HearFromYourMP

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Let me know - as always

Posted by Lynne Featherstone, MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, at 16:11, Fri 25 June 2010:

Dear Neighbour,

I'm just writing a short note to say that I thought it might be helpful if I circulated the columns I write locally every month for the Ham & High and other publications - as the content may be of interest. To that end, my latest column for the Ham & High is pasted below.

On the budget, obviously it is early days and the impact is yet to be felt - but it is very harsh. And whilst the banks and Labour put us into this financially disastrous mess, the issue is how we get out of it and try to protect the vulnerable from the worst of the effects. I cannot see any happy scenarios in terms of deficit reduction.

However, I do want to hear your views so I can represent them inside government. I may be in a coalition, but I am still your Liberal Democrat MP.

Best as always

Lynne

MP for Hornsey & Wood Green

(020) 8340 5459 lynne@lynnefeatherstone.org

Yes Minister

By the time this is published – we will know what was in the budget. But as I write – this is all still to come - so in the meantime I thought I would use this opportunity to tell you how it’s going.

After all – I started my Ham & High column when I was first elected to the London Assembly in 2000, and have pretty much written a column every month for the last ten years. I have written about my experiences throughout my political journey – from Haringey to the London Assembly to Parliament.

And now I’m in government – who would have thought?

I certainly couldn’t have written the script for this one – not in a million. Coalition government with the Conservatives – unbelievable only weeks ago! Becoming a junior minister in the Home Office (Under Secretary of State for Equalities and Criminal Information to be precise) the notion had never even flitted into my consciousness. But hey – I am thrilled to bits to get hands on levers. After all – that is the point.

And yes – of course there are things in the coalition agreement that Liberal Democrats don’t support – just as there are things that the Conservatives might not have put first on their list of must do priorities – like raising the tax threshold and the pupil premium. The raising of the tax threshold will take those earning the least out of tax rising to a £10,000 threshold over the whole parliament putting at least some money back in needy pockets. The pupil premium (2nd year) will put £2.5billion into education – the money following the pupils with most need and every school therefore benefitting. In Haringey that will mean closing the funding gap that Labour imposed on us where our children get £1300 less per head than neighbouring Camden or Islington children.

That’s what coalition is – a mix - and I am very optimistic about showing the country that two parties are better than one!

People ask me what it is like to be a Minister. My stock reply is ‘I make decisions all day – what’s not to like?’ Of course – it’s a bit more than that!

Delivering the coalition agreement is the priority and - identifying savings/cuts. This mission is supported by the vast machine at work in the Home Office that constantly seeks to take forward our agenda and pushes the work that supports that up through various processes -coming to the Ministers and/or Home Secretary - for decision. So the day is constantly peppered with reading submissions and either making the decision that is asked for, noting the content or asking for further information.

There are many briefings, meetings with officials and meetings with other ministers. Not to mention the heavyweight red boxes that come home with me each night – although because they are so heavy (made of wood and lead lined) I still prefer my battered old briefcase.

There is parliament too! The firsts are upon me – and I have done my first Adjournment Debate (fine) and first Oral Questions (fine). I am the support for Damien Green (Minister for Immigration) on the ‘getting rid of ID cards’ Bill – what a pleasure that is – and we go into committee soon.

For the zillions of meetings I have there is a preparatory meeting. I must always know what I am going into and what I need to get out of the meeting. I cover equality issues – but also have quite a large Home Office portfolio including: vetting and barring, Criminal Records Bureau, Freedom of Information, databases and so on – hence the ‘criminal information’ bit of my title.

Then there’s media (takes a fair chunk out of a day when an announcement or story is rolling), stakeholder meetings, keynote speeches to conferences and other speeches to various groups, attendance at a huge variety of occasions and of course – this is just the Ministerial bit.

There definitely are surreal moments when echoes from ‘Yes Minister’ surface – and there is clearly an art to getting what you want done – but like any job it’s down to what you make of it.

But please don’t worry – it hasn’t gone to my head. I am still a local MP – standing up for local people. That’s still at the heart of everything I do.