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Wednesday, 31 October 2007

Dover House dangerous dogs - UPDATE

Yesterday I wrote to everyone in the Dover House estate updating them on the action being taken to deal with the dangerous dogs problem. Here's the text of the letter:

Dear Resident,

You will almost certainly be aware of the shocking incident that took place recently where two dangerous pit-bull types attacked a dog owner and his pet on The Pleasance off Putney Park Lane.

A number of local residents contacted me to express their concern about this incident and to ask what was being done to deal with it, and I am writing to keep you informed.

I spent a great deal of time last week and over the weekend talking with the Police, the Dover House Estate Residents Association and local people.

One of the two pit bull-type dogs was destroyed by the police at the scene; the other has been taken away and is being kept secure in police kennels. A file has been sent to the Crown Prosecution Service and legal proceedings may follow. I certainly believe they should given the seriousness of the incident.

I suggested to the police that the Safer Neighbourhoods Police team should undertake additional patrols in the area to provide a visible reassurance to local residents, and this suggestion was accepted, so do please stop and talk to the team when you see them.

If you have an immediate problem with a troublesome dog, contact the Dog Control Unit on 020 8871 7606. If you believe it is dangerously out of control call the Police immediately on 999. The Safer Neighbourhood Police team for the Dover House area can be reached on 020 8721 2760, mobile: 07747 757590, or e-mail: westputney.snt@met.police.uk

Finally, if there are any other local concerns you have do get in touch and I'd be only too happy to see what I can do. My phone number is 020 8788 8961 or write to or email me.

Yours sincerely,

Stuart King

posted by Stuart King at 14:32  

Tuesday, 30 October 2007

The De Morgan Centre

Helen of Troy by Evelyn De Morgan, copyright expiredEarlier tonight, I attended an evening staged by Putney Labour Party at the De Morgan Centre on West Hill.

We received a talk from a Centre trustee, Kate Catleugh who talked about William and Evelyn De Morgan and the Arts and Crafts movement, which had strong roots in the reformist movements in the 19th century - Evelyn, for example, was prominent in the campaign for women's suffrage.

The De Morgans were associated with the pre-Raphaelite movement that included artists like William Morris, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Holman Hunt

The De Morgan Centre is at 38 West Hill, next door to West Hill Library; the buses 37, 337 and 170 all stop nearby. It's open 12 noon to 6pm Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and 10am to 5pm Fridays and Saturdays, closed at other times. If you'd like more information, please visit the Centre's website: www.demorgan.org.uk, phone 020 8871 1144 or email info@demorgan.org.uk

This is one of our borough's less well-known gems; and given the council's ridiculous plans for reorganisation of Wandsworth Museum, which include West Hill Library, the fate of the Centre cannot be certain, so do show your support, visit the Centre, enjoy some of the exquisite paintings and ceramics on display and learn more about this remarkable couple and the movement they were involved in.

posted by Stuart King at 22:22  

Monday, 29 October 2007

United Nations Day Service

At the weekend I had the pleasure of attending the United Nations Day Service at the Shree Ghanapathy Hindu Temple in Effra Road, Wimbledon. I am a member of the Putney branch of the United Nations Association and joined fellow members and the Mayor of Wandsworth in marking UN Day.

The Service took place in the week that saw the launch of the UK United Nations Association’s “Lobby for the UN” - a campaign to promote dialogue between voters and MPs about the UK’s contribution to the UN’s work in maintaining international peace and security, protecting human rights and promoting sustainable development. In 2007-08 the lobby will focus on the UN's role in:
  • Achieving the Millennium Development Goals
  • Ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
  • Banning cluster munitions
  • Combating climate change
  • Implementing the responsibility to protect
In these changing times so many of the threats to our peace and security are global – whether it is international terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, to climate change and the continuing scar of world poverty. The UN – despite its imperfections, remains the principal route through which Governments must come together to tackle these challenges.

