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The pub, Paradise by Way of Kensal Green is at 19 Kilburn Lane, Kensal Green, W10 4AE (Harrow Road end of Kilburn Lane)

The Barnhill by-election debate

Storm clouds over Barn Hill yesterday

A week or so ago I asked my rival Labour candidate in the Barnhill by-election seven questions about his stance on a number of issues.  I have published his responses fully HERE (Under comments).  I welcome the chance to make the discussion accessible to Wembley Matters readers.

It is only fair that I put my own views on the issues forward, although as some were premised on being a member of the ruling party on the Council, they are not directly comparable.

1.This is the case with my question asking about a conflict between the interests of voters and Council policy. I can only say that as a rule Green councillors are not whipped by their Group so they have a degree of independence that does not apply to the other three parties.  There are rigorous democratic processes within the Green Party: one person one vote, twice yearly conference making policy and as in the case of deciding whether to give Ken Livingstone our second preference Mayoral vote, a full and open London Federation of Green Parties debate followed by a show of hands vote. I was attracted to the Green Party by its open democratic nature and suggest that the Brent Labour Party is much more centralist in comparison.

2. I would support a London-wide campaign of  council resistance against the cuts imposed on London boroughs by central government. The cuts are disproportionate compared with councils outside London, unfair and adversely impact on the poorest in our society. Ken Livingstone in the days of the GLC made that organisation a centre of resistance against Margaret Thatcher. He said he would lead such a campaign as London Mayor when I asked him about it at the London Federation meeting.

3. Voting against implementation of cuts if they are clearly damaging local people and the Council's capacity to offer adequate services. With more cuts in the pipeline and now expected to continue beyond 2015. If things continue as they are I  think there will come a point when it is a 'cut too far'. Brent Labour has veered between arguing that they have managed to make cuts that won't hurt people ('transformations' rather than cuts) and admitting that the cuts are bad but their hands are tied. In this way they end up doing the Coalition's dirty work for them - managing and implementing the cuts, rather than fighting them. Coupled with 2 above I would advocate Councils devising a 'needs based' budget in full detailed consultation with local people based on deciding what services are necessary to ensure the quality of life of the people of Brent. These fully costed budgets would then be the basis of the London boroughs challenging the government with Councils potentially refusing to set budgets based on inadequate funding.

4.  The Council's ignoring of the petitions signed by thousands of people on library closures and the Willesden Green Regeneration is scandalous. Worse is their refusal to table the Old Willesden Library and Willesden Bookshop petitions at any Council meeting.

5. I would like to see a thorough overhaul of the Council's consultation system which has lost the confidence of local people and is feeding a cynicism and disaffection about local politics and democratic accountability which is potentially very dangerous. I have outlined previously on this blog LINK some of the ways that consultation is misused by Brent Council.

6. I am opposed to privatisation of council run services with particular dangers posed by private companies running elder care and child protection services. Low pay, lack of training and high staff turnover would put both the elderly and vulnerable children at risk. I reject the idea that our schools need to somehow 'escape' from the 'control of the local authority'. The local authority provides support to schools and ensures that they are accountable to the electorate. Brent primary schools are now performing above the national average. We put that at risk if schools go it alone and the School Improvement Service is cut as a result.  Government funds for expanding school places should be used to build new schools of a child-friendly family size rather than expanding our present schools to accommodate more and more pupils creating impersonal institutions with inadequate play space. I am against our schools converting to academy status and believe they should remain in the democratically accountable local authority 'family of schools'. 

7. Policies -

Champion facilities for children and young people including the early completion of the much delayed Chalkhill Park and refurbishment of the BMX track and installation of a skateboarding area in St David's Close on the Chalkhill Estate.


Reopen the closed libraries and provide adequate local authority finance and professionally trained staff

Press for concerted action by the Council to improve insulation of local housing and promote energy saving measures to reduce carbon emissions and energy bills.

Support parking rules that will help the traders on Bridge Road, Grand Parade and  Preston Road attract customers and thus promote thriving small businesses and diverse high streets.

Promote partnerships between the Council, schools,  the College of North West London and developers such as Quintain to develop training, apprenticeships and jobs in the emerging environmental  technology industries.

