Inside the Olympic Stadium

This morning I had a tour of the new Olympic Stadium. Everything looks better in the sunlight and - in spite of my Olymposcepticism - I had to admit it was impressive. Right now work is progressing ahead of schedule although there is plenty left to do before 2012. The pictures I took give some idea of the sheer scale of this incredible project.

London's Poverty Profile

Yesterday I attended the launch of a report documenting poverty in London. Produced by the City Parochial Foundation and the New Policy Institute the study provides a high level review right across the capital.

For the many people who claim that inner London has all the problems and outer London has all the money, this report contains a few surprises:

Since the late 1990s outer London has experienced a significant deterioration across a number of indicators including child and working age poverty. More of the capital's low income population now live in outer London than in inner London.

Since the mid 2000s inner London's unemployment rate has been falling but outer London's unemployment rate has been rising.

Havering is one of the worst four boroughs in London for low pay by place of work, the others being Bexley, Merton and Waltham Forest, all in outer London.

Redbridge is one of the worst eight London boroughs for households in temporary accommodation.

There is evidence here that the process of redistribution from outer to inner London which was a feature of the 2000-2008 mayoral terms has gone too far. I hope that Boris draws the same conclusion.

Cycling Stage 2

Back on the bike again yesterday for Stage 2 of my cycle training, this time on the road.

Starting in the busier part of Valentine's Park, we quickly progressed onto the quieter streets of Ilford, practising U-turns and approaching junctions.

On a Friday afternoon in the back streets there wasn't much traffic, but what there was was enough. Cyclists need to approach the road with an attitude that differs from drivers. Being relatively small makes being seen absolutely vital and the lack of any protection means that you always need to consider and anticipate the actions of other vehicles.

Most of the drivers we met were considerate road users, but some were not and even some pedestrians demonstrated little thought for others. Bikes are quiet and people can easily step into the road without realising you are there. Space always needs to be left in case someone opens their car door directly in your path.

And there are buses in side roads too, huge intimidating things that leave little room for anyone else. Typically, we encountered none in a couple of hours, then two came along at once! Luckily they were the 'small' single deckers and we stayed well away from the route of the number 25, the only bendy in Ilford.

Thanks to the help of Redbridge Cycling Campaign, I now feel a lot more confident on the road and I'm considering getting a bike, if only because it seems a much better way of exercising than going to the gym. The big event is on June 6th at Hog Hill, where all the newcomers to cycling - and some veterans - will meet for a few circuits of the track. It should be fun...

Boris in Romford

On Friday afternoon Boris Johnson returned to Romford. Starting at the station, he joined Ian Johnstone, chief constable of the British Transport Police, to launch the police team who will patrol the main line trains between Shenfield and Liverpool Street. He also met the station staff and their manager, and was shown the new ticket gates which can now accept Oyster cards. Then we took the mayor for a walkabout in the market place. Sometimes it is easy to get out of touch with public opinion when you work in City Hall's curving corridors of power, so this was a refreshing opportunity for local people to meet Boris. Friday afternoon is relatively quiet, but a considerable crowd soon formed. The response was over 90% positive, and one comment I heard over and over again was 'it's good to see a politician who actually delivers on his promises'. Perhaps less flattering were those who said 'at least he's not Ken!' In the current climate elected representatives are not often greeted with such affection. I'm hoping to get Boris to visit Redbridge next...

On My Bike

On Friday morning I met Gill James and keen cyclists from Redbridge for some timely cycling instruction from trainer Jim Dalton.

The Redbridge Group of the London Cycling Campaign are launching Movers and Shakers, an initiative to encourage people of influence in the community to act as role models, demonstrating that cycling can be for everyone. They have several councillors, including council leader Keith Prince, Lee Scott MP and Guardian journalist Hugh Muir signed up already, so I was delighted to join such a distinguished field.

With 25 years having passed since I rode a bike, there was more shaking than moving as I set out around Valentines Park on a wet and windy morning. I was amazed how quickly it all came flooding back and with Jim's help I was soon able to whizz about unassisted - although signalling whilst maintaining balance is presently beyond my skills.

Part two training takes place this Friday on the road! And the good news is that the mayor's Ambassador for Young People, James Cleverly, is also keen to join the field. As he cycles into the office each day, James is good at this and has his own Lycra, so I hope he won't show the rest of us up.

More details of the Movers and Shakers initiative can be found at http://www.redbridgelcc.org.uk/

Redbridge College

On Thursday I visited Redbridge College to meet the staff and students. The college offers excellent vocational training in construction, media, music production, beauty therapy, hairdressing and catering. The catering students operate an on site restaurant which is open to members of the public.

