Tuesday, 15 May 2018

North Finchley Festival Highlights - The False Dots live at The Bohemia - Sunday 9pm

If you are around North Finchley on Sunday night at around 9pm, you have the choice of two awesome bands to watch. At the Elephants head, there is the amazing Kado. They are an amazing Jazz funk band and I am gutted to be missing them.

Unfortunately for me, I've got another appointment just down the road. I will be playing with my own band, the False Dots, at the Bohemia. We will be the main support to the awesome Silencerz, who feature Lee Thompson from Madness on Saxophone.  Normally you'd have to shell out big wonga to see Lee play, so to see him for free is a real treat!



Music has always been my number one passion in life. I founded the band in 1979 and we performed our first gig in 1980. It was a hastily arranged gig for Rock Against Racism. A chaotic affair, we borrowed Dav, the drummer from Alan Warner of the Foundations and our singer didn't bother to turn up! Despite all of that it was a brilliant night and it gave me the bug.


As a sixteen year old, the concept that I'd still be playing 38 years later would have seemed a little strange, but here we are. The lineup we play with now was our 1985 lineup, augmented by Fil Ross on bass guitar. Last Saturday, we performed at our singer, Allen Ashley's 60th birthday party at the Kings Head in Enfield. When Allen isn't singing with the False Dots, he is an author and poet and he runs various writing groups across Barnet and Enfield. I was very pleasantly surprised to find that quite a few stalwarts of various Barnet campaigns I've supported and many Barnet Eye readers are also members of the various writing groups Allen runs. Allen hadn't told them that the Dots were performing (in fact many didn't know he was our singer, as they simply knew him from the writing group). It was an excellent night. Perhaps the most touching moment was when Allen's wife Sarah presented a book she'd put together with contributions from his writing group.


Of course The False Dots are a completely different beast from Allens literary and poetic activities. Although our songs are finely crafted, we are a full on Rock and Roll band with a long pedigree. I daresay a few of Allens writing group would have been surprised to see a completely different side to Allens personality. The False Dots have put the finishing touches recently to our forthcoming album "Songs of Love and War" and will be previewing these, along with some newer material at the show on Sunday.

As well as Allen we have Fil Ross on Bass. Fil has played bass with the band since 1998 and is also wicked lead guitarist. His other band, The Rock and Roll Sons will be headlining at The Elephants Head on Saturday at 10pm. Fil is always value for money. A brilliant live performer. Anyone who has seen the False Dots or the Rock and Roll sons will testify that there is no shoegazings at our gigs!



The False Dots in Belgium 1985
I must also say a word about Graham Ramsey, our long time drummer. Graham is a force of nature. He has probably played with more bands in the London Borough of Barnet than any person alive. At our last public gig at The Midland Hotel, he played with the support KatManDo and then jumped up for an impromptu set with The Hamptons, as they were short of a drummer. When I first met Graham, he was one of the Mill Hill East mods. Paul Marvin, son of the legendary Hank introduced me to him in early 1980, in awed tones "Graham is the best drummer in North London".

The False Dots 2018
I immediately wanted Graham to join the band, but he was with a very successful band called the B'zukas, wheras we had yet to play a gig. Eventually I persuaded Graham to join in 1985, at the same time as Allen. Graham immediately showed what he brought to the band in terms of musical creativity. He isn't someone to just tap along in the background. His drumming is all about dynamics and creativity. Unlike 99% of drummers he plays an active role in arrangements, adding dynamism and beats that on one else on the planet would play. As well as the creative input, I also quickly found out that Graham was also ambitious. He managed to blag The False Dots onto a trip to Belgium at the end of 1985 (see picture above). Graham to this day continues to blag the Dots and all of the other bands he's involved with onto gigs all over the place.

The False Dots are in some ways almost unique. All of us are involved in other musical/creative projects. All of us are outspoken, opinionated, all from very different backgrounds. Whilst you may think this would cause musical differences, in fact it has built a huge mutual respect. Musically we all push each other onwards and upwards. I think the material we've written in the last few years is the best of our career. If you come down on Sunday night and you enjoy live music, you will not be disappointed. Here is a little sample of what you will be missing if you decide to stop in and listen to The Archers on iPlayer! This is a very live video!


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Monday, 14 May 2018

The full Line up for the North Finchley Festival!

