Posts Tagged Liberal Democrats

Catchup – too busy to blog!

14 November, 2009 at 9:17 am · Filed under Campaigns, Neighbourhood ·Tagged , , , ,

Once again, I’ve been too busy of late to blog. So here’s a quick catchup on what I’ve been up to over the last few weeks:

- attended the service of blessing for the re-opening of St Mary Islington’s crypt with former Archbishop George Carey
- welcomed party President Ros Scott to our Pizza & Politics evening
- spent a morning visiting businesses, from pharmacies to Fish Central, in Finsbury
- speaking to black community churches at the WOSEM ‘Prayer for Islington’ event
- raising poor breast cancer screening and referral rates with Islington NHS
- continued to campaign for justice for Equitable Life investors
- wearing pink to support breast cancer charities
- lobbied for MPs to back the 10:10 targets for government (Emily Thornberry didn’t)
- attending the Friends of Barnard Park AGM
- meeting Essex Road traders, jointly campaigning against Labour hikes in business rates
- meeting Nick Clegg to discuss London issues
- meeting council leader Terry Stacy to discuss local services
- meeting leaders of Islington’s Somali community
- attending Remembrance ceremonies
- various interviews and meetings with City University students
- dealt with casework from housing to hunting
- knocking on doors across the constituency
- speaking at Islington Lib Dem AGM

plus a long weekend in Amsterdam (that’s it for holidays til after the election!)

Now I’m off to give the opening speech at London Region Lib Dem conference, which meets today at City University, followed this evening by a Q&A on climate change at All Saints church, Caledonian Road, after their showing of the ‘Age of Stupid’.

Busy busy, but I love it!

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Weak-willed Labour MPs veto 10:10 at Westminster

23 October, 2009 at 8:29 am · Filed under Campaigns, Going green, Liberal Democrats ·Tagged , , , ,

Lib Dem MPs have been leading the debate on fighting climate change by trying to get the Government to sign up to 10:10 this week. Having been at the 10:10 launch, I was delighted to see this motion tabled – and I’d certainly have voted for it if I was in Parliament.

10:10 is the initiative to get individuals and organisations to commit to start reducing carbon emissions right now, by reducing 10% by the end of 2010. Islington Council has signed up and so have many individuals (the Fox-Turnbull household is doing its bit by replacing our old boiler with a combination one).

With endorsement from so many campaigners, including the 38 Degrees pressure group, and with the Copenhagen summit coming soon, this would have been both popular and good, the right decision at the right time.

After all, we are the first generation to understand the full impact of climate change, and the last to be able to do something about it.

So did Labour embrace the opportunity? No they did not. Despite many individual Labour MPs and ministers pledging to back 10:10, when it came to the vote they rejected any commitment to specific action by the Government, voting through an amendment full of vague praise for existing schemes instead.

Warm words and photo ops from Labour politicians are a waste of time if when it comes to taking real action now on the environment they refuse.

It’s no surprise that Islington South MP Emily Thornberry was among those vetoing 10:10. She has already failed to vote against Heathrow expansion; and she helped kill off the Fuel Poverty Bill.

Signing up to the 10:10 initiative would have made the Government’s commitment to action clear ahead of the Copenhagen summit. But once again we will get words without action. It’s shameful that weak-willed Labour MPs let the Government whips defeat this vital move.

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Equitable Life debate today

21 October, 2009 at 7:52 am · Filed under Campaigns, Consumer, Liberal Democrats ·Tagged , , ,

Liberal Democrat MPs will be using part of their Opposition Day today to debate the Government paying compensation to Equitable Life policyholders.

The Opposition Day motion is based on an Early Day Motion (EDM 1423) tabled by Vince Cable and the Liberal Democrats, which so far has the signatures of 335 MPs from all parties, including more than 250 Labour and Conservative MPs.

The EDM reads:

That this House notes the Parliamentary Ombudsman has taken the unusual step of using powers under the 1967 Act to present Parliament with a further and final report on Equitable Life; also notes that the Public Administration Select Committee’s second report on Equitable Life, Justice denied? concluded that the Government response to the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s report was inadequate as a remedy for injustice; recognises the vital role the Ombudsman plays in public life; reaffirms the duty of Parliament to support the office of the Ombudsman; believes the Government should accept the recommendations of the Ombudsman on compensating policyholders who have suffered loss; welcomes the formation of the All-Party Group on Justice for Equitable Life Policyholders; and notes with regret its necessary formation and the fact that over 30,000 people have already died waiting for a just resolution to this saga.

While Islington North Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn has signed the EDM, Islington South & Finsbury MP Emily Thornberry has so far failed to do so.

While only MPs can sign the EDM, we can all show support by signing the national petition on the same subject.

Unlike Ms Thornberry, I fully support the case of Equitable Life policyholders for compensation. This injustice should have been righted long since.

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Time for a Citizens’ Convention?

13 October, 2009 at 8:26 am · Filed under Campaigns, Liberal Democrats ·Tagged , , , , , , ,

Yesterday’s Guardian has more voices in support of a Citizens’ Convention to reform our political processes, kickstarted by the expenses scandal.

Among various luminaries of the reformist left and centre are a number of Lib Dems, including Lib Dem Voice editor Stephen Tall, and Liberal Youth chair Elaine Bagshawe. Their cause is honourable, but there is an air of deckchairs and Titanic in a lineup which features no Tories at all.

Lib Dem blogger and democracy campaigner James Graham argues that pre-election legislation is essential to tie the hands of any incoming government. That’s not terribly democratic – if Labour did that on an issue we loathed (and there are lots of examples from ID cards to Heathrow, nuclear power, Trident renewal or new databases), we’d be the first to complain.

As it is, I can’t see a dying Labour government giving up legislative time to anything other than damage limitation. This will be the palliative care parliament.

The real chance for reform will come from electing MPs with the right mandate. James also points out that MPs of all parties have backed the Convention by signing the EDM (although Emily Thornberry, unsurprisingly, has not). But the only ones from a party committed to electoral reform are Liberal Democrats, which is why maximising the number of Lib Dem MPs is so important.

So yes, let’s keep writing letters. But let’s deliver them in our key seats too!

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Council tax: will Labour eat their words?

4 October, 2009 at 3:25 pm · Filed under Campaigns ·Tagged , , , , , ,

Islington residents will have smiled wryly at the claim that Labour-led boroughs will be freezing the Council Tax next year.

As we know all too well, Islington Labour put up our council tax this year, to pay for their pet project of universal free primary school meals. Given that families on low incomes already get free meals, Islington Labour’s scheme is redistributing money from poorer council tax payers to richer parents. There are also concerns about whether this will distort the ‘free school meals’ tally on which many government grants to Islington depend. Plus it’s not at all clear that schools have the infrastructure or the budgets to deliver free school meals across the board. Even school meals champion Jamie Oliver has doubts that this is the best use of limited funds.

As Islington’s lone Green councillor, Katie Dawson, said at the time, “I’ve become increasingly nervous about how the free school meals will be funded. I’ve agonised over this and taken professional advice and remain unconvinced that going into a recession it is wise to empty all the coffers of the council.”

Other councils piloting free school meals – like Newham, Wolverhampton and County Durham – are getting their schemes subsidised by central government. If national Labour think this is such a good idea that they will fund it elsewhere, why do they expect local council taxpayers to pick up the whole bill in Islington? And if Islington’s Labour MPs really have clout on behalf of our community, why didn’t they get us into the national pilot instead? It seems they care more about posturing than policy.

Meanwhile the Lib Dem council is taking real action to improve things for local kids. There’s a new uniform grant for children starting secondary school. Record results at Key Stages 1 and 2, and the best GCSE results ever, show the difference we’ve made. Nationally, Lib Dem plans for a pupil premium would see class sizes halved for 5-7 year olds. By contrast Labour’s policy is not to cut class sizes but to cut teachers.

When Labour ran Islington, we had the highest council tax in the country and some of the worst services. Since then Lib Dems have regularly cut and frozen the council tax; and even in years when it’s gone up, it’s stayed below the London average. Then this year, the first time Labour had a majority in the Town Hall for a decade, they put the tax up again.

Judge them by their deeds not their words.

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Campaigning across the generations

2 October, 2009 at 9:25 am · Filed under Campaigns, Neighbourhood ·Tagged , , , , , , ,

It’s been a madly busy week.

