Salute to Israel

Today I am attending the Salute to Israel Parade in London, to celebrate Israel's 60th anniversary. In just 60 years Israel has developed into a great country and we have much to be proud and celebrate about it.

Israel is a country that has been under constant threat, but today is a today to celebrate it's many achievements. Whether it is in the field of entertainment, science, IT, culture or sport. Israel has been able to punch above it's weight. All while this for hoping for peace. Hopefully in the future we can enjoy many more achievements, while it's neighbours all finally accept that the Jewish people have a right to live in peace and safety in the Land of Israel.

I look forward to letting you know what I thought of the day.

Welcome to your new flats

One of the biggest issues in Edgware before I was elected was the regeneration of the Stonegrove estate on the edge of Edgware.
Thanks to the hard work done by the executive of the Council and my colleagues in Edgware Cllr Hart and Cllr Scannell, much of these controversies went away by listening to the concerns of the residents of Edgware.
This week the first new blocks of flats Chantry Court and Dower Court opened on the estate on a new road called Penniwell Close, off Sterling Avenue. This will now allow for the major regneration to take place with the first of the old blocks being demolished.
I hope these new flats will be the start of a new era for this area of Edgware which until now has been a poor estate.

Am I a victim of Boris' cut down on crime?

Over the last couple of years we have seen the shocking rise in knife and gun crime in London, which during the recent elections Boris promised to crack down on once he became Mayor.

Yesterday, I was one of the first people to face this crack-down, when I was stopped and searched by the police.

Boris promised to introduce knife detectors at tube stations across London. Yesterday on my way home, one of these detectors was in place at Edgware Underground Station. Like every other person I had to go through this detector, and when I did my keys set of the alarm.

Therefore, as the police are required to do, they decided to stop-and-search me. This took about 5 minutes of time. While it may have slightly delayed me I pleased to see this policy is being rolled out across London to catch people with knives and guns, which will hopefully see the level of crime fall.

Well done to Boris and the police team yesterday.

When will they meet their promise?

Back in October of last year the Labour Party were proudly saying that they had agreed to provide extra funding to ensure security from Jewish schools. http://www.andrewdismoremp.com/c4b915fd-c74a-c1f4-cdc7-a0c5c73d59fd


I welcomed this, because sadly and worryingly Jewish schools, such as in Barnet do face anti-Semitic attacks.


However, as with promises from this Labour Government, I didn't believe it would be true until schools received this money.

It therefore came as no surprise to me to see that three-quarters of a year later, this money seems to be non-existent and the Labour MP for Hendon, seems to have to beg for this promise to be met. http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/topstories/display.var.2287376.0.mp_calls_for_security_cash_for_jewish_schools.php


When will the Labour Government meet their promise and help protect the school children in these schools.

Yom Ha'atzmaut, the BNP and all that

Last week was Israel’s 60th anniversary of its Independence Day. This has provided an opportunity to look back on the successes of this small country which was created for the Jewish people.

To mark the 60th anniversary I was pleased to attend both a service at Kinloss Synagogue in Finchley and a celebration at Wembley Arena. Both these events made me realise how lucky we are to have a country in the world in which we the Jewish people can have a country which we can call home.

For 2000 years the Jewish people were scattered around the world and faced virtually constant anti-semitic attacks. This culminated in the Holocaust when 6 million Jews were murdered because they had no where to call home where they were able to escape from the Nazis.

However, we now have Israel, which was created just 3 years after the destruction of the Holocaust and over the past 60 years has been built up to become one of the strongest and most successful countries in the world. This is a great achievement, which for which we should be truly thankful.

Not least because as a resident of London, I now have a BNP politician claiming to represent me on the London Assembly, but who really wants me and many other people to leave this country, because we are not really British. However, if the BNP G-d forbid are to grow into a major force in this county, unlike for the past 2000 years, we Jewish residents will at least have Israel to escape to a place we can really call our home.

Mr Dismore what are you so frightened of?

I thought readers might be interested to see this article written by Robert Halfon and published on ConservativeHome yesterday http://conservativehome.blogs.com/centreright/2008/05/what-are-labour.html#comment-114229570

Some weeks ago, Conservative Friends of Israel was invited by Hadley Wood Jewish Community to speak in a Dimbleby Question Time-style debate. We readily agreed. I myself was due to appear on the platform with a representatives from other parties.

Last Thursday, we suggested to the organisation, that given the Labour Panelist was a local MP, Andrew Dismore, and the Liberal Panelist, a Barnet Councillor, Monroe Palmer, that instead of myself doing the debate, it might be more apt to have Councillor Matthew Offord (Deputy Leader of Barnet Council and Tory PPC for Hendon).

The organisers were initially pleased with this idea, particularly since Hadley Wood Jewish Community is in Barnet. Moreover Cllr Offord readily agreed to do the event instead of me.

On Friday, matters suddenly changed. The organisers, asked if I would stand in again because Andrew Dismore MP refused to share a platform with Matthew Offord. Astonished, I asked why, particularly given that, although Matthew was Mr Dismore's opponent, they would not be discussing any issues to do with Hendon. Moreover I argued that Matthew was not only Deputy Leader of Barnet Council, but was a member of CFI, had been on a CFI visit to Israel and had a wide knowledge of what was happening in Israel.

The response was clear and I reproduce it below for the benefit of CentreRight eaders:

"The difficulty is this. Andrew Dismore has a rule against debating with parliamentary opponents. He tells me this is standard practice. He is quite firm about this".

This really is a remarkable response from the Labour MP, particularly since no such rule exists and PPCs and MPs regularly share platforms up and down the country. In the last few weeks Boris and Ken debated on numerous platforms.

Out of courtesy to the Hadley Wood Jewish Community, and because of the incredible and kind efforts of the organiser, CFI agreed to do the debate this evening as originally agreed and I will appear on the Platform with Messrs Dismore and Palmer this evening.


For a local Labour MP to be frightened and refuse to debate with his opponent - on matters of a serious nature - just shows what has gone wrong.

Help defeat the BNP in Hale

In two weeks time on 1 May (the same day as the London elections) there will be a by election in Hale ward in Barnet.

Hale is the ward I use to live in and has a large Jewish population. It has therefore come as no surprise to me that the BNP a nasty fascist party, has continued its recent policy of targeting areas with large Jewish and ethnic communities.

The BNP exist because they want to drive out people, which they don’t consider ‘normal people’ from this country.

There is only one way in which the BNP can be defeated. That is by showing that the overwhelming majority of people disagree and hate their views, by coming out to vote for other political parties on 1 May.

I believe that the best way to do this is to vote for Tom Davey, the Conservative candidate in Hale ward. Tom, together with the Conservative Party, continues to support the Jewish community and it’s schools in Barnet, as excellent examples of community cohesion.

This is in contrast to the Labour Party, who led by Ed Balls the Secretary of State for Education, (and who has been supported by the local Labour Councillors) has been mischievously attacking the approach Jewish schools take. I don’t need to tell you what Ken Livingstone thinks of the Jewish community.

Therefore, on 1 May I urge you to show the BNP and Labour (including Ken) what you think of them, by voting Conservative.

Labour again criticise Jewish Schools

Today’s papers report that the Labour Government are continuing to attack the excellent Jewish schools in Barnet for no fair reason. The Labour Government and Andrew Dismore the Labour MP for Hendon have unfairly criticised Rosh Pinah, Beis Yakov, Hasmonean Primary and Secondary and Mathilda Marks Kennedy schools for asking for voluntary contributions.

As a councillor for Edgware, where Rosh Pinah is based and where many families of pupils in the other schools live, I feel the Labour party’s attack on these schools is disgraceful.

These schools are not requesting cash for places as the Labour Party is suggesting. Instead these are vital contributions which go towards Jewish studies and to the protection and security of pupils at these schools. This comes in the same week as Labour councillors on the planning committee in Hendon voted to not allow Od Yosef Hai in Hendon put up a security fence.

Yet again the Labour government have shown a complete lack of understanding of Jewish school, while Barnet Council and the Conservative Party continue to support them.

Have your say on London

I believe London is a great city but as a Councillor I know from comments I get from residents that it can always be improved.

Therefore I am pleased that a new cross-party think tank called LondonSays has been set up to campaign for London.

Londonsays has launched its iWant campaign to hear what Londoners want from their Mayor of London, who ever he will be after 1 May.

You can contribute at iwant@londonsays.org

Improvements on the way for Stonegrove

Last night I voted along with the majority of the planning and environment committee to support the overall outline planning application for the regeneration of the existing Stonegrove estate and to give full approval for the first zone of the application.

It has taken along time for this application to reach this stage and I would like to thank and congratulate my two colleagues Cllr Joan Scannell and Cllr Helena Hart for fighting so hard to get the previous planning permission scrapped and replaced with this much better application.

