Festival of Vaisakhi

A message from Gordon Brown & Stuart King to Putney's Sikh community

We know that British Sikhs have made a great contribution to the economic, culturaland political life of the United Kingdom, and the Sikh faith and culture have broughttremendous strengths and benefits to our society.

Vaisakhi demonstrates the enduring values of the Sikh community - a belief in equalityand social justice. These are values which also inspire us and they are shared by the wider British community.

We are delighted to have this opportunity to send you our best wishes at this special time and to wish you and your family a very happy Vaisakhi.

The change we see

These are some of the hundreds of new and revamped facilities around the country completed by Labour since we were elected. They're from right around the country, but here in Putney we:

• Rebuilt Queen Mary's Hospital in Roehampton
• Upgraded doctors and dentists' surgeries like the one in Augustus Road
• Are currently upgrading the pool at Southfields Community College;
• Built the Brandlehow Nursery extension
• Are about to fund a major refit of Elliott School and the expansion of Hotham Primary School
• Funded the expansion of South Thames College on their central Wandsworth campus
• Expanded Roehampton University

..Among other important local investments in our community. Continuing investment in Putney, Roehampton and Southfields depends on who wins the general election - and that depends on who you vote for locally. The Tories will cut these building schemes substantially. Labour has a track record of delivering for our area.

International Women's Day: United Nations Association meeting

More information at www.unaputneyandroehampton.org.uk

United Nations Association meeting on Human Rights

Have a great new year!

Yesterday's International Development meeting

The public meeting I held last night with International Development Minister Gareth Thomas MP was a big success. Despite the blustery weather dozens of Putney residents ventured out to listen and contribute on this issue which means a lot to me.

A cross section of the Putney community turned up to hear Gareth field a series of questions spanning the globe - from the piracy problems in Somalia; the Israel/Palestine conflict; Kosovo; resolving the Doha trade round in order to bring greater prosperity to developing nations - and, as Gareth freely admitted, the first ever question he has been asked about the Turks & Caicos islands!

In closing the meeting, I thanked Gareth for attending, Revd. Jim McKinney - the vicar of Holy Trinity church Roehampton for chairing and Mo Smith and Regenerate RISE for the kind use of their premises at The Platt Christian Centre in Felsham Road. It was also nice to see some of our Liberal Democrat friends in the audience - this was a public meeting open to all; they were most welcome, and they contributed to the discussion.

Here are some of the pictures from the meeting:

TONIGHT: Our duty to the developing world

A final reminder that International Development Minister Gareth Thomas is coming to Putney later today to contribute to a public meeting on how the government needs to continue committing resources to the developing world.

The meeting takes place at the Platt Christian Centre, 22 Felsham Road, across the road from Putney Labour Party HQ from 7.30pm. This is a free event but there are only a handful of places remaining, so please arrive on time.

The meeting's being chaired by Revd. Jim McKinney, the vicar of Holy Trinity Church in Roehampton.

Putney Christmas Lights

Public meeting next week

One week to go
This event is open to all members of the public and is free to attend. There are, however, only fifty places, so please reserve your place by phoning my office on 020 8788 8961 or emailing agent@putneylabour.org.uk.

Remembrance Sunday

A bugler plays the Last Post at a Remembrance Service in Lashkar Gah, Helmand, Southern Afghanistan in November 2007.

Byline: SAC Kimberley Waterson RAF, Source: Army, Crown Copyright

Public meeting: our duty to the developing world

This event is open to all members of the public and is free to attend. There are, however, only fifty places, so please reserve your place by phoning my office on 020 8788 8961 or emailing agent@putneylabour.org.uk.

Have a happy and safe Halloween

It's always worth reading the tips provided by Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital to make sure Halloween doesn't end in tears!

The strange death of volunteer Wandsworth

The chart above shows the catastrophic collapse in the number of voluntary sector organisations registered with the council recent years. In 2002 there were 446 such organisations - last year just 23. That's a 95% decline in six years.

Wandsworth has a record of heaping services most councils elsewhere in the country provide themselves onto voluntary sector providers - but despite bearing far more responsibility for services volunteers have still seen grant-funding from the Conservatives locally slashed: and that is the principal reason for this massive decline.

I actually support the principle of encouraging local volunteers to provide services for their community: they are more in touch with those whose needs they serve, can often provide more efficient services better tailored to the individual needs of their clients. But the Conservatives see the voluntary sector as a means of providing services on the cheap. It's just not right.

