Brent Green Party welcomes Brent Council's fracking move

Shahrar Ali, spokesperson for Brent Green Party, reacting to Brent Council's statement on fracking said:

Brent Green Party welcomes the  interest shown by Brent Council in the fracking issue and the statement by Council Leader Muhammed Butt that they will  investigate their powers to refuse applications for shale gas exploration in Brent.

Fracking continues the use of Fossil fuels and is therefore likely to worsen the harmful consequences of climate change. 

The current extraction techniques also present a demonstrable risk to public health through contamination of water courses and we must develop renewable energy alternatives, too. A politically responsible solution to the climate change impact requires nothing less.

Jenny Jones, Green Party  Assembly Member said:

Fracking is dirty and polluting, as well as unnecessary. The fracking companies admit that it won’t bring energy costs down but will disrupt communities through noise, dirt, extra road traffic and the threat of pollution. Well done to Brent Council for standing up for their residents.

Right-wing label Brent 'loony left' over fracking move

Brent Council's decision to investigate the possible banning of fracking in the borough has predictably got the right-wing press and bloggers foaming at the mouth, with the label 'loony left' being thrown around.

One comment on the Daily Telegraph website gives a flavour: LINK

 I would have thought it was worth flattening the London Borough of Brent if it meant the rest of the country had access to gas. Is there anything in Brent apart from lefties and illegal immigrants?

Other, more rational commentators, point to a flaw in Muhammed Butt's statement when he said:

While there may be advantages to fracking in some parts of the country it would be dangerous and reckless for companies to start drilling in Brent.

The dangers and recklessness apply to all areas and not just Brent and as Friends of the Earth said:

Shale gas is another climate changing fossil fuel that needs to be left in the ground – the real solutions to our energy needs are renewables and slashing energy waste.

It is to be hoped that Brent Council's courageous stand will lead to the Labour Party adopting an anti-fracking position nationally.

FoE hails Brent's 'fantastic news' on fracking

 Commenting on today's news that Brent Council is seeking to ban fracking in the London borough, Friends of the Earth’s Energy Campaigner Helen Rimmer said:

It’s fantastic news that Brent council is seeking to ban fracking in response to concerns of local residents.

Shale gas is another climate changing fossil fuel that needs to be left in the ground – the real solutions to our energy needs are renewables and slashing energy waste.

We expect other councils will follow Brent’s lead – huge swathes of the UK could be opened up for fracking when a new licencing round commences next year.

Earlier this year Brighton and Hove City council made a “declaration of intent" to keep the area free of fracking. 

Brent NHS Clinical Commissioning for 2014-15 (Draft)

NHS Brent Clinical Commissioning Group has published its Draft Intentions for 2014/15 which can be found in the document below:

Shining a light on Brent Central nomination struggle

Let your little light shine.... (Source Waltham Forest Guardian)

Dawn Butler and Zaffar van Kalwala were selected as female and male Brent Central Labour parliamentary candidates last night giving them the first two wards to nominate.

Labour insiders suggest that not too much should be read into this as Tokyngton and Stonebridge, along with Harlesden, are the pair's strongest wards and the six other wards may come up with a more mixed result.

Willesden Green will nominate tonight where Bernard Collier is also standing as a councillor. Harlesden and Kensal Green are on Monday; Dollis Hill Tuesday, Mapesbury Wednesday and Dudden Hill and Welsh Harp on Thursday.

Meanwhile Patrick Vernon went on a mini-offensive today posting backing from  the Unison London Region and Lord Herman Ousley. He also issued a statement on the Central Middlesex A&E closure.

Vernon claims that the failure to scrutinise and challenge the NHS over recent years meant that Central Middlesex A&E was easier to close than Ealing or Lewisham. LINK

A name I was not familiar with has also emerged. Dr Tony Breslin has his own public policy company LINK and has this to say about his suitability for the position of MP:

· A Labour Party member for 32 years, originally in Manor Ward, in what is now Brent Central
· A Harlesden resident throughout my childhood and youth, and during the early years of my
career, with a range of enduring local friendships and connections, and the kind of rich local
knowledge that derives from being “Made in Harlesden”
· A seasoned political campaigner on issues as diverse as eldercare, mental health, educational
reform and youth participation
· A confident media performer, with radio, TV and print experience, who is ready to handle the
spotlight that will fall on Brent Central as the election approaches
· A teacher by profession and an experienced charity leader who has influenced and helped to
develop policy nationally in fields as diverse as education, participation and community
cohesion
· Confident about re-winning this seat for Labour and willing and able to put in the hard work that will be required to do so
· Ready to play an effective role in Parliament as a champion for all of the people of Brent
Central

Some local Labour Party members, after the expenses scandal, are get to have a 'clean candidate' with no skeletons in the cupboard. They have not been impressed by revelations that Liaquat Ali  MBE ran into trouble, when a councillor in Waltham Forest,  with his 'house of lights' (photo above) for which he had not received planning permission. He was the cabinet member for communities at the time. He was ordered to reduce the size of the structure by council officers. LINK  Earlier, in 2008, the Daily Mail headlined his fine, from Waltham Forest Council, for the unauthorised  absence from school of his daughter who he took on Hajj.LINK

The Council said:

Waltham Forest Council does not condone removing young people unnecessarily from education during term time. This disrupts their learning and may lead to young people missing vital lessons.The Council will seek to punish those responsible regardless of status or position within the local community.

Liaquat Ali was a magistrate until 2007 when he stepped down to become Mayor.

