The Chelsea Citizen grabbed a front-row perch on the press bench at last night’s Full Council meeting — here’s what unfolded…
The session kicked off with an emotional plea over the plight of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank as four residents demanded the Royal Borough pull its pension cash from global investment funds linked to Israel.
They urged RBKC to ditch its indirect stake in firms such as Caterpillar, Lockheed Martin and several Israeli banks — accused by campaigners of fuelling the conflict.
Resident Chris Somes-Charlton told councillors: “When we look at the huge death toll in Gaza and the pogroms in the West Bank we cannot hide behind the idea that nothing we do here will change the situation. On the contrary — how can institutions like RBKC continue trading as if nothing is going on?”
All eyes then swung to finance chief Cllr. Cem Kemahli (Con), who insisted the Town Hall’s hands were tied by law. He stressed RBKC holds no direct shares in the companies named, saying any links exist only through large pooled global funds — and council pension rules don’t allow cherry-picking individual firms to exclude.
Kemahli added that the authority would “continue to monitor any potential risk” to the fund, but made clear it must operate strictly within a legally regulated national framework.
Another big story was the Council’s on-going battle to get its IT system back on line following the recent cyber attack.
The Royal Borough has been left reeling since a major breach forced officials to shut down systems, call in GCHQ cyber experts and urge more than 150,000 locals to prepare for potential identity theft.
Cyber-crime specialists from the National Cyber Security Centre — the GCHQ arm that defends Britain from digital threats — are now working inside Kensington Town Hall. Meanwhile, the Met Police has launched a criminal investigation to hunt down the hackers.
With public services under severe strain, Council Leader Cllr. Elizabeth Campbell (Con) tried to steady nerves, vowing that a full-scale rescue mission is underway.
“We are establishing a cyber recovery team from across the Council, supported by some of the best cyber experts in the UK,” she told councillors.
But her warning was stark: the disruption could drag on for weeks — even months — before the Borough’s IT system is fully back to strength.
Last night councillors signed off a tough new licensing regime that will dictate how booze is sold and nightlife is run across Kensington and Chelsea for the next five years — with a heavy emphasis on cutting crime, keeping the public safe and shielding under-18s.
The overhaul follows a summer-long consultation and puts Europe’s biggest street party, the Notting Hill Carnival, firmly under the microscope. Anyone hoping to sell alcohol there will now have to prove they have strict age-verification checks, robust crowd-control plans and solid first-aid and fire-safety measures. Town Hall chiefs also “strongly discourage’’ serving alcohol in glass containers.
Bars and clubs across the borough will be told to ramp up safety measures for women and girls, including promoting the Ask for Angela scheme — the discreet code phrase revellers can use to get help if they feel unsafe.
And in a nod to environmental concerns, the Council says it wants to scrap single-use plastic cups for good.
There were irritable scenes in the chamber last night — including one councillor flouncing out — as they debated whether to brand itself a “Borough of Sanctuary”, a label associated with US-style sanctuary cities that set their own limits on enforcing immigration laws.
The proposal, tabled by Cllr. Emma Dent Coad (Ind) and backed by Cllr Dr Mona Ahmed (Ind)—both wore Palestinian keffiyehs as they argued the borough must take a stand.
Dent Coad claimed racist abuse was rising locally, telling colleagues: “We need to step up to counter rising hate — and that moment is now.”
Egypt-born Cllr. Ahmed added: “Becoming a Borough of Sanctuary isn’t just a symbolic gesture. It’s a chance for this Council to define who we are — particularly after everything we’ve learned since Grenfell.”
But tensions boiled over when Cllr. Eva Jedut (Ind) launched into a speech blaming mass immigration for all the country’s ills and warning about “letting in terrorists like ISIS”. At that point, Cllr. Ahmed got up and seemed to walk out in protest.
Before the motion was ultimately voted down, Conservative Cllr. Gregory Hammond insisted RBKC already had a strong record on supporting asylum seekers. He questioned the cost implications and queried the funding behind what he called a “shadowy” UK version of sanctuary cities.
And finally, there was no good news for terminally ill residents hoping for a break on their bills. Councillors simply ran out of time before they could even debate a motion from Labour’s Cllr. Mohammed Bakhtiar calling for Council Tax to be scrapped for anyone given less than 12 months to live.
His proposal would have offered an exemption to any resident, regardless of age, income or existing discounts, so long as a doctor confirmed their prognosis. But with the clock ticking down, the motion never saw the light of day.
And that’s your lot from a bruising night at the Town Hall!
The next Full Council meeting is slated for Wednesday January 28th at 6.30pm — so why not pack out the public gallery, let councillors know you’re watching, and remind them that Kensington and Chelsea residents are ready to hold their feet to the fire?