On Saturday we had an action day in Clerkenwell, with dozens of helpers piling in. They got all our leaflets out by lunchtime, and canvassed chunks of the ward too. Meanwhile I stole away to enjoy the launch of Black History Month at St Mary Magdalene Academy. Over lunch I chatted to three generations of women from the Martin family. Originally from the Caribbean, they work as a carer, a civil servant and a special needs teacher: amazing women who contribute a huge amount to our community. There are some fascinating events during the month: I’m looking forward to the talk about the Rev Samuel Ajayi Crowther on 15 October.

On Sunday I was celebrating with a different community as I joined a party of Turkish friends to support Halkevi’s fundraising concert at the Hackney Ocean. Halkevi do fantastic work with the Alevi community of Turkish and Kurdish origin, and it’s no surprise they’ve outgrown their current building. We enjoyed music from singers including Sivan Perwer ‘the Pavarotti of the Middle East’, as well as a (non-singing) appearance from our MEP Sarah Ludford.

It’s Freshers Week, and I dropped in to help out at the LSE Freshers Festival on Tuesday. The whole of the Clement Building on Aldwych, normally full of quiet study rooms, was packed with stalls and students. Outside there were promotions from everyone from Streetcar to the Ministry of Sound. Inside, students collected stickers from each society they wanted to join and then got charged a £1 at checkout; every efficient. On the third floor we were in a room with the other political parties and the Politics Society. The Tories were in suits; Labour in plain sweatshirts and long faces; Lib Dems with yellow bunting, in high spirits. Also in our room, bizarrely, was the Manga Comics Society stall. Surrounded by comics, the guy on the stall was intently reading the FT. Only at LSE!

We had queues of people wanting to join the Lib Dem Soc; good news as LSE has a Hall of Residence in Islington South. Although many are overseas students (one friend swears that LSE stands for Let’s See England) there are enough homegrown voters to give my campaign even more of a boost.

From students to seniors: yesterday the St Luke’s community centre in Finsbury was celebrating Older People’s Day. I’ve got lots of friends there, as I’m a member of the St Luke’s timebank, but I’ve never seen the centre quite so busy. We had everything from massage and health checks to ‘giant knitting’ on huge wooden needles, live music and yet more stalls. Freshers eat your hearts out.

I always love meeting people, but what’s made all the events this week special is the mood of excitement, as people are really interested in my campaign and looking forward to their chance to vote. Earlier this year, there’s no doubt that the expenses scandals had put a lot of decent people off voting. Now the mood has changed again. There’s a real sense since we got back from conference that we are now in the countdown to the General Election. Liberal Democrats have even overtaken Labour in the national opinion polls.

We’ve had teams out door-knocking every day this week, in very different territory, and, as ever, meeting some great people. Like the Asian mum and business woman on an estate in Clerkenwell, the science student recently moved into the Angel, or the cheerful grandmother in Barnsbury, people can’t wait for their chance to vote Lib Dem next time.

Bring it on!

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After conference

27 September, 2009 at 3:33 pm · Filed under Campaigns, Going green, Liberal Democrats ·Tagged , , , ,

We’re back from Bournemouth, and all the long reports I’d intended to write will have to wait, possibly for ever.

This was just such a busy conference for me that I was too busy doing to document it. But here is some of what I got up to as part of Islington’s delegation.

IMG_0075On Sunday, I moved the Islington amendment in the globalisation debate, pointing out the crucial role of Europe in providing us with stability in a changing world. The difference between Iceland and Ireland isn’t one letter but two: E and U.

Also on Sunday, I was part of the panel at the End Fuel Poverty Fringe, speaking on how important this issue was to my constituents. The Lib Dem proposals would tackle fuel poverty, unemployment and climate change through a programme of home insulation: but Labour killed off the Bill. Shame on them.

I had meetings with many groups including the National Deaf Children’s Society, who are doing some important work on improving acoustics in schools, Breast Cancer Care, and the British Lung Foundation who are supportive of my campaigns on air quality. I spoke at a lively fringe meeting organised by the Lib Dem Friends of Turkey on Turkey’s future in the EU.

Housing is always a big issue in Islington, and I fitted in a breakfast meeting with Hyde Housing as well as a briefing with Shelter (appropriately enough we were ‘evicted’ from one room when our meeting ran on).

I also took the chance to raise some very local issues. At the candidates’ reception, I buttonholed a senior Tesco exec about their lorries parking at Islington Green – and later in the week raised it with the Freight Transport Association as well. And I quizzed Network Rail bosses about the vexed issue of access to Kings Cross station.

