BREAKING NEWS: JUDICIAL REVIEW LODGED AGAINST DPP RE INACTION OVER DOMINIC CUMMINGS

From Martin Redston (See LINK )

My lawyers have today lodged proceedings in the High Court to seek an urgent judicial review of the Director of Public Prosecution’s inaction over the alleged breaches of the Coronavirus Regulations by Dominic Cummings. One particular concern is the so-called ‘Cummings effect’ or ‘Cummings defence’ which has meant that people who previously were complying with the Regulations have sought not to adhere to them fully. 

The grounds filed with the High Court include the following complaints:

There is a lack of an appearance of independence to the decision-making of the DPP which arises from (a) the scheme of subordination of the DPP to the Attorney-General – a politician who has tweeted support for the claimed legality of Cummings’ actions without allowing due process to take place, and 

(b) the failure to engage meaningfully with the question over Mr. Cummings’ actions and stance taken. In addition, my lawyers have previously sought disclosure of "all communications that (the DPP or his office) had received from any minister, departmental official, or mandarin or person associated with the Cabinet, Prime Minister, or affiliates or agents or representatives of the same, referring to the question of Mr Cummings in any way”.

The CPS/ DPP did not respond to this request in their reply to my representatives. The question as to the manoeuvres of the government and use of its powers behind the scenes is of obvious concern given the history of this high-profile case.

As a state authority the DPP has failed to comply with the duty to take all reasonable steps to ensure public safety to the greatest extent practicable – he would do so in this case by taking active steps to ensure the maintenance of public confidence in accountability to, and enforcement of, the law that is designed to protect the public from the ongoing threat of Covid-19. In short, he should not wash his hands of the issue but should refer it to the police and thereafter consider the issue himself.

A failure to safeguard citizens from the risk of Covid 19 risks a real breach of Article 2 or 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights, namely degrading or inhumane treatment or the loss of life. It is in any event unreasonable not to inquire into the actions of Mr. Cummings to determine whether or not to prosecute him for potential breaches of coronavirus regulations, or a common law criminal offence of public nuisance – given the potential to infect others by travelling across the country from London to Durham, and relocating to a new area when infected.

The DPP has failed to exercise his discretion to refer the matter to the police on our request. Consequently there has been a failure to engage with the need for public confidence to be restored: the law applies to everyone. Public compliance with the regulations is vitally important: they were put in place to protect the public from a virus pandemic. A failure to act soon means that evidence relevant to the investigation into Mr. Cummings’ actions may well be lost.

My action seeks the restoration of public confidence in the office of the DPP as an independent body uninfluenced by and not capable of influence by No.10 and politicians including the Attorney-General. The rule of law applies to all and due process should be followed before any decision is made as to the lawfulness or otherwise of any person’s actions, no matter how close to the centre of power that person sits.

Justice must not only be done but be seen to be done.  Please contribute and spread the word.

Many thanks

Martin Redston

Chalkhill Park 7 years on

Chalkhill Park was opened in time for the May Day Bank Holiday weekend in 2013 - a day of great excitement for the children of Chalkhill.  I thought it would interesting to take a look at how it is doing as there were quite a few sceptics at the time who doubted that it would be looked after and thought that all the saplings would be torn down and benches vandalised.

They were wrong. The planning of the park involved the Residents' Association and children, creating a real sense of ownership and it has been well looked after.

April 2012

First plantings

May 2013

The architect was keen that planting should be tough and sustainable in future climatic conditions. As well as tree and shrub planting and flower beds a wild flower area and a copse surrounding a willow tree were incorporated into the design. The result is not the formal flower beds that you see in Edwardian Parks (although they are much less formal these days) but more natural planting, often under-stated but with splashes of colour and something of interest all the year round.

The trees as you can see have matured nicely and both trees and flowers have survived the recent very dry weather reasonable well.

Lockdown has made people appreciate the greenspaces on their doorstep, not just for exercise but a place for quiet contemplation amidst the greenery.

This is how the park looks today - with of course the playground and outdoor gymn closed off due to Covid19 restrictions.

