EU Elections - Make sure you can vote in Brent

From Brent4Europe


It’s difficult to predict what will happen with Brexit, but one thing is certain: if you are not registered to vote, your voice will not be heard.

Whether it’s European Parliament elections, a People’s Vote on Brexit or possibly even a General Election, you need to make sure you are registered or you will not be able to vote.

Note: there are local council elections in Northern Ireland and in some parts of England on 2 May, but not in London.

Turnout in EU elections in the UK is historically low — it was just 36% in 2014 — but we can change that to show just what the EU means to voters in Brent.

The EU recognises this as a problem and have started building a community of supporters to help encourage a higher voter turnout at the European elections. Their goal is not to tell people who they should vote for: it is to promote the act of voting itself, the act of engaging in the democratic process; and the act of doing so in a conscious and fully informed way. They want to harness the power of human interaction and build a community of supporters across Europe to rally behind the cause of voting and to stand up for the very idea of democracy. Together we can decide what kind of Europe we want to live in.

Visit their special website to find out more: This time I’m voting.

Residents of the United Kingdom who were citizens of other EU countries were not allowed to vote in the 2016 referendum unless they were citizens (or were also citizens) of the Republic of Ireland, of Malta, or of the Republic of Cyprus and only those 18 or over were allowed to vote. We do not know who will be able to vote next time.

In Brent, 55,000 residents are EU nationals from outside the EU. That is one in six of Brent 335,000 residents.

These residents must also consider whether they need to apply for Settled Status if we do leave the EU. If they don’t apply or are refused, they may have to leave the UK.

EU27 citizens in the UK

For the European Parliament elections on 23 May, EU27 citizens living in the UK have a choice: you can vote in the EU Elections in the UK or in your country of origin.

But you cannot vote in European Parliament elections in more than one country.

To vote in the UK, you must:

1.     Register to vote by 7 May 2019 (see below); and

2.     Fill in the European Parliament voter registration form (no need if you are from the Republic of Ireland, Malta or Cyprus); and

3.     Send the form to your local Electoral Registration Office by 7 May 2019

To find out more, visit Your Vote Matters by the Electoral Commission.

Younger voters

The Vote for your Future website encourages young people to register and vote, saying:

Every election is determined by those who show up

No matter how you vote, it’s important that young people get registered and turn out in this year’s European Elections.

Vote For Your Future is led by young people of all politics, and none.

We believe that all young people have a duty to take part in this year’s European Elections, which is why we will spend the next 5 weeks campaigning to get young people registered, informed and able to vote on 23^rd May.

How to register

To check whether you are already registered, to find out more including whether you are eligible and what you need to register, visit Brent Council’s Register to vote page, or contact them:

London Borough of Brent
Electoral Services
Civic Centre
Engineers Way
WEMBLEY
HA9 0FJ
020 8937 1372
electoral.services@brent.gov.uk
http://www.brent.gov.uk/elections

For more information on registering to vote, elections and how to vote, visit
Your Vote Matters by the Electoral Commission.

mailto:richcent@hotmail.com]

South Kilburn Chase House defects persist 6 years after completion

This tweet caught my eye this morning . It refers to Chase House on Hansel Road, South Kilburn.

How could UK Defence Policy better protect us? Monday May 13th with Lucy Roberts

Support Palestine! Two events on Saturday May 11th

From Brent and Harrow Palestine Soldiarity Campaign and Brent Friends of Palestine

The Palestinian people need our solidarity more than ever, and are calling for global protests to protect their collective rights. As Israel continues to flout international law and violate human rights, there is a responsibility on the global community to hold it to account and push for an end to the oppression of the Palestinian people.

No new Nakba! - End the Siege! - Defend the Right of Return!

Organised by: Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Stop the War Coalition, Palestinian Forum in Britain, Friends of Al- Aqsa, Muslim Association of Britain

Plus in the evening this event organised locally:

Ticket Reservations HERE

Get Mapping Brent - Thursday May 2nd, Willesden Green Library

From Philip Grant

Brent Museum and Archives at Willesden Green Library are hosting a very interesting event on Thursday 2nd May, to help anyone interested in our local heritage get involved with the "Layers of London" project ( http://www.LayersofLondon.org ). 

