Category Archives: Blog

Muswell Hill police station and the Wood Green kiosk

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Had meeting with Sir Ian Blair to discuss a number of issues around policing. The number one for us is the possibility that our police stations in Haringey may be ‘reorganised’ as they are not ‘fit for purpose’.

So I use the opportunity to get assurances that nothing will close (having spent so many years campaigning to get the front counter open at Muswell Hill) before equal or better alternatives are put in place.

Sir Ian said he would like to know what people think – so I am doing my best to find out for him! I suggested a survey – and he immediately suggested a meeting between myself, himself, our local Commander Simon O’Brian and someone from Met Estates to establish their ‘vision’ first.

Of course “equal or better alternative” can mean a lot of different things to different people; for example, if someone believes in heavily centralised services a few super-police stations, they could say that means axing the local stations is ok as the alternative is – they would say – better. Now, that’s not a view I’d agree with – policing works best when it is based in the local community. So – we need to keep the pressure up despite this assurance. “Equal or better” must mean local policing, locally delivered. So – that means a petition amongst other things. (You can get a petition form from my main website).

I also tackled him about the police kiosk in Wood Green which was a great idea putting police on the street right at the crucial spot – but it was hardly ever open. And unless it was manned, and reliable – people would never feel confident to rely on it. Now it faces being demolished. It would be much better to keep it – and put it to full use. Sir Ian didn’t know about it but has promised to investigate. (More details on that on my main website too).

And some good news on another subject – I have been nominated for a New Statesman 2006 New Media Award in the “Elected representative” category.

Police and Justice Bill

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Monday was the second reading of the Police and Justice Bill on which I am leading. The Bill is one of those typical Labour efforts which has a number of sensible proposals combined with some hideous ones. And as ever – the overall trend is to centralise power over the police and police authorities directly into the hands of Charles Clark as Home Secretary. Bet they’d never have supported a Bill that put direct intervention in how the police did their work straight into the hands of Michael Howard!

Someone sent me a comment after the debate complaining that I read from a script during it. So – for the avoidance of confusion – all the frontbenchers from all three parties who make speeches of around half an hour or more in opening statement on the Bill worked from written speeches. The difference is – I wrote my own – whereas I am pretty sure that Charles Clark’s is prepared for him – and I don’t know if Nick Herbert who lead for the Tories wrote his or not. The bit that cheeses me off is the other two have a Despatch Box to lay their papers on – but I have to work in mid-air!

As frontbench spokesperson dealing with this debate – my prime duty as I see it is to get written into the record the issues of concern with the Bill and to lay down our marker for the Committee, Report and Third Reading to come – the battleground. Whilst we all add a bit of speechifying – that is the purpose. Backbench speeches vary more – in that they are generally on a particular constituency issue or particular political point – rather than having to cover the whole extent of the Bill and generally much shorter so that members who want to speak in a debate can get called within the allotted time.

You can read the speech in Hansard.

As you can see – I call the Bill ‘pernicious’ and ‘sneaky’ because it is another one of Labour’s ‘abolition of Parliament’ efforts. Outside of the power grab for the Home Secretary, the extension of surveillance of the innocent, the removal of protection for prisoners from Human Rights abuse and so on – it also has an extensive section on extradition.

Currently, and arising from hasty moves during the post-9/11 debates, the USA can extract one of their citizens from our shores and only have to prove that the person is the person they want. However, if we want to extract one of our citizens from their shores – we have to give prima facie evidence to prove that the person is guilty of the offence for which we are seeking extradition. To add insult to injury – whereas we brought that law into force by statute – the Americans never even ratified their end. So we are voluntarily complying with this unequal legislation. Moreover – it was brought into being for terrorism emergency use – but now the USA is using it for much else. So the Committee stage of the Bill will offer a good opportunity to properly debate this lopsided state of affairs – and ask why we’re letting the Americans do things here they won’t let us do over there.

Also today – the first wave of Ming’s shadow cabinet was announced Monday – and Chris Huhne gets the Environment portfolio – which is fantastic! An eco-economist – this will really give this portfolio the strength and importance it needs. Climate change is one of the biggest dangers threatening us. Nick Clegg gets Home Affairs (and so – if I stay in the Home Affairs team – my new boss).

Ming Campbell's conference speech

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Ming’s speech is the big event of the day.

It was, once again, motivating and uplifting and he started with a really good line. He said, “For those of you don’t expect me to be here too long, I have a worrying statistic for you. The previous Ming dynasty lasted for 276 years”!

