Matt Davies – who has been my colleague on Haringey Council for the past four years (he’s one of the Lib Dem councillors for Fortis Green) – is running the London marathon to raise money for Amnesty – a very good cause, especially in these current times.
You can help his fundraising at www.justgiving.com/matt4amnesty
Give live interview to LBC on London Underground’s move towards introducing the technology that will allow mobile phones on the tube.
I remember arguing with Tim O’Toole (MD London Underground for Transport for London) when I was still on the London Assembly – and we then came out against them as he could not reassure me about the risks involved following the Madrid bomb – which was set off by a mobile phone. And I had a sneaky suspicion that the risk might be being minimised befause of the very attractive revenue stream that accompanies mobile phones.
However, time has passed. I am more reassured than I was – and on balance the benefits of being contactable during an emergency or even if scared outweigh the fears. Also – as we now know – the Madrid bomb was set off by the timing device – and so didn’t need a signal anyway.
On a personal note however, those bloody ringtones. Now – there really will be no hiding place.
Saturday / Sunday / Monday – a blur and a whirl of canvassing and stuffing envelopes.
I am going out each time with a different ward – good to be helping each team in turn (and to visit all the different parts of my constituency) – but it’s also a good way to get an overall feel of how it’s going.
Labour supporters clearly very demoralised – and Blair’s election visit to Haringey doesn’t seem to have helped. After all, the disillusioned Labour voters who swung to vote for me last year want to see Blair gone – so reminding people that a vote for Labour is a vote for Blair isn’t really a vote winner for them!
A woman was found dead in a flat in Wood Green. She had died more than two years earlier. The television was still on. Her shopping was at her side. Apart from the Brit media on this – interestingly – the Australian and Italian media are very het up about it. I had a word with an Italian TV station and asked them why this had become such a huge story in Italy. It’s because it is unimaginable in Italy that you wouldn’t a) know your neighbour and b) not be inquisitive about a flat that had no comings or goings. The Italian nation is agog at our apparent lack of community mindedness.
And where was everybody? It’s tragic that there were no friends or family there. There should have been a number of authorities involved in Joyce Vincent’s life. Someone should have been asking why the part of her rent not paid by housing benefit wasn’t paid. Where were social services? How did this poor lady fall through the safety net? This case shows the need for a human checking process.
Apparently Ms Vincent was a victim of domestic violence and, who knows, maybe she didn’t want people to know where she was and had discouraged contact from her family. She also lived in an area with quite high population turnover.
Nevertheless this is a reminder to all of us all that we should look out for our neighbours – but, as the interviews with her neighbours show, this is much easier said then done. At what point do you start worrying if you don’t see your neighbour? What do you do when you have started worrying? And so on.
Meanwhile, the answer to my Parliamentary Question on the ethnic breakdown of those people who have been arrested but not charged or cautioned – i.e. were innocent – has come back showing that 24% are from ethnic minorities. The black and Asian population of the UK as a whole is less than 8%. (The figures are based on the make-up of the DNA samples in the national DNA database as these arrests are the basic source of DNA in the database).
So what on earth is going on? My guess (although I will obviously await for the outcome of the investigation into these figures that I am calling for) is that disproportionality is alive and well; that is, where there is discretion in the use of police powers, they are disproportionately used against those from ethnic minorities.
What these figures demonstrate quite clearly to me is that disproportionate numbers of black and ethnic minority members are being wrongly arrested. They are innocent. This is wrong. This is discrimination. Whilst a lot of work has gone on to improve training for police in stop and search etc – it is clearly not working.
And Charles Clarke is adding more and more discretionary powers to the police to administer summary justice – let alone the carrying of ID cards in due course. All of which will make these problems even worse.
Two new articles out today: one on London’s workforce and one on the big local issue which is blowing up – the future of Blanche Nevile school. It’s a great school for deaf children, but is now threatened with closure. The Ham and High has also now picked up on the story.
Up to Lib Dem Head Quarters in Cowley Street. As spokesperson for London I set out the party’s ambitions to make real gains on May 4 and to launch our new London document ‘Empowering Local Communities’. It’s a best practise guide to what Liberal Democrat councils do in London so that people can see what you get when you vote for a LibDem council.
