Joyce Vincent

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Yesterday, I had an interview with a filmmaker called Carol who is making a film about Joyce Vincent – the woman found dead in a flat in Wood Green and who had been dead for three years. Found with the television on and Christmas presents wrapped, she was relatively young. Carol wants to make a film about the woman and society and how this can happen in today’s world.

I run her though my take on all that has gone on – including my visit to the refuge where Joyce was housed at some point over a domestic violence issue. I met with the Housing Association. I talked to the police. I corresponded with the local authority Chief Exec. And I tried my hardest to get a meeting with Women’s Aid – but to date they have not responded.

And my conclusions? Well – the Housing Association are putting in place a trigger mechanism so that any one of their around 500 tenants who live on their own will be flagged up if not seen for x amount of time. The Chief Exec of the local authority said that they were satisfied there was nothing in their remit that could have been done. The police revisited the decision they made when they originally went into the flat that it was not foul play. Having revisited the decision – they remained content with it.

I feel duty bound to pursue a couple of things a bit further for this woman whose life ended so sadly. Because whilst the media circus went away – there are still a couple of things that give me concern. The first is the statutory inspection that I believe is meant to be made annually on any such property. The other really results from my visit to the women’s refuge that night. A young girl let me in and we talked for about three quarters of an hour. She had been there a year – and never knew or had heard of Joyce Vincent. She said that there wasn’t much contact with the women’s organisation – and that ‘you could commit suicide here and no one would know’. She was due to leave a few days after my visit and I gave her my personal mobile number in case she needed to talk to me. I was concerned that my visit might worry her in some way. In the event, she called me a few days later to say that she had indeed moved into a flat in West Hampstead and the guys doing up the flat had robbed her and broken the lock on the door. In order to get a grant to mend the door lock, she needed a crime number and she was too frightened to contact the police. So I rang the local police commander and got the name of a special liaison officer and the number for her to call. She rang again a couple of days later to say in fact she had gone and stayed at her aunts for a couple of nights and her aunt paid for the door to be repaired.

The reason I wanted to meet with Women’s Aid is really to ask about how it works for women when they are in a refuge and when they leave. I suspect many women don’t want ongoing contact – but I wondered whether resources are so tight that after care is not offered. I just don’t know. I am still hoping to get to see them at some point. I suspect their reluctance stems from trying to avoid the real media onslaught that surrounded the Joyce Vincent case and that they are acting to protect women in such situations. However, there are still some questions.

So – I dropped the filmmaker at the flats above Wood Green shopping city. There is such a fascination for us, I think, to imagine how you could die and no one know or care for three years. Perhaps Carol will find her story – but more likely not. People do have the right to say that they don’t want to associate with the world, and if someone wants to cut themselves off – that is their right.

Hugging hoodies

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So what to make of Boy Dave and hugging hoodies? I feel that Cameron is making a mockery of politics at the moment. How can people believe or trust their politicians when it is so cynical and so glaringly obvious that these gargantuan shifts in tone are about votes and not conviction?

So whilst Dave sets mood music to be conned by, I remember back to my first Question Time (one week after I was elected to Parliament last year) when Bluewater shopping centre was all over the news for wanting to ban hoodies. Asked my views, I said that any establishment is entitled to a dress code – but that having been said a hooded top was an article of clothing and in my view young people should be judged by their actions not what they wear. The Tory next to me was Boris! Now Boris agreed with me – and Boris is believable – Boy Dave isn’t.

Hopefully his merry dance between cuddliness and rightwing views will end up with him losing both the Tory core vote and the centralist votes – who both will see this for what it is.

LIB DEMS DEMAND EMERGENCY AREA ASSEMBLY MEETINGS

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Haringey Liberal Democrats are demanding that Haringey Council schedule emergency meetings of the borough’s Area Assemblies as soon as possible, in order that residents have a chance to be consulted on plans for the controversial parking schemes being planned by Haringey Council across the borough.

Lib Dem councillors have written to the Council to demand that emergency meetings of the Area Assemblies in the borough are scheduled as soon as possible. Large numbers of residents are becoming increasingly angry that they have not been consulted on the CPZ and parking restriction plans, and the Lib Dems are demanding that the Labour-run council include the people of the borough in the decision-making process on CPZs and parking restrictions.

