Fair-minded media, Commons and people have no taste for Bob Blackman’s divisive politics as confirmed by the general condemnation of his hosting of an extremist at the Parliament.

The Charity Commission is to investigate the organisation that invited extremist Hindu nationalist to the House of Commons event, hosted by Bob Blackman, MP Harrow East!
Community organisations,  MPs and councillors have raised  concerns about Mr Blackman’s behaviour, especially as inappropriate MP behaviour is now a key issue at the Commons.
The following comment on the Times website sums up the general feeling:

The Times reported  that Harrow East MP Bob Blackman hosted in parliament an anti-Muslim extremist who has called for the UN to control the birth rate of Muslims, praised the genocide of Rohingya Muslims in Burma, and said Muslims should be forced to leave their religion if they come to a western country.
Bob Blackman, a Conservative member of the communities and local government committee, hosted Tapan Ghosh, an Indian Hindu-nationalist, in the Commons during an event called “Tolerating the Intolerant”.
Irrespective of what Mr Blackman has said since the event to defend indefensible, the fact remains that he just sat there and allowed Ghosh free rein to spread hatred and division at the event.
Also one wonders what part his equally divisive assistant, an Indian nationalist who has been fixed as a Tory candidate for Harrow’s Queensbury ward, played in organising the event?
Alerting about Hindu nationalists, the Independent reported, ‘It is also less understood that the rise of this movement in India has been partly fuelled by activists in the UK and US, who in turn have pushed similar agendas’.
Mr Blackman deviously claims that his Hindu-specific activities are because he stands for his Hindu constituents but most Hindus  are peace-loving and have shown no propensity for far right Hindu extremism in India or here or support his divisiveness – for example – so whose inspirations he represents?
Also read related article

Most divisive MP Bob Blackman has hosted an anti-Muslim extremist in Parliament.
The Tory MP for Harrow East hosted Tapan Ghosh, who has called for the UN to control the birth rate of Muslims, praised the genocide of Rohingya Muslims in Burma, and said that Muslims should be forced to leave their religion if they come to a western country.
Mr Ghosh also used his visit to share a platform with far-right anti-Islam agitator Tommy Robinson.
The anti-Muslim extremist Ghosh who founded a far-right ultra nationalist party, apparently spoke at the same event as the Home Secretary Amber Rudd.
It is about time Tory party should address extremism, racism and challenge divisive characters within the party, locally and nationally. Tory Party should do what they expect others to do – suspend and investigate Bob Blackman for supporting extremists.
Adam Bernard, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary spokesperson for Harrow East commented:
“An area as religiously diverse as Harrow East deserves better than an MP who invites hatemongers to inflame tensions between communities.
“Mr Blackman needs to realise that his job is to represent people from all communities and of all faiths and nationalities.
“If he can’t get the hang of that, perhaps he should consider a change of career?”
After the last general election, London assembly member Navin Shah who contested Harrow East seat said, “The general election also saw the same old issues like Kashmiri Pundits and caste legislation dragged out for the Tory propaganda to find cheap favours amongst Indian / Hindu voters”.

In a tweet, Navin Shah said, “Hardly surprising to see Bob Blackman rubbing shoulders with Tapan Ghosh &Tommy Robinson. Most appalling & disgusting. Deserves condemnation“.
We glen that some in the Harrow Tory group, which is considered more promising under its new and non-confrontational leadership, are concerned about losing political chances because of their selfish colleagues promoting religious hate and division in Harrow East by implications.

The  damage to water main at Headstone Drive and High Street Wealdstone caused major flooding,  at one point about 1.5 metres deep.

The Affinity Water informed us at 15.09: ‘Our repair team are on site with the fire brigade working to pump out water as quickly as possible in order to be able to start work to fix the damaged water main. We are sorry for the disruption to supply and thank for patience’.

