Liberal Democrats take Whittington Petition to Downing Street

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Lynne Featherstone and Robert Gorrie present Whittington petitionTo get the Prime Minister to intervene and stop the Whittington A&E being closed down, local Liberal Democrats Lynne Featherstone MP and Councillor Robert Gorrie presented the Whittington Petition to Downing Street.

The petition has been supported by over 2,200 local residents, with over 1000 people signing it in the first 48 hours alone.

Lynne Featherstone will also continue the fight against the threat of closure, by hosting a public meeting on Thursday the 4th March, at Greig City Academy in Hornsey, where local residents will get a chance to ask health care bosses directly about the threat to their A&E.

Lynne Featherstone MP comments:

“I want the Prime Minister to sit up and take notice – it’s this Labour government that has landed us here in the first place. With such evident strong support and local outrage at the risk of closure, I hope he will see no option but to stop this threat once and for all.

“Thank you everyone who signed the petition – please continue to support the campaign by coming along to my meeting next Thursday. Together, united, we can show them what madness closure would be.”

Councillor Robert Gorrie, leader of Haringey Liberal Democrats, adds:

“The enormous groundswell of support against A&E closures will mean that soon the government and the NHS will no longer be able to ignore local residents. We will continue to fight and I hope local campaigners will too.”

Local MP urging residents to come to public meeting on future of Whittington A&E

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Local MP Lynne Featherstone is this week calling on local residents to come along to a public meeting on Thursday to hear directly from health care bosses on the future of the Whittington A&E.

The meeting, which is being held at Greig City Academy in Hornsey, N8 7NU on Thursday the 4 March from 8pm, will give local residents the chance to put questions directly to Rachel Tyndall, Chair of the North Central London Review Panel, and Richard Sumray, who is Chair of NHS Haringey.

Residents who want to attend should use the Hillfield Avenue entrance to the Hornsey school, and follow the signs.

Lynne Featherstone MP comments:

“Things have moved on since we first heard about the proposal to close the A&E. There are now seven draft options, four of which end 24 hour A&E at the Whittington.

“This is your chance to hear directly from the NHS bosses on these plans, but more importantly, this is your chance to make sure your voice is heard.

“Please come along, and bring friends and neighbours. The more of us are there to show our concern, to ask a question or just to listen and understand – the better. Together we can fight this.”

Vote for change – don't make me laugh!

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Only on Sunday David, trust me, Cameron was telling his Party conference that it was his patriotic duty to save the country from a Labour Government and that the new Tory slogan was ‘Vote for Change’.

Two days later – his ‘patriotism’  has been  blown out of the water as it clearly doesn’t extend very far – so long as the Tory coffers are filling. And as for ‘change’ – protecting Tory friends in the City or elsewhere has long been stock in trade for the Tories.

In fact – if the City is jittery – it’s not a hung parliament that is the scary story – it’s the sudden realisation that the Tories might not win and the expected continuation of the good life for the bankers and the stockbrokers which suddenly looked a bit iffy when the two point diminishing lead in the polls scared them silly.

So – forced into coming clean – Ascroft – Tory donor extraordinaire – is a non dom. He hasn’t paid his full whack of tax in Britain on his massive fortune stored in a distant land – and with his tax savings has literally been buying seats for the Tories.

Why am I not surprised? Well – because every time the Tory leadership was asked about Lord Ashcroft’s status they wriggled and squirmed and evaded a definitive answer. So we knew that they knew that Ashcroft was not as presented – hence the endless questions over the last decade as to his real status – but they would not admit it.

I am just astonished that this has been left to run for so long and that Cameron protected Ashcroft for so long. What on earth does that say about Cameron and his honesty? Quite a lot I think.

Comment on the Whittington Hospital protest

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Commenting on the march to Whittington Hospital on Saturday the 27th February, Lynne Featherstone MP said:

“Local people turned out in massive numbers to send a very clear message to the health care bosses – hands off our A&E!

“We are fed up with unelected quangos dictating to us what they think is best for us. It’s our health. It’s our lives. It’s our NHS.”

Fairer taxes

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Here is a short clip on the Liberal Democrat fairer taxes policy – where no one will pay any tax on the first £10,000 of their earnings. We have currently an unfair tax system where a cleaner, for example, will pay more in tax proportionately than a banker! Putting money back in the pockets of low and middle income earners re balances this unfair tax system and encourages and values work.

