I'd like to see Nick Robinson's balls

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Well, well – another day yesterday of Gordon Brown playing “will he, won’t he” on the general election date.

It’s typical boys and toys stuff – as if the whole electoral system is just his personal plaything to bounce around as he likes.

For all his talk about New Gordon, Open Gordon, Democratic Gordon – it’s still the same old control freak Gordon, treating our democracy – OUR democracy – with contempt. Why should the date of elections be up to him and him alone to pick – and only on the basis of what suits his own vote winning desires the best?

(My own view? Fixed term Parliaments, save for automatic general election on change of PM, vote of no confidence in the Commons or cross-party agreement).

And yet whilst he brazenly displays this contempt for democracy – where are the likes of the BBC’s Nick Robinson? Just meekly playing along as if having a democracy where the Prime Minister gets to fiddle the electoral system to suit his own ends is the only possible imaginable
game.

Sorry Nick – not impressed!

Show us your balls – and start asking Gordon Brown the tough questions – like why should the date of a general election be picked just to suit Labour? Or why Gordon Brown wants to face both ways saying he wants to get on with governing – but doesn’t kill of the date speculation one way or another?

The occasional lobbed soft question to Gordon does the media’s reputation no favours at all. So come on Nick – put Gordon on the spot, ask the tough questions – and keep on until you get an answer.

Jacksons Lane Centre – work starts but should have happened earlier say Liberal Democrats

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Highgate Lib Dems have welcomed the start of the actual work to repair Jacksons Lane arts and community centre, but have pointed out that Haringey’s Labour-run council should never have allowed the centre to reach its current state.

Local Lib Dem councillor Bob Hare says that the building, which is listed, was forced to close at the end of last January when high winds caused parts of the stonework to fall through the theatre roof. Since then, the whole centre has been fenced off for safety, and to allow damage and insurance assessments to be made.

The loss of the facility has had a big impact on the Highgate area – and although many of the courses, classes and activities the centre used to run have found temporary homes, many have had to close. One of the most important to Highgate families was the After-School Club – which was especially valuable in helping mums combine work with childcare.

Cllr Bob Hare, who is a member of the Jacksons Lane Board, comments:

“I’m extremely glad to see work starting – it has taken eight months since the damage occurred to get to this stage. Haringey Council should never have let the building deteriorate to the point where it leaked whenever it rained and the structure had become dangerous.

“A stitch in time really would have saved nine. Pushed by local people and local councillors, Haringey was forced to provide some funding to pay for core staff and unavoidable expenses, otherwise Jacksons Lane could have closed for good.

Local MP Lynne Featherstone adds:

“It is very sad that the important local facilities Jacksons Lane provided for so many people in Highgate, will have been lost for more than a year, and the fact that Jacksons Lane will be starting from scratch in terms of building back to its formerly rich range of functions.

“The centre depends on its income for its survival, and that will take hard work to stabilise when it re-opens. However, I do believe that the centre’s excellent team will make this happen, but it will be an uphill struggle they shouldn’t have had to endure.”

Liberal Democrats highlight Haringey Council's unfair policy

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Residents will ultimately bear the brunt of changes to benefit legislation say local Lib Dems as it forces landlords to stop taking tenants on benefits. Haringey Liberal Democrats present at the Private Landlords Forum on the 17th September 2007 have voiced their concern over changes to the payment of Housing Benefit and have highlighted its unfair bias against private landlords and its inevitable effect on residents as landlords decide not to house tenants on benefits.

Haringey Council announced that from April next year, private landlords will not be paid Housing Benefit for their tenants directly. Instead the new Local Housing Allowance, as it will be renamed, will be paid directly to tenants. Landlords attending the forum were concerned that rents due to them may not be paid by tenants unable to manage their finances, or by those tempted to spend large back payments rather than pay it to the landlord. Lib Dems have criticised the government for not applying an approach that adequately safeguards payments to private landlords and has called on the Council to set out clear plans how they will protect landlords in Haringey and ensure that access to accommodation for benefit claimants is available.

