Category Archives: Blog

Why the number of female MPs matters

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The Christmas edition of the Electoral Reform Society’s magazine, The Voter carries this short article from me:

Houses of ParliamentSadly, I am one of only 126 female MPs in a Parliament of 646. Parliament remains an old boys club, with its adversarial style of politics where bully-boy tactics are the norm; any of you who’ve watched PMQs will be fully aware of this.

And this feeds a political system that is so busy being adversarial that it forgets to be effective. This lack of representation is repeated throughout our political system. In local government, women make up just over a quarter of local councillors, whilst with MEPs it is a similar story: just one quarter female.

The quality of our government suffers from these imbalances – an impact which therefore affects us all, men and women. Women need to be there, with men, making these decisions, to ensure that public services and policy are relevant to all people and are capable of having a real effect on the lives, not just of women, but of everyone in society.

Nowhere is this clearer than in the allocation of resources, where the macho boys culture so often summons up the massive project and neglects the important details. When I was chair of transport at London Assembly it was starkly clear. Why is it that an obsession with boys-toys – the macho game of who’s got the biggest airport or the longest train – delivers multi-billion pound budgets for massive transport infrastructure projects yet not even a fraction of those budgets were spent on so called ‘soft measures’, such as making sure you can fit a double buggy through the door of a bus and making sure that local shopping centres and services are easily accessible – really easily accessible – through using public transport?

But it should not be a question of either or – it should be a matter of both. Some of our Nordic counterparts are light years ahead in terms of female representation, and we can see the practical effect on policy and resource priorities. Take Finland – with its childcare allowance for women who stay home and look after children under the age of 3 and its municipal care for children who are below the school age of 7.

We have come a long way in 90 years. It’s not enough, but we are constantly pushing, and constantly forcing change. I hope that within the next decade we will able to celebrate the achievement of equal and proper representation of women in politics, as another 90 is far too long to wait for this change!

It isn’t enough that women have the vote, and it isn’t enough that Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan all rank above us internationally when it comes to women’s representation. Equal representation and involvement in politics is our right, and it is the women today who will bring about change tomorrow, by demanding the equal representation they deserve and by working together to achieve it.

Ten most popular blog postings (4th quarter, 2008)

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No real surprises here, with one story dominating your and my attention – the awful death of Baby P.

10. George Meehan and Liz Santry resign – the two key Labour councillors (council leader and lead member for children’s services) finally took responsibility for Haringey Council’s failings.
9. Baby P investigation update – thoughts following a meeting with Cabinet minister Ed Balls.
8. Panorama on Baby P – my advance thoughts, particularly on how the pressure to agree may result in people not sticking by their concerns.
7. Baby P at PMQs – a very brief post, but got lots of traffic due to the Brown-Cameron spat making that PMQs very high profile.
6. The departure of Sharon Shoesmith – my reaction to the (eventual) departure of the head of Haringey’s children’s services and education.
5. The roles of Sharon Shoesmith and George Meehan – in which I explain why I believed they should take responsibility for the errors and blunders exposed in the Baby P saga.
4. Brian Coleman and the Fire Brigade – see no.3.
3. Fire Brigade rushes to help – the Brian Coleman saga where, for latecomers, I feared for my and family’s safety, called the Fire Brigade – who said I did the right thing – but Brian Coleman (Conservative London Assembly member) took it upon himself to criticise. Cue numerous comments on my various blog postings and via my website from firemen agreeing with my actions.
2. Reading the Baby P Serious Case Review – after initially being kept secret, the review was shown to a small number of MPs, myself included
1. Baby P verdict – reaction to the trial verdict.

So – that was the last quarter. Let’s see what gets your attention in the next one…

Things can change

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I read a piece on Paul Linford’s blog about another boy who died in terrible circumstances at the hands of his foster parents – who astonishingly had been cleared to adopt. However, it was this boy’s tragic death, John Smith, that brought about a change in the law – a change that was able to be used for the trail following the death of Baby P:

A group of journalists from the Brighton Argus launched a “Justice for John” campaign after murder charges against his adoptive parents were dropped in favour of a lesser charge of cruelty on the grounds that it could not be proven who had struck the fatal blow. In the end, this led to a change of the law, and the creation of a new offence of causing or allowing the death of a child – the offence of which the vile killers of Baby P have now been successfully convicted and for which they will be sentenced early next year.

You can read the full post on Paul Linford’s site – but to my mind, there are two points rising from this. Firstly – it shows what can be done when people put their mind to it. For all the flaws in our democracy and system of government – individuals can get together and bring about change.

Secondly – Baby P’s tragic death raises the question of whether the maximum sentence for this (new) crime is high enough. It can cover such a wide range of circumstances that there needs to be the flexibility to deal with the circumstances of an individual case, but the maximum sentence available (I believe it is 14 years) is now facing a growing grassroots campaign organised primarily by mothers and grandmothers.

