Dealing with Hamas?

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Go to early Jewish Assembly at Highgate School where I am to talk briefly on being an MP and then take questions. As I have been told that the questions will be on the Israel / Palestine issue and other Jewish related matters, I try and set out the way an MP makes up their mind on an issue. I think it is always one of the confusions – do you represent the party you stand for, the people you represent or your conscience? Of course, it’s all three – with a range of variations on how strong each of those remits is on each issue.

I was explaining that you need to be very clear in your own mind – particularly on those dramatically split issues where both sides have enormous lobbies who are quite venomous if you don’t agree with their particular view. On Israel/Palestine I have always been quite clear that the two-state solution is the only way forward, they are both wrong when they do wrong, and the rights and wrongs of history and historic actions cannot be the arbiter of future solutions. It’s long and complicated and I do the best I can with a young audience and only a few minutes. I do tell them that an even-handed approach wins you no friends – on either side.

Anyway – we go on to questions. There is one young man who asks, as I have been discussing the difficulty caused to the western world by the election of Hamas, about relations with Hamas. We promote democracy as the fair and judicial way to select our administrations. Palestine has elected Hamas democratically. Previously, they were treated as a terrorist organization. So – the question was how do we deal them? I don’t think the young man liked my answer – which was that you have to negotiate. Yes – use all the powers that we in the West collectively have in terms of influence to insist that they recognise the state of Israel – but talk we must.

One of the things that always shocks me about the Middle Eastern situation is the lack of sustained drive and priority that Bush and Blair seem to give to it. I remember Blair literally rolling up his sleeves to get Northern Ireland on the road to peace – and the IRA were terrorists too.

As ever young audiences are always interesting – and I enjoy working with schools greatly. Have had lots of schools up to Parliament for a tour and then I will meet them generally if I am able to take half an hour’s questions. Last week – Coldfall and Highgate.

Off to surgery followed by a home visit to one of the audience from the Carer’s Conference I did last week. She had just been totally neglected by Haringey Council. As it is so difficult to even get out of the house if you are a sole carer – I said I would pop round to her house. She has a very disabled three-year-old daughter. Without going into details – physically cannot walk, feed herself etc There is an older daughter aged six and the mother has lupus.

She is still waiting, after two and a half years, for an assessment. She has no support. No respite. No social worker. No nothing. I do sometimes wonder what an earth is going on. Most of us who are well, able and in work do regard ourselves as lucky to be so and are glad to pay our taxes so that there is a welfare state there to help those who need assistance. We may get cross when our money is wasted or misused – but certainly we believe in the system and ideals. And when I encounter situations like this – I just want to scream. Do the powers that be have no idea what it is like to try and look after a severely disabled child 24/7 on your own? For goodness sake Haringey – this just isn’t on. We will see how quickly we can change this situation.

I had another carer that had spoken up at the conference who came to the surgery. Haringey Council supplied a commode – but it was too big for the accommodation so had to go back and be exchanged for one that was smaller. He is still waiting for the replacement years on. It isn’t rocket science for heaven’s sake.

Blair’s big speech on rebalancing the scales of justice was today. That’s all he has left in him – mouthing off about how bad things are. Well 50 pieces of legislation in the criminal justice and home affairs arenas under Labour mean that if things are wrong – there’s only one person and one party to blame – and that’s T Blair and Labour.

So tough on crime when it comes to talk – but such a catalogue of disasters in reality: porous borders, escaped prisoners, shortened sentences etc etc.

Last thing watch Cameron on Jonathan Ross. Jonathan is a class act – and Boy Dave is not. In fact he looked uncomfortable, wasn’t funny, tried to peddle his cuddly mantra (didn’t work) and I thought was pretty well exposed as having little understanding of the people. (Oh, and changed his mind on Iraq, again!). At least when Blair and Kennedy go on populist shows, they come over as human and likeable. Advice – stick to reading soundbites at PMQs.

LIB DEM COUNCILLOR TAKES SEAT ON LONDON FIRE AUTHORITY

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One of the Lib Dem council group’s newest and youngest members has been appointed to the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority. Cllr Ed Butcher (Stroud Green ward) joins the crucial 17-member body responsible for the running of London Fire Brigade.

Cllr Butcher, who only recently stormed to victory with Laura Edge and Richard Wilson in Stroud Green in the May local elections, has previously worked for the Fire Authority as a human resources officer. His appointment follows a successful election in which he was chosen by the votes of Lib Dem councillors across the whole of Greater London.

