Half-term technology course in South Kilburn

The youthfulness of yesterday's march for a People's Vote as significant as the numbers

I don't 'love the EU' as some of yesterday's marchers chant but neither do I think it was a 'march of the Blairites' as some have claimed.

The reasons why people were marching for a People's Vote on the Brexit negotiations outcome were complex and sometimes  contradictory as one would expect in a march of 700,000 people. Freedom to travel and work in the EU, the security of EU citizens in the UK; safeguarding of trade union, health and safety, food  and environmental standards; fear of the economic consequences of leaving the EU; concern that a 'Little Britain' would be an insular state potentially prey to the extreme right, all played a part.

The march was significant for its youth as well as the fact that it was largely made up of many individuals and families rather than blocks of politcial parties and tarde unionists. I have never been on a march with so few red flags!

Whatever one thinks of the marchers' motives a march of so many, mainly young, people is genuinely significant in the current Brexit turmoil.

Cllr Butt's bad news week as he is accused of 'social cleansing' and Brent Central CLP swings left

Kilburn Times October 18th

With Cllr Abdirazak Abdi proving to be as courageous at revealing the short-comings of Brent Council as his Kilburn ward predecessor Cllr Duffy and Brent Central Constituency Labour Party swinging to the left, this has not been a good week for Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent Council.

The Kilburn Times LINK followed up my story of a week ago  LINK about South Kilburn residents being faced with eviction by the council, without their councillors being informed of a crucial  meeting about the issue. Cllr Abdi minced no words when he accused the Labour council of social cleansing.

Abdi is strongly backed by Kilburn Labour Party which is still campaigning over his removal from the Planning Committee by Cllr Butt. Now the Brent Central Labour Party looks as if it too will be a thorn in Butt's side with the left winning all but one officer position in the CLP  LINK.  Significantly the left filled all 10 places on the Local Campaigns Forum (LCF) which organises councillor selections and election campaigns.  The CLP also nominated at 6 left slate candidates for the National Constitutional Committee elections.

The LCF result may be most significant in the long run as it sets priorities for campaigns over the coming period when Butt and his cabinet are putting forward a cuts budget LINK and continuing the council's unhealthy close relationship with developers.

Cllr Butt has been criticised for not doing more to fight the local government cuts and for not signing a key letter protesting against the cuts signed by other council leaders. However, he turned up this week at the Local Government's Association lobby of Downing Street over funding and managed a photo opportunity with Nick Forbes leader of Newcastle Council and the LGA Labour Group.

It will take more than the odd photo opportunity to persuade Butt's critics that he is responding to their concerns.

Hitherto, opposition to Cllr Butt's leadership has been more about his personal leadership style and controlling approach rather than policies. The relationship between Brent Council Labour Group and the three local CLPs (Hampstead & Kilburn, Brent Central and Brent North) in terms of the latters' ability to influence specific policy is ill-defined and the Council leadership have been able to shrug off or ignore critical motions.

The LCF may now become the forum for a battle over the future political direction of the council.

Willesden Green 'Foxy Mystery' solved as Yana, the guide dog, is reunited with her toys

Just a month after Wembley Matters LINK reported on the Foxy Mystery of Willesden the puzzle has been solved - by a chance chat between neighbours. Nicole Davy of Chandos Road was chatting with a neighbour from Cranhurst Road who began to tell her about the foxes that had been leaving soft toys in her garden, apparently as presents in exchange for feeding them. The gardens of the two roads back on to each other.

After hearing about two teddies and a rabbit, the penny dropped when the final present of Eeyore was mentioned.

'They're Yanna's toys! They've been missing for weeks.'

After establishing that Yana was a dog, and a very special one, and not a tearful toddler,  Liz told Nicole the whole story and they pieced events together.

While Nicole, who has been blind since the age of 19,  was away on a week's holiday the foxes nabbed the soft toys that had been left out on the lawn and presented them, one by one, over several days, to their friend Liz.

Yana, a labrapoodle, is Nicole's guide dog and usually chases the foxes out of her garden. She has never had puppies and enjoys licking and cuddling the toys.

The toys were advertised as 'Found' on street posters as well as on Wembley Matters but the real owner came as quite a surprise.

Despite the toys having been washed in detergent to remove the foxy smell, Nicole described Yanna's excitement when she was reunited with them and accepted them immediately.

Yana, Nicole and Teddy

'I took Floppy out of the bag and she leapt on it in excitement and rushed into the front room, jumping around and playing with it. When she came back and I gave her another, and then another, she was beside herself with excitement.

I had searched the house and garden when I returned from holiday and they just couldn't be found. I was going to buy replacements from a charity shop but then I bumped into Liz and here we are - I have a very happy dog.

Yana is very serious when she is in harness and doing her job, I sometimes tell her to relax, but out of the harness she is really playful and these toys clearly mean a lot to her.'

Tackling Anti-Muslim Hate Crime in Brent - October 26th

Information and RSVP to rehman@tellmamauk.org

Windrush, War & Welfare October 25th Brent Civic Centre

TICKETS HERE

Will skipping reduce fly-tipping?

When I lived in Shepherd's Bush a couple of decades ago the Council used to leave skips in key sites for the collection of bulky items that would be otherwise fly-tipped. It worked pretty well and quite a few items used to disappear overnight as people raided the skip for useful or saleable bits and pieces.

Cllr Butt & Cllr Sheth (see comments)

Now Brent Council is trialing a similar scheme.

Will the skips initiative encourage people to get rid of surplus items they've been keeping in their shed, loft or the cupboard under the stairs?

Will it result in more landfill?

Will it reduce fly-tipping on our streets and open spaces?

This is is the announcement from Brent Council:

Community skips are coming to Brent, as part of a trial providing a new and easy way to help residents get rid of their household junk.

Under Brent Council's Love Where You Live campaign, the community skips will be manned by local residents and will give people the chance to dispose of unwanted household items and learn more about how we can all do our bit to create a cleaner, greener Brent.

Waste such as furniture, garden clippings, small electrical items, recycling and mattresses can be deposited in the skips. Each household can drop off up to five bulky items or five black bags (or a mixture of both) and will be required to bring one form of identification, which can include a drivers licence, council tax or utility bill.

Under the new trial, community skips will be at the following locations over the next six weeks from 8am - midday:

• 20 October 2018 - Townsend Lane, Fryent
• 03 November 2018 - Ken Way, Barnhill (opposite Lidl)
• 17 November 2018 - Shaftesbury Avenue, Kenton (bottom end)
• 01 December 2018 - Essoldo Way, Kingsbury

The community skips are for residents only and no trade waste will be accepted. The skips will not accept the following items:

• Asbestos
• Car tyres
• Fridges / freezers
• Oil / oil drums
• Paint cans

UPDATE: WEMBLEY STADIUM SALE OFF Big players sideline locals and Brent Council as they tussle over Quintain and Wembley Stadium

The Financial Times reported yesterday that the sale of Quintain by its owner Lone Star is at a stand-off over the price with the area of contention between £2bn and £2.3bn. The Delaney led consortium according to the article has not yet moved into formal talks with Lone Star as discussions over the price continue.

The Delaney Consortium includes Canadian, Quatari and Dutch firms as well as Delaney itself while rival bidders are based in the US and Germany, along with LRC founded by a London-based Israeli investor.

With both Quintain and Wembley Stadium up for sale to big players it feels as if it is not only Brent residents but Brent Council that have been sidelined.

UPDATE: THE FA HAS CALLED OFF THE WEMBLEY STADIUM SALE FOR NOW