A demonstration will take place tomorrow (Thursday) to oppose Boris’ Johnson’s cuts to the London Fire Brigade. The protest will take place at Fire Stations across London at 8.30am. The cuts will take effect at 9am. In total 10 fire stations, 14 fire engines and 552 firefighters will be axed.  

The stations to be axed are Belsize, Bow, Clerkenwell, Downham, Kingsland, Knightsbridge, Silvertown, Southwark, Westminster and Woolwich in addition the second fire engine will be cut from Chingford, Hayes, Leyton, Leystonstone, Peckham and Whitechapel. 

The cuts follow a lengthy campaign to stop the Mayor’s plans which originally included over 18 fire stations and 32 fire engines. The cuts are being made to fund Boris Johnson’s penny a day cut to his share of the council tax for each household. Last year the Mayor was presented with fully costed proposals to maintain the current level of provision but this was ignored. 

Murad Qureshi AM, London wide Assembly Member, said:

“Boris Johnson’s cuts will lead to significantly increased response times to incidents across London. In some areas it will now take nearly two minutes longer for a fire engine to arrive on scene, every second counts. The recent theatre collapse in Soho demonstrates the importance of maintaining current provision, three of the eight appliances that attended the incident will be cut.” 

“Boris has not listened to local residents in Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea who are losing their local station and is forcing these cuts through. In response to his consultation 94% of Londoners said they do not support his plans. Today’s cuts are a grim new year’s present; Boris should be thoroughly ashamed of himself.” 

Ends

Notes

     The LFB incident log (see http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/LatestIncidentsContainer_1912201320.asp#.UrQtpfRdWul) lists the following fire engines as attending the theatre collapse in Soho: Kensington, Soho, Westminster, Dowgate, Southwark, Knightsbridge, Battersea, Lambeth, and Euston stations. Of those Westminster, Southwark and Knightsbridge are due to close under the Mayor’s cuts.

The Clean Air in London Campaign has today released new data, collated by the Office for National Statistics, which ranks the top 10 causes of death for every London borough. The statistics show for the first time that air pollution is one of the causes of all the top four male death categories and four of the top five female death categories in London. 

These statistics show the direct link that air pollution is having on the health of Londoners right across the capital. 

Murad Qureshi AM, London Assembly Labour Group Environment spokesperson, said:

“The figures released today by Clean Air in London are a crucial new development in the campaign against air pollution in the capital. These statistics tell a story of a city where poor air quality is causing loss of life. Air pollution is a silent killer and must be tackled. This latest evidence should be a wakeup call for a Mayor who has consistently failed to combat this problem head on.” 

Ends 

Notes

1.  Murad Qureshi is a London-wide Assembly Member. 
2. The statistics were commissioned by Clean Air in London from the Office for National Statistics and can be seen on the CAL website at http://cleanairinlondon.org/health/first-ever-rankings-of-top-10-death-rates-for-every-london-borough/

Murad Qureshi AM, Labour London wide Assembly Member today (Monday) joined local campaigners at Edgware Road station to protest against Boris Johnson’s latest round of inflation busting fare rises. Despite promising to cap the New Year fare rises at inflation (which is 3.1%) fares on buses, some TfL rail services and many travelcards will go up above this level. 

The above inflation rises for 2014 include: 

–       Bus and Tram Pay as You Go – up 3.6% to £1.45 – a 55p rise since 2008

–       PAYG TfL Rail Services Zone 1 – up 4.8% to £2.20

–       Zone 1-2 monthly Travelcard – up 3.3% to £120.60

–       Zone 1-3 monthly Travelcard – up 3.4% to £141.40

–       Zone 1-4 annual travelcard – up 3.2% to £1800  

Murad Qureshi AM, Labour London wide Assembly Member said:

“Despite his promises many transport fares in London will go up above inflation this month. Bus fares have now risen by over 60% since Boris became Mayor in 2008 and Travelcards are up by 3.4%. This couldn’t come at a worse time as Londoners continue to be hit by the cost of living crisis. 

“We’ve seen food, fuel and rents all going up above inflation, rather than using his position to provide some much needed release to Londoners Boris has whacked them with another inflation busting fare rise. People are increasingly asking, whose side is he on?” 

“To make matters worse these fare rises come at the same time as Boris is planning to cut 750 frontline station staff across our city. People will be paying more money for a worse service.” 

