South Kilburn Referendum

South Kilburn is being given a yes/no vote on whether regeneration should stop.  Given my past comments you might think I would welcome this. 

 This is not as democratic as it might appear since it leaves the community with a veto on whether anything happens at all but no apparent say on what might happen in future. These could include issues such as tenure mix, size of units, levels of affordability and so on.  The effects on shared services such as community infrastructure or possible district heating are unclear.  Just yes or no strikes me as an inadequate choice.

If the veto is cast, than it is unlikely that any redevelopment will be possible for many years.

Future Tory Homeless Policy

The picture below shows a Tory advert in circulation on twitter as a joke, but who can forecast the future?

How Much Does a Community Library Cost?

How Much Does a Community Library Cost?  That is the question I have occasionally asked.  Friends of Kensal Rise Library say it costs £100 a day to operate.  That would be £36,500 a year.

The trouble is that it is unclear what makes that figure up.  A proper costing would include the maintenance of the building, training for staff or volunteers, utility bills, cost of promoting events, cost of materials.  Transparently, it should also include the advice given by Brent Council  and any grants.

In the case of Kensal Rise, Brent Council has apparently given £100k which has been used for building work which should reduce the maintenance cost.  The original cost of when it was a Brent run facility are summarised in the original report. 

Wembley Troubadour Theatre

Wembley Troubadour Theatre has opened, giving Brent its second theatre after the Kiln, and marking out a major milestone in the Wembley regeneration.

This second theatre is a very different beast to the first.  It is very large at about 1,200 users in the audience, roughly four times the size of the Kiln.  It also sounds as if it will be taking shows from elsewhere and staging them rather than producing its own productions.

The new theatre is therefore in a fundamentally different business to the Kiln, but it should be an excellent thing in terms of diversifying Wembley from being just about the Stadium, and more towards a real community.

Progress on Streetlighting

Brent Council is currently installing LED lights on its street columns, which I have long advocated.  The new columns are expected to save the Council around 60% of its carbon emissions from street lighting.  I am not sure how much that is but street lighting is roughly the third biggest source of the Council's carbon emissions after property and transport.  The full year financial saving to the Council will be almost one million pounds.

Purpose of Libraries

Public Libraries News has a thoughtful piece on the core purpose of public libraries.  It is somewhat critical of the "Jack of All Trades" approach, which I think is one that Councils in themselves may particularly value.

Whilst I understand what is meant, having a service that can be flexible and accommodate all sorts of different needs is actually inherently valuable to a local authority that constantly needs to change with local circumstances.  A flexible service that can change from saying a toddler group in the morning to pensioners in the afternoon and school students in the evening is actually inherently valuable and potentially grows quite naturally out of the libraries aspirations to universalism.

I also think it is not always the case that "theatre does theatre better" and so on.  It is true that there are some theatres that do outstanding productions and some that do outstanding outreach work (our own Kiln Theatre for example), but there may well be whole groups of people who would literally never go near a conventional theatre as it may have all kinds of stereotypes associated with it.  Many people, for instance, might see the theatre as being for people of a certain class and age, whereas drama can be made accessible to all sorts of people who get a lot from it.  Some of the story telling and semi dramaticised readings that occur in Brent libraries may well fall into this category.  The same might be said of other artistic presentations such as dancing, various kinds of exercise and so on.   

Similarly, one doesn't have to approach the central aim of education/information provision in a Victorian sense of topdown "improvement.  One can easily see libraries as a form of self help and a means to give people tools to pursue their own ends. 

Where I do think the current approach is running into trouble is libraries are seen as kind of dumping grounds for activities that really need specialist.  The amount that libraries can do to help "disadvantaged groups" is easily overestimated.  People in such groups often need quite specialised support that a generalised library service simply cannot provide.  Still worse is the way that politicians have thoughtlessly just dumped public libraries with the task of providing help with universal credit.  This sort of thing really needs specialist knowledge of the benefit system, confidential IT access that libraries are seldom set up to provide and quite lengthy preparation time to go through forms whereas most libraries time-ration access to IT.

Provided that you bear in mind that you are mixing valid purposes that may have quite different rationales there is genuine value in this kind of public space.

Step Free Access at Willesden Green Tube

There is a long standing demand for step free access at Willesden Green Tube, as reported in the Brent Times.  Attaining this would be challenging and no short term project, although the Jubilee line is a natural place to put such an improvement as it already has a number of lifts at stations along the route.

The two main elements are getting the money and designing a scheme.

At present it seems quite optimistic to imagine that all the money could come from section 106 or Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) money.  I would think that some would have to be borne from TfL's disability adjustment grants.

As I understand it the favoured scheme at the moment would be that there be a bridge from the Station Parade side in what is now Mapesbury ward, that would stretch across to the main platform roughly half way along its length.  Thus a new station entrance would be created.  This would be expensive and disruptive to construct but it is possible.

Queensbury Appeal

The Inquiry into the Queensbury appeal I predicted has gone ahead a lot sooner than I expected.  It will be heard in the morning on 28 August.  I suspect that the applicant, given the history of refusals, had already lined up their case in anticipation of another refusal.

Queens Parade in Willesden High Road

The Queens Parade site in Willesden High Road has come back as an application, once again with a recommendation to be accepted.  The full details are published on page 77 here. 

Housing at Pharamond

I notice that a new housing block behind Pharamond, a Brent Council, housing development on Willesden Lane, is currently under discussion.  This appears to still be at an early stage.

