Issues around sale of Tokyngton Library to Islamic Cultural Association

The Brent Executive will tomorrow decide whether to sell the closed down Tokyngton Library in Monks Park to the Islamic Cultural Association for an undisclosed sum.

The week before last the Kilburn Times reported that an argument between leader of the Council, Muhammed Butt, and another Labour councillor, had been behind the ill-feeling in the Labour Group which contributed to rumours that Butt's leadership would be challenged. In the event an agreement to show mutual respect was agreed.

Brent Council's Register of Interests shows that Cllr Muhammed Butt has previously declared an interest in the Islamic Cultural Association, which is co-located with Monks Park Masjid at 72-74 Harrow Road. He declared an interest as a Trustee of the Association  on 25.08.2009, removed it on 04.2.10, declared it again on 18.03.2011 and removed it again on 07.06.12.

Whose schools? OUR schools!

Children grasp the key question and answer outside Gladstone Park on Friday

Today's news in the Independent LINK that Michael Gove is looking to privatise academies and free schools, and thus open them up to profit-making comes as no surprise. It would also decouple them from Whitehall removing any semblance of democratic accountability which has  of course already been lost at the local level.

Anti-academy campaigners have always thought this was the long-term intention. Why else would carpet millionaires and hedge fund speculators be interested in running schools? Cleverly getting their foot in the door at an early stage,  academy chains will be in a position to harvest the profits from seizing community assets.

She knew what Gove was up to

It is not just the bricks and mortars and land, paid for by taxpayers over many years, sometimes going back to the introduction of universal elementary education in 1870, that is important. It is also schools as a site for community solidarity and values beyond those of individualism and private profit that is being destroyed,. In essence it is another battle in the war against social solidarity and the welfare state, the post-World War 2 settlement, that is taking place.  It is an ideological attack where the proponents will accuse opponents of being ideological. George Orwell would recognise the technique.

In 1986 Michael Joseph and then then Department of Education focused on the individual aspirations of parents for their children. They promoted what could be seen as the 'ideal' parent and argued that establishing a market in education would benefit individual parents as consumers. Back then phrases such as 'wanting what any decent parent would want for their children' , 'hardworking motivated families' were used to try and recruit parents as ideological partners in pursuit of free market solutions to what was percieved as the education crisis.

Their plans were challenged at a practical level when parents at Drummond Middle School in Bradofrd organised a campaign against the alleged racism of headtecher Ray Honeyford. Margaret Thatcher showed where she stood by inviting Honeyford to an education seminar at Dowing Street. Drummond Parents Action Group took to the streets  to protest. The Tory subtext was that the 'ideal parent' did not include ethnic minorities. 'Parent Power' was only for those who accepted the Government agenda? Does this soubnd familiar?

Another comment may also sound familiar. The All London Parents Action Group (ALPAG) said:

But be warned - for a Government that is so keen to encourage parental participation in education, he (Sir Keith Joseph,  Gove's equivalent at the time) is remarkably reluctant to answer parents' letters.

The Inner London Education Authority election of 1986 was unique because the Greater London Council having been abolished by Thatcher it was an election ONLY about education.  Several activists from the parents' movement stood as Labour Party candidates with experience in the Camapign for the Advancement of State Education (CASE), National Association of  Governors and Managers (NAGM), Save ILEA Campaign, Wandsworth Association of School Parents as well as local Parents Advisory Committees.

The Tories used the election to put forward their right-wing, privatisation ideas as a rehearsal for the next General Election. The result was a thrashing. On a relatively high turn-out, considering this was a direct election only about education in a city with many non-parents, of 44%, Labour achieved 46,8% (45 seats), Conservative 30.2% (11) and SDP-Liberals 21.2% (2).  Thatcher then punished the voters by abolishing the ILEA and handing education over to the boroughs, However the election result contributed to the  Tories moving to the centre ground in education. Michael Joseph was replaced by Kenneth Baker.

Gove's policies on privatisation, academies and free schools represent a move back to the days of Thatcher, Tebbit and Joseph (known by some as the 'Mad Monk') and we need to mount a similar challenge against his ideas and policies.

Is there a potential for a 21st century version of the All London Parents Action Group?

