474 votes to win

One of the more unlikely promotions for a preference...

2009-07-18T07:18:00.001+01:00

It's the annual assessment by blog readers of the poltical blogs that are out on the market.

Last year I came in at 24th on the Lib Dem register... I can't deny being a tad touched :-)

So here's the link for the details on how to particpate.

I try and keep this blog party politics free and instead have opted for a pretty pure form of local and community politics (I hope).

So over to you readers - here's the link:
http://www.libdemvoice.org/total-politics-best-blog-poll-2009-vote-now-15653.html

The rules are simple.

1. You must vote for your ten favourite blogs and rank them from 1 (your favourite) to 10 (your tenth favourite).
2. Your votes must be ranked from 1 to 10. Any votes which do not have rankings will not be counted.
3. You MUST include ten blogs. If you include fewer than ten your vote will not count.
2. Email your vote to toptenblogs@totalpolitics.com
3. Only vote once.
4. Only blogs based in the UK, run by UK residents, or based on UK politics, are eligible.
5. Anonymous votes left in the comments will not count. You must give a name.
6. All votes must be received by midnight on 31 July 2009. Any votes received after that date will not count.

As war memorials go... this is a gem!

2009-07-13T07:30:00.000+01:00

I found this by pure accident when in Kilburn (Brent) Police Station in Salusbury Road.

It records the direct hit on the police station on 6th November 1940 during WWII.

The plaque is up in the reception area and because it's inside (and free from the ravages of weather) it is in immaculate condition.

The plaque records the death of 13 staff - 12 officers and one civillian - including a re-engaged pensioner police constable and is a great insight into the nature of the 'all-hands to the pump element of the war'.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

Note to self: need to ensure it gets a memorial wreath on armistice day...

The station although a new build of 1980 has a long history in fact. Kilburn was served by successive stations at Kempshall Terrace, Edgware Road from 1873 to1885).

It then moved to Kilburn High Road number 11-13 from 1885 to 1892) and was finally re-located to Salusbury Road from 1892 until it closed in 1938.

However, the building was brought back into use during the war but was then badly bombed (hence the plaque - and largely due to being close to the railway line - a popular target for enemy bombing raids) and from 1965 there was a temporary station on the site.

If you're waiting for the C11...

2009-07-12T07:38:00.001+01:00

One of the most charming buildings in Hampstead is slightly hidden - partly because of the shocking overshadow that is the Royal Free Hospital and partly due to the scale of works that have been going on at the neighbouring building.

I mean of course Hampstead Hill School on Pond Street.

http://www.isbi.com/isbi-viewschool/1199-Hampstead_Hill_School.html#location

This is on the Lyndhurst/Rosslyn Hill junction next to St Stephen's Church and is the old church and community halls.

I've posted on St Stephen's before and now it nears completion and back into use I'll give more information, but for the mean time will dwell on the school.

http://474towin.blogspot.com/2008/04/come-on-st-stephens.html

The school founded in 1949 sits in the old halls (themselves build in 1908) and has an amazingly cheery atmosphere.

For those of us who use the local bus routes of the C11 and the 46 you can often admire the childrens artwork afixed to the gates and fences - it makes for one of the more pleasant notices to read when waiting.

The building has distinct church hall atmosphere to it and still has the foundation stone that reads:

+ AMDC +

THIS STONE WAS LAID
BY
ERNEST EDWARD LAKE
MAYOR OF HAMPSTEAD
JULY 14 1908
HERBEST N BATE, VICAR

EVERARD A FORD
CLARENCE E. BATHOLOMEW, CHURCHWARDENS

E. A. PEARCE, ARCHITECTS

I think the vicar, Herbet Bate was the co-author of a book Thoughts On The Shape Of The Liturgy (published in 1946), and THE HEALTHFUL SPIRIT. By the Rev. Herbert N. Bate, M.A., Vicar of St. Stephen's, Hampstead. With Introduction by the Bishop of London. Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d. net.

The only other I have found is this fascinating glimpse
Herbert Newell Bate 1871-1941
A Reticent Genius
Published by the Dean & Chapter of York
Memoir of the Dean of York Minster, previously Vicar of St Stephen's Hampstead, Christ Church Lancaster Gate, Canon of Carlisle, Rector of Hadleigh and Dean of Bocking.

More to follow I think...

Beheaded of Hampstead...