Ends

Notes

1. Murad Qureshi AM is a London wide Assembly Member.
2. The new fare levels can be found here: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/media/newscentre/29288.aspx

Grand Central station in NYC where we have had DDD for over a century

A few souls have asked me to expand on my letter in the Camden New Journal over the seasonal break, particularly when l say ” if its good enough for Grand Central in NYC, why not Euston in London?”

Firstly l had been been introduced to Double Deck Down (DDD) at Grand Central rail station at an early age by an uncle who used to work for Amtrak on trips to New York City where my aunt lived just outside NYC proper in  Long Island. I have to confuse l didn’t show the slightess bit of interest in how the station operated when he told us, as l just wanted to get on the trains and go off to where ever l was been sent! It was only recently when campaigners came to visit me at City Hall for DDD option at Euston for the HS2 to limit its environmental impact in Camden and l immediately realised l actually knew one example very well, Grand Central in New York City.

At Grand Central, NYC it was decided to create a new double level terminal for electric trains back in 1902 and took 10 years of construction while rail services continued uninterrupted. It opened just over a 100 years ago in 1913 with two levels both below ground with overall 44 platforms with 41 tracks on the upper level and 26 on the lower one. Clearly the technology will have been developed given its over a century old anyway, so why not in London with the HS2 concerns in Euston, l ask myself?

From the answers l got on the night of the last community consultation in Euston, it was clear HS2 had not really looked into the matter at all and came over very defensive about the matter when it was brought up by members of the local community, dismissing it on a confidential cost-basis. Yet it could offer the best solution to mitigate many of the adverse impacts of HS2 in Euston like the loss of a public park in St James Gardens; the local businesses in Drummond Street; and the many homes on the Regents Park Estate. I suggested that surely cost-benefit analysis could have been undertaken without breaching the release of any of the actual build costings. At least Camden Council had done a cost-benefit analysis of HS2 impact on Camden using the governments own Green Book methodology. Surely HS2 could adopt that piece of work for this assessment?

Indeed we have seen HS2 willing to undertaken mitigating works for London boroughs adversely affected by the proposed works when it offered Ealing Councils the tunnel option under the borough at between £600-800 million to the public purse last summer before the public consultations. Surely Camden residents deserve to be treated in a similar vein given they will be most affected by HS2 in the whole of the country not alone in London. This just goes to show that such issues can be addressed if HS2 are willing to listen.

But finally thank you to my uncle in NYC ( since retired & enjoying life in Long Island ) for introducing me to DDD so early in my life! I never thought it would be of use to me but it has in appreciating the various options for HS2  at Euston station. I must go over and see him soon and see if he has got any other pearls of wisdom.

THE killing of Lee Rigby on the streets of Woolwich in May was a dismal and brutal event which shocked us all, regardless of our race or religion. It was undeniably an attack on the freedom and tolerance which Britain holds so dearly, and especially in London, where there are many examples of different communities living side by side peacefully.

Events like this, which are designed to wreck community cohesion, should never be allowed to diminish our resolve to continue our way of life; however our first thoughts are undoubtedly with Lee Rigby’s family for whom the nightmare continues, particularly as the trial of the two suspects starts.

As a Londoner, I was also concerned about the aftermath and the possibility of copycat incidents. Thankfully, there have been none; there has also been the issue of backlash attacks against Muslim communities. So, in June, I asked the Mayor of London to tell me whether there had been an increase in the number of Islamaphopbic incidents in London since Woolwich and if so, what form these attacks had taken?

It took the Mayor’s office about three months to respond, but eventually in September, the response came as follows: “Immediately after Lee Rigby’s murder, reports to the MPS of Islamaphobic Hate Crime rose. From 22nd to the end of May, the average daily total was approx nine per day.

In June the rate reduced to an average of just under four per day. In July (up to the 25th) the rate reduced still further to average fewer than two per day, and the trend continues downward. 77 per cent of these offences have been Violence against the Person, and three quarters of those have been Harassment. 21 per cent has been Criminal Damage”

This belated response by the Mayor was perhaps indicative of something more sinister; a failure to acknowledge the problem soon enough following the incident in May, maybe? (Although unlikely, given that the Metropolitan Police acknowledged the rise in backlash attacks in the summer) or perhaps a sign of discord on the subject between the Mayor and his advisors?