posted by Stuart King at 21:26  

Sunday, 28 October 2007

Don't turn the clocks back

If an election had actually been called earlier this month, next Thursday would, in all likelihood, have been polling day. And because today is the day clocks officially go back, my campaign team and I would have been out and about in Putney, Roehampton and Southfields encouraging you NOT to turn the clocks back politically and returning us all to the Conservative era of:
  • two devastating recessions
  • 15% interest rates
  • 3 million unemployed
  • 75,000 people in negative equity and record repossessions
  • 1 million more pensioners in absolute poverty
  • 2 million more children in absolute poverty
  • Schools and hospitals underfunded
  • St Mary's Hospital A&E, Roehampton, axed
  • Wages of £1.50 an hour - or less
  • 79,000 fewer nurses
  • 28,000 fewer teachers
  • 27,000 fewer doctors
  • 13,000 fewer police officers
  • Crime 30% higher overall than it is today
  • Our international development budget to aid the world's poorest countries halved
  • Maternity pay halved, maternity leave reduced

Just recalling what Britain was like before 1997 sends a shudder through me. It's worth reliving though, because beneath the gloss of the new Conservatives, there's no evidence to suggest they've changed at all - and let's face it: that's precisely what most Tory members want.

So whenever the election is, just think back to what Britain was like under the Conservatives. Please don't turn the clocks back.

posted by Stuart King at 01:31  

Sunday, 28 October 2007

The Longstaffs

These past two weekends I've spent part of my time in Longstaff Crescent, Longstaff Road and the Longstaff Estate.

Longstaff Road and Crescent are two streets of pleasant inter-war council cottages in Southfields just alongside King George's Park; an area I know well because I lived just the other side of the park when I was growing up.

The Longstaff estate is a completely separate development: it's the small council estate just behind the fire station in West Hill, right opposite the junction with Upper Richmond Road.

The common feature which unites these two is that both look distinctly neglected by the Council; in the case of Longstaff Crescent the windows are badly eroded and long overdue for replacement; the Longstaff estate is shabby and grim, with stained brickwork.

Working with local Labour councillors I've now taken up several specific cases of council neglect; it's time the council gave a firm date in the near future for replacing the Longstaff windows given the approach of Winter.

On both occasions the reception was mostly warm and positive - indeed, many people commented positively about the visit given there isn't to be an election for some time. No one could recall a visit by Justine Greening since she became Putney's MP over two years ago.

posted by Stuart King at 15:13  

Saturday, 27 October 2007

Community lunch clubs

Last week I had the great pleasure of meeting with members of the St Paul's Community Centre luncheon club for the elderly in Inner Park Road, West Hill.

After lunch I was invited to address the 25 or so members present, setting out how I would lead the constituency and how I believe the issues we face can be tackled. I got grilled on a range of questions: the European treaty, tax, fair trade, race and education among them.

I also visited residents of Wickham House, the sheltered accommodation in Kersfield Drive off Putney Hill - the picture is of me and resident Theresa Thompson. And to commence the day I popped into the coffee club on the Lennox estate where again I enjoyed the opportunity to discuss local and topical issues of the day with long term Putney residents.

I very much enjoy getting out and about in the constituency, meeting genuine local people and at attending local events: the bread and butter of what a good MP should be up to. If you're involved in a local group: be it a residents' association, a school, a faith group, amenity society or something else, please get in touch - I'd love to hear from you. You can email me or give me a ring on 020 8788 8961.

posted by Stuart King at 21:10  

Friday, 26 October 2007

Dover House dangerous dogs

You may have seen the front page feature in the Wandsworth Borough News about the problem of dangerous dogs in the Dover House Estate.

The problem has also generated a lot of comment on the putneysw15.com website discussion forum, and I've been contacted by worried residents, unhappy with the utter lack of interest in this issue from the Conservative MP and Tory councillors.

Today, I've spent a lot of time on conference calls with the police - which were really productive - and will be meeting with residents over the weekend. I'm optimistic that this particular incident, that caused such fear and anger locally, is going to be resolved appropriately and I'll be updating this blog after my weekend meetings to explain a little more about why I think that.

Residents are absolutely right to concerned about the issue of dangerous dogs in the area, and livid at the ambivalence shown by the MP. This issue is EXACTLY the sort of local issue a good constituency MP would be at the heart of getting resolved.

For more on the background to this story, the Borough News story can be read here.

posted by Stuart King at 19:02  

Thursday, 25 October 2007

Meeting with Putney Society

Earlier this week I accepted an invitation to address the Executive Committee of the Putney Society - the highly regarded and influential amenity society operating within the constituency.