Muswell Hill councillor Jonathan Bloch was amazed that the proposals for the ‘Stop and Shop’ scheme were not on the agenda of the most recent Muswell Hill Area Assembly meeting. He comments:

“This is just one more example of this Labour administration ignoring the people of the borough. It is deeply worrying that council officials did not put this item on the agenda when the last Area Assembly meeting was held on 15 June 2006. It cannot have been inadvertently left off. At the very least, we would expect that residents would get the chance to meet with representatives of the Council’s executive and have their concerns taken on board – they have been denied this chance.

“Also, local representatives of Muswell Hill have had no prior consultation on these plans which is unacceptable – what are local representatives for if they are not consulted?”

Councillor Wilson (Lib Dem, Stroud Green) comments:

“For many local people these new parking proposals have come completely out of the blue.As usual, consultation with residents, businesses and local representatives has been entirely inadequate. There is no point having Area Assemblies if they do not discuss important local issues like parking controls.”

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

“Labour have shown a shocking lack of concern for the views and wishes of the people of Haringey. It is completely unacceptable that residents have not had the chance to debate the proposals at their Area Assembly meetings, but in truth this is just one of the ways in which they have been denied a voice. Labour claim that these parking schemes are for the benefit of the people of the borough – if this is true, why won’t they listen to them?”

Blogging politicians

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Awake to Steve Richards interviewing Alex (Recess Monkey – Labour) and Iain Dale (blogging Conservative).

The traditional media has decided that blogs are the big news and it would seem that these days bloggers lead the field and the media follow our agenda. Of course Alex and Iain both write really great blogs and their audiences are huge.

They are more overtly political and somewhat different to the blog I keep. They are really political commentators, and whilst national politics certainly features in my blog I also try to use it to communicate with my constituents. Having a distinctive geographically based constituency makes a difference – though I don’t worry too much about this. I much prefer writing what I want to say – and not thinking too closely about what different people might want to read. If they like what I write – good; if not – sorry, I’m going to write my own stuff anyway!

Although the hits I get are pretty huge these days – particularly when there is something going on that people want to come and have a look at – I’m sure Iain certainly is in a different league.

They both also allow comments on their blogs. I have always been sceptical about the benefits of allowing comments on this blog as people can engage with me in many other ways (such as by email), and for the comments to really work you need to take part and engage with each item and its comments. There is no way for me to do that with my work schedule – much as I would love to.

And as I write my blog myself (otherwise there would be no point) and I want to keep it personal, I don’t think comments are essential. Reading this blog gets you my direct, personal views. There are plenty of other places for political discussion, including some I occasionally take part in – such as Liberal Review who kicked off an interesting discussion around some thoughts of mine on knife crime.

I also notice that the Sunday Observer has a big article on blogging. I get a mention as having been a trail blazer for blogging politicians. Alex asked me if I would Chair an All-Party Group on this kind of stuff – but I just don’t think I can take on more commitments at the moment as I tend to be cursedly diligent!

Channing School

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Went to a local Independent School Founders Day service – Channing. Going through the entrance which fronts Highgate Hill was a bit like Disney as you came out the other side into a secret world full of women and girls, with lovely landscaping and clean spaces between the school buildings. Channing has a new Head, Ms Elliott, who gave a very good speech/report at the end of her first year. What struck me was that at A-level they had the best results in the whole of the UK – because in the days when I was at school (and I went to South Hampstead on a scholarship some decades ago), Channing was for nice girls but was not in the real academic race. They seem to be well up there now in terms of academic effort – but still combine a sort of ‘nice’ girl approach.

Sitting listening to the choir sing songs took me back to my school days – as it was formal in a way that you rarely see now in schools. As if tradition can somehow ensure rectitude. Maybe it can. Half of top jobs were found by a recent report to go to those who have been to independent schools, despite them only forming 5% of the school population. No surprise there. There is still, in my view, often no comparison between private and state education and that is the scandal that goes on untrammelled – particularly in London. If you live near a good comprehensive – then you are lucky.

The Charities Bill wending its way through Parliament at the moment tinkers with the charitable status enjoyed by Independent Schools in so much as it commands such schools to demonstrate that they have and maintain a public interest strand. For most this seems to mean that they are willing to do a few joint projects with the state schools locally and/or rent out their facilities to the local community (at a price!).

My solution is more radical, and as I submitted it in my draft chapter for the next so-called Orange Book – which isn’t an Orange Book – and is to be called Britain after Blair. However, the editors so far have rejected my solutions as being too interventionist. I will have a go at it again – but if not – I will publish it on my blog!