Guidelines for Corbynista Outriders and Antisemitism

Paul Waugh has managed a scoop be getting hold of "the line" for Corbynista responses to the antisemitism crisis.  It is interesting to see the quite close connection he alleges between these unofficial spokespeople and some one in the Corbyn machine.  It is also quite striking how the matter still seems to be being dealt with as a public relations exercise rather than, you know, an actual problem in the Labour Party.

Gloucester and Durham Blocks in South Kilburn

A rumour has been started that Brent Council sold land to a developer for £3 million and has now bought it back for £92 million.  It is a classic case of data being cherrypicked to mislead people.

The land was sold for £3 million, I believe with the  empty tower blocks still on it.  The retention of the freehold by Brent suggest that buying it back was always envisaged.

Anyone familiar with the tower blocks of the old South Kilburn estate will know how awful those were.  Demolishing them could not have been a simple matter of blowing them up, since their sheer size would have risked damaging the surrounding buildings and the building dust would have been hazardous to everyone nearby.  Therefore the only way to clear the land for replacement building was through a relatively slow and costly dismantling.  This should be seen as an extra cost to the £3 million price.

There is then the cost of building the new housing blocks on the same site which further diminishes the effective gap between the cost that the land was sold at and the "buy back" price.  There was also the risk of delays, which gives an additional cost.

Further details are published on the Brent Council web site.

What is being made to sound like an outrageous rip off for the taxpayer actually makes better sense once you think about it.

The real rip offs occurring in Brent's public housing are the continuing right to buy which Eric Pickles keenly promoted and the introduction of permitted development in office space for it to be turned into slum housing.  The first results in Councils being forced to sell off property at a discount.  The property then being sold to commercial developers and then Council paid for tenants being placed there at great expense or actual repurchase of the buildings at market prices.  The second leads to poor quality housing that will lead to a series of social problems of which overcrowding is just one.

Willesden Library 125

Willesden Library will be celebrating its 125th anniversary on 18 July this year.  The original library was founded in 1894.  That library was largely demolished in the 1980s, with an updated building opening in 1989.  The 1980s building was taken down as the final part of the Libraries Transformation Project in 2012 and officially opened in September 2015. 

Bearing Grudges

In a remarkable display of bearing a grudge, Gloria De Piero's former office manager is going to stand against her in the Tory interest.

He says this is because he doesn't like Jeremy Corbyn, although Gloria De Piero is hardly known as Jeremy Corbyn's keenest supporter.  He also says that he loved his previous job working for the homeless, not exactly a cause widely identified with Tory priorities.

If he really doesn't like Jeremy Corbyn could he not find another party slightly less extreme?

Brent's Climate Emergency

Tonight, Brent Council is debating a Climate Emergency declaration, the text of which is now available. 

What I find curious about it is that it restores many of the features that were in place in 2010, but which seems to have been magically forgotten.  Thus, it doesn't mention:

• The Councils attempts to reduce transport emissions
• The very real efforts made through the planning rules to encourage renewable energy, water conservation, better insulation and generally more effective buildings in environmental terms
• The provision of monitoring to ensure that environmental targets are met although this was a feature of both the green charter and subsequently.
• The promotion of more recycling, less landfill and various waste reduction initiatives
• The more sustainable planting regime in Brent parks.

Even more oddly, it calls for a lead member to be tasked with driving a climate change agenda, which was part of my role from 2010 to 2013.  I am not sure when it was dropped as part of that portfolio.  It is possible that Cllr Roxanne Marshari who is proposing the motion for a climate emergency tonight , and was my immediate successor, might be able to say.  In any case, I welcome its return. 

I am also struck by the call for what sounds like a successor group to the climate change steering group.  This unfortunately had a chequered record as many of the participants did not seem to understand its purpose, and simply saw it as a way to

It also seems to omit some rather obvious consequences for Brent, which I would have thought relevant.  There are likely to more climate refugees in the decades to come, and such people often seem to come to Brent in preference to other parts of London or the UK.  There is no mention of the effect that many people consider likely on eating habits and food production, despite Park Royal being at the centre of many food supply networks. 

As I have remarked before, it is easy to sign various pledges, the difficult is following them up with effective action.

Restricting Car Use

A few days ago I suggested that getting serious cuts in carbon emissions was going to be a lot harder than just declaring an emergency.  Shortly afterward Martin Francis green activist and merry proponent of such declarations gave a good illustration of the problem.

Although Martin is a keen supporter of the extinction rebellion, when a school of which he is governor is required not to hire itself out for extra parking he soon complains of the lost revenue. In a separate post he implicitly decries the Tories for seeking to protect diesel drivers, which is something that raises quite similar issues.  These are quite trivial examples of the kind of changes needed to achieve zero carbon, yet a supposedly dedicated environmentalist baulks at the necessary restrictions on car use.

Rainbow Flag Raised at Brent Civic Centre

Today the Rainbow flag of Cooperation will be raised at Brent Civic Centre.  This is the first time that the Flag has been raised at the Civic Centre and the first time this flag was raised on behalf of the London Borough of Brent since the last century. 

Elected to the Harlesden Neighbourhood Forum

I went to Tavistock Hall on Thursday to attend the latest Harlesden Neighbourhood forum AGM.  I am now one of the Committee.  Following the success of the referendum, it will be interesting to see which way the group goes. 

Showing Up

I notice that during the recent Tory leadership hustings in Northern Ireland, Jeremy Hunt was asked about the members of the Northern Ireland Assembly still not sitting.  He was reported in the Guardian as suggesting that:

"Hunt says it is totally unacceptable that MLA (members of the legislative assembly) are being paid when they are not sitting and not doing their job."

I wonder whether he is going to extend that logic to Westminster MPs, especially those from Northern Ireland that do not take their seats?

