Richard Merrin for Hornsey & Wood Green

Enterprise Tzar

2009-06-05T17:19:00.001+01:00

Letter to the Financial Times from Sir Alan Sugar in 1992

“I have noted with disgust the comments of a certain Mr Gordon Brown who has accused me of doing well out of the recession….I do not know who Mr Gordon Brown is. Excuse my ignorance, but I don’t. Whoever he is, he has not done is homework properly. The man doesn’t know what he is talking about….Labour offers no route out of recession.” - Sir Alan Sugar

This election is about London not Haringey Council

2009-06-04T14:37:00.002+01:00

One look at any piece of election literature coming out from the Liberal Democrats here in Haringey and you would think that today's (Thursday) European election is about control of the council.

All you read about is how the Lib-Dems are best placed to beat Labour in the borough. But what they seem to forget - and certainly would rather you did not know - is that the constituency is the entire capital, just as it was for the election of Boris Johnson last year.

Such clarity changes the perspective of this election - and just as it was a year ago, it is the Conservatives who are best placed to beat Labour. And even here in Haringey the Conservatives came a very close second to Labour in 2008 - the Lib-Dems a distant third.

Time to support the Conservatives on leaseholders rights

2009-06-02T11:58:00.001+01:00

Today I am calling on Lib Dem MP Lynne Featherstone to back the Private Members’ Bill on extending leaseholders’ rights.

The Bill, introduced by Conservative MP for Beckenham Jacqui Lait, aims to confer more rights on leaseholders in relation to management and maintenance of their properties.

The Bill was introduced in January 2009, and will have its Second Reading on June 26^th.

Leaseholders here in Haringey have been losing out financially for years, too often the victims of shoddy and overpriced repairs and maintenance. Regrettably, Haringey Lib Dem councillors have been completely ineffective in standing up for hard-pressed leaseholders locally. So it’s clear that what is needed is legislative change at a national level to offer leaseholders the protection they need.

Over the past month I have been talking to leaseholders across the Borough about their experiences and time and again I hear the claim that they are being treated unfairly, “fleeced” by the council and seen as nothing more than a ‘cash cow’.

That is why today I am launching a campaign to support leaseholders here in Haringey and would urge anyone with experience to contact me so that I can in turn advise Jacqui Lait, the bill’s sponsor in parliament.

Despite political differences, I sincerely hope Hornsey & Wood Green’s MP backs this Private Members Bill which aims to bring real change and fairness to the way leaseholders are treated in future.

Details of the Bill itself are still be formulated but it is hoped that this Bill will succeed where previous Private Members’ Bills have failed, including one from Lib Dem MP Simon Hughes.

Out in Highgate

2009-05-30T16:11:00.002+01:00

Canvassing in Highgate this morning and never have I come across such anger toward all three main political parties.

What has been exposed in the past three weeks is indefensible, totally disgusting and has destroyed a good deal of faith in the political process.

Residents are furious, angry, confused and disillusioned. We all are.

Our economy is in a dire state, our Government rudderless and to compound the sense of helplessness our elected representatives have their collective snouts in the trough. And it does not matter whether it is a duck house or a vacuum cleaner - the message is clear - a plague on all your houses.

I will not defend a system like this - root and branch reform is needed and fast. So my message to all MPs (including Lynne) is get back to work and clean it up NOW.

The best attack on the BNP!

2009-05-25T22:10:00.004+01:00

http://conservativehome.blogs.com/.a/6a00d83451b31c69e2011570a52834970b-pi

Thought of the day - Oliver Cromwell

2009-05-25T13:40:00.005+01:00

It is high time for me to put an end to your sitting in this place, which you have dishonoured by your contempt of all virtue, and defiled by your practice of every vice; ye are a factious crew, and enemies to all good government; ye are a pack of mercenary wretches, and would like Esau sell your country for a mess of pottage, and like Judas betray your God for a few pieces of money.

Is there a single virtue now remaining amongst you? Is there one vice you do not possess? Ye have no more religion than my horse; gold is your God; which of you have not barter'd your conscience for bribes? Is there a man amongst you that has the least care for the good of the Commonwealth?

Ye sordid prostitutes have you not defil'd this sacred place, and turn'd the Lord's temple into a den of thieves, by your immoral principles and wicked practices? Ye are grown intolerably odious to the whole nation; you were deputed here by the people to get grievances redress'd, are yourselves gone!

