Category Archives: Blog

Local people, local shops and local jobs matter!

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In summer recess I always try to take up a special and extra mission– one that it is not possible to do timewise when Parliament is sitting.

One summer I visited on foot as many shops on our local high streets as I could. The single issue that shopkeepers raised with me – over and over and over again – were the problems that their customers had parking – particularly if it was literally to pop and shop for just a few items.

Not surprisingly with Labour run Haringey ramping up parking charges to £3.00 an hour in some high streets – their customers were going elsewhere. This was hitting our wonderful local high street shops extremely hard.

So my Liberal Democrat council colleagues in their manifesto for the council elections on Thursday came up with a pop and shop policy and have committed to the following:

‘To support our high streets, help shoppers and protect local jobs the Lib Dems will provide 30 minutes’ free parking on local high streets.’

We love our high streets and we want to support them fully. Of course – we also want people to walk, cycle and use their cars less. But what we don’t want is people who use their cars – to use them to drive further to places where they can park more cheaply or free – thus driving further and not bringing their custom to our local shops.

Our local communities are fantastic – and part of the reason people love living in them is because they have such wonderful local shops and traders. They are the heart of our local communities.

The Liberal Democrat group on the Council put a motion to Haringey Council last year to allow 30 minutes free parking. It is a scheme being adopted in other areas around the country and is working well. However Labour councillors voted it down.

These local elections on Thursday are an opportunity for people to vote Liberal Democrat and change Haringey for the better.

Housing matters!

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Labour-run Haringey Council has not built any council housing for 25 years. Unforgivable!

So much of my casework is to do with housing. There isn’t nearly enough and people stay on Haringey’s housing list for years – living in overcrowded and sometimes absolutely terrible conditions.

It is not unusual for people to come to me in desperation over their living conditions to ask me to help get them moved. So often it is the parents worried about the children having to sleep several to a room and no place for a child to do homework or study – and years are spent in temporary accommodation just waiting and waiting for a home.

My Liberal Democrat council colleagues have committed in their manifesto to build the first new council homes in Haringey for 25 years. When Labour Haringey published its manifesto for these local elections (after the Liberal Democrat manifesto had been published of course) lo and behold – suddenly – Labour are promising to build houses.

Given they have been in power in Haringey for decades and haven’t built any council housing – not sure local people will believe this leopard is changing its spots!

There’s only one way to be sure – back the local Liberal Democrat team on Thursday with our consistent record of campaigning to tackle Haringey’s housing shortage.

Potholes matter!

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Labour often make fun of how much interest I and my Liberal Democrat council colleagues take in potholes, pavements and rubbish bins. I don’t think it is funny. I think it is incredibly important that when you walk out of your home what you see around you is decent, clean and well-maintained – and all the more so if you are pushing a pram, using a wheelchair or otherwise have mobility problems.

It is also a very good sign of how well or how badly a council is run. After all – this is pretty basic stuff – and if you can’t even get that right…

On that measure alone, you would have to say that Labour run Haringey Council fails extraordinarily badly. It fails on many other levels – but today we are talking pavements and potholes!

The Liberal Democrat manifesto for the Haringey Council elections on Thursday commits an extra million pounds on resurfacing roads and pavements – because it really does matter.

Labour have been in power here in Haringey for over 40 years and still can’t manage to give local people the most basic of services – even though we pay one of the highest Council Taxes in London!

Vote Liberal Democrat in the local council elections on May 22 for a change for the better!

 

Paying for poor services

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So much of the work that comes into my constituency office is about things that Labour-run Haringey Council has failed to do. The calls, emails or letters complaining about Haringey come in to me generally at the point that the local resident has tried (often many times) calling Haringey. When they cannot get a response – they come to me.

Sometimes they find they can’t even get an answer to a phone call (for over a year, Haringey shockingly failed to pick up the phone at all to 1 in 3 calls to its call centre). Sometimes people leave a message – and then they come to me because no-one calls back. If they are lucky enough to ever get an answer – he or she is passed around – and whatever the problem is – Haringey then doesn’t address or resolve the issue. And then they come to me.

