Redbridge Response to the Riots

Since Monday evening things have calmed down in Romford and elsewhere. On Tuesday our businesses still closed earlier and I watched the owner of the camera shop downstairs packing his merchandise into his car to take it all home for the night. There were half a dozen police patrolling the car park and no sign of the looters. At around 11pm I went downstairs to thank them for their efforts and to offer them a mug of coffee.

Wednesday was even quieter with no sign of trouble. Last night was pretty much business as usual with pubs and clubs open and a large police presence which is not unusual here on busy nights. So is this the calm after the storm or the eye of the hurricane? A briefing at Ilford Town Hall summarised the current position.

In Redbridge the disorder on Monday was more serious. Around 200 rioters ran amock in the High Road after 5pm. Borough Commander, Chief Superintendent Sue Williams, deployed her entire officer contingent - already depleted by the transfer of officers to riots in Inner London - including detectives, to clear the crowd and the street was taken back with only a few shops attacked.

Some of the rioters struck again in Ilford Lane, attacking two jewellers and it took time for police to chase them away. Like Romford, it appears that criminals were avoiding conflict with the police, instead seeking to capitalise on the situation by stealing electronics, jewellery and fashion items.

As at Thursday evening we were told there had been 950 arrests and we know that this number passed 1,000 overnight. 44 arrests had been made in connection with the Redbridge incidents and 63% of these were local people. 57% were unemployed but some were also in good jobs, indicating that this had nothing to do with 'poverty'. 95% of those arrested were male but surprisingly only 3 people were under 16. With arrests continuing these figures are merely a snapshot of a changing position, but Sue declared that the police were going to track down these criminals and arrest every one of them.

And audience made up largely of charities, business groups and neighbourhood watch coordinators had many questions and concerns, but all were keen to work together to come through this crisis. There was considerable support for the police and refreshingly little enthusiasm for excusing the behaviour of looters.

Sue Williams reassured us that there were no plans to reduce police numbers in the borough, beyond the redeployment of some sergeants in the safer neighbourhood team review. Redbridge Council was funding 13 additional officers in an agreement which was set to run for several years.

Concerns were expressed that sentences would not reflect the gravity of the situation, particularly for young offenders who - with some justification - see the courts as powerless when it come to imposing meaningful punishments. In one case a man caught with two stolen T shirts had been fined just £100 then told he wouldn't have to pay it because he had spent a day in custody - you get more than that for parking illegally! I guess we shall just have to wait and see the sentences imposed by the Crown Courts.

There were worries about how 'reasonable force' is defined if you defend your own property. This has been a vexed question for a very long time and the riots will reopen the debate. Because people live in town centres this is about more than defending goods, it's about defending homes and livelihoods as well. The law needs clearing up to give unambiguous support to residents and business owners who choose to fight back, not least because it will always take the police time to respond to a call.

There were also some positive proposals. Parents should be leafleted to make them aware of the importance of keeping children under control. Redbridge youth service were texting young people to warn them to stay indoors and most were taking notice. There were also calls to ban hoodies in the town centre.

Many people were surprised by the high quality of the CCTV images from Monday night. TfL have been using high definition CCTV pictures to prosecute criminals on the bus network for some time and like TfL the police are now publishing pictures of suspects. It is worth everyone taking a look and the link is www.met.police.uk/disordersuspects . Anyone who identifies a suspect or has other useful information can call the police on 020 8345 4142 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

"This is Great, Bruv - You Can Just Take Anything You Want!"

Those were the words of a hooded youngster who sauntered with his half dozen friends down the alleyway next to my flat in Romford town centre at around 2:30 this morning. He went on to encourage another boy to steal something for his girlfriend.

Living in town, you come to recognise when trouble is building up during the day. Yesterday afternoon the first sign that all was not well was the arrival of groups of boys on bikes, many very young, riding like posses of outlaws through the crowded streets, performing stunts and buzzing shoppers.

As five o'clock approached, businesses and venues pulled the shutters down and the streets started to clear. There would be no eating out, going to see a film or clubbing. The owner of the camera shop downstairs told me that the looters were coming to Romford and advised me to stay inside.

Shadows lengthened and little groups of youths began to appear. The alleyway was quickly identified as a good place to hide out and half a dozen people collected, muttering and looking lost - obviously not from the area. One had his mobile phone out and was texting away. They were a mixed group, four black and two white, for unlike the eighties this is not about race. And they were expensively dressed, for this is not about poverty either.

A police car drew up and four officers in stab vests approached the youths, taking their details and filming them with a hand held video camera. The youths slouched away but the police remained, patrolling the large car park and approaching groups as they gathered. At one point several would be rioters collected around the bottle bank - a possible source of missiles. Later on the window of a clothes shop was attacked but the masked looters fled as a police car arrived, its blue lights flashing.

In Romford that was the pattern for the night. The looters sought to avoid contact with the police, retreating into the dark and waiting for another chance. Targets were carefully chosen - JD Sports and Debenhams were attacked. This wasn't any sort of protest, it was opportunistic theft and vandalism, the sort of thing that we sometimes see when a power failure turns the street lights out.

We got off lightly, but in Ilford there was much more damage and looting around the town centre and of course other parts of London suffered greatly. Steve O'Connell who represents Croydon emailed me to say "my town centre is ablaze", a tragedy for the small businesses and residents who lost their homes. The emergency services, particularly fire crews showed great bravery and dedication to duty. Dick Tracey reported attacks in Clapham where police successfully deployed armoured vehicles to break up a crowd. Andrew Boff was out in Hackney, watching as gangs effectively took over the Pembury Estate for several hours.

And what can we expect tonight? Who knows, for London is in uncharted territory. With police reinforced to more than double last night's numbers, and with some 400 looters arrested and off the streets the trouble should be easier to contain but people are demanding a tougher response. I have had requests for water cannon and tear gas to be deployed and I urge police to consider such options.

Perhaps a curfew would help to clear the streets of the 'riot tourists' who have been in evidence in some places, allowing the police to focus on the criminals. With all the businesses and venues closed there is little to leave home for anyway.

We also need to see some swift justice handed down to those who have been arrested, preferably in the next couple of days. Theft and disorder are serious crimes and some exemplary prison sentences will deter copycat incidents. Conspiracy is also a serious charge which could lead to the social networkers doing a stretch.

For the longer term, if planners are to continue encouraging residential development in town centres - and I believe that they should - then they also need to plan for the security of those residents. Destruction of commercial property is sometimes seen as acceptable because the insurers will pay, but mixed developments mean that homes and lives are now at stake.

And is it too much to hope that we will see less acceptance and even glorification of dumbed down, insolent 'street culture'?? There are too many examples - including advertising material promoted by the very sportswear and entertainment industries that have been targeted - but perhaps the most pervasive is that awful London 2012 logo that was designed to look like graffiti. Our city has many things to boast about but street culture is not one of them.

