Sarah Teather chopped in reshuffle

Brent Lib Dem MP, Sarah Teather, has lost her job as a junior education minister in David Cameron's reshuffle. Labour MP Steven Pound had teased her in the House of Commons yesterday, singing out, "You're going to get sacked in the morning".

Sarah Teather will be under pressure from her constituents to take a stand on Coalition policies now she is not restrained by ministerial guidelines. The most immediate issue will be the closure of  Central Middlesex Hospital. With the loss of Lib Dem membership in Brent and poor by-election performances by the party her prospects for the next General Election look poor.

James Lyons, deputy political editor of the Daily Mirror, tweeted this afternoon that Teather was standing down in order to fight for her Brent Central. Another explanation is that she was sacked as punishment for absenting herself from the House of Commons when there was a three line whip on the Coalition's welfare reforms. At the time a Tory back bencher asked David Cameron why she was still a minister and Cameron defended her LINK

Teather has been prepared to step out of line in the past, not least in previous battles over the Lib Dem leadership, so there is a possibility that she might become a critic of the Coalition from the left.

Watch this space.

Reshuffle blues after Gove stays in post

The news that Michael Gove has retained his job  is very disappointing for educationalists after summer rumours that he may may have been moved in the reshuffle. Despite the debacle with free schools, GCSEs, and ill-thought out back of the envelope initiatives, he is admired by the Conservative Right and deemed, despite all the evidence to the contrary.  a success. He is now free to carry on wreaking havoc on the education system and damaging the life chances of young people.

The removal of Lansley points to the success of campaign on the NHS and we urgently need a similar campaign on education uniting trades unions, teachers, parents and school students in defence of a fair, fully funded and democratically accountable school system.

The new leader of the Green Party, Natalie Bennett, commented on the reshuffle today:

There's much excitement in the media now about the reshuffle, but the fact is that nothing significant is changing. George Osborne, the man who is clinging to the utterly discredited 'Plan A' of ideologically driven spending cuts, which are damaging the British economy and causing suffering and disruption in communities across the UK, is still in place. (That's despite the fact that even the IMF is saying this is the wrong direction.)

There's no sign of a government U-turn towards the investment that we urgently need to create jobs and provide the homes, public transport and sustainable energy infrastructure necessary to meet community needs and build a Britain fit for the low-carbon future.

And with Iain Duncan Smith remaining as Work and Pensions Secretary, there's no sign of any response to the strong, angry protests against the inhumanity of the benefit cuts, which threaten to make huge numbers homeless, drive families far from the support of friends, relatives and familiar schools, and which are causing great fear and ditressed among people with disabilities.

There are also individual moves that are cause for concern. The shifting of Justine Greening out of transport, after only 326 days in the job, makes Andrew McLoughlin Cameron's fifth transport minister, which can be taken as a sign of the government's inability to make sensible policy in this area.

It is a bad sign that a third runway at Heathrow is indeed back on the government's agenda, as reports have been suggesting. The aviation industry depends on huge public subsidies. The government seems happy to keep spending public money on increasing CO2 emissions in an industry that's slanted towards serving the wealthy(1), while making the lives of millions a misery through noise and air pollution.

The movement of Jeremy Hunt into Health is also cause for concern - both in its indication of the contiuing influence of the Murdoch empire on the Coalition, and also for the fact that he's a man who has a record of being anti-abortion.

Crackdown on defiant dog walkers

The Barnhill Safer Neighbourhood team are making a crackdown on 'professional' dog walkers who defy Dog Control Orders, a priority for this quarter. The orders stipulate a limit of 6 dogs per person but individuals have been seen with up to 15 dogs. At a going rate of £10 per hour for each dog this is clearly a lucrative business.

Complaints have come from ordinary members of the public, who walk their own one or two companion animals.and  who fear that the 'professionals' defiance will lead to a general clampdown on dog walking in Fryent Country Park.

The issue has been raised on this blog LINK   a week ago and complaints have been made by Barn Hill Residents Association. Barnhill ward councillors Michael Pavey and Shafique Choudhary have backed calls for action.


Some dog walkers have tried to get around the restrictions by bringing friends along to walk with them and thereby doubling the number of dogs to 12.  I hope that in the review of the orders due to take place in November that they could be revised so that the number of dogs being walked together as one 'pack' should never exceed 6 - 4 would be even better,

Financial management of Brent schools in the spotlight again

Brent headteachers getting ready for the start of the new term were greeted with further press coverage of alleged school financial mismanagement at the weekend. The Times Education Supplement of September 1st  had extensive coverage of the situation in the borough LINK.  The situation had already been extensively covered here in July LINK and I returned to it later in the month LINK

The TES quotes Clive Heaphy as warning that academy conversions could make things worse:

Clive Heaphy, Brent Council’s finance director, argues that the current vast expansion of academies is going to make the problem much worse.

“Inevitably there is a recipe there for difficult times ahead and potentially for some mismanagement issues and possibly some fraud issues,” he told TES, adding that increased autonomy for local authority schools had already made it much harder for town halls to guard against them misusing public money.

“I still retain personal accountability for schools’ finances and yet I see less and less data and have fewer and fewer levers to be able to do anything about it,” Mr Heaphy said. “There is very little action in reality you can take.”

On academies he said: “The only watchdog over them is the Department for Education itself. We have no relationship with them, but who does?”

The TES reveals details about the amount of debt accumulated by two Brent primary schools through exploitative financing arrangements:

Furness Primary is being sued by a finance company for £301,083 plus interest calculated at £14,579 in April and still rising. But Brent Council said the equipment involved was worth just £9,150 when it was sold off by the finance company in February.

Kensal Rise Primary is being sued by the same company for £287,000. Both schools have made counterclaims for money they say they have already paid “in error” - £805,000 in the case of Kensal Rise. The same school has also received a more recent claim from a second finance company for £253,000.

Brent says schools have been tempted into such deals by offers of up to £15,000 “cash back” a quarter from equipment suppliers that make initial lease repayments appear more favourable than the real long-term cost. Clive Heaphy, the authority’s finance director, said that primary heads were not always “business savvy” and cannot always “see through” such offers.

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Brent designated Willesden Green a 'Public Square' 29 years ago

The designation of the open space at Willesden Green Library as a Town Square includes a requirement that it be proved that the open space has been used for leisure activities for 20 years. Both the developer Galliford Try and Brent Council have opposed designation.

A 1983 Brent Council development  document has now come to light that clearly shows the Council designating it a 'Public Square' 29 years ago.

More information on www.keepwillesdengreen.blogspot.co.uk

New GP deputy leader Will Duckworth targets the working class vote

Will Duckworth has been elected Deputy Green Party leader. The results (after elimination of the women candidates - see below) was:

Will Duckworth 1329 votes (52%), Richard Mallender 1245 votes (48%)

Will is a Green councillor in the Black Country who won a traditionally Labour ward. He comes from a working class background and was a trade union activist in  the NASUWT during a 30 year teaching career.

His campaign literature said:

If ever there was someone who understands how to communicate the Green Party message to working class people and win seats in wards like this then it is Will Duckworth.

I his election as a powerful corrective to the middle class image of a party that too often is seen as a green hued alternative to the Lib Dems.

Natalie Bennett elected as new Green leader

Natalie Bennett has been elected the new leader of the Green Party of England and Wales.  Bennet is a former journalist, most recently editing the Guardian Weekly and is a member of Camden Green Party.  She is founding chair of Green Parry Women.

Her election statement included the following:

Our current economic model is broken. It doesn't work even in its own terms, and is built on treating the planets as a mine and a dumping ground, while treating the poor like rubbish.

We have a vision for a balanced sustainable;e society, with a living wage and decent benefits, fair taxes, and a restructured, low-carbon economy.  It's a radical, distinct vision.

3,127 ballot papers were returned (a turnout of 25.1%), of which 16 were spoilt, giving a total valid vote of 3,111.
The quota required for election is therefore 1,555.6
First preference votes were distributed as follows:
Bartolotti - 389
Bennett - 1,300
Cranie - 902
Phoenix - 492
RON - 28
No candidate achieved quota and so Bartolotti is eliminated and her votes redistributed as follows:
Bennett - 187
Cranie - 74
Phoenix - 93
RON - 7
Not transferable - 28
The totals for the second round are therefore:
Bartolotti - eliminated
Bennett - 1,487
Cranie - 976
Phoenix - 585
RON - 35
No candidate achieved quota and so Phoenix is eliminated and her votes redistributed as follows:
Bennett - 270
Cranie - 228
RON - 27
Not transferable - 60
The totals for the third round are therefore:
Bartolotti - eliminated
Bennett - 1,757
Cranie - 1,204
Phoenix - eliminated
RON - 62

 I will publish the deputy leadership result a soon as I can. To retain gender equality it must go to a male candidate (or RON - who is possibly male!)

Economic democracy motion highlights the Green Party's radicalism

Later this morning the results of the Green Party leadership ballot will be announced. Whoever wins the campaign has been a success, stimulating genuine debate and participation of rank and file members, and attracting coverage of the Green Party in mainstream media. Whatever the outcome the campaign of Romayne Phoenix and Will Duckworth has firmly put the battle against cuts and austerity and the necessity of working  with trade unions on the Green Party's agenda.

The results for the non-leadership positions have already been announced with the left of the Green Party well represented in the election of Derek Wall as International Co-ordinator and Howard Thorp as Campaigns Co-ordinator.

Howard has tabled a motion on Economic Democracy for the upcoming Conference which positions the Green Party firmly to the left of Labour on the economy:

Economic Democracy presents a package of resilient and community-based measures to help prevent a repeat of the financial crisis. Four key remedies will produce greater transparency, decentralisation of economic power, and accountability from corporations.

1.       Accountability will improve by requiring companies to include employee-elected directors and independent directors on to their management board. Not being drive by the profit-motive, they will act to ensure that company policies are taken with the interests of employees and consumers at heart.

2.       Decision making can be decentralised and democratised by giving employees a majority stake in the management of their companies pension funds.

3.       Create a Green National Investment Bank out of one or more of the currently ‘nationalised’ banks to aid funding investment in green technologies, renewable, and energy efficiency programmes.  A Green Bank would serve its customers and not its owners.

4.       Economic decision making can be further localised by granting employees the legal right to buy out their companies and turn them into workers co-operatives. Buy outs would be funded by the Green National Investment Bank.

For those interested in the detail of our elections it is worth noting that the Green Party ensures gender balance  in the leadership. Men and women must both be represented in the leadership team. If Peter Cranie wins the leadership, the deputy must be the top female candidate. If Natalie Bennett or Romayne Phoenix   win the leadership, then the deputy will be the top male candidate.

With voters at local and national elections often spoiling their papers with the equivalent of 'none of the above', readers may be interested to know that the Green Party also caters for them. Every internal election at national and local elections has a candidate called RON. RON stands for 'Re-open nominations' and is an important option, particularly when only one candidate stands for a post.