If Haringey Council answered calls and took the proper action in the first place – people might not resent paying one of the highest Council Taxes in London.

It doesn’t have to be that way. It is possible to listen to people, answer their calls and address their issues properly. I do – and my office does. Obviously not everything is easily resolved – but this failure by Haringey Council to respect local people as those the council is there to serve is unacceptable, frustrating, disrespectful and wasteful – and hugely expensive.

Doing things properly first time round costs a lot less. That is just one of the reasons why Liberal Democrats have pledged in their Council Manifesto for the local elections on Thursday May 22 to freeze Council Tax for the next four years – with the aim of bringing the tax down to the London average. Currently under Labour, Haringey has the fifth highest Council Tax in London.

Richard Wilson, Liberal Democrat leader of Liberal Democrat group on Haringey Council, has published the fact that under the previous Labour Government, an average band D bill in Haringey rose by a whopping £474.34.

But, since 2010, Liberal Democrats in Government have actually given Haringey over £6m to enable them to freeze tax for residents, with £2m more promised. This, combined with relentless local Lib Dem campaigning, finally forced the Labour administration to freeze Council Tax. Good progress – but more to do!

We seek them here. We seek them there. Where is Labour on Europe?

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Haringey residents could be forgiven for not knowing that on May 22nd we will be electing our European Members of Parliament. Liberal Democrats are fighting for our jobs and our security and much else in Europe. But not a peep from Labour here about the Euros – and yet – I cannot believe that Labour really want us out of Europe.

But that’s just a guess as Labour are nowhere to be seen on Europe. They are far too busy making class war party political broadcasts  to stand up for local people, and the local firms and local jobs that benefit from our membership of the European Union.

Our jobs, our security and our well-being depend on being in Europe. Yes, we need to fight for reform and reduction in bureaucracy – but you have to be in it to win it.

In Sarah Ludford, London’s Liberal Democrat MEP, we have a true champion. She has fought tooth and nail to make sure that our civil liberties are respected, our businesses get a good deal in Europe and our environment is protected.

When the Liberal Democrats say we’re the party of ‘In’, it’s not because we worship symbolically at the altar of EU institutions. It’s because being In Europe is vital to secure real benefits, of which the most immediately important is jobs in Britain. This is the clear message coming from major employers, like Ford, Nissan, Siemens and BAE Systems – who have all warned against pulling Britain out of Europe.

According to a recent YouGov poll 6% of British companies said they would go out of business if we left the EU. This translates into almost 10,000 firms closing and 300,000 people being out of a job in London alone; the starkest possible reminder that we’re ‘In Europe, In Work’.

But it’s not just people’s jobs that are protected (and created) due to our EU membership. Being part of the European Single Market also benefits British consumers by keeping prices and the cost of living down.

Holidaymakers are benefiting from the EU drive to cut by 70% the roaming charges for using mobile phones abroad and from free emergency healthcare in other EU countries through the European Health Insurance Card.

Brits also benefit from cheaper prices at home thanks to the European Single Market, and the competition it promotes. One study has estimated that the average consumer is £450 a year better off thanks to lower prices caused by greater competition across Europe. Being outside not just the EU but the European single market – as UKIP want – would put these gains at risk. (Many Tories say they want to stay in the single market, but that would be like Norway, having to follow the EU’s rules but with no say over them).

Outside the single market, businesses in Britain would also be subject to tariffs on their exports to the EU, hitting the car, dairy and clothing industries particularly hard. Citigroup has warned that the British public would face a drop in living standards under these circumstances, as it would force companies to pay lower wages to British workers to maintain current export levels or lead to a weaker pound.

That’s why in the crucial European elections, we need to take the fight to Tory Eurosceptics and UKIP, as their calls to leave the EU or even the wider European Single Market are putting British livelihoods at risk. And Labour’s silence on Europe and failure to stand up for the national interest means that Liberal Democrats need to shout even louder about the importance of keeping Britain ‘In Europe, In Work’.

