Category Archives: Blog

MPA Awayday

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It is the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) awayday – all day at some anonymous hotel in London.

For the first four years, I had been exiled from Haringey to Islington as their MPA link member  because Labour (who chair the MPA) wanted to keep me out of Haringey in case it was to my political advantage to be on my home patch.  All the other members are enabled to link with their home patch – partly for their convenience but also because of local knowledge.  However, I had been kept out. For the first term of office there was a valid reason why Nicky Gavron (who was the Enfield Haringey London Assembly member and lives in Haringey herself) had as good a claim to Haringey as I.

However, after this June’s elections, the Enfield Haringey member is now someone who lives in Enfield – so there’s no decent reason (other than politics!) why I shouldn’t be the Haringey link member. Politics like this are not acceptable on a police authority in my view – we will see what happens next week – when the decision is taken.

Full Council

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Hi jinks at a full meeting of Haringey Council. The tenants associations have turned out in force to object to Labour not having a ballot on the housing options for the future.  According to the barracking from the gallery, they applied to be allowed to speak six weeks earlier, but Haringey Council did not let them – trying to force them to attend a meeting of the Council Executive (which is a committee made up of just Labour councillors) rather than the full council meeting.

They weren’t having this and shouted out their rage with Haringey (well understood by most of us Lib Dems) and the Mayor suspended the meeting. I suggested that we should suspend standing orders to allow them to speak for three minutes (which would have taken a lot less than the half hour plus disruption we ended up with) – but this was ignored. Indeed, the Labour Mayor just ignored Cllr Ron Aitken (the Lib Dem chief whip) who had his hand waving in the air forever.

There was also a deputation from parents whose children have been left without school places for the autumn due to Labour’s inability to plan or provide adequate local places. This is not just about the usual few who do not get into any of the local schools – we are talking about 80 or so children. They were worried that the suspension of the council meeting would mean that they don’t get to speak.

Eventually, the police come and remove the poor old council tenants who have been silenced by the usual abuse of power by the Labour administration. Nothing new there!  The parents then got to make their deputation, presenting powerful arguments as to the need for local children to have places at local schools. We (LibDems) tabled a motion for that evening calling for the extra places to be provided for this ‘bulge’ year and a proper ten year plan. The plan should be based on the birth statistics, population movements in and out the key areas and the planned housing expansion in the borough.

It is usual to move such a motion which is related to a deputation to be taken directly after that deputation – as a matter of courtesy to those who came on the deputation if nothing else.  But Labour refused. The parents were absolutely furious and Labour do themselves no favours by frustrating democracy at every turn.

Spiderman

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See Spiderman 2 – now that’s the sort of mode of transport that is environmentally friendly and quick and doesn’t need any extra road space.  Wonder if it will catch on.

Parking issues

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Driving (yes driving) back from the hairdressers I am listening to LBC where David Priva and his co-host are discussing the trials and tribulations of the poor, down-trodden driver in London.  They are going on and on about parking and how dreadful it is and how horrible wardens are etc and then start talking about what is done with the money raised. They say they wish someone who knows would ring in. So I do.

I want to tell them about the Parking Scrutiny that I hope to be holding in the Transport Committee in the Autumn. I want to have a look at Parking in London. I think we need to be fair when we so restrict peoples’ freedoms – and I think a line may have been crossed where good and honest people are feeling got at and unfairly penalised. Not only that, I want to have a look at the jungle of different signs and systems and the incentivisation of contracts to wardens etc. We have a jolly good thrash around the issue and gives me an opportunity to bang the Assembly’s drum – as we do do good work and investigate issues that matter to London – but it’s that pesky Mayor who gets all the coverage.

Resurfacing

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Much beeping in my road. As I go out around 9.30 I discover men towing all the cars away (I’m not affected) because they are resurfacing the whole road. So miracles do happen! However, as I hadn’t been notified and had been fighting for the next road along to be resurfaced – I was a little concerned that Haringey Council might just be in the wrong road. Shame on me for such wicked thoughts. As it turned out, as I spoke to the Chief Exec, they had found a bit more in the budget to do a bit extra and my road was included. It looks so beautiful with its nice, dark grey, smooth and pure tarmac – unpitted and unmarked. What’s the betting that a rotten utility company will come next week and dig it up?

