In the FT Weekend (15/16th December ) column by Sunder Katwala he argued “English Football & Society have to dig deeper to root out racism” but we should not also forget older forms of racism on like anti-semitic chanting in our terraces of some grounds in the UK.

I was quite astonished to hear such anti-semitic chanting in a game l went to watch at Stamford Bridge ( Chelsea vs Blackburn ) from the Matthew Harding Stand as part of a delegation organised by Show Racism the Red Card in 2009 which prompted me to write to the club to do something about it.

So l am glad to see almost 10 years after the events Chelsea FC have since the beginning of 2018 started dealing with the issue with bans on fans found to have committed such chants. Though it still appears the club still has the problem at their away games both home and aboard. The last away game in Europe illustrated this well and could well land them a UEFA crowd ban at home and then we had the away game in Selhurst Park where an ex-Spurs player was abused. 

So lets not forget anti-semitic chanting as well.

With Crossrail indefinitely delayed it gives us an opportunity on making some improvements to Oxford St which have not really been taken on board, in response to the Council’s proposals . Ultimately its the hugh increase of visitors in the West End anticipated which will need dispersing, many of whom may well need a black cab or two to get them around for the next leg of their onward journey, which determines this need.  

Black cabbies operating in the West End feel the draft strategy and delivery plan for Oxford St by Westminster City Council, neglects one very important element for them – taxis ranks. After spending an afternoon having a few drinks with a old school friend who’s a regular cabbie in the West End over the Christmas break, he made the above observation. We then walked along Oxford St and he pointed out the best places for those taxis ranks near the two Cross rail stations, Bond St and Tottenham Court Rd. 

Some possibilities of a taxis rank that we discussed include the new entrance to Bond St on the Northern side of Oxford St, opens up the use of the top end of Marylebone lane as a taxis rank for all those who came off at that particular Cross rail station.Great Chapel St on the Southern side of New Oxford St serviced by taxis through Soho by the side of the new entrance to Tottenham Court Rd Cross rail off New Oxford Street. And finally Denmark Place, WC1 (in Camden) on the Eastern side of Charing Cross Rd and served through the back of the Holborn gyratory.

The taxi rank additions to the future of Oxford St District above have been highlighted in locations which should make them easily incorporated to the proposal outlined by the Council. So l hope its not to late to consider where these taxis ranks can be added to the mix along with all the other considerations in the proposals. As long as the black cabs are not idling and increasingly we have cabbies using the electric version of the iconic black cab, then l don’t particularly have any problems with having taxi ranks near the new Crossrail stations.  

New Bond St Crossrail entrance, Marylebone lane

New Tottenham Court Rd entrance along Denmark Place, WC1

Soho entrance to Tottenham Court Rd Crossrail, Great Chapel St, W1

The Indian Supreme court landmark ruling this year, legalising gay sex overturns an colonial-era law otherwise known as Section 377, illustrates well the pernicious impact still made by colonial laws in many independent states from British colonial rule. Making the Mughal’s before the British Raj & East India Company seen even more liberal now as they actually combined a number of pre-existing laws of the Delhi Sultanate into the Fatawa-e-Alamgiri. Furthermore 36 of the 53 countries in the Commonwealth continue to criminalise same-sex acts, primarily under laws imposed during the British Colonial era that were never repealed.

Very often it is the draconian powers left by the British in its former colonies which have been used after independence particularly during civil strife to stifle the opposition to the government in power. As regulations drawn up by past colonial administrators are still being used, till this day, to prosecute government opponents, detain them without trial, prohibit demonstrations and shut down newspapers. Yet the rule of law, Westminster-style democracy and strict standards in public life are often seen as among the important legacies of the British Empire.

In Bangladesh alleged attacks on Islamic society and religious feelings causing outrage amongst Muslim fundamentalism, has seen the government there charging people and organisations under a colonial-era law of “offending religious feelings”.

In Pakistan, the authorities have made virtually no changes to the administrative system set up by the British to deal with the wild tribes of the North- west frontier. Instead of attempting to impose an alien legal system on the tribesmen, the Raj gave local officials almost unlimited discretionary powers. These remain in force till this day. 

In Palestine, the system of administrative detentions created in the 1940s is still routinely used in Israel’s occupied territories. It is often said that Israel has two systems of law – one for Israelis and one for the Palestinians. The latter is based on the British emergency regulations and it is felt to lend it respectability.

