Category Archives: Blog

Boris, Tessa Jowell and John Denham!

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I tweeted thus this afternoon: ‘Got in lift at City Hall to find Boris, Tessa Jowell and John Denham. I thought an Olympics cabal. But what else might they have been up to?’

And here followeth samples of the wit that flowed forth from your responses:

1) Fight Club?

2) Expenses alibis?

3) If you get Seb Coe and David Beckham you get to shout house!

4) Looking for a brain cell?

5) Grey’s Anatomy at City Hall?

6) Jowell and Denham realising that New Labour project has bankrupted country are throwing their hands in with Tories?

7) Dissing LDs?

8) Eastenders casting?

Number 6 is my winner.

Thanks for contributions. LOL

It's survey time!

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Here is my latest column for the Muswell Hill & Highgate Flyers:

It’s that time of year again. No, I’m not going to get all political and talk about the conference season and the start of Parliament’s new session. No, I’m not talking about school being back – hopefully your little darlings (and not so little ones) will be settling into their new classes. But instead – it’s survey time!

In one form or another I have been doing local surveys for over a decade. Whilst it has become a bit more of a mission to ask 45,000 odd households what’s on their mind, my annual survey is one of the most important things I do as a politician – finding out about local residents’ concerns. Sadly, there just aren’t enough hours in the day to knock on every door when everyone’s in to have a chat (but I do try!) so my survey helps me fill the gap.

Some of the issues I have campaigned on hardest were first mentioned in people’s survey responses – such as the 603 bus, getting Hornsey Hospital re-opened and arguing for Oyster Pay-as-Go in local train stations.

The questions I ask touch on all sorts of subjects from grumbles about grot-spots – sadly a perennial issue with Haringey Council, to whether people support my tough stance for action on Climate Change in Parliament.

But this year there are two particular issues I want to hear about. One is how the downturn is affecting people locally. Gathering more direct information from local people’s experiences is vital for me to argue whether Government services are properly geared to helping people and are working in Hornsey & Wood Green.

The other issue is on a related point. We have some of the most treasured local high streets in the capital – Muswell Hill, Highgate, Crouch End, the list goes on… With my Liberal Democrat councillor colleagues we have being working hard to support local shops and businesses through the recession – promoting local loyalty cards, making parking easier to encourage customers and prodding the council to do more.

But the other thing I want to hear from people is what will encourage them to shop more locally. I am determined that we do all that we can to save our High Streets from the worst of the recession.

So watch this space – or more accurately your letterbox – I look forward to hearing what you’ve got to say.

Lap dancing not appealing

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Hurrah! News reaches me that the applicants for the lap-dancing club have not appealed the decision of Haringey Licensing committee which refused their application after a long and sustained campaign by LapOff supported by myself and LibDem Cllr Dave Winskill.

They had three weeks after the refusal to lodge an appeal, but time ran out last Thursday.

Dave has been ferocious in his support for local people in this campaign where it was clearly location that was the issue. It was up close to a primary school and a girls secondary school, vulnerable people and generally just a busy local shopping parade in the middle of a residential area with lots of families. Just wrong place.

The law of the land is changing to recognise that lap-dancing clubs should no longer simply have the same license as an ordinary clubs or pubs – but which will have to apply for licenses as ‘sex-encounter’ establishments in the future where location will be a prime consideration.

Over my years in Haringey I have campaigned and fought alongside local people against all sorts of things and for all sorts of things – but I just want to pay tribute to those involved in the LapOff campaign – who were committed, tireless and did the work and the research that gave those members sitting on Haringey Licensing more than enough reasons to refuse the permission. That is the hard graft that successful campaigns require. Congratulations to LapOff.

5E awarded Beacon Status by Learning and Skills Council

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Lynne Featherstone MP presenting 5E student Rachel Williams with certificate of achievement I was invited to give out some of the certificates yesterday and make a short speech at the celebration of 5E being awarded Beacon Status by the Learning and Skills Council. 5E is a local provider of education and training to employment for those groups in the community who struggle against various barriers. The litany of who those groups are is familiar: black and ethnic minorities, refugees and asylum seekers, women, those with disabilities or health or mental health problems, lone parents, long-term unemployed, older people, ex-offenders and others –  who so often find they are not even in the running for getting jobs that others take for granted. And there are so many people who for one reason or another – don’t start anywhere near a level playing field.

