Monthly Archives: Apr 2005

LIB DEMS MAKE LOCAL HEALTH A KEY THEME

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Lib Dem candidate Lynne Featherstone is making health a key theme of this week’s general election campaign in the hotly-contested battle for the Hornsey and Wood Green constituency. The Lib Dems have a positive plan to improve local health service, in contrast to the Labour candidate, who voted in favour of foundation hospitals, leaving local trusts such as the Whittington and the North Middlesex out in the cold.

Lib Dem plans include faster diagnoses of critical illnesses, so that people can receive treatment more quickly. The party wants to give free prescriptions to more people with long term illnesses. And central to the party’s campaign will be free long term care for the elderly – as the party has delivered in Scotland. Ms Featherstone is to unveil the party’s latest campaign poster on the issue in Hornsey today.

Ms Featherstone says that Lib Dem plans contrast with Labours record. The number of beds in local hospitals has fallen, and the controversial privatisation deal with Jarvis has caused big problems with hospital building work.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“With the Labour candidate backing plans for foundation hospitals status, we need an MP who will stand up for local health services. Labour’s policies are leaving local trusts, such as the North Middlesex and the Whittington, out in the cold.

“The Labour council has joined in the cuts, with its plan to close Red Gables family health centre, not to mention its record of voting to close two day care hospitals and one third of Haringey’s residential care homes.”

Tariq Ali puts Labour on the spot

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9am sharp the campaign team arrives at my house. Everyone in very good form and we get through the business of going through the status of our campaign in record time. Most head off for our HQ to begin the days canvassing (not before 11am as waking people on a Sunday morning does not endear them to your cause!), delivering and sticking and stuffing.

Neil, Susie and I head off to do a photo shoot at Alexandra Park Station and then I come back home to write some notes for Bill Rodgers who the following night is to chair my adoption meeting. Drop them off and head to HQ myself.

Uneventful couple of hours canvassing and then off to the Kurdish Centre off Green Lanes where I have been invited to speak for 10 minutes on anything I like. This is the celebration of 17 years of the centre.

As I was asked what time slot I would like and had said 3.30pm I turned up and the hall was full of people. The proceedings were mainly in Kurdish (with a bit of Turkish). There was a Green MEP there and she was called to speak first. A translator translated as she went.

When I was called I just spoke about the choice they would have at the election, the war, and the importance of communities like the Kurdish community not just voting, but becoming politicians and active members of the community.

Then Barbara Roche (my Labour opponent) arrived. Didn’t know she was coming. She took the stage in an absolute thundercloud – so assume that she didn’t know I was going to be there either. Blasted the LibDems right, left and centre.

She also introduced herself as a Member of Parliament for a left-wing progressive government. You could have knocked me down with a feather! This from the most right-wing, privatising government we have seen. And her voting track-record? Voted for tube privatisation, for top up fees, for war in Iraq, for cutting benefits for disabled people, for Post Office closures, the list goes on …

Dash back to HQ (just love having an HQ) and grab some canvassing.

A lot of Labour supporters know about Tariq Ali’s call for people to vote Lib Dem in Hornsey and Wood Green to defeat the pro-war MP. It’s put a lot of people on the spot. Do you stay at home or reluctantly vote Labour – or do you take the plunge and cast a vote which will actually make a difference?

Tariq has basically challenged all those in Hornsey & Wood Green who have been so upset by the Labour Government taking us to war illegally and by the MP’s unswerving support for that war – to actually do something about it – because here they can.

Take canvassing back to HQ and dash off to meeting about traffic issues in Bounds Green. As usual – a proposed traffic scheme to stop rat-running from the North Circular is dividing a community that straddles the Haringey / Enfield border. I look at all the maps with the two women who have called me in desperation to stop Enfield just doing what they plan – without Haringey sorting out their side. As ever – one road’s benefit by timed closures means another road’s suffering. I will pursue as it drives me mad – the sticking plaster approach to traffic problems in London.

Home to emails, paperwork etc – and lots of requests for posters! Hurrah!

Saturday on the campaign trail in Hornsey and Wood Green

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Our campaign HQ opens today. I go there at 11 to start canvassing. It is just a fabby HQ, above the Three Compasses pub on Hornsey High Street. Above a pub – bound to be popular with people coming to help! Right in the centre of the constituency and with just the nicest owners and staff – and great, real, food.

The office is already buzzing and there are helpers already doing what helpers do in an election – sticking bits of double-sided tape on posters and folding letters for stuffing. Love it to bits. Valerie is front of house at HQ – President of London Region Liberal Democrats, activist over decades – and who for the last (can’t remember how many) elections has gone to Southwark to do front of house for Simon Hughes. This time she is staying on here to help me win the seat – because basically this time – it’s game on.