Got back to London around 8.30pm and have to write speech for tomorrow’s second reading of the Police Justice Bill – and that’s a whole ‘nother story.

Spring conference in Harrogate

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Of course the big debate was the Royal Mail/Post Office debate. It passed. It had been radically altered since the last conference when it was defeated and sent back to the drawing board. I had voted against it then. But this time it was better. 51% remaining in state ownership, worker participation and shares and for me the real clincher. It safeguarded the universal postal service and allows us to reopen lots of the post offices that Labour have closed.

And I have to say – having carried out a postal service survey a little while ago which I am currently analysing the responses – we got 6,000 responses and still rising. Many of these were complaints. To be fair to Royal Mail, it has offered and is currently addressing the casework I have given them. However, it is very clear – that this service is malfunctioning and now that competition in the market place has arrived from the continent it will be do or die. This is a radical Liberal Democrat solution to save the universal postage system and reopen post offices. And yes – selling off some of it (but not the majority shares) will pay for this. (You can read the full details of the policy on the Lib Dem website).

Labour’s closure of Post Offices has been absolutely disastrous for our local high streets and shopping parades – and particularly for elderly people whose visit to the PO to get their pensions is often the only outing of the week.

So the motion passes. It was never in any doubt really – as the new leader had also put his weight solidly behind this and it was much, much improved since I last saw it.

We then had our first Parliamentary Party meeting (PPM) with Ming. And he was really great.

I stop to do a Party Political Broadcast bit of filming and then after a quick sandwich am off to Betty’s famous tea house to do a podcast for the Guardian. Podcasts are clearly in – as this is my second one in as many weeks (last one was with Guido Fawkes and Recess Monkey).

The queue for Betty’s is very long – and after about half an hour (and Willie Rennie was meant to be here too but is running late) we get a table but have actually done the pod cast recording in the queue as I have to dash off to do a fringe meeting where I am speaking on police force mergers.

Harrogate rally

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Having got, finally, to Harrogate – I’m on as one of the main speaker at the evening rally.

The room was packed with probably about 400 or so delegates. I would love to think it was me they came to listen to – but I expect the attendance had more to do with the imminent speech of the new leader. I was the last speaker for the rally which was called ‘Meeting the Challenge’ and I was proposing a radical agenda on the inequalities that are widening under the Blair regime.

My speech goes down really well (if I say so myself)! But happily – lots of other people say so too! Then there was a couple of minutes from each of the most recent by-election winners – Mark Hunter, Willie Rennie and Sarah Teather. Duncan Brack, who is Chair of Conference Committee introduced one speaker thus:

‘There is an Australian rock musician called Mark Hunter. There is an American navel officer called William Rennie. But there is only one Sarah Teather!’

I thought that was witty!

And then the grand entry of our new leader. And Ming was on good form. He has seemed very happy and confident since his win. He reiterates the crusade against poverty and that he will arm our party with the campaigning tools we need to match the other parties. He is certainly saying all the right things.

I go back to my room and find a message on my phone from the Press Office to say that Question Time have bumped me off the program next Thursday in favour of Nick Clegg – as he is on the Ming team and therefore because of the result they want a Minger!

Then I go to dinner with the World This Weekend team, who have invited me, Paul Marshall and Michael Moore. It was really very pleasant evening. However, the snow and ice was vicious outside and I had to hang onto Brian Hanrahan all the way back for dear life!

Travelling to Harrogate

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No peace for the wicked. And due to events of yesterday meaning I didn’t do any work in the evening, I had to get up at 5am to write my speech (or rewrite it) for the big rally at Lib Dem conference in Harrogate tonight. I am one of three keynote speakers before the entry of our new leader.

And I have to pack, and clear my emails etc etc. I get to Kings X around 11am – early for a midday train. Only to find that all trains are cancelled and by the time the first train to Leeds / York is ready to roll – the queue to get onto it is four or more trains-worth of frustrated and fed up people. The crowding is ominous – and you can see that because there is no crowd control and no proper queuing that things could get ugly and dangerous – crushing and trampling not impossible. A journalist from Associated Press comes up to me as he recognises me and we chat in the queue. Suddenly the bells start ringing and station staff evacuate the whole of Kings X because there is a security scare. It’s lucky there wasn’t a bomb – as it was almost impossible to leave the station as the crowding was so severe. We wait outside in the freezing cold – but within about 10 minutes we are let back in.

think this was a “fake” security alert because they were worried about the crush building up for the next train. Normally when there is a security alert – the fire fighters and emergency services arrive to check it out. Here there was nothing! Anyway – when they let us back in – we go straight to the train and as I have spent an extra tenner to upgrade to special weekend first class I get on the train. The journo comes too – as do two other Lib Dems, Flick and Jill who I know. These three haven’t upgraded for a tenner – but there have been tannoy announcements saying due to the circumstances of so many cancelled trains trying to get onto the one train now about to leave – all seat reservations are removed and we should sit anywhere we can find.

