Newsletter from Diane Abbott MP - December 2005
Posted by Diane Abbott, MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, at 14:20, Tue 3 January 2006:
Dear friends,
2005 was marked by high drama on the political scene. Labour won a historic third term and Blair had his first defeat in the Commons. There were high profile resignations and we lost some of our finest colleagues. Many great things got off the ground in 2005. My hope is that 2006 will see real progress on the international aid agenda and that the conflict in Iraq will finally be resolved moving us one step closer to justice in the Middle East. On the local front I will do my best to ensure that our schools continue to improve and that economic regeneration driven by improved transport links will transform the streets of Hackney. I wish you all the best for the New Year and look forward to meeting you in 2006.
Demanding the Best for Hackney Transport Links
In December I had a meeting at the GLA with the Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, and his special advisers. I had requested the meeting to get an update on various issues affecting Hackney. The Olympics is a unique opportunity to draw investment to Hackney and to drive forward economic development in our area. One of the biggest issues, of course, is transport. I made clear to the Mayor that better transport links in and out of Hackney are essential for the Olympic project to run smoothly. Improved transport links have obvious benefits for Hackney. The Mayor’s team assured me that the Silverlink will be completed by 2010. I will go on a site visit at Stratford to check on the progress of the Olympic infrastructure in the New Year. Another crucial issue is that of procurement. The Mayor has agreed that small business, and in particular, Black Minority Ethnic businesses will be central in delivering all services related to the Games. I am keen to make sure a large chunk of these will be Hackney businesses and will continue to press the Mayor on this. I will continue to work hard to ensure that Hackney reaps the maximum benefit from the Olympics. It is an absolutely fantastic opportunity for us to lift our area out of poverty for good.
14 Arrests on Middleton Road
Middleton Road in Dalston has been plagued by intimidating gangs of youths and drug dealers hanging around on street corners. Elderly people felt unsafe in their own homes. I had many constituents come to me to raise this issue and ask that something be done. I, of course, have been able to observe the situation particularly closely as Middleton Road is my own address. I therefore understood completely the concerns voiced by local residents and was pleased that local police were so successful in their raid. I will continue to liaise closely with police in Hackney so that similar operations may take place in the future. We need to put an end to anti-social behaviour in our local area once and for all.
Meeting with education ministers
Education has always been a priority for me. I am very concerned about ensuring that Hackney’s schools are providing the best possible standard of teaching for our children. To this end I have had several meetings with Ruth Kelly, Secretary of State for Education, and am currently organising an education conference with the Major of London, Ken Livingstone. I also made a joint visit to Stoke Newington School with education minister Andrew Adonis to discuss the continuing improvement of educational standards in London, and Hackney in particular. We discussed solutions to the continuing educational underachievement of ethnic minorities and the disproportionately high levels of exclusion of black and mixed race boys from schools. This included consideration of better teacher training and recruitment and ethnic monitoring in our schools. Policy-makers, parents and teachers alike must acknowledge the link between educational underachievement and levels of social exclusion and drifting into anti-social behaviour and crime. I had very positive feedback from both Ms Kelly and Mr Adonis and they have promised that the issues raised will remain a top priority for the government. Our schools can always do better. So the onus is on all of us. Teachers, parents and policy-makers to do what we can to ensure standards continue to rise.
Lobbies and Campaigns
As an MP I am fortunate enough to meet people who feel passionate about things on an everyday basis. My constituents lobby me on various issues every day. They write to me to ask me to sign Early Day Motions to show support for various issues and they ask me to raise issues with Ministers as well as ask questions in Parliament. This year’s biggest campaigns have been two closely related issues; Climate change and trade justice. These are issues that I am very concerned about and I was very impressed by the huge turnout for lobbies of Parliament this year. In November there was a mass lobby at Parliament where people queued for hours to meet their MPs to discuss issues of trade justice. I met lots of constituents and agreed to write to the minister responsible and also tabled parliamentary questions to highlight these issues. As an MP it is always great when constituents turn out in large numbers to show their support, or otherwise, for a cause. It makes it a lot easier to be a representative! I am therefore always happy to come and meet constituents lobbying me in Parliament and have had many useful discussions with my constituents in advance of important votes. It is crucial that people continue to show what they are passionate about and continue to put pressure on their representatives. This is a vital part of a healthy democracy. I look forward to meeting many more constituents in the New Year.
Advice Services I spent most of my time as an MP trying to help constituents with personal matters. People come to their MP as a last resort, often in very distressing circumstances. In Hackney we have a very high immigrant population and much time is spent advising people on their VISA applications etc. This involves representing them in liaising with Home Office Ministers and other officials. Of course there is also a lot of cases relating to housing and benefits issues and we always try to help. I have a team of two caseworkers to help me with the advice services. We all go to Hackney, at various locations, for 4 advice sessions every month. For details of next year’s advice surgeries please see my web site www.dianeabbott.org.uk . The casework can, at times, be heartbreaking when all options have been exhausted to no avail. However, we also have had lots of success stories. They, of course, make it all worthwhile.
“Thank you for your letter dated 24th November 2005 which brought me good news about my immigration case. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your help and thank the staff which took part in the preparation of the letter to the home office and replying to my E-mails. Thank you for all the work put into the case. I CAN’T THANK YOU ENOUGH FOR YOUR HELP. In the mean time please accept my apologies for any inconvenience caused . Thank you again.”
Letter from a satisfied customer
Trade Justice
In December I had to come to the defence of the Jamaican sugar industry when questioning Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in the Commons. I am very concerned about maintaining the trade privileges of our traditional allies in the Caribbean. The price of sugar will drop drastically which is a double blow for countries like Jamaica which export both sugar and bananas since the EU has also cut banana prices. It does looks to me like a betrayal of sugar farmers in the ACP group. They will be much less able than European farmers to cope with the drastic price drop. We are sacrificing the further development of poor nations to satisfy the WTO’s free but unfair trade ideals. Policies of free trade and liberalisation are not the answer to world poverty. In fact they risk further impoverishing Caribbean countries. We also have to be aware that there will be a knock-on effect of the devastation of the rural economies in the Caribbean. People will have to find alterative ways of making a living and the most unfortunate will fall into crime. Britain and the EU are not immune to rising crime in the Caribbean. Crime in a globalised world will inevitably travel to our cities. I will continue to urge the Government to reconsider turning their backs on the countries that have supplied them with sugar and bananas for decades. The Caribbean has lost the battle on the sugar regime. But there is still a war to be fought on compensation and trade matters generally.
Ensuring community cohesion
The most remarkable event of 2005 was no doubt the terrorist atrocities in London on 7th July. These had a marked and adverse effect on community relations, particularly where our Muslim communities were concerned. This is why I took part in a meeting with Shahid Malik MP at the Suleymaniye mosque in Hackney to discuss how best to bring together our local communities in the aftermath of 7/7. The meeting was attended by many local residents and we discussed means of increasing understanding and social cohesion in Hackney North and Stoke Newington. Mr Zinna, a local Muslim community leader, Meg Hillier, MP for Hackney South, and Shahid Malik all spoke and input from local residents meant that it was a very successful meeting.
If you need to contact me please write to me at : The office of Diane Abbott MP House of Commons London SW1A 0AA
Or email me at: glennc@parliament.uk
If you need to see me please make an appointment with one of my caseworkers on 0207 219 4330.
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