Ending child and early forced marriage in Mozambique

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A few days ago I had the great privilege of speaking at DFID Mozambique’s summit on ending Child and Early Forced Marriage (CEFM).

Lynne Featherstone speaking in Mozambique. Picture: Julia Smith/DFID

Mozambique has one of the highest rates of CEFM in the world, with around one in two girls married before their 18th birthday. It is a problem that until recently has been not been given enough attention and was considered a taboo subject, not just in Mozambique but in many other countries as well.

In the last decade 58 million women in developing countries, that is one in three women, were married before they turned 18. CEFM is a global issue that has a significant impact on girls, their families, communities and countries, for example:

  • Girls who give birth under-15 years of age are five times more likely to die in childbirth than girls in their 20s;
  • The children of child brides are 60% more likely to die before their first birthday than the children of mothers who are over 19;
  • Girls who marry earlier are more likely to suffer domestic violence and sexual abuse, and to contract HIV from their husbands; and
  • Girls who marry young are more likely to be poor and stay poor.

Taking action is challenging but the results are worth it. Girls and women who can truly exercise voice, choice and control in their lives make more significant contributions to social and economic development.

That is why it was gratifying to see such wide attendance at the summit, including the Mozambican government, the African Union, civil society, the private sector and international community. We all pledged to ‘break the silence’ on CEFM in Mozambique and to support the Government efforts to take action.

It was great to hear from Mozambique’s Minister for Women’s Affairs and Social Welfare who spoke passionately about the extent of the problem and the Government’s new commitment to develop a national strategy for the prevention of CEFM. African leadership such as this is fundamental if we are to work together to bring an end to CEFM, not just in Mozambique but globally.

As a result the UK is keen to get behind other national and international efforts to combat this practice. DFID is looking closely at its global aid programme to see how we can develop new and innovative partnerships to accelerate progress on ending CEFM. As part of this, the UK Government will be hosting an international summit in London with UNICEF on 22 July to share lessons and galvanise new commitments on ending both CEFM and FGM.

CEFM is a global issue that requires continued action, collaboration and coordination from us all to bring about a lasting solution. Many people at the summit had worked extremely hard to get the issue high up on Mozambique’s agenda and are taking forward some excellent plans. This is tremendously exciting news and I hope that this is the beginning of the end for CEFM in Mozambique.

Finance for the feisty female entrepreneurs of Mozambique

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I am currently in Mozambique, on a visit in my role as minister for international development. Here’s my first blog from the visit, also available here…

Nothing can quite prepare you for walking into Zimpeto market, the largest wholesale market in Mozambique. It is a hive of activity, colour and noise with stacks of fruit and vegetables piled high in great walls of produce. It is also the workplace of some industrious female market traders who have established small businesses importing goods from South Africa to sell.

Photo: Lynne Featherstone meeting the market traders in Zimpeto, Mozambique

These feisty and entrepreneurial women are members of the Mozambican Women Importers Association set up 8 years ago to represent their interests. They have built houses and put their children through school and university with the money they’ve earned through their businesses. The Association now has 2,000 female members and the one thing that is holding them back from greater success and top of their wish list for change is access to finance.

Around 75% of small businesses in Mozambique are unable to access formal financial services which mean they cannot get the credit they need to grow their businesses. The women I met told me that they end up relying on loan sharks to get the finance they need to purchase merchandise and expand.

Many of the women also wanted better seeds and fertiliser to increase what they could grow on their farms. 80% of Mozambicans derive their livelihoods from agriculture, the majority of them women. Productivity is very low but there is a lot of potential and with better agricultural inputs and technical training, these women could grow more and earn more.

Credit and other financial services provide a vital stepping stone for businesses to be able to grow which is why I used my visit to launch a new Access to Finance Programme led by DFID Mozambique. The new programme, called MAFiP will help to improve access to finance products benefitting 650 micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and over 2 million poor Mozambicans. This will help them manage their household and business budgets better so that investing in their business no longer means taking a decision taking money away from the family finances.