 

 

Wild flower meadow

The mysterious copse

A pear tree

Angry leaseholders, caught in a dispute over responsibility between L&Q and Brent Council, call for action on cladding trap

The Evening Standard hails the development in November 2012

There have been many social media posts over this issue over a long period but no action has resulted so leaseholders of the new build Bourne Place, in South Kilburn, have issued an open letter to Cllr Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent Council, who are the freeholder of the development.  Cllr Butt has his personal imprint on the development as his name is on a commemorative plaque on the wall of this beacon of regeneration.


 


Dear Mr Butt, 

We, the leaseholders with the housing association L&Q in Bourne Place NW6, a development delivered by partnership of Brent Council and L&Q as part of South Kilburn Regeneration in 2013, are appealing to you, as the leader of the council who are the freeholder of our development, to urgently intervene in the cladding scandal we leaseholders are entrapped in.



Due to the revised Advice Note 14 issued by the Government and the agreed EWS1 certification for fire safety of buildings by RICS and mortgage lenders, our development consisting of 3 under 18-metre blocks has also become affected by the cladding crisis.



The 59 leaseholders and shared ownership tenants of Bourne Place are now unable to sell their homes or remortgage without the EWS1 certificate. Depending on lender, we may also face expensive variable rates on our mortgages. We are trapped in nil-valued homes and we do not know whether our homes are safe because our landlord, the superior lease holder, housing association L&Q, refuses to conduct testing of our external walls. They give no indication whatsoever how long it will be before our blocks are examined and how long before they are remediated, should fire safety concerns be confirmed. Our lives are on hold; we cannot move, whether for jobs in these turbulent times or to start a family, and we face many financial consequences. 

Additionally, safety concerns affect all residents, including additional 75 social tenants homes at Bourne Place. In the wake of another Grenfell anniversary, we live in fear as we see more and more fires in blocks with combustible non-ACM materials such as in Barking or Worcester Park - all blocks under 18 metres just like ours. We grow angry as it becomes clear so many of us were sold or rented poorly-built homes but somehow the developers are not being made to act fast and answer our concerns. We are being brushed aside, saying our homes are not a priority to address for the housing association L&Q.


 

One of the excuses we have been given by L&Q, in writing, is that they are not able to provide us with EWS1 certification because they are not the freeholder of our site. Brent Council is. Us, leaseholders, find ourselves here in the middle of a squabble who is in fact the building owner and responsible for acting. We ask you, Brent Council, as the freeholder and superior landlord to housing association L&Q, to clarify with immediate effect the ownership structure for our estate and agree on accountability.





The Secretary of State, Robert Jenrick, has said that all building owners should act, without exception, to test and remediate new build blocks. Unfortunately, as leaseholders, we are largely powerless to force our landlord, L&Q, to act. We are homeowners without any rights of homeowners. Brent Council, on the other hand, as freeholder of the land and superior landlord to L&Q, have the power by lease to make L&Q act due to their apparent negligence to act in line with government guidelines. 

We look to you and Brent Council for help, in your capacity and legal powers of the freeholder, and as the responsible partner in constructing and delivering our homes as part of the South Kilburn regeneration program - homes that were meant to be constructed with safety and quality in mind from the beginning.


 

We look forward to hearing from you soon.
 


 

This letter is written as an open letter, copy of which we will provide to the Greater London Authority and the leader of councils, Mr Navin Shah, as well as enable publicising on social media and/or press. 

Representative of Bourne Place development, South Kilburn
 

 


Supported by UK Cladding Action Group, Homeowners of L&Q and National Leasehold Campaign 

Residents would like to see backing from the Council. They could well take a leaf out of Hackney Council's book:

Brent environmental groups launch petition: We Need Brent to Build Back Better Now!

Brent associations campaigning for active travel and environmental health have launched a petition outlining how the Council Leader and his Cabinet can ensure Brent Builds Back Better as lockdown eases:

We Need Brent to Build Back Better Now

Having declared a Climate Emergency last July, we have to move with a greater sense of urgency to promote active travel, a healthy environment and clean air in our Borough. We have the largest number of Covid-19 cases in London, reflecting health inequalities across income, ethnicity and race directly related to air pollution and passive travel, as well as poor employment conditions and overcrowded housing. Government-enforced austerity and legacies of racial and economic injustice are largely responsible for this situation, but Brent Council has the opportunity Build Back Better by:

·         Immediately implementing the Borough’s Cycle and Walking Strategies via pop-up cycle lanes and cycle-friendly modal filters.

