Tuesday, 10 September 2013

An update on runners in the Brent Central race

Sarah Teather's decision not to stand again seems to have breathed new life into the Brent Central election battle. Some local Liberal Democrats are firmly of the opinion that their candidate should be a woman while, intervening from Sutton, Lester Holloway has claimed the candidate should be of African or Caribbean background. Apparently he hasn't ruled himself out! A BAME criterion would have suited Cllr James Allie who was on the list of approved Liberal  Democrat candidates and the only Black Lib Dem councillor- unfortunately he crossed the Council Chamber floor and joined Labour. As if to forestall any thoughts that Allie may have of changing horses again, Cllr Jim Moher writes in The Voice that James is very much at home with Labour LINK

Moher, who some say played a king maker role in Muhammed Butt's election as Labour Group leader, strongly promotes Dawn Butler as Labour's Brent Central candidate in  his Voice article. Muahmmed Butt told me last night that, despite rumours to the contrary, he was not going  for the nomination.

Among other possible Labour contenders Sabina Khan is still in the running but has also been interested in Ealing. Sabina emphasises her credentials as a business woman and entrepreneur and yesterday posted an article on Energy on the Progress website LINK

Cllr Zaffar van Kalwala made a grandstanding speech about Sarah Teather at the Brent Council meeting last night to a mixture of applause and derision indicating that his hat was firmly in the ring and capable of performing some dazzling tricks. Kalwala has been active on the Harlesden Incinerator campaign but has perhaps not had as much active support on protests and demonstrations from party colleagues as he deserved.

Butler, who was tainted by the  expenses scandal, is joined by two other former MPs with similar issues. Tony McNulty, former MP for Harrow East and a government minister is married to Christine Gilbert, Brent Council's acting Chief Executive, whose tenure was recently extended until after the 2014 council elections. He resigned from his ministerial post over expenses allegations.

Parmijit Dhanda, former MP for Gloucester is also mentioned as a possible candidate. Dhanda had to pay back over £1,800 in overpaid mortgage expenses. The latter has a rightwing record having voted for replacement of Trident, ID cards, tuition frees and anti-terrorism laws and against an inquiry into the Iraq War.

A more left alternative is offered by Mike Buckley who is North London representative for the Christian Socialist Movement LINK. He is said to be an admirer of John Cruddas, is against imperialist wars and has worked for Islamic Relief.

Dr Sundar Thava, an NHS doctor, worked with the military in Iraq and Afghanistan and spoke recently at the Labour Party meeting on Syria and you can read what he had to say on this  blog HERE

Patrick Vernon has been continuing to cultivate the grassroots with vigour and his work on Windrush Day and health issues has been prominent. However his campaigning blog 'Patrick Vernon for Brent Central' lags way behind his activities and is not kept up to date. LINK


Further down the list is Camden councillor Mike Katz whose credibility has been dented by his de-selection as a council candidate for 2014.. Richard Osley of the Camden New Journal described his as 'cast as a New Labour eagle in a nest of lefty voices'. LINK Katz blogs HERE

Another name mentioned to me is Dan McCurry who writes regularly for LabourUncut. His main claim to fame is leading the Labour fightback against Respect in East London with the slogan 'Vote for Us or Get George' which managed to keep the council in Labour hands. He often expresses frustration at Labour's current failure to fight the Coalition with sufficient energy and aggression.  McCurry's Blog

Rumour has it that there are up to 38 candidates with perhaps more expected following Teather's decision not to stand again. With these numbers I don't have all the names so anyone wanting to contribute any more information is welcome to send it on.

As I remarked on Twitter with more runners than the Grand National in the Brent Central Labur contest there are likely to be some broken legs!

The election for a candidate is expected to take place in October.

PS The Greens are biding their time...

Monday, 9 September 2013

All parties on Brent Council unite to condemn Eric Pickles' decision not to intervene on Welsh Harp development

Liberal Democrat and Conservative councillors tonight joined the Brent Council ruling Labour group to condemn Eric Pickles' decision not to intervene in the West Hendon redevelopment on the banks of the Welsh Harp reservoir and nature reserve.

The Barratt Homes  development in Barnet was narrowly approved by  Barnet Planning Committee but opposed by planners in neighbouring Brent. The reservoir straddles both boroughs.