This weekend we see the 2nd annual North Finchley Festival. There are some absolutely amazing acts playing (I know, I put the program together and listened to every single one of them). Here is the full schedule. Make sure you make it down! Over the next week we will be featuring details of each venue and previewing some of the amazing acts who will be appearing so watch this space.







Make sure you come down and join in the fun. Many thanks to our sponsors for their generosity.





Special thanks to Mill Hill Music Complex for PA and Logistics support.
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Sunday, 13 May 2018

The Tweets of the Week in the London Borough of Barnet - 13/5/2017

Here are this weeks selection, don't forget to follow any tweeters who tickle your fancy

1. Great post from the Mill Hill Historical Society


2. Lovely pic of one of Mill Hill's landmark


3. Nioe post from one of our regulars


4.


5.  And a great pic of a Finchley Landmark


6. A date (ow two) for your diary!

7. Looking for some great live music tonight?


8. And another date for the diary for all plant lovers!


9. Congratulations to Helen Michael at Cafe Buzz for a truly amazing achievement!


10. And Mill Hill is seeing some amazing music being made!


That's all folks!
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Saturday, 12 May 2018

The Saturday List #174 - My Top Ten Mill Hill Memories!

I've lived in Mill Hill for most of my life. Many amazing things have happened in the time I've lived here. I thought I'd try and make a list of the most memorable and most amusing.


Here's my top ten (whilst I can still remember them).



1. There are many fantastic musical memories I have of Mill Hill, through the music festival and other gigs  I've seen/performed/organised etc, but without this memory none of it would have happened.





2. I've also been involved in many community events, but the first one was the annual St Josephs College Garden fete's at St Jospephs college on Lawrence St. This was usually held on the second Saturday in May. Local people from around Mill Hill would volunteer to run stalls etc. The money was used to help pay for the upkeep of the grounds and buildings. It was an amazing chance to see the beautiful settings. The college also had a working farm, so you see the pigs and cows close up and some years there were tractor rides etc, until the health and safety police banned them. The Fete's ran from around 1966 to the mid 1970's as I recall. Like many old Millhillians, I have a great affection for the College tower and the fields.



3. I don't have a picture of this, but in 1973, there was huge excitement locally when Radio 2 DJ Terry Wogan turned up to open Budgens Supermarket (where M&S now resides). There was much excitement, long queues and many an autograph given.My missus still has hers. Lots of old ladies were heard to mutter 'He's a very nice man' after meeting him. 

4. Another event etched in my mind, but I can't find any pictures of was when Adam Faith, who was a superstar in the 1960's and 70's turned up to film an episode of Budgie. I saw this episode on UK Gold a few years ago, there are some lovely shots of the "New China Garden" chinese restaurant (recently Hee's takeaway) and the Laundrette. There was also some filming on the M1 footbridge linking Millway with Maxwelton Ave. If anyone can point me at the episode, I'll add it.

5. When I was very small, a highlight of the year was the Hendon Aerodrome Air display. I can still recall the Red Arrows flying Mill Hill trailing red, white and blue over for the last ever show. As we have the RAF Hendon museum, we still have a few links, but not the show. If anyone has any memorabilia for the show, please let me know or send me a scan!


6. My father ran a crash repair business. One of my very best memories was when he had to repair the Batmobile (Bruce Wayne era). I'm not sure whether it was the real one or just one which a car enthusiast had put together, but he took me to Kentfields (the toy shop in the Broadway), bought me a Batman outfit and drove me all around Mill Hill as fast as he could. It was  a very special moment. He then drove me to Burnt Oak to buy an Ice cream at Tonibells. A gaggle of local kids gathered around to gawp at it and he let a few have a sit in the drivers seat. Can you imagine that today? Sadly we had no mobile phones to record for posterity, so it is all just a special memory.


7. Perhaps one of the most surreal experiences I had was around 1976, coming back from school. A couple of horses had broken free from a local farm and were running up and down Mill Hill Broadway. They were being persued, Keystone cops fashion by the local constabulary, to mush hilarity of locals. My Dad, who had been raised in Australia with horses took charge of the situation, grabbing some carrots from Mayers and tempting the horses over. With a few tasty treats, he managed to get them to follow him to St Josephs College fields, where they were safely penned up until the owners arrived. He was rather scathing about the training of the local Police, until my mum pointed out that it wasn't really a situation the Met have to deal with very often.


