Support your police

Throughout today many of your local police men and women will be pounding the streets. Nothing out of the ordinary on that, except for the fact that they wont be on patrol, they'll be on a march. They're taking a stand against the cuts that have progressively degraded the service they are able to provide to the public to the extent that much of it, they point out, is provided due only to their ability to go the extra mile and fill the gaps with goodwill and their own wallets.


I witnessed this at first hand while out on patrol with police officers in Shepherds Bush one Saturday night when they needed to arrest three individuals who had just carried out an assault. I remember very well how essential bits of kit were used such as specialist keys to unlock doors - which they'd had to pay for with their own cash because they hadn't been provided. And the fact that they had to drive around in a van that was frankly falling apart - including a sliding door - which was fine apart from the fact it usually wanted to slide right off its hinges.

In fairness to our Council, who are absolutely committed to fighting crime after my report was published the van was renovated and they now have a new one. But should it have taken that? And what about the Special Constable I met - someone who volunteers for the Police for free and who had used up his entire annual leave allocation to do basic training. For the dubious privilege of facing danger on our behalf. Such as this episode when I accompanied a danger-fraught raid on a crystal meth factory on the White City Estate - inside the flat we found a samurai sword and a club with blades pressed through it that wouldn't have been out of place in a medieval battle field.

I watched people who were prepared to deal with dangers like these one minute and then dispense the most sensitive diplomacy I have ever seen the next, both to victims of crime and potential committers of crime who themselves were slowly dying from disease and drug addiction. Quite a job. I can tell you that the general feeling among them is of real anger bordering on betrayal at these cuts - but I can't quote anyone because that is a political statement. You'll have to take my word for it. Or perhaps not - have a read of this from a serving custody sergeant who blogs anonymously about what the mean for him. It may open your eyes.

The police get a lot of things wrong, and are rightly criticised for them. But let's not forget the fact that these people routinely put themselves on the line for our benefit and for far too long have done so with more goodwill than any of us would probably go to in our own lives. So to see them being asked to accept swingeing cuts that will further degrade the service is frankly beyond the pale.

Support them when they need you - they're there when you need them.

Greenhalgh appointed Deputy Mayor of London

Retiring H&F Council Leader Stephen Greenhalgh has been appointed Deputy Mayor for Policing by the newly re-elected Boris Johnson in news coming out of the Evening Standard. This is another step up for Mr Greenhalgh who long ago outgrew the H&F pond and leaves a few struggling to fill his shoes in the ensuing leadership contest in which Cllr Nick Botterill is a leading contender.

The policing post is one of the most high profuile and important in the whole Mayoral system fro London, and not only because of the riots of last August. Knife crime and other elements of anti social behaviour continue to dominate the news as does the ongoing debate about numbers of police. They have either reduced or gone up depending on which starting point you use and unsurprisingly politicians use the one that suits their argument.

Boris famously declared that the News International phone hacking scandal was all a load of cobblers and shouldn't be bothered with. His then Deputy Mayor for Policing (and our own Assembly member) Kit Malthouse tried to tell the Police to stop investigating. While Mr Greenhalgh fills Mr Malthouse's shoes Boris' own spin doctor has moved on the roundabout to go and work for, er, News International. It's tight at the top.

What this may also mean locally is that Mr Greenhalgh's mooted taking on of the White City regeneration project is now off - I just cannot see how you could possibly do both jobs, as both seem to be very large in scale and profile. If he carries on he'll be accused of odd-jobbing on two critical projects and he is far too clever for that.

It may also mean that he stands down as a Councillor in H&F provoking a by-election. One  Tory that lost his previously rock-solid Barnet & Camden seat was Brian Coleman, who held at least three positions - Councillor, Cabinet Member in Barnet and Fire Authority Chairman. He patently couldn't do them all properly and yet took the paycheques - and paid the price.

The comparison stops there because Mr Coleman was also a very rude man with the social skills of a demented rhino whereas Mr Greenhalgh is quite affable - but he'll want to avoid the pitfall, surely.

So ... interesting times ahead both for him and for H&F as ever!

WEDNESDAY UPDATE - Well, there's more than a little confusion about this now. The Evening Standard, for a long time Boris' cheerleaders, were very quick to announce Greenhalgh's appointment but it seems City Hall wasn't quite so sure. I have been told that the BBC cannot get Boris' office to confirm the appointment and that they have been told that it is, as yet, unconfirmed.