I have asked for an emergency meeting of the Conservative Assembly Members at City Hall, so that we can share our experiences, get briefed by the emergency services and debate ways to deal with this crisis and to make our city safer in future.

Building The Tube

This morning the Transport Committee met to take evidence from TfL. In the hot seats were board member Christopher Garnett, who chairs TfL's rail and underground panel and veteran engineer David James, brought in post PPP to run the new Independent Investment Programme Advisory Group or IIPAG for short.

IIPAG comprises eight experienced engineers and project managers from the rail industry. They are reviewing the projects carried out under PPP with the aim of saving over £1 billion and improving delivery. IIPAG reports, we were told, send tough messages about what needs to be done, messages that are respected because of the experience of the Group. We had to take their word on this as the IIPAG reviews are not public documents and we don't get to see them. The reports are considered by TfL's Finance Committee who are regarded as much tougher than previous boards - Christopher Garnett memorably described the boards that Ken Livingstone appointed as 'malleable'. Meanwhile, the results will be summarised in an annual report from IIPAG which will be a public document.

On the positive side, David James reported that PPP had created a comprehensive register of London Underground assets, documenting the state of each line - something which was not previously available. Current performance was also good, with the Northern Line unusually delivering its best results ever and the Piccadilly not far behind. Of course things aren't so good on the Jubilee and we would return to that later.

On the negative side, IIPAG had concluded that project management skills in TfL were not equal to delivering major upgrade work. Skilled people were available but TfL would have to recruit them and pay a competitive rate - including a bonus for successful completion of projects on time and within budget. IIPAG had recommended that TfL set up a central project management team with an overview of both railways and surface transport. Instead TfL planned to set up two teams, keeping these areas separate. This was a bone of contention with IIPAG claiming it would lead to extra costs and division across projects, when 80% of the work was being done in London Underground.

IIPAG was benchmarking the various lines against one another to identify best practice, but they did not see the value of benchmarking with other metros at this stage, because the London system is older and larger than most, with a greater number of deep level lines.


Victoria Line

A review of the work done on this project concluded that the work had gone well, particularly on the new signal system. The only problem had arisen because new train doors were over sensitive and the trains had not been sufficiently run in before they were introduced.


Jubilee Line

The Jubilee resignalling project had not gone well and there were lessons to be learned. IIPAG recommended that future line upgrades should be done in sections rather than across the whole line to reduce disruption. They also recommended testing of signalling and train IT off line before their introduction and earlier involvement of the drivers and signallers who would have to use the kit.

Surprisingly the specification for the Jubilee Line signalling had ruled out two directional working as an unnecessary refinement. This mistake would not be repeated.


Northern Line

An established signalling system would be used in the Northern Line upgrade, minimizing the risk of breakdown. This time the contract was between London Underground and the supplier, so LU's responsibilities were clear. The Northern Line project was due for completion before the complex sub surface line resignalling started.


Circle, District, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan

Resignalling of the sub surface lines was the next big project. Composed of over 40 individual projects a high level of oversight was required. IIPAG had recommended the appointment of a leading industry figure, and they would be monitoring the progress of the project - including costs - carefully.

The new signalling system was the same as the one recently installed at Madrid with no weekend closures! Whilst closures could not be ruled out in London they would be kept to an absolute minimum, certainly fewer than experienced in other recent Tube upgrades.


Bakerloo, Central, Piccadilly

Upgrades on these lines were due to complete in 2017/18 but they had fallen back because of a shortage of funding. London Underground would be making the case to government for the funding of the last three PPP projects, thus completing a process that feels like it started a lifetime ago.

Stop The Press - It's Mayor's Questions

Yesterday saw the last Mayor's Question Time before the recess. This is traditionally a fairly rowdy affair as members let their hair down in anticipation of a long break and Wednesday morning was no exception.

A prepared list of questions largely went by the board in favour of a feeding frenzy around the News International scandal and the mayor's involvement.


News of The Screws

Ken Livingstone was in the public gallery for the initial exchanges. He was wearing his dark suit which only ever sees the daylight when he wants to be seen as serious, so he was clearly expecting to face some questions himself. Actually he had just come from the launch of Labour's London Assembly candidates, a diverse group that includes Tracey Ullman's daughter - might come in useful to have someone who knows the words of 'Break Away'....

Len Duvall led the Labour group's charges against Boris. These centred around the fact that the mayor himself had experienced News of The World phone hacking but had declined to be a witness in the prosecution of those responsible back in 2006. More seriously he was chairing the police authority in 2009 when AC John Yates had decided - after a review lasting eight hours - not to reopen the case, and he had subsequently made some dismissive comments at Question Time.

On the first charge I have some sympathy with Boris. At the time he was an MP and had no responsibility for the police, and understandably he had no wish to see his personal life dragged through the courts with all the consequent publicity. The police had told him that his cooperation was not necessary and indeed they did secure convictions against Mulcaire and Goodman without his help. Both men received significant prison sentences.

On the second charge, Yates had assured Boris that there was no public interest in pursuing further prosecutions given the other priorities that Scotland Yard faced. To have issued conflicting orders might have looked like a personal vendetta, given that the mayor had himself been a victim.

Ken came in for some stick as well, and he sat grim faced in the third row whilst Conservative members revealed his list of meetings and social contacts with Murdoch, Brooks and co. They also highlighted the many payments he received from News International for writing their newspaper columns.

It's a microcosm of the debate which was going on up the river at Westminster. For the last two decades politicians, police and the press have enjoyed a cosy relationship, largely dictated by the enormous power wielded by the editors and proprietors. One day the music was going to stop, leaving everyone looking tainted.

Not that I blame the politicians for currying favour. Kinnock (1992), Major (1997), Hague (2001), Duncan Smith (2003) and Brown (2008) were all heavily damaged by hostile news reporting and there was a view that you could not win an election in the UK without Murdoch's support. I think that view was exaggerated, it was less 'The Sun What Won It' and more 'The Sun What Predicted It and Joined the Winning Side', but even so it was never an advantage to have them working against you.

For police chiefs and people running other public organisations a positive press was essential to maintaining public confidence. They don't have PR departments for the fun of it.

And for those of us further down the political chain, backbench MPs, Assembly Members, Councillors, well we just kept our heads down and hoped they wouldn't notice us. To complain publicly about the press was akin to standing up to complain about snipers in a war zone. Only the foolhardy would do it once, only the lucky would do it twice.

And at the very end of the meeting, I posed an uncomfortable question that can't have been only on my mind. Had members of the Assembly been hacked? With a list of 4,000 victims less than 200 of whom have been informed, I believe this is a real possibility. And have members of the Metropolitan Police Authority been hacked?

