Archive for November, 2007
28 November, 2007 at 11:31 pm
· Filed under Campaigns, Liberal Democrats ·Tagged Gordon Brown, Islington, James Graham, Labour, London Underground, petitions, pizza, politics, Vince Cable
Tonight was Islington Lib Dems’ Pizza & Politics; this month our guest speaker was James Graham, the leading Lib Dem blogger. James talked about blogging, the leadership election and the challenges facing the party over the next few months. The pizza inspired a culinary motif, with James floating the idea of ‘slow politics’ (as in ‘slow food’) where we spend more time developing and involving people in campaigns. But he also praised Vince Cable’s skill as acting Leader, which has shown the best kind of opportunism in reacting to the news of the day. And we also touched on speeding up the stodgy policy-making process. So faster politics has its fans too.
Normally we talk about a specific policy area – affordable housing or access to higher education – so this was a change; people seemed to enjoy it as the pizza eating and discussion went on long after the usual finish time. Plus James works in Islington and has agreed to take a daytime delivery route; now that’s what I call a successful evening.
Before the pizza, we went out petitioning in Caledonian ward, collecting signatures on our latest petition. Since the collapse of Metronet, there’s a real risk that the cost of the failed PPP will fall on the tube users who were supposed to benefit. Hence the petition slogan ‘Don’t let the PPP (Public Private Partnership) become Passengers Pay the Penalty’. The PPP is another policy with Gordon Brown’s fingerprints all over it.
Caledonian is a Labour ward – in fact has always been apart from 2002-06 – so we were expecting to find at least some firm Labour voters. Not one. I think Brown’s strategists may yet regret not having that 07 general election.
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27 November, 2007 at 12:38 pm
· Filed under Health ·Tagged food, hygiene, meat
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27 November, 2007 at 12:16 am
· Filed under Local history, Neighbourhood ·Tagged Arsenal, Arsenal Ladies, football, Islington Council, Laura Willoughby, sports development
A fantastic evening tonight at Islington Town Hall, as Arsenal Ladies FC received the Freedom of the Borough. This is a rare honour but could not be better-deserved. Arsenal Ladies have won a quadruple in the last season - the Premier League, the FA Cup, the Women’s League and the UEFA Women’s Cup - adding to scores of trophies since they were founded twenty years ago. They are quite simply the best women’s football team in the country; and the only one to have received such an honour from any city or borough.
Politicians from all sides made graceful speeches but the highlight was a barnstorming speech from Lib Dem Cllr Laura Willoughby, who not only paid tribute to Arsenal Ladies, but laid down a challenge to sports bosses and the media to give women’s sport fair coverage. From my years working for the Sports Council, I’m used to women’s sport being marginalised. But I didn’t know that only 5% of sports press coverage goes to women’s sports. Or that the only reason the local papers printed match reports of Arsenal Ladies’ FA final was because Laura herself sent them in.
It was a very happy evening, with the gallery packed with teenage girls for whom Arsenal Ladies are fantastic role models. Normally at council meetings the gallery is empty; or if there are protestors, the Mayor has to shut them up. Tonight, the Mayor was encouraging the gallery to cheer along.
Afterward we had drinks and nibbles and mingled with friends old and new (I recruited a new deliverer for Canonbury!). The Sports Development officers were looking back on highs and lows of sports policy in Islington. In 1999, the dying Labour administration cut sports development all together. Under the Lib Dems it’s flourishing again. But tonight was not a partisan event. Councillors of all parties (in Islington that’s Lib Dem, Labour and Green), plus Jeremy Corbyn MP, chatted happily. Emily Thornberry MP did not bother to show up - her loss.
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26 November, 2007 at 8:56 am
· Filed under Neighbourhood ·Tagged crime, park, police, vandals, youth
BBC London has published a report of young people’s experience of crime, showing that they don’t feel safe on the streets and don’t feel the police will always help them. It’s not surprising after a year of shocking deaths of teenagers in knife and gun incidents have hit the headlines; including the death of Martin Dinnegan in Upper Holloway. Another Islington crime in the news was the murder of Richard Whelan on a 43 bus by a man who was throwing chips at Mr Whelan’s girlfriend.
