Email sent today 3rd June to the Cabinet Office, Met Police, House of Commons MHCLG Select Committee and copied into the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). I will post later more background but my Twitter has a lot of the information. The email to them said "Please find attached as a PDF a letter (also click here on link) formally requesting an investigation into the decision of Robert Jenrick MP to approve the Westferry Printworks planning application in my ward (I am the Councillor for Canary Wharf ward in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets) and the reasons for that request as I do not understand why the Minister would make a decision so advantageous to a developer and against the interests of Tower Hamlets residents and contrary to the Nolan Principles, and that this needs investigation. I understand from the Daily Mail newspaper that the Met Police Special Inquiry Team have already received a request to investigate this, can this be sent to them."
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By tomorrow Tuesday 21st April I have to submit to the Council a list of questions/issues for the Overview & Scrutiny Committee to look at. Attached is my draft here as a Word document, PDF below. The unlocking section needs more work Strawman means I will not take offence if you rip it to shreds. Let me know what I have missed? ![]()
Peter Golds and I sent the attached letter (& copied below) to the Mayor, Cabinet members and Council officers today as to what we think they need to do as regards Covid-19 given that the Council is responsible for Public Health in TH (not an NHS responsibility since 2013). It maybe that they have already agreed to do all of this in their meetings since the 30th January WHO announcement but to be sure we sent it to them.
It is based in part on information gathered from social media and ideas from you so if we have missed anything let us know and we will amend. Draft Emergency Response to Covid-19 – Version 1 From Cllr Peter Golds and Cllr Andrew Wood 18th March 2020 Dear all. I assume that these measures have already been put into place or are being planned but if not we believe this is what needs to be done: Communications – we need to hugely ramp up our comms on this and involve the Council in community conversations underway already
Database of vulnerable people We need to build a database of all vulnerable people, based on:
Adult Social Care
Volunteering I assume you are aware by now of Facebook groups like ‘Tower Hamlets Covid19 Community Support’ as well as a number of WhatsApp groups trying to co-ordinate a community response and to help the vulnerable;
Strikes This is not the time for strikes and other disruption by Council staff or those providing essential services, if necessary delay ‘Tower Rewards’ for a year. It is a distraction. Push Veolia harder to sort out their issues. Food delivery for those told to self-isolate
Q&A information
Personal Hygiene
Parking
Retail/Panic Buying/Price gouging
Financial We clearly need to be worried about:
Suggestions might include:
This section needs more work, how will we use extra money granted by government?; Education
Stocks
Faith gatherings The Church of England has stopped public worship and the Muslim Council of Britain strongly recommended the same the day before. Have we passed that advice onto all faith groups and facilities? Gyms, Libraries, Public facilities
Registering deaths & funerals
Council Meetings
4. Lawyers in Local Government and the Association of Democratic Service Officers have come forward with proposals to lobby to permit remote meetings in the event the current situation deteriorates to the point that all meetings are cancelled; 5. Tower Hamlets operates under an Executive Mayor and so decision making is different to most other councils; 6. There is no reason why full council meetings should only undertake business that it is legally required to do; 7. The May Annual Meeting can be restricted to electing the speaker ad appointing committees. There is no need for anything else to be on the agenda and the meeting can be formalised in a short time; 8. Obviously there will not, this year, be a reception following the meeting; 9. The Cabinet should meet but it’s deliberations can be web cast and members and officers can sit with wide spaces; 10. The regulatory committees; planning and licensing, have public involvement. Again, members and officers can sit and deliberate with spaces between them. The problem comes with public representation. Meetings can be webcast and limits can be placed on those attending the meeting, with public attendance limited to those making representation; 11. Parliament has placed restrictions on access to the parliamentary estate, this includes mass lobbies and no longer being able to enter the estate and access not permitted to non-pass holders who may only attend on parliamentary business. Another political resignation this time my own:
