I first met Jason Parkinson when he was filming a demonstration outside Harmondsworth Detention Centre – one of our special prisons for immigrants – a few years ago, when he was getting a bit of harassment from the police who were refusing to believe his UK Press Card was genuine ( a too common police trick), and since then I’ve come across him filming at many of the protests I’ve covered. He’s one of those guys who manages to get in the right places to film, stands up to people and asks awkward questions, and is also an excellent film editor.
Hank Roberts on the roof at ‘Tent City’ protest
You can see his trailer for the 30-minute documentary Tent City Occupation on YouTube, where there are also links to some of the other short clips he has posted over the more than two years he has spent investigating the setting up of a privately funded City Academy in Wembley. His work has laid bare much of the shady dealing behind the story as well as showing the fight put up against the scheme, led by local teachers who realised the issues involved. This is a story that should become a national scandal and I hope that Jason’s film will make it so.
I visited the occupation on the site for the new Academy in July 2008 and here in part is what I wrote about it then:
Teachers in the London Borough of Brent are among those who have been taking to the tents in the occupation of Wembley Park Sports Ground, just a hammer throw or two from the well-known stadium. They know that the government’s program to establish City Academies has failed to deliver the promised results, and that putting one in the area will only damage the exisiting three good schools in the area. Wembley doesn’t need a new school – and if it did, handing £30 million of public – our – money over to private enterprise to run one simply crazy.
The area is also one of the more congested parts of London. More school places will mean more school runs, especially from the southern areas of Brent where there is a shortage of space. The sports ground is also used by local groups, including a nursery school, sports groups (a football practice was taking place while I was taking pictures) an three small businesses creating local employment, all of which will find it hard to find alternative venues and are likely to close.
It’s also hard to know why a political party that campaigned against the academy in the elections which got it into power in Brent should perform a sudden about-turn and not only decide it has to be done, but that even though the site won’t be ready for several years it has to start straight away in substandard accommodation. It is a change of policy that has encouraged allegations of illegality – and may be challenged in court.
Do watch the trailer – and vote for it on YouTube. You can read the whole of my account and see more pictures on My London Diary.
