Mildmay Liberal Democrats

Former Mildmay Councillor, Meral Ece OBE, has been made a Baroness. Meral had a long standing career as a Councillor for 8 years in Hackney and then she spent 8 years as a Councillor in Mildmay, having recently stepped down from the Council. In that time she held many important positions including Executive Member for Adult Social Services and Chair of Overview Committee.

In the past year she was also made a Commissioner for the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Recognition for the work she had done promoting the Turkish Community within the UK.

Islington Labour have been accused of greed and hypocrisy after voting themselves fat-cat allowances for chairing committees that have always been chaired without an allowance.

Labour had campaigned on the issue during the local election earlier this month, saying they would slash councillors’ expenses. But at the very first Council meeting they broke their promise to slash Councillor Allowances. Labour:

• voted down a proposal to cut their pay by a modest 5%

• introduced a new ‘fat cat allowance’ of £3,000 for chairing a planning committee - positions they have given exclusively to Labour councillors

• introduced a new ‘fat-cat allowance’ of £3,000 for chairing the council’s licensing committee - this position used to be unpaid.

The successful Labour appointees then celebrated their new allowances with a champagne reception in the Town Hall. Liberal Democrat Councillor Greg Foxsmith has offered to chair one of the planning committees without an allowance, as he has before.

Lib Dem Councillor, Rhodri Jamieson-Ball, commented:

“Labour campaigned to slash councillors’ expenses during the election. But in their first move in power, they have failed to do this. They could have voted to cut the pay of senior councillors by 5% as Liberal Democrats suggested. But they refused.

“Liberal Democrats in government nationally have already agreed to cut their pay by 5%, but Islington Labour leaders would not even agree that modest amount.

Islington Liberal Democrats have vowed to carry on the fight against Labour after losing control of Islington Council. The recent combined local and general elections saw Labour take control of councils across London.

The result of the local election in Islington are an example of the flawed first past the post voting system, Labour got 39% of the vote and 73% of the councillors, whilst the Lib Dems got 32% of the vote and only 27% of the seats.

The Conservatives and Greens failed to gain a single council seat in Islington, leaving the Liberal Democrats as the only opposition to Labour in the borough.

The Lib Dems have said they will continue to campaign for residents and will hold Labour to account at the Town Hall.

Cllr Rhodri Jamieson-Ball:

“This election was nothing to do with the LibDem record of running the council. Labour won control because the general election was on the same day as the council elections.

“Whilst the results for the Liberal Democrats across Islington were not what we hoped, I would like to offer my thanks to the people of Mildmay for voting in a Liberal Democrat councillor in the ward.

“We will hold Labour councillors to account at the Town Hall. We will continue to fight for local people and listen to their concerns.”

Local campaigners are celebrating after the Labour government buckled under pressure from the public and the Liberal Democrats and stepped in to stop the NHS closing the Whittington Hospital Accident & Emergency - for now at least.

Yesterday, the Labour Health Secretary, Andy Burnham, was forced into a humiliating U-turn after months of campaigning and petitioning against the planned closure.  Just a few weeks ago, the Health Secretary stated that closing accident & emergency units was ‘the right thing to do’.

But Liberal Democrats are still concerned that the minister has only told the NHS to ‘go back to the drawing board’ and that he has not ruled out the option of the A&E being shut or the services being reduced. This is in sharp contrast to Nick Clegg’s clear statement that he would not allow the NHS to close the A&E if Liberal Democrats were in government.

Liberal Democrat national Health Spokesman, Norman Lamb, said:

“Andy Burnham’s sudden U-turn on the Whittington Hospital is welcome but it’s difficult to believe Labour’s commitment.”

Islington Lib Dem councillor, Rhodri Jamieson-Ball, comments:

“After months of campaigning by the public and the Liberal Democrats, the Labour government has miraculously seen the light seven days before polling day and halted the closure of Whittington A&E - for now at least.

“This just goes to show we were right all along when we said it was in the Labour government’s power to save the Whittington.

“I just hope that this isn’t a temporary reprieve for our local hospital.  The Labour minister has not ruled out cuts to services at the hospital after the election.  We heard all these promises before in 2001 when the Bart’s A&E was threatened with the axe.  What happened then?  The A&E was closed down and shifted to the London Hospital instead.”

The Lib Dems have chosen their team to fight for the residents of Mildmay ward.

Councillor Rhodri Jamieson-Ball

Rhodri first moved into Islington in 2000 and was elected as councillor in 2006. As an active local campaigner, Rhodri has campaigned for more council housing for local residents, improved parks in Mildmay and better policing. Rhodri is also active locally, being a board member of Mildmay Community Partnership, Govenor of Newington Green School and a member of Mildmay Neighbourhood Management Steering Group.

Read more about the Mildmay Lib Dem team here.

Islington Liberal Democrats have won their battle to stop local residents’ council tax being put up by Labour for the second year running.

Last year Labour councillors took advantage of Liberal Democrat councillor Donna Boffa being rushed into hospital to force an inflation-busting council tax rise of 2.5% on local residents already struggling in the recession. This was inner London’s highest council tax rise.

Following a Liberal Democrats petition backed by thousands of Islington residents, Labour councillors have now backed down and agreed to Liberal Democrat plans to freeze the council tax this year.

The council tax freeze will form the centre-piece of the Liberal Democrat council group’s budget proposals for 2010-2011. Other proposals include:

• Freedom Pass - Liberal Democrats are stepping in with £750k to ensure the Freedom Pass can continue in its current form for Islington’s pensioners and disabled - despite the Labour government withdrawing £30million from London’s Freedom Pass funding.