Cllr Catherine Harris, Liberal Democrat Housing Spokesperson, comments:

“I am very concerned that the good will of local private landlords will be eroded by this irresponsible change to the Housing Benefit legislation by the Labour Government. Residents will ultimately bear the brunt of this change as landlords decide not to take tenants on benefits.

“What is also concerning is the lack of continuity in that the changes does not apply to council tenants – Haringey Council will still be paying itself Housing Benefit directly. Landlords are very critical of at this blatant unfairness. These landlords provide decent housing for those in need but they have been let down by a policy that the Council does not have to follow itself. It’s again a classic Labour policy of do what I say and not as I do.”

Councillors protest over Stationers Park neglect

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Labour-run Haringey Council is jeopardising the future Green Flag status of a local park by ignoring its maintenance and funding needs says local Lib Dem councillors.

Stationers Park in Stroud Green is celebrating the honour of a Green Flag award on 26th September 2007 but the future of the park’s pond and children’s play fort has been thrown into doubt by a summer fraught by underinvestment and poor upkeep by Haringey Council. Lib Dems are staging a boycott of the event to highlight the failings of Haringey Council to protect a much loved green space.

They are appalled that two key features of the park are under threat through lack of funding by Haringey Council. The ponds are completely dry due to a broken pump and failure to carry out simple maintenance. The future of the popular large children’s play fort has also been thrown into question as Haringey Council has refused to fund its replacement, in spite of previous assurances to the contrary.

Cllr Ed Butcher (Stroud Green Ward) comments:

“Stationers Park is a treasure at the heart of our community.I would love to be there to celebrate this year’s green flag, but it would be a hollow celebration given the likelihood of it not getting the award in the future because of Haringey Council’s neglect.

“I feel driven to this simple stand on behalf of residents to make sure we can preserve the special character of this fantastic little park.”

Cllr Richard Wilson (Stroud Green Ward) adds:

“It’s outrageous that Haringey is wasting money on PR rather than maintaining Stationers Park. The Council has spent more on advertising its parks than would be necessary to make sure Stationer’s Park gets its Green Flag next year, by fixing the pump and doing simple maintenance.

“We are very proud of its Green Flag status, but this is now under threat because of Haringey Council’s failure to fund maintenance and refusal to fund the forts replacement.”

Happy birthday – and thank you Ryan

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As Ryan Cullen points out over on his blog, today is the third birthday of Liberal Democrat Blogs. So happy birthday and thank you to Ryan for running this site – a useful one for me to find out what other people are saying and also to bring more traffic to this site. Win win!

Slightly scary to see from his post how few of us blogging then are still blogging now. Will it turn out like an Agatha Christie novel with us all dropping out one by one until there’s only one nervous blogger left hunched over their keyboard…?

MP opens new Highgate nursery playground

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Lynne Featherstone MP took great pleasure last Friday in opening the new playground at the Avenue Nursery, Highgate.

Commenting, Lynne Featherstone says:

“Many congratulations to the staff and the nursery.It was clear that the kids were really pleased with the new space and particularly that they now don’t have to worry about getting their shoes muddy!”

“Thank you to the children for the warm reception and I wish them many happy play times ahead.”

Will he ? Won't he? Will he? Won't he?

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Lovely summer party by CASCH (a Crouch End residents’ association). Lots of anger about Haringey Council’s failure to move swiftly to help local residents affected detrimentally by the knock on from a CPZ nearby. Haringey Labour are saying no funds until next year – but these schemes are self-funding so if there was the will there would be the way.

Went straight on to canvassing in Crouch End – testing the water with a ‘if Gordon called an election tomorrow – which way would you vote’? It was very interesting; it always is interesting meeting people – but even more so in these times of fevered political speculation.

People seemed to still be angry with Labour – and the change from Blair to Brown not making the difference perhaps Labour were hoping. The Iraq war is still a key issue. And whilst Labour keep hoping that it will fade and that anyone who swung their vote away from Labour because of Iraq will somehow swing back – that didn’t seem to be the case on the doorstep. Not surprisingly really – as the war is not over and even when we do get our troops out, the mess will still haunt us. That feeling of responsibility and culpability doesn’t vanish with the change of face at No 10.

