Time To Say Goodbye to EU

Bye, Bye EU (hopefully "au revoir")

Re-elected as UNISON Greater London Regional Council Officer

This morning I received notification that I had been re-elected unopposed as the UNISON Regional Finance Convenor for Greater London Region.

UNISON is the biggest trade union in London (and the country) with some 130,000 members.

Also re-elected existing Regional Convenor Yvonne Green and Deputy Regional Convenor Conroy Lawrence (our Regional lay Executive).

Many thanks to all the branches that nominated me.
I have now been elected 13 times in  a row since 2007. This is only the 2nd time (I think) I have been re-elected unopposed.

Lots and lots to do in the coming year as we face up to a Tory majority government. No point just moaning (too much) about this, we just have to get on with it, defending our members and public services.

Our regional AGM is next month

West Ham All members CLP meeting for Leadership nominations - 1pm to 5pm on Saturday 8 February 2020

Dear West Ham CLP member

You may be aware we will be undergoing the leadership and deputy leadership election alongside there 3 other NEC Positions.

As per the party rules, candidates will need either 33 CLPs or 3 affiliated organisations to be on the ballot paper.

With London region's guidelines we are planning to hold the all members nomination meeting for West Ham CLP:

When: 1.00pm - 5.00pm Saturday 08 February 2020

Where: Impression Events Venue Milner Rd, London E15 3AD

https://goo.gl/maps/ET1YY7kVQhfTDnKK9 This Venue is fully accessible for all

Please see the attached leaflets for each candidate (Leader & Deputy). For your information I have also attach the guidelines for "all members nomination meeting .

Please arrive early to sign and check in. There will be parking on site however we encourage our members to use public transport if possible.

The venues is located two minutes walk away from West Ham station.

Refreshment will be available.

ELIGIBLE MEMBERS

As per Chapter 2; Clause II; 4 of the Labour Party Rule Book only those members who have passed their 8 week provisional period of membership at the relevant date shall have the right to attend and vote at CLP meetings.

For these purposes, the relevant date agreed by the NEC is date on which the meeting is due to take place. Members who joined between 6 September and 12 December 2019 – and who are therefore subject to the NEC decision to extend the provisional membership period during the General Election – will be entitled to attend and vote, providing they have eight weeks continuous membership at the time of the meeting. The Labour Party 2 Those members who are showing as being in arrears from after the relevant date, will be able to participate in the meeting provided they pay the arrears at the commencement of the meeting, or provide proof that they have since paid the arrears to the national party. Any dispute with regard the eligibility of any member shall where practicable be referred by the CLP Secretary to the Regional Director, who will rule on the member’s eligibility. Where the issue is not clear cut, the Regional Director will consult with the Governance & Legal Unit before giving a ruling.

(East Ham CLP was supposed to be this Saturday 1 February but now may be changed I understand. UPDATE. East Ham CLP leadership meeting now taken place on Saturday 1 February despite clashing with major Pan London campaign day for GLA elections. I wonder what the National Party and London region thinks of this)

Keir Starmer for Leader: Another Future is Possible - East London Members meeting

Yesterday I helped organise a meeting for Labour Party members and affiliates to meet Keir Starmer, at the Old Town Hall in Stratford.

In a packed meeting he was introduced by Newham Councillor, Susan Masters, who explained that she was proud to have been a Jeremy Corbyn supporter and now feels the time is right for Keir to be our next leader.

Keir spoke about his policies, his beliefs, his background and most important, his vision, if he is elected as Labour Leader. He reminded us that in this same town hall in 1892, his namesake Keir Hardie was declared as the first ever Labour MP.

Keir called for unity & end of factionalism in the Party. Voters will not elect a divided party.

Afterwards there was an extensive and wide ranging Q&A then East Ham MP, Stephen Timms, closed the event by posing the question that the next leader of the Labour Party must be the one who is best placed to defeat the Tories.

(great picture in collage of Hackney Councillor Yvonne Maxwell, me and her partner, the reluctant Starmzy and my Royal Court of Justice libel comrade, Dave Osland, with bust of original Keir) 

Newham Council Holocaust Memorial Day 2020

This morning I attended our annual Council event to honour Holocaust Memorial Day (held on 27 January which is the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp Auschwitz and today is the 75th anniversary) in the Old Town Hall in Stratford.

There was some really wonderful positive songs, musical recitals and poems by Newham children from various local schools.

But the first hand accounts of murder, racism and cruelty by survivors of very different genocide John Hajdu MBE and Arnesa Buljušmić-Kusturawere was so moving.

John Hajdu was a Hungarian Jew who as a small child had both of his parents sent to German concentration camps while he hid with an aunt in a ghetto. After surviving Nazi persecution he suffered further discrimination as a Jew from the post war communist dictatorship in Hungry and had to flee following the failed revolution in 1956.

