The full list of candidates for Lambeth and Southwark has now been announced. What is interesting is that there are just 6, as opposed to previous years which have seen 10 or more.
A quick update on some hustings I will be doing during April:
17th April - Faiths Together in Lambeth Hustings at the Karibu Education Centre, 7 Gresham Road, Brixton, SW9 7PH, beginning at 6.00pm
18th April - Herne Hill Forum. Herne Hill Baptist Church, SE24 9HU, on the corner of Half Moon Lane and Winterbrook Road. 7pm.
19th April - Lambeth Forum for Older People and Lambeth Pan Disability Forum. 2.00 pm at Lambeth ACCORD 336 Brixton Road, London SW9 7AA (ground floor Conference Room)
24th April - Sustainable transport hustings, beginning at 7:30 (venue tbc) including Lambeth and Southwark cyclists. We launched our campaign in Lambeth and Southwark back in November around these issues and it's been good to see them increase in prominence since then.
I'll also be standing in for Jenny Jones on Friday 25th April at the London Faith's Forum Hustings
A blog with news and comment from Lambeth Green Party. For the main Lambeth Green Party site visit lambeth.greenparty.org.uk
Showing posts with label hustings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hustings. Show all posts
Thursday, 29 March 2012
Friday, 23 March 2012
Power, Finance and Democracy: Is The City Good for London?
I stood in for Jenny Jones last night at an out-of-constituency hustings event in the City at the Bishopsgate Institute.
As with previous years, the Mayoral election is likely to be dominated by those issues which the Mayor’s Office has most direct control over: transport, crime, economic development, housing and the environment.
However, over the last four years the biggest political issue for many people has been the global financial crash and prolonged economic recession. Given that London and its financial services industry have been at the epicentre of this turmoil, the hustings was organised to focus on the role of its banking sector, on the impact it has on London’s economy and the influence it has had on the politics and governance of London – whether through the Corporation of London, the Mayor’s Office or national government.
Nicholas Shaxson, well known for his acclaimed investigative books Poisoned Wells and Treasure Islands: Tax Havens and the Men who Stole the World. (2011) - introduced the event with a quick summary of the negative impact of the City on London, the UK and indeed the rest of the world. As well as representatives from the other three main political parties, Tamasin Cave (a Brixton resident) from SpinWatch the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency (ALT) was on the panel, along with Chris Cummings, TheCityUK's Chief Executive.
Howard Dawber, Strategic Advisor at the Canary Wharf Group since August 2004, Ken Livingstone’s ‘Business Advisor’ was there representing Labour.
Issues under discussion included the drain that the city exerts in terms of talented people, from other industries and the public sector as well as how to tackle growing inequality in London, and the way that credit can reach local communities and SMEs through credit unions and other more localised banking services. We also predictably covered the political influence of the City, the approach that a mayor could take to the Financial Services Industry and the need to abolish the City of London Corporation, and bring it to the same status as other London boroughs.
I drew quite a bit on what I have written for the Guardian around these issues. But what I was particular struck by was how the Green Party is the only party which seems to really be tackling these issues in terms of concrete policy proposals. For example, a Fair Pay Mark, to build on the London Living Wage which has had significant success getting £60m into the pockets of the lowest paid, and the GLA using its significant financial clout to consider the practices of banks and other financial services when considering tenders for its banking services and sponsorship.
The event was very well attended, with clearly lots of interest in the subject. A before-and-after-debate vote was held, which was extremely encouraging for those of us with a more critical approach to the City, showing that opinion had shifted that way during the evening. There was also a large amount of positive feedback after the event, with several people coming up to tell me they were now considering voting Green - including a number from Lambeth and Southwark.
As with previous years, the Mayoral election is likely to be dominated by those issues which the Mayor’s Office has most direct control over: transport, crime, economic development, housing and the environment.
However, over the last four years the biggest political issue for many people has been the global financial crash and prolonged economic recession. Given that London and its financial services industry have been at the epicentre of this turmoil, the hustings was organised to focus on the role of its banking sector, on the impact it has on London’s economy and the influence it has had on the politics and governance of London – whether through the Corporation of London, the Mayor’s Office or national government.