2022 Brent Ward Boundaries Announced

The LGCBE has reported back with its final report on the Borough of Brent.  As I expected, the final report largely follows the provisional one.  Although this could still technically be changed, it is very unlikely to be.

A lot of the debate in the final round of consultation appears to be around the ward names, with the provisional names being simplified.

The changes to the boundaries from the provisional map are slight.  The most consequential is the inclusion of more of the old Harlesden ward in to the new Harlesden and Kensal Green ward.  The LGCBE also now include the whole of Willesden High Road in the Willesden Green ward (which combines the northern part of the old Willesden Green with the southern part of Dudden Hill).  A summary of the report has been published.

It is worth noting that 12 of the wards actually contravene electoral balance limit of 10% on existing boundaries, but they are all expected to fall into line by 2024.  This might well be different if the franchise changes, as it well might, or the predicted population changes don't happen. The worst variance on current electorate figures is new Wembley Park ward which is currently  44% below what it should be.

On the submissions, only nine Brent councillors chose to make submissions on their opinions of what the boundaries should be, and only the Cooperative Party and the Conservative Party chose to make any comment.  I find that slightly odd as the Labour Party certainly agreed a response so I wonder why it was not sent in. The councillors who are listed as commenting are:

Councillor A. Aden

Councillor M. Butt

Councillor S. Choudhary

Councillor L. Colacicco

Councillor T Dar

Councillor L. Dixon

Councillor J. Long

Councillor M. McLennan

Councillor N. Nerva

UPDATE 03.07.19 (13.09 pm)

I have just heard that there was "confusion" as to who was supposed to send the submission in, and that some one has chosen to resign their officer post as a consequence.

 

Calls to Halt Housing Regeneration

I notice that there is a call to halt all new regeneration going ahead.  This is problematic for several reasons. 

Firstly, halting work on such projects creates a cash problem for whoever is funding the work.  Typically, private developers need the work to be completed as soon as possible since they don't get any funding until they can start selling the properties.  Halting regeneration is therefore a call for landbanking by another name.

Secondly a key part of dealing with the climate emergency that I suspect Brent Council is about to declare requires changes to housing stock since out of date housing stock is responsible for much of the UK's climate change emissions.  There is flat contradiction in declaring this an urgent problem and then refusing to try to reduce the emissions.   Admittedly new housing is only part of that solution, with retrofitting of huge importance as well, but anyone who just wants to block regeneration clearly doesn't believe reducing carbon emissions is urgent business.

Thirdly, the problem that seems to be complained about above is mould growing on some of the buildings.  That might quite easily be down to poor management of them rather than anything to do with construction, so the process of halting new build is unlikely to address the problem that has been identified.

Fourthly, anyone who knows Brent knows that we have (a) a massive, and I mean massive, shortage of housing supply in raw units or in types of housing (b) a crisis of affordability with many people totally unable to find remotely affordable housing.

Is this just another case of ill considered protest politics?

Brent Climate Emergency Petition

A new Climate Emergency petition has been started for Brent.  What I find odd about this is that it seems to take little notice of Brent's existing policies.  These have already seen Brent cut its carbon emissions by about 40%.  The authors sound as if they are unaware of Brent's numerous planning and transport policies to reduce emissions, or the move to reduce emissions through better street lighting, or Brent's Energy Plan, or the work in schools, or the work on waste processing.  An idea of the sheer range of things that Brent Council is simultaneously supporting can be found in the Brent Civic Centre project (at the time of opening said to be the greenest building in Europe). 

Have the people behind this petition only just woken up to the climate change issue?

The Perils of Outside Funding

The ongoing problems at the City Farm in Camden illustrate the problems that Councils are dealing with as they are seeking to balance their budgets.  It is not hard to see that the Farm is currently loss making and has received advance warning that Camden Council will cut funding in 2022, possibly altogether.

The Board are then left trying to get a plan that will be credible in the long term.  Staff have responded with a short term rescue plan which sounds as if it will tide the organisation over briefly but not for long. 

This follows a donor offering to plug the gap temporarily but at the cost of firing the Board.  Firing the Board in such circumstances would make it hard to recruit anyone else, and also difficult to implement a longer term survival package.   The latest plan to be accepted by the board also seems to include as yet unspecified changes to staff contracts, which sound as if they are likely to be changed in a fairly one sided way.

It also testifies to the extraordinary degree of control that some rich individuals feel they should have over public institutions.

Active Borrowers at Brent Libraries

Despite the travails at Willesden Library, Brent Council is still claiming that:

"Brent has the 9th highest number of active borrowers in London out of 29 reporting authorities,increasing to 6th highest in Outer London."

This is some comfort after the fall in borrowing in last year's figures.  Hopefully, the current efforts to improve the presentation of the stock will help make the performance better this year.

Improved Accessibility at the Kiln Theatre

The Kiln Theatre and cinema has a vastly improved accessibility offer since it reopened with its current season.  Something that those who have been critical of its refurbishment would perhaps like to think about.  Above is a recent performance by a group to a ESOL audience

The Momentum/JVL Split

To those of outside either of these groups, the split between them is hard to explain.  JVL in my view have repeatedly served as a body seeking to belittle complaints of antisemitism in the Labour Party that have led to the EHRC investigation. 

Challenge in Peterborough By-election

We have occasionally seen talk of challenges to election results in Brent elections.  They usually amount to nothing.  The apparent challenge in Peterborough at least goes through the proper process of an application to the High Court.  I must say it is somewhat ironic that one of the key figures behind the widely criticised 2016 EU referendum should be suggesting abuse of process.

Snowflake to Appear at the Kiln Theatre at Christmas

Indhu Rubasingham yesterday announced that Snowflake will appear at the Kiln Theatre at Christmas.  The original was created for the Old Fire Station in Oxford, but the play is being reset for Kilburn. 

