Just read the Guardian piece on how both Gordon Brown and David Cameron have failed to respond to a Newsnight invitation to be interviewed by Jeremy Paxman. The deadline was today apparently.
Nick Clegg accepted straight off!
So – two of the three men who would be Prime Minister are obviously cowardy cowardy custards! Guess that leaves only one option then!
Haringey Liberal Democrats have launched their manifesto, ‘A fresh start for Haringey’ for the upcoming local elections to be held on 6th May 2010.
The ambitious plan sets out six priority areas which Liberal Democrats believe will take Haringey Council from being the worst-run council in London under Labour towards a well-run borough where all residents have the opportunity to succeed and have their voices heard.
Building on the previous launch of their key pledges, the party that is just a handful of votes from winning control of Haringey Council has presented its plans in six key areas:
Cllr Robert Gorrie, leader of Haringey Liberal Democrats, comments:
“We have set out today our positive vision for change in Haringey. Our energetic team has the new ideas, ambition and experience to steer the borough away from the failure that residents have endured during 40 years of Labour.
“The residents of Haringey deserve better than the worst-run council in London they currently have under Labour. This is why we have set out clear priorities that will improve our Children’s Services, make Haringey safer and cleaner, give more power to residents, whilst also spending their money better, taking real action on the environment and creating a fairer Haringey.
“With the Conservatives out of the race, its going to be a close campaign between the Liberal Democrats and Labour. The Liberal Democrats have the team that will change Haringey for the better, and give it the fresh start it needs.”
Lynne Featherstone MP adds:
“Local people have for too long had to put up with failure after failure by Haringey Council. I am proud that we have a Liberal Democrat team ready and able to hit the ground running on day one, to turn Haringey Council around. I am confident that they have the vision, talent and experience to put their ambitious plans into action.”
You can read the full manifesto here.
To continue the battle for better treatment of blind and partially sighted residents attending hospitals and doctors surgeries locally, Lynne Featherstone MP has visited a special blind awareness class at the Winkfield Centre in Wood Green.
The class was teaching 4th year medical students from UCL about the special challenges faced by blind and partially sighted people, and follows a visit a few months ago, when the Liberal Democrat MP and members of the Haringey Phoenix Group met with the Whittington Hospital. That visit formed part of a campaign by the RNIB to get hospitals to make its patient information available in accessible formats such as audio, Braille and large print.
To help increase awareness, the Hornsey and Wood Green MP and the medical students got to wear special sight impairing glasses whilst walking around in the centre’s garden.
Lynne Featherstone MP comments:
“This is such a brilliant way to catch the doctors at an early stage and ensure they have special awareness of the challenges faced by blind and partially sighted people.
“Using the glasses was a great way of giving the young doctors an idea of what having impaired vision is like, and is a small step to help make life easier for blind and partially sighted people here in Hornsey and Wood Green.”
The Liberal Democrats don’t have the big business or trade union financial backers that the other two main parties do, so we rely really heavily on individual donations from people.
In Haringey the number of people who have given money to the Liberal Democrats in the last few years runs into the thousands. So if you’re one of them – many thanks. And whether or not you are, you can make a donation now very quickly and easily using the PayPal system. You don’t have to have a PayPal account – you can also pay by credit/debit card.
Thank you!
Valeria’s story:
Oscar, our first baby, was born at UCLH beginning of December.
As new parents, you rely strongly on a visit from the mid-wife to make sure all is well with the little one.
We waited 3 long days and nobody came to see us despite numerous phone calls to all services concerned.
We did not sleep for 3 days and Oscar cried at night and during the day while he required to be breastfed non-stop. We felt helpless and did not understand what was going on. Every day we were hopeful that someone might visit us, but this did not happen. One evening, we’d had enough and decided to take our baby to Whittington A&E.
We were right to be concerned as Oscar had lost considerable weight and had turned yellow (beginning of jaundice).
Someone saw us around 2am and Oscar was admitted to hospital for 4 days.
We will always be grateful to the Whittington and especially to the A&E. This was the ONLY service that was willing to have a look at what was wrong with Oscar. Nobody else cared at the time.
To better understand the challenges blind and partially sighted local residents face walking on Haringey’s busy streets, Lynne Featherstone MP did a blindfolded walk with guide dog Zeus on the streets of Noel Park.
After the walk, arranged by Guide Dog UK, the Liberal Democrat MP also met local residents Julie, Annette and David and their dogs Merlin, Connie and Raffles, to hear of the special challenges of having a guide dog in a busy urban area like Haringey.
Lynne Featherstone MP comments:
“Walking blindfolded with Zeus really brought it home to me how difficult it is to manage with a guide dog in a busy area like Noel Park.
“Things like bins and boards outside shops are really major obstacles to negotiate when you can’t see them.