The meeting was well-chaired by Lucille Grant - I was given an opportunity to introduce myself and explain my plans and aspirations for the constituency. There followed twenty minutes of challenging questions on local and national issues, including the housing crisis in Putney that I have placed at the heart of my campaign; the proposed merger between Salesian College and John Paul II schools and wider education issues; the relationship between the MP and local council; and the state of Putney High Street.

Although my questioners included two self-confessed card-carrying members of the Conservative Party the questioning was fair, robust and an enjoyable experience.

I value greatly the work of the Putney Society, of which I am a member, and look forward to working with them to tackle to issues, current and future, that face our neighbourhood. To find out more about the Society click here to visit their website.

posted by Stuart King at 22:00  

Tuesday, 23 October 2007

Council office-block loophole causing problems

Like other councils, Wandsworth has rules to stop radical changes of use of buildings - so houses can't usually be converted into shops, shops into nightclubs and so on. Such policies are important to preserve the identity of our area, keep residential areas residential and shopping areas vibrant.

Last week I met with a local solicitor, whose firm leases quite a large amount of office space in Upper Richmond Road. He told me that the owners of his building had indicated that they will not be extending the lease when it expires so that they can exploit a loophole in council planning policy that, if not dealt with soon will have major impact on Putney's economy. The same has occurred elsewhere in Putney and we will soon lose local lawyers Capsticks from Upper Richmond Road.

This is because a loophole in Wandsworth's planning rules says that if a property is left derelict for long enough, planning regulations relating to a change of use can be waived. The consequence - and this is another side-effect of the local housing crisis - is that land for housing is at such a premium in Putney that it is now in the interests of landowners who hold purpose-built office blocks to keep them empty and then, once they qualify, change the use to housing, then sell up at a huge profit.

At first glance, no-one - least of all me - is going to weep at the demolition of the ugly post war blocks along Upper Richmond Road between East Putney tube and Putney Hill. But think about the number of people that work in those ugly blocks: the business they bring to local shops, cafes and restaurants - and the impact their loss will have on our economy. It's not just shops and bars that are the measure of a vibrant Putney town centre; it's the less visible office economy too.

I hope that the current council consultation on its new Local Development Framework (its planning Bible) will address this problem and offer better protection to the local office buioding stock.

posted by Stuart King at 14:59  

Wednesday, 24 October 2007

Average Putney house price now half a million

If you needed further evidence that the main focus of Putney's MP should be housing, look no further than the latest figures from the Land Registry. They reveal that the average house price in the constituency is now £498,976.

Despite a slowing housing market in the rest of the country, in London, prices surged by 16%; making homes here twice as expensive as the rest of the UK. This again is why I'm arguing that London is a 'special case' - that we need more imaginative and far-reaching solutions to solve the Capital's problems.

Sadly, we're not getting them from the Conservatives - those that are vaguely interested in the problem, that is (a group that excludes our current MP who hasn't asked a single parliamentary question on the local housing situation since her election). The Tories would actually make the problem worse by accelerating council house sales without any plan to replace the rented homes lost. In effect, they're trying to saddle the rest of the country with the problem they've created in our borough: cash windfalls for the lucky few council tenants fortunate enough to buy their home; greatly reduced social and housing mobility for everyone else.

After a decade of Opposition, it should genuinely worry everyone that the only housing policy the Tories have come up with is a retread that's almost 30 years old - when Britain was a different country. Unless your income's rising by 16% a year then this problem affects you and the Tories couldn't care less.

Click here to visit my homewatch site and here for the www.putneysw15.com coverage of this story.

posted by Stuart King at 22:32  

Monday, 22 October 2007

The decline of Roehampton Village

Whenever regeneration of Roehampton is discussed, it's usually in reference to the Alton Estate. But Roehampton is more than just the Alton; this area has one of what I would describe as the last genuine villages within the bounds of Greater London.

Roehampton Village is incomparable to the Alton in terms of the affluence of most of its residents, but it is also a local shopping centre that boasts a diversity of shops. But recently that diversity has narrowed sharply.

In the past year or so, two of Roehampton's three pubs have closed (in itself no great loss as they were both causing problems for residents) which means that there are now only two in the whole of Roehampton. More recently, both of the village's flower shops have closed, as has Threshers: almost overnight, the parade of local shops at the foot of Medfield Street has gone from vibrant to nearly derelict. A delapidated house next door to The Angel pub was condemned over a year ago; that was the right decision but the council has just boarded it up and left it - I would advocate a compulsory purchase order and renovation.

