Bennett welcomes Green and anti-austerity progress in Spanish election

The Green Party has welcomed the huge electoral progress made by anti-austerity parties in  yesterday's he Spanish General Election.

In the weekend elections, the new party Podemos, with which the Spanish Green Party (Equo) has a partnership, won 20.7% of the vote, while another new party, Ciudadanos, won 13.9%.
Green Party leader Natalie Bennett, who recorded a Green/Podemos message of support before the vote, said:

I congratulate the three Green MPs Rosa Martinez and Juantxo Uralde in the Basque Country and Jorge Luis in Aragon on their election and also Podemos for the historic level of support it won.

This is a powerful boost to the anti-austerity battle across Europe, and a further sign that politics is changing fast.

Podemos and Greens are offering a new open, democratic politics, one that offers the prospect of self-determination for Catalonia, support for grassroots campaigns and organisations, and a vision of a ‘social’ Europe that works for common good, not for the 1%.

Bennett also noted, 

Women now make up nearly 40% of the Spanish parliament – helped by half of the elected Podemos candidates being female. That puts a further spotlight on the scant progress made in Britain, where only 29% of Westminster MPs are female.

UPDATE: Sudbury School situation raises wider issues

Unions at Sudbury Primary School report that there was standing room only when they held a meeting last week for parents to discuss the way forward for the school after the suspension of its headteacher. They say that Sudbury teachers attended despite the threat of disciplinary action if they did so.

The unions said:

Several staff made it clear that, through all of this, their priority was the education and care of the children. Parent and union speakers said that without the staff the children would not be doing as well as they are.

The meeting was reminded by an emotional parent that it was the children who were the reason there was a school and we had to get to the bottom of what was going on for them. It was pointed out that if the school had still been with the local authority instead of being an academy, Brent would have stepped in and taken prompt action to deal with the situation.

Parents were angry that it had to be down to the unions to call such a meeting and felt the governors had kept them in the dark. It was revealed that a new Chair of Governors Ian Phillips, had just been put in place. The Ofsted report is due imminently after the inspection which took place after the Headteacher was suspended. The section on management of the school should make interesting reading.

The headteacher remains suspended while an independent investigation takes place. As stated in earlier coverage suspension this a neutral act to allow the investigation of allegations to proceed. 

However, the unions say that a petition for parents calling on the headteacher to 'do the right thing and resign' has been started: 'Staff remain united and determined but if this does not happen they will be taking action in the Spring term.'

 The situation is complicated by the fact that the Sudbury Primary School Academy Trust is a company limited by guarantee under the Companies Act 2006.  A large school with a budget of £9m plus it comes under the Education Funding Agency/DfE rather than the local authority, Brent Council. The Regional Schools Commissioner acts for the Secretary of State regarding academies and free schools but he does not appear to have intervened in this case so far, although there are provisions for intervention in the funding agreement LINK and the powers of the RSC.

The headteacher of Sudbury Primary School is the company's Chief Executive Officer and it appears from the last company report that all the governors are also Trustees of the company. The company secretary is Irfan Khan. LINK

At the time of the last annual report that I can find (for the period ending August 2014) in addition to the headteacher, chair and vice chair, there were 8 parent governors, 4 community governors and 3 staff governors on the Board of Trustees.

The case clearly raises wider issues regarding academies (and free schools) of accountability, local democratic representation, powers of intervention and governance.

UPDATE


The Kilburn Times LINK is reporting that Ian Phillips, Chair of Govers at Finchley's Woodhouse College has been appointed to the Sudbury governors on the recoemmndation of the DfE.

Chair of Governors, Bob Wharton, a former Lead Member for Children and Schools when Lib Dems formed a coalition with Brent Tories to run Brent Council, welcomed the appointment and said Phillips had made a good impression on staff.

The DfE said, 'We take very seriously any allegationb that children's education is being put at risk. We are continuing to work with the academy trust to strengthem governance. We recommended they (the school)  request support from other experienced governors.'

Jean Roberts, NUT, pointed out that if Sudbury had been an LA school they would have come in and taken control of the situation. It had only got to ths stage because it was an academy and being dealt with by the DfE. She added that this was why the education unions are against academies.
 

The need for a 'Needs Budget'

Mural to celebrate the Poplar rate rebels who used the powers of local government to stand up to a Conservative and Liberal coalition government in the aftermath of the First World War

Guest blog by William Quick, a Green Party member in Bristol. This posting was orginally published on his blog A Green Trade Unionist - In Bristol

I’ve just been selected by the Bristol Green Party to be their candidate for Bedminster in next May’s Council elections.  I’m really excited and want to thank all our local members who voted for me; we came second to Labour in Bedminster by only 3% this year and we have a really good chance of getting atleast one of the two seat in the ward.  I intend to do a longer post on my priorities for the ward, but for now I thought I’d dwell on something that came up in the hustings, my opposition to any and all cuts budgets and the need for a ‘needs budget’.

As you should know the Green Party completely opposes Austerity as a failed economic model, that has held back the economy, and punished the poor and most vulnerable in our society whilst forcing ordinary people to pay for the bailout of the banks.

Nationally our MP has been fantastic in continually voting against cuts and austerity and has one of the best voting records of any Left wing MP.