8. One very fond memory I have of Mill Hill was meeting Mike and Bernie Winters as they were leaving the Day of The Raj restaurant by the former Lloyds Bank building. My then best friend, Paul Hircombe, had a pet Jack Russell that went by the name of Reg. We were walking Reg up the Broadway when we met the Winter brothers. Bernie was well known for his St Bernards dog named Shnorbitz, at the other end of the size scale. Bernie made a beeline for Reg and made a big fuss of him, giving him a treat from his pocket. We had a brief chat about doggy things. Bernie was a lovely bloke, as was Mike. 


9. Another fond memory of Mill Hill was meeting Paul Gascoigne (then of Spurs) in Anstee's bakery (where Costa Coffee now resides). Spurs training ground was in Chase Lodge and the players were often seen in the Broadway. I was behind Gazza in the queue and as he was about to be served I quipped "Leave a few pies for me mate". Gazza had been being teased on the terraces about his weight at the time. He said nothing to me, but then when asked what his order was "I'll take ALL the pies please". The girl looked at him nervously, and he laughed and then said "oh no, leave seven for him, he's a big lad". He clearly enjoyed a bit of banter, and I saw him a few times, we'd always exchange a laugh. The thing I really liked about Gazza was he'd always make time if any local kids approached him for an autograph. He was by far the most approachable of any of the then Spurs players.

10. And so we come to our final memory. On Mill Hill Broadway Station, there is a tea hut, which has been run by a number of people over the years. One of the most successful was "Jack". He was a no nonsense chap, not really very chatty, but made sure as many people as possible got their paper an cup of tea before the train came as possible. As regular readers will know, I'm a bit of a music nut. As I didn't really know too much about Jack, I didn't discuss music with him. One day, I missed a train and so I went for a tea. Jack was in a better mood than usual and asked what I was doing for the weekend. I replied "I'm going to see a band at the Marquee tonight". Jack smirked and said "Who?" I replied that there was a top Mod band from the 1960's called The Creation who were reforming and releasing a new album on Creation Records and a few of my Mod mates were going along with me. Jack smirked even more and said "I know, I'm the drummer!". I was literally gobsmacked. After that, We'd always have a chat about music.
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Friday, 11 May 2018

Save London Music - North Finchley is the centre of live music in London in May!

Summer feels like it has arrived in our little corner of the worlds greatest city. Even better news is that we have a couple of amazing weekends of live music coming up. On the 19th and 20th, we have the amazing North Finchley Festival. There will be nearly 60 bands playing at six venues in North Finchley. We've got an eclectic mix of music with just about every genre of music represented.

The Grassroots music scene has seen a real resurgence in London over the last couple of years. I have seen some of the most amazing gigs at small venues over the last couple of years. As a member of the False Dots, I've played a fair few gigs and we've seen audiences at some of the recent shows that I've not seen since the heady days of the 1980's. When the False Dots played the Midland Arms in Hendon earlier in the year, the pub was absolutely rammed. A couple of weeks ago, I was at The Five Bells in Finchley for Those Naughty Lumps and The Nice Men. The pub was rammed full and rocking. One swallow may not make a spring, but there is definitely something going on.

Another place that is really starting to establish itself is the Torrington reborn at Old Finchleans Club. This Sunday there is an amazing gig for those of you who like a bit of blues.  It is also an opportunity to pick up a copy of the amazing new CD from Del Bromham.

If you are curious and want to "try before you buy" here are a few links to check out

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhviKGk6FeA Dear Mr Fantasy 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R44pMkFY1kQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6n2PC8GxwvE Blues For Bob Hite                     

What an amazing aperitif for the North Finchley Festival. Six venues, live music afternoons and evenings. A brilliant line up. Anyone who was at last years festival will know just what a fantastic selection of musicians appeared. We've a new venue as well, with Asoo's joining in the fun!

So what exactly is on the menu! Something rather tasty. Whether you like, Jazz, RnB, Rock, Pop, Choirs, Ska, Reggae, Indie there is something there for you. Make sure you make a note in your diary and tell your friends.

The smaller venues such as Cafe Buzz and M's place have some great artists who you can enjoy over lunch or an early tea, with coffee and cakes or a beer. The pub venues will be rocking into the night"
Here





My band, the False Dots are honoured to be playing as main support to Lee Thompson and The Silencerz on the Sunday night. Here is a little taster of how we sound!
Make sure you come down and say hi! It will be a blast

Many thanks to our sponsors, Barnet Council, Joseph Partners, Waitrose and Jeremy Leaf Estate Agents.