As a resident of Edgware all my life, I will be extremely pleased to see the existing estate fully demolished and rebuilt in what will be a much better design. I hope this will become a pleasant landmark for all the residents of Edgware and everyone who enters London via Edgware.

For many years now the estate has become completely run-down and a horrible place for it’s residents and a no-go area for the residents of the surrounding neighbourhood. This regeneration is therefore badly needed.

The regeneration will see the demolishment of sub-standard blocks of flats, including 6 blocks of 11 storey flats, with high quality flats and hundreds of houses with gardens (there are currently no houses on the estate) and only 3 blocks of 10 storey flats with the remaining blocks at lower levels.

The estate will also be designed and landscaped to merge in with the surrounding neighbourhood, so that it is no longer seen as a separate estate and a no-go area. However, for this to be effectively achieved, it will of course be important for the architects, planners and the council’s planning committee to ensure the landscaping and designs to be of a very high quality and for the public areas to be properly managed in the future. As Edgware councillors I and my colleagues will continue to ensure this happens together with ensuring proper traffic measures are put in place.

I am also pleased that the developers of this estate will also be providing approximately in £1 million to Barnet to help fund extra resources for the local area, which will include funding for health services and to improve the local Edgwarebury and Stonegrove parks.

Last night’s decision was an important landmark decision for Edgware, which will see a much better development than the previous agreement. While, this is not a perfect solution for suburban Edgware, it will mark a drastic improvement on what is there currently for everyone concerned.

Are Faith Schools Safe under Gordon Brown's Government

I have written about the importance of having faith schools in this country before but I think it is important to raise this issue again. This is because over the past couple of weeks the Secretary of State for Education, Ed Balls has been backtracking over the Labour Government's support for these schools.

As a former pupil of Rosh Pinah and JFS both Jewish voluntary aided faith based state schools, I believe that these types of schools which have existed for decades and in the case of JFS for hundreds of years are excellent examples of what schools should be like. These and other faith schools produce children and young adults who can become active citizens in this country helping to make it a better place.

I would therefore be concerned if the Government was to stop supporting them.

I was though heartened to hear the recent comments of Michael Gove, the Conservative Education spokesman in Parliament, who highlighted the excellent success story of Jewish schools.

“As to history, I would like the House to recall the experience of one minority community in Britain. Its members came here, often fleeing persecution, with few resources and little in the way of marketable qualifications more than 100 years ago. They found jobs in sweatshops, retail, low-level commerce and other unskilled or low-skilled environments. Yet within 100 years or so—the space of two or three generations—that community has reached a point where it sends 80 per cent. of its young people to university. That community, the Jewish community, is—in education, as in so many other areas—an example to us all. I see no reason why other minority communities might not aspire to similar levels of participation or why we as a nation should not be inspired by that community's example.”
Michael Gove MP, Shadow Secretary for Children, Schools and Families, Hansard 14 January 2008

Organ Donation

Last weekend the Prime Minister attempted to launch a debate on whether organ donation should be compulsory, unless people opt-out. This would be a change from the current situation where organ's can only be taken from the dead when they and their families have said that they are happy for this to happen. I do not believe this change would be a good thing to see dead bodies without consent.

Therefore some of my colleagues in the Barnet Conservative Counci group have written to the Prime Minister to express our concern. The letter is below.

Dear Prime Minister
We are writing to express our deep concern over the support you have expressed for "presumed consent" to organ donation on death, and for the system of "opting out" of donating rather than "opting in".
We are well aware of the need for an increase of organs for transplant, to enhance medical provision and the health service in general. It is of course the Government’s prerogative, if it wishes, to intensify its publicity machinery with a view to encouraging more people to become donors and carry the appropriate cards. However, the decision to donate should at the end of the day be entirely a matter of individual conscience, and we consider it quite iniquitous to envisage parts of people’s bodies being lawfully removed after death without their clear and positive prior consent.
As you are aware there are also many moral, faith and humanitarian aspects to this issue which affect and concern vast numbers of people, from a wide range of communities. Many of those views have already been expressed very forcefully in response to your opinions in the Sunday Telegraph. With respect, the change you are advocating could cause immense harm to religious freedom and community cohesion in this country – a result that no right-thinking person would desire.
We urge you will reconsider your position and would appreciate an acknowledgement of this letter.
Yours sincerely,

Cllr. Dean Cohen
Cllr. Melvin Cohen
Cllr. Mike Freer
Cllr. Brian Gordon
Cllr. Joan Scannell
Cllr Andreas Tambourides
Cllr Richard Weider

Edgware Police AGM - Wednesday 9 January

I wish you all a happy new year.

Tomorrow evening I will be attending the AGM of the Edgware Police Safer Neighbourhood Team.

It takes place at 7:30pm at Edgware Masorti Synagogue, Bakery Path (off Station Road) in Edgware.

If you would like a say on how the police conduct their work here in Edgware please come along.

Would you want the BNP in your house?

This week the BNP have been making the news both nationally and locally here in Edgware.

At the national level there has been much debate about whether Nick Griffin the BNP leader and David Irving should have been invited to speak at the Oxford Union. Those who said they should have been invited, claim that denying them a chance to speak at the Oxford Union is denying them free speech.

This argument though misunderstands what free speech is. Here in the United Kingdom we believe and allow everyone to express their views no matter what it is as long as it does not encourage harm to others. We therefore often have to hear in the media the awful things that Nick Griffin and David Irving come out with. We also allow the BNP to stand in elections. This is freedom of speech.

However, to invite these two disgusting men to the Oxford Union, one of the most prestigious private clubs in this country for debate, does not allow them freedom of speech, because they already have that. What it does is give a platform for racist views to be expressed and so accepted and valued while also upsetting millions of people including many members of the Oxford Union who saw their institution accepting racist white supremacist views.


At a local level I will also be out campaigning in a local Council election in Stanmore, next door to my ward of Edgware, where the BNP have decided to stand a candidate. While, we allow the BNP have every right to stand for election, I hope I can encourage the people of Stanmore to turn out on mass to vote for democratic parties (I hope the Conservative Party). This will then show how the local residents dont want anything to do with the BNP in North West London.

Labour Oppose improvements at Edgware Libarary

I apologise for not writing an article recently, but I just haven't had time.

However, the debate and vote last night at the council meeting has really spurred me into action.

A motion was put forward and won by the Conservative Group to re-invigorate libraries as centres for community life, which will see:

- Edgware Library refurbished, with improvements to its facilities, including the provision of public toilets, disabled access, new RFID technology to allow self-service and new IT facilities.
- Savings being made to allow for Edgware Library to open on Sundays.
- Burnt Oak Library upgraded to become a major hub for local residents.


However, for some reason the Labour Group condemned this new innovative library strategy and then did not vote for the important improvements to Edgware and Burnt Oak libraries. However, before deciding to abstain in the formal vote, they had initially voted against the proposals, before realising that they would be criticised.

However, they should not only be criticised for not supporting these proposals, but I can see that the local Labour Party can be seen to be just as chicken as Gordon Brown who also a chicken and was too scared to call an election.

Wembley, Wembley - Traffic Traffic?

As a result of the traffic gridlock caused by the England-Germany match on 22 August i have been working with Council officers to try and resolve the traffic problems caused by the new Wembley Stadium.

The night of 22 August, experience worse traffic conditions than normal because of the normal commuting, plus the England match with supporters trying to park in nearby stations. This was made even worse by an emergency road closure in Harrow due to a burst water main.

However, as matches and events at the new Wembley have caused traffic problems in Edgware caused by people trying to park in Stanmore and Canons Park, we have been working with Harrow Council to try and resolve the situation.
We are working with Harrow Council and local residents to try and find the optimum parking solutions around their tube stations. While we are also trying to work with Brent Council and Wembley Stadium to encourge their visitors to avoid parking locally which causes gridlock between Edgware and Stanmore.

When will Ken start helping the people of Edgware?

In February I explained how I had received the support of Barnet Council and Matthew Offord, the Barnet Cabinet Member for Envrionment and Transport to request that Ken Livingstone the Mayor of London and Transport For London consider re-zoning Edgware Station from Zone 5 to Zone 4. By being in Zone 5 commuters to and from Edgware Station are penalised with a higher cost of travel compared to customers using similar stations in the suburbs of Londo, while also receiving a poorer service as trains often don't go to Edgware but instead terminate at Golders Green and Colindale stations.

I therefore recently wrote to Transport for London to see if they had considered my request for an improved service at Edgware Station and for the re-zoning of Edgware to zone 4. If you also want to see improvements to services at Edgware Station you can contact TfL at
ChrisWidgery@tfl.gov.uk
020 7126 4071

I will keep you informed of any responses I get from TfL.

Below is a copy of my correspondence.