Challenge Brent Council's damaging cuts and their sham consultations, giving  local residents a strong  independent voice in the council chamber

Protect our green spaces from development particularly Fryent Country Park and the Welsh Harp

Promote safe cycle routes, particularly from Wembley to the south of the borough which will mean finding safe ways for cyclists to cross the North Circular

Popping into the Pop Up Library

I took  two crates of books into the Barham Pop Up Library today on its first Saturday at Barham Primary School.  There was a plentiful supply of books being processed by the volunteers and many children present. The place was buzzing with a sense of purpose and determination.

Although I support volunteer libraries as an interim measure what I really want to see in the long term is the reopening of the closed libraries (they may have to be on new sites if the Council succeeds in selling any off) properly funded by the local authority and professionally staffed.

Meanwhile the community spirit that has fed the campaign against library closures was very much in evidence and really should shame the Labour councillors who supported the closures which so damage community cohesion and the life chances of our young people.

Plan to double the size of Brent Cross revived.

The Coalition for a Sustainable Brent Cross Cricklewood Development is digesting a report in yesterday's Evening Standard LINK that Hammersons,  the property developer,  has revived plans to almost double the size of the shopping centre.

The plans would add 600,000 square feet to the existing 800,000 square feet. Alarmingly the Standard suggests that the Section 73 application could be considered in a 'matter of weeks'.

Brent Green Party is a member of the Coalition.

Now Brent Council says campaigns would be exempted from Leaflet Licence scheme

Following my urgent enquiry about the proposed controls on leafleting in designated areas of the borough I have received a clarification from Michael Read, Assistant Director Environment and Protection, for Brent Council. I had asked: Could you clarify that for 'political purposes' would cover groups giving out literature with 'political'  (but non-party political) content such as anti-cuts campaigns, library campaigns etc -  so they would be exempted.

He says:

I am sorry for the delay in replying.  The exemptions including that for political purposes are not at the Council’s discretion.  They are included in the primary legislation which says:

‘(4)Nothing in this paragraph applies to the distribution of printed matter—

(a)by or on behalf of a charity within the meaning of the Charities Act 1993, where the printed matter relates to or is intended for the benefit of the charity;

(b)where the distribution is for political purposes or for the purposes of a religion or belief.’

Whilst the interpretation of the wording would ultimately be a matter for the courts, the council’s view is that the kind of issues you mention would fall within the definition of “political purposes”, would benefit from the exemption and would not need a licence.

The Brent Council press office had told the Willesden and Brent Times that the exemption applied only to 'charities, religious organisations or political parties'  (my emphasis)

This still leaves the issue of small businesses wanting to leaflet a shopping street to drum up business, such as the Windows on Willesden shops that the Council have publicised. As a Green I want to support small local businesses and recognise that the costs of a licence could be prohibitive for such start-up businesses.

Yes, litter is a problem, but so is maintaining the vibrancy of our streets and our local culture. As it is still not clear how these proposals would be enforced and by whom, I would suggest that the whole thing should be dropped.

Air pollution: video on this silent and deadly menace

From the Guardian: LINK 


Jenny Jones, the Green mayoral candidate for London, has accused mainstream political parties of lacking the political courage to tackle air pollution – despite strong evidence that it represents a major public health risk. Jones issued a broadside against the political mainstream as she battles to get London's poor air quality a hearing at mayoral hustings between now and polling day, amid evidence that a problem invisible to the naked eye is now the second biggest public health risk in Britain after smoking, and is linked to around one in five deaths a year in London.

Jones sought to push the environmental agenda at city hall when she served as deputy mayor to Ken Livingstone between 2003-2004. She is urging supporters to give the Labour candidate their second preference vote in the election. In her view Livingstone "did ignore" the problem until his second mayoral term, when he introduced the low emission zone, but she reserves her strongest criticisms for the incumbent Conservative mayor Boris Johnson, who she says "has been absolutely ignoring all the evidence" despite a report landing on his desk mid-term in his tenure that revealed 4,300 Londoners were dying prematurely because of pollution, with an average 11.5 years taken off their lives.

