Cycling - post 1

This evening I went to do a basic cycle maintenance course courtesy of go: cycling down at Bradford's Cycle Re:cycle workshop.

I learned how to do the 'M' check on a bike, change brake pads, take off a wheel, a tyre and repair a puncture.

It was really good fun but also gave me a sense of confidence that I am capable of doing basic repairs if needed.

The odd thing though is that I don't actually cycle regularly or indeed at all.

Back in 2011,  after my middle daughter was born, I was determined to improve my health and fitness, as well as gain some new life skills. I found out that Bradford Council together with other partners incl NHS etc were doing cycling lessons for women on a Saturday morning. Going from never having ridden a bicycle to being able to ride a mountain bike around Roberts Park and along the canal towpath gave my confidence an incredible boost.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself and encouraged other women to join me. We had a blast and had a great teacher who each week helped us gain in confidence and skill.

Since then, I purchased a cheap bike from Bradford Cycle Re: Cycle with the intention that I would cycle to work, cycle for leisure and generally enjoy my new skill. I even bought a trailer to put my children in while they were small.

However, I was too afraid to cycle on the roads of Bradford. I'm sorry I'm a wuss but it's terrifying out there.

But following tonight's bike maintenance course, I'm going to get my old bike out and have a look to see what condition it's in and then make a concerted effort to get out on the road. I'll definitely be getting a bit of help though http://www.wygocycling.com/free_training/

Jeremy Corbyn

Since last Saturday (12th September) when Jeremy Corbyn was duly elected to be Leader of the Labour Party, I have lost count of the number of people who have asked me my thoughts on him and his victory.

So I thought I'd try and figure out what my thinking on Corbyn is.

I was 100% behind Andy Burnham in his leadership campaign and was really disappointed for him. But, I know that Andy Burnham is 100% loyal to his leader whoever that is. That gives me a start towards my feelings on Corbyn. To take on the Government and to effectively challenge them Corbyn needs our loyalty and support.

I am also guided by another person I respect who has worked for more politicians than I could ever have met. Right at the outset of the leadership election, he stated that he was supporting Corbyn and did the design on his print materials. (Not that I got any communication from Corbyn during the leadership election campaigning.)

My thoughts are this:

Jeremy Corbyn has been duly elected.

I instinctively support his anti-austerity platform because it is right and because I see the impact of the Government's flawed austerity agenda on the poorest and most vulnerable people in our community and on local government.

I really want a Labour Government in 2020 and although many are repeating the mantra that Jeremy Corbyn won't or can't win, well what if he did? Stranger things have happened.

I support Jeremy Corbyn's stance on renationalisation of the railways and Andy Burnham's suggestion of how this could be done. When EastCoast mainline was in public control recently while waiting for tenders it made money for the Treasury!

Jeremy Corbyn's age: my reaction is so what? When did our society become so ageist? Our political leaders always used to be older and it was accepted that they would have life experience and that's not such a bad thing.

Singing the National Anthem: I was aghast at the media's reaction to this. Seriously, who cares whether a politician sings along to a song when actually what should have been in the news are the issues of:
cuts to tax credits which provide a safety net to poor families,
increasing numbers of people (including children) having to go to places where volunteer groups provide meals and food banks and so many more important issues.

If his focus, as mine is, is to do good for people then more power to his elbow.

So ultimately, let's give the bloke a chance. I have a feeling we'll be pleasantly surprised.

I went to see Arakan Creative's new film Freesia this evening. I still don't really know how to properly communicate how I felt while watching it.

The production is really brilliant. I recognised so many of the locations as it is filmed locally and I even recognised some of my lovely constituents who appear in the film. 

But let's be honest although the acting is great and it's a really well done film, the subject that it is highlighting is actually quite horrific. I will try not to give any spoilers away but basically it's 3 separate stories intertwined which highlight different aspects of Islamophobia.

To be honest this is what I found so difficult. I genuinely do not care what colour a persons skin is or what languages they speak or what religion they follow. I care that we are all human and have so much to learn from one another and to share with one another. It hurts to see and be confronted with such ignorance, hate, bigotry and persecution of one group of people by another group of people.

However, there is hope.

There's a beautiful scene in the film which I think will stay with me for a long time, where a white lady at a bus stop strikes up a conversation with a young Muslim girl. It's really beautiful and I hope that we can all have a lot more conversations like the "bus stop" conversation where we just chat and get on with being nice humans. 

When you see Freesia advertised on general release or at any festivals etc - I highly recommend you take the time to see this incredible piece of work.

Freesia

Three 

Street Feeding & Volunteering

Street Feeding - It's been a while since I last went down to help out with the In Touch Foundation team but this evening I joined them in Bradford City Centre to serve food to over 70 people in the drizzly rain.

I was expecting that it would be pretty much the same people who I had served at the Curry Circle last Thursday (see my recent post) but sadly there were only approximately 5-6 people that had also been there. It worries me that there are so many people in Bradford in need of a basic essential - a hot meal.

Think about it as you read this. Imagine having to queue up among a crowd of other people wondering if there will be enough food for you, wondering what it is, wondering if it will keep you filled until your next meal. 

There is a reason why the food is served on the street out in the open and that is because the food is taken to where the people in need are and where they congregate. 

It saddened me to see people I know, people I don't know and people who have disabilities or addictions. There were people from every different background - young, old, male, female. People who didn't want to talk and didn't raise their eyes and people who wanted the interaction and a bit of human contact and a genuine, caring, smile. 

After all the guests have eaten their fill - firsts, seconds and takeaways if wanted, all the volunteers are encouraged to eat. It's a beautiful act of fellowship and togetherness as well as ensuring that there is zero food waste.

Volunteering - What I did love however, both about this evening with the In Touch Foundation group and the Muslim Women's Council - Curry Circle group, is that the volunteers are all truly amazing individuals also drawn from every background - also young, old, male, female, different faith backgrounds and none. This evening I met teachers, charity workers, supermarket workers and degree students from all over our District and beyond. Some people who live elsewhere but work or study in Bradford and then stay late to help serve.

The volunteers in our District do Bradford proud. There are so many people who give of themselves to serve others and in so doing they are making our community a very special place to be.

Hate vs Love

This is going to take me a while to process.

I went to see Halima's Path today as part of the Remembering Srebenica events co-ordinated by my colleagues Cllrs Adrian Farley and Alex Ross-Shaw.

The film is essentially about a grieving mother trying to find her adopted son who was of mixed heritage.

The film itself was really well done and it's obvious why it's won so many awards.

But, the reality of the hate that exists in our world, the way we think about ourselves and others, the way one group of people persecutes another, the way we let hate, instead of love, prevail, really hit me.

It reminded me of Rwanda and the hate that devastated that nation in 1994.

It reminded me of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

It reminded me of Apartheid in South Africa.

It reminded me of the Holocaust and the persecution by the Nazi's of anyone who they didn't like, disabled, Jews, LGBT, Roma and so on.

It reminded me of Israel and Palestine.

Is it really hate though or is it lack of understanding, lack of friendship between people who have different backgrounds?

It hurts to look at the darkness in the world.

But as Martin Luther King said, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."

So my prayer is that I want to be part of bringing light and love into more of this world.

The Curry Circle

I'm writing this from the comfort of my own home. It may just be a modest terrace house but it's warm, comfortable and there's a well stocked kitchen.

But the same cannot be said for all of the incredible men, women and children I met this evening.

Myself and a colleague, Cllr Arshad Hussain, went to serve alongside a team of volunteers at the Muslim Women's Council, Curry Circle.

The Curry Circle is not like any other food bank or "soup kitchen" I've ever experienced before (and I have experienced a few). The first thing I noticed was the way everything was laid out like a banquet, with round tables and crisp white table cloths. It's like a banquet of Grace.

We arrived at 6pm and already there were so many people gathered, sharing conversation over hot cups of tea, coffee or hot chocolate.

The incredibly delicious food is made and delivered by My Lahore's so the guests at this Curry Circle evening get beautiful food.

There is zero waste because when the food has been served from 7pm and when everyone has eaten they are welcome to have seconds and if they have a tub or container they can take some food away with them.

On this particular evening because we've had nice summer weather, an ice cream van came along and everyone (including volunteers) was treated to an ice-cream.

For those 2 hours it felt like we were all the same and we all belonged there, as part of One Bradford, united in fellowship over a meal. There was no preaching, no strings just love, acceptance, belonging and grace.

However, as I drove home afterwards, I couldn't stop the tears. It hurts my heart that there are so many people in need of good food, companionship and love. Yes, they received this at the Curry Circle but what now? Not everyone is blessed with warm, secure, affordable, comfortable places to call home. Not everyone has a sense of belonging.

As I go about the rest of my evening and week, I will also be holding these people and volunteers in my heart.

I am and always have been determined that politics is for purpose. We must ensure that whatever can be done is done to help those in our community who may need or want help.

The Day Bradford Went To Bridlington

Today, I joined in on the community trip from Bradford to Bridlington.

It was a great fun day out with families from all across the whole Bradford District.  There was so much joy and laughter and squeals of delight from the children.

My favourite quote of the day was from a young lad running  past shouting, "Mum, Aisha's chasing me with a dead fish!"

The joy of the day for me is that no-one gave a monkey's about race, religion or disability. We just all enjoyed ourselves on our adventures to the seaside.

This was Bradford at it's best.

Election Results 2015

I can't even properly explain how depressed I feel right now about the election results.  The sad thing is I can't pin it down to anything more I personally could have done. 

I did all the right things - I gave donations and committed to monthly giving towards the Labour Party General Election fund.  I campaigned until it hurt.  I went to all sorts of areas to campaign (Keighley, Pudsey, Bradford West, Bradford South and numerous different council wards).  I delivered a small forest worth of leaflets.  I put my children in full time day care and took loads of time off work to do all this. 

Bradford Labour Group maintained a majority on Bradford Metropolitan District Council for the second year running, and 3 out of the 5 constituencies now have Labour MP's, so this was an achievement of sorts I guess, but those MP's should have been in government, not in the opposition.

There is nothing more that I could have done and yet I feel like I failed.  I am only 1 person but the same feeling could be felt by hundreds of thousands of party activists.  Collectively we achieved so much and sacrificed so much to do it.  We had millions of conversations with people on the Labour Doorstep over the last 5 years and it feels like it was all for nothing. 

I have seen all sorts of comments on various social media platforms ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous and although I hate that we are now stuck with a Conservative government that is democracy.  Sometimes we do not get what we want or what our country desperately needs. 

But, this is not a time to give up.  It is time to regroup, focus on what our core principles are and keep reaching out to the people in our communities.  We need to get right back to being a grass roots movement and properly connect with members, supporters and communities. 

There are people who seem to think that being a member of the Labour Party means being a member of 'new Labour' which is ridiculously untrue. The Labour Party is a broad church of people from all sorts of different traditions and backgrounds. If more traditional Labour people got more involved then there would be less of the 'new' Labour people that some don't like.  I'm a big believer in changing things from the inside by getting involved.  
(Quick advert - if you feel inspired to join the Labour Party click here )

We achieve so much more together by our collective endeavour than we do alone.  The world is so very individualist and yet the area I am proud to serve (Clayton & Fairweather Green) has amazing groups of people who work closely together, volunteering for the greater good of others and our community. 

We need better political education so that our hard work as councillors (or MP's or community activists) is properly communicated and understood.  There is so much we do in the background that no-one ever sees and if we never communicate it then the people we have worked hard for will never know. 

I had too many conversations with people who said that they think all politicians are the same.  It's a common refrain but is genuinely not true.  We need to communicate why that's not true.  Each person in an area needs to feel a connection with their local representatives. 

Issues around immigration were also raised and it's a hard conversation to have.  Not everyone who expresses their concerns about immigration is a racist and to label them as such is appalling.  Most of the people I listened to on this subject were concerned that if immigrants are coming into our country for work then this reduces the number of job opportunities for our own nationals.  It puts pressure on our NHS and other public services. Also even though non-UK citizens are not able to receive benefits until they have been resident here for 2 years there is a perception that immigrants are costing our country millions in benefit payments.  Whereas the truth is that EU migrants are actually contributing more into our economy than they are taking out. See http://www.richardcorbett.org.uk/britons-lose-out-because-of-eu-migration/

Also while on this subject the conversation about immigration never really divides out non-EU migrants, EU migrants and asylum seekers and each group has different effects on our country.

No-one ever really properly addressed these concerns at a national level.  It was only those people we managed to talk to in our doorstep conversations that we could discuss the issues with.  There was the fabulous "I am an immigrant" campaign but it felt like too little too late.  These issues should have been addressed over the last 5 years.

Anyway it may seem like it's all over for now but we will fight on. I will fight on.