Hustings after dustings in Harrow, Bob Blackman, than Tory candidate and now MP for Harrow East, assured that NHS is not up for sale – but it is!
After misleading Harrow residents this way, he sought temple blessings in vote capturing exercise without any confession. It would be difficult to disagree with those who say such an opportunist can’t be trusted!
‘Private firms invited to run NHS services with cancer and kids treatments on sale’, Sunday Mirror reported on 28 December 2019.
Bids for chunks of the health service are invited in complete contrast to Boris Johnson ’s repeated election campaign denials.
Cardiology, gynaecology, paediatrics and oncology are among the services being offered to companies.
A new framework drawn up by NHS Shared Business Services for hospital trusts to buy clinical care from a list of suppliers, could lead to deals worth up to £117million being handed out over four years.
Furthermore, trade experts have pointed out that there is a degree of inevitability that, when agreeing a free trade deal (FTD) with the US, it would automatically expect access to the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry in the UK.
Apart from giving publicity to those who hold hustings, including the places of worship, the hustings are out of date and waste of time activity as they do not have any mechanism to hold the candidates to account once they are elected.
It would be appropriate for the hustings-holders in Harrow to ask Mr Blackman why he misled about the NHS future, and then make his apology public.
Also ask Gareth Thomas, MP Harrow West, how exactly he is going to implement his sweeping statements at the hustings about this or that?

Politics around the world is now more aggressive, vicious and divisive – be nasty and win, be nice and lose!
In Harrow both Harrow MPs retained their seat, seemingly through divisiveness, though differently.
Harrow East Tory MP Bob Blackman does not hide the sense of extensively using temples and temple communities for votes, as his after election newsletter demonstrates – he even took MP oath holding Gita (Sanskrit scripture, part of the Hindu epic Mahabharata).
He is not worried about what his inclusion, exclusion and cheap gimmicks do to the community relationships till he gets his votes.
Harrow West Labour MP Gareth Thomas makes obvious his disliking for the ‘left’ and therefore reservation about Jeremy Corbyn leadership and the spirit of social justice that has inspired Harrow, particularly through the Harrow East Labour campaign.
Pro and against Jeremy Corby Labour streams in Harrow are too obvious to miss where Brexit issue and anti-Corbin offensive remain combined, and who cares about considering its socio-community implications generally or for the party till Mr Thomas  gains from this.
In his dog whistle, Mr Thomas tweeted: “In the last 50 years Labour has won just 4 of the last 14 General Elections. How many more do we have to lose before a Labour Leader recognises that it’s not enough to be principled, we have to be perceived to be moderate, patriotic & fiscally responsible as well?”
Could a reference to ‘moderate & patriotic’ be to Tony Blair and alike, operative shadow of Tories, supporting the spread of colonialism, attacks on middle eastern countries to destroy and kill like in Iraq, covering up seminal role of banks in 2008 crash which made Tory austerity measures ‘common sense’, lodged in millions minds, including Labour?
And perhaps it was in the spirit of patriotism that Mr Thomas voted for the Cameron motion to bomb Syria while even some Tory MPs, including David Davis, voted against!
Labour party is to start process to find a new leader soon.
Mr Thomas, a member of Labour Friends of Israel, first supported Liz Kendall  and then Owen Smith in the 2016 Labour Party (UK) leadership election.  His choice of the type of Labour leadership seems obvious!
Most probably Mr Blackman would not but would Mr Thomas publish an action plan to fulfil his stated pre election commitments.