Brent Momentum Bulletin

I am indebted to Martin Francis for publishing the latest Brent Momentum bulletin.  It is good to see that the group remains in touch with its natural fan base. 

What is most striking is the absence of any interest in the Brexit issue, which if it goes through in its "no deal" format will lead to both social and economic collapse in the UK.

The second thing to note is that all the areas mentioned are complaints about Brent Council.  Momentum generally bills itself as leading the charge against the Conservative government, but in this document the Conservatives and any other party that opposes the Labour Party get largely ignored.  There seems to be little attention to the problems of the NHS and social services for example. 

Taking Back Control

Random Thought.

I wonder how those who believe in "taking back control" and glory in the sacredness of the democratic mandate from the Brexit referendum square that with the fact that tiny proportion of the population that belong to the Conservative Party are able to select the next Prime Minister?

Queens Park Book Festival

The Queens Park book festival is set for 29 June to 30 June.  This has been going for some years, and has become well established. Whatever the LGCBE says, I doubt whether they will be changing its name to the "Kensal Green East" festival.

The Queensbury Planning Application Refused

The Queensbury application has been refused yet again.  I have no doubt this will please groups such as Save Our Queensbury, but at some stage a planning application for this site will be granted, because that is how the planning system works.  Sites cannot just be endlessly refused.  Each refusal comes with reasons, and eventually this will box the Planning Committee into what they can refuse and what they can't. 

This site will either be successfully appealed or there will be a new application at some point. 

Protest at Willesden Library Centre

I have now been to the Brent Journey to Justice exhibition in the Brent Museum.  This runs through a number of American, British and local protest campaigns.

One that startled me was Brent's own Libraries Transformation Project which presents Brent Council in an unfavourable light with no mention for instance of its successful defence of the policy in the 2011-2012 judicial review or the Secretary of State's decision not to order a review.  This one sided approach is particularly notable given that the very building that houses the exhibition, Willesden Library Centre, would not exist if the litigants had had their way (a fact unmentioned in the exhibition).

The second is a note of praise for the Stop the war group who are described as organising anti-war activities in Brent.   This is at best a half truth since the group only seems to object to campaigns where British troops are committed not to more numerous and more deadly conflicts such as Syria.

I wonder if Brent Council is actually following its own guidelines on this?

European Elections 2019

I have now seen a ward break down for the European elections earlier this year, and they show a mixed picture from the Labour point of view.

For instance in Kensal Green, the Liberal Democrats beat Labour by a modest margin and the Greens came third.  The Brexit Party were a very poor fourth and the Tories came behind even Change UK.  In a parliamentary election on those figures the Tories would have lost their deposit.  It is an indication that local voters are very much of a "remain" orientation but without the remain vote have a natural home.  I think it also shows that the Labour Party's mixed Brexit stance really isn't working and is leading to a draining away of support, something the party urgently needs to correct.

Other parts of the Borough also have a mixed picture.

What this doesn't tell you much about is future elections since, barring Council by elections, the current ward boundaries will never be contested again.

Overall, Labour still won in Brent, with the Liberal Democrats a fairly poor second.  The Brexit Party was third, just ahead of the Tories and the Greens came fifth.

How Many Council Houses Should Labour Plan to Build?

Red Brick blog asks how many Council houses should Labour plan to build?  In discussing the calls of a new campaign group, it asks the sensible question: "Do they really expect an incoming Labour chancellor to set a housing budget which is five times its current level and to be able to spend it from virtually a standing start?".

As we get closer to a General Election asking about the deliverability of Labour promises becomes more important.  If only because the electorate will need to believe the credibility of the promises that the Labour Party makes if it is going to vote for them.   That is not just about money.  It also involves trade offs around types of tenure, size of unit, availability of land and political resistance (sometimes from Labour's own councillors).

I am unsure how far the Party is prepared for these kind of questions. 

Apparent U-turn from Brent Green Party

I have been alerted to an apparent u-turn by Brent Greens, who have decided to change their policy to oppose the turning of libraries over to volunteers.  This follows years when they appeared to argue the complete opposite in respect of Cricklewood Library, Kensal Rise Library, Barham Library and Preston Library.  All these "libraries" are organisations operating in Brent and claim to be offering library services, although I am not sure how far they actually do so.  Indeed I am not sure that it is even possible to run a volunteer run library on a sustainable basis in all but a very particular set of circumstances.

The point was a major reason for the legal challenge to Brent Council over implementing the Libraries Transformation Project.

I wonder what caused this change of heart?

Second Screen at the Lexi?

The Lexi is planning to apply for a second cinema screen at its Chamberlayne Road site.  As far as I can work out from the sketch plans I have seen it would be towards the back of the current cinema.  Rather oddly they don't seem to include any description of the proposal on their web site.

As I understand it multi-screen cinemas are seen as the key to commercial viability in the industry.

The Cinema is hoping to show public support via a petition.  They are also hoping that Brent Council will support the scheme via a large grant of taxpayers money. 

Brent's Journey to Justice

Today Brent Museum should be hosting a history of political protests called "Brent's Journey to Justice."  It also features the work of contemporary artists.

Welsh Harp Education Centre

A reminder about sometimes "Council Cuts" can be turned to good account is the Welsh Harp Education Centre. This was proposed for closure in both 2011 and 2015, but is now operating without any Council funding, thanks to being transferred to Thames21.  Proof that a simple "just say no" approach is misguided.

The Queensbury is Back

The Queensbury development is coming back to Brent Planning Committee on 19 June.  The Queensbury has a long and bitter history of argument.  My own view is that the current application is a great improvement on previous ones.

