If it's Saturday, it must be High Barnet

The Save The Libraries roadshow rolled into High Barnet this morning. I was joined by a couple of willing volunteers from Unison as well as former Lib Dem Councillor Duncan MacDonald and his daughter. We set up shop outside the main entrance to the Spires (across the road from the Library). I asked Duncan how he was missing Barnet Council. His response was that he'd been too busy to notice. I think that irrespective of your party allegiance, people like Duncan are the sort of councillors you'd want. Rather like Labour Councillor Julie Johnson and Tory Kate Salinger, they are people who are in it for the good of the local community. Duncan is still involved in campaigns and residents groups and tells me he's pleased to have a bit more time to spend on their work.

As to the reception for the petition. As ever it was good. One thing we get asked time and again is whether Barnet Council really are planning to shut libraries and sell them off. People just can't believe it. When I explain about the library review and the property review and mention what Robert Rams told the Hendon Times, they are truly taken aback. The next question? "Is this Robert Rams a Tory". Rather strangley, when I say yes, they seem less surprised. They then normally say "Well they could find the cash to give themselves a payrise".

We now have 1,500 signatures (that's without the other stalls this morning). Another theme today was Sheltered Housing warden cuts. Word is getting out. Oh yes and we found our first supporter of Library closures. A young lad on a pushbike stopped and yelled "I hate libraries". I asked him if he was a friend of Robert Rams. "Who's he?" the boy replied. "He's the Conservative Politician who wants to make your dream come true" I said. "What do you mean" He replied. I told him "He's the bloke who wants to shut the libraries". At this, the boy sped off yelling "He sounds like a twat!".

Please come down and sign the Save our Libraries petition this morning

If you want to save Barnets libraries from closure, please come down and support us this morning. I will be at the High Barnet Stall. We are aiming to have got 2,000 signatures by the end of the weekend.  By the way, Barnet Council has launched an "On Line Consultation" for the Library review. The way this is worded makes it impossible to actually support the existing service. Please give it a wide berth. We will be launching our own consultation shortly, with real options and real choices.

 

We are running stalls at the following venues in Barnet

Saturday 16 October from 10.30 – 12.30

•          High Barnet – behind the Spires

•          North Finchley – outside Poundland.

•          Burnt Oak – outside Tesco’s

Sunday 17 October from 2- 4 pm.

·         Outside Golders Green Library

Please could you try and find some time to support these stalls.If you can't then sign the petition online

Online petition - Save our Libraries in the London Borough of Barnet

Malcolm Allison RIP

It has been a truly dreadful week. On Monday I had a stomach upset and had to stay within running distance of our plumbing facilities. On Wednesday my laptop hard drive blew up, resulting in no work getting done on the computer for two days. How much worse could things possibly get?

Today I heard that Malcolm Allison passed away. Now some readers of the Barnet Eye may not have heard of Mr Allison. He was the greatest English football coach ever. He worked with Joe Mercer at Manchester City  from 1966 and took over the management in 1970. I started supporting City aged 6, in 1968, the season Mercer and Allison lead them to win the League. The following year the FA cup followed. In 1970 City won the League cup and the Cup Winners Cup. During that period, there were some mighty characters and some great teams. Manchester United under Busby, Liverpool under Shankly, Leeds under Revie, and Brian Clough at Derby & Nottingham Forest. For their period working together Mercer/Allison were the best.

Big Mal was a larger than life character. Fedora Hat, Cigar, Sheepskin coat. At Crystal Palace, he was famously photo'd in the baths with porn star Fiona Richmond. These were the things we all remember, but his legacy was far greater. He revolutionised attitudes to training, fitness and tactics. He was always great for an interview or a quote. In short, he was a footballing Icon. I checked the BBC message board and the stature of the man is shown by the comments of supporters of other clubs (even United) paying tribute. They are all gone now. We have a new generation, but for me at least, the late 1960's were the Golden era of British football. We were World Cup Winners. Celtic Won the European Cup in 67, United won it in 1968, Newcastle won the Fairs Cup in 1969 and City won the Cup winners cup in 1970. In those days there was no "big four". If you lost in Europe, you got knocked out. Teams like Derby could win the league, purely by appointing a genius as manager.