It’s a dilemma whether to challenge antisocial behaviour or not. If you don’t are you complicit? If you do, are you putting yourself at unnecessary risk?
Our estate looks out onto a small park, which we are lucky to have. I’ve always been opposite bricks and mortar before. The park attracts dog walkers in early morning, the odd family in the day - and groups of youths from late afternoon to late at night. They are noisy and drop litter, they smoke, sometimes they race bikes, and the bikes aren’t always theirs. We’ve had residents meetings with the police; some of us have tried talking to the youths; they are a pain but not normally a threat. Last night was different.
We have a small front patch with two gates - one to our front door, one to the bin store shared with the two upstairs flats. We were watching TV, when there was a terrible clang from the front garden. Richard rushed to the kitchen and yelled, I followed; there on the side path was a hooded youth, in our garden, outside the bin store, swinging a sledgehammer inches away from the kitchen window. It was a terrifying moment. Thankfully the youth just gave us the finger and retreated to his mates in the park.
It’s said we all have a flight vs fight response. I was furious, half way through getting my shoes on to go out the front and ask what the hell they were doing, when Richard restrained me; he called the police instead. They didn’t come. About 1am we heard noises in the street and saw some of the same youths smashing up a bike. For once, we didn’t bother to call the police again.
Through my work I meet many young people who care about their community, and others who just want a quiet life. Young people are more likely to be victims of crime than perpetrators. They have a right to hang out with their friends. And we must not demonise or criminalise all youths on the basis of an antisocial minority. But last night’s youths were vandals, potentially violent, and their age is no excuse.
Crime is actually falling in our borough. I was burgled in 2005 and 2006 but not (so far) this year, so real life matches the stats. So now we need the police to use their resources to deal with the current problems our communities face. Tackling crime is a liberal issue, and I’m sick of hearing patronising lectures from Labour politicians who live on the borough’s plushest streets that somehow only they have the answers, when manifestly they do not.
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23 November, 2007 at 12:28 am
· Filed under Neighbourhood ·Tagged Islington Gazette, Leroy House, prisons
The Islington Gazette has printed my letter about prison overcrowding. However, I’m much more struck by the story about human ashes being abandoned in a carpark outside Leroy House - the block where Islington Lib Dems are based.
I have occasionally worried about finding something dead in the less tidy corners of our office; but not like this….
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22 November, 2007 at 11:53 pm
· Filed under Liberal Democrats, Movies & media ·Tagged politics, Question Time, Scotland
It’s Question Time from Glasgow. As you would expect from a loyal Lib Dem, I’m agreeing with David Steel more than David Aaronovitch. Or any of Annabel Goldie, Nicola Sturgeon or Wendy Alexander. David Steel pointed out that all democracies are under attack from terrorism but none has a detention time without charge as long as the UK’s 28 days. So why does the Government want to extend it? If we give up our freedoms, we give in to the terrorists’ agenda.
In the spirit of pluralism, credit to Labour journo David Aaronovitch for pointing out that the Clegg/Huhne row was about policy, which is what political debate should be about. And to Annabel Goldie for pointing out that in the controversy over public over funding to Scotland, the facts are being misrepresented by the English media; perhaps she should have a word with her Tory colleagues south of the border.
The most applauase went to the chap in the audience who pointed out that at least the next Lib Dem leader will have been elected - unlike Gordon Brown.
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22 November, 2007 at 8:04 pm
· Filed under Neighbourhood ·Tagged Barnsbury, City University, students
I took a bit of time out this evening to pop into City University and meet with some of the student journalists there. City teaches one of the top courses and their students are an intelligent and motivated group. Each of them has an Islington ward to research and report - and my pair are covering Barnsbury, where I was a councillor for 8 years. We covered everything from crime, parks and planning to housing policy, regeneration, refugees - and the best pubs.
One question which got me thinking was what my priorities for the ward would be if I was a councillor there now. One would be dealing with issues of youth and crime, ensuring young people are safe and older people less fearful. I’d be listening to residents to get the balance right on over-development and providing the homes local people need; housing targets don’t justify bad buildings. And we face more ‘modernisation’ programmes for services like the Post Office and GP surgeries.
All in all it was an enjoyable interview, so I guess I should thank Barnsbury’s current Labour councillors for having completely ignored the students’ requests…..