I go off with Monica to canvas a new block of flats in Crouch End. It has an entry system that is impenetrable. Needless to say we do penetrate – as the candidate it’s often not too bad trying to get into places as people generally want to offer you the democratic opportunity to knock on doors.

One single mother I spoke too with two very young children said it was a nightmare because they never got any leaflets – the leaflets most of us moan about littering our floors about pizzas etc! As a result – cut off from the businesses in the area and didn’t get local news through free newspapers, political leaflets etc.

Back to the pub for lunch and a drink with the activists. Sarah Ludford, MEP arrives to go out canvassing. I give her the times of the blessing (Camilla and Charles) and the Grand National – so that they can avoid knocking on doors during those and off she goes.

A group sitting at a table in the pub call me over, wish me luck and ask for a poster … It reminds me of the campaign technique my agent and I used in ’97 when we didn’t have a clue about campaigning. We used to finish canvassing (Muswell Hill ward) at about 9pm and then he and I would go to the various eatery or drinkery establishments in the constituency wearing our rosettes as a means of seeing and being seen. I didn’t win! Eight years later, my campaign manager just roars with laughter at what he regards as completely amateur techniques – but I’m not so sure … (And it was a good way to end a hard day’s campaigning).

I have a brief word with my agent who tells me that the local Conservative party chair was loitering downstairs outside our HQ for an hour or so in the morning. Strange! Surely they’ve got better things to do …

Monica and I go to do a couple of hours delivering. She is nervous that I may mention her driving in my blog. But I won’t – it’s really her parking technique that is of interest. People smile at me in the street – which I take as a good sign – it sure beats not smiling or ignoring. Two hours of my exercise program – unfortunately in high heels as I forgot to bring my trainers out – is my Bridget Jones for the day.

I rush home to check messages and finish up some correspondence. About 10pm I finish (well you never finish but I do have two children and am single so occasionally feel it appropriate to appear) and go into the lounge to watch a film with them. Needless to say I fall asleep on the sofa.

Friday on the campaign trail

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This blog is turning into Bridget Jones’s diary for the duration in as much as I have lost 3lb. Again yesterday two hours delivering leaflets. Normal paperwork, email and phone to race through and wrote one speech.

I get a phone message from a colleague that Ken (Livingstone) has been attacking me in the Tribune. I knew he had had a go in the Socialist Worker. It would seem that Tariq Ali’s support has angered Ken. Of course, Ken’s old seat of Brent East fell to the LibDems in a by-election with a 29% swing – so – being Ken – he’s lashing out.

The ironic thing here is that prior to his readmission to the Labour party we were fighting together on many policy issues. It’s not me who’s changed but him (sounds like a line from a song).

Muswell Hill crime meeting

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7am start on emails having done fifty sit ups. Given the amount of exercise I get during and election delivering leaflets and the amount of weight I lose from being on the run – I have decided that I might as well have a flat stomach by May 5!

Inevitably during a campaign the blog content of my daily efforts will be repetitive in terms of 1) delivering leaflets 2) canvassing 3) stuffing envelopes and 4) answering emails, letters and the phone.

The interest I guess will come from the twists and the turns, the media and the national campaign.

So today was unremitting emails and paperwork all morning. Then for light relief three hours of leaflet delivery midst beautiful sunshine – interspersed with hail, lightening and thunder. We (Monica and I) were leafleting a really up-market part of the constituency – with mega houses and tree-lined drives. Only issue with long drives is that it takes twice as long to deliver as normal roads.

At 7.30pm arrive at the British Legion in Muswell Hill Road for the consultation with key stakeholders in Muswell Hill. I am the lead councillor on the roll out of the police’s Safer Neighbourhoods Scheme in Muswell Hill. This is what we have all been waiting for – 6 police personnel, ring-fenced for Muswell Hill on a permanent basis. Hurrah!

This is a real ‘good news’ story – and tonight is about asking the chairs of residents’ associations and neighbourhood watches what they believe are the priorities for the area.

I have raised already one of the key problems for residents of St James’s Lane and Connaught Gardens – which is kids hanging around – and in the case of St James’s Lane acting quite aggressively to passers by.

I have been in email correspondence with Stephen Bloomfield, the local Commander and suggested to him that we try Acceptable Behaviour Contracts (ABCs). Yes – we can have patrols (if we are lucky) and that will move them on – temporarily. But I am for long term resolution – not just pushing a problem into someone else’s back yard.