2009-07-11T07:23:00.001+01:00

There can't be too many people from the local area who have been beheaded and then recognised, but Sir Harry (Henry) Vane is one of them...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Vane_the_Younger

We're up on Hampstead High Street - just before modern day Greenhill opposite the end of Willoughby Road and there is a small close called Vane Close.

Vane Close is just by the entrance to the Royal School and on the wall to the left is one of the old London County Council plaques.

Harry Vane is definately a glamorous story and could even be quite a film with his american story and role on the national stage at a time of major political and constitutional change.

Few people so involved in the early days of America, the tribulations of the reign of Charles I, the Civil War and all that brought with it followed by the Restoration of Charles II.

Drinking water on the heath...

2009-07-10T07:23:00.001+01:00

I've covered the feeding and watering troughs before but not mentioned this one nustled on the side of East Heath Road on the Heath.

The viewpoint is stunning as you emerge from Gainsborough Gardens and Heathside and look across the Heath.

I used to live on Christchurch Hill and it was without a doubt one of my personal favourite walks and views...

http://474towin.blogspot.com/2008/01/where-is-metropolitan-drinking-fountain.html

http://474towin.blogspot.com/2008/03/back-to-fountains-and-public-water.html

I currently serve on the Hampstead Heath Management Committee and as a result particpate in a series of walks and site visits on the heath.

But even so there are just so many features and facets that you could explore and explore and still not know everything there is to see and understand about it - and these troughs just point at one aspect of the forgotten history.

Lots of people look at me really oddly when I tell them that sheep used to graze openly on the heath within living memory and so the use of horses was a norm of day-to-day travel - well here's some of the insight into that time gone by.

St Cuthbert and the hidden plaques

2009-07-09T07:45:00.002+01:00

This time we are in West Hampstead and Kilburn and it's St Cuhtbert's Church on Fordwych Road.

http://www.stcuthbertschurchhampstead.org.uk/welcome.htm

One of the nicest little churches it's a modern design (more of that later) but it's also quite hidden from the roadside.

The plaque on the wall is a tribute to Walter Watkins the first vicar who took over in 1882 and served for 48 (forty eight!!) years.

As well as the plaque there is the stone below which was clearly the foundation stone/topping off stone which reads
TO THE GLORY OF GOD
THIS STONE WAS LAID ON
AUGUST 23RD 1883

Further, just in front of the church, there is one of the bells from the church which is inscribed
TO THE GLORY OF GOD
IN LOVING MEMORY OF
GEORGIANA AND MARIAN CHESS
JULY 1906

One of things that always interests me with ecclesiatsical history is the origin of the saint and dedication - I should confess I wrote a history of St Norbert's Catholic Church in Spalding when much younger!

So for those that don;t know St Cuthbert is one of the great English saints from the era of evangelical christian golden age of the 7th century.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Cuthbert

His feast day is 20th March - perhaps that should be the occasion for a street party in Fordwych Road?

The reason why I mentioned the design is that the architecture for the current church was by a friend of mine Jeremy Allen of West Hampstead.

resuming active service...

2009-07-09T07:12:00.000+01:00

We've been a tad busy with work and european elections and stuff - including a brief break away - so the blog resumes normal service - apologies dear readers...

:-)

French food and the army

2009-06-19T07:24:00.000+01:00

We're back in the Kensal Green Cemetary - without a doubt the most underplayed attraction in the local area

The Gurkha Grave is quite something - the range of archtiectural gems are just great - but there was also this incredible war memorial...

http://474towin.blogspot.com/2009/05/ayo-gorkhali.html

http://474towin.blogspot.com/2009/04/how-many-royals-lived-to-71-and-didnt.html

The wreath which was laid on the memorial had the card which read:

Laid on behalf of the Army

Catering Corps

and Royal Logistic Corps

Associations in recognition

of the improvement made

to military catering dering

and after the Crimean War

by Alexis Benoit Soyer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexis_Soyer

Dedicated on 30th March 2009 at the unveiling of the restored monument to her.

Now the shrewd and speedy amongst you will have noted the Alexis and the use of 'her' - let me try and work it out.

The tribute from the Army is to Alexis (him) and the monument is a tribute by Alexis to his wife Elizabeth Emma Soyer (nee Jones), who died in 1842 following complications suffered in a premature childbirth brought on by a thunderstorm.

On the inscription on the back she is referred to as Madame Soyer!

:-)

Hero's and Tragedies

2009-06-18T07:49:00.000+01:00

This post relates directly to the charming gem that is Postman's Park in the City of London.

