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GuyIt doesn't mean an awful lot in the wider scheme of things but were I a Brentford voter I would probably cast my vote today for Joe Bourke, the Liberal Democrat candidate.  Politically I am closer to the Greens right now but I am not convinced that they are taking this contest particularly seriously.Nevertheless you have been a contributor to this forum and to W4.com for a long time, and the sincerity of your interest in the local scene is obvious.  Your work on behalf of local people in your monitoring role with Hounslow Highways is, I'm sure, appreciated by people in the ward.I am not convinced that your honest intentions will not be rapidly subsumed by the all-powerful and entirely self-serving local party machine.  We have already borne witness to too many false gods.  The local leadership of the party quite demonstrably rewards scurrility, dishonesty and deviousness by its members in their dealings with the broader public, and if you remain determined as a councillor to comport yourself differently you will, I imagine, be shunned or sidelined.  The nature of the local organisation to which you belong and under whose banner you are contesting this by-election renders it nigh on impossible, in my view, for you to succeed as an honest advocate of the people you desire to represent.All the same you should not be condemned for trying, and I wish you every success.Your main opponent in this contest comes across to me as a party hack who can demonstrate no track record of interest in local affairs prior to his selection as a candidate.  What little involvement he does claim has been challenged by those who would know, and even on this forum his method of dealing with difficult questions has been either to ignore them or to leave them to a Chiswick colleague to attempt to address (usually badly) on his behalf.  Not a good sign.Paradoxically I believe that the election of a Conservative in Brentford would be an obstacle to the change that I would like to see, not a vehicle through which it might come about.  At least with sixty Labour councillors lording it over us the conditions would exist for some kind of popular revolt, a revolt which under certain circumstances is possible as has been demonstrated in the past in Isleworth and Syon wards, and by others in other parts of the borough.  The hostility of the Tories to such a prospect matches that of local Labour, as can clearly be seen on these threads, and that tells us everything we need to know. I am sure you will win today, and I think most would agree with me that you deserve to.  If I am correct I wish you all the very best in your new role and hope that your election to office will have a positive and beneficial impact upon our local politics.

Phil Andrews ● 3683d

You don't seem to have understood my post at all Sam.  Maybe I should re-present it in mindless Gilesian politico babble, perhaps laced with a pretentious Chiswickian twang?I don't have a "party" Sam, and I care not a jot about how many votes the Conservative candidates won in 2014 (although if I was cruel I could point out that the Independent Community Group stood in only two wards and beat the Tories in both, as it has done in Isleworth in every election since 1994 and in Syon since 2002).  That wasn't my point.  My point was what you would appear to be doing with the votes you received, and with the seats you won.  The answer, from all the evidence which is available to us, would appear to be not a lot.  Patrick, conspicuously a newcomer to this forum, seemed to have to take time out to 'phone a friend, or to consult the various comments from other contributors, before piecing together some kind of perfunctory response to the request for a position on the Brent Lea debacle.  And he has still to acknowledge, let alone answer, any of my own questions to him.I don't understand the reference to Mary Macleod.  She is an ex-MP, not an "opposition" to anybody.  The national opposition is the Labour Party, and I was comparing its lack of a program which differs substantially from that of those in power with the similar situation which the Tories find themselves in locally.  Just as, nationally, Labour seeks to imitate those it dreams of replacing so, locally, the Tories pay tribute to the regime in exchange for some pathetic semblance of autonomy permitted to them in the lands east of Kew Bridge.If another Tory who thinks the Scrutiny Committee is the gateway to revolution is your idea of a "strong voice for Brentford" on the Council then give me an "ignored" and "isolated" councillor - an Andrew Dakers, a John Connelly, a Luke Kirton, a Peter Hills or a Paul Fisher - any day of the week.Local people deserve better.

Phil Andrews ● 3689d

Thank you for all your questions and comments. I have been out listening to the views of local residents and advising them on how I can best help them over the last few weeks. Thank you for your patience. Brent Lea recreation groundBrentford is in need of school places to serve our growing number of residents. We have secured four new schools locally and I am proud of this. It is an absolute travesty that Hounslow Council, in the first instance didn't consult local residents on the proposal to put the Floreat School on Brent Lea Rec for a temporary period of 2 years and shocking at a further proposal for 125 yr lease. The council should have consulted local residents and allowed them to have their say on the future of Brent Lea recreation ground. The decision for 125 year lease has been called in, this is good news, 2 Conservative Councillors are supporting our part of the borough and have added their names to a list of 8 Labour Councillors to refer the case to the scrutiny committee (council). It appears that Labour are not fit for purpose in leading the Council and are divided in their views on the future of Brent Lea recreation ground.  This doesn't bode well for the future of the Labour administration in Hounslow An alternative site can be found for the Floreat School. I don't  believe the Council have worked hard enough on this and if they think they have well they need to work harder. I strongly oppose the 125 year lease for the school to stay on Brent Lea Rec and if elected will push the council in sourcing an alternative site as a permanent home for the Floreat school.

