Filed under: Campaign 2008
The big issue last week came from the hugely disappointing announcement from the Post Office proposing to close up to 1 in 5 of London’s local branches. Clearly this will affect the elderly, young families and those on benefits disproportionately more then anyone else in our communities.
One group who would be be effected by the proposals are the many small Asian family businesses, many of whom stand to lose their livelihoods. Those running post offices and those benefitting from the trade the post office attracts to the typical high street could be decimated if the proposals go ahead.
I will be raising these and other issues with Post Office Ltd, urging them to reconsider. I encourage anyone worried about the impact of losing these vital local services to do the same.
On a more cheery note, it was heartening to see the potential impact that the Mayor and government’s joint investment in London’s youth provision could have. Last week l visited one of the training sessions of the London Tigers at Paddington Rec – where l once played sport and stayed out of trouble after school.
l bumped into Muhammad, who now goes to my old school. He told me proudly that the school had won the schools’ football championship last year and that he was a member of the winning team.
It was much the same in my time when my year’s team won the championship several years running and it was all down to the dedication of our PE teachers giving boys like me their time and energy. The £80 million now going to youth services will keep more young people like Muhammed off the streets and away from the lure of gangs.
February 26, 2008
Knocking on doors around London it is quiet clear what the issues are for Londoners: crime, transport and housing – but not necessarily in that order. Added to this, particularly in West London, is the expansion of Heathrow Airport proposals which has been attracting huge public meetings in a lot of town halls. Amidst all these meetings and door knocking, I managed to see the African Nations Cup final with an excited Egyptian audience!
It is clear that the fear of crime is the issue when discussing it with folk on their doorsteps, and while it can be shown clearly that crime rates are going down, it is fear of it which is driving most people, particularly when we have young people hanging around. So in this respect the Youth Offer made by Mayor Ken Livingstone appears to going down well.
Public transport can clearly be better but its also clear people have noticed the difference public investment is making on our buses, tube and rail service. And finally the issue which has been too often been ignored but the Mayor intends to make a huge impact on during a third term – the availability of affordable housing. Too often I hear on the doorstep stories of overcrowding and the inability of young adults to leave home and set up another home nearby. So not surprisingly the investment programme of 50,000 homes over next 4 years goes down well.
And then we have the proposed expansion of Heathrow. This is clearly causing alarm and the business and environmental arguments of the Government aren’t getting through to residents who feel they will suffer a reduction in their quality of life. Let’s hope the Environment Committee report from the London Assembly can contribute to the debate when it is launched next week.
And finally it’s not all door knocking and meetings! I managed to switch off while watching the African Nations Cup final in the Nile Cafe in the company of Egyptians while smoking a shisha. The Egyptians were clearly the better team against the Cameroon and it was a deserved win for them. So I went to bed with the Edgware Road in my neighbourhood celebrating well into the night. Let’s just hope the six times winners of the Cup fare much better in the World Cup in South Africa in 2010.
February 18, 2008
It’s been heartening to see the national press focus on the contest for London’s mayoralty, but we should not forget that on the same day the political make-up of the London Assembly will also be decided.
If, as we hope, Ken is re-elected on 1 May he will need 9 Assembly Members to vote through his budget, strategies and initiatives. At present he relies on a red/green alliance of seven Labour members and two Greens in the face of Lib Dem/Tory opposition. Without this support in the Assembly, Ken’s annual budget would be blocked and along with it funding for more police, to tackle climate change and to improve public transport.
The role of assembly members, of which 25 will be elected on the 1 May (14 to represent constituencies and 11 by a proportional party list system) is to scrutinise the activities of the Mayor and hold him to account. We will ignore the Assembly elections at our peril. Support for Ken must go hand in hand with support for Labour on the Assembly. This is the only way to guarantee that he will get the support he needs to push through measures to improve the lives of all Londoners. The danger is that an Assembly with a Tory-Lib Dem majority will make life very difficult for the Mayor and block the progressive consensus that has developed in the last eight years.
Finally, and most importantly, it is the Assembly elections which could easily see the BNP elected. At the last GLA elections in 2004, the BNP came within 5,000 votes of getting gaining a seat on the Assembly. That is the equivalent of just a handful of votes in each ward in London. An improved performance this time round would be a disaster for London, undermining our multi-cultural and diverse capital in the lead up to the 2012 Olympics. It is worth remembering that, because of the proportional electoral system, every vote, no matter who it’s for, will increase the number of votes the BNP need to be successful. So use your votes: to stop the BNP and ensure our progressive Mayor can push through his programme, and vote for the Assembly Members and the party who share his values and his vision for our great city.
February 12, 2008
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