So! Take away that shining bauble there, and lock up the doors.

In the name of God, go!"

Oliver Cromwell 1653, to MPs from the steps of the Houses of Parliament.

Baby Peter

2009-05-22T13:56:00.004+01:00

The news that the findings of the serious case review into Baby Peter's death found that it "could and should have been prevented" should send a clear message that this dreadful incident should never be repeated in Haringey again.

I applaud the findings of the review, which was commissioned by Children's Secretary Ed Balls, which has said agencies lacked "toughness and urgency" by not taking the 17-month-old into care.

It also said that if doctors, lawyers, police officers and social workers had adopted a more ‘urgent, thorough and challenging approach’ the abuse of Baby P ‘would have been stopped in its tracks at the first serious incident’.

The review was carried out by Graham Badman, who was appointed chair of Haringey's Local Safeguarding Children Board in December 2008.

The lesson here is that any professional in this field should be – as Badman said - "deeply sceptical" of any excuses offered in the apparent maltreatment of children. Furthermore, I fully endorse Lord Laming’s findings as long as it does not lead to yet more heedless process and paperwork. What we need to see is a step change in the managerial accountability of these key services as well as a major change in the recruitment, training and supervision of frontline staff.

The Cloud will transform the way we can deliver services and it will cut costs

2009-05-21T20:25:00.005+01:00

I make no apology for reproducing this article from the blog of Adam Arfiyie MP, someone who has first hand experience and knowledge of the IT industry. I worked with Adam and the Shadow team at the Dept of BERR to help formulate policy toward the UK IT industry in 2007/8.

There is no doubt in my mind that the role of IT will be critical in the years to come as we battle to keep our spiraling debt under control. Adam has to my mind thrown up an interesting symbolic difference between the Labour party and us - Labour top down, centralised, proprietary and the Conservatives - well read on.....

Freeing Government and Parliamentary data

Adam Afriyie MP, Thursday, May 21 2009

'The Cloud' is transforming the IT industry I know and love. That's why I was delighted to open the Cloud Expo conference at the Barbican Centre yesterday.

Cloud computing is more than just a catchy title. By decoupling applications from infrastructure, people are free to access their data - from anywhere, at any time. This could be as significant as the arrival of the personal computer in the 1980s.

Of course, it's too early to predict the full impact of the cloud twenty years from now, but the latest trends are clear: virtualisation, software and infrastructure as a service, and the rising profile of open-source. These kinds of disruptive technologies have underpinned some of the most productive innovations in the past.

Unfortunately, while the pace of technological change is breathtaking, the response from government is not. When the information revolution first began, there was plenty of enthusiasm from government. But New Labour responded by slapping an 'e' in front of just about anything that moved: they had an e-envoy, an e-unit, and even an e-minister. It was a government of what Prensky might call 'digital immigrants': people mesmerised by the transformative potential of technology, but unsure how 'e-government' would fit with their bureaucratic command and control vision for Whitehall.

So far as I can determine, 'Cloud computing' has never appeared in Hansard or a government press release. Many politicians just don't 'get it'.

I want to change that, and I'm optimistic for the future. The generation now entering the workforce has 'grown up digital'. Many of them already access 'The Cloud' on a daily basis. They access their photos on the move. And they refuse to be tied down to traditional office packages. If they can access a word processor online without upfront charges, they'll do it.

When confidence in politics is close to an all time low, we need to look at the ways in which IT can enhance openness, transparency and, ultimately, confidence in our democracy. Take MPs expenses. This is one of the biggest scandals to hit Westminster in recent years. Conservative have taken action to publish the expenses of all Shadow Cabinet members online. It was prepared in Google Docs. It's published in XML format. And it can be mashed-up easily by developers.

Lessons from the past

2009-05-19T17:39:00.004+01:00

Is it because I am sitting on a train coming back from Manchester that my thoughts have turned to all things past? This journey - now so fast - was a regular one for me as I travelled up and down as a student to the city of my youth.

It has got me thinking. The Crouch End Lido - who would have thought it 80 this year (what is really scary is that it was only 60 when I first went there!).