• I am resigning as a member of the Conservative & Unionist Party • Therefore I quit as leader of the Conservative group on Tower Hamlets Council • I become an independent Councillor, a member of no political party, I am not joining another existing political party • But to ensure that there continues to be an opposition locally I will stay as one of two members of the opposition Conservative group on Tower Hamlets Council (if I quit this group there would no longer be any formal opposition group as a group needs a minimum of 2 members) • So the nature of my work will barely change except that it will be Peter Golds rather than I that lead the group (which will mainly affect who speaks at Cabinet / Council meetings). My reasons for leaving are mainly because I have lost confidence in the ability of the Conservative Party as an institution to make good use of the power it now has. While it has an extraordinary ability to win elections (and is even luckier in its opponents) it is weaker on what to do with that power. I disagree with too many Conservative policies/decisions to stay in not just because I think some are wrong but that I also think too many policies are inadequate given the challenges AND opportunities we now face. I have been publicly very critical of aspects of what Tower Hamlets Council does but in truth I am almost as critical of recent decisions made by the government. Three Conservative Prime Ministers have made a series of strategic errors and I worry things are getting worse, not better so it must be systemic to the party despite the presence in it of a number of capable people. I also support a relationship with Europe based on an EEA/EFTA economic model. The party has chosen a different harder model and like the Peelites in 1846 I think it is more honest to split then pretend that I support the proposed trade policy. I cannot support a trade border in the Irish sea nor increasing trade friction and am concerned about the lack of debate about the impact on our services industry of a Canada/WTO relationship. The modern Conservative party has ignored why Margaret Thatcher pushed so hard for the Single Market with its four freedoms and Customs Union within the EU. And it would be dishonest of me to stay in and to stay quiet (although as one of my reasons for quitting is to focus more on local issues I may not have much time to say much about national stuff). Being an independent will allow me to focus on local issues and to support politicians who I think are doing a good job including Liberal Democrats and yes some Labour politicians. The tribal nature of British politics is one of its greatest weaknesses. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has had an extraordinary history, we have achieved extraordinary things for such a small group of islands and had a greater impact on the modern world than almost any other country. I think that contribution has not ended and I think that we could continue to have an outsize influence on how the world develops. Brexit now forces us to ask new questions about ourselves and our place in the world. What will we do with those new freedoms? What is the balance of risk and opportunities? Is the nation-state the only model or should we work collaboratively with other nations in a structured manner and how do we do that? I am not sure that we have even asked these questions properly let alone got answers yet. That is almost entirely due to failings within the Conservative party. In 2016 I applied to become a Parliamentary candidate for the Conservative party to try and influence the Party from the inside. I have twice been rejected (ironically the 2nd rejection arrived just before I posted this) although I know many other people in Tower Hamlets who were made candidates. Three of them are now MPs. But the final nail in the coffin for me was Robert Jenrick’s decision to approve Westferry Printworks against the advice of his own planning inspector. There was a solid argument for staying in and fighting on behalf of my residents with the government (as I fear our local MP’s will be ineffective at doing that). But that decision was so shocking I knew immediately that I had to resign. I need to have a think about what to do next as I have effectively ended my political career. But my main focus this year will be on local issues as I plan to do a lot of work on; • Youth centers on the Isle of Dogs, we only have one small one, that is not sustainable • New playgrounds in Sir John McDougall Gardens and Millwall Park, better than those to be found in neighbouring Boroughs, we have more £ then them • Increasing school capacity on the IoD, getting Westferry Printworks secondary school built + rebuilding George Greens + improving school buildings and working out how many schools we actually need • Transport issues on the Isle of Dogs from Jubilee line to new river crossings • Plus continue to support the work of the Isle of Dogs Neighbourhood Planning Forum • Lastly asking whether we should we explore setting up a Town Council for the area to give us more power and resources locally But I have a question for you. Should I resign now and hold a by-election? Should I stand for re-election? I got elected in May 2018 as a Conservative, does leaving the Party but staying in the Conservative group work or not? I think for most residents the work I do won’t change (many do not even know I am a Cllr) but many people vote for parties not individuals, so can I still represent you until May 2022, the next scheduled election? Let me know. On Thursday I was asked to give a presentation about Urban Densification to the London Irish Town Planners Association, the audience was half Irish based and half London based. The Irish are looking at densifying new developments so Irelands Government Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government visited the IoD Thursday with Irish planning colleagues to learn some lessons from us.
I had to do the attached quite quickly although I re-used some slides from the IoD Neighbourhood Planning Forum presentations (but the comments are all mine) Thought you might find interesting and I do plan to do more work on it for future presentations so comments etc welcome "Never forget that compromise is not a dirty word. Life depends on compromise" so said Theresa May when she resigned today, quoting Sir Nicholas Winton who saved Jewish children in Germany.