Cllr Ed Butcher comments:

“I am thrilled, not only to have the opportunity to represent Stroud Green but now also the millions of Londoners who rely on the Fire Brigade in an emergency.

“I very much hope to contribute to how the Fire Authority adapts to the ever-changing needs of London’s richly diverse population and ensure that it is as prepared as it possibly can be to respond to any major incident.

“I’m also keen to make sure that the Brigade provides a world class fire and rescue service in the most environmentally friendly way possible. It’s a tall order, but I’m looking forward to the challenge ahead.”

Lib Dem council group Leader Cllr Neil Williams adds:

“The Fire Authority fulfils a vital role for Londoners, and I am extremely proud that Ed Butcher was chosen and that there will be a Haringey councillor on board. Ed is following in the footsteps of Lynne Featherstone, who also served on this body, and we wish him well. He deserves hearty congratulations.”

Political appeal

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What does Ken have in common with a Republican senator?

Vietnam war vet and Republican John McCain and London mayor and former restaurant review Ken Livingstone are probably not often bracketed together politically! But I have been thinking recently about them both and their own rather different political personas.

Both have had periods of great popularity – though McCain still seems to be basking in it whilst Ken’s has well and truly worn off – and it has not been for their stances on particular individual policies. ‘What about London’s congestion charge?’ you may well ask – but actually Ken’s popularity pre-dated him staking his reputation on that policy – and indeed pre-dated Blair’s attempts to noble his Mayoral candidature. As for McCain – he is best known legislatively for the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform act. Yet America is not stuffed full of people eagerly hanging on every drop of debate over election spending rules (imagine how scary such a country would be!).

So what has made both at various times so popular? It’s been their overall image – willing to stand up for what they believe in, willingness to deviate from the official party line and so on. Their stances on individual policies have certainly fed that image, but they’ve not created it. If McCain was relying on interest in campaign finance rules or Ken on eager readers of his restaurant reviews neither would have hit the heights they have.

Of course, with other people the key image is of being a policy wonk. Paddy was as well know for his frenetic pace and spewing out of policy ideas as for the number of ways he knew how to kill you with his hands. (It feels much safer having become an MP under a different leader!). But either way, it is not the details of the individual policies that made the overall image and reputation in themselves.

What does this mean for a political party like ours? Well – I think it means that we far too often put the cart before the horse. It is – to mix metaphors – as if we go to the supermarket, have an intense debate over what item to pick from each shelf (non-biological or chlorine free? low fat or organic? fair trade or free trade bananas?), end up with a pile of uncoordinated goods and say, “make a decent meal out of that!” It sort of works, but really what we should be doing is being clear what our overall message and core beliefs are, and then selecting policies to fit them – rather than hoping that the former will someone how emerge from lots of policy detail drawn up in isolation from each other.

We should also remember how little most voters know about policy detail – it’s more general statements and impressions that carry a lot of weight. (A good example is the research done by the British Elections Study for the 2001 general election – a half of voters who were willing to take part in a poll about politics got less than two-thirds of the simple questions correct, such as what voting system is used and how long it is between elections).

Now, I wouldn’t go as far as the Liberal Haldane who said, “The abstract programme of a party is not what is important. What matters is the volume and quality of the spirit which has inspired the programme”. I don’t say that just because he ended up joining the Labour party – not something I’m planning! – but also because I wouldn’t be quite so dismissive about the policy details.

It’s right in principle and in practice to have substantive and detailed answers to what we’re going to do on a wide range of issues. The choice of what details to fill out and what to talk about does add to the overall impression – or as the American blogger Mark Schmitt put it, “It’s not what you say about the issues, it’s what the issues say about you.”

So Haldane does have a good general point. It’s a variant of one that Charles Kennedy also often made – think how few of the big political issues during his leadership (not just Iraq) hardly featured in the preceding general election. Elections are not just about choosing between detailed policy programs, or who is best to represent your area, but also choosing the team that will have the best judgement and approach to the unknown problems the future throws up.

This certainly has some implications for our policy making process. There has been lots of (sensible) talk about changing it so that, for example, it better reflects the speed at which the rest of the world works. What is missing from much of these discussions though is the key linkage between deciding the overall message and then making sure the subsequent policy making process fills it in, working to that overall plan and message. Otherwise it’s all about tinkering with details that will be made redundant by an independent message picking process. And then there’ll be all the political flak for policy details that don’t actually fit but were agreed and published beforehand.

