Brent Greens: Butler is a 'New Labour blast from the past'

Dawn Butler and Shahrar Ali at the Friends of the Earth Hustings, General Election 2010

Reacting to today's news that Brent Labour Party had selected Dawn Butler to fight Brent Central in 2015, Shahrar Ali, The Green's candidate in  2010, said:

Labour's selection of Dawn Butler to fight the Brent Central seat is as if they are proposing a blast from Blair's New Labour past. Let voters be reminded where Butler stood on a whole raft of hugely consequential issues.

In 2007, Butler voted against a motion calling for a new sense of urgency on climate change, and, in 2009, against our becoming a signatory to the 10:10 climate change campaign. On Nuclear deterrence, Butler voted ambiguously on the renewal of a Trident system (2007). On anti-terror legislation, Butler voted reliably with her Government throughout, and, in 2009, voted to keep the maximum period of detention without charge for terrorist suspects at 28 days (instead of a lower period).

On such fundamental political issues of the day, Butler's priorities were wrong or muddled. Labour Party members may be prepared to forgive her past mistakes but I doubt if the electorate will be quite as tolerant. Greens stand for a radical break from the barely distinguishable politics of the three main parties and we shall fight the General Election on that basis.

Labour selects Dawn Butler for Brent Central

Uniting behind Dawn?

Former Brent South MP Dawn Butler has been selected by Labour for the Brent Central seat, winning in the third round of voting. Butler lost to Sarah Teather in 2010.

Clearly more people like Marmite in Brent that I thought!

According to reliable sources Butler won narrowly from Sundar Thava, tipped by me as a possible outsider winner yesterday. There was only a handful of votes in it at the end of the day in which Sundar performed impressively but Dawn Butler was ahead on postal votes. Parmijit Dhanda and Sabina Khan were knocked out in the early stages.

With such a narrow margin the question is whether activists will line up behind Dawn Butler and get out on the streets for her. The prospect of another Tory or Coalition government may be enough to do the trick.

Lib Dem's shortlist for Brent Central

As Labour votes for its Brent Central parliamentary candidate I understand that the Lib Dem shortlist for Sarah Teather's seat is:

Lauren Keith, a member of Mapesbury Lib Dems who works in Public Relations
Ibrahim Taguri who is the Lib Dem's chief fundraiser
Anuja Prashar, a lecturer in economics
Ajmal Masroor, a broadcaster and London based Imam

Runners, form and a tip for Labour's Brent Central race as it nears finishing line

So very soon Brent Central Labour Party members will be free of the emails, circulars, texts, and knocks on the door from the five hopefuls for the Brent Central parliamentary candidate nomination.

It's quite hard to tip a winner because my sources are all over the place and more keen to say why a particular candidate is unacceptable rather than who will make a great MP.

Even the LRC appears to have decided that none deserved a collective vote of support so individuals are going their own way. In the Green Party RON appears on all ballot forms. RON stands for re-open nominations and is chosen  if you feel none of the candidates are suitable or a wider field is needed. If Ron was standing in the Brent Central Labour ballot I think he may do quite well

Dawn Butler seems to be the Marmite candidate but some have been won over by her skills as a speaker and in debate. Sabina Khan has been working extremely hard, personally lobbying many individual members, but has also attracted quite a lot of background criticism. Parmijit Dhanda although plausible on the surface has a substantial number of detractors based on his record. Zaffar van Kalwala has his fans but apparently did not come over well in the interviews.  Sundar Thava was somewhat undermined by his own decision to put a photograph of himself wielding a machine gun  on his campaign website.

I can claim no inside knowledge but if I was to tip an outsider who may come through the field it would probably be Sundar Thavapalasundaram. He impressed at the Labour Party public meeting on Syria which seemed to allay some of the concerns over his military background and that photograph. His job as an NHS doctor has gained him respect as well as his position on the Fabian Society National Executive.  He appears to be a 'slow burner' who has gained ground over the last few week.

The Fabians are quite influential in Brent and amongst some of the Council Executive. Thava's Operation Black Vote mentor, Sadiq Khan, has also been a presence in Brent since Muhammed Butt's former political adviser, Jack Stenner, a Young Fabian, went to work for him.

Council Tax Consultation extended after complaints

The Brent Council consultation on Council Tax Support due to end today,  has been extended for a week after a posting on this blog, Twitter campaign and an official complaint that it had not been widely enough advertised.