And so sitting here on a train, writing my blog, thinking about how times have changed I turn to the BBC as I always do at times of national emergency and I see that he has done the decent thing and Gorbals Mick has fallen on his sword.

Now the Labour Party has never been a collective body that understood or even cared for history. It never consciously learnt from the past. It knew better. Big error.

I see that the implosion of the Labour Government has led to the resignation of the Speaker -- the first time in over 300 years. And if that was not enough The Evening Standard is now saying that Gordon Brown is calling a Star Chamber - the first of those since the days of Charles I - to weed out disgraced MPs.

In another 80 years the history of this period will be being taught in schools, the analysis of why this government imploded will be being undertaken by academics not yet born and the reasons why this country is in such a mess will be thoroughly understood.

And I bet the Lido will still be there.

David Cameron calls for General Election

2009-05-18T16:46:00.002+01:00

At the launch of our European election manifesto, David Cameron announced that the Conservative campaign for the local and European elections on 4^th June will be turned into a campaign for a General Election.

He said the scale of the problems facing Britain – the recession, the debt crisis and the political crisis caused by the recent expenses revelations – “all point in one direction”.

And he stressed, “There is now only one way of sorting out the mess, and that is for Parliament to be dissolved and for a General Election to be held right away.”

David said it was “abundantly clear” that the people of Britain do not want to wait another year for a General Election.

He warned that the political system is now “quite simply paralysed” and asked everyone, whether they support the Conservatives or not, to sign our petition demanding that Gordon Brown calls a General Election:

Publish or be damned

2009-05-17T10:06:00.003+01:00

Cllr Featherstone needs to declare her expenses as soon as possible, publishing them online just as the Conservative Party is, if only to remove any doubt over the money she has claimed.

Her communications costs are amongst the highest of any MP in the country - in fact at £11,924 - her claim is the 49th highest in Parliament.

She claimed £129,431 in total, including the £2,812 London supplement, office running costs of £15,808, staff costs of £94,107, and £1,369 in postage. She also claimed £1,152 for mileage ( a staggering figure for a London based MP) and £100 for rail journeys.

Ms Featherstone has said publically: "Quite clearly, from everything that is coming out about MPs who seek to take advantage of a system that is so full of holes, it needs completely reinventing. This will mean public money is only used in the pursuit of serving the local community and processing democracy."

She also said in the Ham&High: "I'm surprised a few colleagues thought some of the things they claimed for were okay because they weren't. Those that have done wrong should be punished."

Well Lynne please do yourself a favour - publish your detailed expenses now before they become public in July and take away any doubts the residents of Hornsey and Wood Green may have.

As I was saying - HR professionals slam Lynne

2009-05-15T17:36:00.003+01:00

This is an article from Personnel Today

A radical proposal to ban names from job applications to prevent discrimination – backed in principle by the CIPD – has been slammed by HR chiefs as "bureaucratic" and "unworkable".

Lynne Featherstone, Liberal Democrat MP and party spokeswoman for equality, proposed an amendment to the Equality Bill at its second reading last week, which said job candidates should avoid putting their names on written applications to prevent employers gleaning any information about sex, race or age prior to interview.

Dianah Worman, diversity adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), told Personnel Today the no-name CV proposal would help to prevent discrimination taking place at selection stage, but cautioned against it becoming mandatory.

"It's a good idea, but there's a danger of the Bill becoming too restrictive with clauses like this," she said. "I'd be happy to see it promoted as good practice guidance."

Unions and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation also backed the proposal.

But HR directors were outraged at Featherstone's suggestion.

Hazel Mitchell, HR director at broadcaster ITN, said: "This is bureaucracy gone mad. The key to all this is a fair and thorough recruitment process, from initial selection through to hire. Perhaps if MPs had some 'real life' HR experience, unnecessary clauses like this would not be dreamt up."

Glorified social worker strikes again

2009-05-15T14:27:00.003+01:00

Lynne Featherstone has said job applicants should not have to put their name, gender, race or age on their CV's.

This is what she says on her blog:

"But one idea I floated was how to stop being disbarred from getting a job - before you even get an interview. Lots of people get thrown on the scrapheap because their name is a giveaway as to their ethnicity, sex or age."

"This is not just about discrimination that is overt - but in a pile of applications it's about also subliminal and unconscious discrimination."

