A local councillor Pamela Fitzpatrick (photo), Director Harrow Law Centre and Labour parliamentary candidate for Harrow East, is delighted that a key policy of the Government’s Hostile Environment policy has been declared unlawful in a ruling handed down by the Court of Appeal today.
In April 2013 the Coalition Government introduced a host of regulations as part of its hostile environment policy.  One such amendment the ‘past presence’ test meant that a person with a disability would have to wait two years before being eligible for certain disability benefits notwithstanding that they had genuine links to the UK.
Harrow Law Centre which has long argued that these rules were discriminatory and in breach of EU law, challenged this restriction and the Court of Appeal agreed the Government had acted unlawfully in denying disability benefit.
The law centre  client, 67 years old German national and severely disabled, came to live with her daughter, a British Citizen, in the UK when she was no longer able to care for herself.  She later claimed Attendance Allowance, but it was refused under the new legislation.  As a result, her daughter was also excluded from claiming carers allowance despite being a British Citizen.
This  case was joined with another involving an Irish national represented by Child Poverty Action Group where the British Citizen mother, of a disabled child was refused disability living allowance for her child under the same rule.
In its judgement handed down today the Court of Appeal ruled that both claimants had a genuine and sufficient connection to the UK when they claimed disability benefits and that the approach taken was flawed and unduly inflexible because it failed to take account of all the particular, personal circumstances and motives of the claimants, which in the round, proved the required sufficient link.
Commenting on today’s judgement Solicitor David Martinez of Harrow Law Centre said:
“This judgment makes clear that once again the government’s interpretation of European Union law has been far too restrictive.  This time those suffering from severe disabilities were denied the assistance they so clearly required and were entitled to.  This was despite the strong family links to the UK and the clear intention to settle here that both clients had.  At least for those disabled EU citizens and disabled UK citizens returning or relocating from the EU the decision-making process for those who have carers strongly connected to the UK will now be done within a fundamentally more benign environment.”

Well publicised Visit My Mosque event in Harrow last Sunday was widely attended, including by community leaders, clergy and many Labour councillors.
This could only be good for community cohesion and togetherness. However, concerns have been expressed that the event was hardly attended by the Tory councillors.
Given the possibility that Tory councillors might have attended the event at a Harrow mosque but were not noticed, we asked the leader of the Tory opposition group Cllr Paul Osborn to clarify whether he or his councillors attended.
Days have gone but he has not come back, perhaps to save embarrassment.
Although there is no compulsion to attend such events, local Tory position needed clarification in the light of the national outcry* about Islamophobia in the Tory party [1], [2], Harrow East Conservative Association selecting and nurturing divisive elements [1], [2], and no Muslim representation at the Tory councillor level in Harrow.
While there are some Tory councillors who are professional enough to appreciate that they are paid to represent wider population in Harrow, there are many, mostly in Harrow East, who don’t and use their councillor title to promote themselves within their tight community, and therefore give poor value for public money.
*

Both Labour and Liberal Democrats parliamentary candidates for Harrow East assert that the sitting MP Bob Blackman position is very shaky in this marginal constituency because of his undesirable doings and lack of interest in Harrow matters.
Declining support for him became obvious at the last general election when despite all his divisive moves to attract Indian and Jewish background voters, Mr Blackman majority was slashed from 4,757 in 2015 to 1,757 in 2017 by Labour. His position will be under further threat once the boundary changes take place.
Labour parliamentary candidate for Harrow East Harrow councillor Pamela Fitzpatrick is determined to unseat Mr Blackman as at the very time local people need more help, Mr Blackman has consistently voted for budget cuts meaning budgets of local authorities has been slashed as well as a huge reduction in funding to  schools, police service and benefit system.
“All this has an impact on the residents of Harrow East. For example, in Harrow diverse community the two-child restriction on benefits and the hostile environment have had a particularly harsh impact” said Cllr Fitzpatrick.
Also “homelessness has soared and the numbers of looked after children is unprecedented. In once a borough with the lowest level of crime in London, now Hate crime has increased and many families are fearful for the safety of their children” she said.
“A housing crisis and the worst level of homelessness in decades are not accidental but because of the benefit cap, universal credit, the restriction of housing benefit to below rent levels, the huge increase in benefit sanctions for people who are seriously ill or have a disability” reminds Cllr Fitzpatrick.
“We are desperately in need of a Labour government that will invest in our schools, provide affordable homes and protect our NHS” Cllr Fitzpatrick said.
Liberal Democrats parliamentary candidate Adam Bernard, born and brought up in Edgware, focuses on the appallingly divisive nature of some campaigning in Harrow East.
“I’m proud to live in Harrow, which is lucky to have people from so many cultures. It’s sad to see divisive political campaigning here; pitting Hindus against Muslims against Jews, or people from the EU against people from the Commonwealth” said Mr Bernard.
“A community like ours can only thrive because of its inclusive spirit. I and the Liberal Democrats will always stand against racism, Islamophobia, Antisemitism, and xenophobia. None of these should have a place in our society or our politics” he said.
A long standing Liberal Democrat, Mr Bernard  works as a researcher teaching computers to read medical research papers and was a Harrow East candidate in 2017 election.

