DNA and discrimination

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Off to do the Sunday Politics Show for the third week in a row. Added to our number this week is Tony Travers. We hash over vagaries of London’s voting patterns. After the show, Tim Donovan, Tony and I chat about the disintegration of the Labour party as it appears to descend into civil war with Brown’s henchmen turning up the heat – hoping to force Blair into going, or at least stating when he will be going.

I try and persuade Tim to do a show on DNA. I have been championing a number of issues around DNA for some years – and the Independent on Sunday runs a story using a quote from me and the answer I got to a Parliamentary Question on what percentage of innocent DNA comes from black and ethnic minorities. It’s about 24% nationwide – but the figure that no one is picking up on yet – is that in London this kicks up to 57% of innocent DNA is coming from non-whites. It’s huge – way, way above their actual representation in the population as a whole.

First meeting of new council group

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Our new Council group (plus me and a few others) meet for the first time to get ourselves organised. It is so fantastic to be in such a big group. You have no idea what the first four years were like when there were just three of us Lib Dems – myself, June and Julia versus 54 Labour councillors. It was just as if they were in a big gang – and bolstered by their numbers the bully boy tactics they employed steeled me in politics. Then after the 2002 local elections when we went to 15 – it felt much better. But still the chamber had rows on the Labour side of seats – and our side had only two short rows. But now – it is virtually even. I bet the bully boys will have lost a great deal of their bravado when the Council sits in future. Just a bit sad I won’t sit there myself – as I am no longer a Haringey councillor. Anyway – much inspired by the energy and enthusiasm of the new group – I think the road ahead augers well.

Haringey Council results

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Well – it was very close! Massive Lib Dem gains, but not quite enough to take control of Haringey Council – Labour majority cut to just three (30-27 – no other parties have any councillors) with Lib Dems making 11 gains.

We also topped the vote across the borough – adding up the top votes in each ward – and actually now have councillors in a majority of the wards in Haringey. So – very close! Best every Lib Dem result, including our first councillors in Tottenham, many in Wood Green etc.

Lib Dem highlights:

Alexandra – 3 Lib Dem holds – Dave Beacham, Wayne Hoban and Susan Oatway re-elected

Bounds Green – 2 Lib Dem gains – Ali Demirci and John Oakes

Crouch End – 3 Lib Dem holds – Ron Aitken and David Winskill re-elected, joined by Lyn Weber

Fortis Green – 3 Lib Dem holds – Matt Davies and Martin Newton re-elected, joined by Sara Beynon

Harringay – 2 Lib Dem gains – Karen Alexander and Carolyn Baker

Highgate – 3 Lib Dem holds – Bob Hare and Neil Williams re-elected, joined by Justin Portess

Hornsey – 3 Lib Dem gains – Robert Gorrie, Errol Reid and Monica Whyte elected

Muswell Hill – 3 Lib Dem holds – Jonathan Bloch and Gail Engert re-elected, joined by Sheila Rainger (who has taken over my old council seat)

Noel Park – 2 Lib Dem gains – Catherine Harris and Fiyaz Mughal elected

Stroud Green – 1 Lib Dem hold and 2 Lib Dem gains – Laura Edge re-elected and Ed Butcher and Richard Wilson elected

Congratulations and commiseration to all candidates and helpers – both those who made it and those who didn’t, in all parties.

UPDATE: There are now further election result details on Haringey Council’s website.

LOCAL ELECTIONS – LIB DEMS CELEBRATE THEIR HUGE POLL GAINS

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Liberal Democrat poll-toppers have been celebrating this morning after their best night ever in Haringey elections. The party made an astonishing 11 gains from Labour, and were just a handful of votes away from winning control of Haringey Council.

With several key results on a knife edge all night, the Lib Dems become the biggest party in terms of the popular vote, outpolling Labour by 116 votes across the borough. Lib Dem candidates narrowly lost some very tight races, where a tiny swing would have given them overall control.

In Labour’s night of disaster, the party lost four of its cabinet members – for finance, environment, social services and performance, all areas where Labour’s controversial policies have brought unpopularity with Haringey voters.

Lib Dems made a sensational breakthrough in Wood Green, with four new councillors, and in Tottenham where Lib Dems Karen Alexander and Carolyn Baker became the party’s first councillors in the Tottenham parliamentary constituency. In the west of the borough it was a clean sweep for the party, with Labour majorities in Stroud Green and Hornsey demolished, to add to the five wards already held by the party – all of which were held with greatly increased majorities.

For the Tories, it was once a gain a disastrous duck, with the complete failure to capture Highgate ward, where Lib Dem Leader Neil Williams and colleagues Bob Hare and Justin Portess won with an increased majority. In terms of votes, the Tories slipped into third place in the Tottenham constituency and a dismal fourth across Hornsey and Wood Green.

Lib Dem Leader Neil Williams comments:

“This is a brilliant local election result for the Lib Dems. I am so proud of the whole team for what they have achieved. As we always suspected, just a handful of votes decided the election in the end, and Labour’s majority of just three seats may well not last a full four years. With this terrible result for Labour, you can guarantee there will be more Labour infighting and chaos while the concerns of local residents are ignored. However, we now have a very large Lib Dem group which is ready to take over at the first opportunity.”