As the Harrow MPs have managed to retain their seats, through whatever means they could, they should now concentrate more on addressing the challenges that Harrow faces.
Harrow Council is one of the lowest funded councils in London and it is estimated that by 2020-21 the council will have to find £125 million to balance its budgets. This means huge pressure on Harrow Council to deliver effective public services.
GP appointments are getting very difficult, Harrow walk-in services that helped out are now closed and A&E overflowing. Added to this is the NHS ‘rationing’ where GPs have been urged against referring patients to hospital specialists and consultants for such treatments as hip and knee replacements and cataract surgery.
Mental health care, especially effecting young people, is in crisis, needing, for example,  more and better Counselling.
Austerity measures have hit Harrow badly – 30% of children in Harrow, and 40% in some parts of the borough, live in poverty.
Harrow food bank fed over 2617 people this year, including over 1041 children, and it is feared that there will be 1,532 homeless children in Harrow this Christmas.
Metropolitan police budget cuts have serious implications for policing e.g. to cope with increased knife crimes in Harrow.
In Harrow, in the 12 months to Sept 2019 there were 648 racist and religious hate crimes reported, up from 288 the previous year.
About 27,723 private renters in Harrow need protection from bad landlords.
And the list of deprivation and unfavourable conditions confronting residents can go on!
It would be professionally sound for Harrow MPs to publish action plans to address the dire local situations that adversely impact the quality of life of residents, more so the lives of vulnerable and those groups of residents who have different but equally important needs.
In demanding best value for money, at £79,468 salary (MP annual salary), a manager in service industry will be required to plan and deliver effective services.

General election 2019 gave a sense of ‘presidential’ election with an overriding objective to defeat/oust Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn who constantly faced smear campaigns from within and seemingly from outside Britain.
Divisiveness worked and Tory candidate Bob Blackman retained his Harrow East seat. No doubt he would keep supporting government policies and practices which have adverse differential impact on groups of people including vulnerable and those who have different but equally important needs.
Momentum backed Harrow East Labour candidate Pamela Fitzpatrick worked hard and carried out positive campaign but was too good to win in most aggressive political climate: soon after she was selected, there were whispers ‘how can she win, she has no standing in the Gujarati households’ – this seemingly remained the theme throughout, compounded by the ‘vote against Labour’ campaign, recycled by some Labour and places of worship – looks she was set to fail!
Divide for/against Momentum and Corbyn looked so obvious!
Despite Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson lost her seat, Lib Dem Lisa-Maria Bornemann (Harrow West) and Adam Bernard (Harrow East) increased their share of votes.
Harrow West Labour candidate Gareth Thomas, more experienced in muddy community politics and played a variety of race ‘cards’,  retained his seat but with reduced majority which does not reflect well considering that Tory candidate Anwara Ali was a new comer to Harrow, had only few weeks to canvass and was almost dumped by her party.

Latest leaflet from Lisa-Maria Bornemann informs that at the European election earlier this year, the Liberal Democrat in Harrow gained their highest vote share in a national election for over a decade.
Apparently their vote share increased by 19 per cent (2017 general election and 2019 European election) while Labour were down 28 per cent and Tories 27 percent.
She wants society to be open and welcoming to everyone and says “Harrow’s wonderful diversity makes her glad to live here”.
Lisa-Maria Bornemann, a team manager in the public sector, founded Liberal Democrat immigrants, promoting the rights of all who choose to live in Harrow.
She believes in a more prosperous Britain by staying at the heart of a modernised EU, tackling the climate change challenges and protecting public services.
It looks there are wider choices for Harrow West voters who are fed up with the divisive community politics to please some at the cost of others, using priests and places of worship, and the Brexit, both distastefully dominating the election campaign.

Harrow could do well with at least one MP who could really champion social justice and equality, given the level of deprivation, vulnerability and disability in Harrow due to the government’s socio-economic policies and practices which have differential impact on groups of people and which have not been effectively dealt with – if they could not deliver yesterday, can they be trusted to deliver tomorrow?