For me, the recipe for a better and happier world is a fairer society. And what I really mean by that is a more equal society.  But Britain has steadily become a less equal and a less fair society, rates of social mobility have actually fallen.  And your educational chances are strongly correlated to your social class – setting the prospects for children even before they reach school. And that affects everything in life – because inequality begets inequality.

In fact, a whole host of studies across different countries have consistently shown that not just in terms of education and health, but also in terms of crime, social respect, trust and participation – the outcomes are linked to the degrees of inequality in wealth and income. So narrowing that gap benefits everyone.  

So the work that Raj Doshi (the head of 5E) and his committed, energetic and enthusiastic team do and their brilliant track record with of achievement with 5E having been awarded Grade 1 (outstanding provision) three times by OFSTED – who are the inspection authority for this – is vital.

With support, training and skills – everyone can and should have the opportunities that others take for granted. Congratulations to all who have taken the courses and all those who have made them so successful.

That’s the point of receiving Beacon Status – so they can shine a light for others to follow.

Liberal Democrats win Bedford Mayoral election

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Blimey. I know that there isn’t the same appetite for Cameron now as there was for Blair in ’97 – but if the Tories can’t win an election like this – then they must be really worried.

Bedford has elected a new Mayor – Liberal Democrat Dave Hodgson. This is an amazing victory for Dave – and he and the Bedford LibDems have done brilliantly. I mean in this climate – just after the Tory conference – this is stupendous.

There hasn’t been tons of coverage about this election in the media – but it is an important one. The Mayor of Bedford represents more people than an MP does, and Dave will be making important decisions that affect peoples’ lives.

I think this result will put the wind up the Conservatives quite rightly. The General Election is so not a done deal. With Labour trailing a miserable fifth, the battle is clearly between the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives as to who scoops up all those Labour deserters.

Local Democracy Week – Alexandra Park School

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Lynne Featherstone at Alexandra Park SchoolIf I ruled the world I would ………….. that’s the challenge I have set local children in Hornsey & Wood Green schools to tell me in 200 words for Local Democracy Week.

I launched my mini-writing competition today at Alexandra Park School – where the amazing Jo (Citizenship teacher extraordinaire) had agreed to set up to undertake this project with the Citizenship and the English classes working together. So today I was attending the Citizenship class where Jo was brainstorming with the children to get them involved and engaged in beginning to think what sort of things might need changing or what worried them – and then – how that might be changed.

The first round of ideas were just brilliant – from the young girl who wanted to make life better for young carers, to world peace and beyond. I’m not going to go through the list – but suffice to say – that it is completely fascinating to to listen to the ideas they had about what worried them – and recognise where the input came from. Some clearly came from school work, much from television and newscasts  – but Jo was really clever – and as well as those sort of universal issues tried to move them onto a more personal level of what worried or concerned them in their own lives.

So I am greatly looking forward to reading all the submissions when they come in. I always feel very uplifted when I come out of a school visit like that.

My letter from Sir Thomas Legg

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Well – I got my ‘letter’ from Sir Thomas Legg on Monday (I did tweet) with reference to whether MPs would have to pay back money etc. All clear!

‘In your case, having examined the records in the light of my interpretation of the rules and standards in force at the time, I have not identified any payments made to you under the ACA during the review period which I consider call for any repayment or further supporting evidence to be provided by you. Accordingly, my conclusion is that no action is required from you in this matter.”

NB The Review period was from 2004-5 to 2008-09

So now I’ve been ‘sainted’ by the Telegraph, pronounced ‘squeaky’ clean by my local press and got my ‘all clear’ from Sir Thomas. But it still feels dreadful in Parliament – the atmosphere is depressed and subdued and the body politic is merely limping along.