Some years back when the previous chief executive Michael Lockwood rejoined the council and accelerated Harrow regeneration programme, the Harrow Monitoring Group suggested study of how Brent attracted the developers and addressed the social housing shortage.
He listened and just in four years the Harrow that struggled to attract investors is now bubbling with developments and impressively progressing towards its housing target. Credit to the council, particularly the regeneration and planning team.
Following is a snap shot of developments around the Harrow Town Centre:

BBC is set to scrape free TV license for over-75s from June 2020 as Tory government has refused to accept the £745million-a-year cost of the benefit to pensioners last Sunday.
Currently, all households with someone aged 75 or over are entitled to a free licence, worth £150.50.
Harrow has 17,000 over 75 residents according to the Harrow Joint Strategic Needs Assessment 2015-20 by Harrow Health and Wellbeing Board (7% of 243,500 residents). Many are living in poverty or just above the poverty line and the TV is vital companionship and entertainment.
Introduced by the Labour Chancellor Gordon Brown in 2001, the cost of the free license was initially borne by the government but later the Tories stitched up a deal in 2015 to make the BBC responsible for funding the benefit from June 2020.
Now, Age UK, the National Pensioners Convention and the National Union of Journalists have written a joint letter to BBC chairman.
“The BBC leadership must be brave. It must say ending free licences for the over-75s is wrong-headed and divisive, acknowledge funding this welfare benefit would trigger an end to our public service broadcaster as we know it, and say it must now be down to Government to take back responsibility for this benefit” the letter said.
Perhaps a Harrow council resolution could support the call not to cut this benefit to pensioners.

UPDATED: Local community has worked hard to maintain good relationships amongst the groups of people in Harrow, a most diverse borough. Often Harrow council and police have organised come together events for Harrow communities to show unity against deplorable activities home or abroad that have adverse implications for the community cohesion and relationships locally.
But there are concerns that some, like in Harrow East Tory party, use their elected position to stir up emotions and endanger community relationships by taking sides with international sensitive situations such as the ongoing dispute in Kashmir (India) for self promotion / satisfaction.

British government and Tory party positions are to let India and Pakistan resolve their internal and external issues, without blaming either side like who is/ is not breeding terrorists. Such a balanced approach makes good sense, particularly at the times of high tension between the two countries as is now.
While the two Tories (photo) are responsible for their poor performance, Harrow East Conservative Association has selected and nurtures them.
Harrow East MP Bob Blackman, who has calculated his votes, is well reported for divisiveness  (2) and endorsing far right elements (2) but it is somewhat unfortunate that a Belmont councillor, who is paid to serve her ward residents in council matters, has to follow the MP’s undesirable footsteps.
Tory Cllr Anjana Patel was defeated in West Harrow, rejected by the Cllr Susan Hall dominated Harrow West Conservative Association and given asylum by Harrow East Conservative Association apparently in a show of power to HWCA, particularly the old rival Cllr Hall.  She was then stitched up to Belmont (to tease Cllr Hall?) and therefore her apparent insecurity/ vulnerability seemingly requires the MP’s protection and support (Harrow council could note that Ms Patel tweets as Cllr Anjana Patel).
However, any divisiveness in Harrow is not acceptable and must be challenged!

