Category Archives: Blog

The Sustainable Communities Bill: what's it about?

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That’s the topic of my latest article, just uploaded to my website:

Have you ever felt like screaming ‘it isn’t fair’ when – regardless of the whole neighbourhood being up in arms – the Government runs roughshod over local peoples’ wishes and carry out its own wishes regardless?

Well, although it doesn’t have a sexy title, the Sustainable Communities Bill could help bring about a major change in the way we are governed so that in future local people can more often say, “hang on, you don’t have the power to do that.”

You can read the article in full here and also watch my colleague Julia Goldsworthy talking about the subject.

We Can Cut Crime

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This Lynne Featherstone MP with Nigel Scott and Cllr Ron Aitkenafternoon it was out campaigning in Wood Green as part of the Liberal Democrats’ We Can Cut Crime campaign.

When you have been in power for ten years like Labour have, you don’t really have much excuse for not getting the capacity of the prisons system worked out properly – nor for having a Home Office that is so badly run. What were all the Labour Home Secretaries doing when they should have been on the job?

With re-offending rates so high we will never make progress until those who are jailed for crimes can be changed from criminals into law-abiding members of society who pay tax, and not cost us our taxes because – remember – nearly everyone will get released from jail at some point or other. But when we do say we’re sending someone away for life it should mean that – no more of this nonsense of calling “life” a sentence that is in reality for only a few years. Life should mean life, with clear and transparent sentences everyone can follow.

More police too – paid for out of the money the Government insists on spending on ineffective ID cards. They should spend the billions chasing the guilty not tagging the innocent. Community punishments also – yes punishments, not soft options – to make sure that the non-dangerous criminal pays their dues – but in a constructive way.

It’s not rocket science!

And the blueprints are in our five-point plan on www.wecancutcrime.com.

Al Gore success!

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I Al Gorenote with great pleasure that the Government has announced that they are now going to send the DVD of Al Gore’s ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ to every secondary school.

Given that this was my suggestion in the Climate Change debate on 12th October 2006 (even praised in the debate by the Tory spokesperson in his closing remarks as a jolly good idea) and which I followed up by a letter from me to David Miliband – I am well-chuffed! Of course, I heard it on the news – not in reply to my missive!

You can still watch my own YouTube clip about Al Gore’s film here.

International development

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Spent half the day in a seminar about International Development. One of the key challenges is to improve cross-departmental working in government on development issues. The recent debate in Parliament about the export of a (very expensive) air traffic control system to Tanzania clearly indicated the pitfalls of one part of Government working in total contradiction to another part.

So whilst one part was busy with the supply of an over-sophisticated, over-priced military air traffic radar system to one of the very poorest countries in the world at a cost to it of £28 million for an air force of about 10 planes (although estimates varied up to 19), another part was busy saying, “this is a poor country that needs our financial help”. Left hand says: “here’s some money” and right hand says “here’s a big bill”. What we need is rather more coherence in policy making.

There’s a good summary of the current state of play in this scandal on the Guardian’s website.

Legislating letterboxes

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There’s A letter boxa petition on the Number 10 website that’s been doing the rounds amongst political activists (aka leaflet deliverers) in the last couple of days about the design of letterboxes.

Now if someone has been out delivering leaflets for political parties (or indeed other local community groups) the chances are they have tales of letterboxes that snap on your fingers, letterboxes that don’t protect you from the charging dog, “environmentally friendly” brushes that are meant to keep out draughts but just scrunch up anything stuck through the letterbox, letterboxes that aren’t there, and on and on. (Politics is so exciting and glamorous isn’t it?)

I’ve not signed it myself as being a good liberal (sorry!) I’m not quite convinced this is really a matter of central government legislation – it should more be a matter of Royal Mail and letterbox suppliers / sellers working harder together to raise standards (I mean, how hard is it to design a letterbox that works) and also it is up to us, the purchasers of letterboxes, to pick wisely. Maybe if all these methods are tried harder and fail then legislation could be a matter of last resort … but only last resort.

The serious point behind all this – apart from the one about dogs, fingers, blood and hospital visits that is – is that delivering literature through people’s letterboxes is a key part of political engagement – letting people know what their representatives are up to, soliciting feedback on views and so on. There is another area where current rules and practice really hinder that – and that’s the far too common references in property agreements banning people from displaying posters in their (flat) windows. That seems to me just a straight forward curtailment of freedom of expression at election times – and it’s hard to see why it is justified.

FTSE 100 companies: will they lead the way on carbon footprints?

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Having been talking to numerous people as I get myself up to speed and briefed on my new portfolio, it is clear that climate change is on everyone’s agenda.

One of issues at the moment is how many firms will follow the example of those like Marks & Spencer who have been path breakers in terms of taking their environmental impact and carbon footprint seriously.

Talking about these issues has given me an idea: why doesn’t the FT publish the carbon footprint of the companies in the FTSE 100? That would really set an example. Yes – I know most of them won’t have a clue what their footprint is – but that’s just the point. So I’ve punted this idea the FT’s way. I look forward to hearing back from him very soon. In fact – the FT could start a whole campaign on this. Leading the field.

Tanzania: another case of BAe corruption allegations

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Corruption is major news today. No – not (just) the second arrest of Lord Levy, but the opposition debate on the stinking deal involving BAe (the alleged ‘briber’); the Government (who issued an export license for a military air traffic radar control system for Tanzania) and Barclays Bank who loaned Tanzania the money.

Basic story – BAe sell Tanzania this radar system which is far too expensive and sophisticated for Tanzania’s real needs, and yet only covers one third of the country. Price tag: a hefty £28 million.

Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world and a country to whom we are pouring in aid. So is this a sensible deal?

Barclays Bank appears to give them a loan on concessionary rates – as a commercial one would have too high interest and break the criteria imposed by the Government on granting export licenses for arms and military radar etc.

This all broke wide-open when two middle-men owed up to having been bribed $12 million in a Swiss Bank to see this deal through. Clearly this all stinks and that was my first debate leading on International Development for the Liberal Democrats. My colleague Norman Lamb had done a lot of work on this in 2002, so good steps to follow in! You can read my speech in Hansard.

This was a Tory Opposition Day motion, very narrowly defined so as not to stray into even more murky territory of the Al Yamamah arms deal with Saudi Arabia on which the Labour Government intervened to stop the Serious Fraud Office investigating corruption. The Tories did not want this mentioned as they were hopelessly compromised as the deal was struck when they were in power – and there is also the matter of the financial relationship between one of the middlemen on the deal and the Conservative party.

Of course Labour said it was right to have granted the license to export the traffic control system – but it is quite clear that this was not a kosher deal. So – we wait for the Serious Fraud Office to pursue its investigation all the way.

Lobbying for Hornsey Central Hospital

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Off to the Haringey Primary Care Trust to meet its chair, Richard Sumray and Helen Brown. We (Richard Wilson, Lib Dem Health Spokesperson on Haringey Council and I) want a progress report on Hornsey Hospital, and what’s happening to clinics in Wood Green, on top-slicing, on the Government’s attitude towards District General Hospitals – and on and on.

On Hornsey Hospital it would seem that the bid is stuck on a technicality. We were assured that this was just technical and that the Health Department was looking to work it through. Our bigger interest is in what is going to be provided on site – and our 5 point prescription had a mixed reception. No – there was no need for more GPs – but yes there could be opening hours providing better service out of normal hours for local people. Good! Because thus far the GP contracts had delivered lots of dosh for doctors but not extra hours for local people.

As to the impact on pharmacists – we couldn’t manage to get them to promise that all would survive but we did manage to get a promise to supply all the local pharmacists with enough information early enough for them to bid or form a cooperative to bid for the new pharmacy.

We all agreed that it was vital to provide more public transport. Phew!

And in terms of consulting with GPs and local people we did manage to extract a ‘we can look at that’ when we put forward the need to ask far more widely what was wanted than just Haringey’s Area Assemblies. We suggested they do this through the GP practises and I think they agreed that it could be done when the consultation on the future of local Primary Care goes out. I suggested that could be a separate and special survey / piece of paper asking specifically about Hornsey Hospital.

So Lynne Featherstone MP at St Mary's School as part of National Story Telling Week– some progress I guess. I then had to leave Richard there to finish the meeting as I had to go and read a story to some of the children at St Mary’s for National Story Telling Week.

That was complete fun! I read a really ghastly tale of a boy who, to cut a long story short, watched so much television and ate so many crisps he ended up a crisp. And there was no happy ending. It was huge fun for me – certainly. I just hope the kids enjoyed it as much as I did.

Important meeting about our new secondary school

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Consultation is not Haringey Council’s strong suit and I was disappointed to say the least when I attended a (poorly publicised) public meeting to discuss the bids to run Haringey’s new secondary school and there were only six members of the public present.

Thankfully Councillor Engert, our local Lib Dem Education Spokesperson, with support from myself scored a mini victory and the Council have bowed to our pressure to organise a second meeting. This is to be held at 18:00 on Tuesday, February 6, at Alexandra Primary School in Western Road, N22 6UH. (For a map click here).

This bid process is a vital decision for our community. The new school will the biggest education investment in Haringey for a generation – so the local community must be right at the heart of the decision making process when it comes to the choice of who runs it. Obviously, I hope the Council will do a better job in letting local people know about this meeting, but I’m also publicising it too – such as with this blog entry! So please do pass the news on to other people – particularly anyone with primary school age kids.

If you won’t be able to make it there are more details online about the process, the bidders and how you can have your say on Haringey Council’s website.

Please feel free to copy me in on your comments – or make comments here on this blog – as I am interested to hear people’s opinions on the proposal.

Holocaust Memorial Day

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Holocaust Memorial Day and Sheila Peacock, one of the local Labour councillors in Haringey has organised the ceremonies this year at Bruce Castle. I may not see eye to eye with Sheila on virtually everything else, but on this she does an excellent job – and full credit to her.

It is such an important occasion – and the symbolism of the Holocaust as a focal point for all the evils that man perpetrates on man pulls us all together as one. You cannot but fail to be moved by listening to a survivor of the Holocaust tell of what is what like actually living through it. It doesn’t matter how many books I have read, films I have seen, newsreels witnessed: listening to someone who lived through the hell of the camps brings it home in a way that no other medium can deliver. And I have never been to a Holocaust ceremony where, in addition to remembering the Holocaust, there was not also a remembrance for all the genocides across the world. Today was no different and we also heard from survivors from Rwanda. Shame on the Muslim Council for refusing to attend these ceremonies.

Evening was off to the Westminster Hour. It’s been a radio fest this weekend. We romp through the troubled Home Office and gay adoption issues – as both of these will come back next week. I raised the issue of the debate on the sale of a radar system to Tanzania – an opposition day debate by the Tories. Nevertheless – hopefully this time the Serious Fraud Office will uncover the truth and be left to do so without Government intervention. The Tories have been oddly silent on the Saudi Arabian arms deal corruption investigation (though the original deal was done by them) – so perhaps their interest in Tanzania is designed to help distracted from the otherwise silent acquiescence at Labour blocking international corruption investigations.