Mill Hill Music Complex are sponsoring the sound systems!

Over the next week, we will be making sure you know all the details!
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Wednesday, 9 May 2018

The sorry tale of anti semitism in the UK Labour Party

How has it come to this? Seriously. It is a question I am asking myself a lot recently.

Lets start with a bit of historical perspective. As a teenager attending North London Roman Catholic schools in the 1970's, I remember anti semitism being endemic. Not at our house, because my Father was an ex WWII RAF pilot who detested fascists and knew where that path lead, but it was all around at school. When I was twelve, we saw the Israeli raid on Entebbe, freeing Jewish hostages in Uganda. My Father as an ex military man was highly impressed. I mentioned this to a school friends Dad, and his response was to  sit us down and explain in great detail all manner of terrible things that the Jewish people had allegedly done. This disturbed me greatly. At the time, everyones parents were viewed as wise and trustworthy, so I seriously wondered why my Dad hadn't filled me in on these terrible things. As I trusted my Father, I eventually asked him about this. He explained, in no uncertain terms, that my friends Father was unintelligent and uneducated. He went further and explained that all around the world, evil minded politicians seek scapegoats to blame, minorities to terrorise and mobs to whip up hate with. He explained about Moseley in the UK in the 1930's and how such people were treacherous. My father had worked in the Middle East after the second world war as a commercial pilot. He had an office in Jerusalem, when it was part of Palestine before the creation of Israel. He explained that the reason the United Nations created Israel was quite simply because "across the globe, the Jews are a minority everywhere. The international community failed them in the face of Nazism. After the second world war, it was recognised that the way to ensure that this did not happen again was to give them a homeland where they could be a majority. That would at least mean that Jews across the world knew there was somewhere safe for them if another Hitler came along". I noted this down in my diary in July 1976. It seemed important and worth noting.

In September 1978, I changed schools. I departed Finchley Catholic High School and started at Orange Hill Senior High School. At Orange Hill, Jewish pupils were probably the largest single group. Jewish holidays would see the school empty out. Many of my friends were Jewish, some had parents and grandparents living with them who had directly experienced the holocaust. Not that I'd thought different, but it became clear from day one that my Jewish friends were no different from anyone else. We'd go to each others houses, listen to the same music. I had Jewish girlfriends and Jewish bandmates. It was of no concern to me that they had a different religion and everyones parents welcomed all and sundry. Most were Labour party supporters. I discussed this with one girlfriend who told me "Labour has always been the party that Jewish people trust. The Tories are the establishment. If you read a history book, you will realise that the establishment are no friends of Jewish people. They were the ones who tried to block refugees fleeing the Nazi's. No Jew could ever support the Tories as far as I am concerned". It made perfect sense.

Forty years later, things could not be more different. I am in touch with many of my OHSHS friends, on Facebook and through regular reunions. Things are different today. There is no trust in the Jewish community of Labour. Even those that have kept the faith are troubled by what is going on. How did it get to this? How has the Conservative party gained the trust of Jewish voters whilst Labour has lost it so spectacularly? I personally doubt that there is any less anti semitism in the national Conservative party than there is in the Labour party. I just think that amongst the Tories, the anti semitism is perhaps a different flavour. I suspect that southern metropolitan Conservative voters (such as we have in Barnet) are pretty much unaffected by such nonsense. Most will have Jewish friends, schoolmates and work colleagues. They will be sensible people who are comfortable in a multi racial/ethnic society. Any residual anti semites are likely to be from the older generation and are sensible enough to keep their views to themselves. I suspect that in the Shires, the story may be markedly different, not least from a few incidents I've witnessed over the years.

But I suspect the real story isn't so much that the Tories have shifted. It is what has happened with Labour. Under Tony Blair, there was no issue within the Labour party and there were still many celebrity Jewish supporters. As Blair declined, the hard left of Labour aligned itself with the Palestinian cause. This is very much a metropolitan phenomenon, as I suspect that Middle Eastern politics is off the radar of the outer reaches of our communities. Many of the hard left metropolitan Palestinian sympathisers do not believe that the cause they are supporting amounts to anti semitism. They believe that criticising the Government of Israel is a completely different thing. The Jewish community sees it rather differently. The Palestinian movement has never dropped its aim of calling for the complete destruction of the state of Israel. A majority of people in the British Jewish community see the prospect of this as the first step towards the next holocaust. What started as concern for Palestinians suffering in the West Bank and Gaza has to some extent been hijacked and we've seen all sorts of people seeing the outer reaches of the Labour movement as a sanctuary for all manner of hard line anti semitism, such as global banking conspiracies and holocaust denial.

