Decision details
Motions
Decision status: Recommendations Approved
Is Key decision?: No
Is subject to call in?: No
Decision:
16.1 The following motion submitted by the Labour Group was approved:
Standing up to racism, discrimination and prejudice in Brent
This Council notes:
Brent Council adopted the definition of antisemitism in September 2017, including its examples, set out by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, and now, seeks to adopt the definition of Islamophobia, including its examples, as set out by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims.
The charity Tell Mama reported that in the week after 50 innocent, Muslim worshippers were massacred in the Christchurch New Zealand terror attack, Islamophobicincidents increased by almost 600 per cent back in Britain.
This Council believes:
That words have consequences within political discourse.
We unequivocally condemn all forms of pernicious racism, Islamophobia, antisemitism, homophobia, transphobia, ageism, pregnancy and maternity discrimination, ableism and sexism and reaffirm our commitment to fighting against them.
This Council resolves:
To adopt the APPG on British Muslims – Working Definition of Islamophobia as follows:
“Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.”
Contemporary examples of Islamophobia in public life, the media, schools, the workplace, and in encounters between religions and non-religions in the public sphere could, taking into account the overall context, include, but are not limited to:
· Calling for, aiding, instigating or justifying the killing or harming of Muslims in the name of a racist/ fascist ideology, or an extremist view of religion.
· Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Muslims as such, or of Muslims as a collective group, such as, especially but not exclusively, conspiracies about Muslim entryism in politics, government or other societal institutions; the myth of Muslim identity having a unique propensity for terrorism, and claims of a demographic ‘threat’ posed by Muslims or of a ‘Muslim takeover’.
· Accusing Muslims as a group of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Muslim person or group of Muslim individuals, or even for acts committed by non-Muslims.
· Accusing Muslims as a group, or Muslim majority states, of inventing or exaggerating Islamophobia, ethnic cleansing or genocide perpetrated against Muslims.
· Accusing Muslim citizens of being more loyal to the ‘Ummah’ (transnational Muslim community) or to their countries of origin, or to the alleged priorities of Muslims worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations.
· Applying double standards by requiring of Muslims behaviours that are not expected or demanded of any other groups in society, e.g. loyalty tests.
· Using the symbols and images associated with classic Islamophobia (e.g. the Prophet Muhammed being a paedophile, claims of Muslims spreading Islam by the sword or subjugating minority groups under their rule) to characterize Muslims as being ‘sex groomers’, inherently violent or incapable of living harmoniously in plural societies.
· Holding Muslims collectively responsible for the actions of any Muslim majority state, whether secular or constitutionally Islamic.
16.2 The following motion submitted by the Conservative Group was not approved:
Surcharge on diesel Vehicle Owners
This Council notes, with grave concern, the surcharges that are being imposed on all diesel vehicle owners who have or are applying for a Residents Parking Permit in a CPZ. (Controlled Parking Zone) in the London Borough of Brent.
This Council appreciates that there are high levels of pollution in Brent and London as a whole, but that the way this has been implemented is draconian and very unfair. These charges will have little if any impact on reducing the levels of pollution within the borough and that it appears to be nothing more than a means of raising revenue.
This Council therefore calls on Cabinet to cancel the policy and requests that a new policy is formulated in which all diesel cars, taxi’s and vans that meet the Euro 6 standards be exempt from any surcharges. It also proposes that surcharges be applied to older Petrol vehicles that do not meet the Euro 4 standard.
These proposals will bring Brent in line with the policies set by The Mayor of London & TFL.
16.3 The following motion submitted by the Labour Group was approved:
Declaring a Climate and Ecological Emergency
This Council notes:
Humankind is at an unprecedented point in its history; faced with a stark choice between continuing to live beyond its means, or using all necessary measures to avert catastrophe.
So profound are the changes that man has wreaked upon the world that we live in an age known as the Anthropocene, the age of man. And how is humankind’s stewardship of the planet faring?
Our seas are warming, acidifying and choking with plastic.
Our insects, a vital part of our eco-system, are disappearing, whilst globally wild animals are hunted, killed and driven to starvation in unprecedented numbers.
Extreme weather events are occurring more frequently, causing destruction and misery when they strike, whether it be storm or sea-surge, flood or fire.
And the whole world is heating up. Global temperatures have already increased by 1°C from pre-industrial levels. The UN’s panel of climate change experts (the IPCC), state is it essential that the rise in temperatures is kept below 1.5°C, as if we fail in this endeavour and the temperature rises by 2°C, the possibility of a ‘snowball effect’, of problems feeding into and worsening other problems, becomes too risky to even countenance. We have only one planet to sustain us, and no country will be immune from the fallout if our systems fail.
In Brent, the consequences of inaction to address this climate emergency will include:
· Increased risk of flooding and damage to buildings, infrastructure and the local economy.
· Health problems, particularly for children, older people and those with pre-existing conditions.
· Higher living costs including energy, food, travel and insurance costs.
· Increases in social injustice and inequality.
· Financial and emotional consequences for residents with families around the world adversely affected by the impact of a changing climate
The rise of international movements of non-violent civil disobedience such as the Student School Strikes and Extinction Rebellion shows the degree to which ordinary citizens are concerned about our future, and we all have a role to play. Cities and city regions such as Brent must be in the vanguard of the low carbon transition, as cities consume over two-thirds of the world’s energy and are responsible for as much as 70% of man-made greenhouse gas emissions.
This Council further notes:
· Brent Council’s Civic Centre is recognised as the greenest public building in the UK – constructed using methods which produced 26% less carbon emissions across the supply chain.
· In the first initiative of its kind in London, the council is sowing 22 urban meadows to create a seven-mile long “bee corridor” of wildflowers to boost the number of pollinating insects and increase the biodiversity of the borough.
· Brent Council has committed to a wholesale ban of fracking in Brent since 2013.
· Research shows, greenhouse gas emissions have reduced in Brent by 26% over the last decade.
· By 2021 carbon emissions from the Council are on track to decline by 60% from 2010/11 levels.
· The Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy recently announced that the Labour Party will launch a Green New Deal, with the goal of decarbonising the UK’s economy and creating new jobs in the renewable energy sector in the most deprived areas of the country.
This Council believes that:
That a changing climate will have severe and enduring social, economic and environmental implications, and that tackling climate change is an issue of inequality as the greatest impact will be on the most vulnerable and those least able to protect themselves.
Thus this Council resolves:
· To join our Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan in declaring a Global climate emergency. This is essential to protect our only planet, not only for us, but for all the life on it and, hopefully, all the generations of life to come.
· Do all reasonable in the Council’s gift to aim for carbon neutrality for 2030 and work with government to achieve the national 2050 target.
· Develop a Carbon Offset Fund and strategy, to enshrine the principle that developments, could and should fund projects that reduce carbon emissions elsewhere in the borough.
· At every opportunity, redirect our investments into renewable energy projects and carbon free or carbon neutral technologies.
· To continue delivering reductions in greenhouse gas emissions via the development of district energy networks and support for renewable alternatives
· Request that the appropriate scrutiny committee review the actions taken to reduce carbon emissions in Brent and the Council at the end of the municipal year.
· To empower a Lead Member to take responsibility for tackling climate change in Brent and charges that person with the responsibility to produce a report on this subject within 6 months, one that emphasises and promotes the importance of local biodiversity.
· Make representations to national government to urge them to provide the power and resources to the Mayor of London and local authorities to hasten the pace of carbon reduction and to immediately end the £10.5 billion of hidden subsidies with which central government supports the Fossil Fuel industry in this country.
· Explore the viability of there being an annual Green summit for interested parties, where issues can be discussed, good practice shared and ideas promoted.
Publication date: 11/07/2019
Date of decision: 08/07/2019
Decided at meeting: 08/07/2019 - Council
Accompanying Documents: