Category Archives: Blog

A working Sunday

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It’s a workday Sunday starting with a Campaign Team meeting and taking of lots of photos for the elections on May 4th. Someone has picked up a Labour leaflet from Hornsey and from Stroud Green. Labour just lie in their leaflets now. I read with interest that we voted against the policing budget. Just complete rubbish. In fact we specifically voted for the police budget. But hey – let’s not let truth get in the way of Labour’s sleaze. They cheat, lie and take dodgy loans. People on the doorstep are pretty fed up with Labour’s duplicity – and lying in their leaflets will just confirm Labour supporters worst fears. Add this to the millions they have thrown away and tried to cover up over their Tech Refresh project – and hopefully Lib Dems will make really substantial gains on May 4 – even to taking the Council!

Work all day on a number of speeches for next week, prep for committee and then out canvassing in Stroud Green with the team there. Seems to be going very well here. Despite the rain – it’s really a pleasure to be out and about meeting people and discussing what matters to them.

Local elections in the air

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Lunchtime canvassing in Noel Park. Seems pretty friendly to me. Can’t help but notice that the grass has been cut and tended in Vincent Square. Funnily enough – has been overgrown for ever – but just before local elections nicely spruced up!

Am popping into the West Indian Centre to speak at 7pm on the achievements of British Caribbeans – this all working towards next year’s celebration of the 200th anniversary of freedom from slavery. No on is there yet when I arrive except the steel band – who are practising and really good. I stay for about half an hour – but as I have to be at the next engagement at 8pm, I chat to all who are there – but have to leave without giving my speech.

Labour and the environment

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So – Labour are backing away from setting any green targets for business. Surprise, surprise. We will see on Tuesday when their much vaunted Climate Change Review is published just how genuine their green credentials really are.

Boxing in Haringey

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Surgery as usual in the morning. (If you are a new reader and wondering – no, I’m not a doctor in my spare time! This is when I have a series of meetings with residents who raise their individual issues with me. Normally it’s a particular problem they need help with, but also too there are people who want to meet me to raise a wider issue or concern).

This is followed by meeting with the Chief Executive of the Whittington, David Sloman. I am dreading hearing that the ruthless job-letting next door at the Royal Free is to be repeated at the Whittington. But so far so good…

I rush on to open World Tuberculosis event – which is a really good event. TB used to stalk our communities before the war. In fact my mother’s fiancé died of it. Nowadays it is curable and treatable – but back then it was touch and go. Clearly, as I exist, my mother met and married someone else – and as time went on TB became a thing of the past.

But now it is rearing its ugly head again, particularly in London – and particularly among communities where deprivation is high and among vulnerable people who have HIV/AIDS, cancer, alcoholism, etc. I remember when I was on the Health Committee at the London Assembly we looked into the rise of TB in London. The main findings then were that people, once they felt better and were back out in the community, stopped taking their medication before they should have. Anyway – the good news in Haringey and Enfield, is that treatment is free and that there are really good and committed teams working in the hospitals and the communities together to tackle this rising problem.

I have had to give my speech to the TB event in evening dress as I have to literally run off as soon as I finish speaking to what is one of my most favourite events of the year. This is the Annual Haringey Amateur Boxing Match where the Haringey Boxers fight an invited club or organisation at a proper charity dinner where funds are raised to continue funding the boxing club. It was originally set up by Stephen James (two police commanders of Haringey ago). He is still involved and the two commanders since, Stephen Bloomfield and now Simon O’Brien are also carrying on the enthusiasm and commitment.

I know- boxing has a bad name. But this is not about two men slugging it out in 15 rounds without head protection. This is well trained, well-monitored, well-refereed young people who fight three 3 minute rounds with proper head gear and so on. And the work done with kids from the most deprived areas gives a great pathway out of street life.

Before the dinner kicks off – Simon O’Brien and I go through to the boxers dressing rooms for photographs – and they give me boxing gloves to put on and pose as if I am fighting. Not sure about political correctness! But I am a fan of this type of boxing. I enjoy it. I think it does a lot of good in the communities that have the most challenges. The police have done a fantastic job with this initiative – and I understand that there are around five other boroughs starting or looking to start similar activities.

The dinner is served – and then it is on with the show. They sure come out fighting and the energy and the talent and skill are extraordinary. The fifth contest does make my jaw drop open as it is two girls fighting. I know – it’s an equal world – but it was the first time I had seen girls fight (outside of Million Dollar Baby – and that hardly had a happy ending!). They were as energetic and tough as the boys – and it really is an equality that I hadn’t expected.

I presented two of the winners with there trophies. Up close after a bout – you can see the exertion in the buckets of sweat and depth of chest heaving. Quite an extraordinary sport.

Clause 35 – common sense on hacking

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Police and Justice Bill committee in the morning. Bill committee all afternoon. I tried to get some oversight (i.e. safeguards) into the latest extension of the surveillance society. The Bill would mean air flight passenger lists being given to the police even with no crime committed – but Hazel was stony ground as per usual. Ms Blears rarely gives an inch – and even when we score – the Government won’t admit it. They simply table their own version of our or the Tory amendments.

But a small victory. Clause 35 is about computer hacking. The way it was written, it would mean that IT companies couldn’t carry out their own hacking tests on their own computers, because that would be hacking. And other such silly things! (More details on The Register).

We’d tabled an amendment to deal with this. I now notice that we have a new Government amendment which does the same thing. Imitation is the best form of flattery!

The Budget

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Trolling into work and looking forward to the day’s entertainment – the Budget – a phone call shattered my plans. The Press Office asked if I would cover the BBC panels at 11.30 and again at 2.00 on the Budget.

So – arriving at work – I give apologies to Home Affairs team meeting and study for about an hour before going over to Millbank. My co-panellists are Alan Milburn and Michael Gove. David Dimbleby is the master of ceremonies and as they usher Bill Morris out, we are ushered in and miked up. You get very little time to make your points thought the second session was a bit longer.

The key issues for me are that Brown ducked taking action to tackle the ever-growing inequality in our society – which is bad for all of us. (Much more detail in my conference speech of a few weeks ago).

No action either for pensioners, and worse – he took away the £200 rebate they got last year on Council Tax. ‘Scuse my cynicism – but last year’s rebate was just before a General Election. And now it is over, the money is cut! This year fuel costs are rocketing and pensioners on fixed incomes unable to cope with all the rises – including Council Tax – yet the £200 was cut.

Alan Milburn went first – then Michael Gove – and they both were trying to out-green each other. Which really got my goat – because quite frankly they haven’t got much of a genuine green credential to rub together. David Cameron’s green clothes are a bit like the emperor – riding a bike does not make up for voting against things like the climate-change levy or talking out the new climate change private members’ bill every Friday. And Brown’s green bits of the budget are peanuts in terms of what is needed. Welcome the rise in car vehicle license for worst polluting cars – but please – nothing at all on air travel. All the good I (or you) do in a whole year by turning off lights, or computers on standby, using less heat and so on and so on – are all nothing compared to a single air flight!

In the evening I go to what will probably be my last Race Equality Joint Consultative Committee at Haringey Council. (I step down as a councillor on May 4th). I worry about the Council’s commitment to what should be one of the most important forums for Haringey. This committee only meets about twice a year and although they are meant to meet in other forms – the feeling I got was that there was no leadership from the (Labour) Council Leader on this at all.

The Education Bill

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Being lobbied about ethical business behaviourLobbied today by Rozie and Sam – two 16-year-olds from Highgate Wood School. They are taking up the ActionAid campaign to make businesses behave more ethically – I agree! Will take further to ActionAid about what I can do in Parliament on the issue.

In committee today on the Police and Justice Bill. We fought hard to stop the Home Secretary being able to intervene directly on police forces or police authorities without so much as a by your leave or any objective criteria. But Ms Blears (Labour minister) batted all away. Labour want power for the Home Secretary to dive into anything that takes his fancy police wise regardless of anyone else. Hardly the new localism, saying all power to the Home Secretary!

When I dared to suggest that Labour didn’t like bad headlines about crime – and obviously wanted these powers so they could posture and claim they were acting swiftly when things went wrong – Ms Blears savaged me and the Lib Dems. Unwarranted attacks and untrue as usual – it’s a Labour mantra – but sadly for them we also support tackling anti-social behaviour despite their wish that we didn’t. Anyway – stung by the multi-attack aspersions on our record – I pointed out to Hazel that a recent example of Labour’s sensitivity to a bad headline was this very week when a bad headline about Labour sleazy loans had meant the very next day the Minister came to the House and said they were going to put through legislation in a current in process Electoral Bill to make loans declarable! Well – to a man and woman- they were audibly very cross. Their problem – probably one that comes with power – is they can dish it but they can’t take it

Stumble out of committee at 7pm and go straight into chairing an education debate on Labour’s Education Bill. There’s a lawyer from Matrix Chambers (yes – of Cherie Booth fame) who gives an absolutely riveting insight into what lies beneath many of the Academies that we are all having to have. It’s quite sinister really. They are exempt from virtually all the checks, criteria and balances applied to other schools. That is why you are seeing some being ‘bought’ for religious proletysing. Really, really scary.

Melian Mansfield, Chair of CASE and organiser of the event, also spoke. She was clearly absolutely resolute in her determination that we should understand why it was so important to try and defeat the Bill (not much hope with the Tories supporting it – but thank goodness am on the side of the angels in this one – the Bill stinks).