There's a lot of blame being passed around at the moment. I'm just pleased that the music has stopped and there is the prospect of a new start. The End of The World leaves a gaping hole which may widen if other titles follow it, and we need to be very vigilant about how that gap is filled. The cross party motion in Parliament yesterday was a good start and it would be nice to see the same spirit prevail at City Hall.


Mini Cabs

In the shadow of the Murdoch furore, members did manage to raise some other important matters. I have received complaints about unlicensed mini cabs recently so I asked Boris about his plans to drive these cowboys off our streets.

The enforcement unit had been doubled in size to 68 police officers and a recent operation in Marylebone had resulted in 39 arrests. In the year up to May 2011 the number of reported sex attacks in mini cabs had fallen by 20%. Nevertheless there was still a lot to do and the fact that 79% of those arrested already had criminal records highlights a problem with repeat offending.

For passengers seeking a licensed vehicle there is the Cabwise service - text CABWISE to 60835 - which provides the details of three reputable carriers near to the desired location.

I still get plenty of emails about taxi touts both in central London and on my own patch so TfL and the Met Police cannot afford to rest on their laurels.

Evidence to the IRP

For much of June I have been laid low with a chest infection which has meant a visit to Queen's Hospital for a x-ray and a course of mega antibiotics. I have attended all the essential meetings, but non essential stuff has been postponed and campaigning has been on hold. I certainly haven't had the energy to blog about things.

However yesterday I gave evidence to the Independent Reconfiguration Panel, the body which is reviewing plans to close services at King Georges Hospital. I found them sympathetic and genuinely open minded about the Health For North East London plans, and they asked some very thoughtful questions.

The panel have been asked to ensure the plans will provide a 'safe, sustainable and accessible' health service for residents. I concentrated on the sustainable and accessible elements, as I know that many other witnesses will focus on safety and the investigation into Queen's Hospital ordered yesterday by the Care Quality Commission will also obviously comment on safety.

I produced a short statement which is copied here:


STATEMENT TO THE IRP - 29 JUNE 2011

EVIDENCE OF CLLR ROGER EVANS AM

INTRODUCTION

I am the elected member of the London Assembly representing the constituency of Havering and Redbridge which covers both King George's Hospital and Queen's Hospital. I was elected in 2000 and I have lived in Romford town centre since 2002. Prior to that I lived in Leytonstone for fourteen years and used Whipps Cross Hospital on a number of occasions, so I am very familiar with the area affected by these proposals.

In 2006 I was elected to Havering Council, representing Elm Park Ward and I chaired the authority's Regulatory Services Committee, deciding on major planning applications from 2006 to 2009.

I am also a member of the board of the London Thames Gateway Development Corporation, a body which seeks to bring economic development to the lower Lea Valley and the north bank of the Thames in Newham, Barking, Dagenham and Havering.

I would like to focus on the sustainability and accessibility of the Health For North East London proposals as I feel these are inadequate for an area which is growing and changing at a very fast rate.


SUSTAINABILITY

I have no personal criticism of the standards of care provided by Queen's Hospital, but it is all too obvious that this relatively new facility is already overloaded following the closure and amalgamation of Harold Wood and Oldchurch Hospitals, which it was intended to replace.

The Mayor's London Plan envisages the provision of more housing and a consequent growth in population in both Havering and Redbridge. The current draft plan for the period 2011-2021 sets targets of 7,600 new homes for Redbridge and 12,350 new homes for Havering. The total population of Havering and Redbridge is projected to grow by almost 35,000 over the next decade.

Recent approval on appeal of a large residential development at Dover's Corner in Rainham has also set a precedent for more such developments along the A13 corridor. There will also be considerable population growth in Barking and Dagenham with a major residential development at Barking Riverside creating 10,800 new homes.

Queen's is already the hospital with the highest number of deliveries in London and the maternity unit has experienced some highly publicised and tragic incidents, brought about by existing overstretch. Demand is projected to continue to grow with Health For North East London predicting a need for 12,000 deliveries in the area by 2016-17. Closing the maternity unit at King George's Hospital will place even more pressure on Queen's and it is difficult to see how they will cope with this. The greatest growth in demand is predicted for boroughs on the west and south sides of the area so it seems strange to propose concentrating maternity services in the north east.

Queen's accident and emergency unit is also overstretched with long waiting times. During Christmas and New Year 2010-11 ambulances were regularly diverted to King George's accident and emergency because Queen's was overloaded. An increase in population is going to result in increased demand in coming years. Havering also has a higher number of pensioners than any other London borough and older people are particularly in need of hospital services including accident and emergency.

The concentration of services at Queen's will leave the three large boroughs of Havering, Redbridge and Barking & Dagenham with only one accident and emergency unit to serve 750,000 residents, comparing unfavourably with Inner London boroughs which each have a unit serving some 250,000 residents.

I believe that the proposals fail to take account of projected population growth in and around my constituency and will stretch already overloaded services at Queen's to beyond breaking point.


ACCESSIBILITY

Although a new facility, Queen's Hospital suffers from inadequate parking for the patients and visitors that it already serves. There is little room on the site to provide extra parking so the assumption must be that public transport will be used by visitors and patients.

Yet only four bus services currently enter the hospital site with two of these, the 193 and 499, terminating there and the 175 and 365 providing a through service. The only bus route linking to Redbridge is the 128 to Claybury Broadway but this is a long and tortuous route and it doesn't enter the hospital site. I regularly receive requests from constituents who would like to see existing bus services extended or rerouted to the hospital, or even the provision of new services.

However space at Queen's to accept new services is limited. Furthermore the current budgetary challenges faced by Transport for London rule out expansion of the bus network in the short and medium term. If anything, the current focus is on protecting the routes now in place.

For ambulances or private vehicles taking patients to Queen's from Redbridge the connections between the boroughs are not good. The only trunk road is the A12 which suffers from congestion at peak commuting times and throughout the day. Recent roadworks at Redbridge Roundabout, Gants Hill Roundabout and Gallows Corner have all caused very considerable delays and although Gants Hill is now much improved, these major junctions present bottlenecks with the potential to cause further delays when engineering works are required.

In my opinion the Health For North East London proposals will make it harder for patients and their visitors in Redbridge to access the maternity and accident and emergency services that they need. They should be reconsidered.


ROGER EVANS
29 June 2011

Bus Petition

On Wednesday morning I presented a petition to the London Assembly calling for better bus services in Havering and Barking & Dagenham. The wording of the petition, signed by 518 constituents is:

We the undersigned request consideration to be given to a new bus route from the Civic Centre in Dagenham to Hornchurch Town Centre and return to Dagenham via Tesco at Roneo Corner.

The lead petitioner was Brooklands Councillor Fred Osborne who attended to hand over the petition to me. He was accompanied by his wife Maria and local residents Margaret Gregory, Maureen Carter and Harry Gosling.

Deputy Mayors' Questions

There were two deputy mayors facing questions from the Assembly on Wednesday, with some useful exchanges before the meeting later descended into acrimony...