·         Accelerating the implementation of the ‘Healthy Streets’ initiative between Wembley and Willesden Junction, and pro-actively implement low-traffic neighbourhoods.

·          A faster roll-out of more School Streets across the Borough to improve air quality around schools, make them safer and encourage cycling and walking to and from schools as these re-open.

·          Developing a plan to decarbonise the Borough by creating new, well-paid, secure, unionised jobs; divesting the Council’s pension fund from fossil fuel companies; creating a policy of public procurement; enforcing a rapid transition of the Council’s own fleet of vehicles to electric; and requiring Council deliveries to be by electric vehicles or cycles, including cargo-bikes.

·         Putting in place Clean Air Zones, charging where necessary.

·         Multiplying the provision of cycle hoops and bike hangers, at the same pace, if not faster, as on-street electric charging points.

·         Reallocating parking space to people, particularly around commercial streets, since cyclist and pedestrians have been shown to spend more on local High Streets.

Many of these measures can be delivered immediately and most rapidly if the Leader and Cabinet show the political will, and match best practice across London.

We need to Build Back Better now.

Brent Cycling Campaign, Brent Friends of the Earth, Divest Brent, Willesden Green Residents' Association, Brent XR

SIGN HERE

Novotel, Olympic Way, mentioned in review of post-Grenfell cladding concerns

Novotel Olympic Way

The online magazine Inside Housing LINK mentioned the Novotel in Olympic Way, Wembley Park, as one of the buildings that still has aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding in a review of the issue on Friday.

Harvey Facades. the specialist cladding sub-contractor that installed cladding on Grenfell Tower also worked on the Novotel building which contains residences as well as hotel rooms.

The product used on the hotel cladding was Alcubond consisting of a Polyethylene and Aluminium construction. This is an extract from the Material Safety Data Sheet LINK:

From alcubond/com

Wembley Matters has contacted the Press Office at Accor, the parent company for the Novotel chain wrting:

Cladding on Novotel, Wembley Park, England

This is a sensitive issue as we are approaching the third anniversary of the Grenfell fire and attention is focused on the number of buildings that still contain similar material.

Could you let me know of your current assessment of any danger/risk posed by the ACM and measures taken to mitigate the risk as well as any plans to remove and replace the cladding.

No response has been received as yet.

Cladding on the adjacent Unite Student Accommmodation has been removed and replaced.

Go Green for Grenfell - live links to today's anniversary solidarity events

WEBSITE: GoGreenforGrenfell.com
6pm Multi-faith vigil youtube.com/grenfellunited
Afternoon and evening Instagram.com/grenfell_united/

'Skipping Katie' was NEVER a target for Black Lives Matters solidarity demonstration in Harrow

Today's Black Lives Matter solidarity demonstration in Harrow Town Centre (Graham Durham Facebook)

While rightwing thugs were fighting police in Central London, Harrow residents held a peaceful solidarity Black Lives Matter event in Harrow Town Centre this morning.

The organisers from Harrow Labour Left had arranged to meet at the statue of 'Skipping Katie' in the pedestrianised section of St Anne's Road - a well know local landmark dating from the 1980s LINK.

However, following recent events the Council boarded Katie up, giving rise to social media speculation over why Black Lives Matter were targeting her: 'What has she got to do with slavery?'

Laughable in a way but also illustrating how on edge people are at present.

Following calls on social media for Cllr Pamela Fitzpatrick, a Harrow Labour councillor who supported the event to resign, one of the organisers, Mizanur Rahman yesterday tried to clarify the matter:

My public statement regarding Harrow's Black Lives Matter demonstration tomorrow.

The below is my response to a post in a local Dacebook group that is spreading misinformation about the statue that we will be demonstrating around, fear, and calling one of our councillors to be sacked for supporting this BLM demonstration

"Hi Guys,

I am part of the organising team behind this.

Firstly, The statue will be safe because we are not protesting against this specific statue. This location was chosen as the place for the static, demonstration to take place because its in the middle of the town centre...Rest assured its nothing to do with the statue.

