Insults, threats and Intimidation no way to run a leadership contest

I am not involved in the Labour Party leadership election except as an interested  observer. However I think this Facebook posting by Javier Farje, which the Labour Party Forum decided not to publish,  deserves a wider audience. (Javier has explained that he meant no offence in his reference to troskyists and apologises to anyone who took offence.)

What was supposed to be a debate among candidates and different positions within the Labour Party has become a war against Jeremy Corbyn. The insults, the threats, the intimidation.

I joined the LP because, for the first time since I moved to the UK 27 years ago and became a British citizen in 1996, I felt that I could become a member of a party that, despite the different approaches to the issues that most concern our society: unemployment, poverty, the neglect of the manufacturing sector, among other things, at least agrees in the need to discuss the best way to make Britain a fairer place. 

I am neither a socially inadequate trotskyist entryist nor am I a disguised tory determined to wreck the LP. Like thousands of new members, young and old, native and, like me, adopted British citizens, I am a person who feels invigorated by the speech of a politician who, after many years of hearing other LP politicians, speaks his mind, without gimmicks or focus groups. 

As a journalist with almost 40 years of experience, 14 of them working for a major British and international broadcasting organisation, I know when I see a bad economic programme or an illegal war. So when Jeremy Corbyn challenges the current post-Cold War 'consensus' or the levels of poverty that can be easily be avoided if we increased taxes by a mere 0.5% to the richest people in the country, then I have to agree.

What is the response of the other candidates and their informal spokespeople? The Alan Johnsons, the Alistair Campbells, the Tony Blairs, the Peter Mandelsons of this world? A better programme, a valid alternative? No. The threat. The insult. 

To suggest that the election of a new party leader should be postponed because some people do not like one candidate is dishonest and undemocratic. The threat of an internal coup if Jeremy Corbyn wins reminds me Latin America, the continent where I was born, with its dirty tricks and its sometimes sleazy political system. It is shameful. I didn't join the LP for this. 

Burnham, Cooper, Kendal, convince me that what you have to offer is better than what Jeremy Corbyn offers. Don't patronise me with the idea that we would be going back to the 80s. And do not insult my intelligence suggesting that people like me do not know what we are doing. If any of you convinces me, I am happy to change my mind and vote for one of you. You have not done that so far. 

And that is not Jeremy Corbyn's fault.

Update on The Winston Churchill Wembley French School

Living locally I have been following with interest the redevelopment of the former Brent (and Wembley) Town Hall as, what we have been calling locally, the Wembley French School. It is not clear what the new bus destination that will replace 'Brent Town Hall' will be.

The internal works are nearly complete and most activity is now on landscaping works. One can't help but be struck by the high quality of the work for this private fee paying school in comparison with the 'off the peg' cheap new school build in the public sector as well as free schools in converted buildings with little play space: compare these grounds with Michaela's tiny 'car park' play space benath the building and next to the railway line.

Many of the trees on the site have been kept which provides pleasant shaded areas around the buildings and there has been some new planting and landscaping.

The Lycee International Londres Winston Churchill is due to open on Thursday September 3rd to Years 1-11 and applications are open until Wednesday August 26th.

The playground on the space once occupied by the huts of the Town Hall annex - new primary building in background

The front of the building which is to be a running track

Primary building from The Paddocks

Impression of finished building and grounds

Brent Edinburgh to London bike riders help raise more than £50,000 for Palestinian children

The  Big Ride bikers completed their Edinburgh to London fundraising ride for the Middle East Children's Alliance (MECA) this afternoon at Archbishop's Park, Lambeth. They had cycled 435 miles in 9 days.

Among the more than 200 riders were Kam Datta and Alberto Zerda from Brent.  Kam raised more than £1000 and  Red Spokes, the organisers, hope that the total will reach £60,000.

You can still donate at:

https://www.justgiving.com/project/1977747

This is the statement about the project on the Just Giving website:

What is the problem the project is addressing?

Children in Gaza live with the constant threat of Israeli military assault and the ongoing blockade of basic necessities and medical care. There is widespread poverty and a closed environment where people and goods cannot travel freely. The UN estimates that 400,000 children in Gaza are showing signs of severe psychological distress including bed-wetting, nightmares, aggression, phobias, extreme withdrawal or anxiety and difficulty eating, sleeping or speaking.

How will this project solve the problem?

The situation for children in Gaza is an emergency. MECA will use your donations to provide emergency aid to families in Gaza and deliver medicine and medical supplies to hospitals. MECA will support community-based organisations that run creative writing programs, sports teams, art and music classes; to build playgrounds and much more. Meanwhile, The Big Ride is working to raise awareness in the UK about the situation for children in Gaza.

What is the potential long-term impact of this project?