Policing

First up was Kit Malthouse, accompanied by Assistant Commissioner Tim Godwin. They began by confirming that the Met currently employs 32,222 police officers with another 5,000 specials in post. The Assembly recently produced a quite thoughtful report on police numbers, which sought to find better ways of measuring police effectiveness than just counting the establishment.

With £90 million savings required this year and the full details of the central government grant still not available, greater innovation and productivity were needed. The use of a video link to enable officers to give evidence in court from their base at Croydon police station was saving valuable time and reducing the need to travel. Of every 12 officers called to court only 3 actually take the stand, which seems like a shocking waste of time and money. Video links will reduce this cost and they are being rolled out across the Met.

Officers were also lobbying to be allowed to keep more money seized from criminals. The Proceeds of Crime Act allows for confiscation of ill gotten gains but the police only get to keep a sixth of the sum raised with the balance going to government. The practical effect is that the Met actually make a loss on POCA.

I asked about measures to control violence in Romford, particularly in the wake of the shooting outside Liquid & Envy last month. Tim Godwin talked about Operation Target which is focusing on known trouble makers and trouble spots. Stronger licensing powers for local authorities will allow for stricter control of entertainment premises including the levying of a charge to help with policing - welcome developments for night life hot spots like Romford, Kingston and Soho. Little did we know that Operation Target was springing into action at that very moment, with an alleged criminal waking up to find Boris and a horde of police in his bedroom...


Planning

Next came Edward Lister, who has replaced Sir Simon Milton as chief of staff and deputy mayor for planning. Edward has led Wandsworth Council for 19 years, holding down the council tax whilst delivering a four star rated service - even according to the last Labour government. With this in mind it was perhaps a mistake for the other parties to seek to find fault with his record. It all seemed to boil down to criticism of a lack of cheap housing and charging for use of the adventure playground in Battersea Park. Despite these criticisms Wandsworth was achieving a public satisfaction score of over 80%, which many London authorities would give their right arm for.

In his planning role, Eddie stated that he would be reintroducing stronger protection for London's strategic views, with tighter rules for tall buildings. He would also seek to reduce back garden development - which accounts for a stunning 25% of development in the city.

I asked him if he would be freezing the council tax precept again next year, thus completing the mayor's four year term without raising the budget. He seemed quite positive and given his history at Wandsworth I wouldn't rule out a very timely council tax CUT in 2012!

Notwithstanding the good results achieved at Wandsworth some Labour members think that Eddie poses a threat to the city. The most notable of these is Ken himself - currently on his outer London tour, delivering inner London messages. Turning up at Bromley he recently condemned Eddie as 'the Ratko Mladic of local government' - a tasteless remark in the week when the real Mladic was indicted for war crimes at The Hague. Having visited the scene of this hideous mass murder at Srebrenica, and blogged about it in 2009, I can only say that such a comparison is bizzarre and offensive, particularly to the many who lost loved ones. The grief was still palpable when I visited some 15 years after the event.

So we asked the Assembly to dissociate itself from Ken's remarks, not a difficult thing to do, surely. The Lib Dems agreed with us, Labour made some poor excuses and voted against and the two Greens split with Jenny Jones supporting Labour.


Bus Petition

With the discord still ringing in our ears, we moved on to petitions. I presented a petition of 518 signatures calling for a bus service to run from Dagenham Civic Centre to Hornchurch via the large Tesco at Roneo Corner. Lead petitioner Cllr Fred Osborne and several constituents had waited patiently through the meeting for this moment. Three other petitions were presented by members from the other parties


Walk Out

With all the main business dealt with and a fewer that 13 of the other party members left in the chamber the Conservative Group staged a walk out in protest at our marginalisation at the hands of the other groups. This is an ongoing bone of contention that dates from the first meeting of the Assembly in 2008 when Labour, Lib Dem and Green members used their ultra slim one vote majority to deprive the larger Conservative Group of any major committee chairs.

When they did their little deal perhaps they failed to realise that they needed all 13 of their members present to maintain a working quorum at Assembly meetings. Of course they are always all there at the annual meeting when the jobs are handed out but at other meetings they are often short handed and therefore rely on us - the people they refuse to include - to prop up their business. Usually we comply but sometimes we don't, and this was one of those occasions.

Last year when I was Group Leader I made a speech to the Assembly about this - it is available on Youtube - in which I told the other groups that having taken so much upon themselves they should have the decency to actually turn up. I also offered to reopen the debate about the allocation of roles but this offer was thrown back in my face.

I understand that my successor James Cleverly has been rebuffed in a similar fashion so I would not be surprised if the group now starts to get a bit more combative. The style of the new leadership is clearly more robust than my own was...

As to the motions we didn't debate as a result, no doubt they will reappear on the next agenda and perhaps we can expect a full showing from the Labour, Lib Dem and Green members as well.

Havering Museum

On Wednesday it was the first birthday of the fledgling Havering Museum. This is conveniently located just downstairs from my apartment in the Romford Brewery redevelopment and I was delighted to be invited along.

With an award of nearly £1 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund local volunteers have converted rooms on the ground floor of the old Ind-Coope brewery to house a collection of artifacts which tell the story of our borough. The Friends of Havering Museum were formed in 2000 and campaigned for nine years to get the funding they required. The collection includes Roman pottery, prehistoric tools, 19th century weights and measures and World War II mementos. There are also many interesting photographs charting the borough's growth to the present day.

In a textbook demonstration of Big Society activity, volunteers dressed up in historic costumes for the evening and read poems to celebrate. There was a buffet and a raffle and I became closely acquainted with the stocks...

Many happy returns to the Friends of Havering Museum! It is well worth a visit and details including opening times can be found at http://www.haveringmuseum.org.uk/ .

Monkhams Dinner

Last night I was the guest speaker at the annual garden party and dinner hosted by Conservatives in Monkhams and Church End wards. Local activists Rashid and Lillette gave up their garden, roofing in the whole lawn under a large marquee, and provided a very substantial high quality meal. Naturally there was a raffle and an auction, all to raise funds for the local party.

I joined local councillor Michael Stark, former mayor of Redbridge, Cllr Jim O'Shea and current mayor Cllr Chris Cummins and tied up the evening with a few remarks, thanking activists for their hard work in the No to AV campaign - Redbridge scored 65% against - and in advance for their work on the coming 2012 London election. The team are keen to get started and nobody wants to see Ken Livingstone returned to City Hall.

The Beautiful South West

On Bank Holiday Monday I completed stage six of the Capital Ring. Almost eight miles in length, this section runs from Wimbledon Park to Richmond, passing through some of the most attractive and exclusive districts of Greater London.

Turning right out of the District Line station and right again, the route descends a flight of steps into Wimbledon Park. Despite the threatening showers the tennis courts were full of locals taking the opportunity afforded by the extra day off. The walk runs along the shore of the lake, with views across the water to the famous All England Tennis Club. After a short detour around the park's athletics stadium, the walk leaves the park and starts to climb once again.