In June, Andrew Gilligan (mayoy Boris Johnson’s cycling commissioner) wrote extensively in the Daily Telegraph about the “overhyping” of backlash incidents, proclaiming that “having asked other police forces and trawling local media reports, The Daily Telegraph has been unable to find a single confirmed case since Drummer Rigby’s death where any individual Muslim has received an injury requiring medical treatment”.

There is clearly much more than a hint of scepticism around the Mayor, but with the latest figures quoted by the Mayor, such sceptics have probably been laid to rest.

The statistical element of the response is also a point of note. The numerical trend is expected; an immediate rise in incidents with (thankfully) a steady decline, but what is worrying is the large proportion of incidents of violence against the person.

What we tend to hear about in the media are threats against the symbolism of the Islamic faith, such as mosques and Islamic community centres, but clearly, threats against the person are more likely and more indicative of a vicious strand of personal attacks against the Muslim community.

The upshot of this will be for example, Muslim men and women having to watch their back when out and about in their local neighbourhood, Muslim children going to school scared; Muslims denying their faith or keeping a low profile and collectively a whole community feeling under siege.

We must continue to counter this trend by spreading the message of tolerance and furthermore, the message that acts like the one in Woolwich are not synonymous with the Islamic faith but simply and purely acts of mindless terrorism; they do not and will never belong under the banner of any religion or faith.

However, backlash attacks against Muslims are the thin edge of the wedge because what we are now seeing are personal attacks against anyone who even looks Muslim.

Recently, a swathe of derogatory twitter remarks followed the crowing of Miss America, an Asian.

Even though Ms Nina Davuluri is of Indian origin, her brown skin rendered her synonymous with being an Arab, a Muslim and ultimately a terrorist!

We should always remain mindful of these trends which breed ignorance and intolerance because as the Ms America incident shows, the tendency is for it to mushroom into an attack against a much wider group and as Miss America found out, even beauty is no guard against bigotry!

Finally this has been published in Eastern Eye.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson was today urged to get behind a 20 month energy price freeze, saving the average London family £120. At today’s Mayor’s Question Time Labour Group London Assembly Member Environment spokesperson Murad Qureshi challenged the Mayor to support a policy that puts more back into the pockets of hard working Londoners. 

The government made a decision to cut green levies, a policy supported by the Mayor. As consequence of the changes, the government has claimed £50 would be wiped off consumer energy bills. However, given energy bills have gone up by £120 this winter, consumers will still see a £70 hike in bills. 

Labour Group London Assembly Member Environment spokesperson Murad Qureshi said:

“Londoners are facing a cost of living crisis and rising energy bills are one of the biggest domestic utility bills they receive. The Mayor and Government still don’t get it. The Mayor can claim that cutting green levies saves Londoners money but providing £1000 for home owners to insulate their properties is a long way short of the sort of targeted support required. 

“As Mayor of London Boris should be backing an energy price freeze and trying to put more money back in Londoners’ pockets. The energy companies are calling the shots, making demands and holding Londoners’ bills hostage. They said jump and Boris says how high. It is political cowardice. But it’s not too late for the Mayor to back the price freeze and show Londoners he is on their side.”

The late Cllr Mushtaq Qureshi meeting Nelson Mandela during his1996 state under the suspicious watch of Tory Cllrs

Its bad enough hearing crocodile tears from Prime Minister & Tory Party Leader David Cameron but Cllr Philippa Roe, Leader of Westminster City Council has also got into the act by saying:

“Nelson Mandela was a global icon and loved by millions of people. He had a strong connection with people in Westminster and with Westminster itself. He was the only person still living who had a statue in Parliament Square – a true testament to his unique strength, courage and bravery.”

Whilst she was not on the Council at the time, she should be reminded that when President Mandela made his visit to London in 1996, the then Labour group called a special meeting to award him the Freedom of the City, and the Conservatives voted the motion down precisely on the grounds that he did not have any particular connection to Westminster.

Other councils in the capital including the Corporation of London embarrassed the Westminster Tories at the time by giving Mr Mandela a freedom honour. A spokesman for the Corporation said: “It was a privilege to recognise his service to humanity.”

Furthermore she should be reminded of how obstructive the Council was in putting up the statue of Mandela on the North Terrace of Trafalgar Square in close proximity to the South Africa embassy. And while Parliament Square was the compromise, it would have been so much better on the Square.

So while Madiba tells us to forgive we should not forget.

Destroying the Chinese war junks in the battle of Amoy 1841

The Cameron trade trip to China risked being overshadowed by his kowtowing to the Chinese by offering HS2.  He would have been better off apologising for the Opium Wars.

