Comments closed on Kensal Rise Library debate

There has been extensive debate about the Kensal Rise Library development on this blog which at times has been heated and even vixperous. I have decided to close comments now and instead will post on any new developments ahead of the May planning committee meeting.

Martin Francis

Greens describe their vision for education at official NUT fringe meeting

Natalie Bennett spoke at a NUT Conference official fringe meeting yesterday about the Green Party's vision for education. Kevin Courtney, Deputy General Secretary of the NUT, said that the union saw the Green Party as an ally. He said that although the NUT was not affiliated to any political party, and not likely to be, this did not mean that they could not see who their allies were. He said, 'We meet regularly with Caroline (Lucas) in Parliament and she puts questions down for us in the House of Commons.' The Greens were a force for helping to put the union's message across. Earlier in the Conference, Caroline Lucas received a warm reception at a 200 plus strong meeting on 'Building the Fightback'. Play the video to see what Natalie Bennett had to say. It is good to see the NUT and the Green Party working together for the future of our children.

Caroline Lucas backs parents fighting academisation

From Caroline Lucas' blog (posted last week):

Parents from Hove Park School, many of whom live in my constituency, have been in touch this week to ask for my support for their campaign to oppose plans for the school to become an Academy. I was happy to give it. 

When the Academies Bill was being debated in Parliament I expressed my opposition to removing schools from the control of parents, teachers, the local authority and the local community.

 I warned that one inevitable consequence of numbers of schools becoming Academies in a local area is that there will be less funding to support other, non-Academy schools for provisions such as special educational needs, free school meals, music services and library services. The risk being, that unless the Academies buy into the Local Authority Services, these could be become unsustainable.

The children’s author Michael Rosen has highlighted that asset stripping is also happening every time a school becomes an Academy. The local authority has to hand over the title deeds of a school to whoever runs sponsors or owns the Academy. Those title deeds are worth roughly £5 million per school - yet the Secretary of State has kept no central records and nobody has strategic oversight of who owns our nation’s schools.

The Secretary of State’s not keeping track of how many unqualified teachers are in free school or academy classrooms either. And if Hove Park School becomes an Academy it may not have to tell you, because a growing number of Academies are protected from Freedom of Information laws on the grounds of commercial interests. This also has implications for financial transparency. National education campaigner Fiona Miller reckons between £1-7 bn is being given to schools that are completely unaccountable.
There’s already a vast body of evidence that points to the ways in which Academies and other free schools are letting our children down. Academies are part of how this Government, building on the foundations laid by previous governments, is promoting a marketised model of education, pitching schools and colleges against one another as they compete for funds. This isn’t good for schools, their staff or local communities. It’s definitely not good for our children and I think those at Hove Park School deserve better.

The National Union of Teachers (NUT) conference is taking place in Brighton this coming weekend and I am looking forward to speaking to teachers there. I know from my mailbag and inbox that huge numbers of them are also opposed to what’s happening to our schools in the name of choice. Teachers who, despite the changes foisted upon them, are getting on with inspiring their pupils.  

So I’ll be saying a huge thank you to every single local teacher that’s still in the profession. That’s still committed to our children. That still believes in education as a force for change. And I’ll be standing alongside them, and alongside the parents and pupils of Hove Park School, to demand a fair, accountable education system that puts the best interests of children centre stage.

If you want to support Hove Park School staying within local authority control, please sign this petition.

Green MEP condemns 'xenophobic' UKIP poster campaign

LONDON'S Green MEP Jean Lambert has pointed to the chasm between UKIP claiming to defend British workers jobs, while doing nothing to defend their rights at work.

Speaking on the BBC today, she said:

Today an anti-EU poster campaign has been launched, suggesting that UK jobs are under threat from EU migrants.

There is no fixed number of jobs so it is misleading to assume that a British worker loses out every time a non-UK national gets a job. We should also not assume that every vacant job has a local applicant with the necessary skills.

We should be ensuring everyone in work has the same rights and earns a living wage. UKIP has not once defended workers' rights in the European Parliament and frequently speaks of such rights - to control working time, to parental leave, to equal treatment - as "barriers to business".

These posters represent crocodile tears for British workers.

She added:

This xenophobic campaign is just nasty: it is anti-foreigner and leaves many EU migrants - that's more than a million people in London alone, and British citizens from diverse backgrounds, wondering whether they should be here at all.

The Green Party believes the UK should be at the heart of the EU, with a prime seat at the decision-making table: not only to boost employment and workers' rights, but to ensure we influence EU standards on air quality, its responses to climate change and that the UK has a voice on key decisions about how and where we get our energy from in future.

Wembley Matters is taking a break

Wembley Matters is taking an Easter break for  a couple of days

Its break will only be interrupted by major news such as Cllr Muhammed Butt joining the SWP, Francis Henry ousting Paul Lorber as leader of  Brent Liberal Democrats, Brent Conservative councillors becoming coherent, Brent Greens supporting Quintain's plans for a nuclear power station in the Civic Centre car park or Lorraine King organising a 'no shopping'  boycott of the London Designer Outlet.

