Lynne Featherstone MP comments on Baby Peter sentencing

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Commenting on the sentencing of Baby Peter’s mother, her partner and Jason Owen, Lynne Featherstone, MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, said:

“The guilty have at last been punished, but we still cannot rest until we fully understand how this poor little boy suffered so terribly, and for so long, under the noses of Haringey’s Children’s Services.”

Commenting on the publication of the second Serious Case Review into the death of Baby Peter, Lynne Featherstone MP adds:

“The first Serious Case Review either showed clear incompetence or was a cover-up. This one could not be more different from the first. It says exactly what we should have learnt at the start of this awful tragedy – Haringey Council, health professionals and the police all failed to protect Baby Peter from three individuals who set out to harm him.

“Seven months after light was shed on these failures the focus on children’s safety must never drift again.”

Cllr Gail Engert, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Children and Young People, adds:

“Services need to continue to be kept under close scrutiny to ensure the huge improvements required are being made. We will continue to push for a dedicated council committee to scrutinise Children’s Services to fulfil this gap.”

Haringey Council ignores Noel Park flooding problem

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A local Liberal Democrat councillor has demanded action after it emerged that Haringey Council has failed to take action to resolve flooding problems on Wood Green High Road for two years.

Local residents are often unable to use pavements near Turnpike Lane after heavy rain due to inadequate drainage. Letters received by Cllr Fiyaz Mughal show that Haringey Council has said that it has applied for funding to resolve the problem. However, Transport for London (TfL) has said that that it is up to Haringey Council to spend money TfL provides on the council’s priorities.

Cllr Mughal has written to Haringey Council transport bosses to demand that they provide money to resolve the flooding problem.

Cllr Fiyaz Mughal, Noel Park, comments:

“What is clear from this is that Haringey Council is ignoring Noel Park and local residents who use Wood Green High Road. When we have even modest amounts of rain the drains are overwhelmed and pavements and the road are flooded.

“It is disingenuous for Haringey Council to say that they are applying for funding when they are already given money from TfL to improve roads – and they have decided that this is not their priority. Local residents and the many hundreds of people passing through Wood Green each day to do shopping will feel let down.”

Haringey Council fails to meet recycling targets for nearly a year

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Concern is growing for Haringey Council’s green credentials after it emerged that it has failed to meet its own recycling targets for ten out of the last eleven months.

Haringey Council only met its 28% recycling target once in the last eleven reported months, in January this year. The average amount of waste sent to recycle in the last year to date was languishing 3% under target at 24.93%.

Liberal Democrats believe that residents need more opportunity to recycle and would like to see action from Haringey Council to improve performance.

Cllr Bob Hare, Liberal Democrat Environment Spokesperson, comments:

“Whilst it is not just the quantity of recycling that counts, it is a good indicator of how the borough is doing on recycling. What is clear is that Haringey has consistently failed to meet targets yet there seems to be little evidence of any political will by Labour to better their poor performance.”

Lynne Featherstone, MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, adds:

“Clearly steps must be taken to increase recycling rates, and Haringey Council needs to take a good hard look at why they have failed to reach targets month after month.

“Recycling needs to be easier and more accessible – there are still plenty of people in Haringey who want to recycle but don’t get the opportunity.”

Haringey Labour councillors award themselves £44,751 in extra allowances

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It has emerged that Haringey’s Labour councillors have awarded themselves an extra £44,751 in allowances for the next municipal year despite the Leader of the Council saying that they would not take any increase. The 7% rise in the total allowances awarded to Labour councillors has come under severe criticism from opposition councillors who have repeatedly campaigned to lower the allowance scheme burden on local taxpayers.

In April, despite Liberal Democrats opposition, Labour councillors voted unanimously to award themselves an annual increase in allowances only to be embarrassed into a humiliating u-turn last week. This new revelation of a stealth increase will anger local residents and goes against Cllr Kober’s comments that the Council should tighten its belt and “any savings can go straight into providing essential services for the people of Haringey.”