First, the history; the first Opium war was initiated by the then Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston, in pursuit of full compensation for the destroyed Opium which was grown in British controlled India and illegally exported to China. As a result of gun boat diplomacy, China was forced to open five ports to foreign merchants and give territorial concession to Hong Kong.

 There were of course other British politicians of the day like William Gladstone who denounced Lord Palmerston’s willingness to protect this infamous contraband traffic. Palmerston was clearly protecting the right of British companies to export such goods, while naturally, China wanted the right to stop them becoming the social menace they subsequently become in Chinese society.  The rest they say is history.

One may ask as l did on my first trip to Beijing & the Summer Palace, why should the Communists of today in China still be concerned by this great loss of face for the Qing dynasty? Well, nationalism is still a very strongly held sentiment in China and the Communist Party of China has since its early beginnings harnessed this sense well in defence of the country.

My suspicions all along is that an apology for this done, incidentally in the name of free trade, would be the best way to open up the Chinese market in a much bigger way than the trade delegation could ever achieve as it passes through Beijing at present.

While some suggest we should beware of the Chinese bearing gifts because of their track record over safety and the ecological impact of their own high speed trains, the reality is that it is the Prime Minister who is egging on such deals with their involvement in HS2 as he made his bold claim that “an open Britain is the ideal partner for an opening China” attempting to fund new British infrastructure through foreign investment rather than any public investment. This is on top of already giving an expensive nuclear subsidy deal to Chinese investors undertaken by the government Department for Energy & Climate Change. Remember he had already sent out his Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin and Energy Secretary Ed Davey to sell these wares to the People’s Republic.

There is also the question about whether the UK is truly open for Chinese business anyway, by for example asking the Chinese businesses in the West End? Well quite honestly they still feel aggrieved by the stark contrast of the last official trade delegation to China which was headed by the Chancellor and the Mayor of London wooing Chinese businesses, whilst here in Britain, Chinese restaurant businesses were being raided by the UK Border Agency.

Clearly the left hand of government did not know what the right hand was doing as the Treasury and the Home Office (helped by the Mayor) sent over some very mixed messages about Chinese businesses in London.  The former suggested it would make it easier for the Chinese to get visas into London while the latter targeted Chinese restaurants in an operation to root out illegal immigrants.  Also, has anyone else notice the conspicuous lack of Chinese faces amongst the Prime Minister’s Trade delegation – a poultry one out of the entire delegation!

It is clear to me there is much emotional capital to be gained by the offer of an apology for past deeds.  An apology would also help distinguish us from the plethora of other powerful nations vowing for Chinese investment as we lag behind both France and Germany in these stakes.  Sentiment and history are important values in Chinese societies and an apology would I believe prise open the trade door more than any offerings of nuclear power & HS2 investment opportunities could ever do.

The Sun came out this week to condemn Bojo as a thicko.  If the Sun are saying this then I reckon the Mayor’s charm and bluster is beginning to wear thin.   Anyone got any idea what the Mayor’s IQ is – answer’s on a post card………………… Thats precisely what the TImes is asking today as well

Mayor of London Boris Johnson announced on Tuesday that Transport for London will increase travelcards above inflation next year. Since Boris was elected as Mayor in 2008 he has increased fares above inflation every year, with single bus fares rising as much as 55 per cent. 

Residents living in Zone 6 and travelling to Zone 1 will see an increase of 4.32 per cent as their yearly travelcard rises from £2,224.00 to £2,320.00 and residents living in zone 4 and travelling to Zone 1 will see an increase of 4.13 per cent as their yearly travel card rises from £1,744.00 to £1,816.00 

Londonwide Assembly Member Murad Qureshi AM said:

“Boris is using smoke and mirrors to mask his fare rises, all this from a Mayor who stated last year that he will bear down on fares. We have had five years of inflation busting fare rises under Boris, with bus fares up 55% and Tube fares up 30%. It’s disappointing that he hasn’t rolled out this real term freeze across all pay as you go and travel card fares, as residents living in Zone 6 and 4 will see an increase of 4.32 and 4.13 per cent respectively in their yearly travelcard . 

“Most travel cards will go up above inflation which means over half of Londoners will see an above inflation fare rise. The Mayor is on shaky ground to claim that he is freezing fares in real terms. Boris is hitting many Londoners with an effective tax on work. He must abandon TfL’s plan to raise fares above inflation for the next ten years.