This is perhaps why H&F Council's press office have decided to quietly ignore some questions I put to them about what all of this means for us here, in particular Mr Greenhalgh's role in the White City redevelopment scheme. Probably because they don't know and were caught on the hop themselves.

The BBC have reported it as "chaos" as it appears that to take on such a role Mr Greenhalgh would already have needed to relinquish his role as Leader of H&F. He doesn't do that until the end of this month. So the law says he can't.

So it seems that in their desire to reward the Standard for their loyalty during the election they briefed the paper perhaps a bit too early, which the paper in its desire for a scoop then turned into a fully fledged story before City Hall had gotten all its ducks in a row. Embarrassing for all concerned.

1300 WEDNESDAY UPDATE - The Standard are in full row-back mode, paddling furiously and declaring the whole charade to be a "complete shambles", conveniently ignoring their own role in making it so. I have been told by moles both within Hammersmith political circles and at City Hall that the basic argument is that Mr Greenhalgh doesn't want to stand down as a councillor and didn't realise that he would have to. He was also not expecting the announcement to be brought forward.  And these are the people being entrusted with our Police Service?

THURSDAY UPDATE - Greenhalgh has now announced he will be standing down as a councillor in H&F in order to take on the job offered to him by Boris. This will mean a by-election in Fulham which the Conservatives will win comfortably, but which which will provide the local political classes with much to talk about in the days and weeks ahead! 

Taxi wars: Addison Lee filmed breaking law in W12

 Addison Lee are illegally operating in Shepherd's Bush and one enterprising black cab driver has filmed them at it. Writing under the pseudonym Thomas the Taxi on Twitter this taxi driver is Bush based, and also writes a blog chronicling the life of London's cabbies and the issues they face on the Anderson Shelter blog.

You can see quite clearly that the Addison Lee driver is touting for a hail-based cab whereas the firm is only licensed to operate on a pre booked basis. This of course is the same firm who during the London elections thought they would get a buit of free publicity by threatening to drive in bus lanes, and who's odious owner described cyclists as 'amateurs' on the road who only had themselves to blame when they came a cropper.

Thankfully they were first successfully injuncted by a Court from using the bus lanes and then lost a large Government contract as a result. Tsk, amateurs.

When confronted the Addison Lee man, probably seeing that the cabbie was filming, decides to stay in his car and doesn't dispute that he is breaking the law. Sadly for him both his car and his car's registration will now be seen by thousands of people. I plan on asking TfL what action they have or will now take to stop illegal cabs operating in the Bush.

Best Bush Pub: The Poll

Which is the best pub in the Bush? After the engaging contest between W12 curry houses, which I thought on a serious note was hopefully good for all who took part by raising their profiles with people who eat South Asian food, one of you has suggested the next battle royal should be between the pint pullers of the Bush.

But after one reader got particularly upset that his late entrant of a curry house wasn't allowed to participate in the poll, let's make the poll this time a bit more democratic. There are probably about 50 boozers in this area, and we can't poll them all - so which ones are the top 10? Use the comments section below simply to suggest a name - and if you agree with a name that someone else has already suggested, then suggest it too. 

But to make this a positive exercise for all of those suggested - try and add a few words of why you think they should be included. Is it the beer? The cocktails? The atmosphere? Or just because it's down the road? Doesn't need to be war and peace but it might make someone else give somewhere a go, and that can only be a good thing. 

Those with the most mentions will be included in the top 10 - and then the polls will open between them. A champions league of Bush Boozers. I've kicked it off already - and will give people until Thursday to use the comments to suggest the names. Polls will open on the Friday - and can I suggest that those of us who have met up in the past pledge to do so again in the winner?!

FRIDAY UPDATE - Polls have now opened! You can see the vote on the top right of the screen and the ballot closes on the 17th - good luck to all the pubs that made it onto the Bush Top 10!!

FRIDAY 18TH UPDATE: ......and the winner after 287 votes is .... the Defector's Weld!! Many congrats to the Best Bush Pub of 2012

Best Bush Curry: Unveiled!

It's been a battle that split the Bush and caused numerous arguments. It saw surges and fallbacks and then more surges from the front runners, while others fought for third place and to avoid the wooden spoon. We were left hating our neighbours and fuming at the audacity of others to have a different view from our own. Well, not really.


While the dull "other" election was talked about as Boris took his crown again we were consumed - consumed! - with our own fight in W12 for a Coriander Coronation of the Best Bush Curry of 2012.

But it had to have only one winner and after the twists and turns the Nepalese Tandoori turned out to have more fans than Rajput, despite the fact that Rajput's fan base were generally more shouty and vocal about their curry house's case.