Anyway – seemed good to me – even though my canvassing is very stringent. I will only put someone down as Lib Dem if they are completely and unequivocally enthusiastic and always vote Lib Dem – anything else I categorise other ways. But as my opponents read my blog – not going to give away canvassing secrets here!

As to the political question of the day. Will he ? Won’t he? Will he? Won’t he? Brown not answering just puts me off – albeit I am already off! So to speak.

How Gordon Brown has changed his mind on the general election date

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It’s there in black and white, supported 100% by Gordon Brown – “We [the Labour party] will introduce as a general rule a fixed Parliamentary term.”

Oh – the date of the commitment? The 1992 Labour manifesto as supported by one G Brown. I agree with him – the 1992 vintage that is. It shouldn’t be down to just one person – the Prime Minister – to decide whether or not to hold an election (and making that decision based on their own party’s self-interest).

I want to see fixed-term Parliaments, with provision for early elections if (a) the government loses a vote of confidence, (b) there’s a change of Prime Minister or (c) there is cross-party support (to cover unusual crises or surprises). Cross-party support is crucial for (c) as otherwise it would just once again let the PM pick whatever date they want – and then get it through with a whipped vote. Quite how this would work depends on what happens to House of Lords reform (finally!), but the basic idea is clear.

But back to Brown – I’m amazed what a soft ride the media have been giving him on this. We all know what he’s up to – he wants the election to be on the date that best suits him, and wants to sow as much confusion as possible in the interim as to when it might or might not be. Where’s the democracy in that? Yet the media have gone along with his game.

It’s one of the odd paradoxes of modern political reporting – it’s usual bathed in an instinctive cynical covering about how all politicians are liars and fools – but also is often terribly conservative in playing the traditional rules of the game rather than questioning them (when was the last time a journalist blew the whistle on an unattributable dishing of one politician by another? You see – the rules of the game are that unattributable personal attacks are ok, so they just report them time after time).

So if I was a journalist – I’d be asking Brown to justify why he’s changed his mind, and why – in a democracy of all places – the PM should be able to fiddle the system by picking a date of his or her own choosing? When Mrs T used to do that, Brown opposed it – ah… perhaps that’s where his new-found admiration for her comes in!

My first political memory

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Given Iain Dale has tagged me to blog about my first political memory – I cannot resist. The only hesitation I have – is that it somewhat reveals my advanced years!

The first time politics impinged on my secure little childhood was when I was watching television in our lounge in the flat in Highgate that I grew up in – Highpoint. I can’t remember whether they interrupted the TV or whether it was just on the news – but the newscaster in super-serious tones was talking about something to do with Cuba and nuclear war.

I can’t say I truly understood the the whole scenario as I was aged 10 when the crisis began on October 15, 1962. The USA had reconnaissance photos showing Soviet missiles being built in Cuba – hence it became known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. The ante was upped, tensions rose and on the point of nuclear war – letters exchanged etc and Krushchev agreed to dismantle the installations on the basis that the US would not invade Cuba.

As I said, most of this passed me by – but I remember being scared by the news. I understood the danger – and I guess it was the tones of the newscaster and the muted exchanges by my parents. It was this singular event that opened my understanding that the world was not stable and that my world somehow depended on men in foreign countries not taking leave of their senses. Clearly – not a lot has changed!

So – not a British political awakening – but certainly an early understanding of international politics!

In turn – I will tag Will Howells (thanks for filming my conference diaries!), Stephen Tall (man in charge at this year’s Lib Dem Blog of the Years awards – and winner last year), Matt Davies (Haringey colleague – councillor for Fortis Green), Martin Bright (of the New Statesman and a constituent of mine) and Paul Walter (the ultra-prolific Lib Dem blogger).

One Liberal Democrat candidate I won't be voting for

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Andrew Lugovoi, the man accused of murdering Alexander Litvinenko (a constituent of mine) in the radiation poisoning case, should be coming to the UK to face trial on the charges. But instead of being extradited – he is standing for the next Russian Parliament elections for the … Liberal Democratic Party. Needless to say – they are not the sister party of the Lib Dems here!