Category Archives: Blog

Protesting at the Council offices

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Robert Gorrie and Lynne Featherstone with protestors outside Haringey Civic CentreYesterday saw big, big demonstration outside the Haringey Civic Centre by the group of Asian women and the workers from the ‘I Can Care’ charity. Tonight there was to be a Haringey Labour Cabinet meeting to decide (or rather rubberstamp more likely) the proposal to sell the Civic Centre (supposedly for lots of dosh) and move to Woodside House.

Well – in terms of selling the Civic Centre – one might think that choosing the moment of financial downturn that this country is experiencing means the price ain’t exactly going to be the best.

But we do need loads more social housing and affordable rentals – and if they could get a good price; if they have looked at alternatives; if their business plan is spot on – then worth considering. However, the move to Woodside House, not only displaces this I Can Care charity – who work with mainly Asian women to teach them English, computer skills and movement classes – but will cost a fortune. Estimates are being thrown around at £12 million.

Question to local people: Do you think that Haringey Council should spend £12 million on a new council chamber for Members to meet in and a registry office?. Or is there something else you think on which that money could be usefully spent?

It’s a no-brainer. Councillors could meet in Bernie Grant Centre or there’s a dilapidated council chamber still at Hornsey Town Hall or any one of a number of meeting places in the borough. It would be great anyway – and symbolic – if the councillors came out of a building and held their Full Council meeting in various parts of the borough. And we would save a fortune.

In terms of meeting rooms and offices – well the Council took on River Park House a few years ago – a massive office block – so it really is just a replacement for the council chamber and a registry office.

Now – as to the way they have moved on this – disgraceful. Despite both myself and Robert Gorrie (Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Haringey Council) writing to Labour Leader George Meehan to ask about the process, the alternatives, the business plan and what they were doing about ‘I Can Care’ – no joy and no answer.

Although judging by the anger and rudeness George displayed as he sped past the demonstration on the steps of the Civic – he just wants to steamroller this through without ever consulting with anyone. You know – whatever you think about the proposals – to not engage, not to have the civility to talk to the current tenants of the building – is just typical of why people hate Haringey Council.

And – to add insult to injury – ‘I Can Care’ have another couple of years to go on their lease. They have poured over £100,000 into the little side building to make it nice for those who come there to learn, and George Meehan apparently offered £1,000 if they would leave – presumably quietly. You couldn’t make it up!

Hornsey Hospital update

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Well – tomorrow, I will be laying a tile for the ‘topping out’ ceremony for the new health centre on the site of the old Hornsey Hospital. Funnily enough, the Liberal Democrats did a health survey not that long ago to find out what local people wanted in terms of their local health care.

When asked what services they wanted to see in the facility, local residents supported a wide range of health services, including, x-ray services (59%) emergency care (54%) and homeopathic and alternative therapies (26%). Survey responses was received from 1,281 Haringey residents.

As we reach the point where the building is nearly ready – we need to know what is going to go in it. Local residents do not want to see a reduction in number of GPs or mass forced relocations of local practices. But this is only one part of the story. I have been campaigning with local residents for over a decade to get Hornsey Hospital re-opened. To be called a hospital it must have more than basic GP services. Our survey has show there is significant demand for wider services. This is real opportunity; the Heath Trust must act now to engage with local people. It is very clear that local people don’t want Hornsey Central to be just an enormous GP clinic. They want new hospital services brought onto the site.

How not to treat leaseholders

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My Liberal Democrat councillor colleagues on Haringey Council are doing a great job on holding the Labour administration to account. Suspend your disbelief for a moment – Labour Haringey have decided that leaseholders should pay in advance for major works. If you are a Haringey leaseholder – you will be seeing pigs flying at this moment.

Would you want to pay Haringey Council in advance for anything? This is carte blanch for shoddy work and botched repairs. Nobody in their right mind would pay the full amount before the work is even started. Talk about a leaseholder rip-off.

