LABOUR COUNCILLORS CHALLENGE CODE OF CONDUCT DECISION
Posted by: Kensington Labour Party on: December 21, 2011
‘Absolution’ of conduct by Leader and Deputy Leader is indefensible
Labour councillors Judith Blakeman and Emma Dent Coad are seeking a review of the Borough Standards Committee’s decision to exonerate Council Leader Sir Merrick Cockell and his Deputy Cllr. Nick Paget-Brown over their handling of the resignation of former councillor Andrew Lamont. Lamont, who is to be tried in March for allegedly possessing child pornography, was permitted to remain as a non-functioning councillor for eleven months before standing down from the Council.
Councillors Blakeman and Dent Coad, Leader and Deputy Leader of the Opposition Labour Group, had asked the Standards Committee to investigate concerns that the Council had been brought into disrepute by not immediately requesting Lamont’s resignation when the police investigation was first reported in October 2010. They argued that Councillors Cockell and Paget-Brown did not act in compliance with the Member’s Code of Conduct nor with the Council’s Constitution and that this had damaged the public’s perception of the Council.
The Standards Sub-Committee met in November and decided that there was nothing the Council’s leadership could have done to require Mr. Lamont to resign and that their behaviour was entirely consistent with both the Member’s Code of Conduct and the Council’s Constitution. However, the two Labour councillors claim that this decision is riddled with faulty reasoning and inconsistencies.
Cllr. Blakeman disputes the Standards view that agreeing that former councillor Lamont could forgo his allowance and not attend meetings during the police investigation was purely a matter for the Council’s leadership. She said: “This was pre-eminently a matter for the residents of Norland ward, whom Cllr. Lamont was elected to represent. During the by-election to replace him we met a number of people who had asked him for assistance and got no reply. Leaving vulnerable residents in limbo like this is unacceptable. At the very least the Council should have put a message on Cllr. Lamont’s e-mail referring residents to the other two ward councillors.”
The fact that the matter took eleven months to resolve without any intervention by the Council’s leadership was also unacceptable.
Cllr. Dent Coad was baffled by the Standard’s Committee view that how a councillor chooses to represent his constituents is “up to him” and legally only requires that he attend one meeting every six months. She said: “all political parties have clear policies governing the way they expect their councillors to carry out their duties; the Member’s Code of Conduct similarly expects a high commitment from all councillors. Without surgeries, casework, support on planning or housing or schooling or police issues, whatever are councillors for? Former Cllr. Lamont clearly fell far short of these expectations, yet his Chief Whip appeared content to allow this to continue over a very long period of time.”
Both Labour councillors are particularly concerned at a statement in the Standards decision that their complaints could have “given rise to what some might construe as a politically-motivated complaint.” Both complaints were deliberately withheld until after the by-election precisely to avoid this allegation. Once the by-election was over, however, it was entirely proper for the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Labour Group formally to ask the Standards Committee to investigate objections raised by many residents about the way the Council’s Conservative Leadership had handled the matter. Cllr. Blakeman said: “sadly, if the Sub-Committee’s logic is followed, it is difficult to imagine any circumstance under which a councillor could turn to the Standards Committee when a councillor from another political party is felt to have violated the Member’s Code of Conduct”.
The Standards Committee now has three months to answer the request to review its original decision.
It’s a Mayoral Election not a Beauty Contest
Posted by: Kensington Labour Party on: December 13, 2011
As Labour’s GLA candidate for the West Central constituency (which includes Hammersmith and Fulham, Westminster and my home borough of K&C), I am keen to run a campaign that focuses on issues that matter to the people of West Central. Between now and May’s election, I will be listening to the residents of West Central to find out about their priorities. I will also be promoting the issues high on my list, such as freezing public transport fares, promoting construction of more social and affordable housing in West Central, fighting Tory cuts to the number of police on our streets and promoting the London Living Wage.
Election outcomes matter. The choice that we make next year as Londoners will have a huge impact on public services in our city, and on the success of the Tory-led government in radically reducing the role of government. With Ken Livingstone, we can protect our public services and the number of police on our streets, freeze transport fares and promote the construction of more social and affordable housing. With Boris Johnson, we can protect the interests of the rich, cut public services and the number of police on our streets, pay higher transport fares and continue to see social housing in West Central disappear.
Like many thousands of Londoners, I’m an immigrant (I grew up in the United States). The last presidential election that took place while I was resident in the United States was the Bush-Gore contest of 2000. Though it seems hard to imagine now, many people said in 2000 that it didn’t matter whether Bush or Gore won because there was “no difference” between the two. Some people said that they were going to vote for Bush because he would be “more fun to have a beer with” than Gore. I think that history has proven that George Bush turned out to be a very different sort of President than Al Gore would have been. Bush’s disastrous administration demonstrates that the decisions that elected leaders make can have a profound impact on our lives. Likewise, many people are finding out that there is a great deal of difference between the Conservative and Labour administrations. If you want to find out whether elections outcomes matter, ask the students who have lost the support of Education Maintenance Allowances and are facing impossible university tuition; people who depend upon public services that are being cut; and people who are struggling to pay higher public transport fares.