This is the long pull up and out of the Wandle Valley, passing many fine houses with even the social housing and terraces looking very opulent. A look back over the valley affords a final view of the masts at Crystal Palace which dominated stages three and four. Across the busy A219, the route plunges into the dense woodlands of Wimbledon Common.

A straight path through the woods leads to the Wimbledon Windmill, a popular attraction on a sunny bank holiday. The windmill was built in1817 and is a unique example of the 'hollow post' design, with the whole mill able to rotate on a central post to face into the wind. The path encroaches upon the fairways of the London Scottish Golf Club and - keeping an eye out for flying balls - runs down a steep hill to Queen's Mere, said to be a favourite haunt of the Wombles.

There was no sign of Orinocho or Great Uncle Bulgaria, but I paused at this lovely spot to take some pictures of the lake. A family of swans including no fewer than nine cygnets approached and I grabbed a few shots. They were obviously camera shy and one of the parents honked and approached in a threatening fashion, so I packed up and left them to it.

The walk continues through the golf course and across open fields to the A3 which intrudes noisily on the scene. Here the only way to cross used to be the iron footbridge but TfL have recently installed a pelican crossing with a novel difference - there is also a crossing for horses, with the buttons placed at a convenient height for riders to reach them.

Across the road is Robin Hood's Gate, the entrance to Richmond Park. This is the largest of the Royal Parks and very soon you feel as if you are out in the country, with no sign of civilisation apart from the jumbo jets blasting overhead on their way to Heathrow.

The path climbs easily to the excitingly named Spankers Hill Wood, with herds of deer much in evidence. The park has a herd of around 650 and although they look placid, signs warn that they can be aggressive if approached. An embankment leads between the two charming Pen Ponds and the walk passes around Sidmouth Wood crossing a busy road with excellent views over the Thames to the airport and the Twickenham rugby stadium.

On the road I had a close encounter with a lycra clad cyclist who bore down on me soundlessly, cutting past only inches away and shouting something. At the speed he was going I couldn't hear what he was trying to say but I assumed it was a cheery greeting of some sort...

A short detour leads to King Henry VIII Mound from which there is a protected view through a hole in the vegetation and down and avenue of trees which frame the dome of St Paul's in the hazy distance. Popular history has it that the King stood here to observe the signal confirming that Anne Boleyn had been executed in the Tower. Anne was only his second wife and as anyone who has seen 'The Tudors' TV series will know, things did not get better for Henry or his subsequent partners.

A steep hill descends to lovely Petersham, nestling by the River Thames. The path follows the river downstream, amongst joggers and cyclists. Listening to the conversations, there seem to be a large number of bankers and city professionals in Richmond. There are also a large number of Liberal Democrats although the Conservatives captured the council last year.

I had a brief lunch sitting on the stern of a boat that houses the Thames Visitors Centre - chicken skewers and a vanilla milkshake, which were very welcome at the end of a long and hilly walk. The return to Richmond Station was another half mile or so and frustratingly the District Line was out of action for engineering works. A long and complex journey home awaited.

The next stage of the ring crosses the Thames, leaving South London behind, and introduces the charms of Ealing and Brentford - the county town of Middlesex as local Assembly Member Tony Arbour has told us. I can't wait...

Capital Ring Day Six - Photographs

A gruelling seven and a half miles around some of the most beautiful parts of South West London today. The pictures feature tennis at Wimbledon Park, Wimbledon Windmill, deer in Richmond Park and Richmond Bridge from the stern of the visitor's centre / restaurant. A more detailed account will follow when I have tended to my blisters.

Seven Kings

Tonight we were handing out the Boris Oystercard wallets at Seven Kings Station. This time the team - including John Moss who will fight John Biggs in City & East London - wore Boris Boot Camp tee shirts, and people snapped up our offerings even faster than at Romford. A good sign in an area that returns Labour councillors and a Labour MP.

Tickets To Ride

This evening we were out at Romford Station, distributing Boris Oystercard holders. With the help of local councillors Lynden Thorpe, Linda Trew, Fred Osborne and Sandra Binion they went really fast - everybody wanted one!

The New Mayor

Last night it was Havering's turn to elect its first citizen for 2011/12. Outgoing mayor Cllr Pam Light will be a really tough act to follow, having got no fewer than 694 civic engagements under her belt during the year.

Her deputy, Cllr Melvin Wallace will take over with the benefit of a thorough grounding in the work - he has been deputy mayor for two years. Melvin worked in the city as a stockbroker for over forty years before his retirement and at the council he has been a well informed chairman of the pensions committee, helping to safeguard the financial future for our hard working employees. His wife Joan will make an excellent mayoress.

Melvin's deputy will be one of my closest friends, Cllr Lynden Thorpe. Lynden was elected to represent Squirrel's Heath ward at a by election several years ago. Her grandfather was the mayor and leader of Romford Council for 25 years (!) and his name is on the chain of office that her husband David will be wearing.

The mayor's charity for the coming year will be Havering's own St Francis Hospice and their work is explained at http://www.sfh.org.uk/ .

Questions to The Mayor

Last week saw the first Question Time for two months. We usually give the mayor - of whatever party - a break in April to allow elections to take place untainted by political rhetoric, at least from City Hall.

Labour have decided - or perhaps been directed by HQ - to build their questions around a 'theme' on these occasions and on Wednesday the special theme was 'Outer London'. Those of us who represent the suburbs watched Labour's Novelty Visit with some amusement as they sought to criticise Boris on transport around outer London, policing in outer London, and the effect of benefit changes on outer London, without providing much in the way of evidence to support their efforts. For us, there were many opportunities to talk about specific projects which the mayor has helped us with.

In Redbridge we have seen the introduction of traffic lights and surface level crossings on the Gants Hill Roundabout, with far less disruption to traffic flow than I had thought possible - proof that TfL can make improvements without attacking drivers when they put their mind to it. We have also seen the opening of a rape crisis centre for East London, based at the Loxford Polyclinic, fulfilling one of Boris's early election promises.

In Havering we have enjoyed solid cooperation with the Met Police on initiatives such as the Yellow Card scheme and 'Barred from One, Barred from All', both of which serve to reduce drunken violence in Romford Town Centre. And at Gallows Corner we have opened the first new fire station built in London for over twenty years.

Later this year Redbridge will see the completion of another election promise when the Number 25 Bendy Bus snakes its way into the history books, to be replaced by a more conventional service that doesn't block the traffic, catch fire or enable industrial scale fare evasion.

But we want more. I took the opportunity to ask Boris to hold another of his 'Trees For London' votes. The last of these encouraged even more public participation than the AV referendum and was won by the country park at Fairlop Waters, which duly received its prize of new trees as well as a bonus - artificial boulders which both improved the park and helped to preserve the dwindling stock of real boulders in their natural habitat.