You have to envisage people and cases in every nook and cranny. People standing in the bit between carriages and indeed, in the carriages. A ticket inspector comes around and when he finds that Flick is second class – he says she will have to move. He says this to most of the carriage who are all in the same boat. A couple of people get out of their seats – and perch on the arm – leaving the actual seat vacant, which strangely enough seems to satisfy the inspector. One man points out how stupid it is to leave a seat empty when no one is going to sit on it and so many people, albeit second class, don’t have seats. And he insisted. GNER policy is if you are not first class you cannot be in first class. The people explained that announcements had lifted seating restrictions because of the nightmare situation. The inspector persisted – but there were many, many people who simply would not accept the stupidity of what was being asked – to stand by the side of an empty seat given the awful time they had had waiting for hours and having been told they could sit anywhere.

The ‘jobsworth’ (who I don’t blame – because it is GNER policy and lack of GNER training) could see he was outnumbered by very angry passengers and left saying he was going to get the British Transport Police (BTP). Well – coming from the Met Police Authority and knowing a bit about the BTP – I doubted whether he would be able to find any – they are a bit thin on the ground generally speaking. Anyway – eventually we arrive in York and our carriage doors are not opened – so we assume that the BTP are coming – but actually I think the doors were just stuck. In the end they open – and we escape. We have missed our connection so myself and my Lib Dem colleagues and the journo get a cab to Harrogate (car sharing at least!).

But it’s not over – the snow starts – gently at first. Before long it is a white out – and traffic at a standstill. Having started at around 10am – I am now wondering if I will make it to speak at the rally. But we arrive in the end and I just have time for a quick check in and freshen up – and I’m on.

Finishing fifth in the leadership election

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Time to catch up now on the day of the leadership election. Early in the morning I go to the Electoral Services building in Clarendon Road where the count is to be held – and it’s actually in my Hornsey & Wood Green constituency. As I arrive it is great to be the local MP and we agree that I will come back another day to make an ‘official’ visit as there are some issues they need to discuss with me.

We (and there are six members of each of the leadership contenders’ camps admitted to the count) are first in a coffee room – where our mobiles and Blackberries are taken off of us. The count is to be absolutely rock solid in terms of no leaks of the result or how it is going during the day. And then we go in – and it begins. It is always strange to watch the ballot papers as they begin to tell the story of the result. At first it looked as if Chris and Ming were pretty much even with Simon trailing slightly. I thought we were in with a chance until after about an hour or so – I went over to the table where Ming’s first preferences were being checked – and whilst on the initial counting tables the piles looked even – it was pretty clear over here that Ming’s votes were piling up ahead. But one hopes against hope and experience – but the differential was clear and by midday the first stage of the counting was finished and the contender with the least first preferences (Simon) was eliminated.

Simon’s ballot papers were there distributed to Chris or Ming – depending who had got the second preference after Simon. Ming had more of Simon’s secnd preferences than Chris – so the differential increased. And Ming’s pile grew higher – and around 1.30pm the count was finished and Ming was our new Leader.

A moment of light relief! The ‘spoilt’ ballot papers were checked by the three agents. There were a few with Charles Kennedy written on them – and there was one with Lynne Featherstone written on. So technically I came joint fifth in the leadership campaign with a couple of others also having one vote!

So at 1.30pm we knew the result but no one outside must know. We were put back in the coffee room and our mobiles etc were given back – but we were on pain of death not to text or phone out. At 2pm three cabs came to take us to the LGA (Local Government Association) in Smith Square where the result was to be announced.

Packed to the rafters with MPs and journalists and broadcasters – Navnit Dholakia came in and read out the results – which you can read on the Lib Dem website.

The two losing contestants gave short speeches. Chris paid full tribute to Ming. And Ming, I am glad to say, cheered me up by saying that he would not simply be ‘a safe pair of hands’ and that consolidation would not be enough. Too right! Ming said he would take risks, wanted power and would have a radical reforming agenda and a crusade on poverty’ – so whilst disappointed over Chris – at least the promise is dynamic.

