experienced in isolated pockets in the borough.

Meanwhile there are reports that shops and petrol stations in Wembley are closing as a precautionary measure.

Tottenham Disturbances - background from Green candidate

Anne Gray, Green Party Parliementary Candidate for Tottenham in 2010, has written a thought-provoking blog on the Haringey Green Party blog. LINK

Here is an extract:

In the west of Haringey it is hard for people to grasp the depth of social malaise which grips Tottenham’s council estates. Postcode turf wars between gangs made it dangerous for the youth campaigning against youth club cuts to join protest marches against the cuts last autumn. A project to give free recycled bikes to teenagers found parents saying ‘don’t give one to my kid – the drug dealers look for kids with bikes to run errands for them’. The drug and gang culture which according to some media reports appears to have given rise to coordinated, planned looting here and in other districts has its roots partly in the bad jobs, bad education cycle. But it also may be a response to the fact that white collar criminals generally get away with it. As bonus-seeking bankers and city traders remain unpunished for economic sabotage, as MPS get away with expenses fiddling, as inequality has soared to Victorian proportions in the last 25 years, role models for honesty and hard work are increasingly hard to find.

What is clear is that no solution can wait till the next elections, local or national. The local community needs to be working together on solutions now. Investment in better housing and ‘green’ sector jobs are part of that solution. The campaign against Britain’s ‘feral elite’ launched by Compass and supported by Caroline Lucas, is also a part (see http://www.potteye.co.uk/?p=1956). But Greens and other left forces in Haringey need to come together to develop a local strategy to salvage Tottenham’s economy and community.