At Monday’s Council AGM Labour voted unanimously for all positions with Special Responsibility Allowance (SRA) meaning that the total spend on allowances increased from £676,533 last year to £721,284 in the coming year. Now only 3 Labour councillors out of 32 will not receive any form of additional payment.

Liberal Democrats are committed to reducing the number of SRA positions.

Councillor Ed Butcher, Liberal Democrat Finance Spokesperson comments:

“When local residents are struggling to make ends met they will be shocked to learn that Labour councillors are busy lining their own pockets and maximising how much money they receive from taxpayers.

“It is no wonder the Labour administration ignored pleas for a council tax freeze – they obviously needed the extra cash to pay their own allowances.

“The Labour leader has been quoted as saying councillors should tighten their belts too in this financial crisis. Well, this looks like they sadly added a few extra notches on Monday.”

Lynne Featherstone MP, Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Hornsey & Wood Green adds:

“When the town hall should be trying to reduce costs, Labour councillors are going in completely the opposite direction.

“They should be thinking up solutions to help local people in a recession, not wheezes and fiddles so they can claim extra money for themselves.”

Last minute lap-dancing applications cannot escape new regulations

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Local MP Lynne Featherstone last night extracted a promise from the Government that last minute applications for lap dancing clubs will not escape new licensing laws.

The assurance given on the floor of the House of Commons means that last minute applications, such as the one recently suspended in Crouch End, cannot avoid the new licensing requirements by rushing through their application before the change in law.

Lynne Featherstone and the Liberal Democrat MPs have supported new licensing arrangement to give local communities greater powers to restrict the granting of licences, as part of the Policing and Crime Bill.

Commenting Lynne Featherstone MP says:

“The Crouch End community was left bruised and powerless because of the lack of proper regulation from the Government meaning lap-dancing clubs only need the same licence as a café. This is plainly ridiculous and I support the new powers brought under this new law.

“The assurances I sought means that any last minute applications like in Crouch End cannot escape the new stronger system. I hope this this will come as a relief to local campaigners.”

Councillor David Winskill (Crouch End) adds:

“The uncertainty of the current rules has caused a lot of upset for local residents who opposed the club. At least now we know for certain all clubs will have to re-apply for a new license which is good news for Crouch End and the rest of Haringey.”

Electing a new Speaker

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It must have been one of the shortest statements ever. Basically, Speaker Martin said for the sake of the unity of the house he would step down on 21 June – allowing for a new speaker to be voted for on 22 June. And that was that.

I though just as he got it wrong yesterday – he got it right today. I just wish he hadn’t had the humiliation of yesterday. But politics is like that – sudden and often quite brutish in its endings.

Speaker Martin’s announcement today is just the start of a process that will hopefully sweep away the cobwebs and dust of a system that has been sustaining a broken politics – and will let light into all the old, dark secret ways.

We all now have a duty to give our ideas and energy for reform to the Kelly commission, who will independently set the new rules for all expenses and the like. He needs to get a shifty on – as the sooner we can cleanse our body politic the better. There are massive problems out there for so many people that this inward focus must end as soon as possible.

And whilst the Speaker has now done the honourable thing – and I am glad that he can now go with dignity – that still leaves the many MPs on a spectrum of guilt from potentially criminal (that means they must face the law of the land), through excessive greed (deselection) to smaller transgressions (the ballot box ). All those must be dealt with appropriately – and the punishment must fit the crime. For the rest – being sainted in the Telegraph is their earthly reward. (Fair play to the Telegraph too – as they are now publishing each day a list of ‘saints’. See their coverage of myself here.)

As to who will be the new speaker – I don’t know. I do know that the new system of secret ballots means that hopefully the dreadful pressure of the whips and the totally partisan approach will not hold sway. We need someone who can deliver a modernising agenda. That is the crucial point and I don’t care which party they come from – only that they can deliver and take us forward out of this unholy mess.

