Monkey Business in Edmonton Green on Friday

On Friday and Saturday this weekend, I hung out with some gorillas at Edmonton Green Shopping Centre, as part of two family fun days.

The gorillas were part of the Creature Feature team, which was at the Centre together with entertainers from the Grand Theatre of Lemming, Swank and high-energy breakdancers Physical Jerks.

The second phase of the £100 million redevelopment of Edmonton Green is now underway. Once this work is complete, the Centre will provide even more for local people, adding to the thriving and varied mix of market stalls, shops, restaurants, cafés and community facilities.

I'm delighted to see the second part of the redevelopment of the Edmonton Green Centre is now underway. The first part of the new centre looks great, and it was great to see so many local families out enjoying themselves.

Above, Andy Love MP and and James Stockdale of St Modwen Properties with one of the gorillas, deciding to have 40 winks!

Asking Questions About Polling Stations

This is something that I've been involved in for years. My constituents have to walk far too far to get to their nearest polling stations, which really puts people off casting their vote. When voter turnout is so low, surely we should do all we can to encourage everyone to get out voting?

Here's the text of the debate that we had, taken from the very useful Theyworkforyou.com website.

Still Running Campaign

Yesterday I pledged my support for the 100,000 children and young people who go missing every year, by signing a 7ft replica running shoe in Parliament! The shoe is part of a campaign by The Children’s Society – “Still Running “- with backing from the English Coalition of charities working with runaway children, calling for a national policy for runaway support for under 16s. The running shoe will be presented to Downing Street later in the coming weeks.

Today’s Pledge Day comes hot on the heels of two days of Parliamentary Hearings last week, which brought together representatives from the police, local authorities and the voluntary sector, as well as young people. The hearings saw a panel of MPs take evidence from a range of specialists to identify the problems and dangers facing children in the UK who run away or go missing. Following the hearings, the panel will be making recommendations to the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families.

Research carried out by The Children’s Society, revealed that most of the 100,000 children who run away from home or care every year, do so because of problems at home, with girls age 14 -15 the group most likely to run. Runaways employ risky strategies to survive, with one in six sleeping rough and one in twelve hurt or harmed. Whilst most don't run far from home, many end up sofa surfing or sleeping in stranger’s houses.

I'm delighted to support this campaign. Runaway children need all of our help and support, and it is important to keep this issue in the spotlight.

Wear It Pink!

As part of the Breast Cancer Campaign week, I'm asking constituents to “Wear It Pink” on Friday 26 October 2007. The idea couldn’t be more simple. The Breast Cancer Campaign are asking everyone to donate £2 to the charity this Friday and wear an item of pink clothing. The money will allow Campaign to continue researching the cure and help the one woman in nine in the UK that will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime.

Last year’s “Wear It Pink” day raised a whopping £3 million for breast cancer research and helped to fund over 40 new research projects in the United Kingdom. This year Breast Cancer Campaign hopes to raise even more.

Every year over 44,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with breast cancer. I would like to encourage everyone in my constituency of Edmonton and throughout the country to enter into the spirit of the day and wear something pink, like me, on October 26 to help raise valuable funds for breast cancer research. If I can wear a pink outfit like this, so can you!

Celebrating Oliver Tambo

An inspirational day yesterday. I was lucky enough to be invited to the unveiling of a plaque and statue dedicated to the late Oliver Tambo in Haringey. The statue, which will form the centrepiece of a memorial garden at the Albert Road recreational ground, was created by the late Ian Walters, whose statue of Nelson Mandela was recently unveiled in Trafalgar Square. Tambo was associated with Haringey for many years, and the statue pays tribute to this great man who did so much to help fight against apartheid in South Africa. From his home in Muswell Hill (he was exiled from South Africa for over 30 years), he and his wife Adelaide fought tirelessly to help bring down the Apartheid system. He was elected President of the ANC in 1985, and along with Mandela became a figurehead for the anti-apartheid movement both in South Africa and abroad.

I was delighted to be able to attend this event, and the amount of people there - representatives from all areas of our community and Government - was a testament to just what an important and influential man Oliver Tambo was.

Tobacco Law Change

You may or may not have read in the news about recent changes in the law, to increase the legal purchasing age for tobacco to 18 from the 1st October.

I really think we need to work on raising awareness of this age change, especially in the light of recent reports that local shopkeepers have been harassed by customers who have tried to buy cigarettes without knowing about the change in the law.

I was very concerned to read the reports in the Edmonton local press this week about shopkeepers being intimidated because they can no longer sell cigarettes to those aged between 16 and 18-years-old. Refusing age-restricted sales is already a major reason for retailers facing abuse, intimidation and violence, and I find it very worrying that this may have increased as a result of the new legislation.

There's no doubt that preventing the underage sale of tobacco has to be the Government’s priority and the increase in the legal purchasing age for tobacco will help reduce the chances of young people being able to buy tobacco in the future. However, the transition has to be managed and the key to that is awareness that the law has changed. That’s why I’m calling for everyone in the community to support our local shopkeepers in this.

