Great! News comes through that the Attorney General is going to ask for Mr Litvinenko’s alleged murderer to be charged and that extradition requests (to Russia) will now be made. I should bloody well hope so. Without fear or favour – that is the promise I extracted from John Reid in Parliament as to how the investigation would go. Let’s see if they mean it – or whether it was just words.
Category Archives: Blog
How Labour tries to cling on to power
It was Haringey’s Mayor making last night. As ever – a travesty of democracy with Labour refusing to have a Lib Dem Deputy Mayor or even letting Lib Dem councillor Ed Butcher be the council rep on one of the council bodies dealing with Finsbury Park. Yet five of the six Haringey councillors for the areas right next to the park are Lib Dem; but in Labour Haringey that means the rep has to be Labour! Just like almost every single one of the placements on outside bodies (and there are dozens and dozens) – Labour give places to Labour. Clearly they are clinging desperately to power and running scared of any other voices.
It’s such a shame; it’s not the proper way to conduct democratic processes – and an appalling example of standards in public life. An example of typical Labour behaviour towards me (and there are dozens of examples) would be when I went over to the new Sixth Form College when Labour Minister Jim Knight came to visit. I wasn’t allowed in the photos, near the platform, not allowed to speak – and no one even said the usual ‘we are pleased to have local MP Lynne Featherstone here’ today. It was shabby – and of course it was different when it was a Labour MP here! I’ve even been told of schools being instructed to take down my surgery notice and so on and so on.
Meeting the local police
Met Simon O’Brien, Haringey’s Police Chief. As ever, the subject of the moment was the future of police properties. The very well positioned proposed new police front counter and neighbourhood teams’ base in Muswell Hill has fallen through because the work needed to be done was too expensive. This is a real mistake. The position on the roundabout was perfect for public access and for the teams to patrol from. You’ll be lucky to find that again.
We have a bit of a discussion about the possible proposals to close Wood Green front counter at night. I have no doubt that the debate that Simon wants to have around only three people a night using it typically will find trouble at mill. As I explained (and he knows himself) local people want to feel that there is a place of safety at night – even if they don’t use it. But at least Simon says he will take his proposals out into the community and argue his case when the time comes – which in turn means people who feel differently will get to argue back too!
In talking to him I also highlight the really good work of some of police officers such as Andrew Underwood (for his community initiative on Wood Green High Road), the Safer Neighbourhood Team in Bounds Green (who, thanks to their work with kids, have now spawned the Bounds Green United football team) and the police community support officers in Muswell Hill and Alexandra wards who are really getting to know and engage with the most challenging kids.
Seven reasons why your light bulb matters
Is changing your light bulb going to do any good in the face of global warming? How can you and your light bulb possibly counteract all the increasing carbon emissions from China?
Those are the questions addressed in my piece for the New Statesman’s blog – do go and have a read and find out the seven reasons why I think your light bulb does matter!
Parkland Walk: have your say in my survey
The future of Parkland Walk continues to be a big issue locally – so I’ve put up an online survey to make it easy for people to let me have their views. Please do go and take part; it’s at http://www.libertyresearch.org.uk/take/103
Margaret Hodge and housing
Westminster Hour tonight – where we discussed Margaret Hodge’s thesis that ‘indigenous’ families should get housing priority over newly arrived people.
I think Margaret’s language is ill-advised – as it is about fairness and transparency in the allocation of housing and not about race. But I wrote a chapter in the book Britain after Blair on this very issue, as in Haringey – where we have a desperate housing need and high immigration – these issues walk into my surgery week after week. What is actually the case is there is a clash – but it’s not racial – anyway not here in Haringey.
It’s a clash between the ‘already here’s’ – and they are of every race and culture – versus the ‘newcomers’. And the system of points for housing that gives priority to number of children, illness, etc often results in what either is or looks like queue jumping. That does cause resentment. What we need is a system that is both fair and transparent. It’s difficult to balance the rights of those who have already been waiting with those newly in need, but it’s a balance we have to strike – and in an open, transparent way so that people can have confidence in the system.
(For the wider contrext, see my speech at the book’s launch).