Announcing MAFiP to an audience of bankers and financial experts was an excellent forum to galvanise their support. But perhaps the best bit of the day was introducing three women from the Association to representatives from the banking sector to explain firsthand the problems they face every day.

Let's fix Haringey!

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In my last column I wrote about the shocking and ongoing waste of taxpayers’ money by Labour-run Haringey Council. Many local residents have contacted me in response, expressing their dismay at the money spent on trips to Cannes and on bonuses – especially at a time when local Labour continuously complain about a lack of funds!

But I know that criticising local Labour isn’t enough to boot them out of power here. That’s why I am so delighted with the Haringey Liberal Democrats’ positive six point plan for our borough, which they have put forward in the run up to the local elections on May 22nd.

The local Lib Dems have promised to freeze Council Tax for four years. Over the past forty years, the Labour administration hiked up our bills by hundreds of pounds. The most recent freeze is down to local Lib Dem pressure, and the Lib Dems in Government offering councils extra money if they freeze Council Tax.

Lib Dems will freeze Haringey Council Tax

A Lib Dem council would also invest £1 million in our roads and pavements. After years of neglect by Haringey Labour – there are more potholes and cracked pavements here than you can count – and this needs fixing.

Labour can’t be trusted to prioritise this. Just last week, one of their candidates tweeted that no residents were complaining about potholes – showing just how out of touch they are!

Modern, energy efficient street lighting has also been promised. That’s good for the environment, it would help the police fight crime,and it would save the council money in the long term, too.

The local Lib Dems and I have long been campaigning for 30 minutes free parking on our high streets – after Labour hiked up charges to £3 an hour, putting off shoppers and harming our local high street traders. 30 minutes free is in the manifesto, too, and would be delivered by a Liberal Democrat council.

The local Lib Dems and I have also been campaigning for fairer health funding anda more effective children’s service department in Haringey.

The shocking child protection failures by Haringey Council – like Baby P, Victoria Climbie, and most recently Child T, must stop. And, having secured £7.6million extra in health funding, the local Lib Dems and I want to get even more. Having the Lib Dems in power in Haringey will help both causes.

Finally – the Haringey Lib Dems would take real action on housing – by building the first new council homes in Haringey for 25 years (that’s right – Haringey Labour haven’t built any during this time.)

All of these policies are fully-costed. We have identified£3 million of savings (per year) that can be made to the council’s budgets without hitting frontline services, just by cutting Haringey Labour’s current waste. There would be no bonuses for failure, or taxpayer-funded trips abroad with the Lib Dems in charge!

Haringey Liberal Democrat leader Richard Wilson, Lynne Featherstone MP, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Sarah London MEP – along with local Liberal Democrat candidates – back the campaign against Haringey Labour’s bonuses, yacht trips and waste.

And remember – it’s only the Lib Dems who can kick Labour out in Haringey – there are no Conservative, Green or UKIP councillors in the entire borough. Please make your vote count on May 22nd.

Hornsey Bowls club – vote now!

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The Hornsey Bowling Club is a great local asset – the local Lib Dems use it for social events from time to time, and I know from talking to local residents that it has produced many fond memories.

Cyril Meadows and the 100 or so members are now looking to regenerate the club – they want to make a number of improvements including the redecoration of the clubhouse, replacing the boiler, and improving the bar area.

The total cost will be about £25,000, which the club is seeking to fund through a Community Award from Engage Mutual.

This is where you come in – the Community Award is based on support from local people, and the more votes the Club gets the better their chances.

There is a lot of competition for the money, so if you want to help the club please take a few minutes to vote at the following link – https://www.engagemutual.com/foundation/projects/re-generation-of-hornsey-bowling-club/

Voting is open to all UK citizens over the age of 16, and ends on 31st May. This is a very worthy cause, and with the help of local people I hope to see the Club get the repairs they need.