Here is my latest column for the Muswell Hill & Highgate Flyers:
It’s that time of year again. No, I’m not going to get all political and talk about the conference season and the start of Parliament’s new session. No, I’m not talking about school being back – hopefully your little darlings (and not so little ones) will be settling into their new classes. But instead – it’s survey time!
In one form or another I have been doing local surveys for over a decade. Whilst it has become a bit more of a mission to ask 45,000 odd households what’s on their mind, my annual survey is one of the most important things I do as a politician – finding out about local residents’ concerns. Sadly, there just aren’t enough hours in the day to knock on every door when everyone’s in to have a chat (but I do try!) so my survey helps me fill the gap.
Some of the issues I have campaigned on hardest were first mentioned in people’s survey responses – such as the 603 bus, getting Hornsey Hospital re-opened and arguing for Oyster Pay-as-Go in local train stations.
The questions I ask touch on all sorts of subjects from grumbles about grot-spots – sadly a perennial issue with Haringey Council, to whether people support my tough stance for action on Climate Change in Parliament.
But this year there are two particular issues I want to hear about. One is how the downturn is affecting people locally. Gathering more direct information from local people’s experiences is vital for me to argue whether Government services are properly geared to helping people and are working in Hornsey & Wood Green.
The other issue is on a related point. We have some of the most treasured local high streets in the capital – Muswell Hill, Highgate, Crouch End, the list goes on… With my Liberal Democrat councillor colleagues we have being working hard to support local shops and businesses through the recession – promoting local loyalty cards, making parking easier to encourage customers and prodding the council to do more.
But the other thing I want to hear from people is what will encourage them to shop more locally. I am determined that we do all that we can to save our High Streets from the worst of the recession.
So watch this space – or more accurately your letterbox – I look forward to hearing what you’ve got to say.
Lynne Featherstone 
“Letterbox”? We haven’t had a functioning postal service for ages, and now it’s going to be wholly dysfunctional, so there’s no point in watching our postboxes!
Well – yes – good point. However, thank goodness my survey is hand-delivered by local people not posted. But as to the postal service – yes – this is disastrous for everyone at a time when the difference between say a cheque arriving or not might make all the difference.
The surveys will be hand delivered by volunteers, so they’ll reach your letterbox – come rain, shine or postal strike!
haringey has been the worst served borough in london or at least thats how it feels. climate change is not a big issue and if it gets warmer great, climate change is an avoidance issue of real issues. an easy cop out issue. how about an issue of why we have no free market in haringey why do the same people level the price of food and fares and much more. so supporting shops i dont care, i want to know why shops dont support me, reasons probably are they are overwhelmed with charges from beurocrats who dont sell anything but paper.
Lynne and Highgate’s Ward Councillors have worked hard to protect and encourage the shops along the Archway Road in Highgate – and to keep the heart of the local community vibrant and strong – fighting to keep Jackson’s Lane Community Centre properly funded for example, calling Haringey to account when the LA turn a blind eye to “change of user” from shop to residential/office etc. Highgate/Archway residents need shops nearby – not everyone has a car or can afford to travel far – especially the elderly, youngsters and the disabled.
It would be helpful to have some of the small post offices reopened. the return of Woolworth’s, maintaining some of the roads, open a public soup kitchen for unsold food from sainsburys and marks and spencers.
Mostly get our young people working, starting as volunteers in worthwhile jobs which probably good serve as an apprenticewhip with responsible people.
My grandchildren are coming up one already sixteen and could do with a part time job, but there are many before her. Children could help out in schools with children with special needs, old people’s homes getting the old people out into Highgate Woods, with transport to Kenwood House for lunch. This would need very careful good supervision but would be worth its weight in gold to the community. I am approaching retirement and quite frankly what may be on offer is very depressing.
Best wishes,
Joan Mea
Re Crouch End local shopping, it would be really helpful to have direct access to the car park behind Budgens, from Budgens itself? Any hope?
it would be more helpfull if parking was free between certain hours in crouch end, that would help shops and shoppers. shops lose enormouse amounts of trade becouse of restricted parking. so prices go up.
I’m afraid that I think that MPs are basically useless in this country unless they happen to be Cabinet Ministers, and even then they don’t wield much power unless they happen to be PM or Chancellor of the Exchequer. For example, I’m tired of writing to MP Featherstone about large issues, for example about the postal strikes which most MPs didn’t seem to notice much until this month since they were on paid holiday for the past 2 months, and getting replies that she will be asking the Government what they plan to do. I want to know what SHE can do. Separately, I’m tired of listening to the LDP, particularly Vince Cable, trying to convince voters that levying taxes are a good thing and making profits are a bad thing. Hello, but it’s very difficult to bring in taxes to the Treasury if you don’t have profits from the private sector. And, the private sector isn’t going to grow much if politicians think that levying 50% income tax on the wealth producers is a good thing. Why should I or anyone else bother to attempt becoming a wealthy entrepreneur if I’ll be essentially working 50% for the government??? How can any rational person in this country actually believe that large Government can be trusted to run anything efficiently?? The entire UK parliamentary system needs to be revamped, so that elected representatives actually hold real power, there are checks and balances so that the PM and his/her Cabinet Ministers can’t abuse their monopolistic powers as they do presently, and so power hungry politicians like Gordon Brown cannot hold the position of PM without having been elected by the people to hold that position. As an American, I can appreciate so much better after actually living and working in the UK why the Colonies revolted against England, and why the Founding Fathers set up the US Constitution and Government with separation of powers as they did!!!