Our new Deputy leader Vince Cable and Lib Dem council leaders and Sarah Ludford, LibDem MEP for London, were also there. I quite like chairing launches. I am generally optimistic and enthusiastic – so I guess it’s a good idea for me to front these occasions.
The atmosphere in the room was very upbeat. Our expectation is that we will win more votes, more councillors and more councils! And judging by our canvassing – that is the way it is going!
Off to demonstrate against Muswell Hill Odeon’s decision to stop their shows for older people. Tea and biscuits and a film for three quid. Much loved by local and non-locals – both as a cultural pastime and as a Tuesday morning social event.
A crowd had gathered. The media were there. The placards were in place. And the woman who organised the protest and had been the leader on this, Jill Church, gave a speech and announced that the management had had a change of heart and now, although the price would go up in one steep jump – the films would go on. Which is great in terms of the continuation of a really valued local service and participation by cinema and population – but it is a huge hike in one go (albeit it had been held at three pounds over the last three years). A gentle rise each year might have been more manageable. It’s far too easy for those of us who can afford an extra £1.50 to overlook what it is like to be a pensioner on a fixed income with council tax, gas prices and now weekly entertainment going up in great lumps of increases.
I have arranged a meeting with the Minister (except the Minister can’t be there) for Schools for the governors of Fortismere. In the Building Schools for the Future funding round Fortismere has come off very poorly. Something like one and a half million pounds for the next ten years or so. Given their 6th form block is falling down and several of the buildings look like post war prefabs this is clearly a major issue.
I think the way the criteria and weighting are judged mitigates against a school like Fortismere. One of the criteria is free school meals, another is number of children passing at Key Stages and lastly the condition of the buildings. Well Fortismere probably does ok on the first two – and fails on the last. But my guess is that the first two criteria carry most of the points to be awarded. Deprivation generally is a reasonable measure for the Government to judge by – but in this case when the buildings are in serious, serious trouble.
So the object of the meeting is to beg for extra funding to right the unintended consequence of the way the money was divvied up.
Learn of council plans to close Blanche Nevile school for deaf children. Completely outraged. This school is described by the Department of Education as ‘a model of best practise’.
Campaign day – mind you – now every day is campaign day.
Ed Davey MP came to Haringey this morning to rally the troops. No pressure or anything – but the message that election victories in Haringey will send out – not just in London but to every Labour heartland – will strike fear in their hearts.
Moreover – if we gain overall control in Southwark and Lambeth, hold what we have got – and also make dramatic progress in places like Lewisham, Camden and Brent – then the sky’s the limit in Labour seats next General Election too.
The Tories admit they’re going to do badly this time and they probably won’t even win the next General Election. New leader David Cameron has already told his party that they have a “huge mountain to climb”. But Labour are also playing the old trick of downplaying their hand; so that anything they do win can be claimed as a great triumph. Not if we can help it! In key boroughs and wards across London our activists are pulling out all the stops to make sure that we win those extra votes and extra seats to make the difference.
After we have all been suitably motivated – I go off with a canvassing gang to Noel Park ward. Door knocking yields a friendly feel towards us and a real fed-upness with Labour’s fading dynasty. All to play for. A quick break and then on to canvas in Fortis Green ward. This is held territory – and the going is good. The heavens opened for the last two hours – which seems to happen often when I go out canvassing. It is my personal effort to remove the need for the hose pipe ban!
Morning trip to Camden to meet LibDem leader Keith Moffit and John Lefley and Chris Naylor for photo ops to shine a light on the proposed development at Camden Tube. We must fight to preserve the old buildings, the Electric and the market. Yes – we need a super-dooper tube and redevelopment – but not to demolish the good along with the bad. Cleaning up Camden doesn’t have to mean losing the essence of its past with some ghastly developer’s nightmare that is designed to make money for the developer and not necessarily for the benefit of the local community.
I spend lunchtime with another womens’ network meeting – it’s for local women who have set up their own businesses. It is an interesting lunch and I come away reassured that women, as ever, make the world go around. Followed by a long, long surgery. Get home around 7pm to finish my emails and paper work.
Lynne Featherstone 