There are some success stories - new businesses are trying to start up and the run-down terrace on Roehampton Lane between Ponsonby and Medfield Streets has been done up. But a lot of the new businesses that have opened in this area have closed fairly quickly and I genuinely believe that the village is now reaching a tipping point, with so many vacant properties as to risk a real decline from which it will struggle to recover.

I'm in politics because I'm an optimist - I don't believe that the village's problems are insurmountable or unavoidable. But I do think the council needs to remember the Village is part of Roehampton too, and not focus all it's efforts on the Alton, important though this is. What is lacking is local leadership - from the council, Roehampton's Conservative Councillors and the Tory MP. We need a can do, not a can't do attitude from the politicians; but it's just as important that Roehampton residents don't give up either: we can change things - but if anyone representing you tells you they can't, make sure you change them for those who can.

posted by Stuart King at 12:53  

Friday, 19 October 2007

Next year's London elections must count

I got news yesterday that the website of the body overseeing next year's elections for the Mayor and Assembly for London has just been relaunched: www.londonelects.org.uk if you're interested.

A lot of coverage was - rightly - devoted to the voting debacle in Scotland earlier this year when tens of thousands of votes were incorrectly cast because of badly designed ballot papers and the multitude of different systems being used.

But what's far less widely known is that in 2004, the last time the Mayor and Assembly were elected, there was an even bigger problem in London with spoilt ballots for exactly the same reason. In some parts of London, up to 18% of all the ballots cast were "spoilt" - not because voters were making some protest about the quality of their candidates, but because the three elections (Mayor, Assembly and European Parliament), which yielded up to five votes per person, were simply baffling to too many people.

I'm really concerned that next year's elections are heading the same way. The Electoral Commission, which oversaw the design of ballots in 2004 and in Scotland this year seems to have done little to accept responsibility or make improvements in the six months since the elections. Although we won't have European Elections next year (because MEPs serve a five-year term) there is still a risk that an unacceptably high number of votes will be mis-cast.

It's up to all of us: politicians, the media, the electoral administrators and yes, the electorate, to make sure that we have an electoral system we can be confident in, which makes voting as easy as possible and - most importantly - where every vote counts.

posted by Stuart King at 08:38  

Friday, 19 October 2007

Quiz: 20 out of 20 proving elusive

A few of you have been attempting my Putney, Roehampton and Southfields quiz, but so far, no-one's got all twenty questions right. Think you might be the one to accomplish it? Take the quiz: click here!

posted by Stuart King at 16:58  

Thursday, 18 October 2007

My October Parliamentary Report

...Is now online at the Putney SW15 website. This month, I talk about the non-election, three of my constituency engagements over the past few weeks and more about Wandsworth being the fly-tipping capital of London. You can read my column by clicking here.

posted by Stuart King at 11:33  

Wednesday, 17 October 2007

Fulham Football Club Planning Application?

One of the long running sagas just across the river, but of local interest, is that of Fulham FC and the battle it has had with some residents to modernise and expand its stadium to cope with its Premiership fanbase.

Planning Applications to increase the size of its stadium have been flying back and forth for a couple of decades now and have generated huge local rows between some of the residents living near to the club who seem opposed to all development there, and Club supporters - plenty of whom live in Putney, Roehampton and Southfields - who want a Craven Cottage ground fit for the 21st century.

Now Fulham has indicated it wants to submit a new planning application, this time to add 4,000 seats; a more modest proposal than their last one. The Club is also proposing to open up its riverside terrace so that Bishop's Park can be connected to the Thames Path further north except on matchdays, restore the listed Stevenage Road stand and provide funds to improve Bishops Park.

The Club is holding a public meeting next Wednesday, 24 October, at Craven Cottage. Space is limited, so if you'd like to attend and hear more, you should email residents@fulhamfc.com. If Fulham submit a planning application, I'll talk more about my views.

posted by Stuart King at 02:53  

Wednesday, 17 October 2007

We agree: shop fronts do matter

I genuinely welcome the Council's decision to force a couple of shops in Lower and Upper Richmond Roads to remove the ugly steel security shutters that seal them off after closing time each night.