As for what I think that overall message should be … that will have to wait for another day!

A shorter version of this article first appeared in Liberal Democrat News.

Fortismere School

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Meet with the Head of Fortismere School and the Chair of Governors this morning. In answer to enquiries about where I stand, I had laid out my views – subject to this meeting. Basically I am against foundation schools in principle because of my concerns over the breaking of ranks with the Haringey community of schools, the possibility of bringing in selection, the difficulty that might be caused by the draining of other schools if Fortismere then expanded, the possibility of loss of statemented places and whether such a move might place Blanche Nevile (school for deaf children and co-sited) in jeopardy. Most importantly, I have asked for a ballot of all parents – as the school will fare better if the parents are on board and seen to be on board with whatever decision is made.

However, I acknowledge that Fortismere has been put in an impossible position by Haringey Council. The meeting confirms my view that, although the Governors have been considering foundation status for around a year, it is the intransigent position of Haringey Council in terms of funding the repair and renovation of the unusable buildings that has forced this issue.

It became clear that it has been indicated to the school that the Council expects to fund any building through the sale of Fortismere’s land assets. There will be nothing forthcoming from the Council. Nothing forthcoming from the Government. And it is possible that the Council will decide to remove the £2 million extra squeezed out of them in the wake of the lack of funding from the Building Schools for the Future funding allocation.

Fortismere, not surprisingly, does not trust Haringey Council. Only a short while ago, the Council sold off one of the school’s land assets, Strathlene House, on the basis of a promise to the school that they would receive the proceeds. Pigs might fly. And that is the problem. Having been shafted, the Governors are making the only move they can to stop any sale of land for the moment. The move to consider foundation status freezes all assets. Their argument is that at least if the Governors have control in future, the school will receive the benefits of any sales.

I raised the key concerns and received the following responses:

– that Fortismere will continue to be comprehensive and play a full part in the community of schools in Haringey (indeed the new Head has a track record of already doing so in his previous authority)

– that this was not a means of introducing selection as they still have to operate within the national criteria

– that they feel the administration of waiting lists would be fairer and more local with foundation status than with the current situation, where they are administered by Haringey Council

– that this was not the start of the route to becoming a Trust School

– categorical assurances that the Governors have never even discussed becoming a Trust School

– that statemented children will still have the right to name and go to the school to which they wish to be sent

I asked them about a ballot of parents – and the answer was ‘we are considering a ballot / survey of parents’.

So! I remain of the view that the Labour Government’s policies on choice in schools will usher in the break up of the community of schools in locally administered areas. However, it is quite clear that Fortismere has had enough of Haringey’s cavalier attitude towards them in terms of treating them as if they are not part of the community of schools anyhow. Fortismere has not even had a place on the boroughs School Forum to date. I have no doubt that the Head and the Governors are moving to try and protect the school and its future in what they genuinely believe is the best interests of the school. That is why it remains absolutely crucial that the parents are able to express their view through a fair ballot.

From what was said, it was clear that the Governors believe that the vast majority of parents want the school to go down this road. If that belief is evidenced through a ballot then their case is genuinely made. Whatever my views in terms of education – I do understand the local problems that Fortismere is facing and so long as there is a democratic process will support the decision of the parents and school.

Meeting Al Gore

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I chair the Lib Dems Liberty Group in the House of Commons and today we meet to discuss the Human Rights Act. It is one of the most important pieces of legislation for our citizens – and yet the Government (which had the balls to do it) now seems hell bent on destroying it.

It is true that it has been misused on occasion and there have been some exceptionally stupid interpretations of the Act that diminish it and hold it up to ridicule – but the fault is not with the Act but the use of it. So education of those who need to be aware of it is critical.

I remember when it was coming in and I was sitting on the Metropolitan Police Authority. We all had lots of briefings. It was clear then that there was a nervousness by, in this case, the police about what they would and would not be allowed to do once the Act came in. In fact, outside of the two absolute – the right to life and the right not to be tortured – the other articles are all about balance and common sense. All of those articles weigh up the balance between the rights and freedoms of the individual against the benefit or disbenefit to the wider community.

Al GoreThen in the evening I met Al Gore!

