Visited Friends of the Earth stall on Muswell Hill Broadway on Saturday to support their campaign for sustainable farming. FoE always have great props for these occasions. Today it was cow masks – except they wouldn’t let me wear one (no sarky comments please) as it would render me invisible and thus negate the point of the photos they were taking. This is all about a Private Member’s Bill that was presented to Parliament on 30 June 2010 – the Sustainable Livestock Bill and will be on the Order Paper for a Second Reading debate on 12 November 2010. This new Bill will commit the Government to real action to halt wildlife and rainforest destruction.
Straight on to Friends Meeting House to plant a tree in the garden which had received some funding (for which I helped support the bid) to plant a tree. There is a beautiful new gazebo, pond and embryo planting – and by next summer – this will be a fantastic place for children et al to come. I planted a field maple – so will visit next summer to see how it is doing.
It’s Sunday today – and I will be popping into Peter Thompson’s Ruby wedding. For anyone in Muswell Hill who doesn’t know Peter Thompson – he is just a complete star in terms of community activism. Not only does he run a legal advice surgery three times a week in St James’s Church – but he is always at and involved in all of the good work that goes on in terms of policing, the Muswell Hill Youth Centre – you name it – he is helping with it.
So – not only is 40 years of marriage a wonderful occasion to celebrate – but Peter is a one man example of the ‘Big Society’ long before it was even a gleam in Dave’s eye!
Lynne Featherstone 
You’re keen on the ‘Big Society’ – much more so in fact that those people who attended the Tory Conference last night and sat in stony silence when David Cameron outlined his Big Society ‘vision’ to them. So how did it go with Peter today? When he updated you on the things he is doing (while probably experiencing the panic attacks that everyone who is already active in their community feels when they contemplate adding running a library / driving a bus / conducting an autopsy to their list of voluntary activities) what was your response? I have asked you this before (and got no answer) – but come on, what was your voluntary contribution to society this week?
I went to an event today – the launch of the EHRC Triennial report in Westminster.
Trevor Philips manged to avoid any mention of trans in his address (yet he covered all of the other strands).
Is it about time we had a trans EHR Commissioner?
Apply the ‘black test’ – would it be acceptable not to have a black Commissioner at EHRC?
Why do different ‘rules’ apply to trans?
Lynne, your blogs are getting boring.
As a constituent of yours, I would like to read your blogs on Child Benefit cuts, ceilings being placed on benefits with no regard to circumstance, and a free market in university tuition fees which will exclude all but the richest and poorest from further education.
How long can you and your colleagues avoid commenting on “Coalition” policies which directly contradict the promises the LibDems made on the hustings earlier this year? And, in the same way that we are all sick of hearing Tory after Tory blame the previous government for every economic woe, we are sick of hearing LibDems bleating on about “compromise” in the pursuit of a thimbleful of power.
Can we have some blogs of substance please?
Saw Chris Grayling on TV last night. When questioned about the benefit cuts he said (and I quote) ‘It’s not about saving money, it’s about saving people’s lives’. WHAT!!!!!!
These Liberal Democrat MPs are cheats, hypocrites and liars. They just say one thing to get votes then change their mind completely once they are in power – even though the coalition agreement itself let them off the hook.
The view of Lynne’s parliamentary colleague Tony Greaves
EVENTS (slightly tricky ones and so not mentioned here by esteemed blogger)
1) Atheist party leader tours Oratory school, leading Roman Catholic educational institution, with a view to son attending. No problem with hypocrisy there then.
2) Mr Bumble, business secretary or whatever big badge he has, says we didn’t realise there was a deficit, honest, so now we agree with his lordship who contends that charging our children tuition fees is a really good way of delivering equality. Like the bloke who ran BP would know. Oh and er in direct contravention of millennia of libdonkey policy. Try searching this blog for the blogger’s views on tuition fees.
3) The EHRC delivers a 749 page document on…well ok it’s on equalities. The equalities minister is not present and apparently has no comment. No really. Not one comment.
4) Quite a lot of people put misogynistic posts on this blog. Esteemed blogger does not challenge any of them.
5) The coalition finds a new way to deal with both spin and equalities at the same time by colour coding its advisors/spinners. Lord Browne, Sir Phillip Green.
6) Next up Captain Scarlet on Trident. Oh that’s another policy gone.
7) Lots of jolly blogs about good stuff because we are about to royally shaft all of you- especiaily women- and it is solely the fault of the last lot. It is nothing to do with either a) a disastrous economic situation brought about by banks etc with a good bit of help admittedly through non regulation by governments globally or b) a salivating right wing bunch of pirates who have given the libdonkeys a bit of power. Although it seems only to be the giving the bad news bit of power. And the donkeys seem happy to do so as they get promised carrots although no one else is able to work out what the carrots are are beyond being ministers and really famous.
8) PR is being delivered. Sorry no got that wrong. AV is being delivered. Nope.
9) 7 above may not be right because some bloke previously against nuclear power but now responsible for delivering it says we may not be right about the speed and depth of the cuts. So we may have to review them when a million people have been put out of work and the economy has pitched into depression. Well we will go and ask Dave if its ok. And he will tell us to stop snivelling and make the tea.
10) My doctor- bless her she’s great- but her surgery cannot manage to organise appointments very well. But don’t worry they will definitely be able to run the NHS.
11) Child benefit. The effect on women. No comment. Zip.
12) Apart from the 10K tax thing – job, what job? -and a couple of tiddly things around the margins what is actually left?
Dear Lynne,
Anything the Coalition Government or any other government does, or tries to do, to halt wildlife and rainforest destruction is commendable … and planting trees anywhere is also to be applauded (having just lost a “battle” with Haringey Council over what I think was the unnecessary felling of three magnificent trees in Highgate it should be made an obligation that anyone removing a tree should have to replace it with a young tree that will benefit future generations …). And I hope your friend’s Ruby Wedding was a joyful event. But as supporters of the Big Society what were the conversations like? Was there any anxiety about the report on tuition fees? And now that report has been published what are your thoughts about it ? On Newsnight, last night, Simon Hughes was struggling, how would you have helped him out ? We need some clear and concise LibDem thinking (as in the LD manifesto) – so Lynne, will you be voting against any proposed increase in University tuition fees? Yes or No ?
On the subject of Ruby wedding anniversaries, think about the spouse of a trans person (seeking legal recognition of a so-called ‘acquired gender’) who is approaching her Ruby anniversary (as we are). Think of the tears of sadness that would be shed in Court by my spouse and I if I used an interim GRC to end our marriage.
Would this be a wonderful occasion to celebrate?
Should we do this on our Ruby anniversary (in 2 years)?
Silence for nearly a week now – is this because you are preparing to resign or because you are perfecting your apology for lying at the election campaign about fees?