After launching his re-election campaign today (18 March), London mayor Sadiq Khan said: “Today – in my first major pledge of the Mayoral election campaign – I’ve committed to delivering at least 40,000 new council homes in London by the end of the decade”.
Mr Khan branded it the “greatest council homebuilding drive in a generation” and promised to deliver 40,000 new council homes for the capital between 2018 and 2030, building on his previous target of starting 20,000 which he met last year.
In his speech, the Labour leader Starmer, who joined Sadiq Khan re-election campaign, said  “On May 2nd the choice is clear: chaos and division with the Tories, or unity and hope with Labour.”
The mayor’s Housing pledge was appreciated by the Harrow West MP Gareth Thomas, who said on X: “This could have a significant impact on homelessness and the cost of living crisis in Harrow and across London. It will bring hope for a better future for many of the most hard-pressed families in our city. Bravo Sadiq Khan”.
The mayor, who has been subjected to all kinds of racism, also defended his record on tackling air pollution, on transport including keeping down fares this year, and on his free school meals programme for primary school pupils.

In meeting their statutory duty, the Harrow council has worked out the draft Serious Violence Strategy report that is before the forthcoming cabinet meeting.
The council will receive £79,000 over three years for discharging the Serious Violence Strategy and delivering the priorities within it, including to reduce Serious Violent Crime with young people below the age of 25 and to tackle Violence against Women and Girls.
In informing the crime and population profiles in Harrow, the report points out that “Serious Violence is not distributed evenly across the population and significant inequalities exist. Certain groups and geographical areas within Harrow are at higher risk of exposure to and involvement in Serious Violence”.
But the portfolio-holder’s forward seems to be less specific about the differential impact of the crime on the groups of people in Harrow: “Violence can impact any resident at any time. We need to act at the earliest stage to prevent acts of serious violence”.
[Preventing crime without addressing the cause and not knowing who, where and why has limitations, and is usually ineffective!]
For example, the report identifies that “The ethnic profile of survivors recorded by the Met Police shows that Harrow’s white population were impacted most by domestic abuse”.
In generating the violence specific data, the report relies on the incidents reported to the authorities while there is national evidence that some crimes like domestic abuse, including to women and girls, and more so in some communities, are under-reported.
Consequently, the report is less specific about encouraging more and better reporting by and provisions for different communities [most of the working partners that the report mentions could be less attractive, for example, to the Asian community (at least 45%) who might need the community rather than conventional approach for preventing and tackling the crime].
The strategy, by a diversity-rich council, needs to identify measures to access the groups of people who are more likely to suffer in silence.
Furthermore, as the success criteria of the strategy is based on monitoring the violence incidents reported to the authorities, the success of the strategy need to include gauging improvement in under-reporting, using the ethnic minority reporting data.
Interesting that the council has a ‘multi-agency’ approach in preventing and tackling serious violence and other crime safety measures through pockets of initiatives with pockets of funding, which requires robust central coordination for the effectiveness.
[The Serious Violence Panel, Safer Harrow etc with several established partnerships that interrelate with the priorities of the Serious Violence Strategy].
Odd that the ‘hate crime’ is not serious enough to be included in the strategy – what an omission!
[Hate crimes in Harrow* March 23 to Jan 24: 427, including racist and religious crime 396, Anti-Semitic 42, Islamophobic 30, homophobic 29]
*here

Pamela Fitzpatrick, a “proud socialist, trade unionist and mum” will be standing as an independent parliamentary candidate in Harrow West at the next general election.
She says she is standing because being tired of “corruption, hypocrisy and injustice” and that “at a time when it is so desperately needed, we no longer have a Labour Party”.
After the budget few days ago, she posed a question for the Labour “So you’re backing all of today’s Budget… you’ve got identical fiscal rules – how does Labour’s economic policy differ from the Conservatives?”
Ms Fitzpatrick was not short of words in describing the latest association between the Labour leader and the Common’s speaker that resulted in the chaotic Commons debate about the war in Gaza last month: “Starmer and Hoyles actions this week, accusing Muslims of being a threat to MPs, has whipped up hatred against Muslims. The Forde report confirms Labour’s institutional racism. Starmer and other senior Labour MPs constantly treat Palestinian lives as less valuable than others”.
Pamela Fitzpatrick was a long-standing member of the Labour Party, Labour councillor in Harrow for eight years and was the Unite backed Labour parliamentary candidate in Harrow East in 2019.
She has worked in the voluntary sector for over 30 years, set up a legal advice centre in Harrow in 2010 and has been an active trade union member for 40 years.
Ms Fitzpatrick was caught up in the injustice of Labours retrospectively applied disciplinary process, and has since highlighted her ill-treatment by some powerful local and national Labours.
Many on social media were quick to welcome Ms Fitzpatrick decision to challenge the Harrow West sitting MP Gareth Thomas (Lab) who has attracted public protests because of his watered-down approach to a ceasefire to stop killings in Palestine.
“For all those in Harrow who say we do not have options. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Stand for hope and Justice vote for Pamela Fitzpatrick”, wrote the social justice activist Aghileh Djafari-Marbini who had previously resigned from the Labour Party over Gaza.
Rapid support for Ms Fitzpatrick is understandable given the public disappointment about the Labour being ineffective opposition where they, like the government, and public are not on the same page on matters like financial decision-making, health and care provisions, employment, social welfare, and justice and peace.

In an email shot after voting for Labour amended* Gaza ceasefire motion at the chaotic Commons debate about the war in Gaza last Wednesday, Gareth Thomas, MP for Harrow West, said: “I will continue to use my voice to call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire to end the bloodshed and suffering and to allow a sustained effort to salvage the hope of a two-state solution”.
The Palestine-Israel situation is a matter of significant concern in Harrow as indicated by public demonstrations, including outside Mr Thomas constituency office in Harrow for his ambiguous position regarding the ceasefire.
Furthermore, the Conservative candidate for the Harrow West seat, Abbas Merali is from the community that Mr Thomas has relied upon for votes.
“I share the pain and anger we all feel at the level of death and destruction in Gaza. We’ve all been shocked and appalled by the heart-breaking loss of life we’ve seen in the Middle East. The huge number of children killed is intolerable” Mr Thomas reassured.
Regarding what has been happening in Palestine, he said:
“Israel has used devastating tactics that have seen far too many innocent civilians killed, with unacceptable blocks on essential aid, nowhere safe for civilians, a growing humanitarian catastrophe and warnings of a deadly famine.
“Israel must not launch a military offensive in Rafah, the fighting must stop now. Around 1.5 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering there with nowhere safe to go, having previously been told to flee there by the Israeli military. Any military offensive in Rafah risks catastrophic consequences for the civilian population and fatal disruption to the humanitarian operation”.
Mr Thomas says that unlike Conservatives, he believes “the ICJ’s (International Court of Justice) interim ruling under the Genocide Convention on the situation in Gaza is profoundly serious and Israel must comply with the measures issued by the court in full”.
The Conservatives did not support the Labour amended motion for the immediate ceasefire to the fight in Palestine and “walked out of the House of Commons”.

*read the SNP’s Gaza ceasefire motion and the watered-down amendments here

The Labour catching phrase ‘immediate and permanent ceasefire’ to the fighting in Palestine after thousands killed, and now repeated by Harrow West MP Gareth Thomas, seems to be catching up!
Palestine-Israel situation is a significant public concern, including in Harrow as indicated by a number of demonstrations calling for an end to the fight. The issue has serious implications for the elections.
Therefore, no surprise that Tory parliamentary candidate for Harrow West Abbas Merali (photo) in his statement requests the government to call for “an immediate and permanent ceasefire as the only way of achieving long term peace in the Middle East”.
“We can no longer accept the Israeli government’s dismissal, in words and deeds, of two states. Nor can we ignore the recent ruling and the binding provisional measures from the International Court of Justice”, he said.
Abbas Merali from the community that Mr Thomas has relied upon for votes, is a Three Rivers District Council councillor who went to John Lyon school in Harrow. He is a qualified chartered accountant and runs the care homes business, including one in Harrow West.
In explaining why he is standing for Harrow West, he said: “It is clear that people’s concerns have been ignored for many years and Labour have taken their votes for granted.
“Harrow West needs a dynamic change! I am determined to restore pride and bring back the Harrow. I will work closely with the Conservatives run Harrow Council, government ministers and holding the London Mayor to account to make Harrow a safer, attractive, healthier and prosperous place to live!”
His statement concludes: “I urge the government, all members of my party, and my political opponents to join me in calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire”.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities figures show 233 affordable homes were completed in Harrow in 2022-23 – down from 414 during the same period the year before, despite numbers rising across England.
Social rental properties are for low-income families and typically cost about 50% of market rents, while affordable housing is provided to low-income earners and can be charged up to 80% of market rents.
“Temporary accommodation costs are spiralling because we are not building enough social housing. Temporary accommodation is expensive, but also insecure and often overcrowded – it should not have ended up as a major part of our housing system” points out The Housing Forum.
On 23 January, council leaders in England met in Westminster to warn MPs they face financial ruin without government intervention due to the housing crisis. They said demand for temporary accommodation is unsustainable, and they face multi-million-pound deficits, reported Investigations Correspondent for ITV News Daniel Hewitt.
Harrow need more council homes. The council could also be more rigid in securing more social housing through the planning application process.
Wonder if the Harrow council would be more proactive in dealing with all properties that have been empty for 2 years or more to turn into council homes at council rents on secure tenancies.

