Honouring our local heroes

Yesterday I met with Charles Coward's daughter in the Houses of Parliament. Charles Coward, known as the "Count of Auschwitz," was an English soldier who rescued Jews during his time at the Auschwitz III labour camp after being captured during World War II. It is estimated that he saved the lives of at least 400 Jewish slave labourers.

As well as being a hero of the Holocaust, Charles Coward was an Edmonton resident and a blue plaque marks his former home on Chichester Road where he lived from 1945 until his death in 1976. His daughter still lives in Enfield and was in Parliament to meet with Shahid Malik MP - the minister who has been charged with delivering the British Heroes of the Holocaust Award.

The award is designed to honour the actions of Britons who saved the lives of Jews and other persecuted groups during the Holocaust. A few months ago I signed an Early Day Motion which called for these heroes, including Charles Coward, to be honoured. After meeting with Charles Coward's family yesterday I was pleased to see that progress is being made with the award.

I'll be watching to see what materialises and pushing for the details of the award to be finalised. It is important because it not only recognises the incredible acts that people like Charles Coward - many of whom are now dead - undertook, but it also serves as a reminder for future generations that we must continue to fight against prejudice, injustice and intolerance.

Up your street

Over the past few months I've been receiving responses back to the street survey I submitted to constituents. I've had a really great number returned to me and I'd like to thank everyone who took the time to tell me about what the issues are on their street.

I've raised all of your concerns with Enfield Council and put forward the numerous suggestions made to clean up and improve the neighbourhood. I also highlighted the outcome of the survey in the local press, which you may have seen.

Litter and fly-tipping were noted as particular problems so I'm hoping that these will be focused on, but dangerous paving stones also warrant the Council's immediate attention. So many people told me that they either knew someone who had fallen on broken paving or that they had fallen themselves - I am really keen to see the Council forced to acknowledge the problem and take action.

The Enfield Over 50s Forum is currently collecting signatures in a petition that they will put to Enfield Council urging them to invest more in improving the local pavements. You can sign that petition here.

Let's press for these long overdue improvements to be made together.

Putting Sri Lanka back on the agenda

Whilst Sri Lanka seems to have slipped out of the headline news in recent days, I am continuing to use every tool at my disposal to push towards moving a peace process in the country forward.

Yesterday in the chamber I asked Foreign Office Minister of State Ivan Lewis what his most recent assessment of the political situation in Sri Lanka was. I urged him to redouble his efforts to persuade the Sri Lankan Government that they need to produce a report on whether or not criminal actions took place during the last weeks and days of the conflict in the north of the island in order for progress to be made.

The Minister assured me that the British Government had been at the forefront in calling, through the European Union, for an independent investigation into any violations. He also stated that the Government had supported the United Nations Secretary-General in his agreement with the President of Sri Lanka to conduct an appropriate investigation into any violations that have taken place, adding:

"It is really important that we send the message today that we expect the President of Sri Lanka to convert that rhetoric into action."

Watch this space.

Better late than never

There were times when I thought this moment would never come ... I've hit every technical problem in the book along the way, but I'm very pleased to announce that my new website is finally up and running and available for you at:

www.andylovemp.com

Take a look and let me know what you think.

Introducing the new Wilbury Primary School redevelopments ...

As many of you know, Friday is the day I try to dedicate solely to doing things in Edmonton. Last Friday was particularly special - I had the honour of opening the newly redeveloped Wilbury Primary School. The new buildings include a nursery, reception classes, a hall, a sensory room and lots more. The grounds have also been completely remodelled so that there are large outside playing spaces - which I got to try out by playing some games with the children!

After years of having to house pupils in temporary mobile classrooms across the playground, the state-of-the-art redevelopments were a long time coming, but something that I worked hard to make happen, alongside the school's headteacher Sandra Heaviside (pictured above). In total around £3.3 million of the Government's Targeted Capital Funding was invested to provide the 21st century facilities. Wilbury Primary School is one of the biggest in my constituency and I'm really pleased that so many children now go to school in an environment that really suits their needs and that gives them a good start in life.

Vroom Vroom

Those of you who imagine milk floats when presented with the concept of an electric car will be surprised to know that the car in the picture is indeed fully electric.

The closest I got to driving it was touching its bonnet, but I'm reliably informed that the 'Lightning' - designed and manufactured by a small British innovation group, the Lightning Car Company - can reach speeds of 130 Mph.

It's only a prototype and the price of it is pretty steep at the moment, but, as a member of the Associate Parliamentary Group for Design and Innovation, it's exciting to see what designers and manufacturers in our country are coming up with. And Lightning are already developing a family saloon car using the same chassis and green technology, with four state-of-the-art electric motors housed within the wheels themselves.

I think it's important to recognise that green technology can be relevant to us all, but also that we have a resource of highly skilled people in the country who are capable of bringing vehicles like this to the global market. That can only be a good thing for the future of the UK's design and innovation sector.

Labour investment; Tory cuts

Yesterday the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Ed Balls, was seeking assurance from the Conservative Party that, like Labour, they would guarantee a place in school or college, or an apprenticeship, for every young person aged 16 this September.

I spoke in the debate to welcome the £1.5 billion of Government investment that will come to London - and therefore some of it to Edmonton - in the next year for academic and vocational education for our young people. Now, at a time of recession, it is particularly important to be investing in equipping people with the skills needed to get through the downturn and be ready for the upturn. But the Conservatives are desperate to cut all this valuable investment meaning that the opportunities for young people, including the successful apprenticeships scheme, would be severely depleted.

Despite writing to the Conservative spokesperson for schools seven times, Ed Balls revealed that he had received no reply to assure him that the investment in young people would continue. In Ed Balls' words, "That says everything one needs to know about the difference in priorities between the two parties."