The break will also provide a ceasefire in the Kensal Rise 'Comment Wars' taking place on this blog. Time for reflection and relaxation...

Not Guilty Lucas vows to continue anti-fracking campaign

All five of the Balcombe anti-fracking campaigners on trial at Brighton Magistrates’ Court were today found not guilty of obstructing the public highway and failing to comply with conditions imposed by a senior police officer.

The five, Josef Dobraszczyk, Ruth Jarman, Caroline Lucas, Sheila Menon and Ruth Potts, were amongst hundreds of people who were peacefully protesting against Cuadrilla’s plans to start fracking at Balcombe in Sussex last August.

All five vowed to continue their campaign against fracking and to stop the exploitation of shale gas and oil.
The peaceful protest highlighted widespread opposition to fracking - a controversial process where a mixture of water, sand and chemicals are pumped underground, under high pressure, to force gas and oil from rock layers.

Cuadrilla has been carrying on exploratory drilling at Balcombe to see if the area has oil and gas bearing rocks.

Caroline Lucas, MP for Brighton Pavilion said:

We were peacefully protesting outside Cuadrilla’s site in Balcombe to highlight the environmental impact of fracking, particularly its role in accelerating climate change.

We are pleased that the court upheld our right to peacefully protest against fracking, but this judgement is not a victory or cause for celebration.

We will continue to campaign to end fracking and will only celebrate when that has been achieved.

In the light of the UN’s latest report on climate change, it is clearer than ever that exploiting new sources of fossil fuels such as shale gas is fatally undermining the Government’s stated ambition to protect Britain from the worst impacts of climate change.  The only safe and responsible thing to do with shale gas is to leave it in the ground.

Drilling for shale gas could also cause severe harm to our water resources, countryside and wildlife. The current regulatory framework is simply not fit for purpose - putting communities and our environment at serious risk.

Now, more than ever, the government must show some leadership.

As a first step, David Cameron must announce an immediate end to fracking and redouble efforts to make the most of the UK’s rich renewable energy resources.

Public support for shale gas drilling is falling, whilst support for clean energy such as wind and solar is growing. The Government should listen to the public and to climate scientists and stop letting oil and gas industry lobbyists dictate UK energy policy.

The trial coincided with the release of two major UN studies on climate change.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC)  latest report  warned that greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels were rising faster than ever and highlighted that we can still avoid the worst impacts of climate change but only by urgently switching to renewable energy, reducing energy demand  and phasing out our use of fossil fuels.

An earlier IPCC report concluded that climate change is already happening and examined the impacts of climate change such as storms, droughts and flooding as well as the risks of inaction on health, food security and water supplies.

Climate scientists agree that delaying action to cut carbon emissions is dangerous and will increase the costs of tackling climate change significantly. Experts are clear that around 80 per cent of unexploited fossil fuels will have to remain in the ground to avoid catastrophic climate change .

Caroline Lucas said that the way forward was being shown by initiatives like REPOWER Balcombe, a new community cooperative set up by local residents with the aim to generate the equivalent of 100% of the village’s electricity usage from clean, renewable energy sources.

REPOWER Balcombe’s spokesperson Joe Nixon said:

We all need energy, but buying dirty fossil power from giant utilities is no longer the only option.

Advances in renewable technology mean that communities like ours can now generate the energy we need ourselves, locally, in a way that benefits us directly instead of big power companies - and helps the environment instead of harming it. This is win-win for Balcombe and for the planet.

Caroline concluded:

I know that this is very important to a large number of my constituents, because so many of them have written to me about the environmental risks posed by fracking, and the urgency of tackling climate change.

All five of us would like to thank all of the supporters who have turned up to support us today and thank the thousands of people who have sent letters, emails and tweets to express their support.

Caroline Lucas did not have any recourse to public funds in order to fight her case.

Horses to return to Bush Farm, Kingsbury

I am able to reassure the children who are regular visitors to the donkey, Shetland pony, ponies and horses at Bush Farm in Kingsbury that they have not disappeared for good.

The animals who graze the paddocks on the edge of Fryent Country Park have been missing for some time. Kellie, who rents the fields from Brent Council told me this morning that they were moved to other grazing when the paddocks deteriorated during the record wet weather in the winter and became extremely muddy and bare of grass..

The fields which were left to recover are now drying out and there is a healthy crop of grass. Kellie told me that the popular animals will return later in the year.

Both Natalie Bennett and Caroline Lucas to speak at NUT fringes this weekend

With a radical revised Green education policy ready to discuss both Green Party leader, Natalie Bennett, and Green MP, Caroline Lucas, will be speaking at fringes at this weekend's NUT Conference in Brighton.