This project aims to get details about the local history of every corner of the capital onto an interactive online map, so that anyone can discover the stories behind the place where they live. I think it is a fantastic idea, but currently there is hardly anything about Wembley on the website!

I am attaching the poster for this workshop event, from 5.30 to 7.30pm, and hope that anyone who is interested and can attend will come along to this session, so that we can help to put Wembley's history "on the map". 

 

For more details contact karina.flynn@sas.ac.uk; booking is not necessary but would be helpful: www.history.ac.uk/events/event/19670

 

Residents must not pay for Grenfell-style cladding removal, FBU union says

From the Fire Brigades Union

The cost of removing dangerous flammable must not fall onto building residents, the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has said. The government must fund residents’ removal costs until those responsible can be held accountable.

Nearly two years on from the Grenfell Tower fire, the same flammable cladding covers a total of 434 residential buildings. Dangerous cladding has been removed from just 29% of social housing blocks and 6% of private residential blocks.[1]

Combustible cladding has been removed from just 10 of the 176 private blocks found to be at risk., with  The FBU is backing the #EndOurCladdingScandal campaign, launched today by Inside Housing and UK Cladding Action Group, to address an overlooked risk to residents.
Across local authority and private housing, the government should take a risk-based approach to removing cladding and improving fire safety, rather than waiting for blame to be attributed, the FBU believes.

Andy Dark, FBU assistant general secretary, said:

It’s a scandal that residents who are living in tower blocks covered in flammable cladding and where basic fire safety is substandard have no certainty whatsoever that their homes will be made safe.

Whether publicly or privately owned the remedial work needs to be completed quickly and the government must take responsibility for getting the job done.

Grenfell Tower’s flammable Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding was one of the key factors that caused the fire to spread so rapidly, alongside the failure of “compartmentalisation”, where each flat is built as a fireproof unit.

The next phase of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry will focus on conditions that led to the fire, including those in business and government who did not act on warnings about unsafe building practices
The FBU is a core participant in the ongoing inquiry and has been a strong advocate for improving tenants’ rights. The union has repeatedly criticised the government for its complacency on Grenfell, cladding, and wider fire safety issues.

[1]Ministry for Housing Communities and Local Government, 31 March 2019, Building Safety Programme: Monthly Data Release. Available from: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/793799/Building_Safety_Data_Release_March_2019.pdf

SAFER KIDS: Brent parents launch petition to local politicans calling for immediate action on 'daily threats' their children face

Local people have launched a petition demanding that Brent's three MPs  and local councillors  act quickly to ensure that

We demand immediate solutions to the daily threat our children face through:

·      More police/security details patrolling the Kensal Green, Kensal Rise, Queens Park and Harlesden area, especially at key points in the day

·      More CCTV in key locations

·      The creation of a positive action network consisting of schools, residents and local businesses that raises awareness and encourages positive, social behaviour within the community.

We also demand long-term solutions such as investment in local youth centres and helping the youth committing these crimes to become part of the community, rather than fighting against it.

Why is this important?

We the undersigned residents of Brent demand our streets be made safe for our children. We are writing to you to demand you immediately address the radical increase in muggings and assaults on children in our local area. Lawlessness is rampant and impunity is now rife in our neighbourhood. Our streets feel like the Wild West - anything goes, and no one can do a thing about it.

Muggings and assaults on children are now occurring daily, often between 2pm and 7pm on the peripheries of schools, in parks and around the Chamberlayne Rd area. These crimes are committed by youth, at times in balaclavas, often using knives, sometimes using steel bars as a threat, other times using direct violent assault - and all this in broad daylight.

In the cases where adults have tried to intervene, they too have been violently assaulted. One parent was recently punched in the head in Roundwood Park numerous times in front of his son, and another parent had a plank of wood smashed into his face, loosing several teeth in the Queens Park area - also in front of his children.

Sadly, many cases go unreported as the victims are fearful if they tell, they could be putting themselves in more danger. Moreover, parents at times fear nothing will be done as the police rarely turn up, or if they do it’s 30 minutes late, when the perpetrators are long gone.