Prior to the new scheme leaseholders would pay for major work after completion, however under the new scheme Homes for Haringey will be allowed to pressure leaseholders to pay before work has started. Leaseholders who refuse to pay the full amount upfront will be charged on average £325 more.

And I would just like to add that I have seen a breakdown of leaseholder charges brought to me by a leaseholder that she had managed to get. The breakdown seems to show the same job being done several times – and charged for.

Thank goodness our councillors have succeeded in forcing a review of Labour’s decision to change the way leaseholders are charged for work to their properties.

Nuclear weapons

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I’m one of the signatories on a letter in The Guardian today:

The revelation that a senior defence official has told the arms industry that the government plans to spend £3bn to replace the UK’s 160 nuclear warheads is truly deplorable (Report, July 25). If the government has reached even a preliminary view on the matter this should first be made known to parliament, and not to industrial interests.

Capital investment at the Atomic Weapons Establishment has ballooned from £24m to £420m in just seven years. It concerns us greatly that in a few years we are to be presented with a fait accompli, where all the money has been spent and it is merely a question of the final go-ahead for the production of a new generation of potentially more “usable” nuclear weapons.

A broad coalition, encompassing both US presidential candidates, Henry Kissinger and a cross-party group of former UK foreign and defence secretaries is pushing for serious progress on multilateral disarmament negotiations. The UK should fully commit to these and avoid moving in a direction that harms the prospect of international cooperation towards a nuclear-free world.

Jeremy Corbyn MP, Colin Challen MP, Lynne Featherstone MP, Neil Gerrard MP, John Hemming MP, Lynne Jones MP, Gordon Prentice MP, Joan Walley MP

Labour cuts pension benefits

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The Sunday Telegraph has my story today:

Britain’s poorest pensioners will lose out on £100m next year because of Government plans to reduce the amount of backdated pension credit they can claim.

An answer to a Parliamentary question last week revealed that the proposal to allow pensioners’ to reclaim just three month’s worth of credit rather than 12 months will save the Government £100m in 2009, and nearly the same amount again the following year.

Additional figures also show that similar proposals to change the backdating of housing and council tax benefit will save the Government £35m next year and £70m in 2010…

Lynne Featherstone, Liberal Democrat MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, said that the plans were “the worst kind of Labour penny-pinching”.

Her question in Parliament revealed that the Government will make substantial savings by 2010 by removing the ability for pensioners to backdate their pension credit claims. These savings include £55m this year, £100m next year, and a further £96m in 2010.

Featherstone said: “These figures show the Treasury is in for a real windfall at the expense of some of the poorest people in the country. Pensioners on fixed incomes are bearing the brunt of bumper rises in fuel and shopping bills. It is therefore outrageous that the Government has targeted them to claw back millions of pounds.”

She added that the practice of backdating pension credit claims for a year made a “fair and proper” allowance for the fact that pensioners often found it difficult to make timely claims for their entitlements.

“Scrapping this sound principle completely undermines the aim of pension credits in tackling poverty for the oldest in our society,” she said.

Pensioners now have until October 6 to put in a claim for backdated pension credit. After this time, they will only receive three months worth of backdated payments for their credit and the associated council tax benefit and housing benefit

You can read the full story here, but regardless – note that October 6 deadline – that’s an important date to remember if you are eligible for these benefits – or to remind other people about if you are not.

Update: The Mail on Sunday has the story too.

The role of fathers

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That’s the topic of my latest piece for the Highgate Flier and Muswell Hill Handbook:

It’s all sorts of dads we should be thinking about – not just black ones!

I refer to both Barack Obama and David Cameron’s recently zooming in on the world of fatherless black children. Now yes – there is a disproportionately high number of black families being brought up essentially by the mother – but it’s also an issue in white communities.