This project will reduce the children's risk of disease and malnutrition by addressing basic needs for food, medical care and adequate shelter that could impact their development and long-term health. By involving children in creative community activities, the project will also protect children's long-term mental health, making them more resilient against the risks of severe anxiety, depression, aggression and withdrawal.

Congratulations to Kam and Alberto and all the other participants who ranged in age from 14 to 80.

Tory propaganda: celebrating free school's 'achievements' before it opens...

Anyone who doubted that free schools are a Conservative political project should be convinced by the public relations offensive launched by prominent Conservative politicians.

The latest was a reception in the House of Lords hosted by Schools minister Lord Nash for free schools due to open in September. The Kilburn Times LINK reported:

It is yet to open but the achievements of a new free school in Kilburn has been celebrated in the House of Lords.

What a fantastic new concept - celebrating achievements before they happen! Parents of as yet unborn children can throw parties to celebrate their child's first steps and football clubs can tour their cities on open top buses to celebrate their league achievements before the season opens.

Of course we have been here before with the Michaela Academy free school declaring itself  'Exceptional' on a massive, illegal billboard outside its Wembley Park building before most staff had been appointed, children recruited or any lesson had taken place.

This was followed up by Boris Johnson, a few months after the school had opened, declaring on a visit in his usual understated way that 'this is one of the most extraordinary schools I've seen' comparing it to Eton and hailing Michael Gove's darling Katharine Birbalsingh as a “powerful and visionary head teacher”.

On Twitter @Mapesbury commented:

Surely that Gladstone free school deserves a celebration more for having 120 pupils but no school! That's a mean feat.

By the way, Gladstone is also 'Exceptional' before it opens or teaches anyone and Kilburn Grange Free School still has vacant places for its reception class in September.

Now I'm off to organise a celebration of the Green Party's 2020 General Election victory hosted by Baroness Jones in the House of Lords to take place in September.

Polish workers to challenge anti-migrant rhetoric by strking on August 20th?

From the Polish Express, English webpage LINK

Polish workers in the UK are reportedly considering a one-day strike on 20 August.

The Daily Telegraph newspaper reports that an internet-driven campaign supported by the Super Express Polish newspaper in the UK wants to call an unofficial strike “to demonstrate [Poles’] value to the British economy.”

The UK’s construction, food and health care sectors would be hardes hit and supporters of the plan are calling on other groups of immigrant workers to join them.

Online polling suggests support could be strong, the Telegraph notes.

The idea reportedly came from a post on a Polish expat internet forum by a British-based Pole frustrated at anti-immigrant rhetoric in the UK.

“Once in America in the 1980s immigrants didn’t go to work for just one day,” she wrote. “The result? It stopped everything: the metro, communications, cafés. And it stopped the moaning. “Maybe now is the time for us.”

“I think it’s a good idea,” Tomasz Kowalski, editor of Polish Express a UK-based Polish-language news and community website, told the Telegraph. “It’s not about anger, it’s just a way to show people in the UK that immigrants are an important part of Britain."

An online poll on the website of Polish Express showed that 70 percent of those polled favoured a strike, while just 20 percent considered it a bad idea.

About 500,000 Poles are registered as living in the UK, with the actual number thought to be higher.
Since Poland joined the EU in 2004, the UK has seen a large influx of immigrants from the country, as well as from the Baltic States and other Central and Eastern European countries. The British government has proposed curbing immigrants’ access to social benefits in the UK, among other measures that would – it argues – ease the welfare bill.

Brent Council and Cara Davani: ‘Both parties had something to hide, so they both agreed to hide it.’

Philip Grant added a comment to a previous blog yesterday which contains some new information about the likely “pay off” by Brent to Cara Davani. So that all Wembley Matters readers are aware of this new development, I am posting his comment here as a separate guest blog:-

Despite a reminder to Christine Gilbert this afternoon (Friday Aigust 7th) that I was expecting her reply 'by the end of this week', I have not heard anything further from her, and so am still waiting for her answers to my two simple "yes" or "no" questions. See LINK if you don't know what these are.

Cllr. Warren copied to me an email he sent to Brent's Chief Legal Officer on Wednesday, referring to my email above of 3 August and supporting the arguments I had made. Calling for Christine Gilbert or Fiona Alderman to provide the answers to my questions, he said: 'It cannot be right to deny both Members and Brent Council tax payers such basic information.' Ms Alderman copied to me her acknowledgement, saying that she would reply to Cllr. Warren shortly, but if she has replied, I am not aware of what she has said.

I can now say for certain that there WAS an agreement between Brent Council and Cara Davani. Some WM readers have said that the continued mantra from Ms Gilbert, Ms Alderman and Cllr. Butt of: ‘The council cannot legally disclose any details of the arrangements relating to Ms Davani’s departure,’ meant that there must have been "arrangements". They were right. 