While Arnesa was a Bosnian Muslim who Serb snipers tried to kill her when she was 6 and who lost many relatives in the genocidal mass shootings and concentration camps of that war.

I had to leave early but I came away very moved by the accounts of John and Arnesa and the beautiful songs and poetry by our young people but angry that our international political institutions did not ,after the horror of Auschwitz, prevent similar genocide in Bosnia nor also in Rwanda.

(Hat tip photos Newham Council social media)

On the knocker (again) for Labour in West Ham

Yesterday, with Councillor colleagues and local party members, we were back canvassing for Labour in West Ham ward.  In May, Sadiq Khan is re-standing for London Mayor and we have to re-elect the London Assembly. Unmesh Desai is also re-standing for the directly elected City and East London seat.

Newham is a rock solid Labour borough and we have to get our vote out in May. Since the election is by proportional representation every vote will count.

The reaction from residents was pretty positive. Apart from one couple who said they had given up voting since "politicians don't keep their promises". I didn't manage to change their minds but they may be coming to see me at my surgery for advice on problems with their landlord (Peabody Housing Association).

On resident explained that he had not voted Labour for the last few years since he was a firm Brexit supporter but will now probably vote for us again. Result. I also came across a Party member who was voting for Keir Starmer as Labour leader.

I picked up some Council case work, a home with a blocked kitchen sink (which I was shown and was clearly blocked) but the tenants had a letter saying that they will have to wait until 6 February to be unblocked.

A new resident who was Italian and had recently moved into West Ham invited me into his flat and insisted (I thought) that he showed me around all the rooms in his flat. I thought at the time this is unusual but he must be very proud of his new home. It was only afterwards that it dawned on me that his English was not very good and he probably mistook what I said when he opened his door and may have thought I was from the Council coming to inspect his rented home.

Keir Starmer Labour leadership launch video

As a trade unionist, watching this video was one of the reasons why I decided to support Keir to be the leader of our Party. I also think he can unite the Party so that we can win a future general election.

On Monday Keir is due to speak at a meeting in the Old Town Hall in Stratford on Monday 27 January 2020.

In 1892 Keir Hardie was declared the first ever Labour MP in this same town hall.

If you want to come to the meeting then register here

Newham Councillors on Tour

This morning I went on a visit to a regeneration site in Norwich with the Deputy Lead for Housing Services, Cllr Shaban Mohammed and the Chair of Regeneration and Housing Scrutiny, Cllr John Whitworth.

It was a really fascinating (and potentially important) visit which I will post upon later. 

Come and Meet Keir Starmer in Stratford Monday 27 January 6.30pm

Keir will be at the historic Old Town Hall in Stratford on Monday 27 January 2020. Arrive at 6.30pm for 6.45pm start.

Please sign up to attend by clicking here and spread the word

(Update -Keir had to pull out of Friday/Saturday events upon the very sad news that his Mother-in-law is seriously ill but so far I assume that Monday is still on. Solidarity to Keir and his famous in this difficult time)

Busy Labour Movement Day

This morning (Wednesday) started off with a 9am tour and presentation at Anchor House in Canning Town with Councillor colleagues. Anchor House is a former Seaman's mission which is now a charity that specialises in supporting single homeless adults.

It has a very innovative proposal to convert unused space into a further 18 bedrooms. I was also impressed with the improvements to communal livings spaces and installation of a new kitchen and laundry.

Later I went to the UNISON HQ in Euston for a long meeting of its NEC Policy Development and Campaign Committee (PDCC). Which included some excellent reports from our devolved nations Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Congratulations to Northern Ireland  for its recent successful NHS strike action over pay.

I was devastated to see that my beloved North Wales is now almost totally controlled by the Tories. Unbelievable. Incredible. Only Alan & Deeside (I was born and bred in Buckley) survived by a few hundred votes (we would have been wiped out if the Brexit Party had stood down). Need to learn lessons quickly before Welsh Assembly elections in May. Onward and forwards.

We spent ages  debating and voting on draft motions to our National Conference. Finished just after 4pm.

Next as a NEC member for Community (Voluntary sector and Housing Associations) I had a briefing on the Community Service Group in Greater London region.

At 6.30 pm I was in the Old Town Hall,  Stratford to take part in the public consultation on the Newham Council Budget proposals which went really well.  I sat on a round table with Councillors,  officers and residents discussing our proposal to tackle Rough Sleeping by increasing spending by 400% to £1.8 million per year. Residents were challenging but on the whole broadly supportive of all our budget proposals especially those on improving our environment. They recognise that due to continual government cuts, difficult choices will have to be made.

Final event of the day was the launch of a new community group called "Voice of Newham". The Mayor, Rokhsana Fiaz, myself and local Councillors were invited to speak about our future plans for Newham and how by working with all our communities we will bring about change. Finished about 11pm.

A long day but a good day.