A short service of remembrance around the memorial in Capel-le-Ferne gave everyone an opportunity to recall lost friends and to thank the pilots of 70 years ago for their courage and sacrifice. Hundreds of names are written on the wall there to remind us all, of the task undertaken by these brave men.
As the small group gathered and rightly proud men displayed their medals, the mood softened and our united thoughts centred on the task in hand. Flag bearers, worship leaders, ex-servicemen and women and supporters heard the Rev. Mark Hayton gather our thoughts in prayer and we turned our minds to the importance of the occasion.
Less than a third of the way through the council's financial year, it is becoming clear that the Conservative's car parking polices are not working and that revenues to the council and visitors to our towns and shops are both down on what might be expected.
I welcome the successful prosecution in Harrow Crown Court of four individuals for the trafficking of six British women. There are reports of around 218,000 people going missing in Britain every year and in my view for too long the police have focused on human trafficking into Britain, ignoring trafficking out of Britain. I have met and challenged the police office leading the investigation into human trafficking in the UK on exactly this point. His initial response was that once removed from the country the crime took place in another country and British police could not act. I pointed out that kidnapping was an offence in this country as was seeking to take women out of the country for sexual exploitation. While he acknowledged this was a known problem he was at a loss what the police could do in this country once someone had been taken out of the country.
August is traditionally the silly season in Politics. For Barnet this August was the very silly season. The antics of the Conservative Group dominated the headlines and monopolised the local blogs. I decided to let others get on with it. Tonight I propose my motion of no confidence in the Leader of the Council. More of that later in the week. Last night was back to school in the shape of the Business Management and Overview Committee. This is the committee that can call in certain decisions made by Cabinet and individual Cabinet Members. This is the forum you will recall where the former Leader admitted he knew nothing about the Icelandic deposits, and where a certain Cabinet Member admitted it was too upsetting to meet residents in sheltered housing. In short there is always some fun to be had and the odds of a cabinet member making a gaffe or two are about even money.
Barnet Liberal Democrats are campaigning for the Council to introduce 20mph speed limits throughout the Borough. Cllr Jack Cohen, Leader of the Lib Dem group, told a Council meeting on 14 September that Barnet has the second worst road traffic accident figures in the whole of Greater London. Recently released figures again shown that serious and fatal accidents in the Borough have increased. This contrasts sharply with reductions in most if not all of other London Boroughs.