Shortly after City beat Gornick Zarbes to win the Cup Winners Cup, England lost a world cup quarter final to West Germany 3-2 after being 2-0 up in Mexico. That was my first real world cup. That was when I lost my football virginity. I'm sure supporters of United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool would disagree, but that was the golden age for me.

Somehow, with the passing of Big Mal, I feel older, the world feels a sadder and darker place. People tell me that the Premiership is the worlds greatest league. They tell me that Sir Alex Ferguson is the greatest manager ever. They tell me that the English can't produce great managers and coaches.

I pray to God that somewhere out there, we have a new Cloughie. Even more than that though I'd love a new Mercer and a new Malcolm Allison. If Roberto Mancini wins the Premiership for City, don't get me wrong, I'll dance naked on the steps of Barnet town hall with joy, but if we win it by appointing a genius and someone to keep him in check, by getting the best out of our existing resources, think how much sweeter that would be.

It is hard to describe how I felt about Malcolm Allison and what he did for City with Mercer. I met Joe Mercer as a boy at the Football Hall of Fame in 1969. My Dad arranged it as a treat. I had tea with him, Billy Wright and one of the Beverly Sisters. It is a treasured memory. I just wish I'd been for a drink with Malcolm Allison a few years later. That would have really been the icing on the cake.

It is often said "We won't see the likes of him again". In the case of Big Mal, it is undoubtedly true.

Tonight I will drink a bottle of very fine wine in his honour.

If I was a London Fireman I'd go on strike

The Firemen of London have voted to go on strike. 80% voted for a strike, a huge total. The man who is in charge of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority is none other than Barnet Councillor Brian Coleman. Those of us who have followed the dispute know that Mr Coleman has been provoking the FBU, trying to goad them into a strike. Mr Coleman is on record as a "union basher". It is also a matter of public record that the private company, ASSETTCO, who provide strike cover, have sumptuously wined and dined Coleman. I've been on the receiving end of communications from Coleman. They were so rude, I reported him to the standards committee and won. As a result of his intransigence, people will die. It is a disgrace. Boris Johnson should sack him and appoint a reasonable person, who wants to run a service, not destroy it. If I was a fireman, I'd go on strike. Brave men deserve better.

Save Barnets Library Service - Details of community Stalls this weekend

We are running stalls at the following venues in Barnet

Saturday 16 October from 10.30 – 12.30

•          High Barnet – behind the Spires

•          North Finchley – outside Poundland.

•          Burnt Oak – outside Tesco’s

Sunday 17 October from 2- 4 pm.

·         Outside Golders Green Library

Please could you try and find some time to support these stalls.If you can't then sign the petition online

Online petition - Save our Libraries in the London Borough of Barnet

A better man than I ????

The bloke in this picture is Suri Khatri BSC Hons. He's a Conservative Councillor in Mill Hill. He got over 1,000 votes more than me in the Council Election, which is why he's a Councillor and I'm not. Do I care? I was gutted at the time, but I shook his hand and wished him well (genuinely). I really thought no more about it until today. A BNP sympathiser left a comment on another Barnet blog, in response to a comment I made about a young man who is a leader of a local youth project and happens to be a Kenyan. I said he was one of the most intelligent young people I'd ever met. The BNP commentor replied that he should stand in Mill Hill as a Lib Dem and see how many votes he gets. The clear implication was that Mill Hill is full of racist bigots and he'd get no votes.

I suddenly remembered the fact that Suri Khatri had been elected. I don't know him, but he seemed a nice enough chap. John Hart told me he's a nuclear physicist by trade so he's clearly a bright bloke. Whilst I was pretty gutted on May 7th that Mr Khatri beat me, at least it shows that Mill Hill is not full of racist bigots. For that reason alone, I'm pleased he won. Is he a better man than me? Well he certainly is if your Nuclear reactor needs designing, not quite so sure if you need a bit of punk rock guitar. The good thing is that the people of Mill Hill clearly judged us for who we were, not the colour of our skin. I suspect that if the BNP are looking to seek a base of racists support in Mill Hill, they will be bitterly disappointed as we all get on rather well here.

Barnet Future Shape : Dodgy figure alert ?

The figures for many of the Barnet Future Shape cuts are detailed in this document


http://committeepapers.barnet.gov.uk/democracy/reports/reportdetail.asp?ReportID=9713

I was once given some advice by a forensic auditor. It is easy to tell when figures are real and when figures are made up in such documents. The real ones are generally fairly random numbers and the made up ones are fairly round numbers.