Cycle Super Highway 2

I had a crack at Newham Council for their policy of denying cycling opportunities to my constituents. Cycle Superhighway 2 was supposed to reach out of the City, through Tower Hamlets and Newham to terminate in Ilford. I have a keen cycling fraternity in Redbridge and they were looking forward to this new route speeding their way into town. Unfortunately the party poopers at Newham have refused passage through Stratford town centre, thus cutting off CS2 prematurely, with no benefit to Redbridge.

Boris assured me that he had met Newham's executive mayor, Sir Robin Wales to discuss this matter - amongst other things I suspect - and that the connection to Redbridge would soon be established.

My colleague Brian Coleman was none to impressed with me interfering in the affairs of a sovereign borough in this way and he raised an objection. However on occasions the actions of other boroughs echo beyond their borders - Newham has form on this - and in those cases I make no apology for speaking out.

Tube Strikes

I also asked Boris what he thought about Bob Crow's somewhat provocative remarks at the Transport Committee. The mayor refused to be drawn and perhaps this indicates that some sort of dialogue is taking place. I'm sure that Londoners will welcome steps to prevent the recent industrial strife but I am pessimistic - history will repeat itself until the balance of power is changed by government legislation to require greater participation in the unions' strike ballots.

Jenny Jones also decided to clarify her position, stating that her suggestion that Tube staff go on strike by refusing to collect fares and leaving the ticket barriers open had in fact just been a 'question' to Mr Crow, with no intention of putting ideas into his head. Mayoral candidates - even Green ones - do have to be careful about the causes they espouse....


By this time the Labour Group Leader had left John Biggs to wind up the team's Outer London Novelty Tour. As they embarked on their metaphorical mini bus back to their Inner London strongholds, I wondered who was snuggling on the back seat and what songs they were singing. It was nice to see you, do come back soon guys - and next time bring your map and compass....

Back On The Rails

I attended my first transport committee since the reshuffle this morning. The committee has set itself the considerable task of investigating service failures on London Underground. TfL place the blame on the discredited PPP initiative - but is this excuse wearing a bit thin? Joining us were the former PPP arbiter, Chris Bolt, John Dickie from London First and Bob Crow from the RMT. Crow was accompanied by Steve Connolly from Aslef, a more softly spoken and thoughtful union official.

Strikes

Industrial action has risen since Boris became mayor, but the union reps claimed that there was no political motivation for this. They felt that their members were responding to threats and with a contracting budget after years of relative plenty this was understandable. Steve Connolly made an interesting intervention, claiming that LU's performance targets must be weak if they could be disrupted by 'just five strikes', a comment that begs the question, how many strikes is it reasonable to expect? I suppose it depends on the organisation but the higher rate within the public sector reflects a preoccupation with provider interests rather than customer needs.

A discussion of the threat to the Olympics led Bob Crow to insist that London Underground's offer to staff should be at least as generous as Network Rail's £500 payment per individual. In response to John Dickie's claim that strikes cost the capital's businesses £50 million per day, Bob responded that this demonstrated how much his members were worth and that their pay should increase to reflect that sum.

Bob was in no mood to take prisoners and challenged a proposal to require a 50% participation threshold for strike ballots, as being an attack on democracy. He pointed out that Conservative AM Dick Tracey had received less than 50% support from his constituents at the election - an argument that he has used before. Of course that is like comparing oranges to apples as one is a vote to elect an individual and the other is a vote to approve an action. Perhaps a more valid comparison would be with the AV referendum, where many of us felt that a participation threshold should have applied.

A suggestion that more stringent New York style legislation be brought in - banning strikes altogether - provoked a response that America also has the death penalty but we don't talk about introducing it. With logic stretched to such incredible lengths, we decided to move on - but not before Green AM Jenny Jones had suggested to Bob that his members come to work but refuse to collect fares or close ticket barriers...

Block Closures

The whole renewal process is taking much longer than originally planned. The Jubilee signalling work was intended to be complete by the end of 2009 but would now take until 2012 - hopefully. The Northern Line work had slipped from 2011 to 2014. Obviously everyone was quick to blame the PPP contractors, but John Dickie pointed out that these same companies successfully deliver projects on time and budget all over the world. There was much talk of Madrid as a tube system we could learn from.

With night time and weekend work proving inadequate it was now time to consider block closures of whole sections of line whilst the work was carried out. Bob Crow stated that really the whole lot - trains, signalling, tracks, drainage - should be renewed at the same time. This would ensure better compatibility between the elements of the system but would take longer and cost much more. Block closures would be relatively painless in Zone 1 where there were plenty of public transport alternatives. Not so good in outer London where other radial lines could become overcrowded as commuters sought alternative routes.

Chris Bolt mentioned that London Underground had always claimed that the PPP companies needed less time to do the work. He suggested that LU now had a chance to prove their case, having taken the projects over. The committee will return to this rather telling point when we take evidence from London Underground on 14th June at our next meeting.

New Mayor of Redbridge

On Thursday night Redbridge held their annual meeting to elect a new mayor for the borough. Outgoing mayor Jim O'Shea and his deputy Ruth Clark have done a great job as ambassadors for the borough and leading citizens. Jim's charity appeal raised a massive £50,000 for Alzheimer's Care in Redbridge and the Dream Factory. They will be a tough act to follow.

The new Mayor is Snaresbrook councillor Chris Cummins. I have known Chris for well over ten years, we both started as activists in the less than promising environment of Leyton and Wanstead. He is a committed hard worker and this recognition is well deserved. Deputy Mayor will be Cllr Felicity Banks from Roding Ward - a Liberal Democrat, in true coalition fashion. We all wish them well for the coming year.

Volunteers at City Hall

This evening the mayor hosted a reception at City Hall to thank volunteers from Havering and Redbridge. Around 200 guests from a wide range of local organisations were able to network together and admire the amazing view of our fantastic city as the sun set over St Paul's. Boris spoke at length, expressing his gratitude for their efforts then we were treated to an impromptu performance from local opera star Katie Milton, who works at the Queen's Theatre in Hornchurch. A lot of people give their time and effort for free in our capital and it was great to join them to celebrate their contribution.

Volunteering Seminar

Yesterday morning I spoke at a volunteering seminar organised by the Relief Society sisters at Romford Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I was joined by contributors from other Essex based organisations including the Thurrock Women's Refuge and St Luke's Hospice.

The aim of the event was to talk about various options for volunteering and I spoke about local politics, becoming a councillor, magistrate or school governor. I reassured the audience that to become a councillor you didn't need to have a political background or know the right people.

