Sunday 24 August 2014

Wembley ASDA want to extend the hours of their 'Click and Collect' Centre


ASDA Wembley has applied to Brent Council Planning Committee to extend the hours of its Click and Collect station at the store from 8am-8pm to 8am-10pm.

There may just be time for nearby residents to send their opinions to the Council LINK

The flats above the Welford Centre are the nearest residences to the station.


Friday 22 August 2014

On Yer Trike: The Perils of Taking A Principled Stand

I am reprinting  this excellent article by Aisha Maniar from her website One Small Window... LINK

Aisha reflects on the summer controversy over the Tricycle Theatre's rejection of Israeli government funding during the current Gaza conflict and its wider ramifications.

Showing solidarity…
 
The targeting of Gaza’s infrastructure, including its only power plant, and UN safe havens where unarmed civilians sought shelter has inspired some Latin American states to recall their ambassadors to Israel, effectively cutting diplomatic ties in protest. Elsewhere, the international community has largely maintained a deafening silence on the latest war and destruction of the Gaza Strip. Some states have signalled their tacit approval of possible war crimes. On the other hand, the solidarity of ordinary people has been well demonstrated in this conflict as millions of people worldwide have taken to the streets of their cities in solidarity with the beleaguered people of Gaza.

In Britain, the response has been varied and has involved solidarity actions as diverse as pop star Zayn Malik tweeting “#FreePalestine”, for which he received death threats, to England cricketer Moeen Ali wearing “Free Palestine” and “Free Gaza” wristbands, which were later banned by the International Cricket Council on the basis that they were political and in breach of the rules. With the England Cricket Board (ECB) and others agreeing that the bands were humanitarian and not political, the action received widespread support.

Many ordinary people have chosen to take peaceful direct action through boycotts of companies and products that support Israel. As elsewhere in Europe, the BDS (Boycott, Divest and Sanction) movement has been gaining traction. As part of a national day of protest against the supermarket chain Sainsbury’s on 2 August, activists in Brixton, south London, closed down two shops. Other similar protests have been held outside other retailers.

The UK’s continuing military support and arming of Israel has been targeted. Protests have been held outside and in Barclays Bank due to its investment in arms sales to Israel, leading in some cases to temporary branch closures. Amnesty International has set up a petition calling on the UK government to end all arms sales to Israel: “We must not facilitate war crimes”. On 5 August, nine activists from the London Palestine Action group successfully closed down a drone component factory owned by Israeli defence contractor Elbit Systems in Staffordshire for two days. The 9 were forcedly removed and charged with aggravated trespass, and are due to appear in court on 20 August. The Campaign against The Arms Trade (CAAT) has announced it is bringing legal action against the British government “unless it stops sending arms to Israel and conducts a review of its current arms export licences”.

…at the Tricycle

Against this backdrop, an arts protest might seem almost twee or hipster. Applying the “think global, act local” philosophy, this month a small theatre in north London has found itself at the centre of a storm pitting it against the full force of the powerful pro-Israel lobby and the duplicity of the mainstream media.

The Tricycle Theatre in Kilburn, north London, has hosted the UK Jewish Film Festival (UKJFF) for the past 8 years of the festival’s 17-year history. This year, however, in a statement dated 5 August, now permanently removed from its website, the theatre announced, “Given the situation in Israel and Gaza, we do not believe that the festival should accept funding from any party to the current conflict… [Thus], we asked the UK Jewish Film Festival to reconsider its sponsorship by the Israeli Embassy”; “at this moment, the Tricycle would not accept sponsorship from any government agency involved in the conflict”. The funding by the embassy is worth around £1400 and the festival would have involved 26 film showings and 6 gala events at the venue.

The theatre, which “has always welcomed the Festival and wants it to go ahead” instead “offered to replace that funding with money from our own resources”. Ultimately, however, this offer was turned down: “We regret that, following discussions, the chair of the UKJFF told us that he wished to withdraw the festival from the Tricycle”. It was perhaps naïve of the theatre to assume the UKJFF would turn down funding from a sponsor that has supported it throughout its history.

