London decides this Thursday
On Thursday we have a decision to make about how London is run over the next four years.
We elect a Mayor and Police and Crime Commissioner, but also a London Assembly.
They are both important and I would encourage you to use all your votes.
I urge you to vote for Brian Paddick for the Mayoral election. He has great policies to help keep fares down, including a 1-hour bus ticket, and he will also help ensure London is a safer place. There is no more qualified to be the next Police Commission for London than Brian Paddick.
Please also vote for me as your next London Assembly Member representing Hammersmith, Fulham, Kensington, and Westminster.
I am committed to this area. I have strong links with both boroughs and I am determined that the two boroughs are not neglected at City Hall.
One issue I am most committed to is tackling London’s appalling air pollution. It leads to over 4,000 Londoners dying early – it affects both the young and the old. It is one of London’s most significant public health issues. The Campaign
for Clean Air in London have recognised the excellent record and policies of Liberal Democrats on this issue. Voting Liberal Democrat on Thursday is a vote for cleaner air!
For more information about our policies, including making our roads safer for pedestrians and cyclists, building more homes and helping more young people get back into work see our manifesto.
Finally, do also remember that you voting for Londonwide Assembly Members. Liberal Democrat London Assembly Members such as Caroline Pidgeon have taken up dozens on issues in Greenwich and Lewisham, from unsafe pedestrian crossings to the shameful record of Transport for London’s empty properties on the South Circular. She also played a key role in challenging Greenwich Council over its incompetence relating to upgrading the Greenwich
and Woolwich foot tunnels.
It is vital that Caroline is re-elected and with a strong Liberal Democrat London Assembly team to support her. Please do vote London Liberal Democrat on the orange ballot paper.
Postal Vote
Click here to download a postal vote form: PV Form
A Sad Tale from Crossrail: help Save Big Table
If you come out of Westbourne Park tube and turn left, just after the taxi ranks, there lies one of London’s little hidden gems: a bespoke bedmaker firm called Big Table. I went there because a constituent had told me about their plight in the wake of Crossrail Compulsory Purchase Order that they were fighting, and I wanted to see if there was any way we could help them.
I enter the beautiful old building (which I am later told is the last remaining Victorian railworker tea-house in the Country and a building of local and national heritage) and am met by Kim, one of the owner/managers. She says follow me, and I do, into a warren of rooms where I am shown the bedmaking process (mattress and all) from start to finished product. Despite their name, Big Table make only beds. From scratch. On site. To be perfectly honest, I did not know it was done like this anymore and there is no doubting that this is not just a bed shop, it is a workshop for master craftsmen.
The business has been doing well. After the blip caused by the Western Extension to the Congestion Charge Zone, it recovered well, and in the summer they had plans to take on two new apprentices, training up young people to take on some of these specialized skills and double production. They have money in the bank and want to spend it on local job creation. What could be better?
Then on 24th June 2011, Crossrail served them with a Compulsory Purchase Order to bulldoze the building to make way for an electricity substation on the site. The remaining 10 years on their lease were wiped out in an instant, and the business plan went out of the window. They have never been told why it has to be there and cannot be anywhere else.
Since then, Steve, Kim and the team have been living with a cloud over their heads and a local community campaign has begun to save this vibrant business and historically significant building. Crossrail have postponed the order until January 30th and keep moving the goal posts. A good thing in one respect as the business stays open, but they cannot plan, suppliers are getting jittery (many of whom are also small local businesses) and they haven’t had a single day off except Christmas. While both are clearly coping admirably under the pressure, you can imagine the strain of not knowing if you will have a business and a job next season.
I am, alongside other local politicians who have been contacted, fully behind them and will do everything I can to get some of the answers they are looking for. Most urgent is the very simple question: Why here? Until that is answered this makes Crossrail look like a £16bn bully and Boris an impotent puppet in their hands. If he cannot save a thriving local business proposing to create jobs in specialized crafts for young people, then I ask what good is he as a Mayor?
Liberal Democrats have always been behind Crossrail as a green, efficient solution to London’s groaning Transport infrastructure, and I very much still am. But I implore them to look at this case again and work closely with Big Table to see if there is any way of saving the business or at the very least giving them a much longer notice period so they can have the time to train up the new craftsmen so the skills aren’t lost forever.
If anyone reading this wants to get more involved, please contact the campaign on this email: stopcrossrail@gmail.com and you can go to www.facebook.com/bigtable56 for information on the campaign and the business.
I have told Kim, Steve and their team that the local Liberal Democrats are firmly on their side and agree with the over 3000 local residents who have signed a petition against the demolition. Crossrail and Boris Johnson need to think again. After all, it’s an election year, you never know what politicians may be willing to concede if enough people kick up a fuss…