The park has amazing charm and is so peacefull and it draws on a Victorian Philanthropic tradition that feels like it has passed away in public institutions but still survives in human nature.

The Park is not in the local area nor any direct or indirect connection with Hampstead and Kilburn - bar there are four of the memorial plaques there that relate to 'locals'.

Henry Sisley of Kilburn
Aged 10 drowned in attempting to save his brother after he himself had just been rescued
May 24th 1878

Thomas Simpson
Died of exhaustion after saving many lives from the breaking ice at Highgate Ponds
Jan 25th 1885

Samuel Rabbeth
Medical Officer of the Royal Free Hospital who tried to save a child suffering from piphtheria at the cost of his own life
October 26th 1884

Edward Blake,
drowned whilst skating at Welsh Harp Waters Hendon in the attempt to rescue two unknown girls Feb 5th 1895

The Park is stunning and especially stunning given the small size of it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postman's_Park

http://www.thejoyofshards.co.uk/london/tiles/ppark/index.shtml

More recently and brilliantly ( a great piece of modernity building on a historic legacy) a new plaque was added in 2007

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/architecture_and_design/article6481318.ece

Victorian fervour on Carlton Vale

2009-06-17T11:29:00.007+01:00

I thought I had featured this little gem but looking back over the blog it seems I haven't.

It's West Kilburn Baptist Church and is located on Carlton Vale - right at the outer reaches of the local patch.

http://www.westkilburn.org/

The church is a great piece of confident mid Victorian religious architecture dating to 1865. Solid, gothic (but not dark) it retains the proseletysing characteristics that saw it set up. The accepted version is that it grew up and drew it's congregation from the many people located nearby working on the railway developments in the local area.

I managed to get inside the other month when out and about with Cllr Anthony Dunn and the original features are still there in full glory.

The Foundation Stone was laid on 23 March 1865. As was building tradition - dating back centuries - coins of the Realm bearing the portrait of the then-current monarch Queen Victoria - one shilling, one sixpence, one halfpenny - were laid with the foundations along with the text, "Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 3:11).

A Poster announcing the opening of the New Baptist Chapel dates this precisely to 3 August 1865. The church record show that the costs were high and reached £1,250.

Anthony and I were lucky enough to speak with the Pastor Peter Law and he has his own website here:

http://www.plaw.me.uk/index.php

Catching up here at the back

2009-06-17T11:27:00.002+01:00

It's been a tad busy and the blog has slipped a week or two

Normal service is now resuming so please return dear reader - but in the mean-time, thanks for your patience

Ed

The Film, the General and the Irish...

2009-06-03T14:55:00.003+01:00

Back on the Kilburn High Road we have the Sir Colin Campbell Pub.

It has a rich social heritage as a pub and a real tradition as an old local boozer.

There's a bit of bad feeling that there's no hanging sign outside and some attribute that to that fact that Sir Colin was an English soldier and not hanging it is a small anti-english gesture... I'm not sure either way and haven't had chance to ask.

But I have only just stumbled on this

http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/film.jsp?id=171139

http://www.lovefilm.com/film/County-Kilburn/126536/

http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/619618

It's a film that essentially is based in and around the Campbell

The interesting thing is the extent to which the film captures the atmosphere of the Irish tradition and the way in which the High Road has moved on in the 9 years since it was filmed.

I'm enjoying the DVD and would recommend it to all those who love Kilburn... There's a good review here if you scroll down http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0258507/

Ayo gorkhali

2009-05-28T08:06:00.001+01:00

Padding round Kensal Green cemetery this little gravestone stood out amidst the significant undergrowth - and considering the scale of the undergrowth...!

It's the grave of Henry Boisragon and his two children Guy Boisragon (a winner of the Victoria Cross) and Mabel Dent.

Cllr Carol Shaw, Cllr Simon Green and myself are shown here - the grave is immediately adjacent to Simon';s ward and he has been a staunch supporter of the armed forces and Royal British Legion and Carol's father fought alongside the gurkha's in WWII.

The grave reads:
In loving memorial
Major Genl. Henry F.M. Boisragon
Late of the 5th Gurkhas and 4th Sikhs
Born March 27th 1828
Died Sept 22nd 1890
and
Guy Huddleston Boisragon V.C.
Col. 5th Gurkhas
Born November 5th 1864
Died July 14th 1931
The shall be mine saith the Lord
In that day when I make up my jewels
Malachi 3.xvii

Sacred to the memory of
Mabel Maxwell Dent
Born November 7th 1862
Died February 17th 1942
Daughter of
Major Genl. H.F.M. Boisragon
wife of the late Major H.W. Dent
2nd Queens Royal Regiment
"I know that my redeemer liveth"

For more information http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Hudleston_Boisragon and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kensal_Green_Cemetery and http://www.kensalgreen.co.uk/ and http://www.gurkhajustice.org.uk/

Why the bridge is so crucial...