Totally worthwhile objective Councillor, but back in the real world (the one where business people create jobs and wealth) this is simply idiotic, nanny stateism of the worst variety. What are you suggesting Parliament do - create legislation that controls thought processes or create just another layer of regulation those of us in business could well do without.

Madness Lynne, madness.

A slur on us all

2009-05-14T18:29:00.003+01:00

There is no doubt in my mind that the current slew of scandals, resignations and revelations is now damaging anyone who has entered politics.

With the news tonight that two Peers of the Realm are to be suspended from the House of Lords has bought our political system into international disrepute. Suspended - that is the first time this sanction has been taken since the days of Oliver Cromwell.

And yet there are many, many MPs who are diligent in their claims, focused on their work and their constituencies -- but that will not count for much come election time.

Time after time canvassing last night this was raised as an issue. And yet what truly amazes me is that MPs such as that dreadful creature Blears and that total no mark junior minister ( who has made such an impact i cannot even remember his name), had the cash in their bank accounts to just pay off £13,000 in one case and £41,000 in another! It just demonstrates to the entire population that they simply are out of touch - who has that sort of cash? MPs that make fraudulent claims obviously.

Message from David Cameron on MP expenses

2009-05-12T21:03:00.002+01:00

Today was a busy day. Trust in politics has been eroded so much over the last week that I knew we needed to act fast to start setting things right. I began by meeting individual members of the Shadow Cabinet. We went through those claims that have caused concern, and they agreed to pay them back. There is a genuine desire to recognise and respond to the public anger.

Next I met the Shadow Cabinet as a whole and told them the immediate action I'm going to ask all my MPs to take. All expenses must be published online; you can't 'flip' your second home to make more money; if you sell a home on which the taxpayer has been making mortgage interest payments, you have to pay Capital Gains Tax; and any claims on furniture, household goods, food - all those things we've read about - are banned.

After that I met the Executive of the 1922 Committee and then the whole of the Parliamentary Party. I went through the new rules in detail and told them about the key proposal for a Scrutiny Panel - including someone completely independent from the Party - to go over all excessive claims and see whether they need to be paid back. I had to be very clear about this: if they don't co-operate with the Scrutiny Panel, they can't continue to be Conservative MPs.

And it's not just those in Parliament who need to understand this mission. It's also those who aspire to be. Every single Conservative candidate has got to sign up to this new way of doing politics. They need to know that working in Parliament is a great privilege - one that must never be abused again.

All this is about being the change we seek. If we want responsibility in our society and thrift in our government, we've got to live by those values ourselves.

David a message from your PPC in Hornsey and Wood Green - I am 100% behind you on this as I know are thousands of voters in this constituency.

Pearls of wisdom on Sky News

2009-05-11T22:17:00.002+01:00

What an utter disgrace.

How totally out of touch!

On the night the BNP has portrayed the MPs of this country as a bunch of people with their noses in the trough, our illustrious Speaker - no stranger to questions of probity when it comes to expenses - has chosen to speak out in the Commons against free thinking, critical MPs. Instead he attacks them. He, as Speaker, should have addressed the issue of expenses head on.

But no not gorbals Mick - it is obviously far easier to attack Kate Hoey, order some new wallpaper and make sure his wife has some petty cash (on us) for his wife to go shopping.

Should I call out the fire brigade?

2009-05-11T20:46:00.004+01:00

It surely has to be one of the most frustrating aspects of modern life that electrical appliances never seem to last more that five years.

And when they go wrong - both my freezer and dishwasher in the past week - it costs more to repair than replace.

I remember a time when life meant life - not a few years of service and then give up the will to live.

Still I did think about following the example of Cllr Lynne and call out the fire brigade to sort out my domestic crisis....then again I know what they are there for.

Out and about in Highgate

2009-05-09T15:59:00.002+01:00

Amazing really - ten of us out and about in Highgate today door knocking and sounding out residents views on the current political climate.

Two things stand out - total apathy towards the forthcoming European elections - nothing really new there I guess, but when you take the time to detail just how important this election is then attitudes do soon come round.

But what has hit us today more than anything else is the damage that the expenses issue is having on the government. The collapse of support is palpable, and it is former Labour votes who are truly furious. This can only get worse as more details come out. One thing is for certain - the way MPs claim expenses has to be reformed.