Signs are promising for much needed review say Liberal Democrats

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Parking signs throughout Haringey will be reviewed after a successful campaign by residents and Lib Dems forced the Labour-run Council to rethink its policy on confusing signs. Cllr Martin Newton cast doubt over the clarity and legality of parking signs last year after incidents resulting in residents being unwittingly ticketed or towed away. Haringey Council has now confirmed that it will carry out a review to ensure parking signs are consistent and compliant with new government legislation.

Confusion arose after parking signs in Muswell Hill and Crouch End failed to show clearly when motorists were allowed to park. In October 2007, Cllr Newton notified the Department of Transport who deemed Haringey’s signs as ‘unsatisfactory’.

Cllr Martin Newton, Lib Dem Traffic and Highways Spokesperson comments:

“Finally Haringey Council has woken up to this problem and has started to take this seriously. They knew from the start that their parking signs were not up to scratch and literally tried to patch it up with a few stickers.

“I am glad that Haringey Council has decided to review parking signs but again it has only been after many residents have had to endure tickets that should have never been issued.”

Lynne Featherstone MP adds:

“I hope this will finally put an end to the parking roulette residents often have to play on streets of Haringey. Parking restrictions should be about sensibly managing limited spaces rather than frankly confusing signs that can lead to people being unfairly caught out. This is a significant victory for local residents.”

A sexist monarchy

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Who is eighth is line to the throne is usually only of interest to the die hard royalist who wants to make sure they have got their souvenir plates in the right order.

But when Prince Edward’s youngest child was born last month an age old tradition of sexual discrimination took place.

For no reason other than her gender, Lady Louise Windsor, the Prince’s elder child, was quietly demoted to number nine in line for the top job.

No doubt this has happened countless times in our history, but this time there is one slight difference – the small matter of sexual equalities legislation.

Being bumped down a list is hardly the most gratuitous act of sexual discrimination, particularly when you consider the hundreds of thousands of women struggling to earn the same as the male counterparts.

Nevertheless, the sovereign is our head of state, the head of armed forces and our top ambassador – Britain’s face to the world. What will happen when Prince William is an expectant father, should we play genetic roulette and hope that it’s not a girl followed by a boy?

What might have suited grey bearded king makers of old is completely at odds with how a head of state should be selected in modern Britain. Any system based on the notion that you should make do with a woman until a man comes along should quite frankly be consigned to the history books. It is for this reason I have asked the Equalities and Human Rights Commission to investigate Lady Louise’s demotion.

No doubt there will be the traditionalist aghast with the barefaced cheek of a mere commoner like myself questioning century-old royal tradition. However, tradition is the reason that women used to be denied the vote, the reason women were not allowed to have professional aspirations and the reason women were expected to be subservient to men. Thankfully attitudes have moved on – well mostly.

We have had a female head of state for half a century and she’s not done a bad job of it. In an ideal world we would have a full constitutional convention to look at all aspects of the monarchy including if we should have one at all. But until that day we must make do with our piecemeal constitution and I for one think this particular discriminatory piece must end.

This article first appeared on the New Statesman blog.

(c) Lynne Featherstone, 2008

Our sexist monarchy

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Well – I’ve referred to the Equality Commission the demotion in the line of succession to our throne of Lady Louise (daughter to Prince Edward) in favour of her newborn brother. It may not be the nuts and bolts of discrimination against women in terms of equal pay (appalling – 144,000 cases waiting for tribunal), rape conviction rates, funding for carers and so on – but it is completely unacceptable. In this day and age that a female can simply be pushed out of line by a later male addition to the Royal Family belongs in the Ark.

In fact – if I was Princess Anne – I would be mightly cheesed off at being shoved out of line by Edward and Andrew. She may not have been – who knows – but the legislation wasn’t in place then and there wasn’t an Equalities Commission to refer such a thing to. Now there is – and as this has long been on my agenda – and Nick Clegg has given me the locus to do it – I have.

Whatever one thinks of the monarchy – and this is not that debate – this is wrong and needs correction. Tackling sexism in the monarchy would send a strong symbolic message to the rest of society. And this is a good time to do it – as ridding the system of sexism now won’t immediately alter who gets on the throne – so it isn’t about the personal merits of person A versus person B. But William has a 50% chance of having a girl child first – and we don’t want to be discussing it then!

Let’s see what the Commission makes of it.