With a commanding majority of 13 the Uxbridge Road based Nepalese Tandoori romped home on 42 votes ahead of Goldhawk Road rival Rajput's  on 29. The two had been neck and nexk for much of the contest in which Rajput took the lead for much of the contest. Further down the field wildcard entry Thai house Esarn Kheaw put in a  late challenge for the third place spot but just lost out to Kathmandu Inn by a single vote. Shimla Kirch on Askew Road and Ashanti tied with 3 votes apiece for joint 5th while AskAway, also on Askew Road, came just behind with 2.

I based these choices on those that had been put forward by many of you in a Twitter debate on this subject two weeks ago and it motivated 104 people to take part in the keenly fought contest - although one reader was outraged that his own late entry wasn't able to join the fray!

So there we have it - Nepalese Tandoori is crowned King of the Curryhouses in Shepherd's Bush. What shall we vote on next?!

Boris back: But chastened

Goldhawk Rd: set to change

Boris Johnson has been re-elected after Labour's catastrophic choice of dinosaur Ken Livingstone managed to buck not only a London but a national trend and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. The Mayor was assisted in his victory by constant backing from the Evening Standard but also in no small part by Ken himself, who managed to stumble from one self made crisis to another.

The Mayor, however, has lost his control of the Assembly and will now have to negotiate with Assembly Members from Labour, Green and LibDem in order to have his budget passed every year. And his margin of victory is so narrow that there have to be question marks about just what kind of mandate he has from Londoners to carry on as he was.

So the Mayor may have to rein in some of his tendencies to ride roughshod over people - and for us in the Bush that might mean he is just a little less likely to back our Council in their apparent determination to press ahead with schemes in the non-Fulham parts of the borough that are patently opposed by the majority of local people.

• King Street in Hammersmith will be immediately resurrected now by our Council as we now know after their own secret papers were leaked.
• West Kensington & Gibbs Green Estate will be marked for destruction.
• Shepherd's Bush Market and the Goldhawk Road shops will be served up for demolition. Subject to a Court challenge next week, anyway.

And where before this election I would have seen Boris approving all of them, I can see him balking at one of them now. Sadly for the Bush I think the one he may balk at is the King Street scheme. I can only see the courts stopping our Council and their colleagues Orion the property developers now from tearing down our heritage on the Goldhawk Road.

Much to think about in the days, weeks and months ahead.

But it's also worth flagging up that we'll be back in the midst of elections in Hammersmith & Fulham itself in a couple of years - and the residents of the luxury flat developments the current Council are intent on building in the North of the borough won't have moved in by then. Nor will many of the unemployed have been moved out.Our Council may look at that and decide to be not quite so beligerent in future.

In the meantime, I'm afraid, stand by for the demolition orders.

H&F to ship poor out of borough

More leaked documents. You have to think that there are some civil servants working inside Hammersmith Town Hall who don't much like the political masters they are working for because another revealing document has made its way out - this time to the Guardian - who have broken the story that our Council are actively looking to move 500 people up out of this borough and up to Derby.

And that's just the start of it - plans are also afoot to deny those who are considered no to be making "an economic contribution" (translation: the unemployed) tenancies for longer than 5 years. 

This is also an old story, first broken by Paul Waugh in the Standard in 2009, in which he revealed similar plans, again centred on the White City Estate in W12 and linking them to comments Council Leader Stephen Greenhalgh had made about council housing "warehousing" poverty and turning into "ghettoes". And this is the man who will shortly be handed responsibility for, er, White City.

Greenhalgh is of the 'radical' wing of Conservatives, along with one or two others in senior positions. He and his colleagues seem to genuinely believe in a 21st Century version of Victorian ideas that the tougher you are with poor people the better it is for them in the long run. 

And yet they are capable of less draconian but no less innovative schemes to tackle unemployment and social malaise as we saw in this project in Shepherd's Bush back in August last year. 

The problem is that it's a lot easier and cheaper simply to ship people up North than it is to invest in schemes that actually try and include people such as the InComE project in Shepherd's Bush which tries to encoiurage social mobility. And Boris has already said that he will simply 'delay' plans to get rid of people like this - not stop them. Voters may wish to consider this at the polling booth today.

Ken in Hammersmith

Ken in Hammersmith this morning

Ken Livingstone, the man hoping to unseat Boris tomorrow, was in Hammersmith on King Street this morning meeting voters.