---------
Dear Sir/Madam

Last February I received support from Barnet Council to lobby Transport for London to move Edgware Station from Zone 5 to Zone 4. By being in Zone 5 commuters to and from Edgware Station are penalised with a higher cost of travel compared to customers using similar stations in the suburbs of London. At the same time as having to pay more to travel to and from Edgware Station, these same customers also receive a lower quality service. This is because many trains terminate at either Golders Green or Colindale stations and so have to change trains and have their journeys delayed, which is becoming an increasing occurrence.

As I have still not heard whether Transport for London have considered the request from Barnet Council to move Edgware station to zone 4 I hope that you have not forgotten about this request and I look forward to a favourable decision.

Yours Sincerely

Richard Weider
Cllr for Edgware Ward

83 Highview Avenue, Edgware, Middlesex, HA8 9TY Tel - 020 8958 0640

--------------

Dear Councillor Weider

Thank you for your recent enquiry, about whether Edgware Station might be re-zoned for charging purposese, from Zone 5 to Zone 4.

This issue was , as I am sure you are aware, raised with the Mayor by Leo Boland, Barnet's Chief Executive, earlier this year . The Mayor replied on 15th February - a copy of that letter is attached.

As the Mayor explains, we need to bear in mind that if some fares go down, as would be the case if we re-zoned Edgware to Zone 4, other fares must go up to maintain London Underground’s revenue overall. This revenue is essential if we are to continue to invest in the modernisation of the Underground.

As promised in the letter, we have looked at the zoning of Edgware station in comparison to other stations in north London, on the basis of distance from Zone 1. This showed that, overall, the allocation of Edgware within Zone 5 is correct . As a result, the level of fares from that station are not such as to warrant other fares going up to make up the consequential revenue loss were it to be re-zoned. Therefore, we do not intend to re-zone Edgware to Zone 4.

I am sorry this response is not what you were hoping to hear.

Yours sincerely

Chris Widgery

Borough Liaison Manager
ChrisWidgery@tfl.gov.uk
10th Floor, Windsor House
42-50 Victoria Street
London
SW1H 0TL
020 7126 4071

--------------------

Dear Mr Widgery

Thank you for your response to my email. While I can understand TfL's desire to maintain the overall revenue of the underground, what I can deduce from this is that TfL does not care about the concerns about the residents of the outer suburbs of London, as much as it does those residents living in the centre of London.

While you have addressed the issue of why Edgware Station can not be moved to Zone 4, you have not addressed my other concern about trains regularly terminating at Golders Green and Colindale stations. As a result, while commuters travelling to and from Edgware Station have to pay a higher price, these commuters leaving from Edgware Station have fewer trains per hour leaving from Edgware Station than further up the line, despite it being a busy station. While when travelling northbound trains often terminate at Golders Green or Colindale stations, many times unexpectedly, meaning that commuters travelling to Edgware have to wait for another train and than struggle to get on to what is already a crowded train.

I look forward to you letting me know that TfL will be providing a better service of trains to Edgware, if given your argument the price of the journey can not be reduced.

Yours Sincerely

Richard Weider
Cllr for Edgware Ward

83 Highview Avenue, Edgware, Middlesex, HA8 9TY Tel - 020 8958 0640

Science in Barnet

As I have previously reported over the past year I have chaired a working group examining the quality of science teaching in Barnet schools. Last week I was pleased to present a report to the Education and Children Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Over recent years there has been lots of controversy that fewer and fewere students are studying science beyond GCSE's as it is seen as too difficult a subject to study at A-Level and university. As a result some university science departments were shutting and there have been worries that we will have a lack of science graduates to work in Britain's scientific industries and to teach science at school.

In Barnet other councillors and I were worried that if the excellent pupils of Barnet were not studying science beyond GCSE, where would the future science graduates come from in this country.

One way in which the Government has tried to reverse this trend is to introduce a new GCSE science curriculum. Therefore, as part of our review into how science is taught in Barnet's schools the committee decided to look at how successful the new curriculum had been.

We carried out a number of interviews with science teachers and pupils across Barnet.
What was heartening to see was that in Barnet the state of science does not seem to be as bad as some news reports have suggested. In a number of schools there is already a high take-up of science courses at A-Level and many schools also offer more vocational science courses. In addition all schools which we went to had a full compliment of science teachers who had science degrees.

We also found that exam results were also high and so the subjects may not be as hard as the perception that may exist.

In producing our report we found that schools in Barnet were happy with how Barnet Local Authority had helped them in preparing for the new GCSE science curriculum.

An interesting area of our findings were that pupils and teachers found the new GCSE curriculum more interesting than the previous traditional curriculum. This was one of the aims of the new curriculum to open pupil's up to the real world nature of science, by showing how science affects our diets, our climate, nuclear power and many other interesting areas.

However, we found that this change in style compromised the success which our more able pupils can achieve. We found that the more able students were not being challenged by the new curriculum and so may struggle to have a strong understanding of scientific theories if they are to carry on to study science at A-Levels and university. We therefore called on the local authority to offer support to science teachers to provide a challenging curriculum for all pupils particularly for the more able pupils. We also called on the Cabinet Member of Children's Services to write to the Secretary of State for Schools to advise that in Barnet we feel the GCSE science curriculum need to provide a more challenging option for the more able pupils.

In working on this report I found it very interesting looking at how science is taught in our schools and the hard work that the local authority employees and teachers put into helping our pupils to achieve to their potential.

It was also important to note know that it is important to make subjects enjoyable to encourage students to work in school but at the same time, theories and issues must be taught properly so that they also get a full understanding of the subject.

The full report can be found at:
http://committeepapers.barnet.gov.uk/democracy/reports/reportdetail.asp?ReportID=5814

Good News for Edgware Library

At last years local elections my colleagues Cllr Hart, Cllr Scannell and I as councillors in Edgware pledged to campaign to improve Edgware Library. I am pleased to say that our hard work has paid off.
John Marshall the Cabinet Member for Libraries this week announced a new Leading Libraries policy, to go to Cabinet for agreement this week. The policy follows the similar successful Premier Parks policy recently introduced by Matthew Offord Cabinet Member for the Environment.
Edgware Library has been chosen has one of six leading libraries in Barnet. Over the next six months Edgware library will be enhanced to provide wi-fi provision, and self-service machines amongst other benefits including better information about council services and more disabled access. As a result the library will be more modern and brought into the 21st century by being equipped.

Helping to Free the 3 Israeli Hostages

Last night with about 2000 other people, many of whom were from Edgware and Barnet, I attended a rally outside the Syrian embassy calling for three Israeli soldiers to be released from being held hostage.

These three soldiers are:
Gilad Shalit who is being held in the Palestinian Territories
Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev who are being held hostage after being captured from sovereign Israeli territory by Hizbollah

These 3 soldiers were all captured a year ago, which was one of the causes of the Israeli war with Hizbollah. However, one year on despite the UN Resolution which ended the war calling for these soldiers to be released we are still waiting for their return.

However, let us hope that just a few weeks after we heard the good news that the BBC reporter Alan Johnson had been released from also being held hostage in the Gaza strip, these 3 soldiers and all other hostages around the world can also be released.

One thing really struck me though when I was at the rally last night with 2000 other people and also about the rally's to free Alan Johnson. Why are people that attend these rally's able to protest peacefully. However, when ever we see protests by Moslem organisations, usually against our and other democratic governments, we see the people attending calling for people to be killed and flags being burnt. Therefore, while these more aggressive and violent protests may gain more media attention in the short term, it shows that they find it harder to justify their argument peacefully, and so I am sure in the long term it means they wont be able to win the argument.

Latest on Selecting your Conservative Candidate for Hendon

Last night four excellent candidates were nominated by Hendon Conservative Association to take part in the Open Primary to become the next Parliamentary Candidate for Hendon.

The 4 candidates with their websites as they come in are:

Rebecca Harris
Sheila Lawlor - http://www.sheilalawlor.co.uk/
Matthew Offord - http://www.matthewofford.co.uk/
Bob Seely

Attendance at the Open Primary and participation in the vote is open to all registered voters within the Hendon Parliamentary Constituency (Edgware, Hendon, Hale, Mill Hill, Burnt Oak, Colindale and West Hendon).

If you would like to attend and vote you must pre-register by 5pm on Monday 9th July via
telephone on 020 8445 4292
email at Fingold@btinternet.com

The Open Primary will take place on 10 July at St Mary's High School, Sunngingfields Road, Hendon, NW4 4QR.

Anyone who wishes to take part in the voting must be in their seat by 7:15pm.

SELECT YOUR NEXT CONSERVATIVE CANDIDATE FOR THE GENERAL ELECTION

I am pleased to let you know that Hendon Conservative Association will be holding an Open Primary on 10 July to select the next Conservative Candidate for the Hendon Parliamentary Constituency at the next General Election.