Anyway – Channing visited – I rush back to catch the end of the women’s singles. It’s a long time since I was tennis-mad – and used to ball boy at Queens just before Wimbledon. In fact, I did it three years running, to my mother’s dismay, right through both my O and A levels. And because the players knew me – they gave me a free pass to Wimbledon and the Players Lounge for those years. So – I retain a fondness for the game – although I haven’t put racket to ball for some years now.

Muslims and extremism

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Got an email from a very disgruntled constituent complaining about the Islam Expo being allowed on ‘our’ patch (at Alexandra Palace) and opening roughly at the same time as anniversary of the 7/7 bombings. I answered saying the timing could be viewed that way – but in reality that the Muslims had born the brunt of the reactions to 7/7. And indeed the Islam Expo is reaching out across communities and extending understanding in my view. That is to be welcomed.

Our foreign policy, waging an illegal war, has caused some Muslims to become radicalised and a few to commit these hideous and unjustifiable acts. Tony Blair says Muslims have to do more. My own view is that we all have to do more. The only concern I would personally voice through my own experience is that I have encountered one Muslim man in a leadership position, who when speaking to me or publicly condemns suicide bombings but who amongst certain other groupings espouses tacit approval. That is not acceptable and I think is about individuals power bases.

[UPDATE: have found out more about this person’s views, and it looks like I was mistaken – so I won’t be pursuing this further.]

Anyway – to my point – there was an interesting – and largely positive – poll in The Sun (!) about Muslims, extremism and terrorism. It’s an internet poll – so we need to be aware of that and polling the Muslim community accurately can be very difficult in terms of who a poll reaches and what selectivity that binds into the results. So we shouldn’t get too het up about the details, but overall picture is, as I say, interesting.

Further details are on Anthony Wells’s excellent site, but here’s what I make of them.

Yes, a small minority of Muslims think our actions in Afghanistan and Iraq justify attacks on British civilians. But it’s only slightly more (10% rather than 7%) than the figure in the non-Muslim population. In other words – there isn’t a great swathe of the Muslim population that believes in attacks on civilians. As for the deeply wrong minority who do – well, they are nearly as frequently found amongst non-Muslims as amongst Muslims. In fact, as the non-Muslim population is much larger, the majority of people who think such attacks are right are non-Muslims.

Also, a majority of non-Muslims here think problems with Muslim extremism have got worse in the last year. But amongst Muslims themselves – who are of course much closer to what is actually happening in their own communities – the figures are much lower at just under a quarter. And a fifth of Muslims meanwhile think problems with extremism have actually decreased in the past year.

One final straw in the wind: 9% of Muslims think it would be best if they didn’t integrate with the rest of society, but 16% of non-Muslims think it’s best if Muslims don’t integrate. Food for thought there!

In fact listening to radio phone-ins this week was equally struck by number of non-Muslims phoning in to say they didn’t want more integration and by a very good call from a woman who reminded us that when Brits go and live abroad, they often open an English pub, wear English clothes, speak English and set up a little England enclave!

Sir Ian Blair

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Last night I got a phone call around 6pm to say that Channel 4 are screening the program – 30 Minutes on Sir Ian Blair – that I was interviewed for. Being the day of the bombings I felt a pang of anxiety. I am not a Sir Ian fan – albeit he is not all bad. However, the interview had lasted at least an hour if not more and I had been pretty robust about Ian’s ups and downs in his first year of office. But the interview was some time ago – and they certainly hadn’t mentioned screening it on the first anniversary of 7/7 – which for obvious reasons is an ultra-sensitive moment. So, as ever, I was trying desperately to remember what I had actually said – and wondered what amongst it all the media would chose to use (normally it feels like only a nano-second actually makes it on to the screen).

In the event, they didn’t use the bit on Soham, or on his media gaffs, nor my view that he has politicised the police unforgivably. They didn’t use my questioning of his wisdom in partaking in Question Time nor his inappropriate and inaccurate public statements on the shooting at Stockwell. They actually used quite a positive bit (in fact the only positive bit) in which I call him a ‘progressive’ and say that his real problem is that the good stuff he has delivered like rolling out Safer Neighbourhoods is negated by his mistakes because they have been big and public.

It’s a tragedy really, as Ian I think desperately wanted to be the best and most respected Commissioner ever – and it all went so horribly wrong. We will see what the two IPCC investigations say in their reports. If he is found ‘guilty’ there is no way forward for him; if he escapes – then he had better learn from what has been a pretty disastrous first year.