There is a consequence here: a strong voluntary sector helps build strong communities which are concerned not just about themselves but about how their neighbours are doing too. The Conservatives don't understand why that matters - they don't believe there's such a thing as society, after all.

Putney School of Art progress

I wrote yesterday about the Labour Government funds being used to provide a playground at The Pleasance in the Dover House estate.

I predicted in that report that the Conservatives would seek to claim credit where none was due them - and one of the reasons I'm confident about that prediction is that it's exactly what they've tried to do over Putney School of Art.

Putney School of Art in Oxford Road is currently undergoing a major expansion costing £818,000. 73% of that cost is being met by the Labour Government, and a further 7% from fundraising carried out by the excellent, courageous and persistent Friends of Putney School of Art. This work will increase capacity at the school by almost a quarter - or, in the way the Conservatives view things, increase potential income for them of £78,000.

Yet the Conservatives make out that the prospect of a thriving Putney School of Art is down to them. I'd tolerate that outrageous spin were it not for the fact that it was this Conservative council that tried to close the school down only a few years ago because their "cost of everything, value of nothing" attitude only sees benefit to the community when it comes with financial benefits too. That's why I pay tribute to the hard work of the Friends of Putney School of Art, whose campaign was almost single-handedly responsible for keeping the school open.

Now we have the prospect of Putney School of Art going from strength to strength with Labour, on a stronger financial footing and offering a wider variety of courses. That's something the whole community will welcome. But let's just give credit where credit is due, and certainly not to Putney's shameless Conservative opportunists, whose commitment to the arts runs about as deep as their pockets - shallow, in other words.

Click here to read more about the progress being made on improving Putney School of Art.

Happy Diwali

Roehampton Festival's Kings & Queens lunch

On Sunday it was my pleasure to be involved as one of the volunteer helpers at the annual pensioners lunch (Kings & Queens) organised by the amazing and terrific people at Regenerate RISE. The lunch was held in a marque on the green in Danebury Avenue opposite Minstead Gardens - the same location as Saturday's Roehampton Festival.

Over 350 local pensioners from Roehampton (and further afield) were treated as "Kings and Queens" for the day - enjoying a fantastic lunch, cream tea and generous servings of both soft and slightly stronger liquid refreshment! Music was provided - including a jazz band, classical duo and live singer who belted out a number of music hall favourites (although in my view his most popular number was his rendition of Tom Jones' Delilah!).

Everyone seemed to have a really great time - helped in some small part by the fantastic weather we enjoyed. The real key to the success of the day though was twofold: the fantastic effort made during the day by the volunteers from Regenerate RISE to seat, feed and water 350 people, as well as the fantastic display of community spirit - transcending the generations - that was displayed in the marquee. It was a pleasure and privilege to have been able to be a part of that.

Roehampton Festival on Saturday!

Sir Bobby Robson

The photo above is of the main gate at Fulham Football Club's Craven Cottage ground taken yesterday [by Stuart's campaign manager].

It shows some of the tributes that have been left to this great former Fulham player by fans - and as the various scarves show, not just Fulham fans.

Sir Bobby played for Fulham twice in his career: from 1950-1956 and then from 1962-67 making almost 350 appearances and scoring 77 goals for the club. He very briefly managed Fulham - the first of ten sides he was in charge of - after he retired as a player in 1968.

It is gestures like that above which make football the game I love; regardless of the fact that I happen to be a QPR supporter Sir Bobby did so much for our sport and if nothing else demonstrated that, the fact that tributes are being paid from Stevenage Road in Fulham to St James's Park in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne says it all.

Taken out to lunch

I've just read the main story in today's Wandsworth Guardian, which is all about the Conservative council fleecing - there's no better word for it - local residents who took part in Saturday's Big Lunch street parties across the country.

Although the story focuses on street parties in Tooting - and a hat-tip to Labour MP Sadiq Khan for bringing this scandal to light - there were up to twenty similar Big Lunch events in Putney, Roehampton and Southfields on Saturday.

The story exposes how the council tried to charge one set of party organisers £1,250 per road for road closures - despite the costs of publishing a road closure order being just £98. The Conservatives also charged administration costs and an extra £200 - no explanation was given for that fee.

