Gareth Thomas and Barry Gardiner press for Northwick Park expansion before A&E reconfiguration

From the parliamentary debate on A&E waiting times:

Stephen Pound (Ealing North, Labour)

I am grateful to my hon. Friend and neighbour for giving way. In view of what he has just said, does he think that the best possible prescription is that currently recommended by the Government whereby the existing A and E departments at Ealing, Park Royal, Hammersmith and Charing Cross all close? Does he think that will improve waiting times in A and E departments?

Gareth Thomas (Harrow West, Labour)

My hon. Friend, as ever, is ahead of me. He makes the perfectly reasonable point that if the Northwick Park and Central Middlesex A and E departments are not achieving the 95% target now, how can our constituents have any more confidence about reaching that target should the Central Middlesex and Ealing hospitals close?

Barry Gardiner (Brent North, Labour)

As my hon. Friend knows, Northwick Park is just in my constituency and we share that border. Does he agree that whatever the future configuration of hospitals in north-west London, it is absolutely essential that the A and E unit at Northwick Park is expanded to cope and that that should happen before any reconfiguration?
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Gareth Thomas (Harrow West, Labour)

I share the view of my neighbour and hon. Friend Barry Gardiner. We need that expansion to go ahead, and to go ahead soon.

Brent Lib Dem disarray after thwarted leadership bid

Following the Brent and Kilburn Times report that many of the current Liberal Democrat councillors will not be standing again in 2014 I can reveal that there was an attempt to unseat Paul Lorber, the current group leader, recently.

Lorber was the Council  leader at the time of the Liberal Democrat-Conservative Coalition administration that preceded the present Labour Council.

A leadership bid was due to me made at the party's Annual General Meeting by a seasoned councillor generally seen as on the left of the local party, and often to the left of many Labour councillors.

However the issue was never put to the test because of the eleventh hour withdrawal of a maverick councillor's nomination of the challenger. This has poisoned the personal relationships involved in particular wards in the south of the borough.

Leadership challenges are healthy for democracy and the fact that Lorber wasn't put to the test on a technicality may weaken his position. His colleagues recognise the energy and commitment he has put into the Barham Library Campaign but some question his approach to opposition.  He often seems to be in a state of languor. When he does stir himself to mount a case in committee he is often strong on rhetoric but weak on detail, ending up with a mumbling partial withdrawal of his opposition.

Although Lorber is seen as having been successful at disguising his parliamentary colleagues' role in making the cuts that have impacted so badly on the borough, especially in terms of the libraries campaign, he is seen as having exposed the party to criticism in not grasping the nettle of issues such as the Rev David Clues' absence in Brighton. The decision to not stand a candidate in the Barnhill by-election and to not call a by-election in Clues' or Sneddons' seats is seen as an indication of a lack of confidence in the party's prospects.

However the malaise goes deeper with some of those who are not standing again finding it hard to adapt their former campaigning approach as community activists to the discipline and sometimes bureaucratic procedures of the Lib Dem Group.  They are further frustrated by the current Council structure where decisions are made by the Labour Executive on the basis of pre-meetings which opposition councillors are not allowed to attend.

Full Council meetings become a ritualistic bun fight which often reflect badly on all concerned. Some Lib Dem councillors have attempted to use their position on the different Scrutiny Committees to rigorously examine officers' proposals but then see any referrals crushed when they get to the Executive. Councillors

This dispiriting experience has led some Lib Dem councillors to conclude that they were more effective in bringing about change and standing up for their community when they were independent or semi-independent community activists. It is only fair to mention that this a feeling shared by some back-bench Labour councillors who are equally frustrated although this has been mitigated recently by more debate within the Labour Group and of course exercising their votes at the AGM.

Some argue that the new generation of Labour councillors currently being selected will change things but others argue that after the initial euphoria following their election they will also be ground down and frustrated  by the current decision making structures.

Is there a case for a cross-party review of the current structure with the aim of enhancing the role of debate and democratic accountability?

Vigil tonight following attack on Islamic Community Centre

Unite Against Fascism has called a vigil after the letters ‘EDL’ – the initials of the English Defence League – were allegedly found graffitied on the Bravanese Centre in Coppetts Road, Muswell Hill, North London. The Islamic community centre was destroyed in a suspicious fire in the early hours of yesterday

Counter-terrorism officers with the Metropolitan Police are treating the fire as suspicious and investigating whether the attack was started deliberately in a racist attack.

At this stage it is not clear if the fire is linked to the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich two weeks ago but there has been a significant increase in reports of attacks against Muslims since his death
.