It is true that mps dont have enough power to represent their constituents properly, however many constituents squabble over petty things and are easily led by more powerfull people with vested interests. so its all a bit of a puzzle. a yearly list presented to the public from mps of what did we do and for who and why might be a revelation if that was mandatary things may improve. regarding 50 per cent tax I think goverments need to justify and account for what they do with the tax and that it should be put under referendum if the amount is over 5 million.
Tresa – freeing up parking in Crouch End during this downturn is one of the points of the LibDem Council Group’s ten point plan on things that would help local businesses and local residents survive. If we were the administration in Haringey that is what we would do (on a temporary basis) to help during these dreadful times for local businesses.
Joan – totally agree about the post offices and we campaigned with local people very hard to save our sub-post offices. Labour took no notice and made savage cuts which hit us very hard. Funnily enough, as after they closed this tranche across London, the Government dropped and stopped the policy of closure. So I thought it would be an opportunity to reopen our ones. I went into the sub-post office that closed in Highgate to suggest that given local people wanted it open would they be happy if we started campaigning to re-open the post office. They said no – they have used the space for something else now.
G Chen does write to me regularly – and I share the frustration of not being in power. But there are successes in opposition. I think you misrepresent what Vince Cable says as he has no problem with profit – just the issue of people who earn the very least paying proportionately the most tax and saying that on the first £10,000 anyone earns there should be no income tax – and that gives middle income earners about £700 back too. As for two months ‘paid holiday’ that is just inaccurate. When parliament isn’t sitting it doesn’t mean MPs are on holiday – but working in their constituencies. Each MP will have to answer to their own electorate for their own behaviour – but I certainly worked right through recess except for two weeks in France and three days at the Edinburgh Festival.
Tresa, I do publish on the blog, news releases, and my annual report the campaigns and successes and activity of the past year. I started this blog six years ago for just this reason – so that local people could see at least some of the work I do and the issues I champion on their behalf.
Thanks to all of you who have posted here – always instructive and appreciated.
I do not think I misrepresented Vince Cable at all. Every time I see him recently in the media, he is attacking bankers’ bonuses and blaming them for the near melt-down of the banking system last year. Of course, he’s not the only one. However, both the media and politicians on both side of the Atlantic have failed to recognise the significant role that the US government had in encouraging and supporting sub-prime borrowing in the US, via agencies like Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. The US government, under pressure from minority action groups like ACORN, indeed threatened US banks with discriminatory lending and other legal action if they didn’t lend to more ethnic minorities, who often fell into the sub-prime group. Hence, US banks came up with complex financial products which combined good with bad loans. Unfortunately, these products spread around the world, and when the US economy weakened and US subprime borrowers couldn’t repay, it was like a financial bomb going off worldwide. Although banks and greedy financial executives were not blameless in contributing to the financial crisis, it is misleading to blame bankers’ bonuses ad nauseum and ignore the role of government- the US government in particular- in contributing to the reckless lending which started the dominoes rolling. More government and more taxes on the wealthy is not the answer as Vince Cable and other politicians would like to see…this would only spur the ‘excessive risk-takers’ needed to grow an economy to look for their opportunities elsewhere, or perhaps worse, not bother to take any risks which might create wealth for themselves or the economy…
As for MP’s holidays, it is my understanding that MPs have something like 82 days of paid holiday per year, or late July to early Oct, over 2 months. While I am not privy to Ms Featherstone’s holiday arrangements- I’m quite willing to believe she is hardworking- I think that by most people’s standards, the length of MP’s holidays is pretty outrageous, and like MP’s expenses is one of the areas of Parliament which need to be reformed! Pls, do not vote yourselves higher salaries instead!!
does anyone know that the french people done their own ballot on the post office counters in france. the post office will be privatised at least the french go down fighting here its all small gestures.
Much to my chagrin, I see that my name and comments still feature on your website. Following the Chancellor’s announcements, I’m deeply ashamed I voted Lib-Dem in the last election. Never again. Please remove my name from your site and from any and every mailing/distribution list you run. And to you and your party what can I say, other than: Shame on you.
lynne, good call saying ‘there aren’t enough hours in the day’ to knock on people’s doors and ask them what they think. I think people may have quite a lot to say to you at the moment, certainly if you knock on my door I’ve got some stuff I’d like to get off my chest.
Also, interesting choice of the word, ‘downturn’ to describe the impact of the CRS and the policies of your coalition government. You make it sound like you had nothing to do with it, (oh yes, I forgot, ‘blame labour’). Although I must say, if you want to know if ‘government services’ are helping people you had better get a move on, give it a few months and there won’t be any government services to discuss.
Also, I note you want to do all you can help local businesses through this recession. Which recession is that then Lynne? The one the country was coming out of when your lot took over, or the new one your lot are about to create?