Attendance at the Open Primary and participation in the vote is open to all registered voters within the Hendon Parliamentary Constituency (Edgware, Hendon, Hale, Mill Hill, Burnt Oak, Colindale and West Hendon).

If you would like to attend and vote you must pre-register by 5th July via
telephone on 020 8445 4292
email at Fingold@btinternet.com

The Open Primary will take place on 10 July at St Mary's High School, Sunngingfields Road, Hendon, NW4 4QR.

Anyone who wishes to take part in the voting must be in their seat by 7:15pm.

Further details on the candidates will be available shortly.

Links to new blogs in Israel

In my last article I wrote about why the academic boycott of Israel is wrong and should be abandoned.

However, while I am not (yet) living in Israel it is difficult to fully articulate what it is like for Israeli's living there at the current time. I therefore recommend three blogs which I have added in my links. These are excellently written by former Londoners who have made aliyah (gone to live) in Israel.

These are by

Jonny Lipczer - http://www.zevzev.blogspot.com
Jonny Steel - http://valleyofghosts.blogspot.com/
Calev ben-Dor - http://www.calevinthelandofmilkandhoney.blogspot.com/

I felt ashamed to be British

Last week I was visiting Israel as part of the Adam Science Leadership Group.

This visit was 40 years since the beginning of the 6 day war. In 1967 Israel a new country of only 19 years old and at some points less than 10 miles wide was under threat of extinction from its Arab neighbours who were threatening to wipe it out, Israeli’s and the Jewish people around the world were fearful for the future of the country worried that Israel would be wiped out. Thank G-d, Israel was able to win the war and in defeating its attackers was able to strengthen itself and the size of the country.

Visiting Israel last week I realised that again after 40 years Israelis were worried about their country existing into the future and I recognized that the Jews of the world and even the rest of the world should have this same fear.

A fear that Israel will again be attacked by its Arab neighbours but also a fear that the rest of the world no longer believes that Israel should have a right to exist.

This was highlighted while I was in the Israel when the British Universities and Colleges Union voted for an academic boycott of Israel. Through voting for this policy the academic union of British Universities decided that Israeli educational institutions, Israeli Professors and Israeli students should not have a right to exist and should not gain any support from British academic institutions.

As a British person in Israel, Israeli’s were asking me how the British people could have a view that their country should not have any rights. Yet as a British person I was not able to justify the vote and it made me feel ashamed to be British.

Why has this union chosen to vilify Israel, only one side of a dispute lasting decades that will not be solved by supporting one side over the other?
Why Israel, when it is a democratic state, when there are many more countries with much worse civil rights offences?

I do not know the answer to these questions. Yet I can tell you why this academic boycott of Israel is wrong.

I am not going to concentrate on the diplomatic and legal reasons why these questions are wrong, which are fully explored in many places elsewhere and which I believe in as well. Instead I want to tell you about how these boycotts will destroy Israeli society.

During my visit to Israel I saw many excellent projects of voluntary organisations and support groups that are helping to build a better society in Israel. Many of these charities and organisations are made up of young Israeli’s either still at university or just out of university.

We saw young Israeli groups trying to build communities where young people that were excluded from mainstream society were helped to reinvigorate their lives, we saw university students living in deprived towns in order to help re-build and reinvest in these towns to assist in developing these areas to make them more prosperous. We also saw ways in which Israeli Jewish citizens and Israeli Arab citizens were working together. We even heard that the Dean of Haifa University is an Israeli Arab who proudly believes in the State of Israel.

All these groups and different projects made me proud of the country that Israel has become and is continuing to develop into. However, boycotts such as by the UCU are putting all this under threat and threatening of the future of the State of Israel, a state for the Jewish people that should continue have the right to exist peacefully and safely.

I therefore call on the UCU to end there boycott of Israel.

Andrew Dismore and his Parliamentary Colleagues should be ashamed

Yesterday was a bad day for democracy in this country.

Andrew Dismore, Labour MP for Hendon was one of 113 MPs to pass a bill which would block the public from finding out information about the work they are doing and how much of the public's money they are spending.

Could Andrew Dismore have supported this policy, because he is fed up with the the media showing that he is an MP, which claims the most amount of tax-payers money for his office.

Andrew Dismore and his colleagues should remember that they are not special, rather he should remember he is a public servant and so should not stop the public from trying to find out information on how much he spends....

and is there anything else he is trying to hide?

Become a friend of Edgwarebury Park

Last night I attended the inaugral meeting of the Friends of Edgwarebury Park. This group has been set up by a group of residents in Edgware who want to ensure that the park can be maintained and improved for their's and everybody's enjoyment. I thought the meeting was very productive and came up with some good ideas for how the park can be used by more people and improved in the future.

If you are interested in how the park can be improved and would like to have your say why not get involved in this group. If you would like to get involved please let me know or you can contact the Council's park team on 020 8359 7870 or parks@barnet.gov.uk and they will put you in contact with the group.

Why Barnet doesn’t need fortnightly refuse collections

Given the recent coverage about waste collection, I welcome the announcement this week by the Council that in Barnet we will not be introducing fortnightly refuse collection.

Unlike some members of the Labour Government, I do not believe there should be a nationally imposed policy of waste collection being cut back from weekly to fortnightly. Though I can understand why some local authorities may wish to introduce refuse collection fortnightly, to encourage greater levels of recycling, I do not believe this is needed in Barnet at present.

As a result of the excellent management of the refuse service by Cllr Matthew Offord, Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport, who has made recycling compulsory, the service is cost-effective, while at the same time leading to higher levels of recycling. As a result last year and thanks to the conscientious residents of Barnet, 30% of waste in the borough was recycled.

The continued growth in recycling by Barnet residents - so that by 2010 it is likely that 40% of waste will be recycled - means that in Barnet fortnightly waste collection is not required to increase levels of recycling.

I therefore agree with the Leader of the Council Cllr Mike Freer, who has said that it is vital that high achieving councils continue to innovate as we have done in Barnet. This is better than follow the unpopular trends as many councils seem to do.

Happy Birthday Israel

Happy 59th birthday to Israel.

As a strong supporter of Israel, today is a happy today for me. I am able to look back and think of the successes that have taken place in this small country in the world, which is a homeland and safehaven for the Jewish people.

Last night I was privileged to attend the service at Kinloss Shul, organised by Bnei Akiva and Mizrachi. The Chief Rabbi reminded us of how after 2,000 years of exile, a Jewish country, a Jewish language and a Jewish culture has been reborn in Israel. This is much to celebrate especially when we think of all the achievements that have come out of Israel to help the world.

Yet this has all been achieved while Israel has been under constant attack for the past 60 years from its neighbours and enemies around the world, which now even include the British National Union of Journalists who have called for a boycott of Israeli goods.

However, today lets forget this and just celebrate all that is good about Israel.

Councillors Surgery

My Edgware colleagues and I will be holding our regular monthly Councillor surgery this afternoon at 5:30 to 6:30 at Edgware Library.

This takes place on the last Tuesday of every month.

TRAFFIC CONGESTION IN EDGWARE

As you may have noticed, Three Valleys Water have started work at the corner of Broadfields Avenue and Hale Lane in Edgware, which is seeing them dig up the road to modernise the pipe network.

This has caused major congestion for people travelling into and through Edgware. As the councillor I am working with the councils Highways Staff and Three Valleys to see if the congestion can be minimised as the work is due to carry on in Edgware until August.

Sadly as water, gas and electricity utility companies are not governed by the local authority and do not require a permit before digging up roads. Therefore, as councillors all we can do is try and minimise any disruption they cause.

Below is a letter to me from Three Valleys.



Dear Councillor

Replacing the water mains in Stonegrove/Edgware
Further to my letter dated 21 February 2007 regarding the new strategic water main from Totteridge to Fortis Green, please be advised that Three Valleys Water started work on 5 March 2007 to renew the water mains in the Stonegrove/Edgware area. The existing iron pipes are in the region of 70 years old and we will be replacing them with more flexible plastic pipes which will improve and safeguard the tap water supply serving the residents in that area.

This £4.2 million investment scheme includes four areas (Edgware Way, Barnet Way, Highwood Hill and Stonegrove/Edgware) within the borough where the pipes have been identified for replacement.

Work on the first three schemes is well underway and now our contractors, Hollerans have started work on 5 March 2007 to replace the water pipes in the residential streets north of Station Road and will then carry out the necessary work in Hale Lane and Station Road from 16 April 2007 onwards.

Due to the nature of this area, which is heavily occupied by commercial properties and a major east-west route way, we will be working within the hours of 9.30-3pm, Monday – Sunday to avoid peak traffic congestion but carry out the work as quickly as possible to minimise any disruption to businesses. Subject to no major complications it is anticipated that the work in the streets listed on the attached residents’ letter will be completed by early July 2007.

All residents affected by these works are being sent an introductory letter about the scheme and those directly affected by work in their street will receive a second letter with more specific details about how the work will affect them.