“I recognise that in Harrow there is deep distress at the ongoing appalling situation in Gaza and renewed anger at the injustice faced down the years by the Palestinian people” says Harrow West MP Gareth Thomas.
There have been public demonstrations outside his office in West Harrow as he opted not to vote at the Commons for the ceasefire in Gaza.
Also, Tories have selected Abbas Merali their parliamentary candidate for Harrow West constituency from the community that Mr Thomas had relied upon for votes.
In a very recent email shot, he shares deep concerns about the situation in Gaza, where he sees the suffering “intolerable”, as “millions are displaced, desperate and hungry”.
“Israel continues to use devastating tactics that have seen far too many innocent civilians killed, with unacceptable blocks on essential aid, nowhere safe for civilians, a growing humanitarian catastrophe, and now warnings of a deadly famine” he says.
“I called on the UK Government to galvanise international support for the UN agencies working to help people in the Occupied Palestinian Territories” he informs.
Also, that he voted against the Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill because in his view “it undermines support for a two-state solution, at a time when that goal is more important than ever”.
The Bill intends to prevent “public bodies when making decisions about procurement and investment from considering a country or territory of origin or other territorial considerations in a way that indicates political or moral disapproval of a foreign state.”
Mr Thomas welcomes the December 2023 UN Security Council vote, believing that “diplomacy is the only route to a lasting peace. Open-ended military action without a clear and desired political outcome is futile”.

Long-time Harrow councillor and a graceful Harrow mayor John Nickolay has passed away yesterday (9/01/2024).
Cllr John Nickolay, 88, actively participated in the work of the council, including the traffic and transport work.
He served as the borough’s mayor in 2008/09 where he attended well over 500 events and told the Harrow Times he has been impressed with the way young people from different background integrate and get on together.
He said: “We have had great fun going round the schools, because this is where it all starts. “You wouldn’t think the kids are sometimes the ones who end up in the papers.
Cllr John Nickolay had consistently voiced his opposition to the proposals, which would see the introduction of a third runway at Heathrow.
He was concerned that further growth at Heathrow could lead to Harrow becoming “another Hounslow”.
His relaxation activities included car engineering. (Correction: we now understand that the councillor did not have any interest in engineering – sorry!)
Earlier, Cllr Asad Omar (borough mayor 2010-11) died in October last year!

There is a strong possibility of a new political party under Jeremy Corbyn in response to the increased public demand for one (thousands are signing a petition via @UKChange).
Sources close to Jeremy Corbyn have hinted that he’s ready to launch an entirely new political party based on an ‘anti-war movement’ and green issues.
Both main political parties – Labour and Tory – have defection as the Tories are facing a similar issue with Reform, the party led by Richard Tice.
On 15 December 2020, we predicted a new political party set up, following the launch of the Project for Peace and Justice – cooperative approach for peace and socialism, more than what Labour opposition is doing.
The Project reminded of the Co-operative Party formation on the reformist agenda, which since 1927 has an electoral agreement with Labour Party.
In welcoming the project, Pamela Fitzpatrick, who was a Labour councillor and parliamentary candidate in Harrow East, and is now a director of the project, had said: “Jeremy Corbyn is a politician who is genuinely altruistic and has been a powerful campaigner for peace and justice for decades. I very much welcome this exciting initiative”.
The new party could provide an option at the ballot boxes – well-known local candidates who actively address the community concerns regarding justice and equality locally, nationally and internationally.
In a quiet Harrow, public protests and demonstrations have been rare. But the increasing gap between how residents feel and what their MPs do regarding the matters like Israel and Palestine situation, has led to many public protests and social media expressions.
In considering the potential of a new political party that encapsulates the public’s changed mood, worth remembering the impact of the Referendum party on the general election outcomes in 1997 in the constituencies like Enfield Southgate and Harrow West, where sitting MPs lost.

Harrow council Planning Policy Advisory Panel, under Cllr Marilyn Ashton who is also the chair of the council’s planning committee, advises the council cabinet on various planning matters, including the infrastructure issues due to the developments in the borough.
The National Planning Policy Framework sets out the responsibility of local planning authorities to identify and proactively plan for the provision of infrastructure to support their projected growth.
One important aspect of the Harrow panel’s work is to give ‘detailed consideration to and make recommendations to the cabinet in respect of the use of the Community Infrastructure Levies (CIL) funds’.
The CIL is a charge that local authorities can set on new development in order to raise funds to help fund the infrastructure, facilities and services – such as schools or transport improvements – needed to support new homes and businesses.
Harrow, like some other London councils, seems to have been inspired by and therefore could benefit from the scope of the London Mayor’s imaginative Infrastructure Advisory Panel that focuses on cross-cutting policy issues such as coordination, resilience, regulation, funding and financing, data and innovation.
What Harrow could also follow is the mayor’s focus on bringing together a diverse range of people in the infrastructure and development sectors.
For example, one of the key aims of the mayor’s advisory panel is to address issues around a lack of diversity in the planning sector by offering a platform for innovative ideas brought forward by independent women and Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) professionals.
The inclusion needs to be in real terms and not by a mere reference to ‘diversity’ as is the case in the council’s Spatial Vision and Strategy, and Strategic Objectives (the word ‘diverse’ appears only once in the text).
The Spatial Vision predicts that in the year 2041 ‘Harrow will continue to be a thriving outer London Borough where the “diverse” Harrow community will benefit from an ever-improving quality of life, having a well-connected borough that provides excellent local access to a range of facilities, services, housing, employment, and nature’.
Any community in any borough would benefit from such good conditions and provisions unless the “facilities, services, housing” etc are specific to the needs and aspiration of certain groups of people which has not been said here!!