If I was Councillor Lynne Hillan, Councillor Bran Coleman, Councillor Mark Shooter, Councillor Andrew Harper or any of the other Barnet Councillors who want to become movers and shakers, I'd want to look at how all of these numbers were arrived at. It's pretty clear to me that all of this is, shall we say, open to further scrutiny. Lets see if our ruling Tory Councillors can be bovered.

Of course I'm sure Councillor Robert Ramsbottom thinks this paper is marvellous.

Union bashing special : Lets Celebrate Maggie Thatchers Birthday In Style !

I've just been told that it's Maggie Thatchers Birthday today.

There are two way you could celebrate today -  You could celebrate how Barnet Councils Tories like to celebrate, by laying waste to public services :-

http://committeepapers.barnet.gov.uk/democracy/reports/reportdetail.asp?ReportID=9713

Or you could celebrate the real good news today, with the rest of the billions of humanity. The release of the trapped miners. I think it's great that on the day of Margaret Thatchers Birthday, the whole planet is saluting brave miners, a profession that Thatcher declared war on. Living in North West London, I've met many critics of Arthur Scargill and the NUM. I've never met a single North Londoner who would, even for one second, consider mining as a career. I thank God for the rescue of these guys. Most days, the news is full of bad news, isn't it great that once, everyone survived and everyone is happy.

As they have emerged, isn't it remarkable how cool they look in their raybans.

Barnet Council : Proof of the decimation to the service

Check out this report - Page 118 details library cuts. These are huge.
http://committeepapers.barnet.gov.uk/democracy/reports/reportdetail.asp?ReportID=9713

There's plenty of other cuts detailed in this budget paper, but as we're focussing on Libraries on this blog currently, here's the figures. Bear in mind that the review hasn't been completed yet. I note with horror that the mobile libraries are also earmarked for the chop. Click on the image to make it more readable.

Bear in mind these figures do not include savings from the property review and sale of libraries. I bet Robert Rams can't wait to tell us the bad news.

Brent Cross Redevelopment Alert : Find out just how marvellous the extra 27,000 cars will be

Register NOW for FREE! Don't miss the opportunity to hear from speakers focussing on central and suburban London by registering for this FREE to attend digital event, broadcast live to your computer! speakers confirmed to for London Live are: Richard Akers Land Securities Ian Mason Schroders  Paul Clark, The Crown Estate Tony McCurley, GM Real Estate David Kenningham, CB Richard Ellis  Paul White, Frogmore Property Company Nick Maltby, Bircham Dyson Bell Keith Berryman, Crossrail Alistair Subba Row, Farebrother Tim Roberts, British Land Jonathan Joseph, Brent Cross Cricklewood partnership  Tony Westbrook, Barnet Council  Register today for FREE to hear from all these speakers discussing the London Property Market! Webinars confirmed for London Live! include:  9.30am live debate - London 2011: Recovery or    relapse?   11.00am Webinar - Capital investment: what lies    ahead for development, transport and Crossrail?   12.30pm Webinar - The outlook for Offices: kick    starting development and tackling the supply shortage  2pm Webinar - Retail therapy: the evolution of London    retail via pioneering new developments  3.30pm Webinar - A revolution in the suburbs: a closer    look at the outer boroughs

Webinar – A revolution in the suburbs: a closer look at the outer boroughs

The 20 London boroughs which comprise outer London have been hit particularly hard by the economic downturn of the last few years. However, with 60% of the capitals population, several major regeneration schemes already underway and a plethora of untapped resources – the suburbs will be fundamental to the recovery of the London economy. In this session find out why commercial developers, investors and occupiers should be looking to the suburbs as the way forward. Learn more about  the main growth sectors which are set to bolster the outer London economy and gain deeper insight on some of the most innovative regeneration schemes in London, including: 

• Examining the key growth sectors for the outer London economy: office based sectors, public sector, retail, leisure and culture

Speakers include:

• Ian Mason, head of UK property fund management, Schroders
• Jonathan Joseph, development director, Brent Cross Cricklewood partnership
• Tony Westbrook, Principal Planner, Barnet Council 

A must for everyone interested in Brent Cross