Here’s the news release:

Legality of Lady Louise Royal demotion referred to equality watchdog

James Windsor, Prince Edward’s first son, overtaking of his sister, Lady Louise, as eighth in line to the throne has today been referred to the Equality and Human Rights Commission by newly appointed Lib Dem Youth & Equalities Spokesperson Lynne Featherstone MP.

Following the common law practice of male-preference primogeniture that sees male heirs take preference over their female siblings in the line of succession, James Windsor (Viscount Severn) who was born in December now comes before his 4 year old sister in succession to the throne.

Ms. Featherstone has written to the chair of the Commission requesting an urgent investigation into the legality of displacement in the light of recent equality legislation.

Lady Louise’s displacement in favour of a male is the first amongst Queen Elizabeth II’s direct successors since the advent of laws on sexual discrimination.

Commenting, Lynne Featherstone MP:

“This is an arcane practice that might have suited the grey bearded king makers of old, but it is completely at odds with how a head of state should be selected in modern Britain.

“Of course who is eighth in line to the throne is slightly academic, but there is a 50/50 chance Prince William’s heir will be a woman and what then?

“More importantly, there is little hope of bringing full equality to the workplace if we can’t bring equality to the highest office in the land. Any practice that is based on the idea of making do with a woman until a man comes along must be consigned to the history books.”

Legality of Lady Louise Royal demotion referred to equality watchdog

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James Windsor, Prince Edward’s first son, overtaking of his sister, Lady Louise, as eighth in line to the throne has today been referred to the Equality and Human Rights Commission by newly appointed Lib Dem Youth & Equalities Spokesperson Lynne Featherstone MP.

Following the common law practice of male-preference primogeniture that sees male heirs take preference over their female siblings in the line of succession, James Windsor (Viscount Severn) who was born in December now comes before his 4 year old sister in succession to the throne.

Ms. Featherstone has written to the chair of the Commission requesting an urgent investigation into the legality of displacement in the light of recent equality legislation.

Lady Louise’s displacement in favour of a male is the first amongst Queen Elizabeth II’s direct successors since the advent of laws on sexual discrimination.

Commenting, Lynne Featherstone MP:

“This is an arcane practice that might have suited the grey bearded king makers of old, but it is completely at odds with how a head of state should be selected in modern Britain.

“Of course who is eighth in line to the throne is slightly academic, but there is a 50/50 chance Prince William’s heir will be a woman and what then?

“More importantly, there is little hope of bringing full equality to the workplace if we can’t bring equality to the highest office in the land. Any practice that is based on the idea of making do with a woman until a man comes along must be consigned to the history books.”

Jacksons Lane Community Centre: action needed to secure its future

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I’ve Lynne Featherstone MP with Cllr Bob Hare and Cllr Neil Williams at Jacksons Lane Community Centrejust demanded a meeting with Arts Council London to try to secure the future of Jacksons Lane Community Centre – one of our much-loved local resources that has provided so much to residents of Highgate, Archway and beyond.

Organisers at the centre were told in December that its £125,000 annual grant may be cut this year. And without that grant the centre, which has already endured nearly a year of closure, may have to close permanently. Not good!

The problem is that Arts Council London has questioned the commitment of Haringey Council to the centre – not surprising given the delays in funding repairs after roof damage in January 2006 and also Haringey Council’s failure to provide a long lease – which meant the centre missed out on applying for a £1 million grant.

But the annual grant is absolutely vital to the future of the centre and I will not see it disappear without a fight.

Clegg's first Prime Minister's Questions

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Well – Nick did well! As readers will know, I think too much attention is given to PMQs, but given that it is – certainly better to do well than not, and Nick did well.

He played it straight with a question about the sort of real issue that hits so many people – home fuel costs – rather than going for a Westminster hothouse story. Keeping your home warm, and being able to afford it, is a big issue for many of my constituents – so good on Nick for picking that topic.

He moved a few places in from where Lib Dem leaders usually sit / stand. I’ve not seen how this came over on the TV, but it seemed to work well in Parliament – as he was surrounded by Lib Dem MPs, rather than having opposition MPs heckling straight into his right ear.

New Hampshire score: polls 0, public 1

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Hillary pulls it off! I thought she might lose New Hampshire. Well – so did the polls. But that’s what makes politics so exciting – for all the polling predictions and pundit pontification, in the end – it’s the public who get their say.