Officers have recommended approval. 

The Absurdity of a No Deal Brexit

The ridiculousness of our national debate on Brexit never seems to hit rock bottom.  I wonder how many of those who demand a "no deal" Brexit on 31 October actually realise that if we crashed out without a deal, we would go back to the EU the next and say "now we would like to do a deal".  That is the problem with political suicide, you always wake up the next morning.

What has Happened to the Foreign Office?

There are reports of a growing confrontation between Scotland and the Republic of Ireland over fishing rights around Rockall, an island that the UK annexed in 1955.  This is currently being led by the administration in Holyrood, where Fiona Hyslop MSP, "minister for external affairs" no less,  is sending vessels to warn the Irish off.

Since foreign affairs are a reserved matter, why is this not the province of the Foreign Office?  Indeed why does Holyrood have a minister of external affairs?  Does the UK government not recognise the independence of the Republic, and shouldn't it be handling any disputes whilst the Irish/British relationship is so sensitive as a result of Brexit?

It does generally illustrate the general uselessness of the government at Westminster.

Brent Gambles on the Voluntary Sector

Brent Council is apparently considering staking its money on a community lottery.  The proceeds will supposedly go the voluntary sector, although if you look at the detail of the report only 50% of the proceeds are earmarked in that direction.  The Council's reports suggests that the contract for the new scheme should be passed without a normal tendering process, and that the favoured company should rake in no less than 40% of the proceeds.  The final 10% would be taken by the Council itself. 

I find all this frankly repugnant.  Gambling is inherently fraudulent because the organisation operating it has to fix the odds against the users disadvantage.  Brent itself has a huge gambling problem, with a heavy concentration of betting shops that are deeply unpopular with local residents.  Reducing gambling has been an aim of progressive campaigners for years, because it is known to ruin peoples lives.  For Brent Council to start promoting gambling is firstly a mockery of previous attempts to restrict gambling and secondly a moral abnegation.   

Cheating your residents out of their money is no way for a proper public authority to behave.

Something Fishy at The Queensbury

Brent Council is accused of missing various deadlines in the run up to a planning inquiry on the Queensbury pub in Willesden.  Together with the strange situation further along Willesden High Road, I get a sense of unease about what Brent is doing. 

The Planning Committee appears to have decided to oppose both applications.  The Council officers are now required to oppose them whatever their private opinions may be.  I pointed this out long ago relating to another case.  Of course, it is open to the Inspector to decide whether he agrees, but the Council officers have no choice but to defend the Committe's decision.

Brent Council Turns Cooperative

With little fanfare, Brent has become a Cooperative Council, that is part of the Co-operative Councils' Innovation Network, a group of Councils that seek to apply Cooperative principles to Council affairs.  The CCIN states these principles as:

Co-operatives are based on the values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity.  In the tradition of their founders, co-operative members believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others.

As Chair of the Brent & Harrow Cooperative Party, I obviously welcome the Councils' conversion, and I shall be fascinated to see how these principles are brought into practice.  

Low Take Up of European Votes in Brent

A sidelight in the Guardian relating to the shockingly low take up of votes in the recent European Parliament elections says that:

"In Brent in north-west London, which has the highest number of EU nationals in the country, only 20.74% of voters who were sent the forms by the council returned them on time."

Remember that Brent has around 15% of its registered voters as EU nationals, rising to 23% in Alperton.

Deserved Praise for Brent Libraries

Nice to see some unaffected praise for Brent libraries from  Joseph Coelho.  He he specifically visited Kilburn and Willesden libraries, both beneficiaries of the Libraries Transformation Project; one as a major refurbishment and the other as a completely new build.

Harlesden Area Action at the Royal Oak

The next meeting of the Harlesden Area Action group, which is behind the Neighbourhood Plan successfully voted through last week, is meeting next on Saturday 8 June at the Royal Oak in Harlesden High Street. 

The Fallacy of Community

Preston Community Library has illustrated a major fallacy with their previous campaign as a result of the planning process over what to do with that building next.  As with most such campaigns, it claimed to represent "the community" as having a single view.

In fact a community of any size will have various views on any subject.  We have seen during the Brexit process that seeking to drown out opposing views on the pretence that there is only one "will of the people" is a thoroughly divisive tactic.  Politics exists precisely to create compromises in such disputes. 

Incidentally, I see no reason to rescind the comments I made on Brent Council's position on this building or its status as a community asset. 

How Things Used to be

A short reminder of how race relations used to work can be found in the Brent Archives in an item covering the British Empire Exhibition.  Black people from Africa were actually imported and expected to act out "traditional African activities" so that the crowds of sightseers could gawp at them.

Labour Party Election Organisation

The coverage of the Labour Party's failure in the recent European elections (the lowest showing in a national poll since December 2010) has rightly concentrated on the incompetent triangulation policy on Brexit, but I also wonder about the organisational side of things.

I have heard accusations that there was an extreme, controlling element at the centre that frankly failed to do very basic things like proof read properly.  If so that is a damning indictment of the wholesale reorganisation that followed Iain McNicol's departure in early 2018.  Since then Labour has had a poor showing in the local elections and a worse showing in the European elections.  If the Party has been rendered incapable of the kind of campaign basics that in the 2017 General Election it just took in its stride, that bodes very ill for any future election prospects.

Yesterday's Times poll showing a Liberal Democrat surge may well only be temporary but unless Labour sorts itself out on the Brexit message and the organisational side, it could be in terminal trouble.

Harlesden Neighbourhood Plan Voting

Altogether 1,274 people voted on the Harlesden Neighbourhood Plan, which is not at all bad for such and abstruse subject.  Just over 89% of votes were in favour.