Tory candidate for Harrow East Bob Blackman is number 510 on the People-Power Index, a measure to see how hard MPs work.
The assessment criteria include MP’s availability to their constituents, participation in parliament and how an MP listens to the public, representing all constituents.
So what Mr Blackman does to remain in Harrow East marginal seat – the following references to him indicate how:
“The Tory candidate in my late parents’ constituency of Harrow East seems to be up to his neck in this cynical attempt at divide and rule by faith (Labour is accused of being pro-Muslim and anti-Hindu
“People in Harrow have already spoken out. Bob Blackman is neither Hindu nor Muslim but employs this far-right playbook at the expense of others so as to weigh their votes without counting the long-term cost of fanning the flames of racial tension” said Shami Chakrabarti, shadow attorney general for England and Wales.
“The approach of Bob Blackman during his nine years as Harrow East’s MP has been widely criticised for dividing communities. Wrapping himself in Hindu and Jewish causes, he has drawn fury by hosting events in parliament attended by extreme Hindu nationalist Tapan Ghosh – Blackman demurs that he didn’t invite him – sharing and then retracting Islamophobic articles by the likes of Tommy Robinson, and speaking proudly of his opposition to equal marriage” as Joshua Neicho pointed out.
Mr Blackman’s divisiveness has been compounded by others, for example, a letter  apparently from Lord Popat (Con) sent to the Harrow East Gujarati households, supporting Mr Blackman, said:

(The protest march was redirected away from the Indian High Commission building on the request of the Indian High Commission and not because of what Mr Blackman said at the Commons!!)

In an interview with the Muslim News the then Labour/Co-operative MP for Harrow West Mr Thomas (Coop chair 2001-2019) felt that “Muslim should vote Coop” and  said that Muslim and Coop values “lean the same way” and thought that there’s significant overlap between the Coop and Muslims.
“I would support a Muslim credit union that borrows money interest-free,” Mr Thomas added.
What was true some years back, is most likely true now!
The Co-operative Party and Labour Party have had an electoral alliance known as the ‘National Agreement’ since 1927, meaning they don’t stand against each other in elections.  Instead both parties agree joint candidates to stand as Labour and Co-operative Party.
Mr Thomas now Labour/Co-operative candidate for Harrow West considers himself far more suitable but somewhat insecure than the Tory candidate Anwara Ali who he said has been “parachuted into Harrow West from the other side of London”.
Anwara Ali might not win but her name seems to have caused significant political ripples.
Having heard concerns that Mr Thomas appears to be following the tactics of divisive Tory candidate for Harrow East to capture Indian background votes, wider views gleaned indicate that this was not generally the case.
Although Mr Thomas is only in the mid range (number 312) on People-Power Index list which is a measure to see how hard MPs work, he seems to be catering for wider community interests.
For example, his historic interaction with the Pakistani community is well appreciated, like when shadow foreign secretary in 2014, he was chief guest at the conference about Kashmir where he thanked the organisers: “I am thankful to SDM (Jammu Kashmir Right of Self-Determination Movement) leadership and Julie Hilling (Lab MP) as they provided me chance to come in this conference”, he said.
He is seen at various mosques and is an active supporter of the under construction Salaam Centre, a project to build a truly unique space for the Muslim and the wider community in North Harrow.
Votes of ethnic minority groups are obviously vital to the outcome on 13 December whose support can be expected to break in different ways, some more predictable than others.