A reliable source has now told me that when she left Brent in June 'both Cara Davani and the Council signed an agreement. One clause of this restricted either party from disclosing the details of the agreement.' So much for openness and transparency! Both parties had something to hide, so they both agreed to hide it.

Despite this, it is NOT the details of the agreement that my two questions are asking for, so there is no valid reason why Christine Gilbert should refuse to answer them. It seems highly likely that the agreement involved some financial benefit to Ms Davani, so that the answer to at least one of the questions must be "no". In that case, Christine Gilbert also needs to tell Brent's councillors, its staff and its residents what the justification is for the Council giving that financial benefit to Cara Davani, so that councillors in particular can satisfy themselves that this is not a misuse of Council funds.

Court ruling against the 'gift' of Vacant Building Credit

Speaking at the last Planning Committee  LINK about the Vacant Building Credit, which enables developers to escape affordable housing requirements under somewhat vague criteria, Steve Weeks Head of Area Planning,  remarked, 'There has been much discussion in planning circles about how much of a gift this is to the development industry.' 

Now in a case brought by West Berkshire and Reading Councils on Vacant Building Credit, which allows developers to ignore affordable housing requirements on the development of empty buildings and an exemption from Section 106 requirements of any scheme involving 10 homes or fewer, Mr Justice Holgate has concluded that both policies had been implemented without a proper evidence base, against the advice of officials, and that they were simply “incompatible” with the statutory planning framework.

According to the Guardian LINK Holgate said. "No consideration was given to the lack of information on the impact of this policy change, notwithstanding the advice given by officials that this was necessary.” He also highlighted the problem that the policies were introduced as guidance, rather than primary legislation, without any consultation, creating a conflict with adopted local plans across the country – which have to be robustly evidenced.

The Guardian quotes a commentator's hope that the ruling may also lead to a review of Financial Viability Assessments whereby developers seek to reduce the amount of affordable housing they are required to build on grounds of insufficient financial return..

However the Department for Communities and Local Government has announced that it will  appeal the ruling. Let's hope the London Borough of Brent join those local authorities welcoming the ruling and join with those challenging government policy.

Last chance on Sunday for young people to have a say on Council out-sourcing the Brent Youth Service

 

The £5m Roundwood Centre in Harlesden

The last consultation on the future of Youth Services in Brent will be held on Sunday afternoon from 2pm to 5pm at the Civic Centre. The proposed change would hand over the Youth Service to a consortium of voluntary and community groups which will be charged with raising money from sources other than the Council.  If this is not forthcoming services will be cut and some centres may close. Implicit in the Council's arguments so far is the belief that the voluntary sector can run things better that the Council at less cost - this could of course  also be seen as the Council washing its hands of the Youth Service.  I have been unable to find any written representations made by Brent Youth Parliament but would be happy to publish them if they are forwarded to me.  The consulation closes on August 14th and proposals will go to Cabinet ont October 19th.

It is interesting that this meeting takes place at a time when the role of charities in providing youth and children's services is under close scrutiny.

Brent's blurb on the meeting reads:

The consultation sessions will help participants to understand the budget challenges Brent Council is facing and their implications for reshaping our youth offer, and to identify the sort of services that can best meet the needs of Brent's young people. They will discuss the future of existing youth centres such as Roundwood and Granville Youth Plus Arts as well services such as support for Duke of Edinburgh's Awards and Brent in Summer.

For more information and to have your say online, visit www.brent.gov.uk/youthserviceconsultation'

 Unfortunately when I clicked on the link above I was told 'Page Not Found'. This link worked at time of writing: http://brent-consult.objective.co.uk/portal/candf/brent_youth_services

The first page of the consulation indicates where the Council is coming from:
 

The Council is considering supporting a new partnership provisionally called the Young Brent Foundation (YBF) which is being developed by voluntary and community sector partners who fund and work with young people in Brent. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the Council supporting this sort of partnership?  Strongly agree  Agree  Neither agree nor disagree  Disagree  Strongly disagree

To what extent do you agree or disagree that a new partnership like the Young Brent Foundation (YBF) will be in a stronger position than the Council to develop new ways of promoting and strengthening youth service providers in Brent?  Strongly agree  Agree  Neither agree nor disagree  Disagree  Strongly disagree

To what extent do you agree or disagree that a new partnership like the Young Brent Foundation (YBF) will be able to deliver youth services with less money from the Council and raise more money from other sources?  Strongly agree  Agree  Neither agree nor disagree  Disagree  Strongly disagree

The Cabinet has already decided to continue to fund the Brent Youth Parliament but this is included as an option: