The Bristow Blog

Boris launches Environment manifesto

Highlights from Boris Johnson's environment manifesto:

"1. Protect And Preserve Open Spaces

• Use the Mayor's powers to protect the green belt and protect against development on gardens

• Invest £6 million in making our open spaces cleaner and safer.
• Invest in 10,000 street trees to improve the local neighbourhoods that need them most.

2. Make It Easier To Recycle And Reduce Waste

• Promote innovative new schemes that pay Londoners to recycle.
• Work closely with boroughs to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill, and support a ban on plastic bags.

3. Make Transport More Sustainable

• Oppose the third runway at Heathrow and mixed mode operation.
• Promote hybrid buses and get traffic moving more smoothly to reduce congestion and so reduce emissions.
• Make London a genuinely cycle-friendly city to promote modal shift.

4. Help Tackle Climate Change

• Work to help cut London's carbon emissions by 60% from their 1990 levels by 2025, through promoting greater energy efficiency and cutting congestion
• Work with the boroughs to encourage Londoners to install insulation in return for Council Tax rebates.
• Champion innovation through an annual Mayor's prize of £20,000 for the best new ideas for low carbon technology from London's students."

Olympic roadshow in Lyric Square

The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games ‘Get Set London Roadshow’ visited Lyric Square yesterday.  Myself and Cllr Stainton met with Urszula Bondler, Director of New Europe Personnel, and Jonathan Edwards, CBE, Olympian Triple Jump Gold Medalist.

Run jointly by the London Development Agency and London 2012, the roadshow brings to life some of London’s ambitions for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.  It is a chance for Londoners to find out how the 2012 Games will benefit jobs and skills, culture, sports, business and regeneration in the capital.

The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be a truly wonderful ocassion. It will put London at the centre of the world both from a sporting point of view and from a cultural perspective.

The Roadshow is the first of many events from the Hammersmith and Fulham council celebrating the 100 year anniversary of the 1908 Olympic games held in White City.  For more information on the 1908 Legacy celebrations contact H&F events team on 0208 753 3807.

A truly barbaric spectacle

I despise the annual Canadian seal cull. 

The barbaric slaughter of 325,000 harp seals is currently taking place on the Canadian ice - every year we are treated to the sight of animals having their skulls crushed, their bodies hooked with a metal spike and dragged away leaving a bloody trail on the ice?  Many are skinned alive. 

The Canadian government hide behind excuses such as seals eating fish stocks or it being a tradition of native inuits.  We all know it is about fur and seal oils.  Pelts can fetch £20-40 a piece.  Many of those who take part are fishermen by trade and it is a way for them to make some extra cash.

There has been pressure for a ban on seal imports for a number of years and it looks like the EU is finally ready to act.  I know through reading his 'Diaries' that former Conservative MP Alan Clark tried to introduce a private members Bill to ban the fur trade as far back as the 1980s.    

It is time we closed down the market for seal fur and put an end to this cruel annual slaughter.

NUT press to ban the military in schools

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about student unions banning the military from recruiting at universities - http://thebristowblog.typepad.com/the_bristow_blog/2008/03/london-students.html

It would appear that the NUT are joining their junior comrades and want the same ban in our schools.

One delegate commented on what he considered the menace of misleading recruitment material:

"Let's just try and imagine what that recruitment material would have to say were it not to be misleading,"

"We would have material from the MoD saying 'Join the army and we will send you to carry out the imperialist occupation of other people's countries.

"'Join the army and we will send you to bomb, shoot and possibly torture fellow human beings in other countries.

"'Join the army and be sent, probably poorly equipped, into situations where people try and shoot you and kill you because you are occupying their countries.

This is just embarassing.  I worry that through the unpopularity of the Iraq war, and bashing from left wing institutions like the NUT, the respect with which the public hold our armed forces is eroding.

The NUT should focus on improving standards in schools and on representing their members.  Just like student unions, the leadership of the NUT in no way represent ordinary members.  When they make irrelevant proclimations like this, they shame the institution.  I have many friends who are teachers and members of the NUT, but who laugh at the organisation.  This is sad because there are challenges facing the profession and schools, that could do with professional input.

It is time for a step change - it is time for the NUT to become relevant again.

Hypocrite of the week

Andy Slaughter - MP for Ealing & Acton - is appearing in the national newspapers - but yet again for all the wrong reasons:

Slaughter's first-class hypocrisy on post offices

Could that shuffling noise be the sound of Andrew Slaughter MP moonwalking back from his constituency pledge to save post offices? The acrobatic member for Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush performed a stunning and hazardous flip on Wednesday night that would have been the pride of the trapezist Alfredo Codona.

At 7.15pm, like scores of other Labour parliamentary colleagues mouthing off locally about stopping post office closures, Slaughter voted with the Government to continue the programme of 2,500 closures. Labour's majority was reduced to just 20.

But never let the details get in the way of the bigger picture. At 7.45pm, Slaughter (known to opponents as Andrew S Laughter) found himself addressing an open meeting in Hammersmith Town Hall on the subject.

Over to his political opponent Greg Hands, the MP for Hammersmith and Fulham, for a description of the fastest U-turn in the Westminster village: "He appeared with me and stood there and decried the local post office closures and even said he will back Ken Livingstone's judicial review! He came out with a mealy mouthed line like he saw the need to close some post offices but disagreed with the choice of closures locally, which got a massive boo.

"Even in these times reeking of hypocrisy, it is surely one of the swiftest volte-faces ever!"

Slaughter, 47, declined to call yesterday to explain all. Perhaps one of his blue-rinsed constituents could solicit his opinion with the help of a solid handbagging?

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/pandora/pandora-paws-for-thought-799022.html

Post Office public meeting

Some pictures below from the Post Office public meeting organised by Hammersmith & Fulham council.  The message from residents, the council, and local MPs was:

Keep our post offices open!

In order:

• Me (no prizes for guessing that)
• Greg Hands MP (Hammersmith & Fulham)
• Shaun Bailey (Conservative Candidate for Hammersmith)
• Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh (leader of the council)

Video of David Cameron's visit to Kenyon Street post office

David Cameron in Hammersmith & Fulham campaiging against Post Office closures

David Cameron today came to Hammersmith & Fulham to see for himself the threat to our post office network.  He visted the threatened branch at number 58 Kenyon Street, Fulham.

We discussed the council campaign, our public meeting, petition, and our proposal to use council facilities to keep post office branches open.

The Post Office claim that they cannot keep the network going as it is.  We are offering council premises such as libraries in the hope we can keep functioning branches running.

Our public meeting to protest against post office closures will take place tomorrow evening at 7pm - Hammersmith Town Hall. 

The Boris campaign starts today!

Boris Johnson today spells out his plans to make London safer, give taxpayers value for money, defend our green and open spaces, improve transport and tackle congestion.

In this message he describes the choice Londoners face between more of the same with Ken Livingstone and his plans to bring energy and fresh thinking to London.

Today marks the start of the official countdown to the polling day for the Mayoral election on May 1st.  It is an election that is vital to those who live in Greater London as it gives you the opportunity to have your say on crime, value for money, the local environment and transport and congestion.

If you agree with Boris Johnson’s message for a change for the better for London then please send this to all your friends and family eligible to vote on May 1st.

http://www.backboris.com

Latest on the Tasso Road development

On Saturday residents from Tasso Road and the surrounding streets came together to show opposition to the proposed development at the end of their road.

I was there together with Cllr Gavin Donovan and Shaun Bailey, the Conservative Parliamentary candidate for Hammersmith.

We are hoping that this show of strength will make the developers think again and withdraw their application.  Residents are angry that there was no pre-application consultation.  If there was, the developer would not have failed to notice that residents feel the site is too big, overbearing, and out of character of the rest of the street.

The campaign continues....