The Borough

Wrong on so many levels ...

Mark Wadsworth (Free subscription) | 26/11/2009

It's difficult to know where to start with this article in The Evening Standard ... A Town Hall is poised to ban open-plan design in new housing developments because it is unpopular with Asian families. A six-month investigation by Tower Hamlets found affordable units in the borough — aimed at key workers and people on low incomes — were vacant. But there are more than 22,000 people on...

• Ban on open-plan housing not suited to Asian cultural needs - New English Review/The Iconoclast

Halloween poll and Crossbones anniversary

A bad witch's blog (Free subscription) | 15/11/2009

Thanks to everyone who took part in the poll asking Is Halloween Too Commercial These Days ? A resounding 94% thought it was too commercial, while only 5% thought it wasn't. I guess 1% were unsure. Although the poll is closed to votes now, you can still see the results at the bottom of the page on this blog at the moment. I'll be doing a new poll some time in the near future. And if you were unable...

Tube geek (27)

diamind geezer (Free subscription) | 10/11/2009

Tube geek (27) Borough How many tube stations are there in each London borough? Lots. Or maybe none. Westminster (32) ; Brent (21) ; Camden, Ealing (17) ; Hammersmith & Fulham, Hillingdon (15) ; Barnet (13) ; Kensington & Chelsea, Redbridge (12) ; City of London, Harrow (11) ; Islington (10) ; Lambeth, Tower Hamlets (9) ; [Essex] (8) ; Haringey, Hounslow (7); Newham, Southwark, Wandsworth (6)...

Leaked Labour Minutes Show Party In a Desperate State

Iain Dale's Diary (Free subscription) | 05/11/2009

I've been sent the minutes of the London Regional Labour Party Board Meeting from 2 November (written by Luke Akehurst), and very interesting reading they make too. Firstly, this... Claude[Moraes MEP] has been to Washington DC where Obama administration key players made it clear they don’t want to have to deal with a Eurosceptic Tory Government here as they want to be able to deal with the EU...

Fire safety checks in progress

Stand Up For Stockwell (Free subscription) | 24/10/2009

Tenants and leaseholders living in Lambeth have been told that fire safety assessments will be carried out on all high rise homes by March 2010 as planned. Many will be complete before the end of 2009. It follows a fatal blaze at Lakanal House in Southwark this July which brought the need for the fire safety assessments into focus. Six people died in that fire, which was started by a faulty television....

Random borough (23)

diamind geezer (Free subscription) | 17/10/2009

Random borough (23) : Time once more for me to take another random trip to one of London's 33 boroughs . As I write I have no idea which one of the 11 remaining borough names will be revealed when I unfold the slip of paper I'm about to pick from my legendary (but unseen) "special jamjar". I could pick any one of the other London boroughs - inner or outer, urban or suburban, small or large,...

PPC Profile: Jonathan Slater

Labourlist (Free subscription) | 13/10/2009

Full Name: Jonathan Slater Age: 32 From: Hull PPC for: Aldershot Website: www.aldershot-labour.org.uk Member of the Labour Party since: 1995 CV: I am currently working as a Policy Officer in Children's Services for Southwark Council, leading on the Every Child Matter outcomes of Making a Positive Contribution and Economic Well-Being. Part of this involves trying to give children and young people in...

Richmond providers seek people’s views on two new mental health plans

Wellbeing Newsline: Greater London (Free subscription) | 12/10/2009

Aimed at local adults of working age and older people Edited by Kaarina Miles: NHS Richmond and The London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames would like people who live and work in the borough to participate in a consultation on mental health services as they develop two new mental health strategies. The two strategies will last five years, from 2010 to 2015, and are for adults of working age and for...

John Constable's Southwark Mysteries drama to be revived in 2010

London SE1 community website (Free subscription) | 25/09/2009

A new production of the Southwark Mysteries cycle of plays is to be performed in the Borough next year.

Murder claim BNP politician suspended

The Guardian (Free subscription) | 25/09/2009

Richard Barnbrook, far right party's only member of London assembly, brought Barking and Dagenham council into disrepute, hearing finds One of the highest profile members of the British National party has been banned from sitting on his local council for a month and censured by the Greater London authority after giving false details about murders on a video blog. Richard Barnbrook, who holds a seat...

BNP Blasts “Utterly Vile Hypocrisy” in Richard Barnbrook Ruling

TITVS ADVXAS THE CENTVRION OF TRVTH (Free subscription) | 24/09/2009

The ruling against British National Party Greater London Assembly member Richard Barnbrook has been blasted by the party’s press officer as “utterly vile hypocrisy.” Speaking after the GLA hearing against Mr Barnbrook (picture far left with BNP Nuneaton Councillor Martyn Findley and a BNP activist) was finalised this afternoon with an order to apologise and attend a training and ethics...

Richard Barnbrook suspended for murder claims

Tory Troll (Free subscription) | 24/09/2009

BNP London Assembly Member Richard Barnbrook has been suspended from Barking and Dagenham Council for one month, a joint Standards Committee decided today. The investigation into Barnbrook began last year after he broadcast a series of false claims about murders in his borough. In the video, shown again at the Hearing, Barnbrook claimed that: "This year alone, up until now there has been 27 murders...

• BNP councillor 'made up murders' - Metro.co.uk
• BNP councillor faces ban over 'murders' - The Independent
• See the 5 articles on the same subject

Thank you Donna Dzierlenga for Finding Hannah Cullcup and the Jennings Sisters!

N e e d l e p r i n t (Free subscription) | 20/09/2009

I am so excited to return home to find that Donna has uncovered the identities of Hannah Cullcup and the Jennings Sisters - they all come from Quaker families. Here are Donna's findings in her words: Hannah Culcup, the daughter of Gideon and Elizabeth Culcup, was born in 1674. If this is your Hannah, she was ten years old when she stitched her sampler. Her birth is listed in the register for the monthly...

Mayor of Southwark welcomes South Korean guests to Tooley Street

London SE1 community website (Free subscription) | 16/09/2009

The borough of Southwark has signed a memorandum of understanding with the city of Seocho City in South Korea.

Wandsworth launches garden share scheme to cut allotment lists

Wellbeing Newsline: Greater London (Free subscription) | 26/08/2009

Project also helps over-60s tend to their plot of land Edited by Kaarina Miles: A new garden partners share scheme which aims to cut the allotment waiting lists and provide older people with assistance to help maintain their gardens, was recently launched by NHS Wandsworth in partnership with Wandsworth Borough Council and Age Concern Wandsworth. Under the scheme, individuals on the Borough Council’s...