As Planning Committee Chairman and Putney Conservative Councillor Leslie McDonnell says:

"Shopping streets should be vibrant and welcoming but these shutters present an intimidating, fortress-like facade. There are better ways in which shop-owners can secure their premises and make them more attractive."

I couldn't agree more. But the council can't have it both ways. It cannot say that the appearance of shops is fundamental to the success of our shopping areas and at the same time credibly maintain its opposition to my campaign to smarten up Putney High Street - a central measure of which is tighter control of the appearance of shop fronts and grants to help introduce higher standards and a common visual identity for the whole town centre. To date the council has said that it's neither something they have the power to enforce, nor is interfering with private businesses a matter it should engage with. And yet in the case of these two shops above, that's exactly what the council's done.

The reality is that this is all about local leadership: it's not that the council can't take action to improve the High Street - it's that your councillors and MP, all of whom are Conservative, simply lack the will and imagination to lead on this issue.

You can read more about my Save Putney High Street campaign, take my survey to feed back your ideas, and add your support by clicking here.

posted by Stuart King at 13:57  

Tuesday, 16 October 2007

What price democracy?

The Council has been reviewing where it locates its polling stations on election days. This may sound like a seriously dull issue, but research has shown that the further away from a polling station someone lives, the less likely they are to bother to vote.

One of the areas where this problem is most starkly highlighted is in the northern part of Roehampton ward. This is the area that covers Priory Lane, the Lennox Estate and Woking Close. For residents in most of this patch they vote fairly locally at the Brookside Community Centre. But also included in this polling station's catchment area is the main Roehampton University campus in Roehampton Lane. From here, the distance to vote is well over a mile.

Now you may say - as the council does - that students are "active and mobile", so a mile hike is nothing. The problem is that it's off-putting enough that in the council elections last year a total of seven - that's seven students, not 7% - out of almost 800, decided to go to the trouble of walking it.

We can either take the view that it's just too bad or - my view - that we have to make a bigger effort to engage students so that they get a voting habit that will stay with them for life. That's why we in Labour argued for a new polling station in the Roehampton campus.

To my regret Council officers recommended rejecting this idea as "not cost-effective" (even though it's the government, not the council, that foots the bill of staging elections). So my question is: what price democracy? I hope that Councillors, who on all sides are genuinely concerned about engaging residents in the democratic process, will reconsider this issue and make voting much easier for Roehampton University students.

You can find out more about the review of polling stations here.

posted by Stuart King at 19:08  

Monday, 15 October 2007

Try your hand at my Putney Quiz

One of the features I've been able to add since transferring over the hosting of my website is more interactivity.

You can contact me via our new online response form (see the 'contact' section), sign online petitions (Newlands Hall and Putney HomeWatch), take surveys (Save Putney High Street) and, possibly best of all, see how well informed you are about the area you live in...

It's my Putney quiz!

Twenty questions about Putney, Roehampton and Southfields; local trivia, famous people, architecture and property and our area's history. Spanning the Domesday Book to current times, this quiz will test your local knowledge in many ways! If you're as committed to the patch as I am, then I hope you'll take the quiz! Click here to do so.

posted by Stuart King at 19:31  

Monday, 15 October 2007

Su Doku solution

Anyone looking for the answer to the su doku puzzle in the Autumn edition of The Putney Paper can find it here!

posted by Stuart King at 03:39  

Sunday, 14 October 2007

Save Newlands Hall

Yesterday my campaign team and I were out and about on the Putney Vale estate, which is nestled just behind the ASDA superstore on Roehampton Vale.

Aside from it being right next door to where I play football, we were there because the Council is threatening to close down - and, we suspect, sell-off - Newlands Hall, the focal point of this estate ever since it was built.

Newlands Hall serves as the base for all sorts of community facilities; residents' meetings, family birthdays, it's the local polling station for that area - you name it, it goes on there. For years the council has neglected it - and now, instead of rectifying that neglect, they prefer to condemn it.

That's just not good enough, so today we were out in force there, chatting to residents, discussing the local anger this has caused, and despite only being around for just over an hour we drummed up nearly 100 petitioners demanding the council Save Newlands Hall.

