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Friday, October 22, 2021
Beer, Darts, Curry, Beer
Street Surgery in West Ham 21.10.21
Wednesday, October 20, 2021
Newham Council Pension Committee (& we are shortlisted for "Best Climate Change Strategy" award)
Great to be back tonight in the Newham Council Chamber in East Ham Town Hall for a meeting. Some interesting statistics from the agenda which included our draft annual report on the pension fund.
- There are 29,122 scheme members
- 53 different employers are part of the scheme (not just the Council)
- The value of the scheme increased over the year from £1.37 billion to £1.59 billion
- There are 22 pensioners/dependants over the age of 100 and 48 dependants under the age of 20 receiving a pension. These facts should be really important in persuading staff to join or stay in the scheme.
Remember if you work for the Council or any of the active employers and die - your partners and children will NOT get a penny if they are not in the pension scheme!
The Chair, Cllr Nareser Osei, also announced that our fund had been nominated for "Best Climate Change Strategy" Award by LAPF Investments.
In a belated (and sadly flippant) response to a good technical comment by an officer, who said she did not want to argue with an actuary (our pension/accountant specialists) I did say that I used to go out with an actuary once, and we used to argue all the time! (this is based on fact)
The meeting is on https://youtu.be/v5whRSuo8-A
Tuesday, October 19, 2021
Latest on extremists attempts to destroy our union's democracy, stop us winning strike ballots over pay (& take our money)
It is incredible in the midst of us mobilising to take on the Tories and win strike ballots over pay, the ultra left are attacking our General Secretary and deliberately provoking a civil war.
"This is my personal page, the views are my own.
‘UPDATE’ on NEC Resolutions.
Many of you will have seen the ‘Opinion’ provided by John Hendy QC to the NEC, as requested by the Presidential Team, which has been posted by the “Time for Real Change’ organisation. Firstly I believe that as this ‘opinion’ was provided to the NEC it is ‘privileged’ and not for wider circulation, until the NEC had agreed it could be and the NEC should have had the opportunity to discuss and fully understand the content in a ‘legal’ sense, we are not lawyers. This was taken away from us by the publication.
The NEC was provided with ‘legal advice’ on the resolutions by Stuart Brittenden on the 5th October with verbal confirmation of this at the NEC meeting on the 6th October, this I was informed was privileged and not for wider circulation. Following the NEC meeting I reported that the legal advice conflicted with view of the Presidential Team, and as I now understand it, their ‘legal advice’ prior to the NEC meeting on 6th October which I asked for at the meeting and have again requested, as in the Statement from ‘Time for Real Change’ on the 7th October confirmed that they had legal advice and also in tweets from John McDonald MP also confirmed that “they had legal advice at every stage”.
Since receiving the email from the Vice Presidents containing Hendy’s advice this morning, the NEC has received an email from the General Secretary, which contains updated legal advice from Stuart Brittenden on Hendy’s advice. Brittenden’s advice is ‘privileged’ so again I cannot share this with you, but the upshot is that it reaffirms his original advice and conflicts with Hendy’s advice. The email also contains another document of an ‘independent’ legal view from a leading QC Michael Ford, which also does not accept that Hendy’s advice is ‘definitive’ as the Vice Presidents say it is and that is put out by the ‘Time for Real Change’.
I am told that I am bound by ‘collective responsibility’ by the Vice Presidents on the NEC decisions, but as I said earlier this is my personal FB Page and these are my personal views and I make them in a ‘personal capacity’ a term I have never used but now feel that I need to to protect my position and one widely used by members of ‘Time for Real Change’ when they do not agree with decisions made and speak against them on various platforms.
My personal view is that given the information that I have there are still serious questions on the validity and the legality of the decisions taken by certain members of the NEC in respect of the resolutions of the 6th October and I believe that I am duty bound to inform members of the union of this under my duties and responsibilities as a member of our union and a member of the NEC under rule.
I ask that you do not accept the spin’ of ‘Time for Real Change’ and that you continue to support the position taken by a number of NEC members including me as we continue to question the validity of the resolutions and their breaching UNISON Rule.
Monday, October 18, 2021
A minutes silence for David Amess MP
Picture from start of Newham London Full Council meeting in Old Town Hall Stratford. Next we had a minutes silence in memory of murdered MP, David Amess. Then Cllr Griffiths, who knew David gave an emotional tribute followed by fellow St Bons "old boy" Cllr Terry Paul.
Sunday, October 17, 2021
Coombe Hill & Chequers Walk
As much as I enjoy walking locally in Epping Forest, Essex and East Hertfordshire, it was great to go on some more challenging walking today in the Chilterns.