Problem is that she did not compromise when she most needed to. A 52:48 Brexit vote while clearly indicating Leave also clearly indicated that a compromise was required. And a compromise does not mean you abandon your principles but it does mean trying to find the right solution that works for as many people as possible. Yesterday I only decided how to vote at the last minute after much thought. In the end I did vote for Syed Kamall, the lead Conservative candidate in London. 1. It would be good for the government of the UK if it had at least one experienced MEP in the European Parliament. Somebody who can report back to the UK government what is happening in Parliament and vice versa. 2. He is a hard-working and experienced MEP with many personal qualities so even though he did not want the job (he is a Leaver) I voted for him. 3. If I had voted Lib-Dem / or Change UK – both options I had considered I would have had to quit as a Conservative Councillor. I did consider it but in Tower Hamlets a political group needs two members, if I quit there would no longer be an opposition group to the overwhelming Labour dominance. That would not be good for TH. But how could I vote for Remain parties while still believing we need to Leave? And no party offered what I prefer as a compromise, a soft Brexit. With a leadership election, the long-term future of the party is up for debate. It will force many of us to think about what membership means, the role of the Conservative Party and how it evolves to meet future challenges. But there is also the risk that it goes off at a tangent. But the Conservative Party has a long history of pragmatism (aka a survival instinct) so I hope that kicks in now. I am thinking about how to steer it in the right direction as the UK needs a sensible, pragmatic, centre right party especially when the Labour party is going left. But for now it is easier for me to define my own red lines at which point my membership of the Party would be in doubt. They are: 1. A ‘no deal’ WTO exit 2. An electoral pact with Farage and the Brexit Party 3. An end to incompetence – too many mistakes are being made both at CCHQ but also at a national policy level as well as in delivery (Home Office/DWP) As for leaders I like Rory Stewart, Sajid Javid, Jeremy Hunt and have always respected Michael Gove (the only Leave leader that I do), I wish Ruth Davidson was running. But also interested in seeing what others like Raab have to say before making final judgment as perceptions may not match reality. I am in an odd situation, London needs to build new homes and I agree that quite a few can be built on the Isle of Dogs but I have none the less spent a lot of time to write 10 pages of reasons as to why the Inspector should refuse the new planning application for Westferry Printworks. It is basically too tall for the area. You can see the appeal information here. https://acp.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/ViewCase.aspx?caseid=3225474 You cannot just say that you do not like an application you have to provide planning reasons as to why it should be rejected. Which are in the attached file. ![]()
I started filling in the application form to be a Change UK (TIG) candidate for the European Parliamentary elections. I did not submit it, but I am glad that 3,700 other people did and that the Renew party folded into Change UK as well. Democracy requires choices.
I started filling in the form as a way for me to think about politics in the UK and my role in it. As I said before I got more involved when I realised that our political system was not as good as I thought it should be. Clearly, nothing has happened to change my views on that :) I am fully aware of my limitations as a politician, but I know with certainty that I could a better job than some of our MP’s. It is not that I think they are bad people or corrupt or in politics for the wrong reasons, just that they lack the skills, knowledge, commitment or emotional intelligence required. A few should not be MP’s. I do not know if the Conservative party will survive. It has many sensible, rational people but it has got itself into a terrible mess. The party as an institution has major problems and I think the differences between the ERG wing and the rest are too far now to be reconciled. Some have become fixated on leaving rather than on how we leave the EU in a way that does the least damage to our political and economic systems All parties should be broad churches and the Conservatives have been a success for centuries by maintaining a level of discipline that allows at least a perception that we are one party. That has clearly broken down. And I think the differences are so great as to be a form of dishonesty when you vote Conservative what will you get? A leaver like Steve Baker or a remainer like Ken Clark, a Jacob Rees Mogg or a John Major, a Mark Francois or a Rory Stewart (I am on the Clark, Major, Stewart side by the way). Both sides will argue that they are the true Conservative, but that is my point it is not clear which is which anymore, which is where the unintentional dishonesty now comes. But the country needs a sensible and pragmatic Conservative party if it is to work (and Conservatives have for almost two centuries been the natural party of government). At least Heidi Allen, Anna Soubry and Sarah Wollaston had the courage of their convictions and left. They knew it was probably the end of their political careers, but they did it anyway. But what do I do? Do I try and change the Conservatives from within? I have tried, I have twice applied to go onto the candidate's list, nothing has happened yet. I applied to be a GLA candidate on the London wide list and did not get beyond the 1st stage interview. The London wide list candidates were selected last month, and I have no idea who they are or what they have done yet although the whole point of picking them early was to get them active and known. Perhaps I should change parties? I did that once before in the early 2000s when I joined the Liberal Democrats the last time the Conservatives went loopy over Europe. But it was a mistake then and my gut says it would be a mistake now. It is not that I dislike the Lib-Dems or think they are beyond the pale but like Stephen Lloyd MP who quit the Lib-Dems over Brexit, I do not agree that you can pretend that the Leave vote did not happen. I am not convinced they are the solution. But there is so much work to do locally I suspect me talking about national politics is a distraction from the many local issues that need to be worked on. But the European Parliamentary elections I think are an opportunity to test where we are as a nation almost 3 years after the Brexit vote so I do plan to do some work on this, to encourage people to vote, to make sure they understand the process (especially the D'Hondt method of counting the results) and to answer any questions you may have. But I hope people will look at the issues, the policies, the candidates before casting their vote. After the garden bridge debacle cost £43 million of public money (£24 million by TfL) before collapsing in ignominy we would normally assume that politicians as well as TfL would learn from mistakes made.