Result!

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Watch the by-election coverage. Fantastic result for the LibDems. If we get that swing in Hornsey & Wood Green- we’ll have about a 15,000 majority. Hurrah! That is the plan.

Mayor's Question Time

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Mayor’s Question Time. Ken launches into the Professor’s visit as part of his verbal update to the Assembly. He speaks very well and totally refutes (and I believed him) the allegations that have been made as to what the Professor did or did not say in terms of incitement to hatred.  Ken then goes into the sad reality that we are probably, in fact almost certainly, going to get more tube strikes in the coming weeks.  I have a go at him to get down and get involved as he has such influence with the unions. He refuses. I ask him if, as he says, this is the best deal ever on the table, whether he thinks it would be a good idea to put a camera in on the negotiations so that we Londoners can see who is lying.  He’s a clever bugger – ‘cos he immediately turns it back on me as Chair of Transport and suggests I invite all of them in for an argy bargy in my committee. I would love to – but bet they wouldn’t come. I can only invite outsiders like the unions – unlike the GLA family who I can actually summons. Still – I’m still thinking about it……….

Ken and I have a little rumba over the 4 x 4 charging issue. Ken is keen to jump on my bandwagon – but warns that the legalities will be very difficult. We’ll see.

 

We get to the motion at the end. There have been fevered attempts by the Tories, Greens and UKIP to get an all party motion instead of the one they have tabled as they have managed to realise that they have knee-jerked to the tabloids tune. However, they can never manage to agree amongst themselves – and so the LibDem amendment gets put and passed and the Green motion falls even with Tory support.  Two gentlemen from the Muslim Council are in the audience and we have a brief chat afterwards when I sweetly point out that I was right to resist

their pressures.

Leicester South

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I find that my 10.00 am meeting has been cancelled and so instead of going to City Hall, I carry straight on to Leicester to help in the by-election.

I am sat stuffing envelopes in an upstairs area near to our by-election guru’s office, Chris Rennard. As he spies me he asks if I will speak to a Muslim caller from the Muslim Council of Great Britain who is concerned about a motion going to the GLA the next day. I also have to speak to another representative of that organisation following a message from my office.  The hoo-ha is over a motion put by the Greens condemning the Mayor for receiving the Prof Al-Qaradawi at City Hall etc.  We (LibDems) have put down an amendment to the motion to basically say that The Assembly should be a forum for robust debate and we condemn all acts of violence, including suicide bombing, homophobia, Islamaphobia and domestic violence. The Muslim Council want us to withdraw our amendment and simply vote against the motion. They phone a number of times during the day and apply pressure. Totally resisted by myself. I am sure that our amendment is true to ourselves – and stick to my guns. See MQT for what happened next.

Finish stuffing envelopes around 4pm and wend way back to London on Midland Mainline – pretty punctual and pleasant I thought.

Hornsey Housing Forum

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Hornsey Housing forum – it’s the options again. The Government is insisting that councils consult their tenants over options for managing council properties. There are ALMOs (Arms Length Management Organisations), a couple of others and the status quo. If you ask me – it’s all a way of shifting cost and risk.  As for trying to get vast swathes of local residents to understand the variety of options – a massive task.  Haringey Council were putting on road shows for each estate, but were exposed in an email as suggesting that no one be notified much in advance of these exhibitions to avoid many people coming. You have to laugh – not!

More 4 x 4s

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LibDem Group Meeting. Huge agenda. Not a pig’s chance of getting through it before I have to dash off to do an interview with Carlton on my 4 x 4 issue. Now they really like a soundbite. As soon as I had said something like ‘if you choose to drive a fashion statement you must expect to pay to rectify the damage it does to humans and to the environment’  Simon Harris was off like a shot. In the can.