Here's a photo of Caroline Flint (then health minister) and I promoting the Smoke Free England, last summer:

Massive Funding Boost for Local Schools

I was delighted today at the announcement of a large funding boost for local schools - part of the biggest sustained investment in schools for a generation. In a report released this week from the Department of Children, Schools and Families on schools capital allocations and the Comprehensive Spending Review, it was announced that schools in Enfield local authority will benefit from over £69 million of investment – more than any other authority in outer London. This marks an increase of 123 % in schools capital funding since 1997 - very impressive!

This extra funding will benefit every school in Enfield. It will go towards state-of-the-art classrooms, arts, sports and ICT facilities over the next three years. At least one primary school in Enfield be newly built or refurbished over the next few years.

I hope this money will transform our schools so they are fit for the 21st century; ending once and for all the days of leaking school roofs, freezing classrooms and even outside toilets (how they were when I was at school, basically!)

Every school in our area will benefit from this funding boost, worth £69 million over the next three years. That’s 123 % more in real terms than in the last year of the last Conservative government. This is great news for all our local kids.

Results from Housing Consultation Make Interesting Reading...

Last week we carried out a new local consultation, in which a representative group of Edmonton constituents were contacted to find out their thoughts on local housing. As Chair of the All Party Group on Housing, this is an area of particular interest to me, and the results of the survey make some very interesting reading…

Over 70 percent of respondents said that they were struggling to buy their first home, with 65 percent admitting that they believed that moving up the housing ladder was impossible. Some 84 percent of those that replied thought that more public land should be released for housing.
In terms of the Government’s priorities in tackling the housing situation, 81 percent of people thought it was vital for the Government to deal with the problems faced by first-time buyers. Homelessness and poor quality housing, as well as the lack of affordable housing, were also very important issues for people in Edmonton, with well over half of those questioned agreeing that these issues need to be tackled.

In the consultation, residents were asked to say what their main consideration was when choosing a house. Affordable, good quality housing came out as people’s top concern, followed by good transport links, open spaces, street parking and environmental money-saving measures. Perhaps surprisingly, nearby schools and hospitals were the least important thing for people when choosing a house.

It's obvious from this survey that affordable housing is something of fundamental importance to my constituents. We need to work harder to make sure that good quality housing is the basic right of everyone, rather than the few. The recent Green Horizons housing development in Edmonton Green, which includes 180 new homes, is definitely a welcome step in the right direction, but it’s clear that there is still lots more that needs to be done.

Blogging Surprise...

I was delighted/ shocked to find out today that my blog has been named one of the top MPs’ blogs in a new book! Iain Dale’s The Guide to Political Blogging , published last week, ranks my blog as the 16th best, unbelievably, based on content, popularity and frequency of posting.

Tory MP John Redwood received the accolade for best blog, with renowned Labour blogger Tom Watson coming second.

I’m so pleased to hear that my blog is doing well, as I'm completely new to this so it's been a bit of a steep learning curve! We only set it up a few months ago and I've not had as much time to blog as I'd like. This has given me the incentive to carry on with it and do more regular postings now. I don't think I'll ever manage to post comments as often as Tom Watson but I will definitely try and blog with more frequency!

I’d encourage anyone to have a go at setting up a blog of their own. It’s really easy – it only took me a few minutes – and is a great way of communicating. I knew nothing about it when I started, so if I can do it, anyone can!”

Register to Vote...

http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/pcsearch/EntryPage.cfm?CFID=3782072&CFTOKEN=57490268

Thought I'd pass on this information as it's very useful. If you have not yet registered to vote, you can do so by filling in the form on the above site. Thanks, Andy.

A View From Bournemouth

Well, it’s once again the time of year when us MPs dig out our buckets and spades and head towards the seaside for the annual Labour Party Conference. This year was one of the most exciting I can remember for a long time; Gordon Brown’s first at the helm, and the air thick with expectation about whether or not a November election will be called. And what can conclusions can we draw, after a week packed with rumour and speculation? Well, the only certainty is that it will be on a Thursday!

So far at Conference, we’ve seen important and far-reaching new policies being introduced; including a widely-welcomed proposal to give all NHS staff attack alarms and tighten security in hospitals, an extra £80m for improvements to armed forces’ living accommodation, together with £140 council tax rebate for troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a new independent body to maintain standards in school exams. Not bad, considering it’s only Wednesday!

For me, this Conference has been the usual mix of meetings, speeches and events. As well as all of the Conference debates to attend, anyone who is anyone in the political world heads to Bournemouth to try and meet with MPs as well, so we end up having hectic days and very little sleep! On Monday, for example, I had my first meeting at 8.15 and my last at midnight – so much for all of these Conference parties that the Press report! My personal highlight of the Conference has been undoubtedly the Ken and Gordon show. Forget Nixon meeting Mao or Reagan and Gorbachev, their joint victory salute in Bournemouth tops them all. With unity breaking out in the most surprising places it’s the most harmonious Conference I’ve ever known!