Selectors sometimes think that someone who vocalises strong opinions over a pint or two would make a good councillor, but often such people fall silent when they have to defend their views in the cold light of day. The ability to work as part of a team and to appreciate others' points of view is much more important. As is the intelligence to grasp complex issues and explain them to others - a politician who says "They don't understand" really means "I can't explain". A grounding in the community is also essential as that is what distinguishes elected members from their officers and advisers. Finally a willingness to work outside normal hours, sacrificing evenings and weekends is essential.

All the speakers agreed that volunteering provided a good way to learn valuable new skills as well as putting something back into society. They also agreed that a volunteer should select their activity carefully, looking for something they enjoy and are committed to.

Havering & Redbridge Say NO!

A resounding defeat for AV in this part of town:

Havering - Yes 22.7%, No 77.3%

Redbridge - Yes 32.5%, No 67.5%

No need for a recount...

Safer Nights Out

Despite living in Romford, it is some time since I enjoyed a night out in the town. Cramming into crowded venues and knocking back gallons of cheap booze is not my idea of a good time. With standing room only it's a bit like spending the evening down a very noisy hole when you are my height and I discovered several years ago that it now takes me two days to recover from a hangover - time I don't have to waste. However one worry that I no longer have is the likelihood of becoming a victim of crime.

Violence is still a possibility of course, but a noticeable police presence, CCTV saturation and cooperation between venue operators and door staff has meant the town centre is now much safer at night.

Today Boris met borough police commander Mick Smith and council leader Michael White to see three new initiatives which will cut crime and anti social behaviour in the evenings.

The Yellow Ticket scheme allows officers to take individuals to task for their behaviour. Words of warning or advice are the first step in a process that leads to the most troublesome individuals being banned from the whole town centre.

The Barred From One, Barred From All initiative encourages venues to share details when they exclude a customer for misbehaviour. Being barred from one venue has resulted in a number of people being barred from all sixteen pubs and clubs in the town centre.

And a focus on false IDs means that under age drinkers who fake their identity will be excluded, not just at the time they are caught, but for several years as a punishment. Use of fake passports and driving licences is a crime of course and police have arrested and prosecuted some offenders.

Living in central Romford has many advantages, but it can be noisy in the evenings and alcohol causes a lot of unpleasant behaviour. A few years ago I was walking home one night - working late again - and a young, scantily clad girl jumped on me outside the station, giving me a huge kiss. I was shocked and horrified of course, particularly when she shouted "Why are you out on a Friday night? You're too old for Romford!!!!".

A case of mistaken identity I suppose, and I still won't be going out on the town. But I will feel that bit safer from molestation walking home in the evening.

Mayor About Town

This morning Boris visited Romford. He met police officers conducting a cycle marking scheme and saw some new policing initiatives in action. The Mayor then visited the new Havering Museum, spoke to black cab drivers and toured the Liberty shopping centre where council leader Michael White presented him with Havering's historic coat of arms to take back to his office. As always, Boris was made very welcome by shoppers and residents.

Assembly AGM

Fresh back from two bank holiday weekends, the London Assembly held their annual general meeting this morning. The main business was to allocate committee memberships and chairs for the final year of this term - unsurprisingly every member turned up.

Chairing the Assembly

I had agreed to be my group's candidate for chairman, although my hopes were not high. The other parties did a deal to shut us out of the most significant role three years ago and despite a combined majority of only one vote, they have stuck to this arrangement. In the event I was defeated by Labour's Jennette Arnold who won by 13 votes to 12. The Conservative group leaders said some nice things about me for which I am grateful and Jennette revealed that I was the first Conservative member she met when she joined the Assembly in 2000, replacing list member David Lammy - I must have made a memorable impression.

Jennette demonstrated a steely resolve in chairing a meeting which drifted from humour to ill temper and back again. I wish her well for the pre election year which I predict will see some heated exchanges.

Lib Dem Dee Doocey - now a Baroness and well deserved - defeated Conservative Victoria Borwick by 13 to 12 to become the deputy chair. Dee is effective but she has been stretched by her commitments as a working peer and I hope she is not biting off more than she can chew, particularly as she was also made chair of the Economy, Culture and Sport Committee.

Some Victories

I was reappointed chairman of the small Audit Committee, unopposed, for the third year running. I have set out to broaden the remit of the small panel, moving beyond just talking to auditors and accountants, and inviting the City Hall managers to give evidence when we consider audits of their departments. I believe that the audit process gains more credibility when a public hearing is involved.

And Victoria Borwick becomes the new chairman of the Health and Public Services Committee, succeeding James Cleverly who has done some good cross party work and raised the profile of the committee since 2008.

The Stitch Up

Of course these were minor concessions in a process that once again stitched up the chairs of all the major committees:

Budget & Performance - John Biggs (lab)

Business Management & Administration - Jennette Arnold (lab)

Economy, Culture & Sport - Baroness Dee Doocey (lib dem)

Environment - Murad Qureshi (lab)

Planning & Housing - Jenny Jones (green)

Transport - Caroline Pidgeon (lib dem)

And there is a timely lesson here for the advocates of proportional voting systems. The Assembly has existed for eleven years, and on every occasion the Lib Dems have sold their support to one of the larger groups in return for a disproportionate reward. At their high point they had only one fifth of the membership (5 seats), yet they have chaired the Assembly for 5 years, the budget committee for 6 years, the economic development committee for 6 years and the transport committee for 6 years.

In a hung authority the third party almost always wields disproportionate power and where an authority is routinely hung as a consequence of the electoral system, then that abuse of power becomes routine. We can't have this in our national government, so I am voting NO in tomorrow's referendum - and I urge everyone to do the same...

All For Charity

Last night I took a break from the gruelling AV campaign to join the Mayor of Redbridge, Cllr Jim O'Shea at his charity ball, hosted by the Prince Regent Hotel.

A well attended dinner was followed by a raffle and an auction to raise money for Redbridge Alzheimer's Society and The Dream Factory. The event was kindly sponsored by Barclays, Waitrose, Skanska, Hills of Woodford and Broadway Music & Vision. There were no speeches but I was asked to propose the Royal Toast - a real privilege after yesterday's wedding!

We were also joined by the Mayor of Tower Hamlets (pictured), actress Vicki Michelle from 'Allo 'Allo and boxing champion Colin Macmillan. Great to have local celebrities offering their support.

Barkingside Says NO

On the final weekend before the AV poll, we took our 'No' stall to Barkingside. In the hot sun we were joined by MP Lee Scott, prospective Assembly list candidate Nadia Sharif, and Cllr Keith Prince accompanied by members of his Redbridge group. Things were a lot slower than last week in Harold Hill, with people still getting over the Royal Wedding celebrations. Let's hope they are back in action for the big vote on Thursday!

Alternative Energy Debate

Yesterday afternoon I joined students at Oaks Park High School in Redbridge for a video conference debate with some of their counterparts from the United States. Over in New York State it was the morning session at Scotia Glenvile High school and everyone looked a lot fresher than I felt in the summer heat.

