A sparkling protest at Hendon Town Hall

We had a good lobby of Barnet council last night. Reflecting the times we are living in, there was even a police van parked nearby in case things got out of hand and we stormed Hendon Town Hall. I think those days are a little way off. Barnet chief exec Nick Walkley did his usual walkabout to check the size of the crowd - he always tries to do it surreptitiously. He is a queer cove. On this occasion he strode to the police van, to discuss operational tactics with them, I suppose, and then strode back, to cries of "We don't agree with Nick!" from local Labour Party activists.

I will reflect at more length soon on the relationship between anti-cuts campaigners, Barnet trades unions and the Labour Party. It's a complex and, alas, somewhat vexed one. However, it was good to see activists on the lobby last night, the leader of Barnet council Labour group Alison Moore ready to mount the step ladder and shout encouragement through the loud-hailer, and former Hendon MP Andrew Dismore speaking as well.

There were more than a hundred people, I would say, reflecting trade unions and residents. Speakers included a representative of the FBU from Finchley fire station. By agreement, they made off with the Brian Coleman guy at the end of the lobby. I expect he will be appearing on their picket line on Friday-Saturday. We rounded off with a display of sparklers. The next town hall protest is on 14 December, when the council discusses its cuts budget. The theme will probably be seasonal though hardly festive.

You can see some pictures of last night's protest on my Flickr site.

Lousy Tory councillors back Hillan all the way

I couldn't get into Hendon Town Hall to see the Barnet council meeting tonight, but I've seen the lousy news on the appropriately lousy London Daily News website, that the Tories backed leader Lynne Hillan unanimously in the vote of confidence tabled this evening.

I can only think they have woken up and smelt the coffee - the coffee that their own government is brewing. Barnet Tories cannot afford to be divided against the growing opposition to their plans. Whether they cut or privatise or whatever else they come up with, their government has told them the real enemy is outside. (It was, literally, tonight, in the shape of a trade union and residents' lobby of around 150 people, despite the rain.)

Cameron must have read his party the riot act (and let's hope he won't be needing it again soon). Or Hillan has made some trifling political concessions to the internal Tory opposition. They might be feeling good about themselves, but I don't think the average Tory voter in Barnet will have been impressed by the recent shenanigans. One minute, Barnet Tories are at daggers drawn, the next they are vowing their undying respect for each other.

It really doesn't wash. Let's remind ourselves what Mark Shooter said about Hillan's regime a few short days ago:
- bullying
- Stalinist
- morally dubious.

You can read it all here if you don't believe me, on Conservative Home ("it's anything but cosy"). I'm starting to wonder whether your average Tory politician is a different species from the rest of us.

Don't cut our services! Don't privatise our services! No to Barnet easyCouncil!

Barnet trades council, council unions and residents campaigning on a number of issues made up a lively lobby of Hendon Town Hall tonight, 14 September. The full council was meeting to discuss, among other things, the partial reversal of the senior cabinet members' allowance hike (Allowancegate) and to debate a motion of no confidence in the leader Lynne Hillan.

The lobby attracted around 150 people, in spite of the rain. People were angry at the treatment Connaught workers in the borough have received since the company went bust. They are angry about Allowancegate. They are (still) angry about proposed cuts to sheltered housing wardens. They were demonstrating against Barnet council's so-called easyCouncil plan, to privatise most of the council services, and at the same time to charge residents extra on top of council tax for a "better" level of service - as yet unspecified.

Many residents could not get inside the town hall to hear the meeting. There will be complaints about this. Times series reporters tried to deliver their petition against the allowances rise to the leader, but she refused to meet them - she will only speak to the group editor.

The lobby was addressed by, among others, Keith Nason, Barnet NUT; John Burgesss, Barnet Unison; London FBU; Paul Mackney (Coalition of Resistance); Stan Davison, Barnet 55+ Forum. We leafleted the public and attendees, urging them to come to the launch of the Barnet Alliance 4 Public Services at North London Business Park on Thursday 23 September. (More details: info@barnettuc.org.uk). And released a lot of orange and white "easyCouncil" balloons into the stormy Barnet night.

Hendon Town Hall reverse tardis syndrome

Pleading to be admitted

I would love to tell you what went on at the Barnet council meeting at Hendon Town Hall tonight, but I can't as there was no room for all the public that wanted to go inside to go inside. And no more committee rooms could be opened - or so they said.

We had a good crowd for the lobby, but I don't think it can be true that there was no room. I think I did see Mrs Angry slip inside, however, and she gives very detailed reports, so I shall be consulting her blog in a few hours.

I do, however, have some stories and pics from the lobby and will post them shortly.

Defend all Barnet's libraries!

I'm swotting up on libraries, library cuts, etc., ahead of the Barnet cabinet meeting tonight. I'm asking a public question relating to the paper "Strategic library review" which will be wafted before the noses of the Cabinet. They will all vote enthusiastically to have one, then probably strenuously ignore the results of the consultation which, I predict, will find that... people don't want to close their libraries!

As I discussed in an earlier post, the strategic library review goes hand in hand with the estates review, where Barnet council moots merging some of the libraries and selling off the sites thus liberated. I thought initially that the libraries most likely to close would be the less glamorous sites in places such as Grahame Park, but, after speaking to someone I met on the stall at the weekend, I now think that it could be the more substantial libraries - the ones in nice buildings - that will be put up for sale.

For example, Hendon library, slap bang in the middle of the expanding Middlesex University campus. Middlesex want to close their Enfield site and move all their operations to Hendon. So the library and Hendon Town Hall would do them nicely!

Cabinet meetings are held at Hendon Town Hall (though for how much longer?). It starts tonight at 7pm; come along if you want to see, possibly, Lynne Hillan's last Cabinet performance, and hear me asking a question about libraries. The question I submitted is:

The Cabinet paper proposing a Strategic Library Review is at pains to stress that full consultation will be carried out to find out what Barnet residents need and want from their libraries. Yet, at the same time, it is assumed from the outset that less money will be spent on libraries at the end of the process. What if the result of the consultation concludes that the same amount or more money should be spent on libraries? How can you convince Barnet residents that the results of the SLR are not a done deal, for example, that it is not inevitable that some libraries should close?

Germaine Greer has an article defending libraries as libraries in today's Guardian. It doesn't break new ground but if you like Greer you might like to see it. And she's on the right side!

I hope you like meetings... and lobbies!

As Barnet council's Future Shape/easyCouncil agenda proceeds, there is a plethora of meetings this summer and autumn that the concerned public might like to attend. The trades council, council unions, and disgruntled residents of all stripes will be organising lobbies before each one.

We don't have much say in what goes on in Barnet, but by congregating on the grass (not on the flower beds, please) in front of Hendon Town Hall, as the councillors hotfoot it into the building for their meetings, we can show that we are watching, and care about the decisions they make.

Next Wednesday 11 August is the next meeting of the council's FUTURE SHAPE OVERVIEW & SCRUTINY PANEL. The meeting starts at 7pm, there will be a lobby from 6pm. The public can attend the meeting, but we are likely to be kicked out when the real meat and potatoes business is discussed. According to the relevant page on the council website, these are the items we mustn't be around to hear about:

X1 - Development and Public Health Services
X2 - Adult Social Services

The motion to exempt press and public will be on the grounds that these matters, in the case of X1, include

Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

and

Information relating to any consultations or negotiations, or contemplated consultations or negotiations, in connection with any labour relations matter arising between the authority or a Minster of the Crown and employees of, or office holders under, the authority.

And in the case of X2 just

Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

These categories for exemption strike me as pretty broad! Never mind that one of Future Shape's three overarching aims is "A new relationship with citizens". The novelty clearly doesn't extend to letting us in on the secrets of what they have planned for our council services. After all, as Barnet's Tory administration reminds us pretty often, we aren't interested in such things as who delivers council services.

Even when we patently are.

The papers for the meeting - those that we are allowed to see - are available here. See you on the barricades, sorry, on the lawn in front of Hendon Town Hall.

As an aside, it will be interesting to see whether Kate Salinger is allowed to attend as one of the Tories' members of the panel - she was appointed by them to this post when it was set up.