However, on the local level, the limited options available to resist the imposition of cuts has seen Green Councillors – most famously in Green controlled Brighton – adopt a ‘dented shield’ approach to try and minimise the worst excesses of local cuts and vote for cuts budgets (so they can amend and tinker with them).

The amount of money in the budget is imposed on local authorities by central government and its austerity agenda.  To set a legal budget within those confines means passing on cuts.

The alternative is setting a ‘needs budget’.  Disregarding the limit set by Whitehall this would set a budget adequate to cover provision for all the services local people need (hence a ‘needs budget’).  Such actions have been made illegal under section 114 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 which then obligates the councils financial officer to alert Whitehall as to what’s happened.  After that the council would have 21 days to set a legal budget or supposedly civil servants from central government would depose the council and set a cuts budget themselves.  

That being the case many feel they have no option but to pass cuts budgets that have minimised the threat to vital services as much as possible.

However, to me, and many others, this seems a very improbable course of events.  This is a government with a wafer thin majority, and deposing the democratically elected council of one of the largest cities in the UK would be a deeply unpopular move.  The drama would dominate the news and could be a spark that ignites the disparate movements we’ve seen trying to resist austerity these last 5 years.

Should it even get so far as civil servants being sent into the city, they would be met with large scale protests and no doubt a strike from local government workers who would then refuse to help them carry out their dirty work (and many civil servants are PCS members who would be unlikely to cross a picket).  With all that going on, the likelihood of the worst case scenario (the deposition of the council) happening seems very low.

Instead they’d no doubt try and reach a compromise, in which we’d be able to win a better deal for Bristol.

One way this might work has already been laid out by our Mayoral candidate Tony Dyer.  The Conservatives have said councils can keep their business rates (probably from 2020).  Tony has challenged the government to give Bristol its business rates from 2016, which would allow us to reverse the cuts and invest in the many many infrastructural projects Bristol urgently needs (chiefly social and affordable housing).  If we set a needs budget and demanded we be given our business rates early to pay for it, it seems likely central government would, to some extent, give in.

It’s not as far fetched as some might have you believe.  Remember despite the apparent dire state of the nations finances, in the last budget the Conservatives magicked up £12 billion in extra defence spending (the exact same amount they’re cutting from welfare, coincidently), and another £10 million for a private jet for the PM (among many other things).  Last year they found money for an 11% pay rise for every MP, and £15 billion for Osborne’s ‘Road Revolution’.  In short, they’re very good at finding extra money when they need it.  And in the kind of constitutional crisis they’d provoke by trying to depose Bristol Council, they’d no doubt decided they’d need the money.

Furthermore, councils have already had their budgets cut by so much that there simply isn’t that much more they can cut before statutory services start to fail.  The so called ‘low hanging fruits’ of council expenditure have already been picked.  If councils continue to live within the dictates of the law and refuse to try and set ‘needs budgets’, at some point in the next 5 years we’re going to see a significant failure of the basic services many people depend on.

The main argument against ‘needs budgets’ is that civil servants aren’t going to know our communities needs and their cuts will be far worse than the more compassionate cuts our Council will do itself.

As I’ve said this seems unlikely, and if it got to the point where implementing cuts will result in the failure of services how can civil servant driven cuts be any worse?  Also it would focus the blame for these cuts squarely back where it belongs with central government, and would make the Tories do their dirty work themselves.

We’ve already seen massive mobilisations against the government and its austerity program since the election. If unelected civil servants started deposing local authorities to implicate savage cuts; the protests, strikes and civil disobedience it would cause would be a significant challenge to the government.  

If several councils refused to set cuts budgets at the same time, their likelihood of success would be even higher.  The blowback from them attempting to depose multiple authorities at once could likely bring down the government (so they’d probably give in).  For that to happen we need people elected onto those councils making those arguments and willing to make a stand against austerity. 

If elected I will be one of those people.  I pledge to never vote for a budget containing cuts, and to consistently make the case for the alternative whenever possible.

'Better to break the law than break the poor' - a response to Corbyn's council cuts strategy

This is Jeremy Corbyn's letter on local council cuts and a response from Felicity Dowling, one of the Liverpool 47 - councillors who refused to implement cuts in the 1980s.

Council Illegal Budgets 2

This is what Felicity Dowling, one of the  47 Liverpool councillors stripped from office, fined and banned from standing again after Liverpool Council adopted the slogan 'better to break the law than break the poor' and refused to implement Tory cuts has to say

"As one of the Liverpool Councillors from the 1980s, I obviously disagree with the Labour Party decision to support cuts budgets at local government level.

 What though could they do to effectively oppose these cuts with this 'legal'framework?

- They could honestly explain to the people in their wards what the effect of the cuts will be. No false distractions with how great they are doing while services are in reality being broken.
- They could insist all council reports are written in plain English and openly explain the likely consequences.
 - They could organise community self defence groups in their community and make sure all council buildings and services are open to them.
 - They could hold public meetings to explain the situation.
 - They could insist that not one penny was spent on municipal fripperies and receptions for the rich.
 - They could liaise with local authority workers for a huge national demonstration. - They could defend local authority trade union rights to organise
. - They could open all public buildings as places of succour and sanctuary in the cold weather. - Every home in the local authority control could be made available for social housing.
 - Different councillors could become champions of the different services.
 - They could declare that this is an emergency and operate as such.
- Every day they could be organisers for working class communities and recruit hundreds of thousands of people to socialist politics and workplace organisation, building a mass movement.
 - They could organise lots of study groups and action groups on different issues.
 - They could link all the Labour Councils together in a coordinated national campaign.
 - They could become a voice that could be heard despite the press and media whiteout of the effect of the cuts.
- They could link with all the other campaigns for housing, education, health and social care.
- They could build links with other councils in Europe facing cuts.