We've only just begun our petition, and if you'd like to add your name, you can now do so online: just click here and fill in your details.

posted by Stuart King at 15:42  

Saturday, 13 October 2007

Tory Wandsworth: the fly-tip capital of London

Figures just released by the Department for the Environment (DEFRA) have revealed that Wandsworth is the most fly-tipped borough in London.

There were - wait for it - a staggering 158,076 incidents of fly-tipping the council had reported to it: and those are just the cases the council picked up! Astonishingly, Wandsworth accounts for 1 in every 4 fly-tips in the entire capital. The council spent almost £4 million of your money on the problem, and yet only managed a measly 18 prosecutions last year.

This is an issue close to my heart because for eight years I was Labour's Environment spokesman locally and spent a lot of my time forcing the council to clean up grot-spots all over the borough but especially in Roehampton (like the one pictured in Hersham Close above).

So it's little surprise to me that these new figures have found Wandsworth lagging badly, because whatever this council does well, keeping our streets clean isn't it. Over the past three years complaints about street cleaning have soared. We've seen how popular my campaign to improve the shameful state of Putney High Street has been. We've had scandal after scandal with the refuse contract.

Why is Wandsworth is so much dirtier than other boroughs? Why are fly-tippers more prepared to treat our area as a dumping ground for their rubbish? How can we do better? One of the ideas I've urged the council to adopt is to provide borough residents with a free collection of larger/heavier items of waste from their home - which in one stroke removes such incentive as there is to flytip. That's a service residents of Hammersmith & Fulham get - and their council spends barely 20% of Wandsworth on flytipping as a result because it's much less of a problem.

My experience of dealing day-in, day-out with this issue for almost a decade is that this council just isn't getting to grips with it. There doesn't seem to be the leadership to tackle it. Because improving the local environment has been my political priority for years and years, you can rest assured that as MP I'll provide the leadership so evidently lacking here.

Here are the DEFRA council-by-council figures and here's the BBC coverage of the story

posted by Stuart King at 09:00  

Friday, 12 October 2007

Website

Just a quick note to apologise to anyone who tried to visit my website in the past couple of days only to find it either down, or displaying some very odd pages!

I've been transferring over my hosting (I'd strongly advise anyone thinking of buying web hosting NOT to use 123.reg - also known as Pipex - they have been responsible for these problems) to a new host (Positive Internet, who are excellent!).

This means that in the coming days and weeks I'll be able to add more interactive features to the site; including response devices, petition forms, surveys and - something I'm working on at the moment - a Putney quiz.

posted by Stuart King at 13:02  

Thursday, 11 October 2007

Channel 4 News

Last Saturday I was interviewed by Channel 4 News about my campaign's readiness for a General Election which, at the time, was thought likely to be called the following Monday.

Of course, events have overtaken us and there now isn't going to be an election for the foreseeable future. But I was able to report perfectly honestly that, thanks to some hectic work since I was selected in June, Putney, Roehampton and Southfields Labour Party is ready to fight a general election whenever it's called.

Alas, my interview never got aired - though shots of my campaign team and me delivering the Putney Paper in the streets around Felsham Road were used - and showed what a young, dynamic and energetic team of local members and supporters we're building locally.

posted by Stuart King at 21:00  

Tuesday, 9 October 2007

Feedback from The Putney Paper

I've already started receiving comments and questions arising from the Autumn edition of the Putney Paper, still being delivered around the constituency. One constituent emailed me about the feature on the housing crisis. He made the point that my ideas about raising the Stamp Duty threshold (since imitated by the Conservatives!)weren't radical enough: that to really help Putney residents we needed an exemption far higher than £250,000.

He's partly right. The problem is that the housing pressures in London are so much worse than the rest of the country because it's so much more expensive living here. The consequence of a national Stamp Duty threshold at £250,000 - for first-time buyers only - as the Conservatives now propose is that in parts of the country that buys people a very large house; in Putney it may just about get you an ex-local authority flat in a tower block. I think they're wrong both to apply the policy nationally and only to first-time-buyers.

It's surely crazy to come up with one-size-fits-all policies like that when the country isn't one size. So my response to the constituent who contacted me was that yes, £250,000 is the absolute minimum we should be looking at locally.