(Also on YouTube here)

Aspiring journalists from Hornsey School for Girls interview MP for special BBC report

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Lynne Featherstone interviewed by, from the left, Carenza Grant and Lina Chakri In order to help aspiring young journalists from a local school do a special piece on youth issues in Haringey for the BBC, Lynne Featherstone MP was interviewed by students at Hornsey School for Girls.

The Crouch End school is participating in the BBC school report for the third year running. The project allows students, with the help of mentors from the national broadcaster, to learn about making TV and to develop journalistic skills.

The Liberal Democrat MP was quizzed on issues such as unfair school funding and youth crime in the student-led piece, which will be shown on the BBC website, and hopefully on TV and radio, on the 11th March.

Lynne Featherstone MP, comments:

“I was really impressed by how expertly the interview was carried out, how well researched the questions were, and how much the students had learnt about technical stuff like filming and sound.

“This is a great way to teach the girls about making TV and to help them develop an interest in current affairs.

“And who knows, they may even end up working for the BBC one day! Hopefully their report will go all the way to the top – I’ll certainly be keeping an eye out for it on the 11th March.”

Politics Show and Westminster Hour

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Double media bursts today. The Politics Show at lunchtime are looking at the issue of airbrushed and digitally altered images and the effect they have on our sense of well-being. The Liberal Democrats have led the political field on this one – and we are calling for honesty and transparency on advertising. Altered images need to show clearly that they are just that – altered. The Royal Society of Psychiatrists has joined us in the call – for a label on these images that says whether they have been altered – and not in such tiny type as to be unreadable! The LibDem ‘Real Women’ campaign is now being backed by academics across the world as concern rises about the impact on women, men and particularly the young whose sense of well-being is diminished by the constant bombardment of perfected images which are unobtainable and unrealistic.

Then the Westminster Hour late tonight! What will the topics be? My guess is bullies and polls!

Whittington A&E march and rally

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Save our A&E! Save our A&E! Save our maternity!

So rang out the chants on the march to save the Whittington A&E this morning. The rain kept mainly on the plain – thank goodness – and we marched and chanted all the way from Highbury and Islington Tube to the Whittington – where we had a huge rally.

Big thanks to the Defend the Whittington Coalition – who organised the whole caboodle – and it takes some organisation – with having Holloway Road closed off in one direction, the Whittington main entrance closed during the rally and, lovely surprise, a jazz band played all the way. The Whittington Stray Cats – I believe they said they were called.

Of course – the key issue is how do we get those making the decision to withdraw any of the proposals that they say we will be consulted on next autumn that close the Whittington A&E? For currently – out of the seven draft proposals – four end 24/7 A&E.

This is a nightmare – where the Government is calling the ultimate shots – but hiding behind its quango servants to do the dirty work.

I have organised a public meeting on March 4, 8pm at Greig Academy (entrance to assembly hall in Hillfield Avenue off High Street Hornsey. The Chair of the Review panel, Rachel Tyndall,  (putting forward the proposals) and Richard Sumray – Chair of Haringey PCT will both be there to take questions from local people.

Please come and make the case – loud and clear – for all the reasons we users know. It is clear insanity to close this vital local service.

MP celebrates winning road safety designs with students from local school

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Road safety signsTo help celebrate the fantastic work students have been doing on road safety and announce the winners of a road safety sign competition, Lynne Featherstone MP visited a special assembly at Alexandra Primary School.

The Hornsey and Wood Green MP gave out prizes to the competition winners, Haidi and Zazia, who not only won brand new bikes, but also saw their winning designs put on road signs that will appear outside the Wood Green school.

The special assembly was the culmination of a joint effort between the school, the local police and neighbourhood management to help teach the children about road safety.

Lynne Featherstone MP comments:

“The winning designs are just fabulous and will hopefully make passing motorists slow down and think twice about road safety so close to the school.

“This area sees a lot of heavy traffic and it’s extra important for kids who live and go to school in such a busy place to know how to stay safe.

“And teaching kids about traffic awareness in this fun and innovative way really seems to work!”

Go Debenhams!

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Hot on the heels of Debenham’s announcement that they were using size 16 mannequins – comes another ground-breaking announcement that they are going to use a disabled model in their advertising – read about it here. 

There is a growing movement – across several industries and companies – all moving towards creating a more realistic view of us human beings. For too long the skinny, bony catwalk icons have held sway – but now the fight back begins.

The amazing diversity of we humans needs to be reflected in the images we see. We are so much more interesting than stick figures – and that includes seeing that disability is also part of our diversity.