The news was received only shortly before the Council was due to discuss a Labour motion calling for Pickles to intervene because of the scale of the development (flats of up to 29 storeys) and the damage it would do to a cherished and rare open space.

An amendment was quickly tabled condemning his failure to intervene and was passed unanimously in a very rare show of party unity.

Lib Dem councillor calls for African or Caribbean successor to Teather




Guest blog by Lester Holloway, Liberal Democrat Councillor, Sutton North Ward

I am immensely saddened that Sarah Teather has decided to step down from her Brent Central seat at the next election.

She stood up for liberal and democratic principles, particularly after she left government, and on immigration was a shining if lonely beacon of common sense in the Lib Dems.

In an interview with the Observer yesterday she singled out the visa bond scheme and the general approach to immigration as among the main reasons why she could no longer support the party in parliament.
My disappointment is that she has not chosen to stay and fight for those beliefs, particularly as so many party members agreed with her stance.

Certainly the likes of Bernie Grant would not have quit but carried on the fight from the backbenches. However, as Teather admits in her interview, her commitment to the party mean she would not be comfortable with such a role.

Her stepping down should now be an opportunity for the Lib Dems to do some serious soul-searching about what she has said. It is time to reflect and debate what we need to do to appeal to diverse communities.
Nick Clegg made a speech after being elected leader promising to challenge Labour in its’ heartlands and carried this theme into the 2010 general election. This ambition appears to have been lost in coalition government but needs to be recaptured.

Policies like the visa bond for Nigeria and Ghana should never have been agreed. As the Observer interview reports:
When all three party leaders made speeches over Easter this year about the need to take a tough line on immigration, Teather says she reached her lowest ebb. Clegg said some immigrants from “high-risk” countries should be asked to make cash deposits of £1,000 when making visa applications, which would be returned when they left the UK. Teather plunged into an instant, deep depression, seeing this as an abandonment of the liberal approach that drew her into the party in her teens.
“It was spun like it was a bail-like payment linking immigrants, who were mostly just coming for a wedding, with criminals. I just felt catastrophically depressed. It took me some time before I began to communicate with Nick Clegg … It was an absolutely black moment. I couldn’t even move from my seat when I read it. I was so depressed, I couldn’t even be angry. I was utterly desolate.”
I argued recently on Lib Dem Voice that the party should reorientate itself to appeal to BAME communities, and got a lot of flak on the reader thread for my efforts. However Teather’s decision to stand down only reinforces the need to focus on appealing to Britain’s increasingly multicultural communities.

Labour in Brent are continuing to take the 2015 election for granted. Dawn Butler was defeated by Teather in 2010 in part because Butler had her nose in the expenses trough claiming for lavish items like a £2,300 whirlpool bath yet has never apologised, shown any regret or contrition to the best of my knowledge despite having ample opportunity to do so.

Yet the same Dawn Butler is positioning herself to run again. Her voting record when in parliament includes voting for ID cards and for clamping down even harder on immigration, the very issues that Teather stood against.

Whereas Teather successfully campaigned against Labour’s policy of detaining children in asylum detention centre prisons and worked closely on the Pupil Premium for disadvantaged children, Butler’s contribution in Westminster was minimal. 

I was on BBC London radio last night opposite Butler talking about Teather and Butler on particularly screechy form accusing Teather of “lying” without being clear what the “lie” actually was. She has obviously learnt nothing from previously being forced to publicly apologise to Teather for calling her a “hypocrite.”
Butler’s schoolyard jibes continued after the show when she Tweeted that I was “delusional”. She spelt my name “Leister” but to her credit managed to spell ”delusional” correctly.

Today The Voice has published a shamelessly partisan article by a Brent Labour councillor who fails to mention any other contender for the Labour nomination despite other hopefuls being well-known.
I have heard that many Labour activists in Brent do not want Butler again but they may not have no choice in the matter as she has long been busy signing up supporters, I hear, and may already have enough votes in her handbag, no doubt along with all her expense receipts. It’s the sort of tactics that have seen Labour suspend several constituency parties in the past.

The question of who the Lib Dems pick to replace Teather is an important one. While I have never argued that BAME candidates must necessarily run in BAME-majority seats, the fact that the party do not have a single MP of colour and are so far behind both Labour and the Conservatives it would be madness to pass up the opportunity in Brent Central.

