I recently wrote back to local constituents who had contacted me about the Climate Change Bill. But I made a small mistake – and included Al Gore (who I have had correspondence with, but obviously isn’t a constituent!) by mistake.
Rather sweetly he wrote back to me:
Even signed by Al himself!
Residents and local Liberal Democrat councillors in Muswell Hill and Fortis Green are angry at an advertising stunt by a mobile phone shop. Parked cars were plastered on 25th April 2007 with ‘Fixed Penalty Notices’ – but when they were taken out of their holders by worried residents they realised they were not what they seemed, containing advertisements for a local phone shop.
Local Lib Dem councillor Martin Newton has condemned the stunt, which took place in area of huge parking controversy, where the Labour council is about to impose its unwanted ‘Stop and Shop’ parking restrictions.
Cllr Martin Newton (Fortis Green), Lib Dem spokesperson for Traffic issues, comments:
“Many residents in Muswell Hill were shocked by this. It is a very silly stunt that has totally backfired. These notices have been slapped on cars without a thought, even to vehicles belonging to both elderly and disabled residents who were understandably annoyed and distressed. It’s an outrageous stunt. I will be pursuing this with the advertisers.”
Unbelievable – Haringey Labour issued a press release attacking me for saying that the Litvinenko House should be cleaned of radiation.
Local neighbours are worried – and Haringey has done sweet you know what since I wrote to them way back months ago.
Apparently Nilgum Canver, a local Labour councillor, is not at all interested in getting the house situation sorted – only saying that Haringey won’t pay for it.
I’m not sure local people will exactly be pleased with a council that says it is not doing anything – not even getting a reading or survey on the levels of radiation – if the council has to pay. It’s the householder’s responsibility they say. Well – actually it’s Haringey’s responsibility. They have the keys. They are the environmental health authority in charge. Clean it – get is sorted – and then the cost if legitimately solely the householder – claim it from them.
But above all – don’t leave local people worried, living next to a house with plastic protective sheeting on it – and do nothing.
It is absolutely shameful that both the Government and Haringey want basically nothing more to do with this.
It is me who is chasing the Litvinenko lawyer to get the insurance or finance for the cleansing. It should be them! As one reporter said to me ‘The only thing Haringey have done is issue a press release’.
The lawyer said he was now awaiting instructions when I spoke to him yesterday – and that he would get back to me as soon as poss. But not thanks to Haringey Council and the Labour councillors.
Some helpful advice from the police came in – so thought it might be useful to post it here. It’s about the Personal Property Register that the Met and other police forces are encouraging people to use.
It’s at www.immobilise.com and you can use it to register your mobile phone, iPod etc. Two benefits: if the police recover stolen goods, this register makes it easier to trace the rightful owners, and – secondly – you can use the site to register the theft of devices, and this automatically adds it to the police’s records of stolen equipment. With the theft of these sorts of devices one of the big crime problems in many areas, it’s a service well worth using and promoting.
Cllr Wayne Hoban, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Regeneration and Enterprise, has renewed his demand for an urgent independent forensic investigation into the accounts of The Bridge NDC regeneration project in Tottenham.
Cllr Hoban renewed his call on discovery that a ‘flurry’ of large council sponsored NDC banners have been erected across Seven Sisters ward in Tottenham, where the bulk of the huge £50 million allocated to this project is supposed to be spent.
Cllr Hoban comments:
“It is incredible that immediately after losing a High Court case which found them guilty of illegally dismissing two public members from the NDC Board for asking ‘difficult’ questions about the way in which NDC finances are managed and spent, the NDC Board and Haringey Council have brazenly erected huge banners across the ward trumpeting their alleged ‘success’.An internal Haringey Council audit, presented in September 2006, highlighted considerable management and procedural failures, which confirmed that the multi-million pound NDC spending programme was not being effectively managed.
“The NDC Board and Haringey Council must recognise that the serious questions which have been raised about the NDC accounts must be answered, if only to reassure the public and council members that allegations of financial impropriety are unfounded. Nothing less than an independent forensic financial investigation of The Bridge NDC accounts will do, and it must be done now.”
One more event from yesterday I should have mentioned (and the real highlight as far as my children are concerned) – meeting and having a photo with Claudia Winkleman. This was in aid of the Global Campaign on Education who had a seminar in the Lords yesterday. She was excellent, talking about her experiences seeing things overseas.
Today I had an hour of training on safety from London Underground as I am to visit a station at 1.30 in the morning on Saturday (or Friday night) to see how it is being improved by Tubelines for my local constituents. Let’s hope the visit is worth the hours!
The 
event of the day for me was the celebration of the ante-natal screening of all newborns for Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia. In Haringey we have quite a high incidence as it is prevalent amongst some of our communities – but it has been a Cinderella disease on the sidelines. This move on screening puts it in the mainstream.
And because I have some local connection with the George Marsh Centre and because I put down Parliamentary Questions on the diseases (and get very little info back as the government don’t bother to collate statistics for the most part on this) I was asked to sponsor this event – which means host it on the organisation’s behalf.
Liberal Democrat Shadow International Development Secretary, Lynne Featherstone MP has called for the Government to take action over ‘immoral’ vulture funds that prey on heavily indebted countries.
Her comments come after Donegal International was awarded $15.5m from Zambia in a case at London’s High Court.
Vulture funds buy the debt obligations of poor countries at a fraction of their face value in the hope of enforcing them through the courts at full value.