A local constituent sent me an invitation to a screening of a film to be released here in September. It is called ‘An Inconvenient Truth’. (You can watch the film’s trailer on YouTube.com).

It is basically Al Gore’s lecture on the Doomsday scenario we are hurtling towards – climate change. Whilst it won’t rival Harry Potter in terms of attendance, it is a film that every person should see – because it demonstrates quite clearly our path to destruction. But it has the message that if we change there is hope.

So Al – who was the next President of the United States once upon a time – has taken it to be his life’s mission to spread this word and campaign to wake us up.

I was totally impressed with the package and the commitment. After the screening Al Gore came to the front of the cinema and took questions and – shock horror – answered them straight. Then we went to the reception. I was lucky and got to speak to him (sadly no photographs). I congratulated him but did point out that I thought he should edit the shots of him looking pensively out of aeroplane windows – and carbon emissions from air travel didn’t feature clearly. He said I was right and etc. etc and shook my hand.

He asked us all to join in this mission – and I am pretty keen to give it a go. More of this later.

As for my own efforts in recent months? Well, I declined my friend Alexis’s prodding to put a wind farm on my roof – long before boy Dave Cameron upset Notting Hill by his efforts to be cuddly. I decided not to – because I live in a conservation area and it would just end up as being seen as a publicity stunt and I wouldn’t get my wind turbine at the end of it.

I decided that the most environmentally friendly thing I could do outside of recycling and turning off lights etc was to not use planes unless absolutely necessary (and then you can pay for your conscience through carbon offset).

So earlier this year I went for a weekend with my youngest daughter to Amersfoort near Amsterdam by train. It was four trains each way – and having spent the majority of the Friday and Sunday on the train and only Saturday actually with my friends in Amersfoort, I decided that a weekend break was probably not the best way to do this! Not deterred – as I love trains and hate planes – this summer am dragging same daughter around Europe by train. All easily arranged on the phone with RailEurope. I think that – as we have a couple of weeks – it will be a great way to see all these places and the spaces in-between. I just wish we could get train fares down and have airfares better represent the true costs to the environment. It’s Lib Dem policy – but Tony B and Boy Dave only like to talk tough on the environment – and that’s exactly what they are: tough on the environment!

Munchausen by Proxy

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Meet Becky (World at One Reporter) at 9am to discuss my constituent’s case and campaign with regard to Munchausen by Proxy issues. The issues in this case – the man and his family were wrongly suspected of harming their child but persecuted along the way with accusations, lack of support and guidelines and procedures just not being followed.

The prevailing attitude from the Minister and thus the Government is that it is hard cheese if parents wrongly accused have a bad time – that’s the price of protecting our children. Bollocks! The Government have not a clue how prevalent this is. They keep no numbers – they don’t even try to collect this information. I have no idea if the small number of cases in the Consensus Report are the totality of those affected or the tip of the iceberg.

Of course protecting children comes first – but without a properly commissioned piece of research into the numbers involved, we don’t know how many parents are wrongly accused. Or how many genuine cases there are. Or how parents going through the process can be supported and what measures can be taken. And there is no proper analysis and audit of the procedures, complaints and whether they are being followed or not. We just don’t have a clue.

Prime Minister’s Questions sees the usual barney between the boys. You voted against this, you said that! I cannot bear the stupidity of this game.

FAIRFIELD GARDENS TO GET NEW LIGHTING

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Crouch End’s Fairfield Gardens is to get new lighting columns as a result of meetings between residents and Crouch End’s Liberal Democrat councillors.

The poor state of the existing lighting was just one of the items on a long list of problems that residents have identified in this short street at the rear of shops that front onto Tottenham Lane. They had organised a meeting with their ward councillors to discuss –

·Anti-social behaviour at night

·Rubbish dumping

·Inadequate rubbish collection/bin provision

·Illegal structures built behind shops

·Poor street lighting

·Cooking smells from restaurants

·Noisy extractor fans

·Blocked drains and much more

Long-term residents of the street had watched the problems accumulate and felt that enough was enough. Lib Dem councillor Lyn Weber asked for Haringey Council’s Neighbourhood Manager to invite a range of officers from different departments to attend the meeting last Tuesday morning at 8.30. Following a tour of the area several actions were agreed, including the promise of new lighting.