 Such campaigns would give hope to the desperate, courage to those tiring in the struggle, inspiration to the weary workers in the services and present an alternative. Left Unity would certainly help.What we won't accept is that our communities must suffer in silence until 2020."

Sunset on a warm December day

Sunset over Barn Hill today

Temperatures hit 16C today against a normal December average of 7C. It was all a bit odd as I walked on Barn Hill. Someone with their shirt off lounging in the grass, catching the last rays of the December sun, a robin in full throated song as if Spring had already arrived, a woodpecker drumming frantically on a hollow tree, and on my return a daffodil in bud in my front garden.

If climate change is going to limit humans' future on the planet our last disastrous days may also be accompanied by an uncanny, regretful, staggering beauty.

Conditional discharge for Sweets Way social cleansing resisters

Brent activists joined those from Barnet at a solidarity demonstration outside Willesden Magistrates Court.

People from the Sweets Way Resists campaign were appearing before magistrates charged with obstructing High Court enforcement officers when they were evicting tenants from Sweets Way, in what campaigners see as enforcing social cleansing.

The accused were given a conditional charge, which means no prison sentence or fines, but they may have court costs awarded against them.

SweetsWay Website

Corbyn statement on council cuts presents problem for local activists

The statement from Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell stating that local council have no choice but to implement cuts is going to present a real problem for local activists, long critical of Brent Council’s ‘dented shield’ approach, who have joined the Labour Party and got involved in Brent Momentum. And, 'Yes' the actions of the Green minority council in Brighton presented similar problems for socialists in the Green Party'

From the Guardian article:

The statement from Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell, published in the Guardian LINK  essentially sets out the 'dented shield' strategy - that Labour councils are better placed to make cuts 'fairer' than those that would result in them being carried out by council offers or the Tory Secretary of State:

In a letter sent jointly with John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, and Jon Trickett, the shadow communities secretary, Corbyn points out that councils must set a balanced budget under the 1992 Local Government Act.

The letter says: “If this does not happen, ie if a council fails to set a legal budget, then the council’s section 151 officer is required to issue the council with a notice under section 114 of the Local Government Act 1998. Councillors are then required to take all actions necessary to bring the budget back into balance.”

Failure to set a balanced budget can lead to action against councillors under the code of conduct, a judicial review and, more significantly, intervention by the secretary of state, the joint letter states. It continues: “It would mean either council officers or, worse still, Tory ministers deciding council spending priorities. Their priorities would certainly not meet the needs of the communities which elected us."

This is essentially what Muhammed Butt and Michael Pavey have been arguing as they have made cuts in successive years.

A Green Left colleague commented on the Labour leadership's statement:

No doubt JC & JM feel that they “have no choice” as 95%+ of their councillors support this approach. But it does undermine those trade unionists and campaigners actively arguing for them to stand up to the Tories. It implies there is no choice, when of course there is a choice. Labour has over 100 Councils. If Labour nationally opposed the cuts and organised some or all of its councils to refuse to implement them, there is absolutely no way the Government could send in Commissioners to run them all. It would provoke a huge national debate on the cuts and local democracy, and have the potential to force the Government to back down partly or wholly. As it is, right-wing Labour councillors are tweeting the letter to attack anyone on the Left campaigning against the cuts.

In the end, the problem with the JC letter is that it completely understates the scale of the attack on local government and local democracy. This is not “business as usual”, a few nasty cuts etc.  This is a once in a lifetime, permanent dismantling and shrinkage of the local state, a huge extension of privatisation of local services and an undermining of local democracy itself - there is little point in having locally elected councillors if their job is (from Nicholas Ridley’s famous quote): “to meet once a year to hand out the contracts”.

The only silver lining in the letter is its appeal for councillors to support local campaigners (even if this is clearly contradictory to their councillors supporting cuts budgets!) and to be organising mass campaigns against local government cuts. This gives an opportunity to campaigners to point out that Labour councillors are only doing one half of the message from the JC letter, and not the other.

But it really could have been so much better.

According to the Guardian some Momentum branches have been pushing for a more radical approach:

It is known that Corbyn’s office has discussed various forms of defiance strategy with council leaders, such as setting a needs-based budget. This idea has been raised at some meetings of Momentum, the pressure group set up by Corbyn supporters to retain his support in the wider Labour movement. According to a Socialist party account, some Momentum group meetings are backing illegal budgets, and are planning to call for them early next year.

The account states that a conference is being planned to oppose budget cuts: “Given that we were told that Bristol has the largest Momentum group outside London, with a network already of over 800 names, there is real scope for a conference to be an important milestone in our campaign. It was explicitly agreed within both the Action Hub and the plenary session that part of the campaign against local authority budget cuts should also involve writing to every Labour and Green councillor and candidate, demanding that they refuse to comply with any cuts budgets."