Nicholas Shaxson, well known for his acclaimed investigative books Poisoned Wells and Treasure Islands: Tax Havens and the Men who Stole the World. (2011) - introduced the event with a quick summary of the negative impact of the City on London, the UK and indeed the rest of the world. As well as representatives from the other three main political parties, Tamasin Cave (a Brixton resident) from SpinWatch the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency (ALT) was on the panel, along with Chris Cummings, TheCityUK's Chief Executive.
Howard Dawber, Strategic Advisor at the Canary Wharf Group since August 2004, Ken Livingstone’s ‘Business Advisor’ was there representing Labour.
Issues under discussion included the drain that the city exerts in terms of talented people, from other industries and the public sector as well as how to tackle growing inequality in London, and the way that credit can reach local communities and SMEs through credit unions and other more localised banking services. We also predictably covered the political influence of the City, the approach that a mayor could take to the Financial Services Industry and the need to abolish the City of London Corporation, and bring it to the same status as other London boroughs.
I drew quite a bit on what I have written for the Guardian around these issues. But what I was particular struck by was how the Green Party is the only party which seems to really be tackling these issues in terms of concrete policy proposals. For example, a Fair Pay Mark, to build on the London Living Wage which has had significant success getting £60m into the pockets of the lowest paid, and the GLA using its significant financial clout to consider the practices of banks and other financial services when considering tenders for its banking services and sponsorship.
The event was very well attended, with clearly lots of interest in the subject. A before-and-after-debate vote was held, which was extremely encouraging for those of us with a more critical approach to the City, showing that opinion had shifted that way during the evening. There was also a large amount of positive feedback after the event, with several people coming up to tell me they were now considering voting Green - including a number from Lambeth and Southwark.
Wednesday, 14 March 2012
London election hustings in Lambeth and Southwark
With less than eight weeks to go to the London Mayoral elections and elections to the London Assembly, hustings are being organised in Lambeth and Southwark for London Assembly candidates.
These include:
17th April - Faiths Together in Lambeth Hustings at the Karibu Education Centre, 7 Gresham Road, Brixton, SW9 7PH, beginning at 6.00pm
24th April - Sustainable transport hustings, beginning at 7:30 (venue tbc) including Lambeth and Southwark cyclists. We launched our campaign in Lambeth and Southwark back in November around these issues and it's been good to see them increase in prominence since then.
I'll be taking part in both. I'll also be accompanying our mayoral candidate Jenny Jones to the Inclusion London mayoral hustings next week on 20th March at Coin Street Community Builders, on the South Bank. As the organisation points out the mayor has a range of important powers that will directly affect the 1.4 million Deaf and disabled people living in London. There is still a huge amount to be done to overcome the transport apartheid which leaves the overwhelming majority of the tube system inaccessible, as well as tackling negative attitudes to disability and a range of other issues which exclude Londoners from full participation in the life of the capital.
I understand however that neither Ken Livingstone nor Boris Johnson will be attending the inclusion hustings. If this is true, it is shameful - particularly in the year that the paralympics comes to London. It will be seen by many as speaking volumes about the lack of priority being given by these two mayoral candidates to issues of accessibility and inclusion.
These include:
17th April - Faiths Together in Lambeth Hustings at the Karibu Education Centre, 7 Gresham Road, Brixton, SW9 7PH, beginning at 6.00pm
24th April - Sustainable transport hustings, beginning at 7:30 (venue tbc) including Lambeth and Southwark cyclists. We launched our campaign in Lambeth and Southwark back in November around these issues and it's been good to see them increase in prominence since then.
I'll be taking part in both. I'll also be accompanying our mayoral candidate Jenny Jones to the Inclusion London mayoral hustings next week on 20th March at Coin Street Community Builders, on the South Bank. As the organisation points out the mayor has a range of important powers that will directly affect the 1.4 million Deaf and disabled people living in London. There is still a huge amount to be done to overcome the transport apartheid which leaves the overwhelming majority of the tube system inaccessible, as well as tackling negative attitudes to disability and a range of other issues which exclude Londoners from full participation in the life of the capital.
I understand however that neither Ken Livingstone nor Boris Johnson will be attending the inclusion hustings. If this is true, it is shameful - particularly in the year that the paralympics comes to London. It will be seen by many as speaking volumes about the lack of priority being given by these two mayoral candidates to issues of accessibility and inclusion.
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