Most debates at conference are foregone conclusions – for example, we all love the NHS – but sometimes there are really distinct positions within the party, which makes for an exciting session. On Saturday we debated air brushing in ads (my PPC buddy Katy Gordon made a fantastic speech) and later in the week it was the turn of energy policy to go to the vote. I spoke in the debate against the pro-nuclear power amendment, and was pleased that I helped win the day for investment in truly renewable energy.

There were many impressive and some contentious speeches. Sarah Ludford proposed Islington’s amendment in the torture debate, reporting on her work exposing illegal rendition flights. Vince Cable controversially refloated his mansion tax idea (not yet party policy, and may never be). I signed up to support campaigns on a whole range of issues, from the Royal British Legion to Vote Cruelty Free.

And I was lucky to be one of the key seat PPCs (presumed future MPs) to be chosen to sit on the platform behind Nick for the leader’s speech.

I say lucky. First there was the briefing on do’s and don’ts. No eating, drinking, yawning – or live blogging. Then the clothes advice. Must not clash with backdrop or each other. Cue panic jacket and blouse buying by anxious female candidates with what’s left in their conference budget…. never say LibDems don’t have practical policies to stimulate the local economy. Then there was the hour-long wait backstage in cold and darkness, before emerging into blazing light on stage. Then we took our seats and were plunged back into near total darkness while Nick spoke. Is this a metaphor for life as an MP?

As ever, the conference reported by the media (anxious divisions over policy) and that experienced by delegates (sunny in every sense) were quite different. Although the new media like Tweetminster were happy to get their reports direct from the twitterer’s mouth.

We had great fun, but in a greatly serious cause. This is our last major party conference before the General Election. As Nick told us,

“Labour is lost. They haven’t the ideas, energy or vision to start again. If you voted for them in the past, you have a choice. You can give away your vote to a fringe party. You can stay at home in despair. Or you can join with the Liberal Democrats and make the difference.

“If you supported Labour in 1997 because you wanted fairness. You wanted young people to flourish. You wanted political reform. You wanted the environment protected. Or you simply believed in a better future. Turn to the Liberal Democrats. We carry the torch of progress now.”

Now back to the campaign trail!

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Eve of conference

17 September, 2009 at 11:07 pm · Filed under Liberal Democrats ·Tagged , , , , ,

Tomorrow I’ll be travelling to join thousands of Lib Dems from across the country in Bournemouth for our party conference.

Last night, Islington Lib Dems previewed the conference debates at our latest Pizza & Politics evening.

The Liberal Democrat party conference is unusual among the 3 main parties in that we do actually set party policy; it’s not just a rally for the faithful. That means ordinary members can shape the policy of the party; and it also means that occasionally we have a row. Or if not a row exactly, a genuine debate.

On most issues, unsurprisingly, Lib Dems tend to agree with each other, even on issues that are divisive between the parties (and within other parties). We’re generally against ID cards, against Heathrow expansion, and pro Europe, to pick three examples. So what’s there to debate?

Well, the media will no doubt try to talk up a potential row over the Fresh Start paper. In fact, it’s a clear and in my view unconcentious statement of Lib Dem priorities for the General Election manifesto. (The most dodgy aspect is the Somerfield-type colour scheme. And don’t they have a ‘fresh’ slogan too?)

The agenda has lots of heavyweight debates, on globalisation, climate change, civil liberties – big issues, but no big rows.

So last night we teased out three smaller issues where we might have a bit of a barney in Bournemouth.

The first is whether the Advertising Standards Authority should have rules requiring that airbrushed images are identified as such: and whether such images should be banned in publications aimed at young people. The former is not a problem – it’s recently become the rule for those mascara ads that showcase false eyelashes – but the latter caused a real debate. Yes, young people’s self-image is fragile: but is it right to censor pictures in response? And is this really the biggest issue we face? We remain divided on that one.

The second is whether employers should adopt the practice of blanking out the names of job applicants to weed out sexist and racist judgements. Generally we saw no harm in that, although there was some scepticism as to whether it would do much good. Attending a a girls’ school or being on the committee of your local mosque could also be a bit of a giveaway.

Both these proposals are part of a package of ideas in the Real Women policy paper.