The crux of the matter is that the Tricycle Theatre refused sponsorship for an event it was hosting from a state currently accused of war crimes by the UN. It offered the organisers an alternative which they rejected. The organisers have since found alternative locations for this year’s festival. That should have been the end of the matter, with perhaps the Tricycle and the UKJFF being able to reach an agreement on next year’s festival. This, however, is no ordinary sponsor. Israel is not a state that can be defied at any time by anyone. This was not a rejection of sponsorship; this was a call to arms.
The 5 August statement was put out as the theatre had been “been contacted by several patrons who have been given misleading information about the Tricycle and the UK Jewish Film Festival”.

On the same day, the UKJFF issued a press release that stated “The Tricycle Theatre has refused to host the UK Jewish Film Festival for the first time in eight years, for so long as it is supported by the cultural department of the Israeli Embassy in London”. The organisers said they had been told in a letter by the Tricycle’s chair, Jonathan Levy, “Given the present situation in Israel/Palestine, and the unforeseen and unhappy escalation that has occurred over the past three weeks, including a terrible loss of life, The Tricycle cannot be associated with any activity directly funded or supported by any party to the conflict…the Tricycle will be pleased to host the UKJFF provided that it occurs without the support or other endorsement from the Israeli Government”.

David v Goliath

The mainstream media, which took days to acknowledge the bombardment and carnage in Gaza, pounced on the story immediately. Not the story above, but a narrative of its own making. Applying a selective and restricted reading of the UKJFF press release, the theatre “has refused to host” the festival, has cancelled “plans to host UK Jewish Film Festival”, and elsewhere was reported to have “banned” and “boycotted” the festival. This was clearly not the case. The Tricycle itself did not refer to its action – of refusing sponsorship – as a boycott. The media has little interest in reporting the truth and the news story quickly degenerated into comment pieces and op-eds on the nature and relevance of cultural boycotts and the anti-Semitic and anti-Jewish nature of the Tricycle’s action. Anti-Semitism is a charge sometimes applied uncritically and broadly to mute any opposition to Israel, conflating Jewish people and the state of Israel, with the latter using the former as a shield to hide behind. This line of attack was pursued with full force.

Many of the articles were also written by commentators who have clearly never visited the theatre or the area. In spite of the usual middle-class connotations of the arts and theatre, the Tricycle is truly a part of the working-class community that surrounds it in Kilburn and shows a wide range of films and theatre. In recent years, its theatrical repertoire has included cutting-edge and challenging material on the 2011 riots, the inquiry into the murder of black south London teenager Stephen Lawrence, the Baha Moussa Inquiry and Afghanistan. The Tricycle does not only show works of Jewish interest during the UKJFF and has often hosted works by the talented Muslim-Jewish theatre company MUJU. Its repertoire fosters social dialogue which until this year, the UKJFF was a part of.
The theatre also does a lot of outreach work with local schools in an area where children would not otherwise necessarily have such access to the arts and provides training schemes for black actors; theatre, as an establishment, is hardly known for its opportunities for ethnic minorities.

The local area, Kilburn, is highly diverse and no one ethnic or religious group could claim to dominate, as reflected in the diversity of the shops and entertainment available. The wider area, Brent, is the second most diverse part of the UK after Newham in east London, and enjoys relative harmony in its community affairs. It is also home to the largest Hindu temple outside of India, the popular Jewish Free School and has many houses of worship of all faiths and denominations. Recent visits by racist right-wing agitators have failed to divide the local community. This is not to imply that racism and other forms of discrimination do not exist in Brent.

Charge!

The attack on the Tricycle has not been limited to the newspapers. At the same time, a more sinister parallel campaign was underway – if the Tricycle’s actions could be construed as a “boycott”, then the Tricycle too was a legitimate target to boycott. The arts after all are dependent on their patrons. If the Tricycle was about to start a trend in the arts, it would have to be nipped in the bud. If the Tricycle was to naively set an example by defying Israel, then the Tricycle would have an example made of it by facing the full force of the pro-Israel lobby.

Calls were made for Brent council, which provides almost £200,000 of funding each year, to discontinue its support. Conservative councillor, John Warren, launched an investigation into the council’s funding of the theatre. Clearly a populist move, he told the local newspaper “We disagree with artistic discrimination, and as such disagree with the Tricycle decision to cancel the Israeli Film Festival”, yet he seems uninformed that the theatre made no such decision.