We are in close liaison with the London Borough of Barnet Highways Department regarding traffic management throughout the works and have planned communications to ensure that all people in the area of kept informed of our works.

If you need any further information about any of these schemes please do not hesitate to contact me or one of my colleagues in the Public Relations office on 01707 277110.

Yours sincerely
Sally Howe
Public Relations

Campaign for a better NHS

This weekend I will be out campaigning in the Hendon constituency to highlight the increasing failings in the NHS caused by 10 years of mismanagement by Gordon Brown and the Labour Government.

I will be highlighting David Cameron's message that over the last 10 years under Gordon Brown's management the NHS has become a vast inhuman machine resulting in failing staff morale and patient care.

Instead of the increasing amount of central control which as seen millions of pounds waisted on a failing computer system and training thousands of doctors who are then told there are no jobs for them, I will be highlighting the Conservative alternative.

I believe in an NHS run locally by doctors for the needs of their patients.

Please contact me if you would like to join me this weekend in the campaign for a better NHS.

New Hendon Conservative Association Website

I am pleased to let you know of a new Hendon Conservative website at


www.hendonconservatives.org


The website will provide you with all the latest local news about the Conservative Party, its activities, events and campaigns in Hendon.

How to join Hendon Conservative Association

Hendon Conservative Association are currently recruting new members.

If you want to play your part by joining the Conservative Party and helping to elected the next Conservative Government and Conservative MP for Hendon Constituency with David Cameron as Prime Minister you can do so.

All you have to do is send a cheque for £25 marked for 'Hendon Conservative Association' addressed to:

Hendon Conservative Association
Freepost
212 Ballards Lane
London
N3 2LX

You can also call the Membership Hotline on 020 8445 4292 or the Membership Department on 020 8445 4292. Please ask us if you wish to pay by direct debit.

You can also contact us by email at fingold@btinternet.com if you wish us to send you a membership form.

If you don't want to join the Conservative Party but just want to help out with campaigning please use the same contact details. You can help with campaigning by offering to:

- deliver leaflets and letters
- stuffing letters into envelopes
- door to door campaigning
- telephone campaigning
- helping on election days
- putting a poster in your window

We look forward to hearing from you and helping to elect the next Conservative Government and Conservative MP for Hendon Constituency.

Warning about extra traffic in Edgware

I have been informed by Transport for London that they will be carrying out improvements to Edgware bus station from today. As a result all buses will not be starting or terminating in the bus station but rather on Station Road. Therefore, expect that for the foreseeable future that there will be extra congestion on Station Road, Hale Lane and the surrounding roads.

Why I am against ID cards

I am against the plan for ID cards which could cost the government as much as £20 billion. However, not only will the whole system be hugely expensive but it will also require

everyone in Britain to go to a regional centre to be fingerprinted and interviewed to prove who they are.
everyone in Britain to pay at least £93 for a combined ID card and passport package.
You will have to pay at least a further £30 if the card is lost or stolen, or if you get married and change your name.

No longer will people be free to be citizens of this country.

They will do nothing to improve our safety. They are not the answer to the threat of terrorism, to benefit fraud, illegal immigration, human trafficking or to identity theft. They are a waste of money, and so I am pleased a Conservative Government will abolish them.

Update on Science Review

Last year I reported that I was working on a review into how science is taught in schools in Barnet. The committee which I am on has decided to concentrate by looking at the affect of the new GCSE science curriculum which has been introduced for year 10 students this year, while comparing it to the old curriculum.

We are about to embark on looking at a few case studies schools where we will be answering the following questions.

Questions to Staff

1. What science qualifications do you have? What initial training did you undertake?
2. How well prepared are you for the new GCSE courses?
3. How well do you understand the new pedagogy for teaching science?
4. What are your views on the new GCSE compared to the previous curriculum?
5. What are resource implications of the new GCSE?
6. Apart from the new GCSE what range of science courses are available to students in your school?
7. Do you think the new programme is likely to increase science take up post 16?

Questions to year 10 students:

1. What difference do you find between science classes in Y9 and Y10?
- more internet access
- more use of computer programmes
- different resources

2. Is it helping you understand issues around you?
- global warming
- environment

3. Does this course help you to be enthusiastic about studying in science post 16 – even at college/university?

Questions to Post 16 science courses students

1. Why did you choose science (specific subject?)
2. What aspirations do you have for science after school (college/work?)
3. How relevant do you find science to the world around/you?

Scotland copies Barnet

Last night I attended a very interesting training session on the Looked After Children (children in care) services in Barnet.

We were told about the council's innovative Education Champions scheme, which the Scottish Executive have advised their local authorities to copy.

All of the senior staff in the Council are given a looked after child in order to monitor their educational achievements and ensure they are helped to achieve the best results that they are possible of achieving. The senior staff act as educational champions by encouraging all the staff that work with the child to work harder to encourage the child to succeed and ensure they get all the support they require.

This is helping the children most in need, while also benefiting the experience of council staff and at no extra cost to the taxpayer. It also ensures that looked after children in Barnet have been achieving better educational standards than children elsewhere in the country.

I think this is a really positive scheme and something that should be encouraged across the country.

NHS Failings

As I wrote about back in December, one of the reasons why it is not possible to cut council tax in Barnet is because the NHS is failing and is requiring local councils to carry out more work.

London Councils the representative body of local authorities in London is now highlighting this issue and is calling for an urget meeting to discuss this with the Secretary of State for Health.

Across London, local authorities are having to find an extra £15 million to cover the costs of NHS failings due to the NHS deficit of £120 million in 2006/7.

Congratulations Joanna

Congratulations to the newest councillor in Barnet.

On Thursday a by-election was held in East Barnet, following the sad death of Olwyn Evans.

I am pleased that the Conservative candidate had a resounding win, to that the new councillor for East Barnet is Joanna Tambourides. With a turnout of 31%, the result was


Conservatives - 1666 - 49.1%
Labour - 1025 - 30.24
Lib Dems - 552 - 16.28
Grens - 147


This huge support for the Conservative candidate shows that in Barnet as is the case around the country, the Conservative party is the choice for increasing numbers of voters, as we offer a positive and modern approach to the issues of the 21st century.

Why doesnt' Transport for London care about Edgware?

Transport for London has rejected my proposal supported by the Conservative Administration of Barnet Council for Edgware Station to be reclassified from Zone 5 to Zone 4.

I proposed the rezoning idea so that the commuters to and from Edgware on the Northern Line would be reimbursed for the often horific service that commuters experience when travelling to and from Edgware .

The rezoning proposal would save a commuter £264 on their annual bill.

However, for no clear reason TfL have rejected this proosal, despite agreeing to rezone some other stations in east London.

If you want to support my campaign to get Edgware Station rezoned let me know.

Holocaust Memorial Day

"Never Again"

"Never Forget"

This weekend as we commemorate the Holocaust, these are two quotes that are often said about the Holocaust, but do enough of us really mean it? That is why we need Holocaust Memorial Day.

Just over 60 years ago, while Germany were trying to win World War Two, they were also putting huge efforts into another major operation. An operation to destroy an entire people, the Jewish people. The aim of the Nazis was to murder every Jewish person in the world. Thank G-d they failed in both their aims; to win the war and to destroy an entire nation.

However, while they might have failed in their aim, the Nazis were able to kill 6 million Jewish people and millions of other people, inclusing homosexuals, gypsies and many others.

That is why we need a Holocaust Memorial Day, to remember that it is possible for us, human being's too hate another group of people enough to kill an entire people. We need to keep remembering so we never let it happen again.

However, sometimes we do let it happen and let it drift from our memories. That is why not enough of us have stood up to stop further genocides in the last 15 years; in the former Yugoslavia, in Rwanda, and currently in Darfur, Sudan. We should all stand up and speak out so no genocide is possible anywhere in the world.

However, while these are in far away countries, and we might say it is not possible to stop these, lets start nearer to home. In the last year or so I have noticed a growing resurgence of racism in this country, which was most recently highlighted on Big Brother. I believe the experience on Big Brother is just mirroring what is increasingly happening across Britain.

Therefore I am pleased that this year the theme of this year's Holocaust Memorial Day, is Dignity in Diffence. Racism exists because we do not accept that people can be different but rather everyone should be the same. Therefore, in Britain, while encouraging respect for Britain, we should also respect cultures and experiences of different people, allowing us all to live together, while not hating others for being different. This is how we can stop racism from ever happening again.

I hope I have made my message clear, but I believe, the Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, writes this a lot more clearly and so I include his idea below.