Since the local government cuts began the idea of setting a needs-based budget has been raised, with a softer position being constructing a needs-based budget in parallel with a cuts budget. The former could then become a tool in campaigning for a budget (and thus funding) that really meets local needs whilst at the same time setting a balanced budget that fends of government intervention.

Can any real campaign be built between Councils, some of which like Brent are not exactly stuffued with Corbyn supporters, and labour and trade union movement and the wider community?

After all, Brent Council leader Muhamemd Butt, said that budgets for the next two years will be 'cutting into the muscle, if not the bone, of local services.'

A critical approach to Prevent in Brent

Following on from the Public Meeting on 'Prevent in Brent' on December 10th I accompanied members of An-Nisa Society to a meeting on Tuesday December 15th with Cllr Muhammed Butt, Leader of Brent Council, Cllr Harbi Farah and Chris Williams, Brent Council Head of Community Safety to express our concerns. This was the day after Brent Council Cabinet had approved the 'Stronger Communities Strategy' LINK  and just before the GLA Policing and Crime Committee issued its critical report on Prevent. LINK

An An-Nisa Society spokesperson issued the following statement after the meeting:

There was a frank exchange of views when we met with Cllr Butt and we made it clear that we thought the Prevent Strategy should be abolished and that a strong statement should be made by Brent Council about its short comings.

The top-down whole community model stereotypes the entire Muslim community, makes it open to surveillance and increases Islamophobia. Naturally this produces suspicion and fear and undermines an individual’s sense of self and belonging. We believe the emphasis should be on developing social cohesion and tackling inequality - not creating social division. While recognising this, Muhammed Butt said that the Council was limited by its statutory obligation and the threat of government takeover of local implementation if the borough was deemed not to be delivering Prevent properly.

The Council was not able to modify the WRAP (Workshop Raising Awareness of Prevent) training and had to keep secret much of their Prevent work. This lack of transparency is a concern we raised at the meeting and at the Public Event.

Arising from the meeting Muhammed Butt promised to issue a public statement on Prevent and to invite the Monitoring Prevent in Brent organisers to address cabinet and senior officers on their concerns. He would also help facilitate a meeting with Brent headteachers.

On Wednesday December 16th, Cllr James Denselow, Lead Member for Stronger Communities, published the following blog on the Brent Council website LINK :

The threat of terrorism isn’t new to Londoners but is now fresh in our minds following the rise of the self-proclaimed ‘Islamic State’ and the Paris attacks and the stabbing at Leytonstone tube station. 

Cases in the courts and in the news have highlighted Brits travelling abroad to receive terrorist training. 
We’re now awake to the concept of ‘lone-wolf’ attacks, by people radicalised over the Internet without having any solid links to organised extremist networks.

It’s worth remembering that there is as much of a difference between Islamic extremist terrorism and the faith of the vast majority of Muslims as there is between the Ku Klux Klan’s cross-burning lynching parties and your local Christian vicar’s tea party and charity tombola.

In addition to the threat of terrorism there is also the challenge of the pernicious growth in the number of random anti-Muslim attacks in the UK in the aftermath of extremist incidents.  
Let’s call them what they are – hate crimes.

Brent is Britain’s most diverse borough, so this isn’t an abstract worry for us – it is real, and immediate. In the 12 months up to this October, there were 509 racist and religious hate crimes recorded in Brent, up from 460 the previous year.  Ten a week makes this a substantial issue.

This is an issue all across London, and Brent is still a safe and welcoming place to live, with crime rates falling.  We’re determined to maintain and enhance that.

We know how events that happen on the streets of Raqqa can travel around the world from Syria to our part of North West London within minutes.  Social media and 24 hours rolling news have made a big world feel very small sometimes.

The risk of hidden extremism in our neighbourhoods is painfully real.  It’s no good just wringing our hands – it’s the job of those of us elected to public office to do something about this.

At a national government level, the strategy designed to stop individuals being radicalised, whether from right-wing extremists or, so-called, Islamic extremists is called Prevent, and it’s our legal duty as a local council to cooperate with central government, the police and others to advance its objectives.

It’s important though to remember that Prevent is not just about Islamic Extremism – it tackles radicalisation from whatever direction, including far-right extremism.  Indeed, around 30 per cent of ‘Channel’ cases (catching signs of extremism early amongst young people) are about far-right activity.

As ever, when there’s a tricky issue, the first step is to acknowledge that there is something real that needs to be dealt with.  Ignoring one wrong in the process of tackling a second wrong has never worked well in the long-term.

Whilst public services have a central role in dealing with these issues, we can’t deal with them on our own.  We need local communities, neighbourhoods, families and individuals to come together to tackle extremism, together.

We need communities – and faith groups in particular – to acknowledge that religious extremism is a real issue, and that some young people are at risk of being attracted to it.  We need this to be talked about in community centres – and yes, in Mosques too.  We need to challenge extremism if and when we hear it.  Many of our faith leaders are already leading the way.

We need families to accept that they have a responsibility too.  Do you know where your children are and what they’re up to?  Are they falling in with the wrong crowd?  Are they being taken advantage of, groomed even?  It happens rarely, but it should be as worrying if your child was being groomed and lured into religious extremism as if they were being groomed for drugs, gang violence or sexual exploitation.  Sadly, too often several of these threats go hand in hand.

It’s our job to support communities and families in this.

