Livingstone: H&F Tories should be jailed

More gaffes from Ken Livingstone as the old dinosaur again fell for an elephant trap placed in his path by some cunning Hammersmith Conservatives last week.

After his explosive comments to me when I interviewed him during his visit to Shepherd’s Bush Market earlier this year you might have thought he’d have learned his lesson.

But no, when challenged by Peter Graham, a Conservative councillor who also works for Greg Hands, MP for neighbouring Chelsea & Fulham, whether he’d meant to describe local Tories as “a bunch of crooks” for what they were planning on doing to the local area’s estates with property developers, against many residents wishes, Red Ken replied:

"Oh, yes. I think, frankly, you should all go to prison for what you’re doing in this borough. I think it’s what Shirley Porter did, and you’re destroying lives, and you should be ashamed of yourself. And if there’s any justice you will burn in hell and your flesh will be flayed by demons for all eternity."

Cue predictably excited tweets from the local Conservatives and local media who must be annoyed that for the second time Ken was in the borough, they missed the real story of his visit. But the real annoyance must surely be felt by Ken’s own media team, who must be thinking hard about whether to let the old bruiser anywhere near Hammersmith & Fulham ever again!

The great fireworks debate

Yesterday night I enjoyed a free fireworks display courtesy of the fact that Ealing Council territory is but a stone's throw from my front door. With a display that shook W12 windows in their frames and lit up the streets below, the good people of Hammersmith & Fulham gazed upwards at a display that was both well planned and superbly executed.

So today I made a comment about this on Twitter, for I shall be spending this evening at another display, this time in Newham with the in-laws, which will also be gratis for the local community and hangers-on like me. My point was that there seemed to be free displays all over London, with the exception of Hammersmith & Fulham.

Several of the ruling Conservative councillors immediately pointed out, quite rightly, that this was public money and that cash spent on things that go bang in the sky is cash not spent on local services. But others pointed out that a free local fireworks festival also generates local trade for businesses who are feeling the cold winds of recession.

Personally I don't have that much of a strong feeling about it and can see the councillors point - but I do just think its a shame that the local community won't be getting a display this year if they can't afford the £7 per person price tag. What think you?

Monday update - well the Newham display I attended was great, and from what I heard the Ravenscourt Park one was too - with lots of you actually managing to enjoy it for free from a secret public location not so very far from the park - clever Bushers. In the meantime, however, have a  read of the shenanigans going on down in South East London reported by my fellow blogger Daryll and thank goodness we don't have a Council as ridiculous as Greenwich. A (Labour) council that prefers funding Mayoral booze-ups to community events. And then they'll criticise the cuts.

Pic of the Bush

A superb image of Shepherd's Bush at night from a good friend of mine, photographer Stephen Iliffe, who'se work you can view here - his images are regularly featured on Londonist and elsewhere, and he tells me he took this shot on his way to a music concert one evening in the Bush.

Happy Friday!

Drugs raid on Shepherd's Bush Market - 7 arrests

Hammersmith & Fulham Police have carried out a significant raid in Shepherds Bush Market.

On Wednesday 2nd November the intelligence led joint operation saw officers from Hammersmith & Fulham's Drugs Squad, Shepherds Bush Safer Neighbourhoods Team and Territorial Support Group execute a search warrant at Shepherds Bush Market, Shepherds Bush to disrupt drug dealing in the market. The officers descended upon various locations within the market where drugs were being stored and openly supplied.

During the search of the market stalls police recovered a kilo of herbal cannabis and £2,000 in cash. Drugs paraphernalia in the form of digital scales, bags and other packaging were also seized.

Seven males were arrested:

• [A] 45 yr old man from Shepherds Bush 
• [B] 50 yr old man from Hammersmith 
• [c] 35 yr old man from Shepherds Bush 
• [d] 40 yr old man from Hammersmith 
• [e] 50 yr old man from Shepherds Bush 
• [f] 45 yr old man from Shepherds Bush 
• [g] 52 yr old man from Shepherds Bush

Detective Sergeant Simon Rogers from Hammersmith & Fulham's Drugs Squad said:

“This operation highlights the Drug Squads commitment to removing drug dealers from the streets of Hammersmith & Fulham.

Shepherds Bush Market is a breeding ground for Drug Dealing with storage units, market stalls, containers, cafes and restaurants all hidden in dark alleyways and narrow corridors with inadequate CCTV.

The dealers ‘ply their trade’ from business premises which are often a front for their criminal activities. They are organized, they employ spotters 24/7 and have strategic stash locations within the market which makes policing very difficult.

Yesterday’s operation was well planned and executed, and the results speak for themselves.

We will continue to work with local SNT’S and Partner Agencies in a bid to remove the dealers from the streets of Shepherds Bush".