On 7 August, the Jewish Chronicle printed the names of several patrons of the theatre who refused at the time to comment on the situation, yet one week later, one of those people, Sir Trevor Chinn, had decided to withdraw his financial support for the theatre. In the week following the announcement of the news, other donors, who may well have been pressurised into doing so, also publicly withdrew their funding. On the same day, a noisy protest was held outside the theatre by around 100 people. It was organised by a group called the Campaign Against Antisemitism, formed to deal with this issue. Placards held up by protesters read, among others, “Don’t Punish London’s Jews”, “UK Jewish Community Stands with Israel” and “No! To Jewish Film Festival Ban”. The issue was further politicised when Culture Secretary, Conservative MP Sajid Javid, called the Tricycle’s actions “misguided”.

The Tricycle Theatre’s position garnered its own admiration and support. With other local residents, I signed a letter to the media in support of the theatre and against the misleading claims made in the national press. One hundred and six local residents also signed a letter of support that was published in three local newspapers in Camden and Brent. In addition, over 500 artists and theatre professionals added their names to a letter of support published in The Guardian on 15 August. On Saturday 9 August, one theatregoer reported two members of the audience stood up at the beginning of the performance and told everyone else “with the recent actions of the Tricycle Theatre we are boycotting this performance”, to which the rest of the audience responded that they could go.

Another protest against the Tricycle was planned for 20 August. It is unlikely to go ahead as on 15 August, the beleaguered theatre crumbled under the pressure. In a new joint statement with the UKJFF, the Tricycle Theatre stated, “Following lengthy discussions between the Tricycle and UKJFF, the Tricycle has now withdrawn its objection and invited back the UK Jewish Film Festival on the same terms as in previous years with no restrictions on funding from the Embassy of Israel in London”. The final paragraph, in light of the events of the previous two weeks, is almost entirely one-sided: “We both profoundly hope that those who take differing views on the events of the last few weeks will follow our lead and come together to acknowledge that dialogue, reconciliation and engagement will resolve points of difference and ensure that cultural diversity thrives in all communities”. The return of the festival to a venue it should never have left is welcome, but unless one considers bullying and intimidation a reasonable course of action, this can hardly be considered a victory for anyone.

Microcosms and macrocosms of conflict

Wars are not as spontaneous as the media would like us to believe; weapons arsenals do not grow on trees. Consequently, before the first shot is even fired, the truth is already a casualty. In many ways, this episode, no way near as significant or important as the actual war and destruction in Gaza, is a microcosmic demonstration of what happens on the larger world stage: here too the narrative of the media, which has found this story far more engaging and newsworthy than war in Gaza or elsewhere, differs sharply to the actual facts of the matter.

It is not the only the Israeli state and its agents that face censure for their actions abroad: last year, Brent was also the location of protests calling for a potential visit to the UK by the current Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, not to go ahead; he had previously been subject to a decade-long ban due to his implication in war crimes following a 2002 massacre of Muslims in west India. Other high-ranking Indian state officials have also had their travels overseas accompanied by protests, particularly by the Indian Sikh community, which was subject to a massacre in 1984 that has never been properly investigated by the Indian authorities. US NGO Sikhs for Justice is currently seeking a ban and will protest if Modi visits the US next month.

Not only do so-called democratic states act as though they are above the law and beyond prosecution, they use increasingly sophisticated methods to quell any dissent and questioning of their actions, so much so that expressions of human solidarity and kindness are more likely to be penalised than criminal acts. Israel must not be penalised for its actions in Gaza but the Tricycle must be penalised with the threat of closure and disrepute. On the macro level, this is demonstrated through the imprisonment of Chelsea Manning for 35 years for disclosing US war crimes while the war criminals whose actions were disclosed plot their latest bloody moves in Iraq. On the micro level, this translates into the victimisation of victims of violent crimes such as rape and paedophilia: the aggressor wins every time.

Although the Tricycle’s decision to back down from its commendable position is regrettable, it did so under immense pressure. In all possible outcomes, it loses. Supporting the people of Gaza besieged under war in the world’s largest open prison is not wrong or an immoral act. Taking peaceful action to oppose the actions of a belligerent state is not wrong either. It is simply a human expression of support for the human rights and indeed the very right to life of fellow human beings.