If a community leader has a concern, they need to know there is someone they can go to who will take their concern seriously, and look into it, but without overreacting.

If a family member or a neighbour has a concern about a young person being led astray, they need to know there is someone they can speak to who can offer practical help, but without labelling them a bad parent or their child a criminal.

We need to work harder, but we need this to be matched increasingly by our communities and every individual playing their part. 

Considering this all together, that’s why we’re trying something genuinely new here in Brent.

In our Stronger Communities Strategy which we agreed this week, we’re not just doing more of the same.

We’re not turning our back on Prevent – but we want to go much further, and to build an approach that our community owns and engages with, not one that some feel is being done to them by a distant government that doesn’t understand.

Our new approach in going further is to say to our communities: we’ll work with you to construct your own solutions.  If you’re uncomfortable feeling that you’re being done to – now’s the chance to take control and ownership yourselves.

This model of co-production has worked well in other areas of social policy – but this is the first time such an approach is being taken on the streets of London to an issue like tackling violent extremism.

In the meantime, we need all to accept responsibility for challenging anti-Muslim prejudice and violence.  Not only is it just plain wrong, but it also does more harm than good – throwing up barriers between communities that we ought instead to be breaking down.

Problems this big require solutions just as big.  These are problems that affect all of us, so we all need to be part of the solution too.

Let’s start by talking about it.

This does not amount to a 'strong statement on the short-comings of the Prevent Strategy but perhaps that is still to come.  There is certainly much to discuss, including addressing the issue of a community feeling under surveillance.  This is from the Brent Stronger Communities Strategy about the 'Community Champions' Brent intends to recruit:

The new Community Champions will form part of a small network of non-statutory partners who will help other partners to act as eyes and ears in the community relaying messages in both directions.

It is interesting to recall that in the 1980s the tabloid press railed against 'Spies in the classroom' when Brent Council 's DPRE was attempting to challenge racism in education. Now some are seeing the Prevent Strategy as a spying system with teachers and social workers in the role of intelligence officers.

In her statement on the GLA Committee report, Green Assembly Member Jenny Jones aid:

[Prevent] may hinder the development of the counter-narrative in classrooms and colleges as communities withdraw from discussions in those controlled spaces.

Meanwhile Monitoring Prevent in Brent will continue its work. It can be found on Facebook HERE

Kensal Green By-election Result

Chris Alley Conservative 255
Jumbo Chan Labour 931
Sarah Dickson Lib Dem 417
Jafar Hassan Green Party 102
Juliette Nibbs UKIP 38

Labour achieved 53% of the vote.
Turnout 20.3%

FULL RESULT

Planning Committee sinks plans for a swimming pool at the former Brent Town Hall

The Kilburn Times has reported LINK that Brent Council Planning Committee has refused permission for the fee paying Lycee International de Londres Winston Churchill to build a 5 lane swiming pool sunken into the garden area in front of the former Brent Town Hall bulding, adjacent to Forty Lane and the Paddocks.

There were few objections to the plans and the Planning Officers' Report recommended approval  LINK  and continued to do so after members of the Committee visited the site and raised various issues  LINK 

The Kilburn Times quotes a Brent Council spokesperson: “The Planning Committee voted unanimously to refuse the proposal based, in particular, on concerns about its effect on the setting and views of the Grade II Listed Building on this prominent frontage site.”

This is an impression of the new pool building included in the planning application:

The refusal comes as a surprise and some local people and schools had been looking forward to the promised public access when the pool was not being used by the French School.

Around the corner there is some uncertainty over the promised community swimming pool, and the extent of public access.  on the site of the former Dexion House. This would be a 2,500 m2 pool in the basement of one of two new buildings which are given over to student accommodation.

Sweets Way Solidarity Rally, Willesden Magistrates Court, 1pm Friday

From Sweets Way Resists

JOIN US TO STAND UP AGAINST SOCIAL CLEANSING AND THE CRIMINALISATION OF PEACEFUL PROTEST!

On 23 and 24 of September, the Sweets Way estate was evicted by dozens of High Court bailiffs and 7 vans of London Met police. Nearly a hundred occupiers of dozens of homes were turfed out, as was Mostafa, the last original resident of the estate. Supporters peacefully attempted to stop Mostafa's eviction, many of whom were arrested. Fifteen now face criminal charges for obstructing High Court Enforcement Officers.

Their trial is scheduled to take place over three days, from 10am on Wednesday, December 16, through Friday, December 18. Supporters are encouraged to attend the hearings each day, but we are calling a solidarity rally outside Willesdon Magistrates Court for 1pm on Friday, December 18 to take a stand with those who were arrested for standing up to social cleansing.

Decline in air pollution masking major problems in UK cities

From the British Heart Foundation

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is disappointed with the air quality plans released today and concerned that new emissions data might be interpreted positively when the UK population continues to live with a serious air pollution problem.

While the BHF is pleased to see that the new emissions data also released by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) today shows a continuing decline in emissions in the UK as a whole, the charity argues this is a distraction from the localised air quality problems that the Government has so far failed to act upon.

The Supreme Court order handed down to Defra earlier this year clearly shows that the UK is breaching its duty to clean up the UK’s dirty air yet the BHF feels that the Government’s air quality plans are not strong enough to effectively tackle these localised air pollution problems.