Harrow Council chief executive Michael Lockwood has been confirmed as the first director general of the new Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
Major reforms to the IPCC – including its renaming as the IOPC – were announced by Prime Minister Theresa May during her time as Home Secretary.
The IOPC will have new powers, helping it to become more effective and more decisive in addressing public concerns, including to initiate its own investigations without relying on a force to record and refer a particular case for investigation, and to determine appeals and recommend remedies.
Michael Lockwood’s crown appointment means he will be the single executive head of the organisation when the IPCC officially becomes the IOPC in January 2018, replacing the current commission.
He will ultimately bear responsibility for all decisions made in the IOPC’s investigations and appeals, including the investigation of the most serious and sensitive allegations involving the police.
Michael Lockwood said, “It’s an honour to be appointed as the first director general for the IOPC.
“This is an important time for the organisation, as the IPCC transitions to the IOPC. I look forward to working with the dedicated staff there as we reshape the organisation to ensure the police disciplinary and complaints system is as effective and as clear as possible.”
We wish Mr Lockwood well and trust that the new police watchdog under his leadership would gain the confidence of all communities.
If internally appointed, council corporate director Tom Whiting could be appointed as new chief executive of the council when Mr Lockwood moves on.

The public outcry about the serious crimes in Harrow, including fatal knife crimes, more is certain parts of the borough, reflects badly on the effectiveness of the Harrow council and police in addressing the crimes.
According to the police figures, there were 177 knife crimes in Harrow in 2016. Street-level crimes and anti-social behaviour in August 2017 from the Home Office included 86 violent crimes. London mayor takes knife crime in Harrow ‘extremely seriously’.
A damning crime-specific  petition (see below)* signed by 256 residents was presented by a representative of a group of business owners and residents of Northolt Road, South Harrow at the council meeting last September.
It is not the Harrow’s position on the league table of crimes in London or the publicity that ‘Harrow is one of the safest borough’ or the routine political statements  but it is the nature and frequency of the serious crimes like (1), (2) which impact the fear of crime.
Many believe that a lack of visible police officers and there being nowhere for young people to go in Harrow are reasons for a rise in violent crime in the borough.
Sad that the arrangements which helpfully held the local police to account in Harrow on matters such as the deployment of the police officers and crime prevention, deteriorated and were eventually replaced by talk-shop structures under the previous London mayor watch.
On the question of the failure to positively engage young people through meaningful activities, the Harrow council has a lot to answer, like the appropriateness of its youth services and the missed opportunities to engage youth.
For example, we reported that the £400k Controlling Migration Fund to Harrow, has been unwisely used on teaching English language rather than on dealing with increased anti-social behaviour that includes random flytipping, stabbings and trafficking.

*
”We as a group of business owners and residents on Northolt Road in South Harrow, want to express our anger, our frustration and dismay as we are struggling to run our business, protect our customers and ensure our safety, throughout the daytime in business hours and the night.
Drug dealers and gangs regularly come round and openly sell drugs and get involved in fights. This has terrorised the regular customers, local residents and ourselves. Urinating, vandalising cars and creating fear all round.
We have called the police, local Council and even invited the local MP to witness all these atrocities, happening in broad daylight. As such we have only seen in war-torn countries on television.
We have provided solid evidence of this shocking atrocity to the authorities and we haven’t seen any change to the situation. As a civil group of business owners who pay the business tax, we want to get along with our daily business and thrive, in safety. Provided by the services we pay for.
Normality has to return and we want our customers and local residents to be able to go about their daily lives unhindered.”