And look what happened when residents went to their Conservative representatives for help.
One Tory councillor sent an email unintentionally copied to the consituent, which said: "She [the constituent] basically wants it for free: she isn't going to get it."

It's always the same with Wandsworth Conservatives. Other councils: of all political colours - Conservative, Labour and Lib Dem - managed to recognise the value to their communities of assisting with these social events by waiving their fees. Wandsworth Tories simply saw it as a way of clawing in even more from residents; as though charging the highest council rents anywhere in London, or pushing up parking permit charges by massive inflation-busting amounts wasn't enough.

I've therefore today asked the Council Chief Executive three questions:

1. How many Big Lunch events took place in Putney, Roehampton and Southfields on Saturday that required road closures or other "assistance" from the council to arrange?

2. How much - event by event - did the council charge for these services?

3. What was the actual cost of providing them?

I look forward to the reply. In the meantime, here's the Wandsworth Guardian article (click on it for a larger version):

Wandsworth Heritage Festival

Throughout June the Council is running a programme of events celebrating the borough's diverse and rich heritage. Here are some of the remaining events focussing on Putney, Roehampton and Southfields:

Archaeology of early Wandsworth
Wednesday 17 June, 7-8.30pm
Putney Library
A talk by local archaeologist Pamela Greenwood going back as far as the Ice Age
Admission: free, but please book in advance - 8871 7090

The making of modern Southfields - from George Eliot to Queen Mary
Sunday 21 June, meet at 2pm
Andrews Estate Agents, directly opposite Southfields tube station
A 2-hour walk around Southfields with author Neil Robson
Admission: £5 to be booked in advance - 8871 6388

Putney Vale Cemetery and Crematorium
Tuesday 23 June, 7pm
Meet at the manin cemetery entrance off Stag Lane, behind ASDA
A walk through this 47-acre site with Wandsworth Parks Officer Clive Andrews
Admission free, but please book in advance - 8788 2113

Development of the Alton Estate exhibition
throughout June
Roehampton Library, Danebury Avenue
An exhibition celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the Alton Estate

You can download the full brochure of events right across the borough.

These events are all part of a programme celebrating The Story of London, about which you can find more information here. Or you can download a pdf guide about the month of events here.

Childreach International

A Southfields student - 20 year old Katharine O'Donnell - has been in touch to let me know about her part in a 250 student fundraising expedition to Mount Kilimanjaro.

Nottingham is my old University, so I've agreed to publicise Katharine's fundraising effort.

The climb is in aid of Childreach International, a global youth development charity that works to alleviate poverty and bring education, safe water and healthcare to the world's poorest and most vulnerable children.

Katharine and her mates from the University of Nottingham set off on their climb in June. From the reports we're getting back from the Comic Relief celebrity team that have just accomplished the feat, it's going to be a gruelling, once-in-a-lifetime challenge.

If you would like to support her efforts then you can donate via her website at http://www.justgiving.com/katharinesmammothclimb. For more information about the work of Childreach International visit their website here

True Grit

There have been the usual "why can't Britain cope with extreme weather" comments since the snow started falling; both in Putney and the national news. I've even heard the comment "We're like a third world country".

Well hardly.

It's evidently the case that Wandsworth and other boroughs have struggled with the snow - some roads probably haven't been gritted and even where that has happened, the amount of snow that has fallen has mitigated its impact.

Why do other countries manage to keep going? Because heavy snow is a regular occurrence in places like North America, Scandanavia and northern Europe. For them it is worthwhile - if not essential - to invest in the infrastructure needed to keep their countries running through longer periods of extreme weather.

Some politicians - notably the laughable Liberal Democrat MP Norman Lewis, who can't come across a bandwagon without leaping on it - are using this as another example to talk down our country.

My view is that it would be a huge waste of money to invest the very significant amounts of money needed to keep all our roads open for a once-in-twenty-years event like this. Would buying ploughs and other specialist equipment that stays unused for decades at a time really represent good value for money?

Yes, it's inconvenienced many of us. Yes, it's cost the British economy a lot of money, possibly up to a billion pounds. But settled snow in London is such a rarity these days that perhaps the best response is to enjoy the upsides - the camaraderie created amongst strangers and the faces of joy on little ones enjoying the snow.

Finally, I'd like to say thank you to the council employees, emergency services workers and all those others who have been working around the clock to keep our public services working as well as they have been.