A diverse community sharing common values

 In the building of such a group the slogan Whose Schools? OUR Schools  should be central. We are not talking only about the selling off of public assets but of them being given away to the private sector. It is our taxes and council taxes that have funded our schools, but even more fundamentally the investment of the time and effort of generations of unpaid governors and parents that have made them the successful inclusive institutions that they are.

Fund-raising at Spring, Summer and Winter Fairs, volunteering in the classroom, accompanying classes on trips, regular contact with the class teacher are all ways that parents make it 'Our school'.  It is this closeness and identification with the school that make parents, grandparents and carers a potentially formidable campaigning force.

More and more is expected of the governing body who are expected to oversee the financial management of the school, set targets for school improvement and performance manage the headteacher. They are expected to go on training, attend conferences, and visit the school regulalrly to see it in action.

Michael Gove's forced acdemisation tramples over the efforts of parents and governors, devalues the contribution that they have made, and through his threat of replacing non-compliant governing bodies with Interim Executive Boards flies in the face of democracy.

Make no mistake we are in a fight for control of our schools,  for the future of our children's education and well-being, and for an ethos that values social inclusion, equality of opportunity and democratic accountability.

Let the battle commence to reclaim OUR Schools!

The 'shoddy compromise' behind Charing Cross A&E ''victory'

Ann Drinkell speaking at this evening's Torchlight Vigil at Central Middlesex Hospital

Candlelit vigil marks start of week of action to save our hospitals

Campaigners marked the beginning of the Week of Action to Defend London's NHS with a candle lit vigil outside Central Middlesex Hospital tonight. The Central Middlesex A&E is threatened with closure under the Shaping a Healthier Future proposals. People from Brent, Ealing and Hammersmith and Fulham joined in the vigil. Sarah Cox from Brent said that it was important that people across the three boroughs stayed united to guard against any attempts at divide and rule.

On Tuesday February 19th NHS NW London will be meeting at Central Hall Westminster to make decisions on the closure of A&E departments and many other services at Central Middlesex, Ealing, Charing Cross and Hammersmith hospitals. There will be a demonstration outside Central Hall from 8.30am.

Keep Willesden Green campaigners speak truth to power

Willesden residents in  the Keep Willesden Green campaign were able to question the developers and make comments on the plans for the new Willesden Green Cultural Centre today. The councillors who constitute the planning committee were on a site visit prior to the Committee's consideration of the planning application on Wednesday.

The residents were extremely well-informed and officers will be taking away some of the questions and evidence to consider before the  Planning Committee.

On Monday the Public Inquiry into the Town Square application will open at Willesden Green Library and is expected to continue meeting after the Planning Committee has made its decision - a fact that itself is puzzling as.  if successful, he Town Square application would stop the library development as currently planned.

More detail and videos of today's events can be found on the Keep Willesden Green blog HERE

Mary Seacole win was based on People Power - let's use it on forced academies

Readers may have missed another concession by Michael Gove this week.I wrote a piece a few weeks ago  LINK supporting Operation Black Vote's campaign to retain the study of Mary Seacole in the National Curriculum. The campaign succeeded to the extent that Mary Seacole is now in the main curriculum rather than just an option. This is a victory for the thousands who supported the campaign but we now need to turn our attention to other fundamentally problematic issues in Michael Gove's history proposals

Operation Black Vote wrote:

We’ve won ! - Mary Seacole, Olaudah Equiano

Thanks to nearly 36,000 signatories, letters to the Secretary of State for education, politicians, unions, writers and activist, today we celebrate the fact that our children and the next generation of children will be taught about the great exploits of both Mary Seacole and Olaudah Equiano. Furthermore, the importance of diversity within our education system, particularly in history will now be greatly valued.

Back in December a leaked document suggested that Equiano and Seacole be scrapped from the Curriculum.

Simon Woolley stated:

This is a great day for education, but also a great day for the Black community and many others who demanded greater racial justice within our education system. There are too many people to thank personally but, The Voice, The Times, The Guardian, The Independent, and Change.org all threw their considerable weight behind this campaign. Seacole and Equiano would both be saying our spirits fantastically live on with today's activist.  