Laura Thomas, Head of Policy at the British Heart Foundation, said:

While pollution levels as a whole are declining, air pollution hot spots in many UK cities are seriously damaging our health. The devil is in the detail and the Government cannot use general statistics like this to shirk its responsibilities to clean up the UK’s dirty air. This is particularly worrying when we know how dangerous air pollution is for a person’s health – raising their risk of a deadly or disabling heart attack or stroke.

While these figures are superficially promising, they’re so shrouded in smog they’re harder to navigate than Oxford Street on Christmas Eve. They mask the major air quality problems faced by people living or working in UK air pollution hotspots such as areas of London and the Midlands.

The public deserves clean air that will not harm their heart health. We’re disappointed with the lack of ambition shown by the Government in this plan to clean up the UK’s air. Proposing five clean air zones where polluting vehicles will be allowed to drive as long as they pay to do so will harm heart health.

Since 2010 the BHF has provided nearly £7 million for medical research that will help us better understand the link between air pollution and cardiovascular disease. We have learnt that air pollution can make existing heart conditions worse and cause cardiovascular events in vulnerable groups. Recent studies have linked air pollution to increased incidence of heart attacks, strokes and a worsening of heart failurw/

There are 7 million people in the UK living with cardiovascular disease and the likelihood of their exposure to air pollution is high. It is therefore imperative the governments and administrations around the UK ensure they are meeting European Union air quality limits and targets as soon as possible to improve air quality.

Find out more about air pollution and heart health at bhf.org.uk/airpollution

Jenny Jones refuses to support the GLA report on Prevent: 'Prevent is failing to reach the hearts and minds of many people it needs to reach'

Jenny Jones, Green London Assembly Member, has decided not to support the GLA Police and Crime Committee report on Prevent. This is an unusual move but indicates the seriousness of the issue.

The full report plus Jenny's statement is available HERE

I am concerned that no upfront definition of what is meant by extremism is made for the purposes of the report. However, I recognise that, along with the Government's definition of 'radicalisation', these are very contested words and not all Members of the Committee would be able to agree a common definition. Flexibility is obviously required when professionals seek to define what is and isn't 'extremism', just as flexibility is required when debating what is 'Britishness', and the interpretation will often vary according to local circumstances. But there are obvious dangers to this. For example, the Met Police have previously included at least one member of the London Assembly and several journalists in their database of 'domestic extremists'. This shows how words such as 'extremism' can be interpreted in a surprisingly broad brush way.

I am also unhappy that while the report references the concerns raised about the Government's focus on non-violent extremism, this is not reflected in the recommendations. There is academic evidence that the 'conveyor belt' idea, which underpins the Government's new approach to Prevent, is not a valid one. These academics argue that violent terrorists do not grow out of a culture of non-violent extremist ideas. If these academics are right, then I believe there are three ways in which Prevent could be counter-productive. First, it could alienate people who have 'extremist' ideas but would be potential allies in the fight against violent extremism. Second, it may hinder the development of the counter-narrative in classrooms and colleges as communities withdraw from discussions in those controlled spaces. Finally, I believe the larger the number of people being monitored as 'extremists', the thinner the spread of Met Police resources becomes. I believe there should be consultation about whether the emphasis in Prevent on linking violent and non-violent extremism is having a detrimental effect on the work of those trying to engage in their communities and develop a counter-narrative.

I am concerned that the recommendations in the report avoid questioning the Prevent Strategy adopted by the Government. I believe the most significant barriers which the professionals and organisations are facing all stem from the way Prevent is being framed. If we believe that counter terrorism increasingly relies on information gathered from communities, and less on intelligence services at home and abroad, then we need to radically overhaul programmes like 'Prevent'. If decent, law-abiding people view these programmes as counter-productive and we wish Prevent to be more successful on the ground, then it needs to address any fundamental problems in its approach which are creating barriers to implementation. Prevent is failing to win the hearts and minds of many people it needs to reach.

For these reasons I am unable to support this report.

GLA Committee says 'secrecy' over Prevent hampering community engagement

This story has been published by the BBC on its website HERE It will be of interest to readers following the public meeting on Prevent last week and the subsequent meeting with Brent Council

Secrecy surrounding anti-terrorism work is hampering efforts to halt extremism, the London Assembly has said.

Its Policing and Crime Committee called for more transparency around implementation of the government's Prevent strategy.

Cooperation between boroughs was "patchy" and the police needed to step back if the public were to have more confidence in the scheme, it found.

The Met has been approached for comment.

Under Prevent, which aims to stop people supporting or becoming terrorists, local authorities have a statutory obligation to monitor signs of extremism in schools and public services.
But the committee said this was proving a "challenge" for teachers, and some young people were afraid to take part in discussions about extremism for fear of being "put on a list".

'Narrative battle'

"For the public, transparency about what Prevent is for and what activity is taking place is critical," it said.

The committee echoed previous criticisms of Prevent, when it was dubbed a "toxic brand" which aroused suspicion among communities.

"We know that community engagement is hampered by suspicion and fear, and much of this is the consequence of the secrecy that surrounds the delivery of the Prevent strategy."

Committee chairwoman Joanne McCartney said "a strong counter-narrative which condemns violent extremism" was one of the most powerful ways to counter online radicalisation, "but attempts to deliver this have been lacking so far."