 Jones has repeatedly criticised the incumbent mayor over his use of pollution suppressant vehicles near air quality monitoring stations to deal with the problem in the run up to the 2012 Olympic Games. The trucks spray adhesive to the road surface, effectively glueing pollution to the ground. Jones said this only serves to lower the pollution measured, rather than tackling the actual problem. She added: "He's burying the problem and pretending it doesn't exist. How does he square that with his role as mayor, trying to protect Londoners and make their lives better. He's actually making their lives worse."

Other air quality campaigners have gone further, with Birkett describing the move as "public health fraud on an industrial scale". Jones has outlined some of the radical measures needed to reduce harmful pollutants by cutting traffic and getting people out of their cars. This includes raising the congestion charge from £10 to £15, slapping a £40 daily charge on "gas guzzlers", an ultra-low emission zone in central London and replacing the central congestion charge zone with a region-wide road pricing scheme after three years.

Jones, whose pledges sometimes raise eyebrows at hustings, says the Greens are not prepared to shy away from radical policies that may be seen as "politically toxic" but are the only way to clean up the problem. "Either politicians are not recognising how serious the problem is, or they are choosing not to see it, but you can't argue against it. The facts are there." She added: "Greens are not frightened to tackle politically toxic things if they feel they are important."

Airborne pollution in the form of fine particulate matter – such as PM2.5, particles of less than 2.5 micrometres – comes mostly from combustion sources, including transport, domestic and industrial sources, and aggravates respiratory and cardiovascular conditions. Research shows these PM2.5s are likely to be inhaled deep into the respiratory tract and with other forms of air pollution can reduce the lung capacity of children. Air quality in the capital is the worst in the UK and also ranks among the worst in Europe, with research suggesting that up to 50,000 people die early in the UK every year as a result of air pollution.

Transport for London, which Johnson chairs, insists that trials in London and abroad have shown the effectiveness of dust suppressants in reducing particulate matter (PM10) levels . Leon Daniels, the managing director of surface transport at TfL, said: "Transport for London has always been clear that the use of dust suppressants across London is in combination with other measures to reduce harmful PM10 levels at a range of locations where we know there are higher levels of this pollutant. This is in addition to a range of longer terms, sustainable measures aiming to reduce pollution levels at source across the capital."

Britain is still facing fines of up to £300m over a repeated failure to meet key EU air quality directives since 2005, when Labour was in government and Livingstone was installed at city hall. Under the coalition government, however, there is little sign that concerted action os planned. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs recently claimed that the costs of meeting EU pollution targets may not match the benefits. But Jones warns politicians need to introduce the radical measures needed amid signs that the problem is worsening. Last month, pollution in London hit record levels due to a mix of weather conditions and traffic fumes, in particular from diesel cars, vans and lorries.

Jones says part of the problem is that the public don't realise the scale of the public health risks attached. "It's not like the smog of the 1950s that was really tangible. Now, the air looks quite clean but actually it's not, but people aren't seeing it. Though if you go to a high building, you can see an orange haze across the horizon and that's the pollution."

The Green party has made a six minute film to highlight the threat to people's health from poor air quality, drawing on the expertise of air quality expert, Professor Frank Kelly, of King's College London, and Simon Birkett, founder for the Campaign for Clean Air in London. Jones believes if parents understand the damage to public health, the public will be more willing to accept that a change in behaviour is necessary. Research by the Campaign for Clean Air in London has found that 1,148 schools in London are within 150 metres of roads carrying 10,000 or more vehicles per day, putting children going to these schools, and living near them, at increased risk of developing asthma, and their parents of developing heart problems.

The Green mayoral candidate, who polled just 2% in the latest survey of voting intention on May 3, wants more Green party members to be elected to the London assembly to pressure the next elected mayor to show political leadership on the issue. Jones, currently one of two Green assembly members, will also defend her assembly seat in May. She says that one of the measures that needs to be considered by the next elected mayor is simply to close roads from traffic, but admits it is tough getting the message across. "That's why it's incredibly important to have a strong assembly team because then we can speak much more loudly and get the mayor, even if it's not me, to do the right thing."