Pete Willsman Suspension

The suspension of Pete Willsman after a video of him blaming "Israeli agents" for the anti-semitism scandals in the Labour Party emerged underlines just how necessary the EHRC enquiry is.  A statutory enquiry by an independent body is now the only conceivable way to solve this problem.

Facts about the Harlesden Neighbourhood Plan

After I went to vote on the Neighbourhood Plan yesterday, I came across some one who made all sorts of frankly false assertions about it.  Anyone who wants to know the real facts can look them up on the online copy publicly available.

Anyone who asserts to you that there will be buildings of x many stories, or that there will be no affordable housing, or that all the parking spaces disappear is frankly just making up stories.  The reason is that, as with any planning document, the new plan is providing guidance to applicants.  It would be up to an applicant to put out the details of the plan, including say the number of units and the size of the units.

What strikes me as odd is why do people just make stuff up and go around asserting that it these are facts?  What is the point of inventing this misinformation?

UPDATE

I understand that the Neighbourhood Plan got the thumbs up from voters.

Harlesden Neighbourhood Plan Referendum

Today is the day of the Harlesden Neighbourhood Plan referendum.  The set up is exactly the same as any local election.  You can vote if you are on the electoral register. The polling stations are the usual ones, and the hours of opening are also 7am to 10pm.

EHRC Investigation Now Official

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has finally announced the formal start of its investigation into anti-Jewish racism in the Labour Party.  This has been on the cards for quite a while.  I suppose they were concerned about a formal announcement in the run up to the European Parliament elections.  The purpose of the investigation is to:

"The investigation will seek to determine whether unlawful acts have been committed by the party and/or its employees and/or its agents; and whether the Party has responded to complaints of unlawful acts in a lawful, efficient and effective manner.”

Dismal as it is that the Labour Party has sunk so low, it seems to me to be the only way forward for the Party to start cleaning up its act and come back to its traditions.

The Shawl in Harlesden High Street

The Neighbourhood Plan I mentioned yesterday also included a pub protection policy, which would include The Shawl in Harlesden High Street.  There is another reason to protect this building, which is its historical interest.  It is the original Harlesden Methodist Church, and also the oldest church building in Harlesden (older than All Souls Harlesden). The foundation stone is dated 1869. 

And Now for a Harlesden Neighbourhood Plan

Following the European Parliament vote on Thursday, those in the Harlesden/Kensal Green area have the right to vote on a Neighbourhood Plan for the area.  I intend to support it.  It has a number of ideas of long standing, such as: truncating the Town Centre to make it more compact;  increasing the supply of homes and reducing homelessness; getting a central community space.

Unstaffed Libraries in Barnet

A number of local authorities have gone down the road of having libraries unstaffed.  Thanks to the Save Barnet Libraries campaign we now have some sort of performance measurement (using figures they attribute to Barnet Council).

They say that:

"36,964 people have now registered for pin codes to access unstaffed libraries. This apparently represents over two thirds of active library users from 2017-18 (the year that the branches were closed to implement the cuts)."

They also suggest that a further 187,000 holders of library cards do not have pin numbers any more.  That suggests to me a big fall in usage.

Not Voting for the European Parliament

There has been considerable disgruntlement over the inability of many EU nationals to vote.  Many seem to have been turned away from polling stations because they did not sign a form promising not to vote in their home countries on the same day.

This is a long standing practice which I believe is in line with Home Office guidance, so it is not Brent Council's fault.  Critics have suggested a breach of equality principles since one group are being set a test that other groups are not.  There may well be a case for such argument, although I can't see what the remedy would be.  Certainly UK citizens with a second home don't seem to be given a similar hoop to jump through.

The unhappiness with which many people regard this denial of their right to vote is perhaps a reminder to those strong Brexiteer who never wanted to have these elections in the first place that not everyone thinks as they do.

Marina Hyde in Tomorrow's Guardian

Marina Hyde has exceeded herself in tomorrow's Guardian.  I easpecially like the Tory succession contest as a "summer camp for excluded adults."

Seven Fairtrade Myths

For the moment, Brent remains a Fairtrade Borough, despite some attempts to backtrack.  The Faritrade foundation has recently posted a blog demonstrating why some of the myths around Fairtrade are just untrue. 

A Contrast in Libraries

A contrast in libraries can be seen in this Guardian report.  Australian libraries are seeing increasing usage in Australia, just as they have in Brent.  In the UK in general though there is a picture of sharp decline.

I suspect the reason for this distinction is that libraries in Australia (and in Brent) have been effective in modernising, especially in embracing new technology and offering flexible hours.  Most libraries services in England, by contrast, have concentrating solely on reducing resources rather than repurposing them. 

Continuing Access to Cash

Access to cash was debated in Westminster Hall yesterday by MPs.  There is a real danger that access will be severely restricted by government fiat, and (as Seema Malhotra MP argues) this will impact marginal groups disproportionately.  There is a wealth of evidence to support this. 

Most Pointless Protest

I am still bemused by the phenomenon of what have called the "Protestival".  This is an ostensibly political protest where actually achieving the supposed objective is irrelevant.  It is the activity itself which is the point.  Politics as performance art, as it were.

Thus multiple supposed causes can be mashed up together.  The objectives such as zero carbon by 2025 can be unobtainable, and the behaviour of the protesters themselves can contradict their own campaign, as when Omar Barghouti attends an Israeli university, for example.  Or Emma Thompson flys in and flys out of a zero carbon protest that would seek to drastically cut anyone's ability to fly.  Even more strangely, people can apparently revel in being the "most pointless protest of 2018" award by The Stage Magazine. 