Where Labour has failed miserably is that they've not robustly dealt with members who have made all manner of statements which are clearly anti semitic. It should be quite simple. If someone is a member of the Labour party and they are tweeting, posting on Facebook or in any other way propagating anti semitism or any other form of racism, they should be kicked out. The Labour party had no problem at all kicking me out in 2010, without even asking me for an explanation or offering me the chance to defend myself. This was for standing as a Lib Dem candidate whilst still a member. I had resigned in 2009 and had the emails to prove it, but they were not in the slightest bit interested. I just received a letter out of the blue saying I had been expelled. My request to have a hearing as I had broken no rule was rejected out of hand. I was simply told "I could re-apply in five years".

When I discussed the issue of anti semitism with a Labour candidate at the election count last week, I was told that "people cannot be summarily booted out of the party without a proper hearing and a chance to explain themselves". This is utter nonsense. Of course they can. I am living proof. I know that for many ultra left Labour loyalists, quitting the party and standing for the Lib Dems is a far more serious matter than a bit of anti semitism, but for most sane and rational people, it is incomprehensible.

I am past the stage where I'd consider rejoining the Labour Party. I don't think that either the Conservative or Labour party reflect the British public anymore. I suspect that people think the Conservatives are a "less risky option", although given their attitude to Brexit, I suspect they are not a safe option. What I can say without a doubt is that Labour has an issue with the Jewish community in the UK and if that is not a concern for the party, a party based on the principles of equality and justice, it should be. Last year when Jeremy Corbyn confounded expectations at the general election, Labour was given an unexpected opportunity to prove it was back as a serious political force. If they can't sort out the bad apples who are besmirching it, then it does not deserve the trust of anyone.
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Tuesday, 8 May 2018

A celebration of four more years of Conservative rule in Barnet!

I promised no more navel contemplating, so today we look forward and we look at how our local Conservatives celebrated their amazing and rather unexpected win in the London Borough of Barnet.

Firstly, there is some really great news that I am surprised the hard right, newly cleansed, Brexit loving Conservative group have been keeping quiet. I am not sure why, given that it is such good news and it has been in the public domain for a couple of years now. Whilst many believed that there would be a funding crisis at Barnet Council, this has been averted. As Jeremy Corbyn has been banished in Barnet, Remoaner Amber Rudd has been sidelined in Cabinet and those Pesky Lib Dems banished from the Town Hall, the government will now be able to get its hands on the £350 million a week Brexit dividend to plug the holes in the budget. It must be true, Boris said so!

Now onto the celebrations. Some of our newly re-elected Tory Councillors are behaving rather strangely. There has been a plethora of rather odd tweets since the election. Here is my pick of the bunch


1. The winner is this rather amusing tweet from Peter Zinkin, those of you who live in Childs Hill and have seen Mr Zinkin in action may find this rather funny, given his reputation regarding casework. What makes this especially delicious is that he clearly misunderstood that his eminently more sensible colleague Gabriel Rozenberg was admonishing a Labour Councillor for writing a similar puerile tweet.




Image result for David Longstaff elf
David Longstaff
2. Next up we have David Longstaff, a councillor who previously earned a living pretending to be a gnome.



His rather amusing tweet demonstrates his reputation for attention to detail. No wonder his adminstration has done such a sterling job with its monitoring of contractors


He clearly does not know how to click on a tweet to see someones profile and establish their identity before posting silly tweets. One hopes he takes more time to learn his lines when he returns to Pantoland!


3. Perhaps the most surreal tweet award goes to Rohit Grover. I quite like Rohit and he's a sensible bloke. I hope he invites some of his more 'exciteable' colleagues around to discover some inner peace.


4. I'm not entirely sure that "now I've won the election, I can b@gger off on holiday" is the best message to spend to your voters.


5. And we finish our little tour of "interesting Tory posts" from councillors, with one from one of my favourite Tory activists, who isn't a Councillor. It is from Nicole Richer. Nicole stood as a candidate in Burnt Oak and put in a sterling performance, almost doubling the Tory vote but not winning! (Know the feeling Nicole - well not the Tory bit, but you get my drift!). Nicole posted this heartwarming selection of pictures of local colleagues. I predict a bright future for Nicole in the Tory Party locally.