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21 November, 2007 at 6:10 pm
· Filed under Consumer, Family & friends ·Tagged cookery, food, kosher, restaurants
It’s been such foul weather that I’ve been craving comfort food. Last night I made us a big vegetable hotpot – puy lentils, potato, onions, tomatoes and cashews, cooked in marmite stock, topped with a cheese gratin, and served with warm bread rolls. Delicious…
More comfort food for Richard today as he had a business lunch out today at Bevis Marks, a kosher restaurant in the City. Kosher must be the only kind of restaurant we don’t have in Islington.
Rich had the traditional chicken soup followed by salt beef, and reports that the food was “very good” (high praise from my laconic man). And that Matt Lucas was eating there too.
The menu has an interesting mix of dishes, and it all sounds delicious. They even do takeaways (celebrity diner not included).
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21 November, 2007 at 12:24 pm
· Filed under Campaigns, Consumer ·Tagged Corbyn, data, data protection, Identity Cards, Islington, Labour, NO2ID, politics, Thornberry
I am so outraged about this that I’ve written to the local Labour MP (my opponent) Emily Thornberry. She’s a big fan of ID cards and the national database needed to support them. This is the letter I’ve sent:
Dear Ms Thornberry
Today families all over the country will be wondering who has got access to their most private information; their income, their bank accounts, their addresses, even the names and ages of their children.
In losing the records of half the UK population - including at least 20,000 Islington families - the Revenue service and the Government have shown a level of incompetence that is beyond belief. The Guardian calls this “the most fundamental breach of faith between the state and citizen”.
This data disaster shows that your Government cannot be trusted to handle our personal information. It is time to abandon the wasteful and misguided ID card and National Identity Register scheme. The estimated costs for the scheme are now at £5.6bn and rising; and for what? A single national database will put us more at risk, not make us more secure.
You have voted for Identity Cards at every opportunity; despite the growing evidence against the scheme, and despite the principled opposition of other MPs, including Jeremy Corbyn.
Will you now put the interests of Islington residents ahead of your Government cronies, and join the Liberal Democrats in opposing ID cards?
It will be interesting to see if she can resist her normal partisanship and respond seriously to a serious issue.
Jeremy Corbyn, the other Islington MP, is not an ID card fan. In the Identity Cards Bill debate, he was eloquent – and liberal – in opposing them.
Another Labour politician with Islington connections went on the record against ID cards. In opposition, Tony Blair said “Instead of wasting hundreds of millions of pounds on compulsory ID cards as the Tory Right demand, let that money provide thousands of extra police officers on the beat in our local communities.”
Blair changed his mind and introduced the ID card scheme. It’s not too late for his successors to change their minds too, and save us from more data disasters.
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21 November, 2007 at 8:41 am
· Filed under Campaigns, Consumer ·Tagged data, data protection, government, NO2ID, politics, security
The data disaster that was revealed yesterday is all over the headlines. Sometimes problems seem less dramatic the day after; not this time. A strategic error – ‘let’s put all the information in one place, that will be safer’ – combined with operational incompetence – ‘I’ll bung a disk in the post, should be OK, let me know if it doesn’t turn up’ - has led to what the Guardian today calls “the most fundamental breach of faith between the state and citizen”.
The way we use & abuse data and comms is changing for each generation. In this web2.0 world, we access information and services easily, entering our personal info online on a daily basis, and sharing more of ourselves than ever before. That can be empowering, when we’re in control. But what about when we have to trust our data to the state?
At one end we have employees becoming casual with the data they use every day: familiarity breeding contempt. At the other end we have the mandarins, from a pre-PC generation, apparently ignorant of the systems they command: contempt breeding unfamiliarity.
In my day-job as an information professional, I work with hundreds of client organisations to whose systems my colleagues & I need occasional access. Quite rightly, the security we have to go through is demanding; individual fobs; standalone terminals; voice recognition; daily passwords; and the rest. Yes it’s a hassle; but it’s showing respect for people’s data, and therefore for the people themselves.
The same Government that has been telling us that a National Identity Register will make us more secure has now demonstrated the opposite, in dramatic style. They must drop plans for ID cards; then at least some good will come from this.
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