Anyone who may have information relating to drugs should call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Market Traders publish set of demands

Market Traders have published their latest set of concerns and demands over our Council's plans to allow developers Orion to build seven floors of luxury flats on top of the Market, and the document is published in full below. Many thanks to them for sending it to me. (Click on "view in full screen" - 1st button on left at the bottom for ease of reading)

What shines through in almost every point they make is the complete absence of any trust between either the traders and the property developers - which is to be expected, but also now between the traders and their own Council. That is perhaps due to Cllr Greenhalgh's broken promise over the Goldhawk Block row of shops, which some of the traders feel is emblematic of how the Council has dealt with them.

This set of concerns follows those published by the residents living in the streets around the Market, notably Pennard and Goldhawk Road, which I published here.

In short the Traders fear being priced out by rent hikes and are angry at a 'divide and rule' approach to the compensation on offer to some but not all traders for the disruption to their livelihoods while the Market is knocked down and rebuilt, and then the luxury flats are built on top of them. Orion's proposal to rename part of the Market "crook", I think, speaks loudest of all.

SBMTA's Concerns Regarding Orion's Planning Application (1)

Elderly woman robbed in W12: Police appeal

Detectives at Hammersmith and Fulham are appealing for information and witnesses following a robbery on a elderly female in Landor walk, W12.

On Friday 21st October at around 15:40hrs a 76-year-old woman was robbed near Malvern Court Sheltered Housing, Landor Walk, W12.

The victim was walking with a friend when two males approached them and snatched the victims purse, pushing her to the ground.

The suspects are described as one white male and one black male, both wearing dark hooded tops. A red leather purse was stolen. As a result of the robbery the elderly victim received a fractured hip.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Detective Constable Andy Griffin based in the Priority Crime Unit at Hammersmith Police Station on 0208 246 2678; or, if you wish to remain anonymous, please call crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Greenhalgh video: cutting taxes in H&F

Council Leader Stephen Greenhalgh is upset that he hasn't cut taxes more and plans to bring our borough to the levels of Wandsworth and K&C. In this video which I've just been sent, he spoke at a fringe meeting of the Taxpayers Alliance.

This is one of the many Cllr Greenhalgh spoke at, including the event I covered in Manchester for the blog with Greg Hands MP, covering much the same ground.At that meeting Cllr Greenhalgh made an impassioned plea for what he regarded as more "freedom" for local authorities to be more responsive and accountable to their residents.

Have a watch - bear in mind he is speaking to a Tory audience, so he wasn't using the tone he might do at a public meeting, but it is a useful insight into the psyche of our Council.

Opponents will make the point that all of this cutting has already come at a large cost - to local services such as Sure Start and the voluntary sector. But it is also no bad thing, surely, that the bill to the taxpayer is on a downward curve. And some of the Council's ideas for saving our cash are hard to argue against - sharing a Chief Exec is a very good start indeed. So let's have more savings on waste and less on services to the vulnerable - pie in the sky?

West London Free School "isolates" pupil for haircut

Free-Schooler Toby Young has revealed just how seriously he takes his new vision of tip-top pupils in our borough by condoning their 'isolation' of an 11 year old boy for having a haircut that was "3mm too short". The Standard reports that Kai Frizzle was told that his "Barack Obama" style cut, which is a 1.5 grade round the sides and 2 grade on top, was just short of their definition of what was acceptable.

What followed was his "segregation" from other pupils in an experience that left his mother thinking about taking him out of the school altogether.

Looking at the photo you've got to wonder what the problem is, here. The lad is apparently vice president of the school council and a regular in the rugby team, and happens to have the same sort of haircut as many of his peers. And what is this "isolation" stuff about, anyway?!

Dewhurst Road murder: Update

An update on the murder which took place at Dewhurst Road W14 has just been sent to me by local police - I didn't originally report this as it is officially outside the Bush but it's clearly something a lot of you are interested in, so I hope this helps. I've noticed writing this blog that you get periods when much of the stories relate to crime and then very large gaps between them - at the moment, sadly, its the crime story time. And as my time last week with the Shepherd's Bush Police showed, there are some pretty serious crims in W12 that need catching. Just the time to be cutting Police numbers, then.

Here's the Dewhurst Road update:

Police were called by the London Ambulance Service at approx. 15:55hrs on Friday 21 October to reports of a body at an address in Dewhurst Road, W14.

Officers attended and located the body of a man aged in his late 50s. Next of kin are in the process of establishing the next of kin await formal identification.

A post-mortem examination, which took place on Sunday 23 October at Fulham Mortuary, gave the cause of death as head injury caused by blunt trauma injury.

An incident room has opened at Barnes under DCI Howard Groves (HSCC).

DCI Groves said: "It is believed that the victim was attacked inside his home between 19.00hrs on Thursday 20 October and some time the following morning.

"I'm eager to speak to anyone who was in or near Dewhurst Road during that period. I am particularly keen to speak to anyone who may have seen or heard any suspicious activity around the address. If you're in any doubt, please contact the Incident Room."

Anyone with any information is asked to contact the incident room on 020 8247 7821; Or if you wish to remain anonymous please call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

There has been no arrest at this time nor has there been a weapon recovered.