We started off at the Coombe Hill car park (Just over 1 hour drive from Forest Gate. The car park is pretty small so maybe if you are driving on a "busy" day park in Wendover. You could have joined the walk at the Coombe Hill memorial from Wendover Railway station or the town car park).
Today we followed this free, downloadable path from the National Trust https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/chilterns-countryside/trails/coombe-hill-and-chequers-trail. You can take either a 5 or 7 mile route.
I have done different versions of this marvellous walk, a number of times over the years. Lots of happy memories but some sad, as a good trade union comrade of mine, George Woznick, who went with us on a walk in 2004 is no longer with us.
Highlight of the walk today were not only the fantastic views but the magnificent birds of prey you could see nearly everywhere. Red Kites, in particular, floating above us then diving down down to hunt. We saw 8 of them circling over what was probably carrion at Beacon Hill, just inside the Chequers security cordon.
We passed the Prime Ministers Country Home Chequers. There was no sign of Boris painting or otherwise.
Gill had a highly recommended chocolate ice cream at the Bookmoreend Farm shop and kitchen, while I had a tasty bacon roll.
Afterward a drink at the "Shoulder of Mutton" in Wendover to rehydrate. I asked as usual for a pint of their "best bitter". Which today was "ConkerBonkers". It was refreshing but a little hoppy for me.
I have posted further pictures of this great walk on Facebook - here.
Saturday, October 16, 2021
Want to create a Newham heritage project? Apply for a grant today!
Exciting news about Newham Heritage Month 2022
Newham Heritage Month
will be back for an exciting third year in June 2022! The festival
is made by Newham's community for the community and we're offering you
grants of up to £8,000 to create a project for next year's programme.
Discover more about the theme, grants, applications, training and
volunteering in this month's newsletter.
October is Black History Month and Newham has a programme of events and
activities showcasing the richness of our vibrant and diverse
cultural community. Find out more below.
What London 2012 Means to Us
The theme for Newham
Heritage Month 2022 will be What London 2012 Means to Us. The mark the
10-year anniversary of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, we want to
hear your idea for a project that will research the impact, both good and bad,
of this incredible moment in our heritage, as well as other stories that
were unearthed in the build up to 2012.
Your project could be inspired by anything related to the theme, from
the centuries-old discoveries found during the archaeological digs
before the Games, to Newham's long association with community activism.
Find out more
Apply for a Community Grant
Want to develop a heritage project responding to next year's
theme? Apply for a Community Grant before 21 November! The fund total
is £100,000, and there will be grants available of up to £5,000 for individuals
and up to £8,000 for constituted groups.
Inspiration, advice and training
Would you like some advice on how to apply? Are you hunting for inspiration? If
so, we have online application surgeries and inspiration days on offer to get
your project off to a great start. If your project receives funding, there's
also free training provided.
Find out more
Volunteering
Are you an aspiring photographer?
Volunteer to become a Newham Heritage Month Community
Photographer and receive free photography training from professionals! You
can also volunteer in Newham’s Heritage Service year round.
Find
out more
Black History Month
Black History Month is an annual celebration of the contributions made by Black
African and Caribbean communities in the borough nationally and
internationally. Throughout October, Newham Council will host a programme
of activity that responds to the theme of Ambition, Achievement,
Inspiration.
Find
out more
Our Thanks
We're grateful to the
National Lottery Heritage Fund for their generous support of Newham Heritage
Month. The month is organised by Newham Council as part of Newham Unlocked and
supported by the Royal Docks Team.
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Friday, October 15, 2021
Sir Keir Starmer pays tribute to Sir David Amess
"Sir Keir Starmer has paid tribute to murdered MP Sir David Amess.
The 69-year-old, who represented Southend West, was stabbed multiple times during a constituency surgery in Leigh-on-Sea on Friday.
"Sir David had a profound sense of public duty. He was highly respected and much liked across the Houses of Parliament on all sides," the Labour Leader said as he paid tribute to Mr Amess.
"Violence, intimidation and threats will never prevail over the tireless work of public servants like David, simply doing his job."
Read more here: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk."
Thursday, October 14, 2021
West Ham Ward Cllr Street Surgery: Uneven Pavements, Blocked drains, Fly tipping, Bulk Rubbish, Leylandii trees, Unsafe Roads...
Some did and I have a number of member enquires to raise tomorrow with the Council.
Residents were generally content with the Council and understood the problems we face due to Tory funding cuts and the impact of Covid on services. Yet, we need to raise our game on these "bread and butter" service issues and I am sure we can.
Wednesday, October 13, 2021
TUC Education Winter 2021 webinar programme
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