Oaks Park have used their video conferencing facility to link up with locations around the globe including China and Antarctica. They have used simulations to relive the evacuation of Montserrat during the volcanic eruption a few years ago. It is a fantastic tool for broadening experience and we could have done with it when I was growing up in the North East and anywhere over 50 miles away was regarded as a foreign land.


The Politicians

I was invited to give my views and to talk about the Mayor's energy strategy. Whilst I think there is a future for solar and wind power, I don't believe that it is sufficiently productive to cater for our power needs. Biomass is a more interesting option, particularly as it includes energy from waste and cleaner alternatives to straight incineration are being developed and trialled in London. But I felt that nuclear power was the only current option that provides enough energy to replace fossil fuels.

We shouldn't leave a damaged environment to our children but neither should we leave them an inadequate energy infrastructure. I grew up in the seventies during the miners strikes and I remember what it was like to be deprived of heat and light - you couldn't even get all the way through an episode of Thunderbirds without the comrades pulling the plug. My political education started early in life...

From the States Congressman Paul Tonko joined us for his contribution. As a member of the congressional budget committee he's a big fish and we were lucky to get him. He's also got considerable scientific experience in this field and he is chairing a congressional committee which plans to make recommendations about the design of wind farms and solar energy plants in future. He is a big fan of President Obama who seemed a popular figure with the students despite the bad press he gets over here on occasions.


The Alternatives

Students then took turns to present their research, looking at the up and down sides of nuclear, solar, wind and biomass generation.

With a much larger land mass and some very hot areas, the States clearly has more room for wind and solar generation, although they also have a greater demand for energy. They were very keen to move away from fossil fuels, not so much because of environmental concerns but because they were imported from countries that were not seen as America's friends. There was also a surprising degree of opposition to nuclear power amongst the New York students. There was much talk about changing behaviour to cut down on energy use - I wish Congressman Tonko the best of luck with that project...

The Redbridge students actually had a greater enthusiasm for nuclear and biomass generation and they recognised that our climate makes solar energy a non starter, at least until the technology becomes more efficient. There was much interest in wind power and a desire for neighbouring countries in Europe to pool their resources in the quest for clean energy.

There was also no clear winner from this debate. The sensible conclusion was that each option had a part to play and that the best idea was to use electricity generated by all these methods as necessary, with a greater emphasis on renewables as research made them more effective.

I thoroughly enjoyed taking part in this well informed and thoughtful debate and I hope that I will have the chance to participate again in future.

As I left I picked up an email from our new Group Leader - he's putting me back on the Transport Committee. Excellent news because I have missed being involved and now I will be able to write even more pieces about trains and buses for the blog...

Harold Hill Says NO

This morning I joined colleagues in the sun, manning our 'No To AV' stall in Harold Hill. We set up at the Hilldene shopping centre, an area that is reasonably busy with locals on a Saturday morning. In addition to the usual leaflets we had flags for St Georges Day and helium balloons which proved very popular.

Chris Philp who is coordinating the London campaign, joined us and we also had Angela Watkinson MP and local councillor Keith Wells in support. This is traditionally a Labour area but Keith is very popular, having ousted his opponent in 2006 and remarkably retained his seat against the trend last year.

We experienced a very positive response. All morning I only met one person in favour of AV, and I also met someone who refused to take part because the country is run by 'Freemasons and Israelis', a state of affairs that he felt would remain the same regardless of the voting system.

The people here are sceptical of politicians, and with good reason. Traditional Labour supporters, they were abandoned by Tony Blair and feel betrayed, particularly over employment and immigration. They have a historical suspicion of Conservatives too. Many said that we were 'all as bad as each other' but when we explained that this was a vote about policy rather than electing individuals the most unlikely people became engaged. Often they were surprisingly well informed about the choices on offer and the political reasoning behind them.

And perhaps we have stumbled on something here in Harold Hill? Would more referendums encourage public involvement? Voting systems are not exactly riveting so how much more engaging could other subjects be? A vote on European membership would certainly turn them out. What about a vote on support for the banks? Or a vote on the content of a new British Human Rights Bill?

I think that when you give people real power they will take more notice. When they feel their votes matter they will consider their options, and quite possibly take unpopular decisions. Perhaps they will turn to the news pages when they pick up the paper in the morning, rather than celebrity trash and sports results.

Perhaps something valuable will come out of this unpromising exercise after all - whatever the ballot result.

Hornchurch Passion

I have just returned from tonight's performance of the Hornchurch Passion Play.

Performed on the village green, this free entry event celebrating the story of Easter, attracted many hundreds of people. Stages erected on scaffolding around the green provide locations for Jesus teaching in the temple, the Last Supper, the trial before Pilate and of course the crucifixion - which takes place on a grassy knoll.

The action is timed so that the arrest of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane takes place just as the sun sets. Romans are depicted in modern military dress, with Pilate resembling the Duce of World War II. As darkness falls spotlights follow the actors around the multiple sets. The spectacular piece concludes with the Resurrection and a message of hope for mankind.

A choir and small orchestra provide background music for the ninety minute production, which is well worth seeing. Congratulations to the churches of Hornchurch for this fantastic performance.

The play will be repeated on Saturday and Easter Sunday, starting at 7:30pm. More details can be found at http://www.hpp2011.org/ .

City Hall Reshuffle

The sad death of Simon Milton meant that some restructuring would be needed - he occupied a position uniquely suited to his talents and it was unlikely that he could be replaced by one individual in the same role. The Mayor looks to have taken the opportunity to institute a wider reshuffle in preparation for the last year before the 2012 election.

Chief Of Staff and Deputy Mayor for Planning

This role is now taken on by Edward Lister, who has been leader of flagship Wandsworth council for almost 20 years, an impressive performance. I have known Eddie for a long time and this appointment recognises his considerable skills. He commands a great deal of respect amongst local government leaders, although he is less conciliatory than Simon and other political parties may be wary of him.

Deputy Mayor for Transport

Not before time, the upgrading of the transport advisor's post recognises the need to finally get a grip of TfL. Isabel Dedring will take on this role. She is an impressive American who came to London with Bob Kiley's team and moved to City Hall to serve as the environment advisor three years ago, following the Boris victory.

Daniel Moylan will also be doubling his time commitment as deputy chairman of TfL, so we can expect to see transport improvements take centre stage in 2011/12.

Economic Policy and Regeneration Advisor

This role will also be beefed up and taken on by Peter Rogers, the former chief executive of Westminster City Council, who has spent the last three years repairing and reorganising the LDA. With LDA functions being transferred to City Hall it makes sense to bring Peter across to oversee them. Peter's grasp of detail and unflappable performances at Assembly meetings have impressed members from all parties.

Manifesto

Anthony Browne moves to the Boris campaign team with the job of writing the 2012 manifesto. He is a very bright guy, fizzing with exciting new ideas - exactly the right person to be thinking big thoughts as the election approaches.