Thus the rule of law, Westminster-style democracy and strict standards in public life are often seen as among the important legacies of the British Empire are largely a myth. As across the world regulations drawn up by past colonial administrators are still being used, sometimes decades after independence, to prosecute government opponents, detain them without trial, prohibit demonstrations and shut down newspapers.

Unfortunately independence constitutions nearly always preserved all existing laws and ordinances, no matter how arbitrarily they had come into existence. As a result of this historical role, Britain has been at a disadvantage when complaining about human rights abuses in many parts of the world. Indira Gandhi famously point out that the powers she used to declare emergency rule in India in 1975 dated from the Raj. This has even been the case when countries have been pushing “Asian values” as in Malaysia, yet it has had made extensive use of the more authoritarian side of their colonial legacy, again in the form of emergency powers. The activist & politician ( and soon to become PM ) Anwar Ibrahim was jailed by the same sodomy laws that the Indians recently repealed. 

While the world has been rallied to the moral and humanitarian case to support the Rohingyas in their flight from ethnic cleansing by the Myanmar state and their plight in Bangladesh, let us not forget the geo-politics of their situation. Notwithstanding the grandstanding of the Security Council at the UN, it is the Chinese Belt & Road initiative and in particular the pivotal place of Bangladesh within the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) corridor that has determined the recent initiative by Chinese. This is one part of the Chinese efforts to rebuild the Old Silk Roads across the whole of Euro Asia land mass, enhancing trade and interactions across the whole of the continent, shifting the central of world economic activity into the heart of Asia, through a process of Easternisation.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in a meeting with Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali

This is best illustrated by the rush of the Bangladesh Foreign Secretary to undertake a bilateral agreement with Myanmar for the safe return of the Rohingya’s too Rakhine state, after Bangladesh had been pursuing a multilateral solution through the UN. This happened almost immediately after the Chinese Foreign Secretary Yang Yi came to Dhaka to meet AH Mahmood Ali, the Bangladesh Foreign Secretary.  So you could say the Chinese brokered or at least kick started the bilateral deal.

According to the bilateral agreement we have three-phases  to address the crisis and promote stability. Firstly China has asked Myanmar’s army to restore order by declaring a ceasefire to stem the flood of refugees. In the second stage, China has suggested that both Myanmar and Bangladesh should be encouraged to talk so as to find a feasible approach to settle the issue while the international community should play an active role as well. In the third stage, Wang called upon the international community to help rebuild Rakhine state.

The Chinese Foreign Secretary  can be credited for getting the support for the proposal from Myanmar’s civilian and military leaders as well as the government of Bangladesh, before unveiling the plan. The proposal, if implemented, would pave the way to restoring peace in the region and rehabilitate all the refugees who had fled to Bangladesh and other countries. And while some will maybe cynical about the Chinese involvement given it has not condemn the ethnic cleansing, China at least does have a firm handle over Myanmar because of its economic support. So it can put pressure on the army to stop the further atrocities.  Furthermore, the Chinese $25 billion offer of infrastructural investment based on the corridor to the Bangladesh government already before the Rohingya tragedy would have played very heavily on the minds of officials in Dhaka.

So as the Rohingya refugees situation plays itself out, do not forget that in the background other issues and concerns are foremost in the minds of officials involved in this bilateral deal other than the immediate humanitarian concerns.

Bangladesh Elections

With nearly 700,000 Rohingya’s crossing over into Bangladesh in the past 18 months, fleeing a brutal military crackdown in Myanmar since August last year, the Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina stated quite clearly “….if we can feed 170 million people, we will be able to feed them as well”

With an election looming on the 30th of December, there is no doubt the issue of how to host the Rohingya’s will come up during the election.

As a responsible government, it has opened its border and provided shelter to the forcibly displaced Rohingya’s. By doing so, it has not only saved lives, but also stabilised the entire region by containing the crisis within their border. Bangladesh will of course like to see the Rohingya’s returning to their homes with safety, security and dignity.  Pending their return, Bangladesh will try and address their basic needs.

Now given the scarcity of land and other socio-cultural and environmental impacts, the Bangladesh government is going to relocate Rohingya’s to a newly developed island, Bhashan Char, where they would have better living conditions and livelihood opportunities. These plans to put them on this island in the Bay of Bengal have proven popular amongst the Bengali electorate, though not necessarily globally, while we hear stories allegedly of more than 200,000 Rohingya’s have been able to hold Bangladeshi passports by corrupt means have somewhat shocked the Bangladeshi electorate.