Truly we live in an age of limitless chutzpah.

Brent Cabinet Agenda

Brent Cabinet appears to be doing a first ever tonight, by holding a meeting where are literally no reports on the agenda.  I have never seen such a thing before.  Usually there are at least a few minor items.  It is followed by a General Purposes Committee with a similarly thin agenda.

Why hold the meetings at all?

Carbon Capture in the North Sea

I notice the Dutch are seeking to pioneer the largest carbon capture scheme in the world under the North Sea.  Given the size of the UK's oil and gas industry, and our long held marine engineering expertise, this is the kind of project we should be pioneering in order to develop a more "green" economy.

Kiln Theatre Community Play

Kiln Theatre is appealing for cast members from the local community for a new play.  The wording of their advert says:

Do you have a desire to act, dance, sing, sew, people manage or make stuff? Then get in touch with us and be part of the first community play to take place on our new stage, written by Chinonyerem Odimba, directed by Katie Posner and designed by Lily Arnold. The play celebrates the history of care and migration in Brent, and is based on local stories from different communities in the area. The performances are from 25 – 28 September.

No prior experience is needed, just the desire to take part and the ability to commit to Wednesday evenings and Saturday rehearsals from July. Recruitment workshops will take place 8 & 9 June (venue & times TBC).

Over 100 people from the north London community are needed to create our production. This is the culmination of our two-year project A Friendly Society, made possible by funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the generous support of the national lottery players.

To sign up go to KilnTheatre.com/AFS, or call us on 020 7372 6611. We’re looking forward to meeting you!

If you would like any more information please don’t hesitate to get in touch with nickgibson@KilnTheatre.com.

2019 Brent Library Figures on Visits and Loans

The new Brent library figures are out, and it appears that the long run of rising issues and visits is now over.  The 2018/2019 financial year showed a decline in visits from 2,547,168 last year to 2,505,502 (down 1.6%).  Loans went from 1,045,967 to 969,812 (down 7.3%).

These figures were clearly not helped by the interruption at Willesden Library in July.  Willesden accounts for almost one in five Brent loans.  However, the reduced activity appears to have been fairly broadly split across all six libraries.  There is a particular fall off in loans during the last quarter, which may have been related to the expected cut in library budgets that never in the event occurred.

It is also worth noting that the only Brent library where visits went up significantly during the year was Wembley Library (where they went up 3.6%).  This makes me more sceptical that there is miscounting based on the physical structure of the library.  Wembley Library has, after, had the same layout since in opened in June 2013. 

Planning Plebiscite

There seems to be some confusion about the Local Neighbourhood Forum's plan for Harlesden and Kensal Green.  This has been worked up by local people.  It builds on the Harlesden Town Charter scheme and visibly borrows from that document, which underlay all the Town Centre improvements of the last few years.  I think it is very positive, and if passed would create an officially recognised framework for the Planning Committee to refer to in its decisions.

The voting is quite straightforward.  If you are on the electoral register, you can vote.  I explained the area covered in my previous post.  The polling stations are as usual.  I know I have already been sent a polling card, but as with other elections, you don't need one in order to vote.

Farm in Brent

The Kilburn Times carries a story about a school farm in Wembley, which sounds a really excellent idea.  Perhaps Brent Council should look around the Borough and see it can find sites for a City Farm. 

Antisemitism and the Left

Dave Rich, of the Community Security Trust (CST), has an interesting take on antisemitism on the "Left".  He suggests that the operations of high finance are for cultural reasons seen as inherently Jewish.  The lack of actual Jews is seen by antisemites as irrelevant.  I am not sure I buy that argument, but it is an interesting take.

Incidentally, the "Left" at the time he is talking about (1900s) encompassed not just the Labour Party, but also the Liberal Party (which was the governing Party at the time).

Intimidating Election Campaigners

The government appears to be strengthening the law regarding intimidating candidates and campaigners in elections, which is sadly necessary and overdue.  This has been a problem since at least the Scots independence referendum.

MP Expenses: MPs Return to their Folly.

Yesterday's Telegraph had a front page splash on how a few MPs are once again gaming the expenses system.  The sheer recklessness of this amazes me.  During the previous scandal MPs had built up obviously dubious claims that they probably never expected to be made public knowledge.  The Telegraph's report yesterday simply uses information that the MPs must have known would be in the public domain.  How can they not have had the common sense to see what such claims would do to their reputation?

A Sidelight on Brent Greens

A curious sidelight on Brent Greens is that when I was on the Brent Green website recently, I found the following as an opening paragraph:

"We may enjoy the perks of living in London, but face a burden of environmental hazards that cause us STRESS.

Some of this stress may be short term, like being stuck on an overcrowded bus with noise and pollution from a gridlocked road. 

Some stress might be chronic, such as living or working next to a busy road (perhaps the North Circular or Edgware Road). 

As humans we can adapt, but at the same time, we're only human and should question why its always us who needs to compromise? 

The quality of the air we breathe, the condition of housing, pavements, potholes, vandalism, crime and litter are all environmental issues   

These urban issues relating to traffic, noise, over-crowding, our streets, shoddy housing or poor neighbourhood infrastructure can be fixed. Perhaps not by any one approach, but we can learn from other countries that are making sensible long-term decisions. 

This means if anyone will solve these problems it will be us. It’s why we doubled our presence on London Councils in 2014 and represent you with Sian & Caroline on the London Assembly. We think the problems in Brent can be dealt with through intelligence, discipline and hard work - and that is why we need to lead. If you wish to be part of that, please get in touch. "

Absolutely no mention of climate change. Curious.