I came across a conversation last night in Central Lobby (in Parliament) between three men – all from ethnic minorities. Two were for Clinton and one for Obama. The conversation was interesting in that there clearly was a feeling (not hugely strong – but enough to make this discussion happen) about being black and not supporting Obama because they were Clinton fans. In the end, for these two, supporting the candidate they thought would make the better President of the United States won out over supporting a black candidate because of the good that too would do. In the end, we will really have made it when it’s not even an issue for discussion. Equality really has a long way still to go.

A postscript about Iowa: those scenes of hundreds of people turning up to squeeze into venues to do politics for several hours were really impressive, but once the immediate impact of those pictures fade I’m left with the more sobering thought that for all the effort, money, hype, enthusiasm and choice of different candidates – turnout in the Democrat caucuses was only a bit over 10%. And that was with turnout at record high levels! So – although as I said, the public do get the final say in politics, it’s a good reminder of how much work there is to do on both sides of the Atlantic to persuade people that say is real and worthwhile.

U-turn demanded on Jacksons Lane Centre funding

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Local Liberal Democrat MP Lynne Featherstone has demanded an urgent meeting with Arts Council London bosses to make a direct plea to secure the funding of a much-loved community centre.

Organisers at Jacksons Lane, based in Highgate, were told in December that its annual £125,000 grant may be cut this year. Without funding the centre, which has endured nearly a year of closure, may have to close permanently. Lib Dems have launched a petition for residents to support a campaign to safeguard the future of Jackson’s Lane for the community. This has been distributed to thousands of residents in the Highgate area.

In January 2006 the centre was closed after high winds damaged the roof. Labour-run Haringey Council was criticised by Liberal Democrats for delaying funding for repairs and failing to provide the centre with a long lease, preventing the centre from applying for a £1 million grant. Now Arts Council London has questioned the commitment of Haringey Council to the centre. Lib Dems are urging Haringey Council to do all it can to reverse its neglect to save the much needed community asset.

Cllr Neil Williams (Highgate) comments:

“Jacksons Lane is a wonderful community asset for Highgate, providing classes and a space for meetings that is really valued by local people – but it has been badly neglected by the Labour Council. It is no wonder the Arts Council says that it feels that Haringey Council are not committed to the Centre, but they must be persuaded otherwise.

“The Council need to do more to show that they will not let Jacksons Lane close.”

Lynne Featherstone MP adds:

“This funding is absolutely vital to the future of the centre and I will not see it disappear without a fight.”

TAKE ACTION: sign the petition to save Jacksons Lane.

Petitioning: the good, the bad and the ugly

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I’ve Lynne Featherstone, Susan Oatway and Neil Williams running a petition about Haringey's policingseen (as a possible signer, actual signer, recipient or even organiser) more than a few petitions in my time. Some are great – a really effective way to help bring about change. And some go wrong in all sorts of ways – too few signatures, unrealistic or confused objectives, aimed at completely the wrong target or just a mess – a few barely legible lines on a rather tatty single piece of paper.

The House of Commons is currently running a consultation on introducing an e-petitions option, so that in future people could run online petitions to Parliament – a bit like the way you can run an e-petition on the Downing Street website.

So how might a Parliamentary e-petitioning system be done? There’s a whole host of questions behind the concept. Are there more than enough petitions already – and should we worry about generating too many new ones? Or should everyone have as many opportunities to express their views as possible? Is this just a duplication of the Downing Street petition system – and so we should try hard to avoid duplication? Or is it a welcome move and reminder that Parliament matters – not just the occupant of Downing Street?

All these lead to the basic point: how could a success be made of such a system, and how would it really serve the interests of the public best?

There’s an online consultation you can take part in on the Parliament website. I hope lots of people will take part – because I’ll certainly be having a look closely at the views to help me decide which way to argue and vote when it comes to decision time.

What do you think when you see Barack Obama on the TV?

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I’ve expressed my doubts about Barack Obama previously, but – whether or not it helps propel him to victory in the Democrat selection contest – his victory in the Iowa caucuses (an overwhelmingly white state) comes with huge symbolic resonance in a country where race relations are so often strained and racial divides are so often so very stark.

This post seems to capture the raw emotion of what his victory meant to many American blacks – it’s a bit long, but well worth reading to the end – especially for its account of what went through the author’s mind whilst watching Obama speak on TV.