Then there are Mosquitos, the machines that generate a highpitched sound causing distress, and possibly damage, to younger eardrums. Should they be banned? Although Islington Council has tried it once – and decided against it in future – I think using Mosquitos is a terrible idea. And I’m not alone.

My own home has been under siege from groups of youths in the past, and we’ve often had the neighbourhood police on speed-dial, so I don’t deny there’s an issue; but I just don’t think indiscriminate torture techniques are the answer.

Other communities have found that shining pink light or playing Mozart is just as effective, and a considerably more humane way to discourage young people from hanging around. Not that hanging around in a public place is necessarily a problem in itself – as long as they are not a nuisance to others.

I think it’s another symptom of the current obsession with the idea that technology can solve essentially human problems. It’s not things that help people, or change people; it’s other people. It’s not mosquitos we need but bluebottles.

What mosquitos and air-brushing have in common, of course, is that they are at the crunch point where protection and freedom conflict. They also show some of the very mixed messages that our society sends young people. We’ll protect your eyes while assaulting your ears. Should be an interesting conference….

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10:10 launch

5 September, 2009 at 9:00 am · Filed under Campaigns, Going green, Liberal Democrats ·Tagged , , ,

1010 launch group
This week I was proud to be alongside Simon Hughes MP and Islington’s own Cllr Greg Foxsmith at the national launch of the 10:10 campaign - pledging to cut our carbon emissions by 10% by the end of 2010.

Islington is one of 9 councils nationwide to sign up at the start; there were to have been 10, but Labour Greenwich pulled out at the last minute (although they have now followed dozens of other organisations and signed up since the launch). Simon Hughes was the only MP speaking at the event, and one of the comperes was Camden’s eco-champion Alexis Rowell; so the Lib Dems are visibly leading on the fight against climate change.

Islington’s already taking a lead on the green agenda. Public buildings and street-lights run on sustainable energy, including solar heating of the water at Highbury swimming pool. Libraries and primary schools are bieng insulated, and the borough’s new council housing meets high environmental standards. And the innovative Climate Change Fund has helped families, businesses and local groups to cut emissions through energy saving and using renewables.

I’m pleased to have played a part in setting Islington on this road with initiatives like switching the streetlights over to renewable energy, and opening our recycling education centre.

So when Friends of the Earth called me this week with an appeal as part of their Get Serious about CO2 campaign, and started telling me how “councils like yours” are failing to act, I was not impressed. Why criticise all councils when some are doing the right thing? It’s unfair and lacks credibility. I’ve already got a standing order to FoE, but I declined to increase it this time. And I sent an email complaining about their fundraising script. FoE replied the next day, saying:

“In our recent appeal mailings about our new Get Serious about CO2 campaign we talked about positive examples of what some councils are already doing to cut their emissions. We wanted to use these to inspire other councils to start cutting theirs. As it stands there are only very few councils really starting to tackle CO2 emissions of which Islington is one….We have made an amend to the telephone script to point out that it’s not all councils who need to change.”

I’m really pleased that FoE is not only campaigning for more action but also giving credit where it’s due.

The 10:10 initiative comes from the Not Stupid team; at the launch, the fantastic Franny Armstrong reminded us that we are the first generation to fully know about climate change, and the last to have a chance to stop it. You can join in here.

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Top Lib Dem blogs

4 September, 2009 at 2:00 pm · Filed under Liberal Democrats ·Tagged , ,

There has been a flurry of excitement in the Lib Dem blogosphere and beyond about this year’s Total Politics listing of the top Lib Dem blogs.

Last year I was just in the top 50. This year they’ve listed the top 75 and I’m not (except as part of the collective Lib Dem Blogs). This is, I hasten to add, a good thing, reflecting the growth in the quantity and quality of Lib Dem blogging over the last year. Mark Valladares is kind enough to mark my passing!

Among the bright new bloggers are the new no 1 Charlotte Gore; and Mark Thompson, whose MarkReckons blog is deservedly straight in at no 5. My PPC buddy Katy Gordon is there too.

If Mark V is an old friend, Mark R is a new one after he came to interview me in Islington last weekend. He squeezed in the interview over lunch – and in between joining in two door-knocking sessions – on one of our campaign days. I respect his blogging all the more now I know he takes his politics beyond the keyboard.

Honourable mention to another established top 10 blogger, James Graham, who helps with leaflet deliveries in Islington. Other bloggers are naturally also welcome to emulate the master…..

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