Stand up to hatred: Holocaust Memorial Day

The picture to the right is not of a cattle shed on some farm: it's of one of the barracks prisoners at the notorious Auschwitz concentration camps were crated in until they met their fate. Prisoners typically were crammed in four to a bed, with up to a thousand in each shed.

Holocaust Memorial Day is held on 27 January because it marks the day towards the end of the Second World War that this concentration camp was liberated.

The Nazi Holocaust is of course the most shocking and largest in size in modern history; but today is also about far more than commemorating an event that happened 60 years ago: We also remember the victims of far more recent tragedies in Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda and Darfur - all of which have occurred in my lifetime: one since 2000.

The Holocaust Memorial Day website contains a huge amount of information and background resource to today's events - please find time to visit it:

http://www.hmd.org.uk/

Tories to close Newlands Hall

In the Autumn of 2007, the Conservative Council announced plans to close Newlands Hall - the community hall in the middle of the Putney Vale estate in Roehampton.

The Tories claimed that the hall was too dilapidated for them to - as they see it - waste money on refurbishment (despite being responsible for allowing it to fall into such shameful disrepair).

Over 100 residents of the estate signed a petition of mine opposing the closure and this duly was discussed by councillors on 15 November 2007 - the link is here (scroll down to item 19).



As you can see from the minutes of the meeting openly available on the council website, as a result of the petition the Tories promised to consult residents again before determining the fate of Newlands Hall.

A few days ago, Putney Vale residents found out by chance that Newlands Hall was being closed on 31 January. No consultation has taken place with the estate. And the reason they're closing the Hall? They've apparently given it to a group that they're kicking out of Heathmere School on the Alton Estate.

This is outrageous dishonesty by Wandsworth Conservatives. They have a track record of neglecting Putney Vale - cancelling work, ignoring problems like traffic travelling to and from Hall School, anti social behaviour and flytipping, axing funding for the Youth Club in Stag House and now they've blatantly broken another promise to the estate.

Shame on them.

My archive of this saga can be read here.

Help?

Wandsworth & Merton Law Centre is looking for somewhere to hold their free drop-in legal sessions.

Originally based at Putney Citizens Advice Bureau (before the Tory council closed it a few years ago), the Law Centre then moved to Wandsworth County Court in East Putney, but they have just been told that they can no longer use it either.

The Centre is looking for a venue to use once a week that has, ideally, three interview rooms and a reception area, and needs to be rent-free. The sessions were held on Tuesday evenings From 7pm to 8.30pm but I suspect the Law Centre will accept a change of day if they can be accommodated some other night.

This is a really important local service provided by volunteers. In the current economic climate I suspect their services will be even more in demand. So if you can help, or you know of a venue locally that can get in touch. Email Debbie Phelan at debbie@swllc.org.uk.

Safety checks for electric blankets

Wandsworth Fire Brigade and local Trading Standards officers have rescheduled their free safety check session for electric blankets to this Wednesday, 19 November.

The checks take place at Wandsworth Fire Station in West Hill - nearly opposite the former West Hill Library and on the corner of Lebanon Road.

The horrifying injuries an electric blanket catching fire can cause makes it surely worth the ten minutes or so it takes to make sure it is safe and set to go this Winter.

To book a time to pop in, or to see if you can schedule a different day, call 020 8871 6178. Or email tradingstandards@wandsworth.gov.uk - you'll need to provide a contact phone number in your email though.

Shubh Diwali

Today is the Hindu, Jain and Sikh celebration of Diwali: the Festival of Light.

Diwali is one of my favourite festivals; anyone who visits Tooting at this time of year will see the High Street bedecked in festive lights.

Many think this is just the Council jumping the gun on getting the Christmas decorations up - but it's actually to mark Diwali.

I've sent out hundreds of Diwali cards in the past few days and I wish all Putney constituents who mark this lovely festival all the best on this special day.

If you'd like to learn more about Diwali check out these sites:

• Diwali Festval
• BBC Diwali page
• About Diwali
• Boloji.com

Roehampton: make the council listen on Monday

The Leader of Wandsworth Council and the officers pushing through their unpopular plans for redevelopment of Roehampton will be at the Cornerstone (Roehampton Parish Hall) in Alton Road on Monday from 7.30pm.