A stunning soprano
5pm and I go to the North London Festival of Music and Drama held in Muswell Hill. The breadth of talent from the children who danced, sang, played violins, harps, cellos or a Steinway or told an original story or poem was breathtaking. Very uplifting – and a reminder of the talent that lies within all of us – not necessarily to be concert pianists (!), but that if we are nourished by parents and teachers, we all have something special. Sadly, music in schools has virtually disappeared from the curriculum with a Government fixated on targets and performance league tables rather than in helping to shape whole and happy people.
Anyway – back to the concert. The actual festival is huge and had gone on for five weeks prior to today’s performance – with choirs and orchestras and so many, many more. The organisers should really have a public thank you for the tremendous amount of work it takes. It is celebrations like these that further encourage and nurture each youngster’s talent.
There were many stunning performances – but there was one girl, Grace Durham, who sang soprano in the way that when the voice of a soprano soars out it is sublime. She was Victoria Wood’s daughter. I noticed her Mum wasn’t there – she was winning her own awards at the BAFTAs I later worked out. But to me – it was Grace’s day. With a voice like that she can lift anyone’s spirits.
Crouch End Fun Run
Just back from the Crouch End 10K Fun Run in Priory Park organised as always by Hornsey YMCA. This year the charity to benefit is Lambourne End Outdoor Centre. Good old YMCA – this is such a great local event and we are all proud of it. Today there are 1,200 adult runners and around 1,500 kids registered to race. The adults started at 10.00am with the front runners back under 40 minutes. Every year I vow to run the following year – and the next year arrives and I haven’t even started practising!
Last year bucketed with rain the whole day – but this year the sun shone. It’s a great day out for families and those who exercise all year to have a go. The Neighbourhood Police teams were there as always – so much part of our landscape now, it’s hard to believe they were not always here.
Freedom of Information
It’s an indictment of Private Members Bills really – the fact that Tory and Labour MPs mustered (although whipping is meant to be forbidden) enough support on Friday to stop MPs being subject to Freedom of Information legislation. We now have to rely on the Lords to put a spoke in this wheel.
For the uninitiated – Private Members Bills are read on a Friday when the vast majority of MPs have a constituency day for surgeries and meetings, so Parliamentarians are normally scattered all over the country on a Friday. So if you were watching Parliament on TV (I hear some do!) or the news coverage, you would have seen empty benches barring the few speakers.
(As it happens, I was off sick on doctor’s orders, though had I not been, I’d have had the dilemma to choose between important constituency engagements, such as meeting people who have casework to raise with me, or being in Parliament to vote; that’s often a difficult choice to make and it’s a daft one to be forced into making so frequently).
On the previous occasion this Bill came to the floor of the Commons for debate, Liberal Democrat MPs Simon Hughes and Norman Baker have used a tactic of ‘talking out’ the Bill – meaning filibustering until the House runs out of time and the Bill falls, though – as you see – sometimes it comes back another day. This time, unusually, some old and rarely used rules were invoked to allow a vote to be forced.
All in all – not a very satisfactory way of doing business. MPs are there to be vote on legislation and to do work in their constituencies. Using Fridays like this forces them to choose. And having the progress of a bill depending on who can talk for longest or invoke the most obscure rule … well, full credit to Simon and Norman for doing all they could to block this legislation, but wouldn’t it be more sensible if we’d all been debating the bill on its merits (or rather lack of them!)?
I would prefer to see a change in the way Private Members Bills are done. They should be accorded proper debate on a normal sitting day. And if the Government says there is not enough time during the rest of the week – then perhaps if we a) had a government that stopped producing legislation in order to look active or sound tough and b) only spoke for as long as necessary rather than because they like the sound of their own voices – there would be plenty of time.
There are several MPs who pride themselves particularly on going in on a Friday and talking out any Bill that comes forward and I don’t really think it is right to use such tactics on a regular basis as a matter of normal business. Imagine if in your place of work decisions were simply made on the basis of whether or not someone could keep speaking until the end of a meeting? I don’t think people would stand for that for very long!
So full credit to Simon, Norman and the others for doing all they could in these exceptional circumstances to block this awful piece of legislation – but next time, surely, we should have more sensible rules in place. Gordon Brown is talking about being about substance and giving more power to Parliament. Let’s see how serious he and his colleagues turn out to be about the rules under which Parliament operates…
The Westminster Hour: 20 May
I’m on The Westminster Hour on Sunday (Radio 4, 10pm or if you miss the show you can listen again on their website).
Lynne Featherstone 