Tag Archives: ed davey

London Region conference

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Tonight it is the London Region Conference of the Liberal Democrats. I am down to be one of three speakers at the ‘Gold Star Rally’ at the end of the evening where we three (Bridget Fox / Islington South, Chris Maines / Orpington and myself / Hornsey & Wood Green) rally the troops to come out and help us.

I start the evening chatting in the cafeteria to Sarah Teather MP (Brent East). We discuss tactics for the election.

We are joined by Jason Beattie, Evening Standard lobby correspondent, who is chairing a session with Sarah and Ed Davey where questions are put by the audience.

When it comes to the rally, I go on last and really enjoy it. Just for once I don’t have to talk about transport or Ken – and can give a really political speech – which I do. Current bugbear – not surprisingly – the Tory and Labour efforts to be tough on immigration and asylum – for political gain more than anything else.

The sub-text of both Labour and Tory seems to be to scare residents into the view that it’s all their (immigrants’) fault. So groups of poor and underprivileged people fight and blame each other rather than turn the attack where it should be placed fairly and squarely on both Labour and Tories for not providing a decent house-building programme over the last two decades. It is very easy to turn need into blame and then scapegoats are created in that ferment.

Anyway – I am appalled by Blair’s sabre-rattling for the election. He has obviously seen it work for Bush – and believes it will work for him here.

Dinner with Ed Davey

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Neil Williams (Leader of the Haringey Council LibDem Group) and I go to meet residents in Ringwood Avenue, Fortis Green, whose houses back on to the proposed development at 79 Creighton Avenue.

I feel pretty confident that this application will hit the dust as the vast part of the development is on Metropolitan Open Land – and I have in writing from Haringey’s Chief Exec the view that the development is too large and the applicants have been told so.

We go and peer at the trees that have been devastated in the area. This needs proper investigation by Haringey Council – and prosecutions if necessary.

In the evening, host a fundraising dinner. Ed Davey MP is the celeb for the evening – and it was quite a lively one. Happily, I don’t do the cooking or a) no one would come (or certainly not a second time) and b) Isabel does – and Isabel can really cook.

Several of the paying attendees were ex-Labour members who have moved across to the LibDems for a mixture of reasons. The overarching reason: more than the war, more than top-up fees etc is the loss of trust in Labour and Blair. I guess it is quite difficult when you have been involved in the Labour party (or any party for that matter) to switch allegiance to the point of campaigning for the new party. But that is the case now – and I often find that the individuals are pretty much natural Lib Dems in reality.