  

Help tidy up Chalkhill Park on Sunday

Chalkhill Park yesterday
Chalkhill Park is little more than a year old and has already won a place in the hearts of local residents. It is very well used, particularly on warm sunny days, and this inevitably means some littering.

On Sunday Thames21 have organised a clean up on Sunday (details below) and I hope to be there with others who recognise the huge part the park has played in improving the quality of life on the estate.

This afternoon children from the Summer Playscheme will be performing in the park.



Thursday 21 August 2014

'Out of borough' Brent housing placements increase by 426% as housing crisis deepens

The report on Housing Supply and Demand LINK going to the Brent Cabinet on Tuesday 26th August starkly sets out the extent of the housing crisis in Brent.

AST= Assured Shorthold Tenancy DV=Domestic Violence

Homelessness is on the rise and largely attributable to the ending of Assured Shorthold Tenancies in the private sector.  It is particularly high in Brent compared to other West London boroughs.


The Local Housing Allowance (LHA) cap has seen landlords withdrawing from renting to those families in receipt of benefits. It also means that the Council is unable to procure properties in that sector for homeless families.

The report says that the caps make it unaffordable to rent in the South of the borough for families who require two bedrooms or more, unless they are in receipt of Working Tax Credit and therefore exempt from the Overall Benefit Cap. Lack of supply means that there are not properties available in the South for working families and landlords in the North of the borough are unwilling to let to people on benefits.

This has meant that the number of private rented properties the Council has been able to find to prevent homelessness has fallen from 548 in 2010/11 to 164 in 2012/13.

The Overall Benefit Cap (OBC) introduced in August 2013 for workless households limits the benefit payable to families to £500 per week and £350 for a single person.  Brent has been one of the boroughs in the country most affected with 1,340 families capped by the end of 2013-14.

Approximately 950 had the cap removed during the year, predominantly through securing employment and qualifying for the Working Tax Credit.

Because of the high rents in London, the reports says that the Council will not be able to procure affordable housing to meet the demand from homeless households in Brent. They are instead looking for accommodation which 'is most likely to be outside of the borough and to a significant extent outside of London'.

The report states categorically:
If a household refuses an offer of suitable accommodation in the Private rented sector (under the provisions of the Homelessness [Suitability of Accommodation ](England) Order 2012) in the private rented sector the Council will consider that it has met its duties under homelessness legislation, and if the household are being accommodated in Bed and Breakfast accommodation, they will be given a reasonable period in which to make their own housing arrangements.
Couched in official language this seems inoffensive but it is the provision that sees families separated from relatives, friends and community and moved miles away with the resulting disruption to support networks and schooling. But see 4 below.

However households with children can then ask for help under the Children Act, which then puts the pressure on the Children and Young People Service. During assessment under the Act the family will be kept in emergency bed and breakfast accommodation. The report notes that if applications increase 'additional assessment resources' may be required by the Children and Young People department,

At the end of March 2014 Brent had a total of 3,341 households living in temporary accommodation, a 3% increase during 2013-14.  Currently the Council is retendering the Housing Association Leased Scheme (HALS) which expires in February 2015. This currently provides 1,800 units of temporary accommodation, primarily in Brent.

The Council is also working with 18 private sector accommodation providers to provide housing units in 'cheaper parts of the country'. This has resulted in increased out of borough placements, particularly for larger households.

Out of borough placements have risen from 120 households in February 2012 to 632 in May 2014 (a 426% increase).  The report states:
This figures is expected to rise further due to the increasing demand pressure and the shortage of affordable supply in the borough.
All these pressures means, as local newspapers have reported LINK, that Brent is not compliant with legislation which restricts a family's stay in Bed and Breakfast accommodation to 6 weeks.  The number of households in B&B has increased to an average in 2013-14 of 299 per month. The report says this is due to the 'rising number of newly accepted homeless households and existing homeless households evicted from leased temporary, predominantly because the Landlord wants the property back.'

Another financial pressure on the Council is the 460 households living in temporary accommodation who are affected by the Overall Benefit Cap. This means their current accommodation is unaffordable and the Council has to make it up with Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP).

The report states: 'This is not sustainable position for the households or the Council, with no guarantee that the DHP budget will remain at the current high level in 2015-16 and beyond.' The Council is looking to address the issue through helping householders find work, securing affordable housing or 'by sustainably being able to cover the shortfall.'