ABCs were pioneered in Lib Dem run Islington with the Met and involve the police, the parents, the children, and other partners from education, social services, housing – whatever the problems need. Parents and children sign up to an agreed way forward for behaviour and have regular meetings to discuss any difficulties etc. These have worked stunningly well – so much so that Labour Ministers Charles Clarks and Hazel Blears are now advocating this as best practise across the land.

Stephen Bloomfield emails back that this seems just the right sort of case to be taken forward with ABCs but he isn’t promising anything until he knows more.

So at the meeting, the team are there and the issue is raised and we will see what path they take.

One of the most positive and optimistic evenings in my memory in terms of policing (outside of the re-opening of Muswell Hill Police front counter).

Come home to find phone message from Andrew Gilligan – so call him back. Piece in Standard will come out on Monday. He asks how I am getting on – and I say well. Lots of emails from Labour supporters telling me not only that they are going switch from Labour for the first time in their lives and vote for me – but why.

Interestingly – the reasons are not just the war. Iraq certainly leads the field – but the disappointments with Labour are many. It’s feeling very good on the doorsteps – especially as former Tory and Green supporters are getting the tactical voting message that to beat Blair’s candidate they need to vote Lib Dem in Hornsey and Wood Green.

Special test from the voters

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Plenary session at City Hall questioning transport supremo Bob Kiley – followed by Mayor’s Question Time with Ken.

As I walk from London Bridge Station (following a journey from hell on the Northern Line) I pass a cafe. Sitting and looking very sad and lonely is Ken having a cup of coffee. I watch him for a while – as it is a really striking picture and wish that I had had a camera.

Anyway – to cut to the chase – my big issue is the £1.6million that Ken spent on external legal costs fighting the PPP (tube privatisation). Now I thought the money was definitely worth spending – we had to try and stop probably the worst contract in the world being foisted on London. We failed. But my beef with Ken is that for him it was clearly ‘gesture politics’ (the most expensive in history) as now he’s back in the Labour fold we don’t hear a peep from him against the PPP – nor do we see action to take control of a failing contract.

So I put this to Kiley and he lets rip against Metronet who are managing to disrupt London almost every time they overrun on engineering works. Clearly from recent media outbursts from Tim O’Toole and now Kiley – frustration at TfL is rampant.

So I helpfully suggest that they sack Metronet – none of this waiting and putting them on notice to improve or else. That should already have been the case. Clearly financial penalty is no barrier to their poor performance – time to cut losses and run. I mean, John Weight, the Chief Exec of Metronet, came before my committee a few weeks ago. I pushed him on his responsibility for the overruns. He admitted publicly it was entirely a management issue in terms of planning and managing access and that he was on the case and it would all be alright.

Clearly not given the tube’s performance! They should be sacked and the Mayor should make the Government suffer the consequences – and then let us fund the Tube by bonds.

I go upstairs as I have to leave a bit early for an appointment – only to find everyone going mad. Did I really say sack Metronet? Yup!

Latter, I get on with delivering our ‘Flying Start’ leaflet in Hornsey. It is pouring with rain one minute then bright sunshine. A woman runs up to me in Harvey Road saying ‘are you Lynne’ etc. She tells me that they have had a problem with dumping and rubbish for years and Haringey Council has done nothing. But the previous night they had formed a Residents’ Association and rung up to complain about their dumped rubbish. And, lo as if by magic – at midnight the waste collection company turned up and removed 42 black bags.

Now – you might think this was a shining example of service – but ‘scuse my cynicism – how many times in Haringey does Accord turn up to pick up rubbish at midnight? Must be an election! People are not fooled. She certainly wasn’t.

Three hours delivering and my body says rest and food required. Go home to discover 200 or so emails which have to be answered.

But in the middle I get a phone-call from a man. He is a Tory ringing because he says that it is obvious that the Tories cannot win in Hornsey & Wood Green and he is thinking of voting LibDem. But he is worried about asylum and immigration and wants reassurance from me that we won’t ‘let them all in’.

He doesn’t wish to give his name.

So I explain to him, that we need strong policies on migration but what this should mean is looking carefully at how many migrants the country needs and can cope with in different areas (of the country and the economy). The real problem at the moment lies with illegal immigration – which is not only bad for us but appalling for the people as well.

He goes on about asylum seekers – too many – send ‘em back etc. I make it clear that unlike the Tories I would not wish to put any quota on asylum. I would not want to come from a country that closed its doors on someone fleeing for their lives.

He came back at me about the quantity coming in – and on – and on. In the end I said to him ‘Look I am not a Tory – I am a Liberal Democrat – I just don’t believe what you believe’ or words to that effect.

At which point he said that I would have his vote (much to my surprise.) Then he said he had done something mean. He wasn’t a Tory supporter. He was a lifelong Labour supporter who wouldn’t vote Labour this time – but who wanted to test me out in private.