Following the speeches, there was the usual media scrum for interviews with the new leader, the losing candidates and anyone else that the journos could get hold of. I did a piece for BBC London who asked how I felt. So I simply said that on the day when my candidate had lost I was obviously sad – but by tomorrow I would pick myself up, dust myself off – and be happy that we can now move forward as a party. I did a piece for the Today program and then we walked from the LGA to our LibDem HQ in Cowley Street.

Ming lead and we walked with him – the MPs – and then on the spiral stairs of the HQ literally packed to the rafters, Ming greeted the HQ staff. And he was very good. And then we all went off to our three separate ‘parties’ and I drowned my sorrows with a glass or two.

Ming elected

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Of course I am dissappointed – ‘cos I had set my heart and soul on Chris winning. But it wasn’t to be – this time. But I am so proud of him – the way he won the campaign itself, the ideas he put forward that will now become part of the Lib Dem landscape and to have been close to the emergence of a real Lib Dem star. Lib Dems have done really well out of this contest – and it was a proper contest – exciting to the last.

Ming will be a wonderful leader – it will just be different than it would have been with Chris. I look foward to a real period of renaissance and to successful local elections in May.

Protecting personal data

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Main event today after surgery is the European Committee on exchange of data between law enforcement agencies in the EU. What this is about is letting any country in the EU access the information on databases in any other country in the pursuit of crime. Whilst in principle this sounds a great way to catch criminals, the reality is – we can’t even make our own databases secure – let alone open them up to other countries. Huge problems can follow from widespread access to insecure data. Let’s get our own house in order first.

Find myself in the Members’ Dining Room in Parliament in the evening with Chris Huhne and a couple of others from Team Huhne. It’s all over bar the shouting – and none of us have a real clue as to who has won. Roll on Thursday!

Back to work

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Having come back from Holland last night – swing straight into action with visit to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). First impressions are important – and wow they have nice offices. So when John Wadham tells me that there was a deliberate policy to distance this new organisation from the police and the sort of police atmosphere in order to establish that they are totally independent – I would say they have succeeded. This was more like an ad agency than those rabbit warren, linoleum floored, old institutional fortresses that we so associate with law and order.

And they have had a tall order. More usually famous for their headline inquiries (de Menezes etc) than the bread and butter work of investigating and monitoring complaints, the task to gain public confidence is all. Plagued by high profile leaks from their ranks which caused distress to employees and all, they brought in an independent investigator to sort out their leaks and security. This whole system needs safeguards – but it also needs trust. The public faith in the police and in the complaints procedure has to be paramount – and so security and independence is vital.

When I was first serving on the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) one of my roles was go round to different police complaints departments and look through case files. Needle in a haystack work – but the point was that you could pick out stuff; you could get a pretty good feel for what went on between police person and complainant and you could understand the frustrations on both sides. I don’t suppose unless every exchange was taped you would ever really know the absolute truth – but the audit trails must be capable of picking up trends in a particular station or from a particular officer.

Anyway – all of this transferred to the new IPCC who seem to have a pretty thorough grip on the work – albeit the workload is substantive. Outside of the headline investigations into murders and deaths in custody, they also supervise numerous other investigations as well as having a general remit on police complaints and appeals against decisions. Add to this the new roles of investigating complaints against officers in the immigration and asylum departments which is coming down the line in legislation – next week second reading in Parliament – and they have a monumental task on their hands.

I then dash off to do the Simon Mayo Program on blogging and pod-casting – only to find that the content has changed consequent on the publication of the Power Commission report. Basically the report finds that democracy is stuffed and we need a new electoral system and power to the people. ‘Scuse me – but it really cheeses me off as Lib Dems have advocated this for decades – but the media have taken no notice. Now it is Labour on Labour – they are sitting up and begging. Oh well……………. Helena Kennedy, Shahid Malik and me are in one studio with Mayo and others in another studio. We all have a short say on the Power Commission findings. I point out that people are just sick of the spin and falseness of politicians and are crying out for anyone who actually believes in anything and isn’t prepared to drop principles for the mere mention of a vote.

Then a quick lobby by BAA to try and persuade me of their sense of conscience and how they try to be sustainable – and to be fair they are trying. However, if attitude to airplane traffic is just to predict and provide – we will get nowhere in saving the planet.

That having been said – I went for three days to Holland last weekend. I decided to take the train both ways to be sustainable – and see the countryside. Of course, travelling all of Friday and Sunday for a Saturday there perhaps I hadn’t got it quite right and a longer stay is needed to justify the four trains each way and the length of travel time. But my conscience felt good!