At an age when our children should be cherishing a newfound independence, they now have to fear for their safety. They must ask themselves: Will I be attacked on the way home from school today? Is it safe to take my phone? Do I have to walk in a big group to be safe? What should I do if I get assaulted? Will they knife me?

No child should have to ask him or herself these questions. We want our children to:

- be able to walk to school and home from it
- go the the park/skatepark
- walk to a friend’s house
- go to the corner shop
- catch a bus/ the tube etc...

without having to worry that they will be assaulted or mugged.

The effect of daily fear in these young minds, if not addressed, is likely to lead to a dramatic increase in anxiety, depression and isolation in our local community.

May we remind you, in 1991 the UK signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child, one of the nine core UN human rights treaties. The CRC protects the rights of children in all areas of their life, including their rights to “freedom from violence, abuse and neglect”.

It is tragic that almost three decades later, in this supposedly civilised society, our children are not protected from violence or abuse in their very own neighbourhood.

It is tragic, that due to austerity, our society is now one in which crime is rampant, impunity rife and our children - our future - are the ones having to suffer the devastating consequences.

It is tragic that they must now live in fear in their own community.

We demand you make our streets safe for our children. We demand action and we demand it now.

Yours sincerely,
AC Collet on behalf of Safer Kids

LINK TO PETITION

UPDATE: Responding to a request for a comment by Wembley Matters, Cllr Tom Miller, lead member for community safety said:

We are broadly sympathetic to the aims of the petition and I've offered to meet with the organisers and anybody they would like to join with them.

UPDATE: PROPOSED ‘FREE’ SCHOOL CALLED IN BY BRENT COUNCILLORS - BRENT NEU 'APPALLED BY PROPOSED PRIVATISATION'

From the Brent branch of the National Education Union (NEU)

UPDATE: The Call-In will be heard by the Scrutiny Committee on Thursday May 9th 

Brent NEU Officers have written in the strongest terms to Cllr Muhammed Butt, Leader of the Council, after the Labour Cabinet voted to support a ‘Free’ School on the Roundwood Youth Centre site. ‘Free’ schools are academies and part of this Government’s privatisation of state education programme.

Brent NEU had been repeatedly assured that there were no plans for any more ‘Free’ Schools. Cllr Butt had also publicly assured the local Labour Party of this when the idea was first mooted. Yet that is exactly what is happening – with Brent actually being the ‘sponsor’. It is to be run by Brent Special Academies Trust. 

Now the decision has been called in by a group of councillors led by Cllr Jumbo Chan stating that the Cabinet has not fully explored options for a Local Authority controlled school to provide alternative provision at the site of the Roundwood Centre or other potential school sites in the borough such as the Roe Green Strathcona site.

Brent NEU understands that local Headteachers are opposed to a ‘Free’ School, and that some of them had initially been approached to take on Roundwood as an extension of their own school. We have been told that these approaches had not been taken up. We have formally requested, under FoI, copies of any correspondence relating to this as we do not believe this was fully pursued by the Local Authority.

Brent NEU fully understand and support the need for more provision for students who are temporarily excluded from school, but strongly maintain that such provision should be under LA control and not as a ‘Free’ School run by a Labour council and an academy trust. 
It has been national Labour Party policy since last year not to support any new academies or ‘Free’ Schools and, when in power, to allow academies to return to the Local Authority. Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party, reinforced this message when he spoke to the NEU annual conference in Liverpool on 16^th April. A motion was also passed at the Brent 
Central Labour Party meeting on 18^tht April condemning this latest move by Brent Council. 

Hank Roberts, Brent NEU President and National Executive member said:

Has no-one at the top of the Council watched the Panorama programmes exposing the iniquitous practices of academies? I am sure they have, yet Cllr Butt and Cllr Sandra Kabir, who led the privatisation of The Village school, continue to support the privatisation of our schools supported by Gail Tolley, Strategic Director, Children and Young People. Instead they should follow the lead of other Labour Councils who are promoting the party line such as Newham, Barking and Dagenham, Camden and Redbridge to name but a few.

Editor’s Note: At the last Cabinet meeting when the free school proposal was approved local Labour Party member Graham Durham interrupted the proceedings to condemn the Labour Council’s move to invite potential sponsors to set up an alternative provision free school at the Roundwood Centre:

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