The rump regroups

According to a blog on UK Polling by ex-Brent Conservative councillor, later Democratic Conservative; and Independent parliamentary candidate, Atiq Malik, all Brent North Conservative Constituency officers have resigned. New elections will take place at an Extraordinary General Meeting on July 22nd 2010.

Despite a strong showing elsewhere the Conservatives did poorly in Brent North with Barry Gardiner increasing his majority for Labour. There was internal controversy about a very late candidate selection which left Harsh Patel, the Conservative candidate very little time to establish himself. This was coupled with the announcement by Bob Blackman, shortly before the poll that he was not going to stand as a councillor in Preston ward and that he would resign his leadership of the Conservative Group after the election. In the local elections the Tories were left with a rump of only 6 seats, all in the north of the borough, compared with 15 at the previous local elections.

Breathing New Life into an Old Church

Old St Andrew's Church in Kingsbury is probably the oldest building in Brent and our only Grade 1 listed building. Drama Workhouse, a local community group that used to be based at the Dudden Hill Community Centre in Willesden, are the new users of the building. They have secured Heritage Lottery Fund money to survey local residents on how the building can be developed. The vision is to bring the church back to life as a vibrant and dynamic Heritage and Cultural Centre connecting it with the wider community.  Drama Workhouse  want to ensure that activities cater for people of all ages and backgrounds. The survey can be found HERE.
The deadline is July 2nd 2010

No Tube Services Please - We're Brentonians

The lack of tube services for Brentonians yet again this weekend caused local activist Dan to seek an explanation... 

At last, I've got it: it's part of a Transport for London / Brent Council / Boris Johnson initiative to get people off the tubes and onto their bikes to make the most of the glorious summer weather, and inhale more of that lovely EU limit-busting fine particulate matter that causes exacerbation of respiratory conditions, heart disease and premature death, thus keeping the NHS and funeral directors gainfully employed.

The London Guantánamo Campaign invites you to...

A DEMONSTRATION IN SOLIDARITY WITH VICTIMS OF

EXTRAORDINARY RENDITION

Date: Saturday 26 June 2010   

Time: 2-4pm    

Venue: outside the US Embassy, Grosvenor Square, London W1A 1AE (nearest tube: Bond Street/Marble Arch)

Speakers include:

Yvonne Ridley, Journalist

Baroness Sarah Ludford, Lib Dem MEP for London

Ilyas Townsend, Justice for Aafia Coalition

Joy Hurcombe, Brighton Against Guantanamo

John Clossick, Stop The War Coalition

Liz Davies, Chair, Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers and others

Meeting Tonight: the FACTS about Climate Change

No anti-EDL demonstration in Wembley as attention shifts to Barking

After its meeting tonight Brent and Harrow UAF said they had been overwhelmed by the tremendous support they had received from the entire local community and the 40 Brent Labour councillors in their stand against the English Defence League (EDL).

They said that at present they do not now expect the EDL to come to Wembley on Saturday and will not be holding a demonstration. However, they will be ready for a united demonstration of community solidarity, at any time that the EDL  may venture into the area. The EDL are not welcome here.

Meanwhile the EDL is taking its delusions and distortions over to Barking this weekend where the BNP are standing in a by-election. The UAF will be making opposition to racism and fascism in Barking a priority and will be mobilising against them.

Brent and Harrow UAF hope to organise an event in the Autumn which will celebrate the enormous strengths of our diverse borough and demonstrate that we will not tolerate attempts to divide us.

Check this blog for any further information in the run up to Saturday as the situation remains fluid

A budget for pointless austerity

 Commenting on today’s “budget for pointless austerity,” the UK’s first Green MP Caroline Lucas said:

“In spite of the Chancellor’s protestations, this budget was neither unavoidable nor fair. Instead it was a massively failed opportunity to shift the economy onto a fairer, greener pathway.

“Devastating public spending cuts of the sort announced today are not ‘unavoidable.’  They are not an economic inevitability – they are an ideological choice.

“Nor was this budget fair. A VAT rise, benefits cuts for all, a public sector freeze, and swingeing cuts in most government budgets of 25%, will all of them hit some of the poorest hardest.”

Cuts: the callous con trick - Caroline Lucas speaks out

New report proposes tax-based alternative to spending cuts – and calls for massive investment in job-creation

Green Party leader Caroline Lucas MP will this week tell the coalition government there is “no good reason for any cuts in public expenditure during the life of this parliament.” 

On Monday 21 June Britain’s first Green MP is to issue a new report – Cuts: the callous con trick  – in which she will make the case that cuts are unnecessary “because the economy could instead be rebalanced using additional tax revenues.”

The report, written jointly with tax expert Richard Murphy and Colin Hines of Finance for the Future, condemns the government “for failing to put to the electorate the option of fair tax instead of cuts,” and accuses ministers of increasing the likelihood of a double-dip recession.

Cuts “are not an economic inevitability but an ideological choice”

Caroline Lucas said today:

“Cuts are not an economic inevitability. They are an ideological choice. Politicians of all parties are now sharpening their axes to slash public spending, forcing those on lower incomes, who depend on public services the most, to pay the highest price for the recent excesses of the bankers.

“There is a choice. We should ask those best able to pay to foot the bill through fairer taxation. That’s the challenge I’m issuing: for that political choice to be made. It must be clearly asserted that we are not all in this together: that some had more responsibility for this crisis than others, and some benefited more from the boom that preceded it. Those who enjoyed the largest benefits must pay up now. For that to happen, fair taxes, not cuts, must become the new big idea to replace today’s callous and uncaring cuts fanaticism.”

Tax avoidance and evasion “truly staggering” – could be as high as £100bn a year

“The UK is currently one of the most unequal societies in Europe. But the financial crisis offers us an opportunity to rebalance the tax system. We could do it, for example, by applying the 50% tax rate to incomes above £100,000, abolishing the upper limit for national insurance contributions, raising capital gains tax to the recipient’s highest income tax rate, and helping lower earners by reintroducing the 10% tax band.  

“Moreover, the huge extent of tax avoidance, tax evasion and unpaid tax in the UK economy is truly staggering.  HM Revenue & Customs themselves admit that tax evasion and avoidance together come to at least £40 billion a year, whilst in November 2009 they also admitted there was £28 billion of unpaid tax owing to them. Shocking as these numbers are, some experts have suggested that tax evasion – that’s deliberately breaking the law to not pay tax – might be as high as £70 billion a year, and tax avoidance – in other words, exploiting loopholes in tax law – might be £25 billion a year. That would take the total target for necessary action to collect tax due and owing to more than £100 billion a year”

Cut tax abuse, not tax-collectors’ jobs

“Whilst these appalling losses to the nation’s coffers are occurring, HM Revenue & Customs are pursuing a programme of job cuts which will ultimately reduce their own staff by 20,000 – close to one quarter of the total. This makes absolutely no sense.  This programme should be reversed, staff re-employed, and local tax offices re-opened in order to tackle tax abuse. It has been calculated that at least £15 billion of extra tax could be collected each year as a result.  That could prevent a massive range of cuts”.

Richard Murphy, tax expert, chartered accountant and co-author of the report said :

“Our report sets out a range of additional options for changing the tax rules for the UK so that more than £40 billion of additional taxes could be raised each year by the end of the life of this parliament.   That, together with the tax collecting efficiency savings already noted, would together deliver more than £60 billion of tax revenues for the UK – so preventing the need for any cuts at all.”

“A government really can spend to save the economy when in a recession. During this one, borrowing has been smaller and unemployment lower than forecast because of the measures taken by the last government to stimulate the economy. This report argues that a Green New Deal involving public and private investment in a massive labour intensive UK wide energy saving programme and a rapid shift to renewables should be the basis for continuing that programme of support for our economy. This would ensure that we come out of the recession better equipped for the future we’re going to face.”

Caroline Lucas concluded:

“Fairer tax not cuts must become the real battleground of this new Parliament. It is the debate the Coalition and Labour alike must embrace. As the full ghastliness and unfairness of the cuts become ever clearer, the public clamour for fairer taxes rather than cuts can only grow.”

Note

The report can be read  HERE