 

In the hate crime awareness week running till 21st October, Harrow council news release informs, “Joint partnership and work between the council, schools, youth groups, police, community leaders and the voluntary sector has helped build the strong community relations we have today”.
But nationally the number of hate crimes in England and Wales has increased by 29%, according to Home Office statistics.
There were 80,393 recorded offences in 2016-17, compared with 62,518 in 2015-16, the largest increase since the Home Office began recording figures, with a spike in hate crime around the time of the EU referendum. Race hate crime rose to 62,685 (78%) in 2016-17.
This ongoing crime situation is mostly because the focus is on dealing with the crime rather than addressing why things are as they are.
Also, in profiling hate crimes, the authorities, including in Harrow, call for more hate crimes to be reported but many are not reported due to low confidence of the victims or potential victims because of the lack of any positive outcomes in most cases. For example, only 39 per cent of British Jews feel confident that antisemitic hate crimes against them would be prosecuted, 52 per cent believe that the CPS is doing too little to fight anti-Semitism.
Statistical evidence indicates, that only few reported hate crimes are taken up by the Crown Prosecution Service because of the lack of clear and substantial evidence. These crimes are difficult to prosecute because of the high burden prosecutors face when proving that the defendant’s bias indeed motivated the crime.
What happens in macro must happen in micro!
It is very concerning that public money is being wasted in superficially acknowledging  the hate crimes without really addressing these: for example by dealing with the upsurge of far right extremism, far right media and politicians which cause  random race/ religion hate crimes, especially since the Tory racist overtone at the last London mayor election and EU referendum scaremongering by others.

Harrow GP surgeries to offer high quality services which meet users demands, manage expectations and be responsive to meet the needs of the different communities in Harrow, finds the Healthwatch Harrow, commissioned by the Harrow council ‘to gain an understanding of patients and service users experience of GP services within the borough’.
Healthwatch research report recommends that surgeries address patients’ frustrations as many lack awareness of the health care services or how to access these or how to complain about their GP.
What we know and understand reinforces the research findings in many ways.
Adding to what the research has found, there is the performance related tick-box culture more to meet the inspection criteria for favourable CQC findings in a competitive health market.
In some cases, the management of a practice requires improvement (a failing category) because of the implications of the senior partner(s) running more than one practices or preoccupied with securing more resources. Their infrequent presence at the practice results in the lack of managerial direction and supervision which gives rise to the issues linked to what the research has found ‘busy phone lines, poor communication and the attitude of some surgery staff’. In such practices, it is not really possible for patients to seek second opinion from the senior partner(s) who remotely manage the surgery and whose availability at the surgery is not even known.
Despite the CQC guidelines, many practices in Harrow still lack public display of basic information such as the CQC inspection judgement or the improvement action plan or how to complain about the GP practice’s care and service or to gain access to other useful information and services.
Where some information is available, it is not easy for all the population groups to access it. For example, considering the patient age groups and their varied computer literacy levels, it is unlikely for many to access electronic information or write reviews on the surgery website to alert about weaknesses in running the surgeries.
It is unbelievable that when such a valuable research report was presented to the Harrow council’s Health and Social Care Scrutiny Sub-Committee on 3 July 2017, it was simply ‘noted’!! Would the council tell the total cost of the research?
We also note that the NHS England, Care Quality Commission and Harrow Clinical Commissioning Group are struggling to seek improvements in GP practices, especially as some in Harrow are growing into mini hospitals with active search for resources and diminishing personal touch with the patients.
We find the Harrow Healthwatch report helpful but what is more important is how the commissioning and monitoring authorities build on these pointers and rigorously monitor GP services and effectively work towards improving health care and services for Harrow residents.