Secondly, there will be marshalls telling people to keep 2 metres apart as well as handing out masks and gloves.

Thirdly it was not Pamela's idea. There are people from BAME communities in Harrow who wanted to show public solidarity with Black Lives Matter and therefore it is they who are organising it & want this to go ahead.

Fourthly, if people feel so strongly about social distancing & mass gatherings then please also make a public call to close down all the parks, and join a national campaign to close down all the beaches. Because it seems to me that people will break social distancing rules when it comes to recreation, which the government will tolerate, but not when it comes to showing solidarity on issues affecting BAME communities or demanding political change.

We are not expecting masses of people to turn up and those that do will be reminded throughout the demo to keep 2 metres apart from everyone."

The comments on some social media continued often becoming quite ridiculous with some seemingly trying to stir things up. The video below should put an end to such comments and instead allow the focus to be Harrow residents gesture of solidarity with the boroughs Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic community.

Thanks to Hussain Akhtar and the Harrow Monitoring Group for the video below of the demonstration. LINK

The Wembley Park Story - Part 5

The fourth part of Philip Grant's series on the history of Wembley Park

Thank you for joining me again, on our journey through Wembley Park’s history. Part 4 is here, if you missed it. We are moving into times within the life of many of you, so please feel free to add your own memories to (or correct, if necessary!) anything that I write from now on.

1. Wembley Park, seen from above the station, late summer 1948. (Britain from Above image EAW018314)

After the Olympic Games, in the summer of 1948, Wembley Park returned to “business as usual”. The Palace of Industry was a warehouse for His (then Her) Majesty’s Stationery Office, storing stocks of its publications, from Acts of Parliament to the Highway Code, and millions of envelopes and paperclips for the Civil Service. A wide variety of businesses used other surviving buildings in the former (British Empire) Exhibition grounds.

2. Two adverts from the early 1950's for businesses at Wembley Park. (Brent Archives – local directories)

The Empire Pool’s swimming bath was never used again after the Olympics, and the arena became a year-round sports and entertainment venue. The Wembley Lions ice hockey team played there throughout the 1950s, but ice pantomimes also began here in 1950. Other regular annual fixtures from that year were the All-England Badminton Championships and the Harlem Globetrotters basketball matches. Six-day cycle races, and amateur and professional boxing, also featured in the programme, together with the Horse of the Year Show from 1959.

3. Harlem Globetrotters basketball and six-day cycling action at the Empire Pool, 1950s. (From old books)

In 1955, a second television channel was launched in Britain, funded by showing adverts. The ITV franchise for weekdays in the London area was awarded to Associated-Rediffusion, who bought the former film studios in Wembley Park Drive to use for making programmes. They soon had more ambitious plans, and built the largest TV studio in Europe, next door to their existing premises. Wembley Park’s Studio 5 opened in June 1960 with “An Arabian Night”, a spectacular 3-hour show which was broadcast live across the whole ITV network.

4. A cutting from the "Wembley Observer", about plans for the new studio. (From the late Richard Graham)

More building work was going on nearby, with several new office blocks appearing on either side of Olympic Way, close to Wembley Park Station. Apart from that, however, much of the former British Empire Exhibition site remained in drab industrial and commercial use, with firms such as Johnson Matthey & Co (metals) and Fisher Foils among them. Even the former Neverstop Railway station in North End Road was used, as a car repair workshop.

5. South Way, Wembley Park, looking towards the stadium, 1960. (Brent Archives online image 4841)

6. North End Road in the 1960s, with the old Neverstop Railway Station, and Danes Court flats beyond.
(Wembley History Society Collection - Brent Archives online image 9502)

My own first memory of Wembley is arriving on a chartered train, packed with boys from East Sussex, in April 1959. Schoolboy football international matches had begun at the stadium in 1950 (women’s hockey internationals, to attract groups of schoolgirls, started the following year), and I was one of the 95,000 who had come to watch England v. West Germany. We won 2-0, but I have fonder memories of another Wembley match between the two countries, seven years later, which I saw (in black and white) on a television set at home with my family!