Snapshot survey indicates that with the exception of some mischievously poisoned against Labour, most consider Pamela Fitzpatrick (Lab) a suitable MP candidate for Harrow East.
In contrast, Bob Blackman, Tory candidate for Harrow East, suitability rating is much down, for example, he is number 510 (almost bottom) on the People-Power Index, a health check of how Parliament is working and how MPs are listening to, and engaging with, their constituents.
Ms Fitzpatrick is well trusted to address the dire NHS situations where ‘under Tories, NHS is being critically underfunded and is at risk of being sold off to Donald Trump’.
Much appreciation for Ms Fitzpatrick leading the ‘Save our walk-in clinic’ campaign to avoid the closure of Belmont Walk in Centre which she said could not come at a worse time. The winter is here, Northwick Park is already overstretched and local people are often having to wait weeks for a GP appointment.
Mental health is another major concern: “We have a mental health crisis with our young people – here in Harrow and around the country” said Pamela Fitzpatrick in welcoming Labour plans for a counsellor in every secondary school, including in Harrow.
As a voluntary legal advisor, Ms Fitzpatrick has been dealing with many ill effects of austerity in Harrow.
Over 30% of children in Harrow live in poverty where child poverty is rising to 40% in some wards. Last year, the Harrow food bank fed over 2617 people, including over 1041 children.
The government has cut the budget of the Metropolitan police drastically, forcing a reduction in officer – Harrow has seen an increase in violent crime with knife crime becoming a more frequent occurrence.
In Harrow, in the 12 months to Sept 2019 there were 648 racist and religious hate crimes reported, up from 288 the previous year.
Pamela Fitzpatrick said “It saddens to me to speak to local people in the area and hear them worried about the safety of them and their family. The people of Wealdstone should feel as safe as people in Windsor”.
Ms Fitzpatrick in committed to see more police on the streets and funding youth services to stop crime at its root causes.
On the homelessness in Harrow, Ms Fitzpatrick is touched by people who sleep out in the cold in Central Harrow and Wealdstone and another, unseen, side where children and families sleeping on someone’s sofa, or in temporary accommodation.
“The way to solve this is building more council housing, strong protections for renters’ rights, and proper funding for homelessness services. That’s how we’ll solve our broken housing market” said Ms Fitzpatrick.
In responding to the news that there will be 1,532 homeless children in Harrow this Christmas, Ms Fitzpatrick said “It’s appalling at any time of the year, but it’s especially shocking at Christmas”.
Ms Fitzpatrick who believes in putting power in the hands of tenants welcomes a new Labour ‘charter of renters’ rights which will protect private renters from bad landlords.
There are 27,723 households in Harrow – 31% – that will benefit from the plans.
Odd that there are no louder echoes of this injustice and inequality issues from Harrow West, perhaps because it is seemingly locked in Tony Blair era (many believe Blair should be tried as a war criminal over the Iraq War that resulted in half a million people dead)!

When at the Brent council, Bob Blackman, now Tory candidate for Harrow East, blocked honour for Mandela. He took Brent councillors to the High Court to stop them awarding Nelson Mandela the ‘freedom of the borough’ when he visited the area’s Wembley Stadium for a marquee concert broadcast in 60 countries.
Mr Blackman won the comments like “It’s a shame that even after Apartheid South Africa had forgiven Nelson Mandela, one British political wingnut couldn’t”.
Mr Blackman still seems to be proud of what he did.
He supported Zac Goldsmith campaign soaked in racism at the last London mayor election in one of the most ethnically diverse cities on earth. He has not distanced himself from that campaign.
Mr Blackman voted to prevent the release of secret documents about the Windrush scandal.
The political scandal last year was about black people who were wrongly detained, denied legal rights, threatened with deportation, and, in at least 83 cases, wrongly deported 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).
“Bob Blackman, the MP for Harrow East, shared a story which had the headline: “Muslim Somali sex gang say raping white British children ‘part of their culture’.” reported the Independent newspaper.
Mr Blackman supports the Boris Johnson who has been called “a racist PM and a racist candidate” by the Momentum founder Jon Lansman, brought up in an Orthodox Jewish family in Southgate.
Mr Blackman has not condemned the hateful ‘vote against Labour’ campaign, seemingly engineered by despicable elements outside the UK.
He works closely with his temple visits facilitator the Harrow councillor Anjana Patel who has been included in an Islamophobia dossier.
Mr Blackman has been described as a right-wing extremist. He has opposed equal marriage, called for the reintroduction of the anti-gay Section 28, as well as backing the bedroom tax, austerity, cuts to taxes on the rich, trebling tuition fees, privatisation and other unjust Tory policies, including removing hot meals for children from low income families.
In the last election, Labour slashed his majority from 4,757 to just 1,757 despite he has calculated his votes and stirs up emotions in the Indian and Jewish background voters for political gains all the time.