But quietly another debacle is gathering pace, in October 2016 Mayor Sadiq Khan announced that a new cycling and pedestrian bridge would be built to connect Rotherhithe and Canary Wharf, he said ‘the new bridge could be open by as soon as 2020’. But the TfL team to deliver the project did not start work until early 2017. They knew they had to deliver a bridge and deliver it quickly before they had done any work looking at options. The new bridge will be the largest pedestrian and cycling bridge in the world. It will also be the largest vertical lifting bridge in the world in order to allow ships through underneath. All to replace the existing pedestrian ferry which has never been full. One of the main justifications for the bridge is to relieve pressure on the Jubilee line between Canada Water and Canary Wharf after TfL decided not to buy ten extra Jubilee line trains because TfL did not think they were needed to relieve capacity. In October 2016 I wrote to the then Deputy Mayor for London responsible for Transport suggesting that as an interim step that they make the existing ferry free to use. It would allow TfL to understand pedestrian demand from the existing population in Rotherhithe (the ferry has a very limited ability to carry bicycles but that could be expanded). TfL refused. This has been the fundamental problem all along with TfL. The refusal to consider alternatives which would contradict the Mayors publicly stated promise of a bridge. A promise made the same day he announced that the Silvertown road tunnel would go ahead (perhaps to appease the green lobby he felt he had to offer them a clean bridge?). If you believe funds are unlimited then this bridge might make sense though it cannot be open 247 due to the need to open for ships passing by (up to 60 minutes for large ships). As of February 2019, TfL has already spent £9.9 million on the new bridge and the TfL budget suggests another £8 million to be spent this year before planning permission is even sought. But the cost of this bridge is becoming the critical issue. TfL originally said it will cost between £120 and £180 million to build and £2.4 million a year to run each year (it will need to be staffed 247 like Tower Bridge). But other reports say it will cost £200 million to build and unofficially TfL do not dispute that the build cost may go to £400 million. We should get the next estimate of costs in late April but £300 million seem to be a fair assumption of the cost for now (the shorter and simpler garden bridge was originally estimated to cost £60 million and ended up being forecast to cost over £200 million). TfL assume the equivalent of 3,333 pedestrians and 1,875 cyclists will use the bridge each day. Although with a 27-minute walk from Canary Wharf to the main area of new development at Canada Water across the 800-meter-long bridge (assuming not closed for ships) it is not clear how many people will make that walk on a dark winter’s night. If it did cost £300 million to build and £2.4 million a year to operate that is a capital cost of £57,604 to build per user and £461 a year to operate per user (the bridge would be free to use). The benefit/cost ratio for the proposed bridge suggest that it maybe negative with a value possibly as low as 0.7 (1 being value for money), the ferry benefit/cost ratio starts at 1. TfL did model the cost of up to three electric roll on roll off electric ferries and new pontoons at £30 million + £2.4 million a year to run (same as the bridge). But thereafter they have actively discounted it as an option even though we know it would cost less, be more comfortable in winter and would often be quicker to cross for pedestrians. But the main cost is the opportunity cost. £300 million on a bridge is about 21% of the total Healthy Streets capital programme between 2019-2024. If we build a bridge what projects won’t now take place elsewhere? The main justification for the bridge is to encourage more cycling and walking, but perhaps smaller projects will deliver more benefits? TfL will say that the last consultation showed that 93% supported the bridge but only 37% of respondents said they would use the bridge to commute, 56% would use for leisure use. But that consultation never mentioned the ferry as an option, nor the cost of the bridge! A ferry does not mean you cannot later build a bridge later if the ferries are packed each day (you can move the ferries and their pontoons easily to other locations). But the reverse is not true, if you build a bridge which is then under-used it is too late. The Mayor of London should first test demand for this new bridge by making the existing ferry free to use. Then when more user data is available re-consult people offering two choices: an expensive but permanent bridge and a cheaper roll on roll off electric ferry. Failure to do so means that the Transport and