 Jones is taking part in an event organised by eco-activist group Climate Rush on Thursday evening in protest at the capital's dirty air. The event will begin outside the offices of Defra and protesters will then take over a road, calling it London's "first true clean air zone", and holding a picnic and street party.

Outrage as Brent Council plan to charge citizens for free speech

I thought a speaker at the Willesden Area Consultative Forum might have been rather exaggerating when she likened living under Brent Council rule to  living in the Soviet Union but then we read of Brent's plans to include community groups in plans to licence (and charge) distributors of free literature.  I wrote in my blog breaking news of the plans that the definition of 'political purposes' would be open to interpretation LINK. Campaigns around cuts and libraries etc are 'political' but not representing a political party. It now appears that Brent's interpretation is that exempt activities are those of political parties campaigning at election time. See Brent and Kilburn Times story LINK

So if we want to campaign against Council policies in designated areas we must seek their permission and pay a fee to do so!

Veteran activist Sarah Cox has expressed the outrage that many Brent people feel in a letter to Councillors Gladbaum, Long and Beswick:

Dear Councillors Beswick, Long and Gladbaum,

I am writing to you as my ward councillors and copying this email to Cllr Ann John as leader of the Council because I learned from the local paper that you intend to discuss on Monday a proposal to charge £175 for a license to give out leaflets in the main shopping areas of the borough with a further charge of £75 a day. This proposal, if passed, would represent an outrageous curtailment of human rights. Maybe you have been taking lessons from Uzbekistan or China. You may have been irritated by the distribution of leaflets and collection of signatures from people opposed to cuts and closures of services in the borough, but surely that is an essential part of democracy?

According to the paper, political parties, charities and religious groups will be exempted, but I often give out leaflets for bodies which do not fit any of these categories like Unite Against Fascism, the Stop the War Coalition or Brent Fightback. The cost of leaflets I am likely to give out on any day is probably twenty pounds or less, to charge £175 plus £75 a day (for each person?) is to gag all protest and free speech.

The editor of the Kilburn and Brent Times recognises the threat to democracy posed by you proposal, I am shocked and surprised that you do not. I hope someone will be allowed to speak at Monday's Council meeting to oppose this outrageous idea. I hate litter as much as anyone, but the litter I see on the streets is plastic bags, food wrappings, old clothes and mattresses, not leaflets asking people to protest against library closures, fascism and war.

I hope to hear from you that you will be voting against this proposal.

Green's policy on air pollution menace

London recently

 Air pollution is in the news again this week with Neasden Neighbourhood Watch calling for action after Neasden hit the 32 air pollution 'Bad Days' a year threshold.


 The Green Party's 8 points on air pollution are:

1. We will make sure that air pollution is monitored in the right places, and publicise bad results widely, particularly to vulnerable people such as children and the elderly as part of a campaign to improve the public's understanding of the problem.
2. We will require all schools, retirement homes and care homes to develop air quality action plans that lower pollution in their local area and protect children and residents during bad air episodes.
3. We will tighten up the Low Emission Zone standards and make sure they are properly enforced through vehicle checks, with a new ban on idling for parked vehicles. Introduce a Very Low Emission Zone in central London to exclude all but the cleanest vehicles.
4. We will retrofit all buses immediately if the technology is shown to work, and make sure that all new buses are low emission hybrid, hydrogen or electric models within one year of being elected, and that the entire fleet runs on this technology by 2016.
5. We will introduce a pay-as-you-drive scheme, to encourage people out of their cars, and provide the necessary investment in London's public transport infrastructure.
6. We will buy a fleet of low emission taxis for drivers to rent if they can't afford to buy one, and set-up a clean vehicle fund with low cost loans for small and medium sized businesses to replace dirty vehicles with electric equivalents, offering them a discount on pay-as- you-go driving charges so it is cost neutral.
7. We will work with the Government and Network Rail to reduce emissions from trains and planes. Push for the closure of City Airport, and convert it into the first Community Enterprise Zone. We will lobby to ban night flights over London.
8. We will ensure all planning applications are air quality neutral, and require new developments to reduce air pollution in the most heavily polluted areas.