Brent to investigate if it has powers to ban fracking

Following the campaign by Friends of the Earth and the recent demonstration by Brent FoE at Willesden Green station. along with my own modest suggestion that local authorities declare 'Fracking Free Zones' LINK along the lines of the 'Nuclear Free Zones' of the 70s and 80s, Brent Council today announced that they are the first London Council investigating whether it has powers to ban fracking in the borough.

Some may argue that this would be gesture politics as fracking is unlikely in the borough but I think as with the Nuclear Free Zones it would make a clear statement of principle that may well come in useful in the future as technology advances. As such it will be welcomed by Brent Green Party.

This is the Council Statement

Brent Council is to become the first local authority in London to investigate whether powers under the Localism or Planning Acts allow it to ban fracking in the borough.

Residents of the borough and Friends of the Earth have been campaigning for councillors from all parties to pledge to prevent any fracking from taking place within the borders of Brent. The council has now promised to look at utilising any legal avenues it has at its disposal to stop shale gas extraction. It is believed to be the first step of this kind by a council in the UK.

Campaigners and residents are concerned that fracking can lead to mild earthquakes, large quantities of methane gas being released and a poisoning of the water supply, while many organisations also worry that the industry, because of how new it is, is still not regulated or supervised closely enough.

Scores of councils, states and local authorities around the world have banned fracking in their areas but Brent would be the first council in the UK to do it.

Brent Council is also argues that the Big Energy Switch, where residents can sign up to bulk buying their electricity through their local authority which would save people money on their energy bills in the short term.

Leader of the Council, Cllr Muhammed Butt, said:-

While there may be advantages to fracking in some parts of the country it would be dangerous and reckless for companies to start drilling in Brent. I will do everything legally within my power to address the concerns of residents and keep Brent a frack-free zone.

Councils have significant and widespread powers which allow us to stand up for the rights of residents. I am determined to use these powers to help reassure people that fracking in Brent will always be a non-starter.

While fracking may not be planned for Brent yet, the rapid pace and scale of fracking technology means that we need to act now if we are to ensure we have the necessary examination of the powers we have to potentially prevent it from happening in the future.

Gardiner: Councils must be allowed to build new schools

I wrote to Barry Gardiner, Labour MP for Brent North, recently, asking him to support the campaign for local authorities to be restored the right to build new schools to deal with the school places shortage.

This is his response:

Thank you for contacting me recently regarding school places and the related campaign by the NUT.

I share your concern and that of many parents, teachers and headteachers about the growing crisis in school places. Indeed, the number of primary schools with more than 800 places (so-called 'titan; schools) has trebled since 2010 and the number of infants in classes of 30 or more has doubled in the past year.

Recent figures from the National Audit Office (NAO) has also found that 256,000 new school places need to be provided by 2014/15 to meet increased demand and the Local Government Association (LGA) has also warned that 1,000 of the 2,277 local school planning districts will be  over capacity by 2015/16. Here in Brent there are currently 3.2% more children than school places which could rise to a 10.3% shortfall in 2016/17.

Providing a proper, high quality place for every child is one of the foremost duties for any Government and it is clear that responsibility for this growing crisis in school places rests squarely with the current Government.

Firstly, the Government has prioritised its Free School programme, which has often delivered new places in areas where there is not shortages. I firmly believe that in the current economic climate funding for new school places should be prioritised for areas where there is a genuine need and it cannot be right that millions of pounds have been spent opening free schools with a surplus of places.

The Government have also failed to provide a fair deal for capital spending in education, with the cut to education capital being greater than that of all other Government departments.

The Government have also refused to give Local Authorities the power to set up schools to respond to shortages. I believe that allowing local authorities this power could be a practical solution to ease the pressure on places and I know that many parents and organisations, including the NUT, are calling for urgent action to address this. I also believe it is important to look at how local communities could be given a bigger say when new schools are being created and how a local accountability framework for schools could be strengthened.



The Government should also ensure that there is a qualified teacher in every classroom.

I can assure you that I will continue to press the Government to address this growing crisis in school places and ensure that new schools are created in areas where they are most needed.

Barry Gardiner: Central Middlesex A&E closure 'devastating'

This is the exchange between Barry Gardiner, MP for Brent North and Jeremy Hunt following the latter's announcement of the closure of Central Middlesex A&E in Parliament yesterday:

Barry Gardiner (Brent North, Labour)

This decision is devastating for my constituents. The Secretary of State will know that in the last winter period, Northwick Park hospital and Central Middlesex hospital, which comprise the North West London Hospitals Trust, were the worst-performing hospitals when it came to meeting A and E targets not only in London, but in the country. The trust scored 81.03%. That is an appalling record. What he has done today, by announcing the almost immediate closure of Central Middlesex, can only make that much worse. The College of Emergency Medicine has said that his reconfigured hospitals should have at least 16 consultants in their emergency departments, but his decision will give them 10—and that is not for major trauma centres. Will he elaborate on what he will do to bring the number of consultants up to the level required by the college?

Jeremy Hunt (South West Surrey, Conservative)

Has the hon. Gentleman, who is so against these proposals, not noticed the proposals for more emergency care doctors, more critical care doctors and more psychiatric liaison support for A and E departments, which will reduce pressure on A and Es and mean that people admitted through A and Es for emergency care will not have a 10% higher chance of mortality if they are admitted at weekends? His constituents will be among the first to benefit from that. I would caution him, therefore, against saying that this is devastating for his constituents. We were reminded in Prime Minister’s questions earlier of how Labour suffered from predicting massive job losses, when in fact there was an increase in jobs. This announcement is good news for the hon. Gentleman’s constituents, and he should welcome it