“The message of Holocaust Memorial Day is simple. There are many faiths, cultures, languages and races, but we have only one world in which to learn to live together and it is getting smaller every year. How many more people will have to die in the Middle East, Kashmir, Northern Ireland or the Balkans before we learn that those who are not in our image are nonetheless in G-d's image? That in diminishing others we diminish ourselves? That we are enlarged, not threatened, by diversity? Looking back on the past half-century, one fact stands out like a beacon of hope. Those countries and faiths that have genuinely confronted the Holocaust have made real progress in fighting prejudice and rendering it inadmissible to the mainstream of politics and culture. Holocaust Memorial Day is a way of ensuring that this message will not be lost with the passing of time. We have walked too long through the valley of the shadow of death. Once a year let us remind ourselves and our children what happens when we forget that the people unlike us are still people, like us.” (From The Times - January 2001)

Campaigning for better services on the Tube

At last night's Council I made a speech in support of a motion condeming the quality of the sevice on the tube and the high cost. I was also pleased that my amendment was supported which called for Edgware Station and other Barnet stations in zone 5 to be reclassified as a zone 4 station to save money for commuters. My speech is below.

"I want to take you on a journey of what it is like for the residents of Edgware travelling on the tube. However, unlike the Northern Line, I hope to get to the end. Traveling on the Northern Line to Edgware, is often like taking the lottery and guessing how many trains you will need to get from central London back to Edgware.

As someone who travels on the Northern Line everyday I have heard stories from fellow passengers, who have had to take 3 or 4 trains from central London back to Edgware. High percentages of trains either terminate at either Golders Green or Colindale and with no explanation except for that the train is running late.

And, over the last three years delays on the Northern Line have doubled.

All this means that even more passengers are squeezed on to the next train, ensuring that we again benefit from the London Underground experience of being treated like sardines.

And this is the all too familiar story that passengers have to deal with when traveling on the underground everyday. However, while the service that we the customers experience on the underground get worse every day, Ken Livingstone, the supposed friend of the Londoner, feels free to raise the cost that we have to pay every year.

This year the cost of getting a years season ticket from Edgware to zone 1 is £1592 a year a 5.3% increase on last year. While, if you can’t afford this as a one-off payment, you have to pay £153 pounds a month, which is £1835 a year, which is again an increase well above inflation and is likely to be more than £2000 next year.

This all means that while our public transport is getting worse, London is the most expensive place to travel in the world. Traveling in London costs 56% more than the world average and is well over twice the cost of traveling in comparable cities such as Tokyo, Paris, New York and Rome.

However, when it comes to the more vulnerable in our society who are unable or unwilling to use an Oyster card, the cost is even more exorbitant. It now costs £2 to jump on a bus in London or £4 to go one stop on the tube.

It is now cheaper to get a taxi than use public transport. What message is this trying to send when we are trying to find ways of reducing congestion on the roads. And lets not forget London is now an Olympic city. Are we really going to encourage more tourists to London when they see how much they have to pay to travel around our city.

However, should we really be surprised at these inflation busting price rises of between 5 and 35% percent for public transport, when we see the current state of the economy. One thing is for certain, when Tony Blair reluctantly lets Gordon Brown become Prime Minister, he won’t be able to say that … “We have never had it so good”.

Inflation is at its highest level for 16 years, interest rates keep on rising, utility bills keep on rising and moving house is now unaffordable for many. Virtually everything seems to be rising in price especially Gordon Brown’s taxes, but I am looking forward to see that Council Tax bills in Barnet will rise by less inflation or in real terms actually fall.

This shows that as with Conservative Councils all around the country we are trying to help our residents live for less. However, even before the Conservative Party wins the next General Election, I believe that we can do more to help our residents have a better economic well being by spending less. Therefore I urge the Cabinet to support the Conservative Live for Less Campaign, which helps people save money on how they live.

I therefore urge all members to support this motion condemning the cost of public transport and other costs of living for our residents, imposed by Gordon Brown’s mismanagement of the economy.

Thank you"

Barnet helps to save the planet 1

We are increasingly hearing scary reports about how due to the pollution we cause the world is warming up which could have dangerous implications for the future of the planet even in the next few years.

I therefore think it is important that when-ever and where-ever we can we should make changes to the way we do things to reduce the amount of pollution that we cause. I specifically think it is important that we use technological innovations to reduce pollution levels when it is possible to do so.

For these reasons I am please that the Conservative run Barnet Council has changed the fuel technology used by its fleet of 265 commercial vehicles. Since September 2005 when Barnet was one of the first local authorities in the country to sign up to the ChemEcol Diesel Fuel Combustion Technology, also known as Additone EC-1500,the dangerous gas emissions released by the Council's fleet has been cut by more than 100 tonnes. At the same time the technology change saved the Council £20,000 in fuel costs, which has been used on other front-line services and keeping the council tax rise below the rate of inflation.

Lets Make Edgwarebury Park a Green Flag Park in 2007

Last year the success of Barnet's Premier Parks policy began to be seen, with 4 of the Borough's parks being granted Green Flag Status.

This year I hope that Edgware's Premier Edgwarebury Park will also be able to join the list of Green Flag parks. This will be due to the amount of work that our Conservative Council has done and will do to continually improve the park.

However, to help this, I believe it would be useful to set up a Friends of Edgwarebury Park group so that we know from its users what improvements Edgwarebury Park requires. If you would like to get involved in this please contact me.

Happy Christmas

News about the Council Tax 3

At the Council meeting on Tuesday, the provisional Council budget and Council Tax level was announced for 2007/08.

The Council Tax has been provisionally set so that it will rise no higher than 3.8% and could well be lower by the time it is confirmed in March.

While this increase is below inflation as promised, I would have liked it to be lower. However, this is not possible due to the poor funding grant by the Labour Government to Barnet and Gordon Brown's NHS funding crises. As a result of the underfunding in the NHS. Barnet is having to provide extra services and so 1.61% of the council tax increase will be to provide health services that the NHS should be providing. Without this amount in the budget the tax increase would be around 2.25%.

This Council Tax increase is likely to be one of the lowest in the country. This is a result of the efficiency's the Council is making and even some cuts where required.

What I found interesting that both Labour and the Lib Dems did not criticise the low increase in Council Tax. Instead they both said we should be providing more services which would therefore make the Council Tax increase much higher.

This therefore shows that the Conservative Council is delivering high quality services which people want at the lowest possible level of tax.

News about the Council Tax 2 - The NHS Crises

As I explained in my previous update the key reason that Council Tax will be rising in Barnet and across London and the whole country is because of the lack of Government funding for local authority services.

However, even worse now is that Brown has also started to underfund the NHS, so that many of the services at Barnet General, Royal Free and Edgware Community Centre are under threat. Due to the underfunding for our local hospitals and less staff, the hospitals are struggling to provide all the services they require.

As a result of Labour's mismanagement led by Gordon Brown, these services are having to be picked up by local councils across the country including Barnet. Therefore, the NHS Funding crisis means in Barnet an extra £2.2m of costs has to come out of the local council budget.

This will see the NHS FUNDING CRISES RAISING COUNCIL TAX BY 1.61%.

News about the Council Tax 1

At last nights Council Meeting the Leader announced the headline figures for the 2007/8 budget and Council Tax ahead of it being finalised at the Council Meeting in March.

As this is an important and complex subject I thought it would be useful to outline the key information to make it understand for you to understand.

The first key issue was that of the capital grant that Barnet Council will be receiving from the Government.

The Government will be giving a 2% increase in the grant it gives to Barnet Council in 2007/8. This is the lowest grant in the country for the second year running, so that the Labour Government, has continued to ensure that they are underfunding the services provided in Barnet.

You might wonder why as a Conservative that believes in low levels of public spending and taxation levels I am complaining that the Government is spending a lack of money on Barnet. However, the reason for this is quite clear.

Since the Labour Government was elected they have continually, led by Gordon Brown, set more and more requirements and targets which they have forced Councils to carry out. As a result over 75% of local council services are forced on Councils by central Government. However, while each year, requiring Councils to carry out more and more work, the Labour Government has not increased the funding required to carry out these services at the same rates.

The Government has hit the Borough of Barnet particularly hard. While, each Council is required to carry out the same services, not each Council receives the same rate of increased spending. Barnet has been hit with just a 2% this year. so that for two years running we have received the lowest grant increase in the country.

The 2% increase in Barnet compares to an average of
3.2% for outer London Councils
3.4% for London as a whole
3.8% for England as a whole

Therefore, the Government is penalsing the residents of Barnet to help other boroughs particularly in the north of England.

I will provide more information on the budget tomorrow.

Cleaner Streets for Barnet

I am pleased to let you know that Barnet Council has announced new improvements to the street cleaning service for Barnet and especially town centres such as Edgware.

At last nights Council meeting I asked Matthew Offord, the Lead Member for Environment a question about what new improvements were being made to the street cleaning service.

I was told by Matthew Offord that the improvements will include a specific cleaning service around 20 town centres in the borough including Edgware. The cleaning staff will also have new uniforms to make them more recognisable so that members of the public know who to approach.