Frank Dobson and I had a real set to as we were waiting to go on the BBC’s Daily Politics show. He is against the secret ballot and was trying to argue that we shouldn’t have anything secret. I think he doesn’t get it. Expenses – open and transparent so the world can see and be reassured about our behaviour. Voting, just as in general elections, in a secret ballot to make sure we don’t suffer undue influence.

Methinks Frank doesn’t get it. He still clearly wants to stack the odds, use the whips, ensure a Labour Speaker – rather than fair play. Luckily we had to go on set before we got to fisticuffs!

Michael Martin

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I was sitting in the chamber yesterday awaiting the arrival of Speaker Martin – and thinking of history. I was remembering other ‘rotten’ Parliaments that I had yawned at in my school history lessons – bored and not understanding the import of history – that it was once reality. Ironic – really. And then Speaker Martin rose to make his statement.

Whilst I had called for him to go last Sunday – as I sat there in the chamber I wondered – could he, would he? Was there a rabbit out of hat? As his first words left his mouth – I knew that nothing had changed. Speaker Martin just hadn’t got it. He did apologise to the nation. He said we all had to bear our responsibility. And then he said he would call an urgent meeting with all the leaders. He just seemed not to understand the raging torrent of public opinion out there. Calling a meeting just wasn’t going to do it!

Not enough. Not nearly enough. You cannot defend the indefensible – and yet he believed he should.

The world has moved on – and MPs are not a special breed who can hide behind some special arrangements that make them in some way exempt from the scrutiny and openness that we prescribe for others. The Americans have got this together so much better than us.

Anyway – Speaker Martin failed to command the respect of the House – as MP after MP defied him and challenged his authority. One MP shouted from behind the bar (from which you cannot speak). Centuries of convention and respect dissipated as Mr Speaker lost control.

He was not helped by his own mistakes in understanding the standing orders of the House and had clearly not been briefed properly by his Clerks – as he said that the motion of no confidence (tabled by Douglas Carswell and on which I was one of the initial signatories) was not a substantive motion. But it is. He said it was an EDM. Shouts from the House – anger and derision mixed.

But with today’s news that he’s going to stand down – that’s all history now. The job now is to get a Speaker who can help us all start fixing the system.

The Equality Bill

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My latest local newspaper column was about the Equality Bill:

Fanfare please! At last – the much trailed, much vaunted, long-time in gestation Equality Bill is here and going through Parliament.

So what’s in it? Well – there’s not space to cover the great tome in just one column – but here’s a taster.

Much of the Bill is a bringing together of all the bits and pieces of equality legislation over recent decades – and that’s one of those small sounding administrative changes (putting all the rules together in one place) that will actually have a big impact (clearer legislation means easier to understand, fewer mistakes and – sorry lawyers! – even a bit less legal work in future). That’s one of the reasons why broadly speaking the Liberal Democrats are backing this Bill, although as it goes through Parliament we (in particular – myself, leading on the Bill in the Commons – and Lord Lester, who basically wrote the book on equalities, leading on the Bill in the Lords) will be working to improve it.

Now getting to the contentious stuff – and making sure than men and women are paid equally for equivalent jobs. I’m a great fan of pay audits – making companies and the public sector check their pay to ensure that they aren’t discriminating in what they pay men and women. Of course, when this issue comes up, there’s always a chorus of voices saying, “Oh, we’re fine in our firm/industry/sector”. Well, if that’s the case – a clean bill of health will be a good mark in favour of a firm that will make it easier to attract good quality staff. And if it isn’t the case – well, that’s the whole point – to bring that to light.

But the Government has wimped out of requiring firms to carry out pay audits. It says something about the struggle there is still to be had for men and women to be treated equally that there are 1,001 things the Government is happy to order firms to do – but at the basic level of not discriminating in pay, it has blinked. Instead, the Bill proposals a weak voluntary scheme for several years, with maybe, perhaps, possibly further action after that.