“We also want planning and street enforcement to visit offending businesses to ask them to remove a shed in which food is stored as well as looking at some quite serious planning infringements. This area is on the fringes of a conservation area, as well as a residential area, and these problems should never have been allowed to escalate,” said Cllr Weber. “Residents have been very patient but now it is reasonable for them to expect action.”

Cllr Winskill added, “It was a very positive meeting and we are looking forward to receiving a schedule of actions from officers that will lead to improvements to the vicinity. In the short term I have asked Haringey to provide a skip so that dumped rubbish can be removed”.

THE RISE OF TB IN LONDON IS UNACCEPTABLE

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New figures revealed by Liberal Democrat London Spokesperson, Lynne Featherstone MP, show that there has been a dramatic increase in TB outbreaks in London over the last five years.

With a 15% increase in TB cases in London over the last 5 years and over 3,000 cases currently recorded, Lynne Featherstone is calling on the government to investigate the rise of TB in London and put together a plan of action to combat this disease.

Commenting Lynne Featherstone MP said:

“It is too easy to think that TB is a thing of the past. It is on the rise in London and must be stopped.

“It is time that the Government realises the seriousness of this problem.

“The Government needs to come up with concrete plans to tackle the rise of TB. Let’s not forget that today TB is a curable disease. The Government urgently needs to find out why the number of TB cases in London is increasing each year and make clear how it plans to deal with this epidemic.”

Notes:

The number of cases in Haringey increased from 136 to 149 between 2000 and 2004.

Figures for all London boroughs are available from Hansard.

Eleven Tim Henmans

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This morning am having an hour’s interview by the Audit Commission in Haringey about the Council performance etc for the Comprehensive Assessment. Where do I start? We run through everything from political bias to planning to education to consultation to housing and so on and so on.

The problem I always find in these interviews is to find the right balance. I can only give my own experience with real life examples from my surgery or postbag to illustrate the gaps in their services. The most damning part of Labour Haringey is that they often say the right things but on the ground they don’t deliver – and I see the wreckage that they leave by promised action which never occurs.

Nick Clegg (Lib Dem Shadow Home Secretary) and I meet the Chiefs of Police from a number of American cities and criminologists etc in a round-table discussion. Lots of interesting ideas and notions – although it would be fair to say that I don’t think there was much common ground on minorities and how to deal with re-offending! But a really interesting group. It is always instructive to exchange views with those in the same field but from other countries.

Then I went to Millbank where there was a screen for the England match. As one colleague said at the end – it was like watching eleven Tim Henmans – i.e. agonising. Still we are through. Hurrah.

Sex offenders

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Crime continues – so to speak – with a session for the Lib Dem Home Affairs Team as a prequel to Home Office Questions at 2.30. We thrash around the issues of the day. At the moment with the Home Office in chaos and the Home Secretary is making policy on the run. We are rather spoilt for choice. We choose to go on Sarah’s List. As the emotive tensions rise and all of us who are parents, including me, wrestle with our desire to know where paedophiles are so we can protect are children, with the real fact that doing so is likely to send them underground where we have no idea where they are. This is about what’s effective – not what sounds tough or soft, but what will work to protect our children best.

Nick Clegg (Shadow Home Secretary) brings up the fact that in the USA where Megan’s Law (same thing) operates the number of offenders on the sex offenders list there has fallen to 30%. Here in the UK we have around 90% on the list. So – let’s keep cool heads and not jump to the News of the World – but on the evidence as to what works.

After Questions I rush over to Sky to do a pre-record on the news that will break tomorrow about an OFSTED report showing that our schools and councils are not keeping accurate records, nor always doing appropriate criminal record checks, on sex offenders working in our schools. After the hoo-ha when it was discovered that even four years after Soham and the Bishard Recommendations, sex offenders were still being employed – and Ruth Kelly nearly lost her job – this report that she was forced into commissioning reports its damning findings tomorrow.

It’s just a parents’ nightmare. Even if checks are carried out, they are not recorded or updated – and there are virtually no checks at all after someone has been employed. There should be a rigorous duty on checks and record keeping. And then we get into more nightmares if the Government’s Education Bill goes through as the community of schools breaks down and each trust school or foundation school or independent school looks to itself. Checking and monitoring will become even more disparate. We have to have a statutory duty for schools and authorities – clear and no lapses – on this.

Otherwise we will get lynch mobs, the Government will cave in to the tabloids and our children will be less safe than ever.