The one of Elliot, Laithe and Lachma in Hale is a lovely picture. All three look absolutely made up that all their hard work has paid off. They are all decent chaps.  I am however rather puzzled by the expression on the face of Val Duschinsky though. She looks as if she's been caught with her hand in the biscuit tin. One can only speculate who the brown envelopes are for this time, as she is widely credited as the power behind the throne and the person responsible for deselecting Councillors Sury Khatri and Joan Scannell (at least that's what Sury tells me). My advice to all of the other Tory councillors out there. If you see Val coming with a brown envelope, be afraid. Be very afraid. Stay on her good side. You won't like her when she's angry!


As to the way forward for Labour. I will leave it to my old friend Brian Coleman to give us his verdict. I am not in complete disgreement either. At least it would be a bit more fun in the Town Hall. Personally I'd pick Ross Houston, but Kath would be a close second.



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Monday, 7 May 2018

My final words on the 2018 Barnet Council Elections

Before I started writing this blog, I looked back at what I said after the 2010 Barnet Council Election, when I last stood for Barnet Council. I started off the blog I wrote with these words "Win or lose, act with dignity. I must congratulate John Hart, Sury Khatri and Brian Schama on their victory in Mill Hill. I must also commend their good manners in how they dealt with it."

Sadly both Sury and Brian have departed the Mill Hill Scene, Brian in 2014 after a bout of ill health (happily he is over that) and Sury this year, after a rather spiteful deselection process within the local Tories. One of the things I enjoyed most at the count was the opportunity to chat to John Hart. John is always great company, even at 5am in the morning after a gruelling night. John is a gentlemen and knows how to take both defeat and victory. John said to me  "Keep going, you are a Mill Hill person and we need people like you around, even if we don't always agree". John has class. Golnar Bokaei is the new girl on the block. She was very pleasant to me at the hustings and at the count. She was polite and gracious and behaved with good manners and dignity. I wish her well and hope that she repays the trust that the people of Mill Hill have placed in her. As to the other victorious candidate. I hope that she does a good job for Mill Hill. I can really say no more after Thursday night, it would be ungracious.



As to the Labour candidates. Mike and Catherine Barker are lovely people. They would make fantastic councillors, both are community minded. For them, I suspect that their chief concern was the devastating loss that their daughter Rachel suffered in Hale ward, which was Barnet Labours top target. Sadly rumours were spread on the doorsteps by some who should know better that Rachel was a "typical Corbynite, Momentum supporting, University activist, with no foot in reality and no commitment to Hale". I should imagine that Mike and Catherine are very hurt that people should propagate such porkies on the doorstep. When I was told that by by Hale residents I was shocked. Not least because it couldn't be further from the truth. Mike, Catherine and Rachel are good people. I wish them all well and look forward to continuing to work with Mike on the Mill Hill Neighbourhood forum. Rachel will recover and come back stronger and more energised. Maybe she'll also have learned a vital life lesson that politics can be very cruel and people say bad things.

There are literally dozens of people that deserve thanks for helping our campaign. We doubled the Lib Dem vote from the last election, which is amazing. Mill Hill polled the most votes for the Lib Dems of any ward in the Borough, which speaks volumes for our team. Donna and Richard were a pleasure to work with, we are lucky to have a similar sense of humour and mischief. Our agent, Alasdair Hill also worked his socks off. Our team of deliverers also deserve a massive amount of praise. We delivered far more leaflets than any other party.

Before the elections, Richard asked me what we should do if we lost. I said that it all depended how we did. I said that if we didn't see a marked improvement in the Lib Dem vote from 2014, then it was pointless wasting all the energy. I said I'd simply give up local politics and concentrate on my business interests if I got less than a viable amount. Richard asked me for a number. I replied "1,200". What did I get?
TichborneRoger MartinLiberal Democrat1200
It seems the good Lord has a sense of humour. Reading the runes, I take the message as "not this time son, but keep working your socks off".

There were five messages people told us on the doorstep. These were as follows.