I did two question and answer sessions with the students and took away some new insights myself. Prize question had to be "Why do you make Oyster cards so easy to lose?" And one student suggested we do away with the card and implant the chip into commuters' hands - that should reduce loss, theft and impersonation. Let's hope Jacqui Smith doesn't hear about this idea...

Many thanks to director of studies, Suzanne Levy who arranged the visit. I hope to work with the college in future, acting as an interview 'guinea pig' for the media course and arranging a return visit for them to enjoy Mayor's Question Time.

The picture shows me meeting the business studies students. Information about the college can be found at www.redbridge-college.ac.uk

London Assembly AGM

The Annual General Meeting of the London Assembly took place on Wednesday. The meeting saw the self styled Progressive Alliance of Labour, Greens and Lib Dems holding together for a second year, although the Libs in particular are beginning to look worried about the pressure this is placing on their small team.

The election for the chair of the assembly saw Darren Johnson defeat my Conservative colleague Andrew Boff. Darren is the first Green politician to hold the post and his success demonstrates the strong grip that the two Greens continue to exercise over their eleven non Conservative colleagues. Disproportionate power exercised by a few individuals is always a consequence of so called proportional representation.

I suspect that Darren will be more disciplined in the chair than his predecessor, indeed we got a taste of his style some months ago when he stood in at a question time and had noisy protesters thrown out of the gallery - a first for a Green politician in the UK.

Jennette Arnold defeated Conservative Victoria Borwick in the contest for deputy chair.

Chairs of assembly committees were then elected and the ruling coalition have generously permitted us to chair two committees:

James Cleverly returns to chair the Health Committee, where he has been leading some good work on alcohol abuse amongst teenagers.

And I have agreed to take on the Audit Panel...

An Undemocratic Stitch Up

During the debate some of my colleagues referred to the latest deal as an undemocratic stitch up. The position was defended by Labour members who claimed that the mayor's own party would not be sufficiently robust in scrutinising his actions and policies, yet it was acknowledged that many Conservative members have actually been very tough on the mayor and his advisers over the last year, in contrast to Labour's approach from 2004 to 2008.

Liberal leader, Mike Tuffrey who always ends up on the right side of any deal, is fond of pointing out that the present situation is no different from the deal he did with us from 2000 to 2008. He is wrong and it is worth examining what actually happened on previous occasions:

2000 to 2004

The deal was actually done between Labour and the Lib Dems and saw Labour's Trevor Phillips chair the assembly, alternating with Lib Dem Sally Hamwee and briefly Samantha Heath. this despite the fact that the mayor was also Labour and the Conservative and Labour groups both had 9 members. Mike wasn't present when this deal was drawn up, so he can be forgiven for trying to distance himself from a situation where one party occupied the mayoralty and the assembly chair - but it did happen.

2004 to 2008

This time the Labour group lost two members, shrinking to 7, whilst the Conservatives retained 9, whilst UKIP enjoyed a brief period of representation. The deal was done between Conservatives and the Lib Dems, leading to Brian Coleman's memorable period as chairman and a return for Sally Hamwee. On this occasion different parties occupied the mayoralty and the chair.

2008 to ????

Most recently, Labour recovered, gaining 8 members and the Conservative group grew to 11 - the largest ever elected to the assembly. A three way deal between Labour, Greens and Lib Dems was necessary for the opposition to retain control and the presence of one BNP member introduced another unpredictable variable. The mayor and the assembly chair will be from different parties.

On the face of it, the doctrine that the two organisations should be in different political hands looks attractive, but it fails to consider other important factors:

Boris Johnson has not excluded other parties in the way that Ken Livingstone did. Mayoral advisers include Labour figures Neale Coleman and Kate Hoey MP. Saturday's State of London Debate included contributions from Assembly Members of all parties - for the first time. Boris has a naturally more collegiate approach than his predecessor.

And the numbers create a challenge for the assembly. Trying to run an elected body of 25 members with only 13 leads to a considerable workload for those individuals, and particularly for the smaller partners. Recent plans to reduce the size of committees were intended to reduce some of this load but were vetoed when the smaller groups realised they would lose representation entirely on some of the committees.

An assembly elected on the same day as the mayor will usually have the mayor's party forming the largest group, so it seems unlikely that the voters, or the government, intended them to automatically be placed in opposition as Tuffrey claims.

Possible Solutions

Scrap Proportional Representation - it leads to disproportionate power.

Stagger the assembly elections to take place every five or every three years. Most of the time they would then be independent of the influence of the mayoral election, and would provide a useful mid term test of the mayor's popularity.