2009-05-27T08:16:00.001+01:00

This is one side of the many railway bridges that straddle the Kilburn High Road - it taken looking south from the footfalls of Shoot-Up-Hill.

This is the main railway bridge of the Metropolitan Line and is gloriously impressive in both it's scale, decor and condition.

One of the crucial elements with this bridge is it is the only one that has beendesigned to be painted and then by reflection has been painted - and though this angle doesn't show it off at it's best the painting is crucial.

Yet the other bridges of Kilburn High Road lays dirty and graffiti'd - there is a growing body of opinion and annoyance at the rail network's inability to maintain their bridges and understand the effect there bridges have on the street environment.

They may have become a magnet for street art, but their lack of maintenance makes them a visual drag on the atmospherics - come on rail networks - get your act together or does it require some street initiative from us to climb up and paint the bridges ourselves?

The elephant on the bridge

2009-05-19T08:38:00.003+01:00

We're on Mill Lane in West Hampstead and it's the mural on the railway bridge across Mill Lane (near Wayne Kirkum Way).

This is just one panel that has survived well and still smiles out at passers by.

I'm a huge fan of community murals and am stunned just how long they have survived over the years.

This one dates I think from the mid 1990's and is signed By Nakai Jirira, Age 10 1/2 (ten and a half).

For some it has a personal resonance, fprsome it's just dead cute, for all it's a great illumination in a string of panels that otherwise would be painted railway grey.

:-)

Sigh, this is such a sad spectacle...

2009-05-18T12:22:00.002+01:00

I try and avoid partisan politics on here but the demise of the good reputation of MPs seemed so inexorable that I helped co-ordinate this letter which went yesterday to Mr Speaker.

Dear Mr Speaker,

As Parliament continues to be dragged down by the allowance system, and its rules, the role of those in public service across the country is being undermined. We are Liberal Democrat candidates seeking to be elected to Parliament and yet we find ourselves disappointed, and frustrated, at the way in which this matter is being handled.

Every day our residents are telling us loudly that this must stop and this must stop now. Three things stand out:
• The resistance to the releasing of these documents and the attempt to exclude Parliament from the Freedom of Information requirements
• The way in which Norman Baker and Kate Hoey were treated when they sought to raise legitimate concerns
• The fact that, through you, parliament could now release the information into the public domain and cut short this parade of drip-fed news and empower MPs and citizens through a new transparent relationship.

It is vital that Parliament must become transparent and accountable now. We call on you, as Speaker of the House, to do everything within your power to force the full publication of all expenses immediately.

We also call on you to accept the independent review of MPs expenses and salaries chaired by Sir Christopher Kelly. If you are unable to do this we then ask you to consider your position.

Time is running out for politicians of all parties to repair the damage to our democracy.

Yours sincerely

56 Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidates
Ed Fordham, Hampstead and Kilburn
Sal Brinton, Watford
Andrew Simpson, Northampton North
Bridget Fox, Islington South & Finsbury; Duncan Borrowman, Old Bexley and Sidcup; Steve Goddard, Oxford East; Adrian Collett, Aldershot; Adam Carew, East Hampshire; Gareth Epps, Reading East; Sally Morgan, Central Devon; Sue Doughty, Guildford; Rebecca Hunt. Chatham & Aylesford; Sarah Carr, Hereford and South Herefordshire; Guy Voizey Canterbury and Whitstable; Jo Shaw, Holborn and St Pancras; Liz Leffman, Meon Vallley; Merlene Emerson, Hammersmith; Sandy Walkington, St Albans; Richard Burt, West Worcestershire; Caroline Pigeon, Vauxhall; Kevin Lang, Edinburgh North & Leith; Andrew Dakers, Brentford and Isleworth; Andrew Duffield,Hexham; David Kendall, Brentwood and Ongar; Ann Haigh, Epping Forest; Simon Wright, Norwich South; Liz Simpson, Tonbridge and Malling; Sam Webber, Bromley and Chislehurst; Rabi Martins - Luton North; Greg Stone, Newcastle East; Theo Butt-Philip, Bridgwater and West Somerset; Dave Radcliffe, Birmingham Selly Oak; Richard Clein, Sefton Central; Mike Cox, Uxbridge and South Ruislip; Andy Stamp, Gillingham & Rainham; Stephen Lloyd, Eastbourne & Willingdon; Mark Blackburn, Westminster North; Denis Healy, Hull North; Robin Lawrence, Wolverhampton South West; Alex Feakes, Lewisham and West Penge; Andrew Falconer, Brighton Pavilion; Dave McBride, Orpington; Nigel Quinton, Hitchin & Harpenden; Alan Beddow, Warwick and Leamington; David Goodall, Southampton Itchen; Ryk Downes, Leeds Central; Chris Took, Ashford; Peter Wilcock, Saffron Walden; Karen Hamilton, Birmingham Perry Barr; Qurban Hussain, Luton South; Keith Angus, Hackney North and Stoke Newington; Stephen Robinson, Chelmsford; Mike Bell, Weston-super-Mare; Dave Raval, Hackney South and Shoreditch; Fred Mackintosh, Edinburgh South; Munira Wilson, Feltham and Heston; Paul Zukowskyj, Welwyn Hatfield.