But I also believe we need to increase the Stamp Duty threshold incrementally, to allow the market to absorb the changes. My worry is that if all that comes of this idea is that sellers simply increase their sale prices to match the amount buyers save by not paying Stamp Duty, the policy fails. So we need to be measured. But rest assured: my five point housing plan represents just the start of what we need to do to address this massive, complex problem - and over time, given the chance, I'll be building on these ideas.

posted by Stuart King at 21:58  

Monday, 8 October 2007

Child Trust Fund follow-up

I've had a really great response from local schools to my letter encouraging parents to sign up for the Child Trust Fund (see my post on 24 September for more).

As a result, getting on for a thousand parents have received information from me explaining how to claim their children's Trusts, worth up to £500 - one of Labour's landmark achievements for supporting families.

I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank the schools that responded to my letter: this is exactly the sort of strong working relationship across the community that will be the norm with me as MP for our area.

If you haven't received my letter it may be because your school hasn't responded to me. You can either contact me direct - email stuart.king@putneylabour.org.uk, or ask your school about it: I wrote to all State nursery and Primary schools in the constituency and several that are privately-run too.

This is free money with no strings for your child when they reach 18 - why not claim it?

posted by Stuart King at 14:25  

Sunday, 7 October 2007

The covenant with our armed forces

I believe passionately in supporting serving and former armed forces personnel and their families and if elected to Parliament they can expect me to be an advocate on their behalf.

So when I was at the Labour Party conference last week I made sure I attended the fringe meeting organised by the Royal British Legion. I talked with RBL officials and with the families of service personnel on active duty abroad and was moved by their stories of quiet heroism.

Conservative attacks on the Government’s record are cynical and dishonest, especially given the way the last Conservative Government ran down our armed forces. However, I am clear that as we ask more and more of our service personnel we should continually reassess the level of support we provide to them and their families.

That’s why I welcome whole heartedly yesterday’s announcement by the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Defence of extra funding for Wiltshire and Swindon coroner David Masters, who deals with inquests for service personnel repatriated through RAF Lyneham. The move is intended to deal with the continuing problem of inquest delays and backlogs. The bereaved families of service personnel who have been killed on active duty abroad should be entitled to know as quickly as possible the circumstances in which their loved ones died.

posted by Stuart King at 17:47  

Saturday, 6 October 2007

The Putney Paper hits the streets

The Putney Paper is a brand new newspaper for Putney, Roehampton and Southfields and will become one of the main ways I communicate my work, ideas and views on the key issues facing our community in the coming weeks and years.

Copies of the hot-off-the-presses latest edition started going out on Friday, and I spent most of this weekend winding my way through the streets of West Hill delivering to residents of that part of the constituency - so everyone living in, for instance, Whitlock Drive, Arnal Crescent, Stoford and Stapleford Closes, the Ackroydon Estate and much more besides received their copy courtesy of yours truly.

But I also had a dedicated team helping deliver copies all over the constituency: you know who you are: thank you for your efforts this weekend (and there are still a few left to go out - so don't give up!).

Over 20,000 copies are being delivered - but if you get missed out, don't worry, you can read the online version here in pdf format (1.4mb).

posted by Stuart King at 21:23  

Friday, 5 October 2007

Meeting the Police; keeping crime low

Last week I met with the new borough police Commander, Stewart Low. We had a wide ranging conversation over the course of an hour and I was impressed with how quickly he has mastered his local brief.

He talked me through the latest crime figures for Putney, Southfields and Roehampton. They are excellent and a demonstration that the investment in additional uniformed presence on our streets through Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) is really paying dividends.

The work of PCSOs in supporting police officers in Putney is regrettably, sometimes undervalued, especially by those with a negative political agenda. But our constituency now has over thirty of these officers - up to six per council ward, all led by a Police Sergeant and Constable - which we didn't have two years ago and which the Tories and Lib Dems voted against funding.

Indeed, Chief Superintendent Low specifically mentioned the positive impact PCSOs had had locally in reducing and tackling crime.

posted by Stuart King at 17:42  

Thursday, 4 October 2007

Burma

There is as I write growing concern about the fate of the brave Monks who last week took a stand against the ruling junta that is misgoverning Burma.

I want Britain, the EU and the world to take a firm stand on the unacceptable human rights abuses that have been tolerated for far too long. I know I'm not alone in this.