Conservative Group AGM

On Tuesday we held the Annual General Meeting for the London Assembly Conservative Group. The good news is that the officers remain the same as the team elected in September when Richard Barnes stepped down to devote more time to the role of Deputy Mayor:

Group Leader - Roger Evans AM (Havering & Redbridge)

Deputy Leader - James Cleverly AM (Bexley & Bromley)

Whp & Group Secretary - Richard Tracey AM (Merton & Wandsworth)

After only seven months, I have decided to run with largely the same team as previously. All the Conservative members keep their current responsibilities, with just three changes:

Gareth Bacon joins the Budget & Performance Committee

Andrew Boff joins the Budget & Performance Committee

Steve O'Connell joins the Transport Committee

Congratulations

Slightly belatedly, to Redbridge's newest councillor, Alex Wilson, who was returned at the by-election last Thursday. In a contest characterised by the youth of the candidates, Alex saw off a spirited challenge by the Lib Dems whilst Labour crashed into a poor third place, in a ward they once held. The BNP vote failed to materialise in territory that is unpromising for their approach. The result was:

Alex Wilson, Con, 1,300
Kete Garret, Lib Dem, 1030
Ross Hatfull, Lab, 694
Ashley Gunstock, Green, 256
John Evans, BNP, 171
Nick Jones, UKIP, 37

Hat tip to Barkingside 21, first with the result...

St Georges Day Celebrations in Trafalgar Square

Yesterday's celebrations drew a crowd of Big Hearted Englanders and enthusiastic tourists. We enjoyed folk music, English food and a speech from deputy mayor, Richard Barnes, before concluding with a meal in nearby Chinatown. Only in London...

St Georges Day Celebrations at Leadenhall Market in the City

Boris and Gary Rhodes toured businesses and met City workers. I was there too with Tony Arbour and Westminster Cllr JP Floru.

I Was Wrong - And I Apologise

Since the weekend, I have received a large number of comments taking me to task for my remarks on Sunday. Anne-Marie Griffin from Fight The Flights has also contacted me by email. Behind the anger were some shocking stories from people who had to live close to the airport for years. I see now that coming on top of everything they have endured, my infamous 'Taliban' comment must have seemed like the last straw.

It was a throwaway line, intended to liven up my report of Peoples' Question Time in March, but to some it looked unbelievably callous. I think I understand now, so:


I am very sorry for the hurt that my ill considered words caused to local residents, including the people who made official complaints. It was unintentional but I realise that is no excuse. I also deeply regret the time it has taken for me to grasp the reality of this situation. I was wrong and I hope they can accept my apology.


In 20 years of political experience I have never reached a view based on pique - despite my reactions on Sunday afternoon. By training I am a scientist and a lawyer, and I'm usually too dispassionate, if anything. Some comments suggested I am in the pocket of the airport, but that is not the case.

I have sought to keep my options open on this issue because I'm not sure if my constituents are winners or losers overall. There are those who work at the airport, rely on it for business, or use it to travel, and the view of economic development advisors is that it provides a boost for East London. I want to protect peoples' livelihoods particularly in a recession.

On the other hand, there are residents who are disturbed by noise and who have a right to a calm environment. So far the complaints in my postbag are few, but they have the potential to increase and I have noticed more overflying recently. It is a delicate balance to strike, with far reaching consequences.

So I have asked Anne-Marie if she would be willing to meet me to put her case and share her experiences. To ensure balance I will also be seeking a meeting with the airport management. And I would be interested in other views too - your comments are invited.

Return of The Queen

The Mayor has just unveiled a portrait of the Queen at City Hall.

Boris pointed out that it was seven years since Her Majesty opened the building and stated that the least we could do was acknowledge her role by displaying her official portrait. Most civic buildings boast a picture of the Head of State but so far she has been absent from the home of London government. Suspense built as the mayor made several attempts to draw back the curtain covering the picture. A good tug pulled it clear and Boris made a short speech whilst photographs were taken.

The chief executive, several deputy mayors and a cross section of staff from around the building were present for this brief event.

"Climate Change Taliban" Decision Notice

The GLA's assessment Sub Committee met on 1st April to consider six complaints relating to my reporting of the March Peoples' Question Time, specifically my use of the phrase Climate Change Taliban, which they alleged was offensive. The chair of the sub committee has now signed off the decision notice which concludes that NO FURTHER ACTION is to be taken.

The full notice contains details of the complainants and their statements, and quotes the relevant paragraphs of the code of conduct so I don't propose to reproduce it all here. Full copies are published by the GLA if needed.