The party have never had an African or Caribbean MP, yet this constituency has more black voters than any other ethnic group. I know there are extremely capable African or Caribbean Lib Dems considering this seat and in my view it would be unacceptable not to pick one of them.

First published on Lester Holloway's blog HERE

We won't be SILENCED: oppose the Gagging Law


Pickles to be urged by Brent Council to call-in Welsh Harp development

The development site
The motion below is being put to tonight's full Council meeting by Cllr Roxanne Mashari. I understand it will have Liberal Democrat support but I don't know the position of Conservative councillors:

West Hendon development
This Council opposes the West Hendon Development plans which have recently been approved by Barnet Council and the Mayor of London.
Members note that the Welsh Harp Reservoir and Nature Reserve is the only site of special scientific interest (SSSI) in Brent or Barnet and has London wide and national ecological significance.
Members note that Barratt Homes has failed to address concerns raised by Brent Officers, community groups and wildlife organisations who have opposed these plans, which will lead to 6000 new residents moving into tower blocks up to 29 storeys high and the construction of foot bridges leading directly from the site into the SSSI. Members agree that the scale and design of this development amount to an act of environmental vandalism.
This Council notes that the scale and design of the proposed development contravenes official guidance in both the Barnet and London plans.
This Council wishes to reaffirm the value of our Welsh Harp Nature Reserve and reservoir and its belief that this site must be preserved for future generations.
This Council therefore urges the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to call in this decision with the utmost urgency. This is in light of the numerous and grave concerns raised by a number of professional and community bodies which remain unaddressed.




Sarah's secret: A Lib Dem reflection on Sarah Teather


I have published Labour and Green views on Sarah Teather's decision not to stand again. Here, in a guest blog, is the view from Alison Hopkins,  Liberal Democrat councillor for Dollis Hill

Sarah called me on Saturday to tell me personally of her decision not to stand again in 2014. I was and am very saddened, both on a personal and professional level. I’ve known her for many years, first coming into contact when, like thousands of other Brent residents, she helped me with a problem that no one else had managed to fix. I then got to know her better through her sterling and invaluable efforts to help the campaign against the Brent Cross plans, which meant chaos for Dollis Hill and the wider Brent area. I still remember how trenchant and forthright she was at public meetings with the developers and I realised then that this was a woman with a sense of purpose, fiercely intelligent and not afraid to say what she thought.

As a result of getting to know her better I decided to enter politics properly, having campaigned and worked locally for decades, as I could see that far more could be achieved within a more formal role. I campaigned for her in the 2010 general election and it was one of the most exhilarating, exhausting and rewarding things I’ve ever done – only bettered by being a councillor in Dollis Hill! Our team proved that despite the predictions of victory from Labour and figures suggesting otherwise, we could turn a notional loss into a pretty good win.  I’m absolutely sure that most of that was down to Sarah’s record of working her socks off for local people, knowing Brent in minute detail – I swear she has the electoral roll in her head – and to her brilliant local office.  Brent has had the luxury of a local MP, with help accessible five days a week to constituents: how many other constituencies get that level of commitment?

Her hidden secret is she's also a great pastry cook: the Brent Cross coalition were fed amazing cookies the first time we met her formally in the Commons and she’s notorious for feeding her helpers and staff.  Most people see her serious side, but I’ve been fortunate enough to see her sitting on my dining room floor giggling uncontrollably during my by election.

I’ve not always agreed with her decisions or the way she’s voted, but I’ve never had the least doubt that she hasn't thought long and hard about everything she’s ever done as an MP. I also know that any decision she makes comes from a strong sense of right and wrong, from conscience and from an ethical and moral framework that I wish more people generally had.  She gets angry with injustice, whatever its form, and she won’t pander to the popular or take the easy way out.

One of my neighbours sent me an email about her, and I think it says it all: “Really sorry she’s going. Worked hard and kept her nose clean.”  I’ve no idea what she’ll do next, but I’m absolutely certain that whatever it is, she’ll make a difference to people’s lives for the better, just as she has for the past decade in Brent.

Barry Gardiner faces wrath of anti-Modi demonstrators



A wet Monday morning is not the most auspicious time for a demonstration but this morning's at Brent Civic Centre was lively enough. Human rights activists were protesting at Barry Gardiner's invitation to Narendra Modi to speak in the House of Commons on 'The Future of Modern India'.