Volunteers in Merton Libraries

I have pointed out before that Merton has an interesting model of using volunteer extensively in Council libraries whilst retaining Council staff. They argue this is a great success.  Whether it is or not it is certainly different from the Volunteer Libraries model.  Incidentally their suggestion that they have widened opening hours is also true of Brent.

Harlesden Local Referendum on 30 May

Most people by now will have got their polling cards for the European Parliament elections on 23 May by now.  These elections are more important than people give them credit for since who knows how long we might remain in the European Union?  I certainly would not trust much to the various UK government pledges.

The next week there will be a Harlesden Referendum on the local Neighbourhood plan.  This is not dissimilar in content to the Harlesden Town Charter.  The area covered by the referendum runs from All Souls Avenue in the east to the furthest boundary of the current Harlesden ward in the West.  This is an area very similar to the proposed new Harlesden ward under the LGCBE and the Brent & Harrow Cooperative Party proposals.  It builds on and fleshes out many of the Town Charter ideas.

Half God of Rainfall Recommended

I went to the Half God of Rainfall on Monday, which strikes me as the Kiln's most ambitious production since Red Velvet.  By ambitious, I mean in its demands on the two performers who are required to do a very physical performance at the same time as declaiming in a kind of mythic language which is not easy to carry off.  Between the two of them they also need to play an impressive range of roles and maintain the energy of the drama, which mashes up Greek/Nigerian mythos and topical #MeToo and colonialist themes for a sustained period.  All very well worth seeing.

Working to Remove Food Banks

Over the past few years, an idea has taken hold that food banks are an essential and praiseworthy phenomenon.  Without devaluing the effort put in by volunteers, it is worth pointing out that the Labour Movement spent the first half of the twentieth century trying to get rid of similar arrangements through the introduction of an ever more comprehensive welfare state.

Now Councils boost of how much they are using them, often using them for photo opportunities.

Previous generations of politicians would have shunned them as stigmatizing people, reducing liberty and reinforcing class consciousness.

Fewer Litterbins as Council Stealth Cuts Bite

One of the ways in which Brent Council can cope with the diminishing resources available is steadily removing litterbins from the streets.  This is now happening.  Politically it has the advantage of being low profile to the point of new being noticed at all, but it does undoubtedly lead to dirtier streets.

Do the Scottish Greens and the SNP Believe in Fossil Fuel Divestment?

South of the border, fossil fuel divestment is being urgently promoted by people at demonstrations, although they seem to think it is a imposition to put on big businesses rather than something that any rational business should be thinking about anyway.

The reason I say that is that the cost of carbon is steadily rising as environmental (Pigouvian) taxes and charges mount up.  This seems a one way street as governments commit more and more to binding climate change targets.  Large scale extraction companies and energy users essentially rely at the moment on not having to cover their full costs in terms of ongoing pollution or long term clean up.

Until very recently however, the SNP and Scottish Green financial plans seemed to rely on North Sea Oil and Gas for tax revenues.  During the Indyref I frequently spoke to people who thought this was the solution to all Scotland's financial problems.  Quite aside from the structural issues around either the "Dutch Effect" or a massive drop in oil prices, there is the long term problem that that industry is ultimately doomed.  Countries such as Australia that are similarly extraction biased are open to the same problem.

At present the SNP and the Greens seem to talk about dealing with climate change without realising the effect it would have on a standalone Scottish economy. 

Marxism and Jeremy Corbyn

I have started coming across references to Jeremy Corbyn being a "Marxist" referred to as smears.  If he is a Marxist it is certainly not in the classical sense of someone believing that socio-economics forces based on historical materialism drive the forces of history.  Nor does he seem to accept the classic Marxist argument that modern society is a conflict between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat and that determines the pattern of society.  If he did he would regard many of his standard themes of racism and so on as being essentially irrelevant, or even as attempts by the embattled bourgeoisie to practice "divide and rule" tactics.

Instead he appears to believe in a world essentially with only one divide between a tiny wealthy minority (the 1%) and everyone else ("The People"), and "the People" who seem a curiously homogeneous group given their numbers and diversity who essentially agree with him.  The only thing stopping the triumph of the popular will is hinted at as some dark of conspiracy of state agencies and tiny unrepresentative groups.  A recent expression of this world view (from 2011) was uncovered by Danny Finkelstein in The Times.  

Back when he first stood for the leadership however, he certainly seemed to regard Marx as an important intellectual influence, and I don't think he would have recognised the term as a "smear" at all.

That makes him quite different to John McDonnell, who seems to be a possibly heterodox Marxist or indeed some of Jeremy's online supporters such as Ash Sarkar, who described herself as "literally a Communist". 

Brent's Journey to Justice

From mid June, the Brent Museum will be hosting an exhibition featuring the famous Nelson Mandela scroll from the early 1990s.

The exhibition will feature items on various campaigns for justice around the world.

Change UK off to a Stuttering Start

Change UK seems to be struggling to get itself together.  It doesn't seem to have anybody who has thought about the logistics of putting a party together.  First there was the uninspired name, which I imagine came simply out of the truism that voters always tend to be welcome the generic idea of "change".  Unfortunately in this case there appears to be no real idea of what the change is to be.  All sorts of better brands could have been put forward e.g. the National Party, the One Nation Party, Progressive Party and no doubt many others.

Then it seems not have been aware of how the European voting system works, a failing which is surprisingly common among politicians.

It also seems to have rejected the idea of a deal with the Liberal Democrats out of hand.  This seems especially odd as it appears to be the group's intention to particularly appeal to Liberal Democrat voters.

I haven't seen such a bumbling group since those people glued themselves to Jeremy Corbyn's fence.