It's far from being the first time Ken has visited our borough during this election campaign. Both men have criss crossed Hammersmith & Shepherd's Bush to try and make the most of what both see as the big issues dividing Labour and Conservatives here. 

He delivered a stump speech in which he sought to hammer home is message on tube and bus fares:

“It’s 24 hours to vote to cut the fares. By voting Labour Londoners can change the fares they have to pay. In less than half an hour if you are an average London fare-payer, you can make yourself £1,000 on Thursday. Those who live in outer London can make even more. 

“The only guarantee you get with Tory Boris Johnson would be another four years of above inflation fare increases. Why else would the Tory Mayor refuse to reveal any details of his fares policy if he wasn’t planning a huge fare hike? 

”I’ll make millions Londoners better off with a £1000 fare cut, EMA for London, new childcare support, a cut in Londoner’s energy bills and more police on the street. A vote for Labour will reverse the disastrous Tory policies that brought us a double dip recession, fare increases and police cuts and made Londoners worse off. 

“Don’t let the Tories get away with it – vote Labour in London tomorrow.” 

He then ambled off for a walk about in the town centre and pressed the flesh. To be honest the result is probably already decided by now but it's clear both of the main contenders are going to take it to the wire. Results are due sometime on friday afternoon/early evening I'm told.

Why is Boris bad for the Bush?

Because he works very much like our Council, sadly, on planning issues. Does this affect everyone? No. Is it therefore the reason why many of you should choose Ken over Boris? No. So am I, in this brief piece trying to persuade all of you to vote for Ken? Well, sort of I suppose but you’re all grown ups and don’t need any advice from me on that score.

So it’s a personal choice and I voted for Ken last week (I have a postal vote) on the basis that I have lived in W12 for over a decade now and think the things that make this place one of the best little corners in this fantastic city is its’ people, and its’ character.

Like Shepherd’s Bush Market and the Goldhawk Road terrace of historic shops. Zippy’s Café, with its’ 1950s original décor and the pie & mash shop which has been in the family for nigh on a century. All handed over on a plate against the express wishes of the owners to a property developer to make some more cash on, in order to build a high rise of luxury flats instead. The former owners become enforced tenants inhabiting boutique style modern units and paying as yet unspecificed levels of rent to Orion the new landlords.

Or the West Kensington Estate. Inhabited by what is clearly a majority of residents who want where they live to stay as it is, as one 9 year old girl expressed in terms clearer and more direct than much of the propaganda from both sides squabbling over the development. The fact is there is a vibrant community there and they don’t fancy being handed over on a plate either, with many leaseholders being forced to leave the area as a result.

In both cases I would make two observations – firstly our Council has either ignored the residents completely or pumped our money into front organisations which parrot the official line, and which Boris backs to the hilt. And secondly the Mayor has been dishonest in his public accounts of what he has been up to, claiming to stand up for residents while signing papers giving the official go-ahead.

On King Street he poses as having blocked the massively unpopular King Street redevelopment - again involving evictions to be replaced with luxury flats - and yet leaked documents reveal clearly that our Council are in cahoots with him and will re-introduce this scheme the moment he is re-elected.The fact the documents were marked "top secret" and "exempt from Freedom of Information requests" tells you all you need to know about our Council and Boris' committment to be upfront with you.

To me this is a case of the little person being ridden roughshod over and I don’t much like it. Not least because if you look at other more faceless areas of London you can see where it leads to.

So what about Ken? He is far, far, far from perfect. He introduced the Western congestion zone ignoring local residents, he whacked up fares after promising not to and there remain questions about his tax arrangements. It is instructive that much of his campaign has had to be about persuading members of the Labour Party to vote for the Labour candidate.

But consider some of the other differences. Ken actually wants to do something about the air pollution that hit the maximum possible level in W12 just a couple of weeks ago. Boris doesn’t. Ken will likely act as a balance to the bulldozer approach our Council seems to adopt to residents in the North of our borough and force them to be listened to (not agreed with necessarily – but listened to). Ken wants to cut tube fares which seem to spiral ever upwards while service quality plummets. Boris doesn’t. He wants to use the cash on tax payer funded vanity projects like cable cars instead.

That’s why I think for the Bush, and for London, it’s worth holding your nose, as the Labour Party said recently, and vote for Ken. But even if you can’t bring yourself to do that it might be worth remembering that you have three votes in this election – one for the Mayor, one for your constituency Assembly Member and one for the London-wide list.

Even a majority on the Assembly that is able to actively hold Boris to account would be better than nothing – so you may wish to think carefully about where to put your crosses on Thursday.