As you read the report you cannot avoid feeling angry at the dire housing situation successive government have left us with. The selling off of council housing, the failure to build new social housing, the house price inflation induced by banks, estate agents and governments have combined to leave many families facing an impossible situation. I have seen at first hand in the schools where I am a governor what this means in real terms. Some of you may have seen the families, complete with suitcases, sitting in the glitzy foyer of Brent Civic Centre waiting to hear their fate.

Faced with this impossible and deteriorating situation, exacerbated by another round of severe cuts to come in the next few years, Brent council puts forward some ideas to address the problems. These include:

1. The Council will use 'proxy bidding' for capped householders who have been waiting longer than average for social housing to maximise their opportunities.   This means bidding on their behalf when possible housing comes up.

2. Consultation has begun on the possibility of making direct offers to those affected by the Overall benefit Cap provided they have been waiting longer than average.

3. Households affected by OBC in temporary accommodation and who have not secured employment will be relocated to more affordable and suitable accommodation as 'it will not be possible to sustain them in their current temporary accommodation using limited DHP funding.'

4. Before households with children are located outside the borough there will be a review of each individual case.'If a household is identified as having to remain in Brent due to exceptional social care, welfare, medical or other exceptional circumstances, then DHP funds will continue yo be used to meet the shortfall in rent while a longer term solution is sought.'

Clearly 4 leaves a substantial area of potential debate over what constitutes 'exceptional needs' with budgetary constraints always lurking in the background.

The report states that in 2014-15 there will be a projected 673 lettings into social housing (Council and housing association) but this will meet only around 14% of the current total demand from Bands A to C on Brent's Housing Register.  The majority will be through re-lets of existing  social housing stock but the Council expect another 180 to be delivered via the new build programme.

The Council plans to increase the numbers of lettings to homeless households to 80% of the total. They say this is necessary to mitigate the impact of the OBC on households temporarily in homeless accommodation that is no longer affordable, and to reduce the number of households in temporary accommodation generally.  40 units have been set aside for the decant needs of South Kilburn regeneration.

The Council will be consulting over a 4-6 week period on the following amendments to its Allocation scheme:

1, Auto-budding - which would set the system to automatically to bid for property, at the council's discretion, once the  households falls into a target group, for example, the top 10% by waiting time, per property size.
2. Restore household's right to retain their Band C Housing register status and continue to bid in Locata, after accepting a Qualifying Offer in the private sector.
3. Increase Council and housing associations' ability to make direct offers.
4. In homeless households adult children (over 21) will be expected to share a bedroom with a same sex sibling of any age.
5. Possibility of including adult children  as part of a transfer/down sizing incentive package.
6. Acceptance of change of circumstance through starting and sustaining work (9 out of 12 months) to be given additional waiting time.
7. The residency criteria ('continuously lived in Brent for the period of 5 years or more prior to joining the housing register') would also apply to households in temporary accommodation. This would 'dis-incentivise homeless approaches'.
8. Over-crowding to receive equal priority as homelessness.

(Full version in Appendix D of the report)

Some of these proposals are bound to be controversial but whatever one thinks of them, they can only nibble at the edge of the problem - the Council, and local authorties in general, do not have the resources to dealwith such an enormous and escalating crisis.

The housing crisis outlined by the report makes it essential to tackle the housing crisis at national level and increase the amount of social housing new build.  Locally surely it should mean no more new developments with luxury house aimed at overseas investor but instead the provision of properly affordable housing.

Deluded Fascists, coming to Cricklewood again on August 30th, will again be opposed by NW London United


The SEA (South East Alliance - AKA Silly Extremist Amateurs) have announced that they are coming to Cricklewood again on August 30th.

Despite being told by police, local residents and shopkeepers that the offices above the modest Cricklewood Broadway shop that they have targeted never did belong to the Muslim Brotherhood, and that the tenants have moved away, the SEA still claim they are protesting against the MB.

Really they are trying to sow seeds of division and mistrust  in a community that on the whole gets along well together and can do without daytrippers from Essex ,with nothing better to do on a Saturday, stirring things up.

Their last outing was opposed by the local community with Brent Council leader Muhammed Butt present, alongside Dawn Butler, Labour's General Election candidate for Brent Central.