7. A 1963 poster and 1966 programme for famous events at Wembley Stadium. (Internet / Terry Lomas)

Wembley Stadium had been fitted with a new roof in 1963, so that all spectators would be undercover. This did not apply to events where part of the crowd was “on the pitch”, such as the memorable boxing match in June that year. Henry Cooper, who lived in Wembley, knocked down Cassius Clay (later known as Muhammed Ali), but still lost the contest. The 1960s also saw a new sport come to Wembley Park, with the opening of a 24-lane ten pin bowling alley, the Wembley Bowl and Starlight Restaurant, between the arena and Empire Way. This was converted to a Squash Centre in 1974, and later to a bingo club.

8. Wembley Conference Centre, in Empire Way near Wembley Hill Road, c.1990s. (Image from the internet)

Sir Arthur Elvin had died in 1957, and by the 1970s his Wembley Stadium company had become a subsidiary of the British industrial conglomerate, BET. They set about adding to Wembley Park’s attractions, with a new hotel, large exhibition halls and the Conference Centre. This opened in 1977, just in time to stage the Eurovision Song Contest. It hosted many other major events including, from 1979, the Benson & Hedges Masters Snooker Tournament. From the 1970s, the stadium car parks were home to the popular Wembley Stadium Sunday Market.

9. Wembley Stadium Sunday Market, c.1990s. (Image from the internet)

Popular music shows at the Empire Pool had begun in 1959, with the first single act concert by The Monkees in July 1967. Wembley hosted its first Stadium concerts in the early 1970s, and within a few years had become one of the “must play” venues for top performers on their tours. In July 1985, it staged the Live Aid charity concert, raising funds for famine relief in Africa, watched on television by an estimated 1.9 billion people around the world. The “Free Nelson Mandela” 70^th birthday concert in 1988 helped to bring about his release from prison, and Brent’s Mayor was able to welcome him to Wembley for an anti-apartheid concert in 1990.

10. The logo for Live Aid in 1985, and the 1988 birthday concert for Nelson Mandela. (From the internet)

The former Palace of Engineering was demolished in the early 1980s, to make way for more modern commercial and retail buildings. Under the planning agreement for this development, Brent Council adopted Olympic Way (a private road, built by Wembley Stadium in 1947/48) as a public highway. In 1991, when Wembley was a key part of England’s bid for UEFA’s Euro ’96 football tournament, the Council decided to pedestrianize this main route to the stadium.

As part of this scheme, a wide subway was created under Bridge Road, to give people on foot a safer journey to Olympic Way from Wembley Park Station. The walls of the subway were decorated with specially designed ceramic tile murals, celebrating sports and entertainment events from the history of the stadium and arena. Named “The Bobby Moore Bridge”, the new structure was opened in September 1993, by the widow of England’s 1966 World Cup-winning captain, who had died from cancer a few months earlier.

11. Two of the tile mural scenes in the Bobby Moore Bridge subway. (Photos by Philip Grant, 2009)

Wembley Stadium had been made all-seated (following the report on the 1989 Hillsborough tragedy), so that when Euro ’96 was staged in June 1996 it had a capacity of 76,500. England played all three of their group-stage matches there, including a 2-0 victory over Scotland. Wembley also saw the host nation’s quarter and semi-final games, and the final, won 2-1 by the reunited Germany v. the Czech Republic, after beating England on penalties in the semis.

12. Fans heading up Olympic Way for the England v. Scotland match, June 1996. (Image from internet)

Even before Euro ’96, Wembley Stadium was showing its age, and with its cast reinforced concrete structure, it was difficult to make major improvements. In 1995, the Sports Council announced that it would hold a competition to decide where a new National Football Stadium should be built. The prize would be £120 million, of National Lottery funding, towards the cost of building the new venue.

As well as other English cities, a number of boroughs in London wanted the new stadium sited in their area. Luckily, they were persuaded that Wembley had the best chance of success for the capital, and the final competition shortlist was between bids from Birmingham, Manchester and London. In the end, it was the world-famous name of Wembley, and the heritage of “the Venue of Legends”, built up since 1923, which won the day!

Next weekend, in the final part of this series, we will reach the 21^st century, and see how the new stadium, and other developments, changed the face of Wembley Park. I hope you will join me then.

Please feel free to add your memories, questions or comments in the box below.

Philip Grant.