Through social media, groups such as the so-called Islamic State (IS) were "telling a better story" in a fight where "narrative is actually almost everything", Lord Carlile of Berriew said.

'No oversight'

The committee said London could learn from Birmingham's success in co-ordinating Prevent.
In the capital, Counter-Terror Local Profiles, which set out risk in a particular area, are highly confidential documents often only seen by a borough commander and council chief executive.

In Birmingham and Manchester, the information is shared with public services "without giving away anything of national security importance".

Communities in London should have a say in how best to prevent extremism, and the police should only intervene when necessary, according to the report.

It criticises 'patchy' co-ordination between London boroughs.

"There appears to be no London body that has overall oversight of what is taking place at any one time," it said.

"It is difficult to establish what, why and how decisions have been taken in respect of preventing extremism."

In some boroughs, such as Waltham Forest, the quality of work was "extremely high", Lord Carlile told the committee. In others, it was "rather less high".

Green MEP warns Cameron's EU renegotiation could mean race to the bottom on environment and health

In discussions on the UK’s future place in Europe, Green MEP Molly Scott Cato today warned the European Parliament that Cameron’s renegotiation agenda risks bargaining away citizens’ rights and creating a race to the bottom on environmental protection and health standards. She also said that the many in the UK who want the country to remain as part of the EU back a genuinely positive vision for the future; a vision based on a stronger, more effective European Parliament with greater decision-making powers and upholding the rights of citizens.

Molly Scott Cato was speaking during a plenary session in Strasbourg ahead of a European Council meeting later this week. The Council meeting will include a discussion on the European referendum and address some of the remaining political issues before a concrete proposal is adopted in February. David Cameron wrote to Council President Donald Tusk in November setting out four areas where he is seeking reforms as part of negotiations on the UK’s membership of the European Union.

In her one minute address to the Parliament, attended by Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Nicolas Schmit, representing the Presidency of the Council, Molly Scott Cato said

I am speaking about the very serious threat that my country may soon leave this Union. David Cameron wants us to believe his renegotiation ‘vision’ is the only show in town when it comes to EU reform. His pro-austerity, regulation-lite, anti-migration rhetoric is more nightmare than vision. And it appears he now wants to export and inflict this nightmare on the rest of Europe. 

But it is clear that his fake negotiation is unravelling. His pledge to ‘reduce red tape’ sees him doing his bit for the corporations, eager to eliminate anything that stands in the way of their profits. And his support for dodgy trade deals like TTIP show he is happy to see a race to the bottom on workers’ rights, environmental protection, and health standards.   

But many in the UK want to be a part of a genuinely reformed Europe, with a stronger, more effective European Parliament with greater decision-making powers and scrutiny over the Commission and Council.

Greens say yes to the EU, yes to real reform, and yes to upholding the rights of all citizens which Mr Cameron is so keen to bargain away.

Talks to take place on Prevent Strategy with Cllr Butt after Cabinet approval of Stronger Communities Strategy

Cllr Muhammed Butt, Leader of Brent Council, has agreed to meet some of the organisers of Thursday's public meeting on the Prevent Strategy on Tuesday afternoon.

Meanwhile this evening the Cabinet approved the Stronger Communities Strategy of which Prevent forms just one part along with domestic violence, female genital mutilation and gangs.

Introducing the document Cllr James  Denselow (Lead Member  for Stronger Communities) said that diversity was one of Brent's strengths and the Council was instigating a community led approach, based on the Manchester model,  where 'Big Question' events were held to involve the public and voluntary organisations.

The approach was aimed at the twin challenges of preventing terrorism and Islamophobia.  A version of Prevent had begin in Brent in 2011 but now the state of the world was different and the strategy had become a statutory responsibility of local authorities.

If the Government deemed that Brent Council was failing it its Prevent Duty it could take over implementation of Brent in the borough.

A community led approach would mean that 'we would be doing things our way' and would help mainstream Muslims challenge extremism on their own terms.

Michael Pavey reiterated his opposition to the top down version of Prevent coming from the government but said the Stronger Communities Strategy was about much more than Prevent as it also covered domestic violence, female genital mutilation and gangs.

Cllr Denselow in response to a question from Cllr Roxanne Mashari replied that they would work with young people through schools using a non-traditional approach and that he would discuss with Brent Safer Neighbourhood Teams the recording of hate crime, including those aimed at Muslims.

The Stronger Communities Strategy report is HERE

King Edward VII Park, Wembley - an explanation from Brent Council

The following explanation has been sent to Cllr Stopp regarding the works in King Edwrd VII Park, Wembley

The works taking place at King Edwards Park are to improve the quality and drainage of the five football pitches, and the cricket pitch on site, which have historically been of poor quality. This project commenced in August, and was originally expected to be concluded with 5-6 weeks; however, a number of issues- including the discovery of a buried electricity power cable and an unregistered gas pipe running across the site- resulted in delays whilst we liaised with the utility companies, and unfortunately the colder and wetter weather we're now experiencing means that the final cultivations (which rely on dry ground conditions and higher temperatures) cannot currently take place.