Clearly I had passed the test!

So Mr G of Muswell Hill – thank you – because you made me laugh – and at the end of a long day it was definitely the best medicine!

Fun on the Today programme

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Radio 4 have a piece about disgruntled Labour activists – and they pick a group of Labour members from Hornsey and Wood Green.

Some of the comments from the Labour members:

“There’s so many things the Labour government does that I am in total, complete disagreement with. And it’s not just Iraq, it is the rightwards drift, it’s the attack on local authorities, it’s the attack on social housing. It’s the arrogant attitude that they have towards ordinary people.”

“I know dozens, literally dozens and dozens, of people who are Labour voters who will be voting Lib Dem. Because they are the party in the area that’s got some momentum behind it, and are the anti war party, and it is the war that has been the biggest issue for me.”

“For a Labour government to take us to war in that way is just for me unsupportable, but there are also the attacks on civil liberties, top up fees, the privatisation, galloping privatisation, it’s just more than I can bear and when they dress it up in this whole language of choice, and so on, well I’m sorry I cannot trust people who behave like that – I don’t trust them.”

All this from Labour party members! You can listen again to this on the Radio 4 website for a week.

LIB DEMS CONFIDENT, WITH TEN REASONS TO VOTE FOR THE PARTY

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Lib Dem Lynne Featherstone has launched the party’s campaign in the Hornsey and Wood constituency, with the unveiling of a billboard poster highlighting the party’s policies for the health service.

Ms Featherstone says the party is standing on a positive agenda for the local area and the country as a whole, with more fairness as a central theme:

“Lib Dems will put patients first in the NHS, scrapping unnecessary targets to free up resources for cleaning up our hospitals and putting an end to hidden waiting lists.

“Lib Dems will bring down the huge levels of student debt, and reduce class sizes, giving kids a better start.

“Instead of expensive, compulsory Identity Cards, Lib Dems will put 10,000 more police on the streets – we will give the police the time they need to tackle crime, spending less time filling in forms.

“We would treat elderly citizens with dignity, introducing free personal care for the elderly. We also want to end means testing and the discrimination against women in the pensions system. Pensions will be raised by over £100 a month for all pensioners over 75.

“We will scrap the totally unfair Council Tax and replace it with a local income tax, which hits pensioners so hard.

“We also have by far the greenest policies of the major parties. We take climate change and the environment seriously. A green thread runs through our whole programme.”

Not so much a Mayor for London as a Mayor for Labour

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I go into City Hall this morning for two meetings. The first with my MPA officer and my police researcher to prepare the planning for the next meeting of the panel I chair on Stop & Search (implementing the recommendations of the scrutiny). We also discuss the speech I am to make to about 150 police officers including all the borough commanders on 19th April.

Then a meeting with a Transport for London officer about the shenanigans that have been going on with the Immigration Service ‘fishing’ at stations etc. TfL have now stopped the practise and developed an agreed protocol on operations. The Immigration Service were being opportunistic and lazy in my view – as the TfL chap said far better that they should spend their time trapping illegal taxi touts as opposed to people just using public transport.

Now, as you may know – I’m not always Mayor Ken’s greatest fan! Someone points out to me Ken’s revenge! He slags me off in the Socialist Worker. His ire has been stirred by Tariq Ali’s support for me in Hornsey and Wood Green to oust ‘warmonger Roche’. Ken used to be anti-war but now he’s a Labour man. Not so much a Mayor for London as a Mayor for Labour.

I run out of City Hall and dash back to the Muswell Hill roundabout for a briefing of a raft of Police Officers and Community Support officers who are part of the Safer Neighbourhood Teams.

1,000 officers across five boroughs are taking part in five one day bursts where a whole raft of measures are used to deter, detect and reduce crime. It was fantastic. I have never seen so many officers in Muswell Hill and passers by may have taken fright in case there was some sort of crime wave that officers had been brought in for! I look forward to seeing the analysis of this operation when it comes for monitoring to the Performance Committee of the MPA on which I sit.

Then I rush home, log on. I had forgotten what happens when a General Election gets called and I am the candidate – emails flood in as do phone calls. I check for emergency ones – and then dash out to deliver leaflets for a few hours.

Rush back to do a pre-record radio interview on tomorrow’s Mayor’s Question Time – more on transport – then rush out again for another few hours delivering leaflets. I do rely on the election campaign to get fit and lose half a stone.

And as ever – back for emails, letters and of course – this blog!

We're off

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30 days till polling day.

I’m not sure if I should be excited that we’re into the final straight, or scared that it’s so little time left!

On balance – excitement it is.