I encourage all Roehampton residents to come along; especially the 304 who responded to my redevelopment survey.

As well as the redevelopment, other issues that may well come up are the Council's equally crazy plans for no right turns from Roehampton Lane and the idea to connect Roehampton buses with Barnes - a good idea in principle but with serious flaws in practice.

Why not also ask what planning the council has made for the huge amount of extra traffic down Roehampton Lane now the Queen Mary's Place development is starting to be occupied? Or why the Council has no strategy to safeguard the shops in Roehampton village? Or how the council intends to respond to increased parking stress on the Alton estate?

Roehampton also includes Putney Vale, Putney Heath and the Priory Lane area: so do come along - the Conservative Council only deigns to "listen to you" once a year, so make the most of it!

Eid Mubarak!

Today is the Muslim festival of Eid-ul-Fitr which marks the end of Ramadan. This is the major Eid festival of the Muslim calendar; there is another Eid celebration (Eid-al-Adha) on 8th December.

So I'd like to take this opportunity to wish Eid Mubarak to all Putney's Muslim constituents!

For anyone wondering about the image I'm using opposite, it is an Arabesque carving on the Qul'at al-Hambra in Granada, Spain.

Free fire tests for electric blankets

Residents who use an electric blanket can have it tested at a free safety check-up next month.

The fire brigade says faulty ones cause around 5,000 fires every year so trading standards officers have arranged for an expert to carry out free safety tests at Wandsworth Fire Station in West Hill on Wednesday, October 15.

Similar checks conducted in recent years have revealed high levels of safety failures. Around half of the blankets tested have been found to be dangerous, with many using incorrectly wired plugs or relying on the wrong fuses. Many have not had an overheating cut out facility, others have suffered scorch marks or been so worn that the heating element has been left exposed. Some have been found to be decades old and therefore highly dangerous.

While the blankets are being tested, which takes very little time and is free of charge, fire officers will be on hand to offer free home fire safety advice.

People can make an appointment to have their blanet tested by telephoning 8871 7735 or by emailing tradingstandards@wandsworth.gov.uk People using email to book an appointment need to provide a contact telephone number.

Putney Vale

Last week, I attended a public meeting that took place in Newlands Hall on the Putney Vale estate. The meeting was attended by about 40 fairly cheesed-off residents who took the council - and local Conservative councillors - to task for a series of problems bedevilling the estate

Putney Vale estate is a charming estate consisting of about 300 properties right on the border of Wimbledon Common, just off the A3 (behind the big Asda store). The estate - as one resident put it - is surrounded by one of the largest areas of green space that any council estate in London can offer

Like many similar estates much of the housing stock has been sold off by the council and consequently there is a large proportion of residents who are tenants of private landlords. Herein lies the source of many of the estate's problems. Absentee landlords neglect their responsibilities to ensure their tenants behave appropriately. Many residents at the meeting complained of late night parties, flytipping and other anti social behaviour. However, their real beef was with the council for its failure to tackle this problem.

Having listened to the concerns raised at the meeting and then taking some time to speak to residents outside afterwards, I think there are a number of actions that the council can take

1. A proactive policy of immediately targetting the landlord of misbehaving tenants - very often the tenants themselves move on before the council gets round to speaking to them. The council also needs to issue without delay fines against those found guilty of flytipping;

2. An immediate commitment to improve the estate's community centre - which the council plans to close - so that local residents have a local centre to come together. Indeed, earlier on the day the meeting was held the residents held a birthday party for two elderly residents celebrating their 90th birthdays - why would the council want to close such a facility;

3. Zero tolerance of anti social behaviour in council properties - that means enforcing tenancy conditions without delay and prevarication

4. A real drive to establish an active and flourishing residents association on the estate - local people coming together to find local solutions to their day to day problems (to be fair the purpose of the public meeting was to try and find residents willing to help set one up;

5. An immediate commitment to reopen the estate's youth club which was closed earlier this year because of Tory cuts to it grant. As a result the kids from the estate have nowhere to go and no planned activities to keep them occupied.

I don't claim to have all the answers to the estate's problems - indeed, the answers tend to lie locally with the residents themselves. That's why I'm asking residents what they think needs to be done.

The Politics of God

On Friday I attended the inaugural annual lecture organised by the Wandsworth Labour Party. The lecture, presented by Revd Dr Giles Fraser, vicar of St Mary's Putney, was entitled The Politics of God and was a stimulating, engaging and entertaining exploration of what I think could be described as the politics of God and church.