I am glad that a new street cleaning service is being introdued in the Borough. T hough standards are already very high, there is always more to be done. I look forward to a very real difference being made on the streets of both Edgware and Barnet as a whole.

Langdon Community

I was pleased to attend a function organised by Langdon Community on Sunday. Details of the charity can be found at http://www.langdon.info/

Langdon Community is a charity that provides support for young Jewish adults with learning difficulties/disabilities to enable them to determine and maintain a lifestyle of their own choosing which affords dignity, fulfilment and individual status and maximises their potential for independence in the wider community. The Community seeks to empower and enable people to enjoy lifestyles, which are age, culture and needs appropriate.

The Community had previously been based in Manchester. However, in recognition that many of the people they support come from families in London, Langdon have now opened their first residential home in Edgware. I was therefore pleased to attend this ceremony which saw their patron the Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks officially open the new home.

This was actually the first time I had heard of this charity, but I believe this is an excellent charity which helps to provide support to those in need so that they are able to then support themselves and take part in everyday society as much as they wish.

Edgware Councillors Surgery

I will be at Edgware Libary this evening between 5:30pm and 6:30pm for the monthly surgery. Please come along if you have any queries.

Please note that there will be no surgery in December and so the next one following today will be in January.

If you have any queries please email me at cllr.r.weider@barnet.gov.uk or call me on 020 8958 0640.

Update on Science in Schools Review

Last week at the Education Scrutiny Committee, I reported on teh work that I have been working on as part of the working group looking at science in Barnet's schools. The work we have done shows that while we should remain vigilant about the state of science in our schools, we should not be as concerned as the national media reports suggest. The average results for Barnet show an increase between 2001 and 2006 which are better than the national average and the average for similar local areas.

At Key Stage 2 attainment is stable for both boys and girls. Those achieving level 5 has risen by about 10% which is above the national average and the same as our statistical neighbours.

At Key Stage 3 attainment has improved for both boys and girls by13% at level 6 and 9% and level 5. We are meeting the nationally imposed target of 79% reaching level 5 in 2006 and are above the national average and those of similar local authorities.

At GCSE and A Level there has been an overall increase in entries particularly for the individual sciences as opposed to a broader curriculum. While results have increased in line with the national average.

Over the remainder of the review we will therefore examine the impact of the new GCSE curriculum that has been introduced nationally for those doing GCSE science in year 10 this year. This is a more practical curriculum which is aimed to make science more interesting to pupils in the 21st century and so encourage further uptake at A-Level and beyond.

As a committee we have decided to therefore spend the majority of our time looking at how this new curriculum is bedding down in our schools. We will look at how well teachers, with the support of the local authority have the capability to teach this new style and increasingly practical and computer based curriculum. Look at the views of pupils in the current year 10 and compare their view of the curriculum to older years. Look at examples of best practice and areas which can be improved.

In Rememberance

Yesterday I was proud to represent the people of Edgware, together with my colleagues Cllr Helena Hart, Cllr Hugh Rayner and Cllr Brian Gordon, at 2 rememberance services. Firstly, I attended the Royal British Legion service at the memorial on Edgware High Street. This was followed by the Edgware Association of Ex Jewish Service Men and Woman service at Edgware United Synagogue.

At this time it is particularly important to remember the important work that are armed services have done in the past and currently do. I was therefore upset to read that this year in London the poppy appeal is expected to collect £1 million less than in the past due to a shortage of collectors. I therefore encourage you to visit the Royal British Legion website to make a donation on-line.

Whos having to pay for the London 2012 Olympics

Since the campaign began for London to host the olympics in 2012, I have been and continue to be a supporter of London hositing the olympics, as I believe this will bring much enjoyment and economic benefit to the country and particularly East London.

However, I am starting to get worried that the Government seems to be failing to correctly manage this properly. Firslty, costs seemed to keep on rising and this week have heard that the Government mistakenly thought they didn't need to include VAT on the building costs, which they now admit will need to be paid.

This keeps on resulting in higher costs, which the Government expects the whole of London to pay for (as opposed to tax payers in the rest of the country.) Therefore the taxpayers of Barnet are increasingly expected to pay more for the Olympics while they will gain no more benefit than the people of Hertfordshire or anywhere else in the country.

I generally want these Olympics to be a success, but this should not be at the expence of the resients of Barnet. So let's make sure this is managed properly and does not make London the laughing stock of the world.

Christmas Lights in Edgware

I am pleased to let you know that the Council's Christmas lights will soon be going on in Edgware.

While, I personally do not celebrate Christmas, although I do enjoy this time of year (even if if it seems to get earlier every year - is that to cheesy?) where everyone just seems to get in to a better mood, as people start to celebrate however they choose.

I hope the Council lights that are going up in Edgware and in all town centres in Barnet, will help to cheer you up this winter.

Is secular Britain trying to abolish religion?

Is secular Britain trying to abolish religion?

This may sound a sharp question but when you consider the recent news stories over the last few weeks is this really so.

First we had the question raised by Jack Straw over whether Moslem women should be allowed to wear the niqab (full veil) and then even raising the possibility that the hijab (partial veil) should not be worn either. Next came the news that a British Airways air stewardess was banned from wearing a cross on her necklace. Then there was the further news that there is a growing political consensus that religious-based state schools should ensure that 25% of their student body should include pupils that are not of the schools dominant religion. I therefore welcome the announcement yesterday by the Government that they won't be making this requirement compulsory on schools. Although, I don't believe the threat has gone away.

What each of these three stories highlight is that there is a growing view in Britain that individuals should not be able to identify themselves as different from the rest of society based on their religion. I would argue though that many religious actions are not there to make that person seem better than others, rather religious actions, religious determined dress and religious-based schools are there to help that person get closer to what they feel there ultimate purpose is. For example as an orthodox Jew I wear a kapel (skullcap) as a head covering to make me feel closer to G-d.

However, now in Britain there is a growing view that if you do not conform to the Western customs you are an outsider, who should not be tolerated as you are trying to be different from the norm. While, I believe that is not the correct way for society to treat minority groups in this country, I am also not suggesting that the minority-religious groups should exclude themselves from the rest of society, ignoring and often looking down on others. The Hindu, Jewish and Sikh communities are positive illustrations of how religious communities can remain as strong communities while at the same time becoming successful members of the wider community.

Especially in the Jewish community this can be put down to the successful Jewish schools that attract high numbers of Jewish pupils and are often over subscribed. So I ask why are schools such as these being threatened with reform so that they will have to accept 25% of their intake from children who are not Jewish.

There is a point of view that with the increasing marginalisation of some groups in society and the growing threat of terrorism, that there is a need to ensure that children are not secluded from other communities so that children can learn to accept and live with people that are different to themselves. While this obviously does have some positive benefits, this is not the only way to create a tolerant society. Children can be taught to be respectful of everyone in society while being taught in one-religion based schools. What matters for groups in society to be respectful of others is that they have a genuine understanding of others and are tolerant of all groups and individuals.

Children can learn this in mixed schools but they can also develop this method of understanding in single-religion schools. Like many parents want their children to be taught in single-sex schools, many parents want their children to go to a single-faith school. This can be for a number of reasons including that they want their children to develop a strong foundation in their own faith and history, while being able to share the same religious values with the children around them. Children are therefore able to gain confidence in their own beliefs and practices, so that they are then better equipped to face the world with tolerance and respect for others.

I am proud to be a former student at two Jewish schools, Rosh Pinah Primary School and JFS Secondary School. Through my time at these schools (including at JFS which has existed in London for more than 270 years) I received an education that provided me with a strong Jewish ethos but also to value and support everyone in society, so that I hope I am now someone that is proud to help all individuals where ever they come from. However, I also want to protect the rights of religious groups to express their religion as they wish. Therefore I will continue to campaign with and support religious groups that want to wear their religious attire and send their children to single faith schools.

Recycling

Last night I was at the Edgware, Mill Hill and Burnt Oak Forum.

One of the questions which was raised by a member of the public was how you can dispose of shredded paper in the recycling bin. With the threat of ID fraud we are increasingly being encouraged to shred our documents.

Therefore I am pleased that as a Council we do cater for recycling shredded paper. If you wish to dispose of shredded paper, you should place it in a tied plastic bag, clearly marked that it contains shredded paper. The recycling collectors will then take the bag and empty it at the recycling site, so that it does not make a mess in peoples gardens and along roads.

Barnet FC

I was at the monthly Planning and Environment Committee on Wednesday night. One of the items that we had to decide upon to give planning permission to was whether Barnet Football club should be allowed to improve their ground maintenance to make it safer and more secure for their supporters.

I am pleased to say that we were able as a Committee to grant planning permission to the club for this work.

I believe Barnet FC are an asset to the borough of which we should be proud.