And I’ve got news for anyone who plans on voting for Boris because they think he is the more likeable candidate: the chances of your ever spending time with Boris Johnson in a social setting are very small. If you think he is a fun guy, then maybe you should invite him to your next barbecue, but that doesn’t mean that he is the better choice for Mayor of London. Frankly, I find Boris’s Bullingdon Club background repulsive and I doubt I would have much in common with him one on one, but that is beside the point. I’m voting for Ken Livingstone because he has the policies, as well as the experience, that London needs in troubled times.
Todd Foreman is a Councillor for Notting Barns Ward in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and Labour’s candidate for the West Central GLA constituency in 2012.
The Tories’ radical housing policy experiment
Posted by: Kensington Labour Party on: November 28, 2011
Val Shawcross, Stephen Cowan (Leader of the Opposition, London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham), Ken Livingstone and Todd Foreman (Labour GLA Candidate for West Central) visit Hammersmith riverfront, where the the Tory Council is planning a luxury housing development (but no affordable housing) as part of a wider effort to change the demographics of the Borough.
As Labour’s candidate for West Central, I am standing in an area which is undergoing a radical experiment that is turning swathes of London into no-go zones for ordinary working people. West Central is made up of Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster and Hammersmith and Fulham, which have the 1st, 2nd and 5th highest mean average private rents, respectively, in England. Affordable housing is in desperately short supply, and housing tops the concerns of residents at my advice surgeries.
This week the Conservatives announced their latest housing policy; this will do nothing to help the worsening crisis in West Central. Thousands of residents have recently received letters telling them that due to new caps, their housing benefit will be cut drastically. For some this will mean a rapid spiral into debt; for most, this will mean that they will be forced to leave their homes and move to distant areas where they can find rental properties within the new benefit caps. Children will be uprooted from schools; workers will face impossible and expensive commutes to jobs; and families will be forced to move far away from friends, loved ones and communities. In short, we are about to see a massive social experiment that is part of a deliberate strategy by the Tories to turn West Central into an area that is only affordable for the wealthy.
And it’s not as if the local Tory councils are helping matters, either. Take Hammersmith and Fulham, which suffers under one of the most vicious Councils in the country, and where the Tories are in a race against time to change the character of the Borough before Council elections in 2014. Their strategy is Dame Shirley Porter 2.0. Housing owned by the Council is being sold off and legal loopholes are found to maximise profits at the expense of providing affordable homes. Stable communities such as the Hammersmith’s Queen Caroline Estate are labelled “not decent” by the Council and slated for demolition to make way for unaffordable private housing, without a guarantee to local residents that after ‘temporary’ decanting they will ever be able to return to the area.
Tory policies are increasing homelessness; in Kensington and Chelsea, statutory homelessness is up an eye-watering 41% from 2009-10 to 2010-11.
The consequences for West Central are terrible. Young people have little hope of staying in the area as they reach adulthood, and the socio-economic diversity is being squeezed from our communities.
The free market will never provide a solution to West Central’s lack of affordable housing, especially when government is actively making matters worse. We need a Labour GLA and Mayor who will prioritise affordable housing and use their planning powers to promote truly affordable housing developments and restore the affordable housing targets which Boris Johnson scrapped. And London’s regional government must lobby central government to encourage Councils to build more affordable housing for social rent. The scale of the challenge is immense, and it is critical that we elect a Labour Mayor and Labour GLA in 2012 so that we can begin to tackle London’s housing crisis.
Todd Foreman is Labour’s GLA Candidate for West Central and Councillor for Notting Barns ward in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
CAMPAIGNING dates for your diary
Posted by: Kensington Labour Party on: November 16, 2011
Here are two important dates in the campaign to elect Ken Livingstone as Mayor of London and keep London as a diverse and vibrant city instead of a place where only the rich can afford to live!
WEDNESDAY 23 NOVEMBER
FARE DEAL RALLY at the Camden Centre, Bidborough St at 7pm (nearest tube: King’s Cross)
Ken will be speaking with Tom Watson MP and GLA member Val Shawcross
There will be a bar and a chance to talk to people from across London about the campaign.