As you might imagine given the breadth of views within the audience, from atheist to confirmed believers, the debate was lively but moderate. The event was, by unanimous aclaim, a great success, attended by over 80 residents, many of whom were not members of the Labour Party.

The lecture begun with an exclusive preview showing of Giles' 20 minute documentary on The Putney Debates, focussed on footage shot last October when St Mary's Church celebrated the 360th anniversary of this historic event.

After the lecture and my presentation of a thank you gift to Giles (picture), Putney Labour Party and I hosted a drinks reception upstairs in the Cromwell Room which gave everyone a chance to continue the debate that has begun earlier in the evening. I was pleased to be able to make contact with representatives from a number of local churches, including Southfields Baptist Church in Wimbledon Park Road and Our Lady of Pity & St Simon Catholic Church in Hazlewell Road.

Summer fun in Putney

This weekend was the first real weekend of Summer and, appropriately, there were several fairs and fetes around the constituency that I had the pleasure of attending.

To kick off on Saturday I helped out at the Summer Fair of my old primary school, Allfarthing, in Wandsworth - at which I have been a governor for a few years now. It is customary for the governors to run the bar which, given the weather and strength of our Pimms, proved to be a popular stall indeed!

After staffing the bar and a quick tour of the other stalls I headed off to the RSPCA fair at their headquarters in Clarendon Drive, where I bumped into Wandsworth's Mayor, Councillor John Farebrother. Thereafter, it was off to the final visit of the day - the Friends of Queen Mary's Hospital Summer Party in Roehampton - the party was opened by actor Philip Glennister, otherwise known as DI Gene Hunt of Life on Mars' fame. Here I am pictured playing crazy golf at the Queen Mary's party!

It's important for a local MP to attend as many of these events as possible - not just to be seen out and about in the constituency, or to keep my cupboards well stocked with jams, cakes, second-hand books and other wares; but also to keep in touch with the grassroots volunteers who work so hard to make ours the community it is.

If you'd like me to let me know about your forthcoming fete, summer party or other event, do get in touch - email me at stuart.king@putneylabour.org.uk or phone my Putney HQ: 020 8788 8961.

The Politics of God

...That's the title of a lecture being given by Revd. Giles Fraser on Friday 6th June at St Mary's Church, Putney Bridge (click on the image for a larger version of the invitation).

The lecture's being organised by Wandsworth Labour Parties and while the audience will consist of mostly Labour Party members locally, we're extending an invitation to anyone in the community interested in hearing about the relationship between religion and politics, and contributing to the debate.

As I wrote a few days ago, last week I attended a lecture by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac O'Connor, on a related theme.

Given that today and tomorrow MPs are debating very substantial ethical issues regarding the Embryology Bill this will be a timely debate on a very topical issue.

If you'd like to come you'd be very welcome, but please let us know as we need to plan for numbers. Please email us to do so.

Lennox Estate blog

Well, there are blogs on the most surprising things, aren't there? I've just come across a blog extolling the virtues of the Lennox Estate off Priory Lane, which you can read here.
And why not? After all, as the blog notes, many people - particularly Roehampton's Conservative councillors - won't go near the estate simply because of pre-conceived notions of what a council estate is like.

The Lennox blog hasn't been updated for a while, but you can find out a bit about why the estate; and blocks within it; are named as they are.

Say Not the Struggle Naught Availeth

A few nights ago I went to Westminster Cathedral to listen to a lecture by the head of the Catholic Church, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor. It was the last in a series of lectures under the umbrella of Faith and Life in Britain. A link to this series of lectures can be found here.

I found the Archbishop's lecture warm, insightful and encouraging, and it has stimulated some debate amongst the commentariat, in particular in respect of his call for improved dialogue between believers and non-believers to establish the shared values that sustain Britain's plural society. I was particularly prompted to give thought to his reference to a "spiritual homelessness" and what that means in today's society.

But the aspect of his lecture that struck the deepest chord with me was his reference to a poem he heard recited on the wireless by Churchill during the dark days of World War Two. The Archbishop quoted the third verse of the poem, by Arthur Clough and entitled Say Not the Struggle Naught Availeth:

For while the tired waves, vainly breaking,
Seem here no painful inch to gain,
Far back, through creeks and inlets making,
Comes silent, flooding in, the main.