No books here since 1954...

2009-05-16T08:10:00.001+01:00

Most people who use and know the public Library in West Hampstead know it on the corner of Dennington Park Road.

But for a time (4-ish years!) after it was bombed out of Westbere Road it sought refuge in the corner of Mill Lane and Fortune Green Road.

The entrance is pictured here in Cholmley Gardens and has a small little plaque on the left hand side of the entrance.

I've touched on this topic briefly before
http://474towin.blogspot.com/2008/02/from-councillor-to-tower-block-and-mp.html

It's a small historical link but a nice little piece...

I've also touched on the wider library story in Camden here
http://474towin.blogspot.com/2008/10/has-public-philanthropy-currency-in-our.html

All change - the proof is in the shopping

2009-05-08T07:29:00.000+01:00

Before the much maligned Tesco in West End Lane opens I thought I'd just place on the public record some of the hoarding we have enjoyed over the weeks and months...

Along with the very loud and explicit commitments to being a store that works with the community.

What might be the evidence of those links with the community?

Low use of plastic bags with no automatic provision to shoppers
High profile provision of cotton and bags for life
Active support for the West Hampstead local food festival and the Jester Festival
Involvement of staff in West Hampstead community events - through the area forum, the community association etc.

There's no shortage of opportunity - let's see the reality of the words - straplines or beliefs?

1828 and still going strong...

2009-05-07T18:53:00.001+01:00

This isn't the most obvious thing and in fact i only spotted it by accident. I was photographing round Holly Hill, Hampstead, NW3 and decided to capture the Junior Branch of University College School (JB, UCS) - of which I am a Governor.

And there on the pavement in the railing is a splendid original iron post.

It reads:
St. Johns
Hampstead
B. Griffin
- & -
J. Kelly
1828

St Johns is the parish of the church in Hampstead and it's a great little survivor of times gone by.

The post now is 180 years old which makes you pause and reflect when you see the quality of comparable street architecture being installed today across London...

In 1828 of course the world was a very different place: Wellington as Prime Minister, Andrew Jackson President of America, Zulu Leader Shaka dies, Francisco Goya the painter dies, Dante Gabriel Rosetti is born as is Leo Tolstoy... George IV has been on the throne for 8 years and will reign for a further 2.

How many royals lived to 71 and didn't marry?

2009-04-26T08:33:00.000+01:00

The scale of this treasure is so big that it's not hidden at all - it's right in front of us!

Yep, it's a graveyard and regular readers will know my penchant http://474towin.blogspot.com/2008/05/day-out-in-graveyard.html

But this is one of the finest London has to offer. It's Kensal Green cemetery and it contains some of the finest names of society.

More details can be found here http://www.kensalgreen.co.uk/

I have uploaded a full rack of these pictures into my Facebook profile Ed Fordham - so join in there is you can. Otherwise I can recommend this as perfect bank holiday walking material...

This particular grave is of HRH Princess Sophia (1777-1848), fifth daughter of George III http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Sophia_of_the_United_Kingdom

When is a church like a ship?

2009-04-25T07:45:00.000+01:00

Loads of people walk past this building and don't really pay attention to it...

It's the Willesden and St Marylebone Sea Cadet Corps...
http://units.ms-sc.org/willesden/Default

More on the Sea Cadets here:
http://londonarea.ms-sc.org/Home

The amazing thing about this building is that it's designed like a church, is corrogated iron and concrete blocks, it's listed, and the interior defies all imagination.