Works Order which would give the bridge permission to go ahead would fail as TfL won’t be able to prove that they properly considered alternatives. But it is possible that is the intention. The bridge is now financially unviable, and it would be politically less embarrassing if the Mayor could blame the government for its rejection rather than his own failure in announcing a solution before properly looking at the options (a similar mistake to those made by Boris Johnson). Picture below of a vertical lifting bridge in France so that you can see how it works I had hoped that 2019 was to be a year without elections but we now face the possibility of three more: general election, EU Parliament & EU referendum: the Council is preparing for all three just in case. You may wish to register to vote :)
https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote I have not supported a Peoples Vote until now but if Parliament cannot resolve issues this week then we need some dramatic solution to cut the Gordian knot. I had hoped that Parliament would do its job, but they only have days left to do so. A referendum would do that, but what should the question be? I am surprised that the government did not consider earlier a referendum between different forms of Leave. A Canada or Norway model could have been put to the vote to resolve this quagmire. It would have offered both Remainer’s and Leavers something to fight for. Perhaps now the argument not to include a Remain option in a referendum is weaker but I still hesitate at including it. The argument to 17.4 million leave voters that you cannot have what you voted for because our politicians, parties and leaders are not up to it is not a good one even if true. We did vote to leave despite lies on both sides, leaves were worse but remember Obama's back of the queue comment requested by Cameron, despite Remain outspending Leave once you include government spending, despite Project Fear promising economic disaster if we left. I have not changed my mind on supporting Remain in 2016, I fear long term relative economic decline, that the Union will disintegrate, that we are stronger in the EU and that it is good for the EU that we are in. But we lost the argument and as somebody who believes that democracy is more important than our relationship with the EU, I really struggle with any option that says we can ignore the result. And if Remainer’s are truly convinced that leaving would be a disaster perhaps they should be pushing for a managed no deal exit as that would most quickly lead to the economic damage they claim and the support of the British people to then return to the EU. After 2016 I realised that perhaps you cannot be members of a club if the majority of the country do not understand how the club operates. Perhaps we need to leave in order to better understand the rules? I always thought that being outside the EU could work in theory, but it would require a revolution, we are not ready for the revolution and the leaders of that revolution do not inspire confidence. A Norway like exit would give us a smoother exit in the meantime. I am not sure what a general election now would resolve. What would the parties offer be? The Conservatives are struggling to coalesce around the Withdrawal agreement, we have not even worked out yet where we see the UK in the global economy. Labour will offer a softer form of Brexit, or will they? But I think one is inevitable before 2022. There is an argument for revocation of Article 50 to restart the process from scratch, but it has to be on the basis that we have another referendum in a year or two and a clear process as to how to conduct that referendum so that it sticks and is not advisory. If we hold EU Parliamentary elections in May they could be used to judge the countries mood on the subject if parties offered clear alternatives. A general election result would provide less clarity on what the country wanted as regards Brexit. Had I been an MP I would have voted for the Withdrawal agreement at the 2ndand 3rdgoes but not the first one, last night I would have voted for Common Market 2.0. But I would not have voted for Theresa May as leader of the Conservative party last December. I do not support No Deal. I think the last four years have been a failure of government process on a monumental scale. I got actively involved in politics in my 40’s when I realised that our political systems, processes and some politicians were not that good, it is worse than I thought. I think it would be more honest if the Conservative party split, the question is which side leaves first. And almost every day I think about my position in all of us but in the meantime, I only have time to focus on local issues. It is not as if Tower Hamlets is a beacon of excellent government either! |
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