Modi (see previous posting LINK) is charged by activists with not intervening in, or even supporting, the 2002 massacre of more than 2,000 Gujerat Muslims. His Hindu nationalist party, the BJP, is denounced by many as fascist.

Barry Gardiner is Chair of the Labour Friends of India and issued the invitation in that capacity, However his critics suggest that the invite was aimed at securing the substantial Hindu vote in his Brent North constituency and to be based on enhancing business opportunities rather than human rights principles.

Modi has said he cannot come to the UK at present but the invitation is still extant. The demonstrators want the invitation to be officially withdrawn.

Gardiner came outside to meet the demonstrators and to distribute a statement. He was surrounded by angry activists who tried to talk to him to the background noise of chants of, 'Barry Gardiner, Shame, Shame/Inviting Modi, Not in Our Name; Barry, Barry, Don't Lie/Modi Guilty of Genocide.'

It does seem that Barry Gardiner has introduced a potentially explosive and divisive element into UK politics with his invitation and an issue that could impact on local community relations.


Sunday, 8 September 2013

Digging up Kingsbury’s secrets at Blackbird Hill


My Aunt Muriel was a farm labourer at different farms around Kingsbury and Edgware so I am pleased to publish this Guest Blog by local historian Philip Grant about a dig at Blackbird Hill Farm just around the corner from where she used to live.

 We still need to save Brent's remaining farm building at Old Oxgate Farm in recognition of  Brent's agricultural past.
 
Blackbird Farm House c1880  (Brent Archives)
Planners are often criticised for the developments they allow to be built, but sometimes they deserve some praise. For two weeks from Monday 9 September, behind the blue hoardings opposite the Lidl supermarket on Blackbird Hill, archaeologists from UCL will be working to uncover clues from the past of a historic site. A block of flats will be built soon where the “Blarney Stone” (formerly “The Blackbirds”) public house stood, but for hundreds of years before the pub was built in the 1950’s, there was a farm here.


When the controversial planning application to redevelop the pub was submitted in 2010, Brent’s planning officers identified that this was a site with archaeological potential. A desk-based assessment of this potential was required as part of the application documents, and after representations were made on behalf of both Brent Museum and Wembley History Society, officers recommended that a proper excavation should be carried out on the part of the site before the new development could go ahead.



Blackbird Farm was only an old farm, so why is this excavation so important? In 1952, an old “mansion” opposite Kingsbury Green was demolished to make way for blocks of Wembley Council flats (Mead Court). After the bulldozers had cleared the site, bits of old pottery, some medieval and two large fragments of Roman amphorae, were found in the heaps of earth. Had they been buried for up to 1,900 years, or were they items collected only a century or two before by a previous occupant of the property? It was too late to find out, and a key opportunity to learn more about our distant past was lost.


There were farm buildings on the “Blackbirds” site from at least the sixteenth century, and there may be even older material buried here which could tell us about the lives of Kingsbury’s earliest inhabitants. Blackbird Hill was part of a track which was known as “Eldestrete” (the old road) in Saxon times. When the nearby St Andrew’s Old Church was built around AD1100, rubble from the Roman period was used in its walls, so there may have been a building in this area nearly two thousand years ago.

An extract from the 1597 Hovenden Map, showing the farm, then called Findens and the surrounding area (note that north is on  the right hand side, not at the top).(Source and copyright: The Codrington Library, All Souls’ College, Oxford) 
 Although part of the farmyard site was destroyed when the pub was built, there is an area close to Old Church Lane which is relatively undisturbed, and that is where the archaeologists will be excavating. There is no guarantee that they will discover anything of significance, but this is the last chance to find whatever is there before an underground car park is constructed for the flats. 

Whatever is found, properly identified and interpreted, will help to fill gaps in our knowledge of local history.


Wembley History Society and Brent Archives had hoped to arrange with the archaeologists for an open afternoon, when local people could come and see the “dig” for themselves. Unfortunately this has not proved possible, as this is an active construction site, with other contractors at work, so the developer will not allow public access for safety reasons. We will make sure, however, that any information about what is found is made publicly available, so that the efforts of local planning officers and heritage enthusiasts to bring about this excavation are not wasted.


You can discover more about the history of the Blackbird Farm site in an illustrated article from the Brent Archives online local history resources collection HERE