Haringey has been branded as the dirtiest places in the country by a new survey. Figures compiled by the GMB union show that, out of 351 local authorities, Haringey was ranked bottom of the list with nearly a half of streets assessed as dirty. Local Liberal Democrats have criticised Haringey Council for failing to tackle the problem and have branded Haringey Council’s performance as unacceptable.

Cllr Martin Newton, Lib Dem Environment Spokesperson, comments:

“Haringey Council should be embarrassed that our borough has been tarred with the dirtiest local authority in Britain badge. This is not a title we should be proud of. Once again it is the failure of Labour-run Haringey Council to tackle a problem that residents want them to solve. If they can’t keep our streets clean then what can we trust them to do?”

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

“Street cleaning the number one service that affects the quality of life of every local resident. Haringey Council spends thousands of pounds on advertising ‘Better Haringey’ it’s a shame they cannot deliver it. It is a disgrace that Haringey Labour cannot get this basic service right.”

The sexist law on royal succession soon looks set to be confined to the dustbin of history, following a recent discrimination referral to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) by local MP Lynne Featherstone.

The Hornsey and Wood Green MP wrote to Trevor Phillips, chair of the EHRC, after Lady Louise was pushed back from eight to ninth in line to the throne, following the birth of her baby brother in December last year. The response, acknowledging the practice as discriminatory, triggered earlier this week a proposal from the Solicitor General that abolition of the practice be included in the Single Equality Act, which will pass through the House of Commons later this year.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“The Government seems to have finally realised the importance of equality at all levels of society.

“We can’t have a law that is meant to fight discrimination and injustice, but allows a blatantly sexist law on royal succession to continue.

“This is the perfect time to change the law when there is no one who will be personally affected. It shouldn’t create a hue and cry.

“Let’s confine this outdated message that men are better than women to the dustbin of history.”

New figures unearthed by local Liberal Democrats have exposed Labour’s failure to tackle the housing crisis hitting families in Haringey in the last decade.

Since 1997, when Labour came to power nationally, the number of households living in temporary accommodation has soared from 2,322 to 5,447 – the second highest number in London and four times the London average.

Lynne Featherstone, MP for Hornsey and Wood Green comments:

“This extraordinary increase in the number of people living in temporary accommodation, often in terrible and run down states, is one of Labour’s biggest failings.

“Not only is Haringey failing to find decent housing for these often vulnerable people, but my casework postbag offers evidence of the terrible state of many of these temporary homes. Haringey Council needs to own up to this failing, and address this as a matter of urgency.”

Cllr Carolyn Baker, Lib Dem Housing Spokesperson, adds:

“These figures are a shameful testament to current Labour governance. This means that 5,447 families are without a proper home in Haringey. Residents have continually had to bear the brunt of an ineffective local council, unable and seemingly unwilling to tackle this housing crisis, and a national government hell bent on strangling council housing. It shows Labour’s complete failure to deal with housing needs.”

Note: figures from Department for Communities and Local Government Homelessness returns (quarterly)

Local Liberal Democrats have exposed Ken Livingstone’s cynical bid for votes over Ally Pally, admidst Haringey Labour’s catastrophicmismanagement of the cherished building. The Lib Dems are reminding local residents that his promises this week comes four years after Labour’s Mayor made a similar bid for votes at the last Mayoral election – since which he has done absolutely nothing to help as local Labour bosses have wasted further millions in a disastrous attempt to dispose of the site.

When the last Mayoral election was days away, Ken Livingstone told local newspaper the Hornsey Journal that the Ally Pally was a “regional resource” and a “huge financial burden” for the people of Haringey – and suggested that extra funding could be made available to it from the Mayor’s budget (Hornsey Journal, 3rd June 2004).

In the past four years however, he has done nothing to help, while the local Labour Council has orchestrated a disastrous attempt to flog the building to a developer through a failed lease that has been thrown out by the High Court – leaving local taxpayers with another multi-million pound bill on top of the £50 million already squandered.

Local GLA candidate and Haringey Lib Dem councillor Monica Whyte commented: “Ken Livingstone’s empty promises to save the Ally Pally from the clutches of Haringey Labour would be great if they were true – but this just shows that he will say anything for a few votes in this area.”

“He said he’d help save the Ally Pally last time and what did he do? Absolutely nothing. Instead, Lib Dems have had to battle another fiasco of mismanagement over the Firoka deal, which has cost local residents further millions.

“Local residents will not be fooled by Ken a second time round!”