I’ll be appearing again on The Westminster Hour on Radio 4, at 10pm this Sunday evening.
Category Archives: Blog
The Litvinenko murder
So – we now have a public suspect in the Litvinenko murder story and it looks like the Russians aren’t keen for him to be extradited. John Reid promised publicly from the Despatch Box of the House of Commons when I questioned him that he would pursue this without fear or favour. So – I expect diplomatic relations to become extremely strained as he pushed the Russians and keeps his word!
Any Questions (UPDATED)
Last stop of the day is Radio 4’s Any Questions in Woodcote. (If you missed the show you can listen again for a week on the BBC website). They get you down there about 6pm to have dinner with the other guests, Jonathan Dimbleby and the producer. It is always very pleasant – but being before the show also slightly tense. My co-panellists are Tim Yeo (Tory), Chair of the Environment Select Committee, John Cruddas (Labour) and would be deputy leader candidate and George Pasco Watson of the Sun.
We all troop off to the Langtree School (who are great hosts) and into the hall. It was a lively audience and actually great fun. Obviously if you are on you scan the news all week to make sure you have some idea of what might come up. I predicted correctly on releasing paedophiles through lack of prison spaces; gay adoptions and the Catholic Church; British Summertime. But I didn’t plan on the BA threatened strike or size double zero models and London Fashion Week. But it was fine – and being relatively near I was home by 11pm.
UPDATE: Iain Dale’s take on my appearance is here.
Salt Awareness Week
It’s Salt Awareness Week this week. I put toooooooo much salt in and on my food. My blood pressure is borderline high (that’s my job I reckon). But blood pressure is a silent killer – and so I am off to my local hospital, The Whittington, to visit the cardiac department. They say about two thirds of us walk around not knowing that we have high blood pressure – and the ward I am visiting, the Montuschi ward, is where we will end up if we continue to take no notice of health warnings we are told.
The 
Whittington has kindly arranged for me to meet the whole team taking care of patients who suffer from heart failure, attack or other heart issues. Introducing me to everyone was Dr David Patterson, who is the consultant cardiologist. I met the Head of Catering, Cecil Douglas, who has virtually banished salt from hospital food – or at least got the daily intake for patients below the 6gm max figure. He has a job and a half: to get ill people to eat something and yet give them good nutritious food that won’t cause more health problems. And yes – there are a small number of remarks about blandness, but a hospital must be an example and they give you some education in nutrition whilst you are there. The problems really are when you go home and just cook with and/or and add salt for the rest of your life.
I learned something today in particular – that the Afro-Caribbean population is even more vulnerable to these diseases and that pickles and piccalilli carries huge doses of salt.
I also met one of my constituents who happened to be there and after talking to him what concerned me is that there is seemingly no real support package for when he returns home. He is elderly with a serious heart condition – can barely move his hands through arthritis – so how is he going to cook for himself, let alone worry about things like salt content?
Anyway – a very big congratulation to the Whittington with their Charter Mark for their cardiology department’s high levels of patient care and service provision. Very impressive!
Then I meet with David Sloman, the hospital’s Chief Executive, for my two monthly ‘chat’. I have been concerned over the Government’s outrageous cash grab in terms of top-slicing from budgets of health trusts etc – thus punishing those who have maintained their budgets properly. The promise is that after three years this ‘loan’ will be returned. Pigs might fly! But I have also been worried about the Government’s aversion to District General Hospitals – which the Whittington is. Of course we must provide the very best specialist hospitals giving the best care in the world for diseases – but that is not the staple diet of need. What the Government ignores is the fact that people want their services locally – including a general hospital that can deliver the medical treatments near their homes.
Straight onto surgery at Jacksons Lane – except I get a call from Ed (my head of office) to say that having arrived at Jacksons Lane they have discovered it is closed because of building works – and no one has told us. But quick thinking Ed gets Highgate Library to let me do surgery there. Thank you Highgate Library!
Police stations: Labour close one a week
Given all the campaigning I’ve been doing for police stations in Haringey, this statistic particularly caught my eye.
So typical of Labour – talk tough for the cheap news headlines, but fail to provide the quality service on the ground.
Hear me on Any Questions
Tomorrow (Friday) I’m off to Reading for Radio 4’s Any Questions. It’ll be broadcast at 8pm, but if you miss it you can listen again on the BBC’s website.
Iraq: find out more
A footnote to my posting about yesterday’s debate in Parliament: there’s much more detail on the Liberal Democrat proposals for withdrawing British troops on the Liberal Democrat website.
Hornsey Hospital: protesters go to Number Ten
Rush 
to Downing Street to meet three very, very old ladies who have come to present a petition to Patricia Hewitt via No 10! The Prayer (wording) on the petition reads:
We the undersigned condemn: the neglect of Hornsey Hospital and its site; the neglect of older peoples’ services in Haringey; the failure to inform and consult with local people. We the undersigned demand that services promised for older people at Hornsey Central are provided at the site with no sell-off of NHS property.