The Bangladeshi PM at a recent UN Conference on Global Compact on Refugees reiterated that the Rohingya crisis has originated in Myanmar and the solution has to be found there. So Bangladesh would like to see the Rohingya’s returning to their homes with safety, security and dignity but pending their return, Bangladesh will try to address their basic needs.

Are we to see the last of No 23 going to Paddington from the West End?

With the pedestrianisation of Oxford St stopped by the council and Cross rail delayed for more than a year, TfL can concentrate on getting their proposed changes for users in Central London right.

The 23 route changes mean passengers from Bayswater can still take the bus to Marble Arch but no further into the West End, as it turns around heads to Hammersmith instead. So getting rid of the need of the 10 bus route altogether!

94 bus route along the Bayswater Road changes will mean less of a service during the day between Marble Arch and Piccadilly though not to the night service once minor changes in the road are made.

And finally the 98 – the only bus route with electric double decker buses courtesy of the Chinese – will have its route along Oxford St dropped altogether after going up and down the Edgware Rd.

Although In all these changes l have to be convinced the disabled and mobility impaired concerns have been taken on board, so l expect Transport for All to have a good look at it all.

So Marble Arch looks destined to be the new hub where folk from Paddington make their changes on the bus. All this looks strangely in keeping with the Council’s new proposal for Oxford St to only have 4 bus routes going down it, with zero-emission buses only. Thats why it makes sense to let the 98 bus continue down Oxford St given its the only electric double decker bus route and thus comply at least with the Council requirements.  

But we should not forget that we having a four year fare freeze in London on the buses and the hoppers bus fare allows us one hour unlimited switching between buses for £1.50. Both of which have proven popular to bus users and should make the changes easier to accept.

As for timing of it all, l would not be surprised if the Cross rail works are not complete before the next Mayoral contest, giving TfL even more time to get these changes right.

Please make your views clear to TfL on this link https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/buses/central-london/ 

Major changes are being proposed on Central London bus routes. 

If you still want the 205 bus to stop in front of Marylebone Railway station, please make your views clear to TfL on this link https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/buses/central-london/  For those less mobile, with children & luggage it makes a lot sense to retain the stop in front of the station on Melcombe Place.  

While Towers are going up in City of London ( check out the Principal Tower ), it was good to see RBKC overturn an application for two Towers to replace the Forum Holiday Inn on the Cromwell Road last Thursday night in a marathon session that lasted over 6 hours!!! 

Forum Holiday Inn hotel hangs over South Kensington

It is one of the Towers that sticks out like a sore thump in the West Central London skyline for many years and had a planning application (PP/18/03461) to replaced it by a taller and bigger set of two Towers. On massing and height grounds alone it was objectionable. It would have been a 100 per cent increase in volume of the hotel building as it hang over the neighbourhood of six storey Victorian houses with wide streets, quite out of character from the rest of the neighbourhood.  Lets also not forget the loss of light and air as well to adjoining neighbours. Not surprisingly the council received hundreds of objections to the proposed scheme on these grounds alone. 

The developers made a big deal of the Garden Square being retained but this is a legal requirement for them anyway and the proposed footprint of their scheme would have taken over 50 per cent of the overall plot from the 30 odd per cent presently. So plenty was being packed into the site to retain the square by the developers.  

So while l congratulate the councillors for throwing out the application after it was given an Officers recommendation to approval, l suspect this one will come back again. If only because the developers think it complies with the requirements of the London Plan as the constant reference to the GLA during their presentation made clear. 

This while the report to the Councillors stated quite clearly  ” ..the scheme doesn’t comply with the London Plan and draft London Plan but possible remedies could address these deficiencies” from the stage 1 response from the GLA. I suspect we will see a lot of focus on those remedies right now during the 14 days when the Mayor can take over the case.  So watch this space, quite literally. 

When the Bakerloo tube line was extended North of Paddington over a century ago, tube stations like Maida Vale were in fact designed for “over station development” by local architect Leslie Green. Some were developed later like above the old tube station at Hyde Park corner. So developing above the tube station is not new. Incredibly we stop doing housing developments above tubes since those days till now!