On that occasion the SEA Alliance  mustered, at the outside,  only 15 supporters and despite their bluster were clearly embarrassed at their lack of support. When they tried to characterise being kept in their 'pen' surrounded by police as a victory even one of their own supporters suggested on Facebook that they weren't facing up to their failure.

So why organise united community support against such a small,  rather pathetic and deluded group? 

The answer from North West London United is that despite this all being true, they represent a dangerous set of ideas and assumptions as can be seen on their Facebook site LINK  They are vehemently anti-Muslim and  have links with extreme groups such as as the English Volunteer Force and the Scottish Volunteer Force.
From the SEA Facebook site
The local community and tradespeople on Cricklewood Broadway have felt threatened and trapped in their homes and shops when the SEA came to Cricklewood before. That it is why it is important to stand up to them and thus also stand in solidarity with the local community.

Say No to Divide and Rule.


Wednesday 20 August 2014

Minutes for Brent Planning Committee now available

Following a delay caused by the illness and hospitalisation of the officer concerned, the Minutes of the last planning Committee Meeting, which considered the Kensal Rise Library planning application, are now available in time for tonight's meeting.  LINK

Putting aside the possiblity of the recording of meetings so that such a situation does not occur again, I would like to wish the officer concerned a speedy recovery.

Tuesday 19 August 2014

£3,000 prize opportunity for effective anti-poverty project

From the All Party Political Group on Poverty

The APPG on Poverty is honoured to announce the Paul Goggins Memorial Prize. Paul Goggins MP was the Secretary of the APPG Poverty and a strong voice for the anti poverty campaign in and outside of Parliament.

The prize will be awarded to the best civil society initiative that can demonstrate that it has reduced poverty in a tangible way.

The prize, worth £3000, will be given jointly by the APPG on Poverty and the Webb Memorial Trust.

We welcome nominations on behalf of local community projects and are looking for innovative and engaging ideas that have worked effectively in and with local communities.

Submissions can take any form, and creative ways of expression are particularly encouraged.  Photographs, videos and other visual supporting evidence will be welcomed.

To enter, the organisation or project will need their local MP to nominate them before 5th October 2014. MPs of shortlisted projects will be invited to present the proposals in parliament in the autumn, at an awards ceremony to be hosted by the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow.

You can find out who your local MP is by following this link and typing in your postcode: http://www.parliament.uk/about/contacting/mp/
 
MPs should submit their nominations to Roxanne Mashari at  info@appgpoverty.org.uk


Solidarity as more Brent residents are summonsed by Brent Council for non-payment of Council Tax


Members of Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group, Brent Trades Council,  Ealing Housing Co-op, Unite Community, Brent Fightback and Brent Green Party stood outside Willesden Magistrates Court today when a new tranche of Brent residents appeared in response to summonses issued by Brent Council for non-payment of Council Tax.

Following Council Tax benefit changes many residents who previously did not have to pay the full amount, and in some cases any, now have to pay. Brent Council's scheme expects more in payment than many other local authorities, some of which have chosen to maintain 100% council tax benefit.

Speaking to local residents as they arrived it became clear that these weren't the 'idle and feckless scroungers' as stereotyped by ConDems and the media.

They were often people on low pay or zero hours contracts who found themselves having to choose between paying their rent or paying the Concil Tax. Needless to say they opted to pay rent to keep a roof over their heads.

Previously Muhummed Butt, leader of Brent Council,  has justified the summonses as the only way to force residents to engage with the Council about their arrears. Today a Brent Council officer was in court to give advice before any formal proceedings and some residents came out having settled terms for payment or been referred for further help with benefits. One resident was complimentary about the helpfulness of the officer.

It does seem a pity that residents had to go to court at all, with all the associated worry and stigma, and I hope backbench councillors and the Opposition will explore with the Cabinet how to better enagage people before matters reach this stage.

Preferably of course it would be best to revise the scheme so that people are not faced with the unpalatable choice of having to choose between payment of Council Tax and payment of rent or purchase of food.  However, the Council approved the scheme earlier this year with only slight modifications, despite protests.

Contacts:
www.unitetheunion.org/community   Pilgrim.tucker@unitetheunion.org
http://kilburnunemployed.blogspot.com/  kilburnuwg@gmail.com
Zacchaeus 2000 - Justice for Debtors http://z2k.org/