1. Mill Hill Residents do not want development on the green belt.
2. Mill Hill Residents want action on crime, public safety, vandalism and anti social behaviour
3. Mill Hill Residents want no truck with racists and anti semites
4. Mill Hill Residents want our roads and pavements to be properly maintained
5. Mill Hill Residents do not want to see the character of our neighbourhood destroyed

Our canvassing and polling confirmed this time and time again. What the ballot boxes delivered was a message that we hadn't convinced enough people locally that we were the party to deliver that. As myself,  Donna and Richard are all committed to the above principles, it is clear that the only message for us is that we have to work harder. We have to hold the newly elected Conservative Councillors to account every time over the next four years that they fail the residents of Mill Hill on these principles. Myself, Donna and Richard only decided to stand for election last September. We did this realising that it would be an almost impossible ask to win, but we felt we could put our messages on the agenda. It seems that this wasn't long enough to get the message across to everyone. Although we knocked on nearly every door in Mill Hill, many people weren't in and we needed to get around 2 or 3 times.  Now the votes are counted, we have all committed to staying at the heart of community, to ensure that next time, every voter in Mill Hill will know who we are and what we stand for. We will be there fighting for all of the principles listed above and we will ensure that any action taken by the council which undermines these is fought by the whole community. We managed to double our vote on the back of six months work campaigning. If we had started six months earlier, who knows what we could have achieved? It may not be easy, it may be a thankless task at times, but 1,200 people in Mill Hill expressed their faith in me personally to represent them. I am not going to walk away now. The campaign for the 2022 Council elections started last Saturday and it WILL be different next time. Mill Hill may not have Lib Dem Councillors for the next four years, but you will have a team of committed community activists, fighting every corner for you. If you want to join and help us build a local organisation that will make a change, click here to email us.

On Saturday, one of the victorious Conservative Councillors said to me at the Mill Hill Street Market "Haven't you realised the election campaign is over". It may be for her, for us it has just begun. We believe that representing the community is a full time job. It's not about politics, it's about looking after where you live and making sure your family and those of your friends and neighbours are safe and secure.

Onwards and Upwards!
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Barnet Council Elections Analysis part 2 - A deeper look at Racism and Anti Semitism at the polling booths

What happened on Thursday night in Barnet was actually quite extraordinary. Barnet Labour suffered the biggest collapse since Devon lock in the Grand National. The bookies and the pundits didn't see it coming (well we did, but clearly no one listened). I would say that for anyone who knows the Borough, the reasons for what happened are quite clear. The pattern was repeated nationally in areas with large Jewish communities.  What happened was nothing to do with the Barnet local Conservatives/Labour parties and everything to do with the National Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn.  There have been countless opportunities to deal with anti semites in the party. The meeting with British Board of Deputies was an opportunity to turn a new page, but sadly that was wasted.

Many people do not think Jeremy Corbyn is someone they trust as a leader and they used the opportunity to send a message to the Labour party. Elections can be brutal, democracy is not perfect, but ultimately people vote on the issue that most affects them. Whilst that determined the overall pattern of the election, there are some disturbing trends that a deeper dig into the numbers reveals.

 Racist/Anti Semitic voting patterns

A clear example is Brunswick Park, a split ward. I am quite disturbed by what we saw here. Not that Kathy Levine won for Labour, she is a decent councillor and deserved it. What upsets me is that Mukesh Depala, the Tory at the top of the list alphabetically polled so poorly. Mukesh got far less votes than the other two Tories. Mukesh is a very decent candidate, hard working and pleasant. Why did he get less votes than the other two Tories? Whilst the Tories have rightly called out Labour for anti semitism, it seems that a section of Tory voters have displayed a horrendous attitude to an excellent candidate here.

Brunswick Park
SurnameFirst NameDescriptionVotes
DepalaMukesh HarilalThe Conservative Party Candidate2362
EnderbyClareineLiberal Democrats321
FarbeyDavid SamuelGreen Party443
HughesMichael JamesLiberal Democrats263
LevineKathyLabour Party (Elected)2369
MagobaClementLabour Party2184
PalmerAndyLabour Party2293
Rutter LisaThe Conservative Party Candidate (Elected)2517
SegerRoyLiberal Democrats221
Weeden-SanzRobertoThe Conservative Party Candidate (Elected)2586
I am not at all surprised that Lisa Rutter got back in, as she has a track record. I like Lisa and her husband Mark. She's been supportive of various youth projects I've worked with.  I'd rather hoped that in the year 2018, we'd have moved beyond such appalling voting patterns. This is not a pop at the Conservative Party, who deserve credit for selecting Mukesh, I rather hope that it shames a few people who should know better into thinking about the effects of this sort of casual racism. I have no doubt that Kathy Levine will continue to work hard and be an excellent councillor and in the post Labour Corbyn world, all of those who stayed at home this time will have seen that Labour councillors can deliver. If in four years time, Labour retake seats in Brunswick Park, those racists who denied Mukesh a vote will have only themselves to blame if Labour retakes the seat on Kathy's work.