Therefore, we need to help them maintain a stadium for the future that is suitable for their needs. Obviously, while maintaining their needs this should not negatively impact on local residents and so I believe it is very important that they also carefully follow the proper procedure for gaining planning permission before they carry out any work.

The new Edgware Eruv

After many months of waiting I am pleased to hear that Edgware’s eruv with be live from tomorrow evening. I would like to congratulate everyone who has worked hard to achieve this. I would also like to thank the Councillors on Barnet Council who before I was elected, gave permission for the required infrastructure to be put in place.

For those of you that are not aware an eruv allows orthodox Jews to carry and to move push chairs outside on Shabbat (Sabbath day) which otherwise is not allowed. An area becomes included within an eruv when it is surrounded by a boundary. This can include existing walls and natural boundaries but also includes some poles and wires.

More information can be found out about the Edgware Eruv at www.edgwareeruv.org

Barnet's First Class Schools

This evening I attended the Education Scrutiny Committee. At this session of the Committee we looked at the outcome of a report of OFSTED inspections across Barnet and in particular at four schools in the Barnet. This highlighted to me the excellent schools we have in Barnet and the hard work and effort that our teachers and school staff put in to making sure that children educated in Barnet can have the best start in life.

This adds to the recently published OFSTED Joint Area Review of Barnet’s Children’s Services. The report which was published on 10 October announced that - in Barnet’s 4 nursery schools, 89 primary schools, 19 secondary schools, 4 special schools and 3 pupil referral units – educational standards are above the national average and outcomes for most children are rated as good. This has been because of the combined work of the staff in our “local schools and services that have helped children to enjoy their educational and recreational activities.” “The Council has also helped by taking a strong lead in bringing about improvements in the performance of its schools over a short period of time.”

The reports tonight also highlighted that of the Barnet schools inspected by OFSTED in the 2005/06 academic year, 89% of schools in Barnet were rated as outstanding or good. This compares to the national average of 57%.

I would particularly like to congratulate the two schools we heard to from tonight, Colindale Primary School and St Catherine’s Roman Catholic School who were able to highlight the excellent work that our schools do in partnership with Barnet Council.

While attendance in primary schools needs to be improved in Barnet, strategies have already started to work to improve this including the idea of Barnet Bears who can't bear to miss school (hence the picture). There are also many interesting teaching techniques which the schools are using to make education fun and helping the pupils to learn.

What did strike me is that one of Barnet’s outstanding schools is The Annunciation Roman Catholic Infant School in Burnt Oak. This Roman Catholic school has a requirement that all its pupils are catholic. At this time when there appears to be a growing view that this should not happen but that religious-based schools should be required to accept a proportion of pupils I believe that this shows that religious-based schools are successful for a reason. Schools are helped to be successful when all pupils have a common and shared ethos. Just like parents can choose to send their children to single sex schools I believe parents should be allowed to choose to send their children to single religious-based schools, which are shown to be proven to help the children taught there.

I am therefore pleased to have spent an evening hearing about the success of education in Barnet.

Edgware, Mill Hill and Burnt Oak Forum

You can have your say on what Barnet Council is doing in your area be it Edgware, Mill Hill or Burnt Oak next week at the Residents Forum. This will be at 6:30pm on Thursday 26 October.

The Residents Forum will be at The Memorial House, Watling Community Centre, 145 Orange Hill Road, Edgware, HA8 8EL

If you want a subject to be discussed please contact Jonathan Regal on 020 8359 2012.

I hope to see you there.

Robert Rams

My colleague Cllr Robert Rams this week gave a link to my website. You can access his blog on the left had column.

Future of Health Care in Barnet

For too long the health service in this country has struggled from one crisis to the next as different political parties have continually reversed previous ideas about how best to run the NHS. In Barnet this has led to many difficulties with the quality of health services. This includes the closing of Edgware Hospital, for which I remember the controversy while I was at school. While Labour were unable to keep Edgware Hospital open I agree they should be given credit for the Community Hospital which is on the current site. However, as many of you will agree with this does need expanding given the size of the current local population, which is continuing to grow.

That is why I am pleased that the leaders of the local political parties in the Council and MPs have come together to issue a joint statement (below) calling for improved health facilities (and not closures) in Barnet. This is so that the Primary Care Trust, which is responsible for delivering health care agrees a future programme that is best for Barnet and its residents.

From tomorrow you can give your views at www.behfuture.nhs.uk



Joint Statement on Barnet, Enfield and Haringey NHS Clinical Strategy

We thought it would be timely if we jointly set out a statement about the development of the above strategy from a Barnet perspective. Starting first with context about Barnet

• Barnet is the 2nd largest borough in London whose population mainly uses the acute hospitals of Barnet, the Royal Free and to a lesser extent Northwick Park and Chase Farm.
• Barnet is the fastest growing London Borough outside of the Thames Gateway with an expected increase in its population of about 40,000 in the next 10 years, especially along the A5 corridor, the furthest part of the borough from Chase Farm.
• The local NHS has been bedevilled with mixed performance ratings.
• This has been particularly the case for our main Acute Trust of Barnet and Chase Farm Hospital which was formed by a merger 5 years ago. The merger took place despite Barnet Hospital’s main clinical links, at the time, being with the Royal Free and not with Chase Farm in Enfield.
• There is one A/E department in the borough at Barnet Hospital. Barnet residents also extensively use the Royal Free A/E department. Additionally there are two very popular Walk In Centres at two community hospitals.
• One of these community hospitals, Edgware Community Hospital, was highlighted by the Department of Health in July as an example of a 21st Century style community hospital. The other, Finchley Memorial Hospital, is by contrast in a poorer condition, but is well used by the community.
• Barnet Council has a programme of joint working with Barnet PCT, which has been held back this year by top slices of the PCT’s budget allocation.

We understand the issues that are driving changes in acute services. These have been well articulated by leading commentators such as the Chair of the BMA. We support increasing provision of care nearer people’s homes and much more in partnership with social care. Such transfers of services from hospitals with costs falling on social care should be partnered with the transfer of resources. This is not a matter for London NHS alone.

However, it does appear from a purely Barnet perspective that many of the problems in outer north London which the clinical strategy is trying to resolve have arisen because of the Barnet and Chase Farm merger.

The clinical strategy sets out a number of scenarios, which we understand are now being short listed to 4 or 5 options for more detailed analysis before consultation. A few of the scenarios are clearly not feasible, such as turning North Middlesex into a community hospital or for that matter ceasing emergency services at Barnet Hospital. This would not be acceptable to Barnet. Decisions on provision must be made solely on clinical, access and financial grounds, based on the evidence. Barnet Hospital has recently benefited from a major rebuilding programme and these brand new buildings must be used by the NHS for planned and emergency treatment. Good access to NHS services for Barnet residents is of vital importance. Barnet residents’ use of local hospitals follows public transport and road links. Chase Farm is poorly accessed from most of the borough.

We support a change in provision in Barnet, as the current pattern of services will not continue to meet the needs of our residents. We also support increasing choice for users of NHS services. However, we wish the change process to be managed constructively with local representatives, as otherwise there is a risk that the level of opposition being generated will freeze decision making and result in a continuance of the status quo. This will not serve us well in the medium to long term. For these reasons we suggest an approach which demonstrates the following:

• Ensuring there is the necessary investment at Barnet Hospital to meet any increased activity due to changes in Enfield
• Redeveloping Finchley Memorial Hospital, including the Marie Foster Centre, as a modern 21st Century community hospital to help support the changes and bring care nearer to people’s homes. London NHS will be receiving a Strategic Outline Case for its redevelopment this December
• Supporting the development of improved community and primary care services in Barnet, including further developments at Edgware Community Hospital.
• Recognising the impact on health services infrastructure of the growth in Barnet’s population, including the changing demographic profile and fully resourcing this as it occurs.
• Enabling appropriate transfers of resources into social care where activity is being transferred out of hospitals and the costs are falling onto Council budgets
• Recognising the principle of Patient Choice as the driver of changes in the system.
• Reinstating and, in addition, developing stronger clinical links between Barnet Hospital, local community services and the Royal Free Hospital.

Additionally we could well envisage, that the possible changes in Enfield could in due course lead to the need for acute trust reconfiguration with the creation of a Trust encompassing Barnet Hospital and the Royal Free. This would create a Trust that more closely reflects the actual patient journeys of Barnet residents and could more effectively focus on Barnet’s needs. The London Borough of Barnet has the largest number of patients using the Royal Free of any London borough. However, organisational reconfiguration must be secondary to getting services in the right shape to serve our community.


Cllr Mike Freer, Leader of Barnet Council

Cllr Helena Hart, Cabinet Member for Public Health

Cllr Brian Coleman, London Assembly Member for Barnet and Camden

Cllr Alison Moore, Leader of the Labour Group, Barnet Council

Cllr Monroe Palmer, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, Barnet Council