Threatened Queensbury pub wins Community Asset status

Brent Council has issued the following statement. Well done to the Queensbury Campaigners and all, including some councillors, who supported them and the Council for listing it:

We are pleased to announce that the Queensbury Pub has been added to our list of assets of comuunity value.

Leader of Brent Council, Cllr Muhammed Butt, said:

I am very pleased that the Queensbury Pub has been listed as an asset of community value.

As well as providing a home away from home for Brent residents to meet their neighbours and gather as a community, pubs such as the Queensbury generate jobs for local people and inject hundreds of thousands of pounds into our economy every year.

Community assets are locally nominated public or privately owned buildings that have furthered the social wellbeing or social interests of the community and can continue to do so.
Assets stay on our list for a period of five years.

Contribute your experience on secondary schools' socially selecting their intake

Brent parents and practioners may be interested in contributing to this research

The Office of the Children’s Commissioner (OCC) has been told that some secondary schools in England are attempting to socially select their intake by reducing the admission of children with Special Educational Needs (SEN), from minority ethnic groups, with English as an additional language (EAL), and from families on a low income.

The OCC has commissioned NFER to gather the views of parents and carers from these key groups who have recently gone through the admissions process for secondary school in England. They would like us to examine whether parents and carers feel that certain schools either encouraged or discouraged them from applying for a place for their child.

The OCC, which works to make sure all adults listen to the views and experiences of children and young people, wants to find out more about the admissions process so that they can shine a light on the situation and share these findings with decision-makers, like the Government.

You have been directed to this website because you are either a parent or carer, or because you have worked with families who have recently gone through the school admissions process. If you are interested in talking to us about your views and experiences, please click on one of the links below for further information.

I am a parent or carer...

I am a practitioner who supports families...

We look forward to hearing from you.

The Research Team

Fiona Walker

Kerry Martin

Richard White

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Greens: Autumn statement based on short-term politics not the long-term challenge

CHANCELLOR of the Exchequer George Osborne’s Autumn Statement was dominated by short-term political considerations and a failure yet again to either address the underlying, structural problems which weaken the health of the British economy or move us to a low-carbon, affordable energy future, says the Green Party. Nothing has been done to prepare for the economic storm on the horizon.

In the Autumn Statement, Osborne insisted that “Britain’s economic plan is working” and that the Coalition Government is overseeing a “responsible recovery.”

In response to the Autumn Statement, Natalie Bennett, Green Party Leader for England and Wales, said:

"Mr Osborne was so keen to claim that this was an Autumn Statement for the long term, yet on this issue, as others, he is clearly a man who protests too much.

"Our current economic position is based on high and growing consumer indebtedness, as households are forced to borrow to cover basic costs, and a government-supported housing bubble. The Chancellor says that the sun is shining. Well that proves he hasn't looked out the window today, or looked into the lives of millions of Britons who are struggling to pay the bills, in far too many cases forced to resort to extortionate payday lenders or foodbanks to get by.”

"Instead of working to restructure our economy, to rein-in our reckless, fraud-ridden financial sector, to boost manufacturers and the real economy, to create stable, decent-paying jobs that workers can build a life on, Mr Osborne's focus is instead clearly short-term - to inflate the economy for the mere 18 months to the next General Election."

Caroline Lucas, Green MP for Brighton Pavilion, said:

“The Autumn statement was yet another missed opportunity to take the action that we need that will genuinely move us to a low-carbon, affordable energy future.

“The Chancellor has done nothing to tackle the root causes of fuel poverty or soaring fuel bills. Instead of watering down energy companies’ obligations, he should have announced a major programme to make all homes super-energy efficient. If funded through recycled carbon taxes, this could bring an estimated nine out of ten homes out of fuel poverty, quadruple carbon savings, and create up to 200,000 jobs across the UK.” [1]

“The Chancellor has delivered a lavish Christmas gift to fracking companies – giving them tax breaks to support an irresponsible and dangerous dash for gas that will undermine the urgent action we need to reduce our carbon emissions.

“It’s ironic that a Chancellor who talks about going green is quite happy for the UK to continue to fund massive subsidies for both nuclear and fossil fuels. Taking real action to tackle climate change would create jobs, transform the economy, and help us meet our duty to secure a safe and habitable climate for future generations."

[1] http://www.energybillrevolution.org/whats-the-campaign/