The Cardinal said Christians today may feel that our faith and our witness are not making headway and that they are like 'the tired waves, vainly breaking'. But it also struck me as an appropriate source of solace and encouragement to everyone who may feel that their efforts on behalf of a cause important to them appear to be making little or no headway.

Laurie Green

Putney crusader Laurie Green, who has died - aged 84 - after a short battle with cancer, was a colourful and passionate advocate of any cause he championed.

Until just recently, Laurie lived in Hotham Road in the heart of Putney - you could not miss his house because it was the one with posters, press cuttings and stickers plastered across the windows. And when they weren't in his windows, they were being posted to local representatives and fellow campaigners.

Laurie, who was a Communist usually left without a Communist candidate to vote for in Putney, helped found and maintain the Putney & Roehampton Organisation of Pensioners (PROP) alongside Labour Party stalwart Dora Holmes and others.

Above all others the cause he championed was better rights for pensioners - our last exchange of correspondence was over the number of pensioners living in poverty despite the million who have been lifted out of it in the past decade by Labour. Of course, Laurie was right that more needs to be done, and my push for the government to go further on both fuel poverty and the cost of food was, in part, influenced by Laurie's effective lobbying.

Laurie didn't just confine his letter-writing to elected representatives: he was a frequent correspondent to the local and national press, the Wandsworth Borough News regularly carrying his views on wrongs he was seeking to right.

Laurie recently moved from Hotham Road to The Pines nursing home in West Hill, though his stay there was to be short. He passed following treatment at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital which in many ways is fitting for this was the hospital that Laurie often mentioned as caring so wonderfully for his wife, Jean.

His family provided a quote in the recent edition of the Wandsworth Guardian that sums Laurie's values up perfectly:

"The meaning of life is not a fact to be discussed, but a choice that you make about the way you live your life."

Wandsworth's share of the New Year Honours

I'd like to add my congratulations to the Wandsworth residents honoured in the New Year's Honours list.

Although the Prime Minister does not have any influence over the honours list, this year Gordon Brown did urge the committee to honour more ordinary people alongside the celebrities and sportsmen and women who grab the headlines at each announcement. And that, I'm pleased to say, is what has happened.

Those from Wandsworth receiving honours are:

• Michael Harris, for public service
• Dr Felicity Harvey, Director of medicines pharmacy and industry group, Department of Health
• Timothy Stephen Gbedemah, for public service
• Deborah Goodwin, for services to the community and to education
• Diana Grahame, for charitable services
• Ian Talbot, for services to drama
• Martin Mills, for services to the music industry
• Revd Amy Powell for services to the community in Wandsworth
• Mrs Pauline Rayner, for services to sport

Christmas is for everyone

Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, the Conservative and Muslim peer who, along with Labour's Lord Ahmed helped free British teacher Gillian Gibbons from a Sudanese jail earlier this month, has today written a piece in the Sunday Telegraph emphasising that Christmas is a celebration for everyone in Britain regardless of religion.

She says: "Christmas is a time to recognise the contribution that Christianity has made (and continues to make) to the nation, even if one does not share the religion. For too long, multi-culturalism has ignored the majority culture, which still is Christian."

As someone who has, personally, been disturbed by the attempts by a handful of, I suppose well-meaning but completely misguided people and institutions to not mention Christmas presumably to avoid offending Britain's other religious (and indeed non-religious) communities, I very much welcome Baroness Warsi's comments. As she points out:

"The annual campaigns to downgrade Christmas are rarely spearheaded, or even supported, by Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh or other religious groups."

Multiculturalism appears to have been warped by some into requiring everyone to observe some bland atheism that is both oppressive and zealous. 2007 may - just may - have been the year where this stifling political correctness began to be seriously challenged and turned back.

In that vein, a very happy Christmas to everyone in Putney, Roehampton and Southfields.

You can read Baroness Warsi's article here.

Out and about

I regularly blog about the organisations, groups and individuals I am invited to meet around the constituency, but there are plenty of others that don't always end up with a post all to themselves. Most of these are included on the in your area map but here's a run-through of just a few of them...