Lynne Featherstone said:
“Gordon Brown has said this is immoral but so far it’s been all talk and no action.
“The Government needs to take a stand and use its influence in the IMF to help devise an internationally binding system to ensure companies can’t prey on heavily indebted developing countries in this way.
“The Government claims they advise countries to help them avoid being used by vulture funds. That is all well and good – but they must take stronger action to help the countries that are already in this horrible and immoral financial prison.”
Hurrah! My glasses were found in the back of the car that brought me back from The Westminster Hour – thank goodness. Tuesday has been a busy, busy day and I hate it when there isn’t even breathing space between events.
To highlight the best of the bunch: met with an interesting organisation called Waging Peace about the ever-deteriorating situation in Darfur. My take is that the world is standing by and letting genocide take place. The Sudanese Government is playing us for fools and toying with us suggesting that they are on our side against Al Qaeda when really they are not. The Arab militias continue to kill rebels and the suffering is spreading into Chad and Central Africa. We need action from the EU and the UN. Sanctions, travel bans and arms embargos would be a start and for goodness sake – China is applying more pressure than we are.
I also met constituents about the mess that the changes to the way junior doctors are employed have caused. It’s a terrible tale of diving in without a clue where it will end up – and now peoples’ lives and careers are being ruined. And are they stopping it? No. This is a nightmare for those caught up in the changes. This should have been thought about, piloted and rolled out in a measured way rather than being steamrollered through across the board.
More Maxitech good works as they start teaming up with Age Concern to deliver free computers and training to our older citizens. The event to mark this is held in the Lords and really it is quite clear that Maxitech has solved the problem of big corporations like HSBC, John Lewis and British Airways (all in attendance) who want to be good and give their old computers for good causes – but need to know that the computers will be properly wiped clean and they won’t be caught by legal liability issues.
Then onto Spurs to see the launch of the Bounds Green United football team – set up and initiated by the (police) Bounds Green Safer Neighbourhood Team. Spurs are doing their community bit – hurrah – and some of the wards in the borough are getting teams together to compete. The first match will be on Tuesday. It’s a great project and I get to stand one inch from the pitch – the hallowed turf. It is a tremendous feeling. Thanks to the police Safer Neighbourhood Team – without whom this just would not have happened.
Then on to the CASCH AGM (a Crouch End residents’ association). Nice to be able to get here tonight – as Monday and Tuesday nights are usually impossible but I try to get to all local events that I can. The new Met volunteer organiser is there – and talks to the members about perhaps joining the team. It is so great to see what feels like my ‘baby’ growing up. The re-opening of the front counter at Muswell Hill police station was fantastic and the volunteers who run it are fantastic – and now it’s the second generation organiser is in place. Very rewarding. As they go on to the business of the Association, it is time for me to run as I have a radio car coming to my house at 10pm to interview me on vulture funds.
Vulture funds are these companies that feed off the debt of the third world. The High Court ruled today to cut Zambia’s debt repayments to them:
A “vulture” fund seeking more than $55m (£27.5bn) from Zambia had its wings clipped in the high court yesterday by the judge who limited its claim to $15.5m and cut its award of costs because of its “dishonesty”.
(From The Guardian)
Debt relief was a good move – and it is horrifying to think that anyone would prey on these countries and exploit a legal loophole. We need a government that takes action – not just wrings its hands ineffectually as this one is doing.
Then get a message that there is no radio car available to come to where I live – so go home to bed!
In response to Haringey’s Labour Press Release ‘Council must act responsibly’ regarding the Alexander Litvinenko radiation clear-up situation in Haringey, Cllr Neil Williams, Leader of the Lib Dem Opposition, comments:
“These comments are quite shameful, and Nilgun Canver should apologise to local residents and the Liberal Democrats for her baseless accusations.
“It is complete rubbish to suggest that the Lib Dems are campaigning for residents to pay for a plutonium clean up. The fact is that Haringey Council has now had four months to establish whether or not the costs of clear up can be recovered from the house owner. Quite apart from whether this is fair, given the seriousness of the situation, this should now have been done, as it is only the residents of Osier Crescent that matter, not cheap point scoring by Labour.
“And if there is no insurance, does this mean that residents in Osier Crescent should have to live next to a contaminated site? It is totally unacceptable.”
Cllr Martin Newton, Lib Dem Fortis Green ward adds:
“This is not primarily about the cost. It is about Labour doing nothing for months and keeping residents in the dark about continued contamination on Osier Crescent. It was only following questions by Lib Dem councillors that they have even bothered to react now.”
The declining state of the Parkland Walk has prompted Liberal Democrat councillor Gail Engert (Muswell Hill) to request that Haringey Council clear up the area as a matter of urgency.
Parkland Walk, which runs from Muswell Hill to Finsbury Park, is a much-loved ‘green lung’ for the area and London’s longest nature reserve.
During the Easter break, Cllr Engert took a series of photographs of the Muswell Hill stretch of Parkland Walk, logging a number of eyesores. She sent them to Haringey Council on 13 April 2007 demanding that improvements should be made to ensure the area does not decline further. To date no action has been taken.
Cllr Gail Engert comments:
“This is such a shame. Parkland Walk is a beautiful local amenity but is being ruined by fly-tipping, graffiti, overflowing dog-bins, litter and poor management. The Council needs to make sure that this valuable green space is properly looked after so that local residents can enjoy it to the full.”
Lynne Featherstone 