It is signed by over 500 signatories – but there could have been many, many more. I myself have met with both local and London-wide NHS officials to try to ensure that the proceeds from the sale of part of the site go back into the redevelopment of the site – as despite our protests I fear they are steamrollering through the sale of the land.
The three ladies were fantastic. I just hope I am like that in my advanced years. Hetty Bower is 101 years old, Violet Reiners was born in 1915 and Alison Flora Selford was born in 1920. I met them, and Janet Shaprio (who organised all of this) outside the railings at Downing Street. So we went through security. The police and guards were all soooo nice to us and we took lots of photos before knocking on the door of No 10. Sadly, T Blair didn’t open it and invite us in for tea! I thought how lovely it would have been if he had! Although I think he might have got the wrong end of our tongues if he had. The trio of ladies may have been old in years – but vigorous of conviction they definitely were. It was a joy to meet them.
Now I must pursue a request in the covering letter from Janet Shapiro to ask for a debate in the House of Commons on recent changes in NHS funding, and in particular the involvement of private partners. So that will go to Patricia Hewitt – and I will try in Business Questions next week to catch Mr Speaker’s eye to also ask for that same debate!
The Iraq debate
The afternoon’s debate was ‘Iraq and the wider Middle East’. Blair didn’t lead on this and wasn’t even in Parliament for the debate. He should have been there and should have spoken. The first debate in government time for four years – and a Prime Minister who was only too keen to come to the Chamber when he wanted to persuade us into war (it worked on the Tories, but not on the Liberal Democrats) suddenly doesn’t have time to debate after all.
Ming was genuinely awewome. I haven’t seen him give such a bravura speech since I came to Parliament. It is his strong suit – so it was so impressive. This was acknowledged by all sides.
The Liberal Democrats put forward a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq. Yes – withdrawal with outline dates. Our premise is that without a deadline (based on what might be realised and pragmatic) there will never be a ‘right’ moment and now we have undoubtedly become part of the problem not the solution. We are making things worse now – not better.
Well – this proposal certainly upset the Tories (who voted for the war but are now saying they were duped by Tony; I guess they won’t be running their next election campaign based on a “you can trust our judgement” platform!). How can you name a date they asked. Supposing things aren’t quiet when you get to the date? We think sometimes you have to make things happen. Lib Dems voted against the war – but once there – we felt we had to support the troops etc. But once the democratic(ish) elections were held, then there had to be a plan to withdraw. Now is the right time to set a progam of withdrawal in place – and that’s what we set out today, and what Ming explained in his latest online broadcast:
The Doha trade talks: my first question time
Today was the first International Development Questions since I’ve taken over as the Liberal Democrats’ Shadow Secretary of State for International Development. The ways the questions work is that there is a list of questions that will be orally asked of the International Development Secretary of State or his Ministers and they are published on what is called the Order Paper. We precede Prime Ministers’ Questions and have half an hour for questions and answers.
Each question on the Order Paper is answered by the Minister or Secretary – and then the author of the oral question can ask one supplementary, and also other people can join in. As Shadow Secretary of State – I get called by Mr Speaker to chip in on any question on the Order Paper that I choose – but with such a time limit it would be risky not to go on one of the first three questions as it can be quite a long time on one question if there are a lot of people standing to catch Mr Speaker’s eye.
I decided to come in on Question 3 on the Doha Trade talks:
Lynne Featherstone (Hornsey & Wood Green, Liberal Democrat)
There have recently been warm words from Europe and America about reinvigorating the Doha talks, but I am not convinced that there is any real political will behind that. It was certainly not at the top of the agenda of the President’s “State of the Union” speech last night. What new and different steps has the Secretary of State taken recently to break the inertia and take advantage of the different political landscape that now exists in the American Congress?Mr. Thomas
I congratulate the hon. Lady on her appointment as shadow Secretary of State for International Development. Let me repeat what I have said in response to earlier questions. The EC representative, Peter Mandelson, has taken part in constructive discussions, as did my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on his visit to the United States just before Christmas. My right hon. Friends the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry held useful and productive discussions with their Indian counterparts last week, and we continue to talk to our allies in Europe with the aim of advancing the EC’s position further.There are signs of progress, but we still have some way to go. Obviously we need to do more to lock down the deal which, as I think is recognised by Members in all parts of the House, is fundamental if developing countries are to make the progress that we all want in order to achieve the millennium development goals.
We are also after the Government over the BAe scandal (dropping of corruption inquiry by Labour). Hilary Benn is the ministerial champion for combatting international corruption. So we asked him whether he had been consulted by the Government over their decision to drop the prosecution. No – said Hilary – they hadn’t consulted him and that was OK because they did not need to. Now if I were Hilary I would be livid to not be consulted. We (my colleague Martin Horwood more accurately) were then hoping to get called in PMQs that followed so that he could then ask Tony Blair why he hadn’t consulted his champion for combatting corruption – but sadly – Mr Speaker again failed to call a single LibDem on a supplementary. He hasn’t called one this year!
Lynne Featherstone 