Patrick John Barr ● 3692d

PatrickYou make your case well.Nevertheless I can only refer you back to my earlier question, which you declined to answer.  What is your take on the view that the party you have chosen to represent is comfortable in opposition, safe in its Chiswick principality and grateful for the relative autonomy it is granted to enjoy in its little corner of the borough?Although you didn't respond your colleague Councillor Sam Hearn did of course.  He assured us that, far from being an ineffectual and compliant opposition, your party is in fact a feared and fearless challenger to the ruling elite via the vaunted offices of the (Council-provided) Scrutiny Committee.  Give me strength!I respect your independence of thought but if you'll forgive me I've heard this all before.  We are even hearing it, to some extent, from Guy, although in practice Labour councillors all but have to put their hands up to go to the toilet when they are gathered together in session.  The Conservatives in my experience trust their own a little more, but it is highly relative.I find myself wondering whether you told the selection panel that you would, if elected, be speaking for the people ahead of the party.  I don't know how much you know about the ICG but that was our philosophy as elected members and thereafter, involving local people in the process outside of party politics and encouraging rather than trying to suppress a wider field of participation, and it is a philosophy which has earned us the unrelenting hatred of both the Labour Party and of your own.  Don't take my word for it, just look back through the threads on this forum.  Type "John Todd" and "Mogden" into the search facility and see what you find.Guy has, for all his faults, been a regular participant on this forum and on the sister site in W4 for a long time prior to his selection.  I dislike his local party and its methods with a passion, but one has to give him some credit for a proven track record of taking an interest in local matters.  You, it would seem, are new to this forum.  Will you continue to participate after the by-election if your bid to become a councillor in Brentford is unsuccessful?

Phil Andrews ● 3694d

There is much truth in that, but the malaise actually runs much deeper.  What you have with the present administration is a symbiotic relationship between officers and councillors who both, for different reasons, fear input from and participation in the decision-making process by "ordinary" people.Officers are experts in their field without a democratic mandate of their own but, being experts in their field, they sometimes tend to resent interference by those they consider amateurs whether they be politicians or members of the public.  In the sometimes high-pressure atmosphere of everyday council work it is easy to forget at times that a local authority is there by authority of the voting public.In the case of this administration this is made much worse by the fact that the local ruling party is institutionally averse to outside influence which it invariably sees as an affront and a challenge to its own authority.  Countless statements on forums such as this one, most particularly at the height of the ICG's involvement in local politics, have betrayed a mindset which treats any form of self-organisation from within the community as opposition and as a potential threat to its exclusive organisational power base, rather than a positive to be encouraged and embraced. It is worth noting that in the few weeks in which she has been an MP Ruth Cadbury, whom I must admit I always saw as the embodiment of the insular local mentality, has made more effort to position herself as a community champion than she did in all her years as a senior local councillor.  It is as though a great weight has been lifted from her shoulders.  As a longtime Mogden campaigner you will obviously have seen this for yourself.It is depressing I know, but in spite of the battles which have been fought over the principle of community empowerment in recent decades every new Labour administration in Hounslow seems to emerge as some ghastly, retrograde mutation of the previous one.  A primeval monster with no political principles as such (and very few moral ones either) but an atavistic instinct to wield power solely for its own sake.For the moment, short of hanging a crucifix outside the front door I don't really know how we can fend them off, at least until their own national party disappears from beneath their feet and leaves them stranded and bereft, as is beginning to present itself as a delicious possibility.What local democracy badly needs is the emergence of an English SNP, and fast.

Phil Andrews ● 3705d

That's the problem, Much as though I think Guy has demonstrated activity in the locallity, it has not yielded results and that's with others trying to to the same but without the local political party access he has.Or is that all pre-candidate spin.I would prefer if someone had been doing this stuff for years and got results than just for a few months.On the other hand, if it is the start of a new councillor kicking the butts of the failing service standards and it is sincere - (which I think he is) Great.We have all seen how Matt  Harmer went from a first rate community minded councillor to another minion towing the party line.His job also conflicted with a lot of local issues, particularly developments and  although honourable enough to declare and interest, it also removed a vote and rendered a councillor's vote impotent and thus lets down the local electorate. Leaving them without a voice.How will Guy (or any other Labour candidate ) deal with bullies and empire builders like Comrade Curran and Co. who are doing no favours for Labour and have nothing but contempt for open democracy? How will he keep the lobbyists from developers at bay?Ruth was quite good to a point at sidestepping the murk of Hounslow's Labour politics.But what is needed is a really good strong minded local person who is not afraid to put residents first over party.If Guy can pledge and stand on that and use Matt Harmer's initial term as a benchmark then he would be a good choice.If Matt Harmer stood as independent candidate. He would win hands down.As for the Conservatives. The statement from Cllr Todd says it all.  If they really were an effective opposition, then we would be hearing about it here, there and everywhere, but unless you go looking, you would not know they even exist.  The voice of opposition and presentation of alternative ideas is simply lost in the Mogden breeze.  There's no passion or true sense of values at a time when so many in Brentford alone, are far from happy about all manner of council led policies and dealings. Being omnipresent during elections is not enough.That's one thing a few Labour councillors do manage. Although none are like Matt Harmer in that respect.

Raymond Havelock ● 3706d