Queen Mum stuff! That’s what I call it when I am invited to Lib Dem local party social events or meetings to gee up the troops. Troop geeing up is variable – dependent on nature of local party. This was for Camden Liberal Democrats and held in Belsize Ward. Hosted by Alexis and Laura – who really pulled out all the stops for fantastic, proper, real cooked food! I am there to talk to people and enthuse them for giving their all – be that money, time or blood. And if the food is good – the giving is greater.

I work my way around the attendees and also make a speech. Of course, the Hornsey & Wood Green story (or how I overturned a Labour lead over me in ’97 of 26,000 into a 2,400 majority in 2005) is stirring stories for girls and boys in Labour seats. I do my stuff – and if I were a betting man I would put some money on Lib Dems gaining quite a few council seats next May. And in the General – well watch out Glenda!

From 9am until 1pm I do my surgery at Wood Green Library. I could truly weep over the housing situation in Haringey. 17,000 people on the housing register and only 349 homes built last year by housing associations.

There is more building going on now and proposals in – particularly in the Wood Green area. But despite Livingstone’s promises, the majority are poorly designed and use the crappiest materials. Lowest common denominator stuff. I am sick of Ken’s words not being backed by real delivery on the ground. I support increased good housing proposals around transport hubs – but so often it’s a matter of where is the quality, where is the infrastructure? Nowhere in sight! Unbearable – lives are blighted for decades by this crap. And far too many applications which are totally unsuitable for the areas they are proposed in.

Spend rest of day once again desperately churning out speeches – finish about 9pm. The on Saturday it’s off to Blackpool. Not sure I’ll have access to blog through conference – but if not, will catch up at end of the week.

Off to Parliament to catch up with my office working there. Also interviews with BBC Online and Evening Standard. Rush back around 3pm to continue writing blasted speeches. Sometimes it’s easy – sometimes it isn’t. My “Progressive Consensus” keeps changing, and changing!

And we’re off! Once more into the breach. Today’s first visit – to my newly up and running constituency office; for now above the Three Compasses Pub in Hornsey High Street. And at last phones and computer systems are up and networked and running. It has been rather a challenge to set up two offices and try and make sure nothing and no-one slips through the net whilst in transit from doing everything under my own roof at home as it has been for the last nine years.

Later, I’m at the opening of a little five-house development by an Irish Housing Association, Innisfree, and then am guest speaker at their AGM. Funnily enough really, as I campaign so often against infills and backland development (squeezing new housing on small patches of open land in already built-up areas)! But this is a rare example of a site for which – although there was a campaign against this development – it is hard to argue against, as it is small houses with gardens for social housing. Two of the houses had disabled access – and as about half the cases that walk through my surgery door are to do with housing shortages – this is a development I can live with.

Campaigning against backland development is one of my passions, as I believe the damage being done in the long term to quality of life is severe. However, those are always against greedy developers trying to maximise profit from inappropriate locations at local peoples’ expense. Regrettably, the planning system is blind to those sorts of sentiments. We are absolutely desperate for social housing in Haringey. There are about 17,000 residents in Haringey on the housing register yet only about 349 homes were built last year by Housing Associations.

Anyway – in the evening I was the guest speaker at their AGM and I was greatly impressed by the warmth and atmosphere, and indeed success, of this Housing Association. I deal with many Housing Associations and – believe me – they are variable in their standards. Sometimes I feel that the lousy ones put residents in a position where they feel powerless. The council can always turn round and say ‘not me gov’ in response to complaints, so there is then all too often no pressure that can be effectively applied to the Housing Association to improve its act except in the rare cases of an actual breach of legal terms.

Last visit of the day is to the Wightman Road Mosque. Excellent conversation with the President, Secretary and Treasurer of the Trust which runs the mosque.

We sit in a meeting room upstairs and range our discussion across the obvious issues of the day. We all agree that more engagement is necessary to offset the suspicion that has fallen on the Muslim population so unfairly in almost all cases. Clearly Iraq looms large in the causes of bombing coming to our shores. I think Tony Blair’s early denial that the war was anything to do with the bombings was just the most stupid thing he could say. Not a direct and solitary cause of course – but to say it played no part – ridiculous.

However, we are all solidly agreed that bombing and violence have no place in a democratic society. From which we move to the fact that so many of the community did not vote and do not believe in engaging in the democratic process. I suggest that along with coming to the mosque so that young people have the opportunity to question and talk with me (an MP) directly, that in addition if there are groups of youngsters (or anyone) who would like to come to tour Parliament and meet myself and a few other MPs I would be happy to arrange such a visit. I think engagement in the political life and process of the country is vital.

This is a well run mosque who have banned some of the organisations the media give so much time to. They are worried that T Blair’s proposals will drive such groups underground and that no one will know any longer where danger lurks – because even the Muslim community won’t know.

They are upset at the deportations and we talk about the pros and cons. I suggest that if they found the need to ban groups from the Mosque – then you could see the potential need to ban certain groups and to deport certain people. I think the difference is that the offending groups were given the opportunity under warning to stop what they were doing or they would be banned. Perhaps that would be a better proposal then just banning and creating an underground and martyrs.

These are difficult and challenging times. I generally find being myself and sticking to my guns steers me well through most situations regardless of what those challenges are. It is never any use saying something you don’t believe and agreeing with something just because you know that someone wants you to. You just have to say what you really think whilst being sensitive to how other people feel from their perspectives. It’s not rocket science.

And then I trudge homewards. I am actually still working until next Tuesday – but in terms of blogging – I will be taking my usual mid-year break and will be back around mid-September. So – see you then – in what will undoubtedly be a lively period in British politics.

Surgery all morning. (One blog reader asked if all the surgeries I do mean I’m a doctor. In case you don’t know – I’m not at the operating table, but rather it’s an advice session people come to, so they can talk to me in person, face-to-face about an issue they need help with).

I cannot count the number of people who come with housing misery stories – too many people in one room, appalling conditions, etc – and the points they need to qualify for re-housing always seem to change just as they are about to achieve the required number.

Today was no exception. One couple had been in private accommodation which got flooded so they had to move out to stay with the woman’s mother. Two children later and sleeping all four in one room, they got within six points of being re-housed – when the goalposts moved. Years later they are still there

I asked if they had thought of renting in the private market – but they said it was too expensive and their daughter was at a local school and the mother helped with childcare – all very valid of course.

However, as I said to them, if the Council were to tell you that realistically you are unlikely to get re-housed for another ten years – might you then decide to move further out where it is cheaper, even though you have to change your daughter’s school and lose the easy and convenient help being with your mother brings? Yes – they said. And therein lies a huge problem – people are not able to make informed decisions about what to do as they live in a world of ever-shifting, non-delivered promises.

Of course, some do eventually get there – which leads me to another conclusion about the system we have: the system itself creates problems. For example – you get more points if you have extra criteria that count. One that whisks across my surgery desk regularly is a doctor’s letter confirming depression or asthma or whatever – and the more illnesses and the more severe the more points! Now of course this is right in a way because need increases – but as with all the systems it seems to encourage people to be less able and discourages people from battling for better health.

Conversely, it leaves people who manage through adversity worse off. I saw one woman, a single mother bringing up four children in inappropriate accommodation for 18 years, but with no qualifying ‘extras’ and doing a great job keeping all their heads above water. She will probably never get re-housed because she is determined to cope with it all regardless. Perverse incentives all over the place!