Key election facts:

  • The Lib Dems became Haringey’s most popular party, winning 20,347 votes to Labour’s 20,235.
  • Just 77 Labour switchers – 29 in Bounds Green and 47 in Woodside ward – would have given the Lib Dems control of Haringey Council.
  • The Lib Dem vote rose 9% while Labour’s share dropped by 5% – a 7% swing to the party.
  • In Lynne Featherstone’s Hornsey and Wood Green parliamentary constituency, the party polled a massive 48% to Labour’s 26%. The Tories finished fourth.
  • In Tottenham, the party won its first council seats, and pushed the Tories into third place across the Parliamentary seat.
  • In Muswell Hill, Lib Dem candidates Jonathan Bloch and Gail Engert became the first candidates since before the mid-1980s to poll over 2,000 votes.
  • In four wards, the Lib Dems won by over 1,000 votes – Alexandra, Fortis Green, Muswell Hill and Crouch End.

Haringey Council elections

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Voting is open in the Haringey Council elections (and other council elections) from 7am until 10pm on Thursday.

You don’t need your poll card to vote.

If you are a postal voter and haven’t yet returned your ballot papers, they can still be returned to any polling station in Haringey by 10pm on Thursday too.

If you want to check who the Lib Dem candidates in your ward are they are listed on my website – and our manifesto for the council elections is also available online (pdf file).

Charles Clarke

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I am due to go on GMTV for a 6.40am slot on the elections. The car is meant to pick me up at 6.00 and if there is any change to schedule they will let me know. Best laid plans of mice and men etc mean that the driver knocks on my door at 5.45am and has been waiting an hour. Instead of calling me on my mobile – they have paged me to let me know car was outside. But I wasn’t wearing my pager – as was waiting for call. Arrive at GMTV at 6.11am to discover not on at 6.40 but on at 6.15. So – a frantic start to day.

The interview centred around Labour’s apparent desire to self-destruct the very week of the local elections. Should Clarke go? Yes – is the answer. Clarke has been in dereliction of his duty to keep the public safe. He cannot go on or how else can anyone below him believe that they need to carry out their duties properly. If he survives – then no one can ever be sacked for any failure. Particularly as he had been warned.

However, it is now clear that Clarke has offered to resign – but Blair has refused. It would appear to me that the Prime Minister’s desperate need for political support in the cabinet – and thus his efforts to hold onto Clarke – are clouding his judgement about right and wrong and he is putting his own survival above and beyond the well-being of governance and the public’s safety. (You can sign the Lib Dem petition calling for Clarke to go at www.libdems.org.uk/charles-clarke.html)

A further development, in terms of a foreign national – now known to have been the prime suspect in the death of a woman PC – was a released prisoner. Ironically this particular criminal was considered for deportation and it was decided that he could not be sent back to Somalia as that country is considered too dangerous to send anyone back to. This presents a new dilemma in terms of what do we as a decent country do with ex-criminals who should be deported to countries – but these are countries where they may be in danger. Seems to me we need an urgent review – and a mechanism for keeping tabs on such individuals. I don’t think just because we cannot deport them we should just then accept they should then be forgotten and no longer registered and checked.

However, the central issue remains, the Government has failed in its primary duty to keep us safe – and it gives the lie to all the talk and headlines about being tough on crime. From top to bottom of the justice system we see that nothing appears to be carried through properly. Once the headline is out of the way and the Government feels it is appearing tough and gaining kudos from being seen to be active by bringing in new tough laws – they abdicate their responsibility for ensuring that they are properly implemented and enforced.

Birthday timing

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Ring Susie Oatway to wish her happy birthday. Susie is one of our wonderful Lib Dem councillors standing for re-election on Thursday (Alexandra ward) – and poor woman – her birthday always falls during the election period. However, she is a trooper – and my call finds her out delivering leaflets in her ward. Good news is next May there are no elections for the first time in a while. Her celebration this time, however, was a quick break with her toddler and her mother and toddlers’ group. Multi-tasking as ever.

Lunchtime I am invited to Highgate School to give a very short talk on why I wanted to be an MP and how I became an MP and my first year – all in ten minutes! Then questions from around 130 lively (and quite cheeky) Highgate boys – none of whom are old enough to vote – yet! Interest ricochets from prurient interest in the activities of our leadership candidates and former leader to the greater issues around the terrorism laws and the future of politics!

And then back to the campaign trail – finishing the day with mass canvasses in two wards – both of which are showing a healthy swing from Labour to Lib Dem.

Delivery, canvassing, stuffing…

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What can I tell you? Delivery, canvassing, stuffing … But one funny thing happened to my colleague David Schmitz who is standing as a candidate in Harringay ward (the Ladder area of Haringey). He was out delivering leaflets and came across a group of cross residents on the pavement waiting for the local Labour councillor to turn up to do his surgery. But no show! So David did an impromptu surgery of his own – right there, right then!

The Daily Mirror rang me whilst I was out delivering to follow up on my Parliamentary Question (PQ) about an email that my researcher had received. It purported to warn women about a new drug being used by rapists to spike girls drinks. This drug – Progesterex – would not only make them unable to remember anything or resist – it would also sterilise them. So – my PQ to the Minister Paul Goggins was to ask about the number of date rape cases brought over the last twelve months and what assessment he had made of the drug’s use in cases of date rape.

Paul Goggins’ answer was pretty weak. Firstly he said they don’t collect statistics on date rape centrally. Well they should – clearly. How else can we be sure we know whether it is a growing problem or not? Secondly he said that the drug doesn’t exist – but rather is the subject of a hoax email. But – the Home Office doesn’t seem worried by women being scared by a hoax email and doesn’t apparently believe there is a need to look into who is the originator of such a hoax.

It would seem that the prevailing attitude of the Home Office is simply to not deal with things or care about things. Probably explains why, even though informed that foreign nationals were being released without consideration for deportation, nothing was done.

Bad attitudes from top carry right through whole department.