And there seems to be no end to the problems of the expenses scandal – from the rumblings amongst some MPs about the changing of rules retrospectively like on cleaning and gardening (albeit that many MPs complaining about retrospective rules have voted for retrospective legislation for others), but also about what Sir Thomas has actually been focusing on within his remit of examining how the ACA (additional cost allowance – which is for second homes etc) was used.

I watched my own Leader, Nick Clegg, on GMTV this morning being very fierce about Sir Thomas looking at the very wrong but relatively small offences – but completely ignoring the big issues around avoiding Capital Gains Tax, flipping and so on which may have netted small fortunes. Those remain untouched. Nick has a good point – and it’s one of the real issues around all of this endless quagmire we are swimming around in – nothing is final, cleansing or absolute – so it can never end.

Until we go to the polls – this will run and run – so the sooner the better!

Seeing Mr Speaker

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I had an appointment to meet Mr Speaker today – John Bercow. I had requested this meeting as I wanted to suggest to him (gently) that Parliament still probably had a bit of a way to go to really engage with people using  technology to make it more accessible.

This is about opening it all up. Things have improved in the website now works better. But most of the best internet developments have come from outside the official Parliamentary structures, e.g. They Work for You and Write to Them both are more popular and have a wider range of functions than the official locations for similar information. These are sites where people can go to find out just what their own MP is doing. You can find what questions your MP has asked, what they have said in any debate and so on.

There is a culture issue here and that holds things back a lot. For example – uploading clips of MPs speaking onto YouTube. It’s taken months to review, and the arguments are over points the rest of the world has largely moved on from years ago like there might be an advert on the page!

Also – the way information about progress of legislation through Parliament is made available makes it very hard for others to then make use of the data. It’s as if the Met Office insisted people come to its website to find the weather forecast and didn’t like people taking its data and reproducing and reusing it elsewhere. Hence the ‘Free Our Bills’ campaign.

So – my visit to Mr Speaker was to suggest that he set up an Advisory Board to help move this agenda forward. It is crucial that it is non-partisan (this is about bringing parliament to life), and includes external experts as well as officers and possibly MPs.

There are a number of simple, significant steps a Speaker can take but the Speaker is very busy and to actually get stuff to happen needs support to make it happen.

Which is why I have suggested to him this Advisory Board. Mr Speaker seemed relatively enthusiastic – and is going to think how to best progress this. I didn’t go into any suggestions or details of things that I think should or could happen – that is for the group.

I think what Mr Speaker will want to do is to sound out the other Parties and officers etc – and then he suggested that we all get together for a brainstorm to see where this could go and how it could happen.

So – I was really pleased that he was open to the idea – and we will see what happens next.

Home Schooling

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Green carded! This is when a constituent comes to Parliament and has the right to lobby their MP – so long as the MP is around and free. They fill in a green card and then the House Officers give it to you – or as in this case – the reception from Central Lobby phones over to let you know someone is there to see you. It’s hit and miss as to whether you are available though.

I was in a meeting – and had ten minutes before another meeting with the National Deaf Children’s Society – but managed to see the three constituents who had come to lobby me about Home Schooling for about twenty minutes – just a bit late for the next meeting.

The Badman Review of Home Schooling is making recommendations (prior to consultation which is taking place now) which is alarming this community. The young people who came to see me (and two parents) are really concerned that the state is going to step in too far and curtail their right to be home schooled in the manner of their choosing. From those coming to lobby me – it was clear that they totally believed that parents should have an absolute and unfettered right to educate their children in whatever way they see fit.

They were scared by the recommendation that the state would be able to interview a home schooled child on their own without a parent present. They were scared that the ‘broad education’ recommended would inhibit their choice about how and what the children learn. And the big fear is that this is the beginning of the end for the freedom of home schooling. They mentioned the way things went in Germany, starting with state intervention and ending with a complete ban on home schooling.

So – a really interesting conundrum – where everyone is trying to do their best by the children – but the state feels it isn’t safe to leave them to their parents alone and the parents think the state should butt out.

I do think that home schooling is something that parents should have a right to choose – but despite the protestations from my visitors that all home schooled children are happy and safe – I have heard about less happy outcomes.

I suppose it’s getting that balance right – that’s the challenge.