Last week I attended the Electoral Reform Society meeting at the Brewer's Building. I was invited by long-time Putney resident and former Putney Lib Dem candidate John Martyn. I'm not convinced of the case for PR, even though from a purely self-serving perspective Labour would be far better off locally - Putney would, for instance, have councillors from parties other than the Conservatives, who currently hold 100% of the seats here. Nonetheless we had a serious and interesting discussion, and I may return to this subject in my blog at a later date

I've twice in recent weeks visited St Paul's Community Centre: first at the invitation of the lunch club there and, a few days later, the Parkside CommunityProject, hosted by St Paul's Vicar Heinz Toller. A while back I also met with Pastor Jon Clark at Putney Community Church in Werter Road.

Last month I paid a fleeting visit to the Wimbledon & Putney Commons Conservators, who meet regularly at the visitors' centre by the Windmill on Wimbledon Common. This body does an important job caring for our Commons and it was good to meet the management committee.

Going live on Raiders FM

Earlier tonight I appeared on the Chris Mitchell "Newsraid" show on local internet station Raiders FM.

I had a great time chatting to Chris: we covered a lot of the issues I've been campaigning hard on in Putney - the state of our streets and fly-tipping; the state of Putney High Street; the housing crisis we're facing locally; the council housing repairs backlog I've highlighted on this blog, the Heathrow consultation, my membership of the London Labour Party and Unite Regional Boards and my football career.

They also have a "reaction" page where listeners posted questions and comments during my interview, so I also fielded questions about how much the Conservatives have changed beneath the gloss of David Cameron's spin; the funding problems Labour has been encountering recently; local crime figures (where a Lambeth resident claimed crime in Roehampton was worse than his borough - actually, it isn't!).

The adage that all politics is local really came through here: and judging from the views that were coming through the Conservative Council really ought to get to grips with the appalling state of our streets if they don't want to pay a severe price at the ballot box.

Raiders is a really useful local radio station and every Wednesday they feature local politicians - especially councillors - from all parties talking about the issues that the station's staff and listeners have identified. My council colleague Leonie Cooper, our area's London Assembly candidate, guested recently. Their website is http://raidersbroadcast.com and if you have a decent internet connection, you can listen from there too.

Happy Diwali

Today, Hindus, Sikhs and Jains around the world begin celebrating Diwali, the Festival of Lights. Diwali is probably my favourite non-Christian festival: it's such an uplifting and positive idea, symbolising the victory of good over evil and given it's timing as the nights close in towards Winter.

Anyone who's visited Tooting at this time of year will see the festive lights along Upper Tooting Road - the main shopping centre: up to celebrate Diwali, not the council being a little too eager to start Christmas celebrations!

In some parts of the Hindu faith, Diwali symbolises the start of the New Year but it also commemorates the homecoming of King Rama of Ayodhya, after a 14-year exile whose people welcomed him back by lighting up rows of lamps - called deepa-wali - which is where the name of the festival originates. There are also other myths and legends as to the origin of the ceremony: in Jainism it marks the nirvana of Lord Mahavira, for example.

Diwali is celebrated for five consecutive days at the end of Hindu month of Ashwayuja (amanta). Like Easter, it doesn't have a fixed date: next year it's in late October.

I wish everyone celebrating this festival my best wishes at this time for them and their faith.

Newlands Hall update

Over 100 Putney Vale residents signed my petition to save Newlands Hall, the community centre in the heart of their estate which the council has run down and now intends to close.

My colleague, Councillor Leonie Cooper, who is Labour's lead councillor on housing in Wandsworth, presented this petition to the full council meeting a week last Wednesday, formally entering it into the record so that the Conservative Adminstration now has to explain itself.

The next step is for the petition to be discussed at one of the Council's "Overview and Scrutiny" Panels, which are Conservative dominated so don't expect much overview or scrutiny of this cruel decision. This meeting takes place on 15 November at Wandsworth Town Hall - it's open to the public, so do come along.

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.

Consulting the community

Last week I wrote to over 300 community groups around the constituency, including residents' associations, churches and faith groups, schools, key service providers, amenity societies and local campaigners, to introduce myself and ask them about their concerns and priorities.

I'm already getting replies and am beginning to set up meetings and take up their issues. If you're involved with a group in Putney and would like to get in touch, I'd love to hear from you. You can write to me at Putney Labour Party, 35 Felsham Road, London SW15 1AY, leave a phone message on 020 8788 8961 or email me: stuart@putneylabour.org.uk.