My own priority is to push for a public inquiry to ensure that the full range of necessary lessons are learnt and then changes applied because – vital though a just legal system is – in the end a court case and a jail sentence can only deal with the aftermath of tragedy. Avoiding the tragedy in the first place is the main objective.

But for me, the shining message from Paul’s post is that things can change. It takes action and commitment – and here we have a bunch of those who are only slightly less reviled than politicians – journalists – who saw something that wasn’t right – and took the action necessary. Hurrah for journalists – on this occasion!

Voting done, voting still open

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A big thank you to Iain Dale’s readers for his 2008 political poll where, whilst I trail Vince Cable miserably (and rightly), I am a) in the frame and b) second! as Lib Dem MP of the Year! Thus I continue my saga of always the bridesmaid but never the bride! I also notice that his magazine Total Politics has me as one to watch – and that’s what my teachers used to say – ‘ better keep a close eye on her’ – although I think their meaning may have been different…

On my own side – I likewise see (thanks to those who have brought it to my notice) that in the Liberal Democrat Voice poll I again am trailing Vince! Well – the man is a star and being even near licking distance of boots is honour enough! But there is still time for you to vote…

Scrutiny-phobia at Haringey Council

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My comments about Haringey Council’s habit of trying to turn its back on proper scrutiny of its actions seem to have caught a bit of media attention, as with The London Paper:

HARINGEY Council needs to shake up the way it scrutinises its own work in the wake of the Baby P tragedy, an MP has said.

Liberal Democrat Lynne Featherstone, MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, accused ruling Labour councillors of “scrutiny-phobia” after they refused to hand over the chair of a key watchdog committee to the opposition.

She said: “Scrutiny-phobia in Haringey has led to a culture where it was impossible for whistleblowers to raise the alarm. I am saddened that Haringey Labour has missed an opportunity to turn over a new leaf and to put its watchdog committee on a better footing to do what it is supposed to.”…

Opposition leader Robert Gorrie said the decision “does not bode well for the future of Children’s Services in Haringey.

“More rigorous and more independent scrutiny might have uncovered the severe failings in children’s services before it was too late.

“Haringey Council needs a watchdog committee with teeth to prevent inadequacies in services being missed again.”

It's Christmas fairy tale time again

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SnowmanThe Ham & High newspaper runs a monthly column from myself and each year I have the slot just before Christmas – for which, after all the serious pieces, I have my annual little bit of fun: the Christmas Fairy Tale.

Of course some people think this is terribly out of order and MPs should be terribly dour and serious all the time (hello diary columnists!), to which I say – as every year – bah humbug!

Questions for our new Children's Services chief

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From yesterday’s Evening Standard:

The man charged with turning around Haringey’s failing social services faced a string of critical reports in his previous job after two children died in cases of suspected abuse…

Schools Secretary Ed Balls appointed Mr Lewis 10 days ago praising his “excellent” reputation as director of children’s services in neighbouring Enfield.

But an investigation by the Standard has found social workers and health staff in Enfield were criticised over cases in which children died or were seriously harmed under his watch…

Lynne Featherstone, Liberal Democrat MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, said the cases raised concerns.

She said Mr Lewis’s salary, a large rise from Ms Shoesmith’s, raised expectations that he would be able to tackle the deep-rooted problems in Haringey.

“We expect a huge amount from Mr Lewis,” she said. “It would be appropriate to hear directly from him. We want to be reassured on how he handled these cases and how they came to light.”

You can read the full story here.

A Christmas message

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Christmas treeHere’s my Christmas message for the Haringey Independent:

Christmas approaches – and we are all wondering how much the recession will affect us. But first let’s think about the good things that have happened this year. We got a Climate Change Bill that has some rigour. 42 days detention without charge was defeated. Our neighbourhood police have had some success in bringing local crime stats down. And having been to many Christmas Shows and concerts by local children and some not so young local people – there are a wealth of good people out there doing good things.

Not so good this year – the Government closed five of our local post offices despite magnificent campaigns by local people. Our Haringey schools still get £1,000 less per child than neighbouring boroughs despite the Prime Minister agreeing with me that it’s an anomaly. The awful tragedy of Baby P – and the parlous state of our Children’s Services revealed by the subsequent investigation. And many people already suffering – or worried they will be shortly – thanks to the recession.

So much still to do next year – as well as holding those now charged with helping us get the best Children’s Services in the land to account.

Knowing that winter is coming, that fuel bills are high and that times are hard – perhaps it’s also time that we thought a bit more about what we each can do to help others around us. We should check on our neighbours, be generous as we can with our time and if we have spare anything – we should share it. We could also resolve to get fitter – that costs nothing if we just walk every day but can bring huge health benefits. We could all resolve to volunteer if we aren’t already – that not only makes the world go round, it makes us feel really good and worthwhile.

Of course, if you lose your home or your job, you are not going to be full of Christmas cheer – so for those of us who remain in work and with a roof over our head – it’s time to demonstrate community spirit and love – actually!