I will, however, quote the section that gives reasons for their decision:

The Sub-Committee noted that the blog identified Mr Evans as an Assembly Member, but found as a matter of fact that the blog was not hosted by the GLA's website or server, and was not published by the GLA. There was no official GLA connection to the blog. It also found that, whilst the blog related to Peoples' Question Time (a GLA event which Mr Evans attended as an Assembly Member), it was a personal blog in which Mr Evans was commenting on Peoples' Question Time after the actual event. For these reasons, the Sub-Committee decided that, in producing and publishing the blog, Mr Evans was not conducting the business of the GLA, and nor was he acting, claiming to act or giving impression that he was acting as a representative of the GLA. He was not therefore acting in an official capacity and was not required to comply with, and could not have breached, paragraphs 3(1) - 3(2)(b) of the Code.

After having decided this, the Sub-Committee proceeded to consider whether Mr Evans' conduct was a breach of paragraph 5 of the Code of Conduct.

Paragraph 5 - "You must not conduct yourself in a manner which could reasonably be regarded as bringing your office or the authority into disrepute."

The reason it considered this is because this paragraph of the Code applies to, and can be breached by, Members even when they are not acting in an official capacity. Accordingly, if the Sub-Committee considered that Mr Evans' blog had brought his office or the GLA into disrepute, it could have decided to take further action against him. The majority of the Sub-Committee did not find the phrase 'Climate Change Taliban' offensive, and the Sub-Committee decided unanimously that the blog did not breach paragraph 5 of the Code.

For these reasons, the Assessment Sub-Committee decided that no further action should be taken on the complaints.


The first section of this judgement is particularly interesting as it accepts that unofficial blogs which are not subsidised by public funds enjoy considerable latitude when it comes to reporting official occasions. Thus reassured that the Standards Committee are not seeking to censor output, other elected representatives might care to grasp the opportunity to communicate afforded by blogs and other online media.

The Essex Institute of Advanced Motorists

I spent yesterday evening with the Essex Institute of Advanced Motorists, a group of around fifty people from different walks of life, meeting at the Chigwell Police Social Club. Generally, they were happy to see the change of mayor although they did praise Ken for introducing the Oystercard.

Like the mayor, they are enthusiastic about improving traffic flows in London, with a lot of support for removing unnecessary pedestrian phases and shortening the time that traffic lights spend on red. They were not keen on road humps and speed tables, which punish good and bad drivers, preferring speed cameras and police patrols to target the truly dangerous individuals. Public policies which led to the needless removal of road space were condemned.

The audience also felt that driving tests should be tightened up to ensure that all the rules of the road were obeyed. There was an interesting suggestion that drivers should be retested at regular intervals if they wished to retain their licences. Lack of courtesy to other drivers - dipping headlights at night for example - was seen as an increasing problem. Although I have not driven for nearly two years I can see what they mean, with examples of inconsiderate and aggressive driving becoming all too common.

There was considerable irritation with local councils who did not do enough to maintain the roads and clear the drains but were all too enthusiastic when it came to road markings, humps and excess signage. The exception was the recent space sharing work done in High Street Kensington, and they awaited the similar proposals for Exhibition Road with interest. Daniel Moylan should be pleased that his fame has spread this far east. They were also pleased to see the back of junction blocking bendy buses.

And they had plenty of ideas for improvement of traffic management, including more use of flashing amber phases, visible countdowns to traffic signal changes (used in Romania) and allowing left turns during red phases - as discussed in the previous post.

All in all it was an enjoyable evening with a well informed group of enthusiasts, including many women. Some of them want to see Mayor's Question Time and I look forward to welcoming them to City Hall.

Turning Left on Red

During the election last year one idea which received some attention was allowing traffic to turn left at junctions even when the lights were red. I had some sympathy for the suggestion but felt that the change - if implemented - should be nationwide, so that drivers didn't have to remember a different set of rules when in the capital.

Today we see this proposal resurfacing in the Evening Standard. Boris has suggested that it should be implemented but only for cyclists. The mayor hopes that cyclists would then be able to get a head start on the heavy vehicles that have claimed 13 lives this year.

Kulveer Ranger, director of transport policy, states "We have written to the Department for Transport asking to run a trial on this. It is a practical proposal which would help improve the relationship between cyclists and other road users." I'm not convinced about that last bit...

The DfT spokesman confirms my original view that "To allow for cyclists to be exempted from red lights a change to the current legislation would be required. This would need to go through the appropriate parliamentary processes before it could take effect."