Although these are effortless and possibly inconsequential measures, a facebook group supporting the monks' protest had about 70,000 subscribers last Thursday. By Friday it was over 100,000; by the end of the weekend over 200,000 and earlier today the total passed 330,000. Just one of many online petitions to the UN has amassed over 36,000 signatures.

The biggest contribution Britain can make is pushing for much tougher EU action: the French oil giant Mobil is one of the biggest investors in Burma. Their involvement in the country must end. Britain itself has virtually no remaining major trade links with Burma but there are plenty of small businesses who do.

We have seen strong leadership from the ASEAN nations: every single member other than Burma itself has criticised the military response to peaceful protests. China, which can do more than any other nation has gone further than it ever has before to criticise the military junta, but it must go further: it remains the break on the UN Security Council taking far tougher action than it has been able to so far.

It's often hard to see any tangible results brought about by diplomacy. But international pressure is bringing results - far too slowly, but the regime would not have even countenanced meeting the UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari without such universal condemnation. We should not be grateful for this - but nor should we dismiss it as inconsequential either.

We in Britain must appreciate that as the former colonial power in this part of Asia, we cannot be seen to be reasserting our Imperialist tendencies, however just the cause. It must be the region that takes the lead on Burma: that means China, Japan and ASEAN. Britain's role must be to lead the UN Security Council towards unremitting, crystal clear opposition to the Burmese Junta.

What we need - and we rarely get - are sanctions to be observed by everyone. The reason Saddam Hussain piled up reserves while Iraqis starved is that too many multi-national corporations - and I'm afraid to say, nations - felt that sanctions applied to everyone else but them. If we can bring about a genuine embargo enforeced and abided by, then the chance of Aung Sun Suu Kyi being reinstated as Burma's rightful leader will be massively advanced.

posted by Stuart King at 20:37  

Wednesday, 3 October 2007

The price of celebrity?

I know I talk a lot about Facebook - the social networking site that is currently all the rage. But evidently I'm not alone. Earlier today in his conference speech the Conservative Party leader mentioned a Facebook group called "Am I the only person who doesn't like David Cameron?" He joked that it had 379 members, compared to a more supportive facebook group that had just 74.

Well, since he gave "Am I the only person who doesn't like David Cameron" a plug, I can now reveal that membership of it has soared to [update 11.10.2007]: 2,213! That's inflation not seen since the days of the last Conservative government!

If you'd like to join my ever-growing Stuart King for Putney facebook group and you have a facebook account, please click here.

posted by Stuart King at 21:09  

Tuesday, 2 October 2007

The Putney Debates

It's 360 years since the Putney Debates took place in our very own St Mary's Church, beside Putney Bridge.

A series of events are being planned by both the Church and the UK Parliament to mark this significant historical event, where factions of Oliver Cromwell's Roundhead Army came together to forge a written constitution for England. The attempt failed because of the escape of King Charles from Hampton Court Palace, and because Cromwell could not be reconciled to the idea of direct democracy, but it is argued that this meeting inspired the US Declaration of Independence and the founding principles of that country's constitution.

A website listing these events has been set up, and can be found here.

posted by Stuart King at 21:26  

Monday, 1 October 2007

Anyone spotted them?

...I'm referring to Putney Liberal Democrats. It's just that with an election potentially about to be called, Putney is evidently not important enough a constituency to have a Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate. Their website hasn't been updated since May.

Now I know that most Liberal Democrat resources in this neck of the woods go into fighting their marginal seat of Richmond Park next door. But Richmond Park has had a Labour candidate (the excellent Eleanor Tunnicliffe) for months because whether or not an area is a stronghold of ours we believe everyone should have the chance to vote Labour.

The Lib Dem leadership evidently doesn't feel the same about our patch. Of course, when an election is called they'll conjour up a last-minute candidate, but is that really good enough? Putney deserve a candidate who actually wants to be our MP rather than someone cajoled into standing just to make up the numbers.

Last time round Putney Lib Dems finished third - almost 10,000 votes behind Labour and the Conservatives. Over two and a half years on from that election and they still haven't chosen a candidate. That plus the result last time is a reflection that they know they can't ever win here. If you are a potential Lib Dem voter in Putney, Southfields or Roehampton, please consider lending me your vote at the next election. It’s a two horse race and if you don’t want a Conservative Government your only choice in Putney is to vote Labour.

posted by Stuart King at 20:12