Another interesting split ward is East Barnet. This was previously held by Labour. At this election, Felix Byers snatched a seat for the Conservatives.

East Barnet
SurnameFirst NameDescriptionVotes
BullenDavid LewisLiberal Democrats323
ByersFelix AlexanderThe Conservative Party Candidate (Elected)2429
CohenPhilip JohnLabour Party2399
CooperJoLabour Party (Elected)2509
CuratiMargaretGreen Party498
FinlaysonJonLiberal Democrats339
HookerSean JamesLiberal Democrats302
PavanakumarPavanThe Conservative Party Candidate2310
PearceAnne Marie DeniseThe Conservative Party Candidate2365
WilliamsLaurieLabour Party (Elected)2509

East Barnet ward perhaps demonstrates the anti semitism in the Labour Party. Both of the Labour Councillors elected got exactly the same number of votes (2,509). The one who wasn't elected, was also alphabetically top of the list on the polling sheet which is usually a huge benefit. However despite this bonus, which often adds up to 3-400 votes Phil Cohen polled a hundred or so less than his colleagues, letting in Felix Byers. It is clear that Phil was the victim of Labour supporters, who for whatever reason, were not prepared to back a candidate with a Jewish name. The pattern was repeated in West Hendon, where Jewish candidate Adam Langleben finished last for Labour despite being an extremely hard working councillor.

West Hendon Ward
KhalickHumayune Rasheed Labour Party2074
LanglebenAdam MichaelLabour Party2014
SlocombeAgnes CelestineLabour Party2078
The pattern was repeated across the Borough, with Labour candidates with Jewish sounding names doing worse than their colleagues and Conservative candidates with Asian or Eastern European names suffering the same treatment.  Even well known, senior longstanding Conservatives such as Sachin Rajput seem to suffer at the polls from Tory voters dislike of people with Asian names

Oakleigh Ward

RajputSachinThe Conservative Party Candidate (Elected)2768
Compare his vote to colleagues lower on the list

 Smith Thomas Roger, The Conservative Party Candidate (Elected)            2814
Sowerby Stephen Lawrence, The Conservative Party Candidate (Elected) 2774

It is not only Asian sounding names that Conservative voters don't like, spare a thought for their Burnt Oak Candidate, Ekaterina Dragomirova. To poll 20% less than your colleague, in a ward where no campaigning is done and you are second on the list alphabetically is quite revealing. It is rare to hear people being complimentary about "Eastern Europeans". It seems to me that this has translated into the Conservatives ballot box results.

AaronJack OliverThe Conservative Party Candidate985
DragomirovaEkaterina TsenkovaThe Conservative Party Candidate755
RicherNicole AlisonThe Conservative Party Candidate892

I sincerely hope that the Conservative party recognise that there is a problem with their voters, a problem that in a tighter election may cost them.

For the record, Labour does not seem to have the same issue with its Asian named candidates. Have a look at the Labour result in Colindale. The votes follow alphabetic order on the polling sheet, which indicates people have not exercised a racial preference.

Narenthira Nagus Labour Party (Elected) 3121
Sargeant Gill Labour Party (Elected)         2912
Zubairi Zakia Labour Party (Elected)        2831

 Conclusion

What we have seen at the ballot box is quite alarming. There is clear evidence of both racism and anti semitism at the polling booth, the flavour of which seems to depend on the party. I do not believe that this is a party political issue as such. We wouldn't have seen it of the parties hadn't picked the candidates. It is a problem with society. It is a very serious problem, as it may put people from minorities off the idea of standing. We are calling for Barnet Council to start taking racism and anti semitism seriously in our Borough. The first step is to acknowledge that there is a problem.  The appalling truth is that there are candidates who lost because people who would normally vote for their party seemed to be influenced by their ethnic origin. As an active member of a political party, that is something I find abhorrent. I sincerely hope that by the 2022 council elections, we have reached a stage where people are judged by their capabilities, work rate and effort rather than their ethnic background.

We would like to see Barnet Council pull together a commission fronted by local faith groups, to eradicated this problem and ensure that the London Borough of Barnet is free from racism and anti semitism. It is in all our interests.
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