Unite Against Fascism says:

We are deeply concerned about the fire of the Bravanese Centre and the reported EDL graffiti. Our thoughts are with the Somali, Muslim and indeed all the communities in the area that have been affected by this incident. We ask people to join us at the vigil.

UAF launched the Don’t let the racists divide us campaign in response to the stepped up activities of the English Defence League (EDL), the British National Party (BNP) and other racist and far right groups in the aftermath of the murder, which have cynically attempted to exploit the murder of Lee Rigby to pursue their own agenda directed against Black, Asian and especially Muslim communities.

This has already led to a spike in Islamophobic attacks and a wave of assaults on Mosques. Muslim communities are experiencing verbal abuse, women’s headscarves have been torn off as well as more serious threats and violent attacks. Racists are simply stepping up their campaign. So too must the anti-racist and anti-fascist movement in response to this hate agenda.

DON’T LET THE RACISTS DIVIDE US VIGIL
THURDAY 6 JUNE, 6-7PM
BRAVANESE CENTRE
116 COPPETTS ROAD, MUSWELL HILL N10 1JS

Fairview withdraws Queensbury demolition application

The Save The Queensbury Campaign seems to have won a delay in the plans to demolish the Willesden Green pub. The campaign announced yesterday that Fairview Homes have withdrawn their plans which involve demolition of the pub and its replacement with flats.

The resourceful campaign has focused on the loss of the community facilities provided by the Queensbury as well as the loss of the pub itself and the impact of the new flats on local amenity.

Fairview Homes are now likely to come forward with new plans for the site which had been sold to them by the former Conservative Club owners.

Good riddance to Michaela's monster advertisement tomorrow

The Michaela Free School proposers are to take down the illegal giant advertisement they put up on Arena House, Wembley Park, tomorrow according to the Kilburn Times LINK

The issue of whether planning permission had been granted  for the huge hoarding was first raised over the weekend on a Tweet to Brent Council by Wembley Matters, following information from a resident that planning permission had been refused for a similar sized banner back in 2008. Brent Council quickly took the matter up on Monday morning

Although Michaela tried to wriggle out of it, claiming that the advertisement was only going to be there for a few days and they had intended to take it down tomorrow, they seem to have been caught with their trousers down. They even had the audacity to offer the advertising space to anyone else who wanted to use it as they 'want to be part of the Brent Community'!

Perhaps the Anti-Academies Alliance or Brent Fightback should ask to use the space.

Michaela's giant hoarding erected without planning permission

Following complaints from residents Brent Council confirmed this morning that the giant sign on Arena House had been erected without planning permission. Borough Planning Enforcement Officers are now investigating.

Suella Fernandes, vice chair of Michaela's governing body and daughter of a former Brent Conservative councillor, is a barrister specialising in planning law.

In 2008 a planning application for a similar sized hoarding to advertise Wembley events (ref 08/1287) was refused on the grounds that it would:

have an adverse impact on visual amenity (and would be) a souse of distraction for users of the highway and create an unacceptable risk to highway safety

I would add other safety concerns if the hoarding became dislodged in high winds and ended up on the road or the nearby Chiltern, Metropolitan and Jubilee railway lines. Has the security of the fixing to the building been checked and a risk assessment completed?

Class size facts challenge Wilshaw ahead of spending cuts

This piece from the excellent Ripped Off Briton website LINK should be of interest to parents, teachers, governors and pupils ahead of next year's expected education budget cuts:

Michael Wilshaw, the Chief Inspector of Schools, said at a seminar organised by the Reform think tank: "You can't have small classes - small groups - and a highly-paid staff." Wilshaw's assertion being that by having bigger class sizes, and therefore fewer teachers, it will be possible to offer higher pay to tempt in better teachers. In this he was parroting Reform's own agenda: 

 

"Ministers should support schools that reduce numbers of teaching assistants and allow class sizes to rise. Ministers should also make the case that having a high quality teacher is more important than smaller class size."  

So, is it actually true that our schools have small classes? We produce data below from the OECD's "Education at a glance, 2012" report, which looks at and compares the education systems in the OECD countries.

For both primary and secondary schools up to GCSE, class sizes in England are among the largest in the OECD.

The reality is we already have among the largest class sizes in the OECD. The government's agenda is simply to cut spending in the government education system.

After all, those who can pay for private education can enjoy classes of 15 to 20, as you would find in ordinary schools in Austria, Hungary, and the USA.

Police arresting anti-fascist demonstrators in Whitehall

Since I left the demonstration there are reports of arrests of anti-BNP demonstrators following kettling. Two buses are said to have been  readied to ferry them away.  There are reports that legal advisers trying to give those arrested advice have been pushed back into the kettle.

Follow @PennyRed on twitter for updates #antifa #bnp