She put a good case and introduced seven people who all gave very short – but my goodness interesting and informed points of view – on the Bill. They ranged from the concerns over ‘sponsors’ such as Nestle – and how undue influence would inevitably be brought to bear – through to the lack of parent voice in the new structures and yet – from another contributor – how much was to be landed on parents’ shoulders in terms of responsibility and punishment. There was a wealth of ammunition here to fight the Bill and put amendments down at committee stage. So I invited them all to send short briefs and potential amendments to Sarah Teather who leads for us on education.

As far as my own views go – the Bill is all about structures and will do nothing to raise standards. When, when, when will the Government learn that resource needs to go into the processes to add quality? We still have 180 kids without a secondary place in Haringey. So much for choice. As for his Bill – it’s not a great reforming Bill as Blair would have it. It simply reforms ownership.

Labour dodges public on Alexandra Palace

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Speech to Haringey Community Empowerment Network (HARCEN) this lunchtime. HARCEN is a Government-funded and last time I was here was to hand out money awarded to various voluntary and other community groups to help them develop in a variety of ways. This time I am there to speak about ‘building a local enterprise economy’. Given the needs in Haringey, there is no better empowerment than employment – and self-employment is a pretty good pathway.

Straight into Parliament for Home Office questions – where Nick Clegg, the new Lib Dem Shadow Home Secretary, tackles the Government proposals to go back to the voucher system for asylum seekers all over again. It caused a big stink last time they tried devaluing human beings this way – and we are there to make sure that they are exposed again. They were livid – and of course they said we were wrong – these vouchers weren’t like those vouchers. Yeah right!

Spent rest of day preparing for committee stage of a bill tomorrow.

Local major issue is the looming sell off of Ally Pally. And as ever – democracy in Haringey is done Labour style!

Imagine the scene. A group of residents want to lobby Haringey Council about the plans to hand over Alexandra Palace to the Firoka group.

What does Labour do? They say, no – you can’t lobby the full council meeting, you must go to the Palace Board meeting. And when is the next Board meeting they can go to … not until after the decision will have been made about whether to give Firoka the site!

You can have your say, but only when it’s too late with Haringey Labour!

Iraq march

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Off to the Stop the War march today. Meet my troops at Highgate Station and link up with Muswell Hill group there. We get to Charing Cross and walk down together to the assembly point at which we part company to join the march and wait, corralled in line for the march to begin. There is a good turn-out – around 15,000 I hear later on the news – to mark the third anniversary of going to war.

In Iraq the British and American troops are like a red rag to a bull. We are seen by a section of the population as an occupying force. We are part of the problem not the solution. Let’s listen to the people and sort out a date and am exit strategy. If there is no date and no plan – it won’t happen.

Citizens Advice Bureau in Haringey

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Early meeting with the head of the local CAB. The Citizens Advice Bureau is such a vital resource for this borough and I learn that Haringey Council wants to squeeze them down to two outlets – Tottenham and Wood Green. Must fight to retain the one in the west. Two to one is probably the right ratio in placement – but to take away the CAB entirely from the west of the borough would be wrong as there is so much need there too. The CAB are committed to staying in the west as well- but they are so overloaded with work and under-funded in terms of human resource. We exchange views on a whole range of issues – as people come to my surgery and to them – and often we refer to each other. The queue outside is already as long as you can imagine – and people often have to wait hours and hours. So – how to attract more resource for the CAB?

Onto Hornsey School for Girls. What a treat this was. To spend a couple of hours talking to the senior girls – the Head Girl and her deputies and four from the elected school council. Bright and interesting and interested. We range over the whole gamut from lack of facilities for young people (who are just thought of as trouble if they hang around – but they have nowhere to go), to behaviour out of school, to what they think of politics and so on and so on. I invite all of them and any other pupil of sixth form who is interested to come up to Parliament and to come for work experience.

Hornsey High is a very interesting school because it does not take from a catchment around the school itself – it takes from the whole borough and consequently only a few girls come from nearby. The school’s ethnic mix is striking – 92% black and ethnic minorities and 8% white. We have an interesting conversation in which I am told that drink and drugs problems happen much more at the parties that the white girls have/go to than those the black girls go to or have. So much for stereotypes!

It is clear that the Education Bill, which passed its second reading, finds no favour. Firstly the girls are angry that they were not consulted – nor the staff – and I suggest that I put down a Parliamentary Question to find out who was consulted. It is an important issue as the Bill will mean the school taking on extra burdens currently borne by the Local Education Authority.

The Bill is all about structures rather than resourcing quality processes – which is my new mantra as to why everything has gone wrong everywhere. Anyway – a really interesting time and enjoyable.

Then it is off to surgery at Hornsey Library followed by session at my constituency office. Also today – latest newspaper column is out, about the future of police stations.