Recession in Romford

This is - or was - the newsagent downstairs from my flat. They opened a couple of years ago but always struggled to get a large number of customers. Opposite is T K Max, still open but nowhere near as busy as it once was. The Romford Recorder also reports the failure of Giorgio's restaurant, on of the town's smartest venues.

In contrast, nearby Primark was packed over the Easter weekend and Marks & Spencer attracts a lot of older shoppers who are in there every day, although the luxury sandwich range disappeared back in March.

This mixed picture of the recession - some losers, some winners - is repeated elsewhere in business as I discovered last week when I spent a morning with the Academy of Chief Executives. the dozen or so businesses represented around the table were mostly keeping their heads above water, although two manufacturers were pessimistic and one service organisation was actually launching a new product online.

One thing that had changed was their enthusiasm for taking contracts from the public sector. In the past many companies haven't bothered and one of my previous employers had a policy of not taking part - you have to draft bureaucratic equal opportunities, health & safety and environment strategies, then complete some lengthy and confusing tender documents before you can even bid, then the work still goes to the same old people - one of the directors claimed. Now, with reducing opportunities and profits cut to the bone, they can no longer afford to be choosy.

They were also sceptical of the LDA's ability - and the Government's - to actually improve conditions for business. Much of the activity that politicians pride themselves upon was seen as well meaning but ineffective and the credibility of Business Link, which is supposed to be helping, was seen to be low. Recovery, when it comes, will be driven by hard working, risk taking individuals and not by The State.

Wanstead By Election

Out this morning campaigning in Wanstead for a council by election caused by the sad death of Cllr Allan Burgess.

Our candidate is Alex Wilson, pictured along with MEP Charles Tannock and Cllr Edwin Northover, who will be fighting for Leyton & Wanstead at the General Election, when it finally comes along.

We found a lot of support in a seat which is also being contested by Labour, Lib Dems, Greens and UKIP, as well as the BNP who bizarrely quoted Cicero in their latest leaflet.

Meanwhile, we are campaigning for a conservation area to protect the character of the New Counties Estate and to reopen the Corner House lunch club. Alex is also supporting plans for a new science block at Wanstead High School.

The election takes place on 23rd April.

The Trouble With Boris...

I've just watched Antony Barnett's 'documentary' on the first year of the Boris mayoralty. To those of us who have lived the year there was nothing new. Last year's Dispatches on Ken Livingstone featured various old lefties complaining about the mayor - so did this programme.

We had the usual complaints about bendy buses, suspension of the LEZ phase 3, resignation of Sir Ian Blair and scrapping of the congestion charge western extension. Clearly some political opponents are still pining for the old Ken days, and I guess that is understandable, but they need to develop a fresh, attractive narrative and this wasn't it.

Then in part two the tape of Boris and Darius Guppy was played 'for the first time on television'. Well maybe, but there was nothing I hadn't heard before. The conversation was turned over in detail during the election campaign - along with some quotes from the Boris column which we mercifully didn't have to sit through again -so it was an old story.

Part three criticised Boris for approving planning applications for tall buildings after promising not to preserve London's views. Superficially the reporter has a point but those of us who are involved in planning decisions understand that the law, previous precedents, and strategic plans all need to be considered and the results are far from straightforward. Perhaps Mr Barnett needs to spend some time with a council planning committee.

Notably, whilst the programme featured the members of the Labour, Lib Dem and Green groups on the Assembly, the Conservative group were not asked to participate. Indeed the only mayoral advisor who got to contribute was food ambassador, Rosie Boycott - with a disparaging reminder that she once campaigned to legalise cannabis.

So it was a wasted opportunity. Following an election defeat there is bound to be a grieving process but it's going on a bit. Time to move on guys...

Romford Conservatives

I spoke at the Romford Conservatives AGM last night. It was a very upbeat evening with no signs of disunity and a shared determination to rid the country of Brown and NuLab at the earliest opportunity.

Part of the meeting involved awarding trophies to individuals who have contributed to the association in the last year. The evenings Oscar winners were:

The Margaret Thatcher Trophy - for outstanding contribution to the association: Cllr Eric Munday.

The Winston Churchill Shield - for the branch that has made the most progress: Pettits Ward

The Norman Tebbit Cup - for outstanding electoral success: Cllr Roger Evans AM.

Yes, that last one was me, following the 2008 election where I almost trebled my majority. Actually, I think half the cup belongs to Boris Johnson, who energised the whole campaign and raised turnout all over London. The local resident's association also deserve some recognition for deciding not to field a candidate this time. And I'd like to thank my parents...

The association also took delivery of an outstanding picture of Lady Thatcher, donated by the Misir family. It is pictured above and will hang in pride of place at the association HQ.