Better news though – one way firms get away with unfair or unequal pay practices is by banning staff from telling anyone else how much they are paid. Rather a restriction on freedom of speech – and the Bill will ban this sort of censorship.

Next, religion – or more accurately, the Government’s intention to extend the current existing public duties to race, gender, disability and sexual orientation to religion and belief. This would mean that public authorities would be obliged in carrying out their functions to advance equality of opportunity and good relations between different groups. Obviously we all would subscribe to promoting good relations etc – but a public duty? Religious views on things like abortion, alcohol, homosexuality and sex education in schools are varied – to put it mildly. It would be absurd to require public authorities to accommodate all the different religious views in these policies which affect us all. This is a road to hell (if you will excuse the religious connotations) paved with good – but ludicrous – intentions.

And one more major issue to pick out – the proposed new duty for bodies receiving public funding, requiring them to consider the equality gap between rich and poor. In some ways this is no different from saying that when our taxes are spent by public bodies they should bear in mind whether or not they are damaging our environment in how they go about spending them. Thinking of the wider implications of spending makes sense and if you can use the spending to help achieve more than one goal – then that’s even better news as it’s more value for money in the cash-strapped times. But the way this duty is laid out in the Bill is, I fear, simplistic and unfair, it’s wording is broad enough to attract controversy, worry and legal arguments, but too weak to have much of an impact. The worst of all worlds. This is a case where the role of Parliament in amending Bills can be crucial.

That’s only a brief sample of the points covered by the Bill – and even for those, it’s a pretty brief summary of what the Bill does and my views on it. You can keep up with them in more detail as the Bill goes through Parliament via my list of blog postings on the topic.

Reaction on the doorsteps to the expenses scandals

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Knocking on doors in Crouch End yesterday was generally friendly – but it is quite clear that people are upset and angry with politicians who cheat and/or milk the system. There is also deep concern about the future of our democracy as people feel that they have been betrayed and don’t know where to turn and who to trust. And quite frankly – I feel the same – and don’t even know how to reassure them.

Only using this ‘opportunity’ for radical change and reform stands even a chance of restoring any trust or respect – in a decade’s time if we are lucky.

That is why it is crucial that the Speaker goes. It is crucial that those MPs who have evaded tax or committed fraud should face the consequences of their actions – and for any other MPs if the Standards Committee finds them at fault – then deselection. The rest who have transgressed should face their electorate.

And the sooner we have an election the better!

Rent confusion ahead for Haringey Council tenants

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Local Liberal Democrats are warning of confusion for council tenants in Haringey, as tonight’s Full Council meeting changed the rent they pay for the second time in three months.

After much pressure, the Labour finally announced in March this year that they will cut this year’s 6% hike in rents by half. This change means some people have been paying too much for their rent so far this year, but rather than refunding the money immediately, the refund will be spread out in monthly payments. If someone moves during the year, they will miss out on getting all of their refund.

In other bad news, although the rent increase this year has been trimmed back, the planned rent figures for next year remain unchanged. As a result, residents will be facing an inflation-busting rise of 7.2% for next year.

Cllr Matt Davies, Liberal Democrat Housing spokesperson, comments:

“The reduced increase in rents will offer some relief to tenants, so it is welcome. But, even after this late and messy change, residents are still faced with an above-inflation increase – coupled with soaring service charges.

“Haringey Labour will try to take the credit for this. But people have to remember that their Labour Council and Labour government have, between them, conspired to create a confusing mess of this year’s housing rents, which are still increasing. And they are irresponsibly storing up problems for next year, with housing rents set to soar up to 7%.

“Not only will all tenants have yet another revised rent statement but Haringey Council will have to recalculate all benefit claimants’ entitlement if they live in a council property.”

Lynne Featherstone MP adds:

“Labour will dress this up to be a victory for tenants. It is not. Local council tenants have continued to experience annual hikes in rent and service charges as well as rocketing Council Tax levels without seeing a change to stories of the sub-standard accommodation that I hear in my surgery every week.”