The specific status of the works is as follows:

Part A: Site remodelling of King Edward VII Park

All works have been completed aside from final cultivations, sand amelioration and seeding.  Final cultivations rely on dry ground conditions and as expected, ground conditions are unsuitable for these works.  These works will be completed at the earliest opportunity in Spring once the soils have dried sufficiently.  It is envisaged that these works will take a maximum of 3 weeks to complete before seed is in the ground.  Once seeded the pitches will be green within 1 week to 10 days.

Part B: Maintenance of Football pitches (not including Cricket square)

The maintenance works will begin once the seed is germinated and ready to cut.

Part C: Cricket square construction

This element of the works have been completed in full

Part D: Cricket square maintenance

The maintenance works will begin once the seed is germinated and ready to cut.

The contractors will ensure the site is secure before winter. They will also come to site in the next couple of days to verti-drain and overseed the track way and make good damage caused by the caterpillar digger.


Unfortunately therefore, it is now unlikely that some of the works will be concluded before better weather in the spring, and the temporary fencing will need to remain in place until then.

We have asked for some fresh signage to be placed on site explaining the delays, and hope that this will be in place within the next week or so.

We are also attempting to locate the source of the smell that is being reported.

Clearly there is a need to keep yourselves, the Friends of Group and all interested parties abreast of the latest developments.

I am sorry this has not properly happened to now. I will personally schedule regular updates.

Another meeting about Sudbury Primary School on Thursday

 

Teacher and non-teacher unions have called a meeting for parents and carers of Sudbury Primary School pupis at the Partyman Play Centre at Vale Farm on Thursday at 4.30pm - a time they say was chosen to enable the maximun number of parents to attend to find out what is going on at the school.

The unions say they hope for a big turn-out of parents, with some governors and councillors too, and that the meeting will lead to a solution that will avoid strike action.

Shahrar Ali: It's not about Corbyn or Caroline - it's about Cameron's War

Shahrar Ali, Deputy Leader of the Green Party, speaking at 'Stop Bombing Syria' Downing Street demonstration yesterday.

Brent councillors to get 8 hours Prevent training

Although Cllr Harbi Farah has promised to arrange talks about concerns over the Prevent Strategy in Brent the Council is going full steam ahead in its implementation. Tomorrow's Cabinet is due to adopt a paper on 'Stronger Communities' which includes radicalisation in a bundle which also covers female genital mutilation, domestic violence and gangs. Councillors are also attending an 8 hour Prevent training on December 22nd.

The Council strategy fro Stronger Communities has for main objectives:

1. Promote common ground
2. Encourage participation in civic life
3. Tackle intolerance and challenge extremism  and other harmful practices
4.Promote our vision and understanding of cohesion.

Which all sounds well and good but clearly the strategy in the document which I publish below needs careful scrutiny, particularly in the light of the criticisms of Prevent set out at the public meeting.

In an Appendix the Council does seem to recognise some of the problems:

Brent is one of 43 Home Office “Prevent Priority Areas” of particular national concern for fermenting extremism and radicalisation. As part of the Prevent programme, Brent receives funding from the Home Office to tackle radicalisation through a range of supportive projects and interventions.

The Prevent and Channel programmes have been seen by some communities, in Brent as elsewhere, as a means of demonising Islam and for spying on youths. The concerns raised by communities must be heard and it is precisely this perceived one-sided approach, which undermines cohesion and divides communities. Indeed, the Government has acknowledged that ‘Prevent depends on a successful integration strategy, which establishes a stronger sense of common ground and shared values, which enables participation and the empowerment of all communities and which also provides social mobility.’

Brent will seek to minimise the risk of extremism by recognising that the drivers for extremist behaviour lie in the marginalisation of voices from the public square and that a positive approach, celebrating diversity while improving our diverse communities’ ability to recognise the signs of extremism and early radicalisation will foster resilience and reduce the risk of extremist behaviour. We will also recognise the geo-political drivers of extremist behaviours and create safe spaces for dialogue and debate, whilst challenging hate speech and those who seek to divide our communities.

However its Equalities Impact Assessment on the impact of the Strategy (which deems it positive) seems complacent in the light of fears that Prevent is fuelling Islamophobia (Christianity not listed):

Religion or Belief – impact: positive

According to research conducted by Brent’s Business Intelligence team; the main faith groups in the borough are Hindu (17%), Muslim (12%), Judaism (3%) and Buddhist (1%). Achieving the four strategic objectives would ensure that the strategy is fully inclusive of residents of all religious and faith backgrounds. Furthermore, inter-faith dialogue is a key outcome of this strategy

The December 22nd event at the Civic Centre to which all councillors and some council officers are invited is entitled 'Prevent: Ideology and Radicalisation in Depth by FIDA Management and the Al-Saddiiq Foundation.'

Session One from 10am to 4pm will be 'providing advanced training on extremism and related global terrorism' to include':

• Ideology and its Development
• Theology, Politics and Violence
• Radicalisation (Concepts and Typologies
• The Core Narrative of AQ/ISIS
• Understanding Jihadist Narrative/Group
• Case Studies and Group exercises
• Assessing Vulnerability to Radicalisation
• Extremism and Behaviour

After what I imagine will be a much needed half hour  break Session Two from 4.30pm to 6.30pm will be run by the Al Saddiiq Foundation delivering 'A local perspective: extremism and support for terrorism gaining traction with the borough of Brent' Apparently this will involve 'case-based scenario workshops.'

Here is the paper going to Cabinet tomorrow: