Bolton’s political leaders will today sign a community pledge promoting cohesion in the borough
Labour council leader Cllr Cliff Morris, Conservative leader Cllr John Walsh and Lib-Dem leader Cllr Roger Hayes will be joined by MPs David Crausby, Dr Brian Iddon and Ruth Kelly at the signing of the pledge. It is a commitment to celebrate community cohesion, while recognising diversity.
The pledge also offers people an alternative means to demonstrate their commitment to Bolton as a welcoming and tolerant town, in response to a planned demonstration in Bolton town centre by the English Defence League.
The launch follows the first ever One Bolton Festival, which was held last year to celebrate the good things about Bolton and to encourage people from different backgrounds to get together. The pledge reads: “We celebrate the diversity of Bolton and unite to create One Bolton, recognising the differences, celebrating communities and committing to encouraging harmony.”
The Bishop of Bolton, the Right Rev Chris Edmondson, who is also chairman of Bolton’s Faith Leaders Forum, said: “The One Bolton pledge celebrates the unity of Bolton’s family, recognising differences whilst celebrating faithfulness within communities and encouraging harmony. We’d like to encourage all members of all communities to sign it and confirm their commitment to One Bolton.”
The pledge is also directly linked to the Big Bolton Fund (BBF) and encourages supporters of One Bolton to pledge money to the fund, to back community work. The pledge can be signed online here, where there is more information. Money can also be donated to the BBF online.
Alternatively, people can pick up a postcard from libraries and community centres to sign the pledge and show their support by texting PLEDGE to 70007. Texts cost £3, plus the cost of a standard message, and £2.55 will be donated directly to the BBF.
This is Lancashire
Showing posts with label cohesion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cohesion. Show all posts
March 06, 2010
July 20, 2007
Outrage over BNP leaflets
BNP leaflets about Muslim extremism have been slammed as an "abominable distortion of Islam" by Croydon Mosque leaders.
The leaflets - claiming that Islam is a "threat to us all" and calling on people to join the party's "crusade against Islamification of Britain" - were sent to residents in South Norwood last week, shortly after the attempted terrorist attacks on London and Glasgow.
After getting one of the leaflets resident Mahmood Tufail said: "There's a lot of lies in the leaflet and I got the impression people are trying to stir up trouble - especially with what's been going on in the past few weeks."
Mr Tufail said people were now feeling "very nervous".
"I've spoken among my friends," he added, "We don't know what to do about this. I just hope the leaflets won't inflame non-Muslims against us. With all that is going on, people are very nervous. This leaflet creates the wrong stereotypes. The people who carry out these extremist acts are a tiny, fringe minority. Unfortunately, this backfires on everyone else."
A spokesman for Croydon Mosque called the leaflets "inflammatory" and said: "The vast majority of people will recognise it for the blatant scare tactics that it deploys and which have become the hallmark of the BNP."
He said the mosque in London Road, Thornton Heath, had been working hard to promote community cohesion.
"Although leaflets such as the ones being distributed by the BNP in South Norwood have the potential to be divisive, our firm expectation is that the leaflets will be ignored as the local community is ethnically diverse and vibrant, and furthermore benefiting from the very social and community harmony that the BNP seeks to destroy," the spokesman added.
A BNP spokesman said: "All we're trying to do is raise the issue that Islam is not compatible with the British way of life. We are a Christian country and Islam is destroying democracy."
Ealing Times
The leaflets - claiming that Islam is a "threat to us all" and calling on people to join the party's "crusade against Islamification of Britain" - were sent to residents in South Norwood last week, shortly after the attempted terrorist attacks on London and Glasgow.
After getting one of the leaflets resident Mahmood Tufail said: "There's a lot of lies in the leaflet and I got the impression people are trying to stir up trouble - especially with what's been going on in the past few weeks."
Mr Tufail said people were now feeling "very nervous".
"I've spoken among my friends," he added, "We don't know what to do about this. I just hope the leaflets won't inflame non-Muslims against us. With all that is going on, people are very nervous. This leaflet creates the wrong stereotypes. The people who carry out these extremist acts are a tiny, fringe minority. Unfortunately, this backfires on everyone else."
A spokesman for Croydon Mosque called the leaflets "inflammatory" and said: "The vast majority of people will recognise it for the blatant scare tactics that it deploys and which have become the hallmark of the BNP."
He said the mosque in London Road, Thornton Heath, had been working hard to promote community cohesion.
"Although leaflets such as the ones being distributed by the BNP in South Norwood have the potential to be divisive, our firm expectation is that the leaflets will be ignored as the local community is ethnically diverse and vibrant, and furthermore benefiting from the very social and community harmony that the BNP seeks to destroy," the spokesman added.
A BNP spokesman said: "All we're trying to do is raise the issue that Islam is not compatible with the British way of life. We are a Christian country and Islam is destroying democracy."
Ealing Times
Labels:
anti-Islam,
BNP,
cohesion,
Croyson,
inflammatory
May 11, 2007
Grant loss blamed for growth of BNP
Lack of cash for social housing has helped far right’s cause in Barking & Dagenham
The abolition of the grant that helped councils fund new homes fuelled dissatisfaction that has led to the rise of the British National Party, the director of housing at Barking & Dagenham Council has claimed.
David Woods said the scrapping of local authority social housing grant had contributed directly to community cohesion problems.
And he told Inside Housing that local authorities now needed to reposition themselves as home builders if they were to tackle resentment effectively.
‘There has been a fall off of social rented units being built in this borough and their availability to people and that’s a great source of dissatisfaction,’ said Mr Woods. ‘The local authority social housing grant would have helped us stave off a lot of these problems; it’s a significant factor here.
‘We would like to start building new council houses. We want to get back to the position we were in a few years ago with social housing grant, where we were building between 400 and 500 social rented homes a year.’
The number of people on Barking & Dagenham’s housing register has tripled to nearly 9,000 in the last five years. Frustration with housing waiting lists, coupled with misconceptions about how housing is allocated, is widely attributed to the BNP becoming the council’s second largest political party.
‘The mythology that we’re trying to fight around here is that government investment in housing is all for asylum seekers and immigrants,’ Mr Woods said. ‘All local people see is their housing needs not being met. They see the housing register increasing, they see their sons and daughters who seven or eight years ago used to get access to low-cost housing through the council, not being able to do that any more.’
When the council had social housing grant it was treated as the funder of homes and delivered what the community needed, he said. The council now plans to form a series of asset investment vehicles in order to regain control over social home building. It will form a local housing company with partners, in which it will have a share of around 20 per cent.
The company will borrow money against the council land it builds on and the council will retain the freehold. Its brownfield sites have an estimated value of around £400 million.
‘We’re looking at how we can use this fantastic asset, our land, to get value for our local communities,’ said Mr Woods. ‘In the past, the government has encouraged us to realise asset value; it was always about stripping things from councils.’
Abigail Davies, principal policy officer at the Chartered Institute of Housing, said: ‘A lot of councils really felt the loss of the [social housing] grant, particularly those who used it to particularly good end.’
But she warned councils needed to wiseup on how they use their land.
‘A lot of local authorities have sold or are under pressure to sell their land for a market return,’ she said. ‘[The asset investment vehicle] is a good idea, because it’s a long-term thing. It’s not about selling off the family silver, it’s about making an investment.’
Inside Housing
The abolition of the grant that helped councils fund new homes fuelled dissatisfaction that has led to the rise of the British National Party, the director of housing at Barking & Dagenham Council has claimed.
David Woods said the scrapping of local authority social housing grant had contributed directly to community cohesion problems.
And he told Inside Housing that local authorities now needed to reposition themselves as home builders if they were to tackle resentment effectively.
‘There has been a fall off of social rented units being built in this borough and their availability to people and that’s a great source of dissatisfaction,’ said Mr Woods. ‘The local authority social housing grant would have helped us stave off a lot of these problems; it’s a significant factor here.
‘We would like to start building new council houses. We want to get back to the position we were in a few years ago with social housing grant, where we were building between 400 and 500 social rented homes a year.’
The number of people on Barking & Dagenham’s housing register has tripled to nearly 9,000 in the last five years. Frustration with housing waiting lists, coupled with misconceptions about how housing is allocated, is widely attributed to the BNP becoming the council’s second largest political party.
‘The mythology that we’re trying to fight around here is that government investment in housing is all for asylum seekers and immigrants,’ Mr Woods said. ‘All local people see is their housing needs not being met. They see the housing register increasing, they see their sons and daughters who seven or eight years ago used to get access to low-cost housing through the council, not being able to do that any more.’
When the council had social housing grant it was treated as the funder of homes and delivered what the community needed, he said. The council now plans to form a series of asset investment vehicles in order to regain control over social home building. It will form a local housing company with partners, in which it will have a share of around 20 per cent.
The company will borrow money against the council land it builds on and the council will retain the freehold. Its brownfield sites have an estimated value of around £400 million.
‘We’re looking at how we can use this fantastic asset, our land, to get value for our local communities,’ said Mr Woods. ‘In the past, the government has encouraged us to realise asset value; it was always about stripping things from councils.’
Abigail Davies, principal policy officer at the Chartered Institute of Housing, said: ‘A lot of councils really felt the loss of the [social housing] grant, particularly those who used it to particularly good end.’
But she warned councils needed to wiseup on how they use their land.
‘A lot of local authorities have sold or are under pressure to sell their land for a market return,’ she said. ‘[The asset investment vehicle] is a good idea, because it’s a long-term thing. It’s not about selling off the family silver, it’s about making an investment.’
Inside Housing
Labels:
Barking and Dagenham,
BNP,
cohesion,
far-right,
social housing
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