(go to the link below to book a place)
http://www.yourken.org/r?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kenlivingstone.com%2Ffaredealrally&utm_campaign=fares_reminder&n=3&e=a6231cdf3769106f049ddaad917e4fc07f00b4cf&
MONDAY 5 DECEMBER
KEN IN NORTH KEN at the Lighthouse, 111-117 Lancaster Road, W11 (off Ladbroke Grove)
Ken will be spending the whole day campaigning in North Kensington, culminating in a public meeting 7–8.30pm
This is your chance to meet him and tell him about the issues you want raised in the campaign.
Please come along and make sure we get a good turnout.
PORTOBELLO DELIGHT AT FIRST POSITIVE STEPS WITH HSBC
Posted by: Kensington Labour Party on: November 1, 2011
HSBC agreed to keep cash machines on Portobello if site can be found .
At a meeting at Kensington Town Hall on 1st November, HSBC bosses have agreed that whilst they still intend to close the 152 Portobello Road Branch on 16th December, they will work with Labour Councillors, led by Cllr Dez O’Neill of Colville Ward, to find an alternative location for the ATM cash machines on Portobello Road that we said are so important for the local economy.
Cllr Dez O’Neill, Colville Ward, Cllr Emma Dent Coad, Deputy Leader of the Labour Opposition Group, and Labour Group Chair, Cllr Pat Mason, told HSBC bosses that it was wrong not to have consulted with Portobello and Golborne Road shops and market traders before deciding to shut the local bank. Councillors were enraged to learn that HSBC had been planning the closure for a year, but had failed to contact local Councillors.
Mark Barr, Chairman of the Portobello and Golborne Management Committee, who sent a statement to the meeting said:
“My committee represents shops, stallholders and residents, and the closure of this branch will be a devastating blow to the financial well-being of Portobello Road, Golborne Road and the surrounding area”. (The full statement will be forwarded).
Councillor Dez O’Neill said, “The cash machines are very important for visitors to Portobello, for traders and local people, and for the local economy, and I am going to work with HSBC to find a suitable location to keep them on the market”.
KENSINGTON LABOUR MAKES FORMAL COMPLAINTS AGAINST TORY LEADERSHIP
Posted by: Kensington Labour Party on: October 24, 2011
24 October 2011
In an unprecedented move following the resignation of former Councillor Andrew Lamont who is facing criminal charges, the Labour Opposition Group on Kensington and Chelsea Council have asked the Borough Standards Committee to investigate complaints about the way the Council Leader Cllr Sir Merrick Cockell and his then Chief Whip, Cllr Nicholas Paget-Brown handled the matter. Labour Leader Cllr Judith Blakeman and Deputy Leader Cllr Emma Dent Coad claim that their behaviour could have brought the Council into disrepute as they had not acted in accordance with the Council’s Constitution.
Specifically, they claim that the two councillors had:
- Permitted Cllr Lamont to take unpaid leave of absence for 11 months without following correct procedures and in breach of the Council’s Constitution
- Failed to tell members of the Council or the residents of Norland ward that Cllr Lamont had been absent since November 2010
- Not ensured that residents contacting Cllr. Lamont for help were informed that he was unable to respond to them
- Failed to encourage him to resign immediately it became apparent that he could be facing serious criminal charges
- Allowed him to attend a committee meeting in March while on unpaid leave of absence; and
- Appointed to him a scrutiny committee while on unpaid leave without informing the committee’s chairman that he would be unable to take up his duties.
Cllr Blakeman expressed regret that her Group had been obliged to take this course of action. She said “I have tried to resolve these matters in private with the Leader of the Council, without success. In a similar case last year two councillors were asked to resign immediately. We can only assume that Cllr. Lamont was permitted to remain on the Council because the Conservatives wished to avoid a further embarrassing by-election for as long as possible”.
Cllr Dent Coad said “we have asked detailed questions and have not received satisfactory answers. We believe the Council Leader and his Chief Whip did not act in compliance with the Members’ Code of Conduct nor with the Council’s Constitution and this could seriously damage the way the public perceives the Council’s activities”.
Labour Councillors fight Portobello bank closure
Posted by: Kensington Labour Party on: October 11, 2011
Dear Mr Castle,
Closure of the Portobello Road HSBC Bank on 16th December 2011.
I am astonished that HSBC has announced the closure of the 152 Portobello Road Branch on 16th December without any forward consultation with local Councillors representing Golborne and Colville Wards in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, when a majority of our residents will be your customers – and I have been a customer since about 1982 when it was the Midland Bank.
This closure will be viewed locally as damaging to local business and trade in the Portobello Road and Golborne Road area.
We are told that all of your Portobello Road Branch customers will be relocated to the Notting Hill Gate Branch from 19th December.
This closure will hit the vast majority of shops, market traders and business in the Portobello Road and Golborne Road area who rely on the convenience of having a local bank on their street. It is also clear that when banks move out of a main shopping centre like Portobello Road, existing and potential business take this as a signal that the area may be a bad economic prospect – otherwise why would the bank that has been there for at least 25 years be closing up shop!
At a time when the Council and local Councillors are working hard on initiatives to sustain and support the small shops and business in this area, and to encourage new business into the Portobello and Golborne, HSBC’s action sends out exactly the wrong signal, and I invite you to meet Councillors to discuss how HSBC can continue banking facilities on Portobello Road.
Moving the bank to Notting Hill Gate will also be an inconvenience to many of your customers who may have disabilities, the elderly, people with children and prams etc, and some will have to pay £2.40 to bus to Notting Hill Gate and back.
There are also a spread of community and voluntary groups who bank at the Portobello Road Branch because it is local to them who will now have to send staff to the new Branch at a time and financial cost.
Can you please come and meet with local Councillors to discuss this closure plan and to explore how HSBC banking facilities could continue on Portobello Road.
Yours sincerely,
Councillor Pat Mason, Golborne Ward
Councillor Emma Dent Coad, Golborne Ward
Councillor Bridget Hoier, Golborne Ward
Councillor Dez O’Neill, Colville Ward
Councillor Judith Blakeman, Leader, RBKC Labour Opposition Group
NORLAND BY-ELECTION RESULTS
Posted by: Kensington Labour Party on: October 10, 2011
Swing: 8.3% Con to Lab
Turnout: 24.0%
A very good swing to Labour for our wonderful candidate Beinazir Lasharie, and huge thanks to the local and London-wide teams who pitched in with many hours of leafleting and canvassing.
We put in an outstanding performance in polling district NOA, which is where the vast majority of our energies were concentrated, and met many residents with concerns that are not being addressed by the Tories, who think it’s all about ‘planning and conservation’ in Norland. How wrong can you be?
Con: 675 43.8% (-11.6%)
Lab: 438 28.4% (+5.0%)
LD: 358 23.2% (+2.0%)
UKIP: 69 4.5% (+4.5%)
The following is an excerpt from an article in the Independent:
‘Labour edged up in the latest council by-elections during Tories’ conference week.
In its best result, at Norland in London’s Kensington and Chelsea Borough, Labour slashed Conservatives’ majority from more than 1,000 in last year’s polls – on the same day as the general election – to 237.
Kensington and Chelsea London Borough – Norland: C 675, Lab 438, Lib Dem 358, Ukip 69. (May 2010 – Three seats C 1864, 1804, 1654, Lab 787, 722, Lib Dem 714, 693, Lab 681, Lib Dem 534). C hold. Swing 8.8% C to Lab.
NORLAND LABOUR CANDIDATE BEINAZIR SPEAKS ON POST OFFICE CLOSURES
Posted by: Kensington Labour Party on: September 27, 2011
I find it incredible that Norland Ward has lost two post offices in the past few years, and now has none. Local people now have to take a bus or walk up to 20mins for postal services and to collect benefit and pensions, or send paid carers to do so, instead of providing home care.
It just proves to me how out of touch local Councillors are.
It is quite shocking to hear that someone has been mugged because they had to travel to Shepherd’s Bush and were followed home. The perpetrators are guilty but local Councillors also have some responsibility to provide such a vital service to the community that uses it.
Vote for me and I will be your local voice for local people on issues that matter.
LABOUR SELECTS YOUTH WORKER FOR NORLAND BY-ELECTION – CALL TO ARMS
Posted by: Kensington Labour Party on: September 8, 2011
Kensington Labour Party are delighted to state they have selected youth worker Beinazir Lasharie to represent them in the Norland by-election on Thursday 6 October.
Local candidate Beinazir Lasharie was born and bred on Lancaster West, and attended Avondale Primary School. She is very well known as a hard-working activist, former Colville Ward candidate, and daughter of Alderman Mushtaq Lasharie, who was Councillor in Notting Barns for 18 years.
Beinazir is governor of Maxilla Nursery Centre, and has worked with young people in a variety of posts. She spent two years coordinating programmes for disaffected young people at Kensington and Chelsea Technical College, and spent four years providing after school Study Support at local libraries for children with poor language skills, linking students from her day job at a private Sixth Form college to work with her primary school students. She has also worked with disabled children, which she finds very rewarding.
She has also been a presenter on Asian tv channel Venus TV with her own programme, Chat with Beinazir, discussing current issues and linking Asian and non-Asian young people.
She is Youth Coordinator for NGO Third World Solidarity, and organised two youth conferences at the House of Commons, most recently just after the riots.
HELP LABOUR WIN IN NORLAND
OFFER BEINI YOUR HELP ON 07800 575786
or email: beinazir4norland@yahoo.co.uk
We’re standing for:
Your Kensington Labour team