“I think everyone should try this out, and then help spread awareness about small things, like making sure roads are clear and obstacle free, to make everyday life easier for people like Julie, Annette and David.”
The rushing through of the Digital Economy Bill through its last stages and 3rd Reading last night in the Commons was a classic example of the arrogance this Labour government has shown to many key issues. I have been shocked and appalled by the way they carry out their business – without a blush as they push through bad legislation – because they can. Rubbing right up against the dissolution of Parliament – the Government should have stop pushing this flawed Bill through – and let it come back for proper scrutiny and passage in the new Parliament – whoever is the government.
It is clear from the massive amount of unhappiness arriving in MPs’ mailboxes that there is genuine and widespread concern amongst people out there that the Digital Economy Bill has got a number of key things wrong. As I said in the debate last night – is it not more important to get it right than get it through?
Sadly, the Government whips were out – and the Bill passed despite the Liberal Democrats and a few Labour rebels voting against 3rd Reading. It now continues again to the Lords for any 11th hour miracle that our lordships can muster. I hope that our LibDem Lords will try and block the Bill altogether.
There are key issues that need more scrutiny and need better solutions: how to deal with file sharing and illegal down-loading (making sure originators get their due but not by draconian means like web blocking) and how to make sure that ‘orphan works’ , for example photographs without a known photographer, don’t become a free source of material to those who want to use the work but don’t want to bother to find the originator and pay the copyright fees.
Without going into detail overdrive – these are massive issues that the Bill in its current form really doesn’t resolve and which could do massive harm. Given more time – there are solutions out there.
This was a real demonstration of so much that is wrong with our democratic processes – because whilst the Government can always get its business through in the end because it has more votes – to do so without proper scrutiny and debate means that bad legislation gets through. And bad legislation in Parliament – means that everyone affected by that particular issue will suffer in their walk of life.
We really are at last chance saloon today in the Lords. There is no more that can be done in the Commons. What an indictment.
Liberal Democrat Leader, Nick Clegg, has backed the campaign to stop closure of the Whittington A&E. The pledge of support comes in the same week as Lynne Featherstone presents local peoples’ personal stories to the Health Minister about their experiences of the Whittington A&E to demonstrate just why local residents need the Whittington A&E to stay open, and to demand that the Government halts the threat.
The Liberal Democrat MP presented Mike O’Brien, Minster for Health, with a collection of over 200 personal stories, written by local residents, who are horrified by the threat to the Archway hospital.
The Liberal Democrats are committed to stopping this process dead in its tracks. They will replace health quangos with directly elected health boards, accountable to local residents for the decisions they make.
Nick Clegg, Liberal Democrat Leader, says:
“I support the campaign to save Whittington A&E. Decisions about local services should be taken by locally accountable bodies. I would not let North London Central NHS close this A&E. I oppose all proposals made by unaccountable bureaucrats which threaten local services.”
Lynne Featherstone MP comments:
“I welcome Nick’s unequivocal support of this campaign. But thanks also to the many personal and moving stories sent to me by local
residents, I feel we’ve made a powerful case for why the Whittington needs to stay open.
“This is about real people’s lives not paper solutions.
“The many intimate and touching stories really help show why having a hospital close-by is so vital. Many residents praise the hard working staff at the Whittington, who have helped them deal with really difficult and life-altering situations.
“I hope this will help tip the balance, and send a strong message to the Government from the people of Hornsey and Wood Green – hands off our A&E!”
So we’re off!
The general election will be the chance to cast a verdict on my record as your MP over the last five years – and in the local elections – on Labour’s record running Haringey Council for the last 40 years.
It’s been an absolute privilege and a joy to be the MP in Hornsey & Wood Green, representing the constituency where I went to school, where I got married and where I have worked for many years. I’ve helped over 28,000 residents with their issues – from those that affect the many like the threatened closure of the Whittington A&E to the very individual and personal issues – which affect just one person.
If you look at my website – you will see a record of my work across the constituency over the years. And you know that you can contact me through the contact details on this site if there is anything you want to ask me, any issues you want to raise or if you would like to help with my campaign.
The elections in Hornsey & Wood Green will be very close between Liberal Democrats and Labour – and every vote will count – both in the General and the local elections.
But the election is only part of the democratic story that needs to be written. Half of our Parliament – the House of Lords – isn’t elected at all. And far too many seats in the Commons are safe seats – regardless of their MPs’ record.
That is why we need to change the political system altogether – as you can watch in my YouTube clip:
M’s story:
I have used Whittington A&E since 1983, when my son was born. He had bronchial asthma and we often had to rush there when he was two or three years old. It’s hard to put into words how reassuring it was to know that he would be seen by a doctor after he’d been unable to stop coughing for hours. Recently he used it again when he needed stitches in his hand on Christmas Eve: he was given antibiotics and a tetanus shot and his hand is healing well. I can’t believe that such a valuable institution could face closure.
Lynne Featherstone 