A special Harrow council video meeting on 7 July marked the commitment and diligent service of Alderman Keith Toms as a councillor of the London Borough of Harrow, and unanimously conferred on him the Honour of Freedom of the Borough.
“I’m greatly honoured by the Freedom of the Borough in a safest and most diverse borough where people respect others and the law” said Alderman Keith Toms.
“We have worked hard on race relations and pleasantly experience very positive communal relationships” added Mr Toms who stands for social justice and equality.

Alderman Keith Toms was first elected Harrow councillor in 1974 and served continuously until 2006 when he stood down having completed 32 years as a councillor of the London Borough of Harrow.
As a councillor, Alderman Toms served on all the major council committees and was Leader of the opposition. He was Harrow Mayor in 1996/97.
From 1998-2002 he was deputy leader of the council and in this role he presented Harrow on the Association of London Government. The Association appointed him Ambassador for London in 1998.
In July 2006 Harrow councillors unanimously voted to invest him with the title of Honorary Alderman. He has been warmly and actively performing this honourable civic duty since.

Harrow East MP Bob Blackman (photo) voted against commissioning specialist domestic abuse services for victims and perpetrators of domestic abuse.
Tory majority at the Commons voted down to add the commissioning clause to the Domestic Abuse bill on 6 July.
This new clause would have established a statutory duty on relevant public authorities to commission specialist support and services to all persons affected by domestic abuse, including refuge and community-based services; specialist services for groups with protected characteristics; services for children and young people; services for perpetrators.
The services were to include counselling and other support, advocacy services, access to welfare benefits, perpetrator programmes, financial support, legal services and helplines.
The clause was to legislate that it is the duty of relevant public authorities in England and non-devolved relevant public authorities in Wales in the exercise of their functions to commission sufficient specialist services for all persons affected by domestic abuse regardless of status.
The clause would have ensured compliance with the duty where public authorities must regularly assess population and support needs changes in their area as well as take account of any strategy to end violence against women and girls adopted by a Minister of the Crown and to co-operate to discharge the duty.

Harrow council announces marking Windrush Day today, honouring Britain’s Caribbean community.
Harrow council says, “This year we will be celebrating online. It is an important time for us to remember and value the contributions of the Windrush Generation who came to Britain to help rebuild the NHS, transport and public services following the Second World War”.
The recent political scandal about Windrush black people was the government wrongly detaining them, denying their legal rights, threatened them with deportation, and, in at least 83 cases, wrongly deported them from the UK by the Home Office.
Many of those affected had been born British subjects and had arrived in the UK before 1973, particularly from Caribbean countries as members of the “Windrush generation” (so named after the Empire Windrush, the ship that brought one of the first groups of West Indian migrants to the UK in 1948).
“There has never been a greater need to commemorate and celebrate the arrival of HMT Empire Windrush, the people on board and those who followed. The men and women who answered the call to help rebuild Britain did so with optimism, energy and passion” the council reminds.
This celebration comes at a time when the Black Lives Matter campaign has once again rightly highlighted racism and inequality in the society.
Harrow seems to have a mixed picture about black matters.
One Harrow MP, Bob Blackman, voted to prevent the release of secret documents about the Windrush scandal.
Harrow Labour Left organised ‘Black Lives Matter’ demonstration early this month but attracted illusive reaction seemingly from within and outside the local Labour party: far right style scaremongering on social media, organisers of the demo heavily criticised, a London assembly member seemingly asking to ban the demo and a Harrow icon Katie statue boarded by the council (however, the demo was graceful and peaceful).

In an open letter to the Labour leadership and executives, concerned socialist Labour party members in Harrow have articulated that ‘Sabotaging a General Election whilst being paid by our membership fees is not okay’.
The leaked  internal report ‘The work of the Labour Party’s Governance and Legal Unit in relation to antisemitism, 2014 – 2019’, described as a “hyper-factional” environment among Labour party staff hostile to Jeremy Corbyn, has caused anger within the party over Labour’s handling of antisemitism cases, and led to calls for party members named in it to be suspended.
Although Labour’s ruling national executive committee (NEC) has now appointed a panel to investigate the report, the report has not been submitted to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) as an intended  part of the material presented to the commission regarding anti-Semitism handling within the party nor any named members in the report have been suspended.
The letter, signed by 85 local socialists, asks the Labour party to move swiftly to address the genuinely concerning issues raised by the content of this report.
“We urge you to focus on the serious allegations contained within this report” they said.
They emphasise that “the evidence available from the leaked report suggests that the antisemitism investigations appear to have been mismanaged deliberately. Because of this practice, the integrity and reputation of the Party, including and especially that of Jeremy Corbyn, have been called into question and reputations grossly and manifestly unfairly tarnished”.
They demand that the report is submitted to the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) as part of its investigation into antisemitism in the Labour Party, and that all persons against whom there is prima facie evidence of misconduct are suspended with immediate effect, pending further investigation.

UPDATE: Following our provocative article below, Cllr Graham Henson, leader of the Harrow council has now said:
“I wanted to take this opportunity to reassure parents that our biggest priority is the safety of our residents – and that includes school children. With the government’s announcement to re-open schools, it is natural that parents will have a level of anxiety and worry.
“We have made it clear to schools that we expect them to open when they are ready and feel that it is safe to do so, and they have my full support. Their preparations to increase the number of pupils attending will be based on a thorough assessment and to a timetable that they will judge is safe for our pupils”.

