Working together to End FGM

Posted on 17th Mar 2015 by Lynne Featherstone

In a truly fair society, no woman or girl would be at risk of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). It is gender-based violence – it is unacceptable and it needs to stop.

But over 60,000 girls in the UK are vulnerable. That’s why I recently held a conference for North London professionals to discuss working together to end FGM.

You can watch a video from the conference here:

As you can see, over 100 health workers, social workers, teachers, police and community group representatives gathered at Hornsey School for Girls.

It was a great event – with sessions for each sector, mixed sessions to discuss an integrated approach to tackling FGM, speeches from survivors and a presentation from students.

There is still a lot of work to do to raise awareness and to protect vulnerable girls. But conferences and conversations like this are important steps in the right direction.

Lynne Featherstone MP surging to success in Hornsey and Wood Green

Posted on 10th Mar 2015 by Lynne Featherstone

A new poll shows local MP Lynne Featherstone making a significant surge in the polls as the election date approaches.

This new poll puts the MP for Hornsey and Wood Green on 36%, just 1% behind Labour on 37%, with the Conservatives back on 15%, Greens 7% and UKIP 4%.

It shows a much closer fight than the last public constituency poll carried out by Lord Ashcroft in September – which gave Labour a 13 point lead.

Since then, support for Labour’s candidate – who only a third of respondents had heard of – has plummeted, while support for the popular local MP Lynne Featherstone has increased dramatically. The Conservatives remain too far behind to win.

The Liberal Democrat MP – who was recently endorsed by Paddy Ashdown for her work to counter extremism and promote unity – has clearly galvanised her supporters in the last 6 months, and now has the momentum firmly behind her as polling day approaches.

Lynne Featherstone MP comments:

“My team and I know we have a tough fight ahead. But the mood on the doorsteps is positive and we are confident of pulling through.

“This close to an election, more and more people will start thinking about the candidates’ records of action, and who they want to represent them over the next 5 years. I live here, and I have dedicated the last 20 years of my life to this area – residents can be confident that I’ll keep on campaigning with and for them.

“I work every day with my team to deliver real benefits – my constituents are aware of this, and it feels like they are responding to what we have been doing and what we are in the process of doing.”

Haringey Liberal Democrat Party Chair, Cara Jenkinson, comments:

“Just look at Lynne Featherstone’s local record. Extra money for schools and hospitals, annual apprenticeship events, and successful campaigns to protect the Whittington, the Pinkham Way site, Muswell Hill Library and more.

“In Government, Lynne was the architect of Equal Marriage Law and launched a £35 million programme to end FGM within a generation. She is a campaigner through and through.

“The Labour party candidate lives outside of Haringey. She hasn’t campaigned with residents to make positive changes. She simply cannot match Lynne’s local record of delivery. As we get closer to polling day – it’s no wonder local people are increasingly backing Lynne.

“This poll shows it really is all to play for. Lynne and her team are experienced campaigners; we are more than ready to take the fight to Labour and successfully hold this seat.”

Tackling extremism and intolerance in Haringey

Posted on 4th Mar 2015 by Lynne Featherstone

Earlier in the week I posted a video of Paddy Ashdown and Maajid Nawaz talking about tackling extremism. I’ve received some very interesting feedback – thank you for your views!

I agree with Paddy and Maajid – that tough conversations and community cohesion are the best ways to respond to extremism and to prevent radicalisation.

That’s why I’ve put words into action in our local area. Here’s a video featuring just some of my local visits to Mosques, Synagogues, community groups, youth groups and more:

This is just a starting point. There is still a long way to go, even in a place like Haringey, where we have such a proud tradition of standing up to both extremism and intolerance.

If you part of a community or religious group, and would like to hear more about this work to promote unity, or even take part, please let me know!

Have you seen the news?

Posted on 2nd Mar 2015 by Lynne Featherstone

The news is currently dominated by reports of hateful actions, terrorism and conflict. Radicalisation and the rise of far right movements – these are happening in our society and it is terrifying.

And the emerging ‘dialogue of division’ from some media outlets and parties like UKIP is not helping – it’s pushing communities apart and will make the situation worse.

Please do watch this video, to see what Paddy Ashdown and counter-extremist Maajid Nawaz have to say about the situation:

As Paddy says, the Lib Dems are uncompromising when it comes to standing up to UKIP and the dialogue of division.

We are the polar opposite of them, and we will continue to search for solutions to extremism by having tough conversations. We’ll also tackle racism and hate crimes by promoting unity within our communities.

On Wednesday, look out for a post from me. It will contain another video showing the work my team and I are doing locally to put these words into action.

In the meantime, can you share this video on both Twitter and Facebook?