I’ve been a single mother myself since my children were 7 and 12. And two things that used to annoy the whatsit out of me when they were at school were firstly that each year parents got a class list (with contact details of all the class parents) and despite informing the school many, many times that we were separated – it was always (only) my address and number on the list – the school itself was acting as if to exclude separated fathers. Secondly – the school tended to send notes home with the child about parents evenings, plays etc. And again – that means they all came to me – and more generally, as it is usually the mother that children live with, to the mothers. So again – the school was acting in a way that excluded separated fathers rather than bringing them in and encouraging their involvement

Being obviously extremely civilised – I would tell my ex the details from the notes and we would often go together to the parents evenings and so on. But if you’re not so lucky in how things work out, the school should be there encouraging the involvement of both parents.

The school should have an obligation to contact both parents about all school activities. Clearly if the situation is hostile – there may be issues – but at least both parents would be informed (so long as the parent and their whereabouts are known).

This has improved a bit in recent years – with email and some good practise where it is the norm to list and contact both parents regardless of status or hostilities – but not nearly enough.

I continue to believe that given it has been shown that a kid’s reading ability, particularly boys, improves beyond measure in correlation to how much reading they do with their dad – it’s time for pro-actively engaging fathers more.

I’m sure lots of you reading this (fathers) are engaged and equally involved with your kids – but this is about improving a situation where there is need.

In America, they have been implementing a scheme (or various schemes) called any variation on ‘Dads and Doughnuts’. Now whilst here we might prefer something other than doughnuts – the idea is a good one that can travel: the school invites Dads in to do things with their kids without the mums. Sometimes this is reading with a breakfast (great for Dads who go to work early) or evening events or parents’ nights for Dads only.

Dads have been left out in the cold for too long. We are seeing the consequences of their absence – but it’s not something we need simply complain about. We can, and should, act.

Preserving Bounds Green station

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Bounds Green tube station was opened on 19th September 1932 and was designed by architect C. H. James in the “Box-style” of his colleague Charles Holden. The station is a well-preserved example of the modernist house style used by London Transport in the 1930s (and credit to London Transport in its various incarnations over the years to have kept these features well-preserved).

In other words – it’s a great piece of our architectural heritage which deserve protecting.

John Oakes is one of the Bounds Green councillors and puts it well:

“Bounds Green station is a beautiful example of the art-deco design style of the 1930s adopted by London Transport. It has cheerfully decorated the Bounds Green landscape for well for over seventy years and I believe it deserves listed status due to its iconic character. I hope English Heritage agrees with me and that we can take the listing process forward.”

John has therefore written to English Heritage asking them to give the station listed building status. Fingers crossed!

Muswell Hill Library: Labour delay improvements yet again

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Not good news about Muswell Hill Library – promised plans to refurbish Muswell Hill Library and provide vital disabled access that were due to take place this year have been postponed yet again by Haringey Council.

As my colleague Gail Engert (Muswell Hill ward) put it:

“Muswell Hill Library is in a lamentable state with wallpaper hanging off the walls, toilets in an unacceptable condition and the top floor not accessible to disabled residents. Residents and local Liberal Democrat councillors have been campaigning for years to have this listed building returned to a fit state and accessible to all.

“Yet again the Labour Council have reneged on their promises and let residents down.”

Iris Robinson, again

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Iris Robinson – about whom I have blogged before – is at it again. She is revealed in all her bigotry and internal hatreds in her words:

There can be no viler act, apart from homosexuality and sodomy, than sexually abusing innocent children … I cannot think of anything more sickening than a child being abused. It is comparable to the act of homosexuality. I think they are all comparable. I feel totally repulsed by both.

Although she has now clearly been forced to say that this is not what she meant – I doubt there are many people who believe her. And, quite frankly, better we all know what sort of woman this is who represents the DUP. For all the clarifications she has tried to give – to me – she is revealed as not only homophobic – but someone who believes that this is a dog whistle to like-minded people who agree with her.

The whole scenario is genuinely frightening. To see and hear such naked hatred of something that in these days of enlightenment the vast majority of people have moved on from. But this is a stark reminder that it exists – still running strongly beneath the surface in some sectors of our
community.