Bob Blackman, MP for Harrow East recycled ongoing wider Brexit chaos by wrongly claiming that Harrow East voted 50/50 for leave or remain.
Mr Blackman claimed this while supporting Brexit on TalkRadio where the presenter Alexis Conran pointed out to him that Harrow East is a Remain constituency.
In the London Borough of Harrow 64,042 voted to Remain (54.6 percent) whilst 53,183 voted to Leave (45.4 percent), and in Harrow East, 52.4 percent voted to Remain and 47.5 percent voted to Leave, according to figures published by Democratic Dashboard.
Mr Blackman in a most marginal seat heavily relies on his divisive approach to attract the Indian and Jewish background voters by taking sides with international disputed matters.
In emotion-raising argument, he argued that Brexit would enable more and better trade opportunities with India and Israel.
His general Brexit theme alerted the hardliners, “Western powers are caught between contrasting policy alternatives in key areas, including their dealings with the Middle East and their visions for the future of Iran and its regional power structure”.
“The election of Donald Trump set the United States on a very different course of foreign policy, thus necessitating that its European partners either follow suit or run a risk of being caught on the wrong side when bilateral relations start to deteriorate further” he continued.

Pupils should be banned from taking smartphones into school, the minister for school standards in England Nick Gibb has told the BBC ahead of the government publishing new guidance for schools.
Another example of the government showing ignorance of school, teaching and interfering in the life of the school.
Schools already have the power to ban phones from being taken on to the premises by pupils and the headteacher determines whether this is appropriate.
Feeling in Harrow is that supervised use of mobile phone, a pocket-sized computer, as a learning tool, has many advantages, since there is a general shortage of school computers, stop clocks, camera equipment and data loggers due to government cuts in school funding.
There is no appreciation by Nick Gibb for the schools imaginative use of pupils mobile phones to minimise the adverse impact of the cuts in the school funding like not having enough computers and equipment for pupils use.
Pupils are encouraged to use their mobile phones at the tutor time to check homework etc, in lessons to take photos of the board if sets of data or notes are needed and in science lessons for video experiments.
It looks that the ministers have no clue how a school actually runs.

The fleet services by a new contractor was launched at a ceremony held outside the Harrow civic centre. Go Plant Fleet Services will supply and maintain a wide range of machines, including some zero emission vehicles, and equipment for Harrow Council as part of an initial eight-year contract worth more than £25 million which went live on January 1.
The full service agreement, which includes fleet management services, will also incorporate the authority’s substantial workshop and the TUPE transfer of 10 existing maintenance staff.
Harrow Council has recently approved much needed central depot expansion at a planning committee meeting as the depot is a base for many machines, equipment and envirnomental services.  The opposition group formally declined to vote at the meeting.
Go Plant will provide both full contract hire with maintenance for around 140 brand new assets including compact sweepers, 7.5 and 12-tonne refuse collection vehicles and 60 accessible buses.
The deal also includes grounds maintenance equipment such as tractors, mowers and rollers as well as quad bikes for weed spraying activity. The company will provide a ‘maintenance only’ service for the remainder of the authority’s 350-strong fleet which also features RCVs, road sweepers and various light commercial vehicles.

Despite the NHS direction not to ban any medicine from being prescribed that can now be purchased without a prescription, the NHS Harrow Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has issued instructions to GPs not to prescribe these medicines which the GPs are following.
The list of medicines to which this guidance applies is here and includes vitamin D, skin creams, nasal sprays (like saline solution for babies and Beconase for adults), lubricant eye drops, haemorrhoid creams, constipation laxatives like Cosmocol, the commonly used painkillers, or dispersible aspirin to keep blood thin.
We have asked Harrow CCG to clarify their action that hits hard vulnerable, elderly, school age children or those on benefits, who are exempted from the prescription charges.
The NHS North West London made the following clear recommendations:
“Ask if they (patents) will buy it. If the patient’s answer is ‘no’ (i.e. the patient is unable or unwilling to purchase the product), or if you are not confident in their ‘yes’, the product should be prescribed.
“The CCGs are not asking any prescriber to have lengthy conversations with patients about this. If the patient says s/he is not willing to buy the medicine, or if the prescriber is not confident in the patient saying that s/he will buy it, the CCGs recommend simply prescribing it.”
The NHS NWL letter was very specific, for example under “can the prescriber refer the complaint to his or her CCG?” it said:
“If the recommendation above is followed, there should be little cause for a patient to complain. If he or she says that s/he is not willing to buy the medicine, or if the prescriber is not confident in the patient saying that s/he will buy it, the medicine should be prescribed. But yes, prescribers are encouraged to direct people who want to complain about the recommendation to the CCGs’ complaints team.”
The Harrow CCG should fully follow NHS North West London recommendations to the prescribers and instruct GPs to do the same.
We have also asked the Harrow council leader Cllr Graham Henson to intervene as he chairs the Harrow Health and Wellbeing Board which is working in partnership with the Harrow CCG!