Michael Gove wrote personally to OBV in response to the campaign:

We are lucky to be heirs to a very rich mix of exceptional thinkers, bold reformers and courageous political activists. I agree that is important that our children learn about difference that these figures have made, and it is right that we do more, not less to make subjects relevant to the lives of our children.

 Professor Elizabeth Anionwu, Emeritus Professor of Nursing, said:

Thanks to all 36,000 people who signed the Operation Black Vote Petition. Mary Seacole AND Olaudah Equiano & Florence Nightingale are all cited in Key Stage 3 of the proposed national curriculum. Brilliant, just brilliant!

Zita Holbourne of BARAC stated: 

This campaign just goes to show that if we stand our ground, stick together and assert our collective 'People Power' we succeed.

Let's now use People Power to defeat Michael Gove over forced academies. Yesterday's demonstration outside Gladstone Park Primary School was a great start.

'Wrong sort of parents' protest against Gove's diktat

I guess Michael Gove will think that these are the 'wrong sort of parents': passionately committed to their children's education;  strongly supportive of their children's school, teachers and headteacher; enthusiastic about the multi-cultural nature of the school's population, committed to equality and, worse of all, keen on the democratic accountability of the school via the local authority.

A group of middle class parents setting up a Free School for their children aimed at keeping out the riff-raff are clearly preferable, and why oh why can't these Gladstone Park parents realise that their school would be far better if it was run by a bloke who sells carpets?

There was a brilliant demonstration after school this afternoon by Gladstone Park Primary parents and children to oppose a forced academy.. A force to be reckoned with!

'Carry on cutting' (and charge more for less)

Brent Council Leader Muhammed Butt, last night rejected making a needs based budget and drew back from committing himself to a united campaign with residents and other London councils against the Coalition Government's savage reduction in local government funding. He said that action through the organisation London Councils was not possible because some were Conservative or Liberal Democrat controlled.

Challenged on setting a deficit budget or refusing to make a budget he asked Fiona Ledden, Director of Legal and Procurement to answer, despite a cry of, 'We want a political answer - not a legal answer!'

Stung into a response he said, 'Councillors are elected to do a job. I'm not going to stand here and say I am not going to do my job (Cries of, 'You are doing the Tories' job!')  I've written lots of letters, I've told people. They're not doing this just to our borough. We still need to provide services.'

He had told the meeting that the situation facing the borough in 2014-5 was dire with £20m cuts required which could mean not providing services  such as youth centres, parks maintenance, street cleaning, employment support, arts funding and voluntary sector support.

His future strategy seemed to accept this as inevitable. He said that extracting extra money from the government was unlikely and apart from so-called efficiency savings the alternatives he offered were of allowing local authorities more freedom over tax and revenue (putting up the Council Tax, increasing charges and charging for services that up to now have been 'free') and removing statutory obligations to provide some services (ceasing to provide all but core services).  It didn't escape the audience that all this meant residents paying in one way or another.

He said that he had charged Interim Chief Executive Christine Gilbert with the task of investigating the future form that Brent Council could take including a 'Fair Council' and a Lambeth style Cooperative Council LINK   Admitting that he had been pushed into these public meetings after being reminded at a Brent Connects meeting that he hadn't yet consulted on the 2013-14 budget, he promised a 'community budget' next year.  The consultation would be over a longer period and it would mean him going out to local areas, schools, voluntary organisations and residents' groups to ascertain their views, rather than expecting them to come to him.

He said, 'I will listen to you but sometimes I may have to take decisions which are not palatable to you, not to your taste. That is leadership.'

Earlier members and trustees of Elders' Voice had told the meeting how another organisation had been awarded their contract after putting in a 'cheaper bid'. Despite Brent's promotion of the London Living Wage this organisation, unlike Elders Voice, did not pay it. They predicted that because of  staffing transfer costs, there would be eventually no difference in price but Brent would have lost the experience, expertise and community involvement of Elders' Voice.

As the meeting drew to a close one of  the Elders' Voice contingent stood up and addressed Muhammed Butt directly: 'I have been listening to you but where's your passion? I can't hear your passion. You need passion to lead people!'.

Butt replied, 'Passion is difficult isn't it?  I wouldn't be standing here if I didn't care.'