The interior of the building is laid out like the exterior of a ship! TS Bicester!

It's true - if you are passing and there's a fete or anything on do do do take the chance to pop in - it's Cambridge Road, just up from Kilburn Park Tube station...

Bergen-Belsen blog report 2

2009-04-23T08:00:00.000+01:00

One of the slightly unlikely elements of the camp at Bergen-Belsen was the number of Russian prisoners held there. And so these pictures record the Russian cemetery and the Belarus Ambassador to Germany (?) leading the tributes (below - suited).

This was essentially due to it's being used as a prisoner of war camp initially. It's only later that it was used for Jewish and civillian prisoners and then subsequently as a concentration camp.

So it is that over 50,000 Russians lie buried here... a truly awful number of people. And of course being so far removed from Russia, in western Germany, it's one of the more over-looked elements.

The burial mounds are all laid out and marked with a brown stone witha slavic cross - the number of them is the most daunting feature of the graveyard.

The other element that is so stark is just how far away from the document centre and the Jewish memorial the Russian monument is...

It adds to the sense of a forgotten sacrifice and reveals a small element of the tensions that existed.

Further, it also illustrates the size of the camp when in operation and the extent to which the forest has since encroached back. The other factor is that actually the prisoners in the camp were themselves segregated and kept very very much apart...

Bergen-Belsen blog report 1

2009-04-21T12:19:00.000+01:00

I'd been putting off the visit for a while so wasn't quite sure what to expect. For those not familiar Bergen-Belsen was a concentration camp in Lower Saxony from the second world war - my grandfather had been in the liberation relief forces and I had been planning to for ages.

Because of the typhus outbreak before, at liberation the camp was totally destroyed and burnt down and so it has the effect of being essentially a wooded park land with memorials and graves.

But four kilometeres up the road, close to the village of Bergen itself are the rail track where the prisoners were unloaded and forced to walk to the camp.

It is a truly awful and poignant reminded of the reality if what was involved.

I walked from Bergen to the tracks and then onto the camp and it gave a real sense of perspective on the alienation of being uprooted from your home and transported to this place - unfamiliar, aggressive, unpleasant - a genocidal holocaust...

Now there is a sculpted memorial (above left) and also a service where local residents and school-children have written out the names of many of those transported to the camp and then candles are lit - some speakers, a few songs and a time to reflect. very moving, very emotional...
www.ag-bergen-belsen.de
www.bergenbelsen.de

My stance on MPs expenses

2009-04-20T21:15:00.003+01:00

I've had so many questions on this I thought I'd lay out the basis for how I'd like to operate if I am fortunate enough to be elected as your local MP when the General Election is called...

1. I live in the constituency – it’s the least residents can expect from their local MP. I will never claim for a second home. Taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay for second homes of London MPs.

2. I will never employ members of my family. My staff will be appointed on merit, not on connections and they will have to work hard to justify their salary.

3. I will voluntarily publish my accounts so that constituents can see where their money is going.

4. I will vote to abolish the infamous "John Lewis List" and for independent spot checks on MPs accounts.

5. I believe that staff employed by MPs should in fact be House of Commons staff and their pay and conditions should be determined under Civil Service terms. It is not fair that office staff are used as a political football.

6. I do not believe that MPs pay and expenses should be set by MPs.

Here's the 5 Live programme I was on today discussing this topic from the London home of John Mann MP (Labour, Bassetlaw):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00jyblh (from 1.05 minutes in)
and
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/victoriaderbyshire/2009/04/inside_a_mps_second_home.html

Now it's West Hampstead that's moving...

2009-04-17T08:00:00.000+01:00

Well, if you thought the pace of change was fast in Kilburn or South End Green, then here is the evidence that it's a pacey old world out there.

Here in West hampstead you really do need to watching and keeping a close eye on things.

It's goodbye The Vault, goodbye The Wash House and hello to The Alice House...

All three are on West End Lane but the point is a rather graphic illustration of how fast the business community moves.

West Hampstead has in recent years undergone a major rennaisance (depending on your likes and dislikes of course) but has developed a real cafe culture and a sense of evening bars into which you can easily drop in.

No doubt there are those who don't like the specifics, but I'm sure we can all join in being pleased that there is at least this level of vibrancy in the local economy.

So once again it's keep up at the back there... the world is a changing...