Camrose primary school in Edgware has received award for excellence in teaching assistants from the education consultancy Optimus Education, a part of the commercial education services provider Prospects.
In awarding for the best practice with teacher assistants (TA), Optimus Director of Education Andrew Thraves said: “During my visit, I was very struck with the thoughtful approach the school was taking to helping TAs be as effective as possible.”
Camrose headteacher Sharon Crick said: “This award reflects the commitment we, as a school have, in ensuring all members of the Camrose team are skilled and effective in their roles.”
The school has almost as many TAs as teachers and have multiple duties, including in lesson/ outside lesson academic support, pastoral support and running school clubs, explains Mrs T Chapman, deputy headteacher.
The school was last inspected in 2013 and was graded as good by Ofsted. The inspectors described  the school as an average-sized primary school where the large majority of the pupils come from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds – largest group of White heritage but not White British and pupils of Asian heritage formed the second largest group.
The school’s expected combined standards in reading, writing and mathematics in 2017 are 52.5% compared with 61% national.
Considering the school characteristics, performance and the support it could do with, it can only be good that the school enables and deploys the teaching assistants so effectively.
All this sits well with the school’s very balanced approach to its work and the context within which it operates: for example, regarding the highly controversial Prevent Duty, enforced on schools in 2015, the school states:
“At Camrose, we recognise that safeguarding and creating a safeguarding culture is the responsibility of everyone who works here. As a school we recognise that safeguarding against radicalisation is no different from safeguarding against any other vulnerability.”

Councillor Paul Osborn, newly elected leader of the opposition Tory group on the council, has sensibly appointed shadow portfolio holders.

One big change is that Cllr Hall, highly controversial previous leader of the Tory group who stepped down following our call ‘Time for Cllr Hall to step down’, is not even a shadow portfolio holder. Cllr Hall held the Environment/ shadow environment portfolios since 2006.
Another mature move is to give Cllr Hall’s previously held Environment portfolio to Cllr Ashton, who has been a candidate at the Tory group leadership elections and was kept away from the shadow positions under Cllr Hall’s leadership, for personal reasons.

The avoidable Grenfell disaster has alerted how easy it is for the authorities to become less connected with all those they should be caring and supporting.
Harrow council’s Community Safety, Violence Vulnerability and Exploitation Strategy 2017–2020 highlights a number of socio-cultural problems to deal with without sharply focusing on why things are as they are, so that the issues could be really addressed with inbuilt measurable success criteria.
The main opposition group on the council (Con) could suggest only some superficial amendments, again in dealing with the effects rather than addressing the cause.
Harrow has a population of 247,130 people with significant pockets of deprivation mainly around the centre, the south and east of the borough, and least deprived areas being in the north and west of the borough.
The government austerity measures have hardened the deprivation in the wards like Roxbourne, Greenhill, Marlborough and Wealdstone which also has the highest level of employment and income deprivations in the borough.
According to the 2015 Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD), 12,083 Harrow residents are experiencing employment and 30,733 income deprivations, including those who would like to work but are unable to do so due to unemployment.
Unemployment figures are highest in Greenhill, Wealdstone and Roxbourne wards mostly in the areas with higher levels of social housing.
Within Harrow, the highest proportions of the population without qualifications or with low level qualifications are in Kenton East, Edgware, Roxbourne and Roxeth.
In terms of child poverty, 17% children are living in poverty in Harrow before housing costs, and this rises to 27% after housing costs. By the time they reach GCSE-age, there is a 28% gap between children receiving free school meals (FSM) and non FSM in terms of the number achieving at least 5 A*-C GCSE grades – narrowing the gap has remained a long standing challenge for the council.
There has been an upward trend in incidents of Anti-Social Behaviour since summer 2016 with Harrow recording an 8.2% increase compared to the previous 12 month period, which currently ranks Harrow at 27th out of 33 boroughs within London. Locations in the borough that have seen a considerable rise include Queensbury, Stanmore Park and Belmont but more so around the Harrow Town Centre (99 so far this year).
There is an increase in the number of victims of knife crime within the borough and young people convicted of weapons offences has also risen.  In 2016/17, 36 young people were convicted of possession of an offensive weapon, compared to 28 young people in the previous year.
Knife crime incidents in young people have increased by 29%, from 281 offences in April 2015 to 362 incidents between April 2016 to March 2017.
The upward trend of knife related incidents in the borough also gives rise to increased level of the fear of the knife crimes.
Harrow stabbing: Residents says ‘police cuts’ and ‘lack of things to do’ to blame for rise in violent crime
It would be interesting to see how the Grenfell experience helps in addressing a ‘two kingdoms’ situation in Harrow!