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At the time of closing schools in March due to C19 risks, Harrow council said it is doing so in the interest of  the health and well-being (“We are sorry for the inconvenience this has caused, but hope you will understand that health & well-being is our priority”), but it is now silent about the government obsession to reopen schools on 1 June, endangering  health and well-being of the school population/parents and carers.
Eighteen English  councils and as many as 1,500 primary schools could defy government recommendations as local bodies query the decision to loosen lockdown measures for primary schools during the coronavirus epidemic which has resulted in at least 35,341 deaths  in the UK so far (527 known cases of coronavirus in Harrow out of a local population of 250,149 – a rate of 2107 cases per million – the 13th highest rate in England).
The government has come under increasing pressure over the decision with teachers, parents, unions and councils questioning the reopening date.
Nearly 29,000 members of the teachers union NASUWT across England, found that around nine in 10 teachers believe that social distancing will be impossible, or will present major issues and a similar proportion are not confident that the proposed measures will protect their health or the health of pupils.
In a letter to the Education Secretary, Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT, said the union remains “unconvinced” that wider reopening of schools from June 1 is “appropriate or practicable”.
Hope Harrow council would be able to issue a statement about reopening schools next month, keeping in view serious concerns by teachers, parents and carers.

“Over the past few weeks I have been contacted by many members asking me to put myself forward.  They have been distraught at the revelations in a recently leaked labour report and alarmed that some in our party do not appear to understand such conduct is unacceptable in the modern workplace.  I can recall only two occasions when members have been so angry, the scandal of MP expenses and the Iraq war” said Ms Fitzpatrick.
Ms Fitzpatrick who stands firm for social justice and equality could not win Harrow East at the last general election but did very well considering unfavourable circumstances – pro and against Corbyn division within the Labour party had adverse impact on the election outcome locally and nationally.
“The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the terrible consequences of austerity and inequality in our society.  We desperately need a Labour Government to rebuild Britain.  However, as any trade unionist knows we cannot win whilst we are divided and dysfunctional” she said.
“The labour party is at a crucial juncture at a time of unprecedented crisis. The incoming General Secretary must ensure that Labour is a party that genuinely lives up to its values and is one which uses all its resources fairly and effectively to achieve a Labour government.  If successful I will ensure this happens” Ms Fitzpatrick added.
Hope Ms Fitzpatrick would be able to patch the division in the Labour party which looks more pronounced now as those on the ‘left’ of the party have been seemingly penalised under new leadership. For example, active Brent North MP Barry Gardiner could not but rather tired Harrow West MP Gareth Thomas has retained his shadow position.

Amid the outcry that the government has been less than honest in addressing the coronavirus situation (for example, under reporting total coronavirus deaths – estimated about 15,000 by now), the two Harrow MPs are trying to let their presence known in their own ways.
Harrow East Tory MP Bob Blackman’s weekly email shots while quite informative, broadly highlight the government’s positive image re dealing with the impact of the coronavirus.
He informs the department of work and pensions is doing what it can in dealing with the increased Universal Credit applications – like by redeploying and recruiting new staff.
A national voucher scheme for children eligible for free school meals is in place, allowing every eligible child with a weekly shopping voucher worth £15.
The Government is providing an extra £1.6 billion worth of funding for local councils addressing extra pressures on their services due to the coronavirus implications – Harrow Council will receive over £6.3 million of this funding, he informs.
It would be interesting to find Harrow council plans to spend this money.
In somewhat delayed action, Harrow West Labour MP Gareth Thomas raises concern that the Government could have acted sooner and done more to support care and medical staff etc during the coronavirus outbreak.
For example, encouraging working from home, providing clear support for businesses and outlining lockdown rules that have been in place since March 24.
“It would appear that social distancing measures were imposed later than they should have been, that many opportunities were missed to prepare the NHS in particular properly, with all the personal protection equipment necessary and the testing regime in place to help keep key workers safe.
“The lack of PPE (personal protective kit) and testing remains a significant problem, particularly in care homes, but across essential services and that is deeply worrying” he said.
But the new leader of the Labour party, eager not to be seen at left,  seems to be less keen on addressing serious implications of the coronavirus or on pressing the government to come clean about the coronavirus situation, but is rather urging the government to publish an exit strategy from the coronavirus lockdown even before the virus had reached its peak risks, confusing the public.

Good to hear from the Harrow council leader Cllr Graham Henson that “We’ll also soon be launching a new helpline on Coronavirus to get you the support you need to help you through this crisis” as many London councils have done so weeks ago.
Now the council coronavirus web page looks more informative and includes ‘coronavirus hotline telephone number’ 0208 901 2698 [we raised concern about the lack of support plan and contact point on 19 March]. However, this number reportedly gives a very confusing and unhelpful recorded message: “this line in now closed as the council is prioritising services essential for vulnerable” – please council what does this mean?
Current registered coronavirus cases in Harrow are 196.
The leader also assures that “during this difficult time we are here for you” and that “our teams have also been working incredibly hard to ensure the right support is available for the many of you facing hardship over the coming weeks and months”.
It would be helpful to know how to effectively access the council during this difficult time and who the “teams” are, what their brief is and how to contact them for support. Is the council deploying additional staff to answer residents telephone calls or emails?
The leader’s statement further informs “I want to take this opportunity to say how proud I am of our community resilience. Thank you to our community groups, partners and voluntary sector who we have been working closely with us to ensure our most vulnerable residents get the support they really need. From delivering food and essentials, to checking up on neighbours (at the safe distance) your support is invaluable”.
No doubt the community support in Harrow is remarkable but what the council could do to make it more effective and accessible, is to provide good leadership and coordinate the individual support initiatives or at least list out at the web page how and where to contact the community groups for support.
At times like this (and much difficult times ahead), high quality council communications are vital. This aspect of the council work needs good focus, especially as communication has not been a council strength over the years, under various administrations.
Also and under the challenging circumstances, there is a greater need for firm and really caring leadership locally and nationally.