• Potholes - following the recent severe winter weather, Liberal Democrats have identified £1million to spend on patching up potholes in the borough.

• PlusBus - Liberal Democrats will be proposing to save this vital service for many of Islington’s elderly and disabled. Labour’s Ken Livingstone, when he was Mayor of London, wanted to axe this bus route.

• Contact Islington - Liberal Democrats believe this is most residents’ first point of contact with the Council so it is important to ensure a decent level of service. Labour wants to cut it, meaning more time hanging on the phone and emails not being answered just like the dark days of Labour running the Town Hall.

• Area Planning Committees - Labour is proposing to abolish the borough’s four area planning committees. The Liberal Democrat budget amendment will save them. Local councillors should make local decisions.

• Estate cycle sheds - putting more money into the hugely popular secure cycle sheds on estates. This will encourage more people to cycle and reduce carbon emissions.

• Pensioners - continuing the £100 discount for over-65s paying council tax.

• Councillor allowances - Liberal Democrats are proposing a cut of £500 to all councillors’ allowances with another £500 from Exec Member salaries.

Liberal Democrat council leader Terry Stacy said:

“I know that residents will be pleased that Labour has finally caved in to pressure from Liberal Democrats and followed our lead on not putting up the council tax.

“It’s only sad that Labour has taken so long to come to their senses on council tax. But it’s better late than never.

“The Liberal Democrat budget will help all Islington residents - council taxpayers and the most vulnerable in our communities as well as continuing the LibDem commitment to helping the environment.

“We know people are struggling still in the recession. So we have been clear that our top priorities should be not putting up the council tax, getting maximum value-for-money for residents and cutting waste while protecting frontline services.”

Islington’s Liberal Democrat councillors called an emergency debate on the future of Accident and Emergency services at the Whittington Hospital. Meral and Rhodri both spoke out against the cuts to Islington’s health services, and, as Mayor, Anna chaired the debate.

Accident and Emergency services at Whittington Hospital, Archway are under threat and could be cut under plans put forward by local NHS chiefs.

The plans were revealed in a letter from North London NHS boss Rachel Tyndall which sets out four options for reorganising NHS services across North London. All four options described in the letter would see Whittington designated as a local hospital with ‘no emergency services’, which will mean casualty services being axed.

Local residents and councillors have reacted furiously to the news that A&E services at the Whittington are under threat and have launched a petition against the closure. You can sign the petition by clicking here. Book mark the campaign website to keep up-to-date with news

Shadow MP for Islington North Rhodri Jamieson-Ball said:
“This is outrageous! Local people need to know that in an emergency there is somewhere nearby they can go to get the treatment they need. The NHS should not be considering cutting the emergency service they provide here in Islington.

“If the A&E service at the Whittington is cut, people in the north of the borough will have to go to the Royal Free or UCLH for their nearest emergency service. That’s too far. The Lib Dems will be campaigning to save the Accident and Emergency service at the Whittington.

“What really worries me is the prospect of even more cuts, the Government’s handling of the economy means there will be less money to go around and more services could be axed.”

Local resident, Lorraine Constantinou said:
“I don’t know what the NHS think they are playing at. It’s obvious we need emergency services to stay at the Whittington.

“Local residents have all paid National Insurance for years. The least we expect is it that if the worst happens, we can go to the A&E at our local hospital to get help.”

Facts

1. 240 people a day use the A&E at the Whittington.
2. The only A&E services in the area if the Whittington casualty unit closes will be: UCH, Homerton and the Royal Free. This follows on from the closure of Barts A&E in 1995.
3. The plans to cut A&E services at the Whittington were revealed in a letter sent out by Rachel Tyndall, Chief Executive for North London Central NHS, which was sent to all relevant hospital Chief Executives and Medical Directors.

Pensioners on the Mayville Estate are the latest to join the Liberal Democrat campaign to save the Freedom Pass – London’s free travel scheme for the elderly and disabled.

Islington pensioners have been rocked by the news that Labour ministers are looking at taking £50million of funding away from London to bail out their national free bus travel scheme.  The loss of this cash could mean Islington pensioners facing cuts to when and where they can use their Freedom Pass or council tax rises.

Visiting the Mayville Community Centre this week, Liberal Democrat campaigners heard local pensioners’ fears about losing their Freedom Pass and got more signatures for their borough-wide campaign to ‘Save the Freedom Pass’.

Mildmay councillor and Islington North LibDem campaigner, Rhodri Jamieson-Ball, said:

“It is criminal that Labour is looking to rob Peter to pay Paul with their shock move to cut funding to London’s Freedom Pass.  London will lose £50million to pay for Labour’s national funding black hole.

“Why should Mayville and Islington pensioners suffer because Labour has bungled its sums yet again?”

Local resident Phil Stevens, who suffers from a disability, said:

“Never did I think the Freedom Pass would be under threat from a Labour government.  Labour is supposed to be on our side.

“The Freedom Pass is a lifeline for Islington’s elderly and disabled people like me.  We must save the Freedom Pass and I’m disgusted that local Labour MPs are even denying this is a real threat to our free travel.

Please sign our online petition by clicking on the following link:  http://campaigns.libdems.org.uk/freedompass

Cllr Rhodri Jamieson-Ball, Cllr Anna Berent, Cllr Meral Ece OBE and local campaigners Phil Stevens and Dr Turhan Ozen, were delighted that the fantastic work of the Newington Green Action Group was recognized by the judges from London In Bloom, with them being awarded a Merit. We have worked with the group and the community to make Newington Green a fantastic place to live and visit. We congratulate them on their success and will continue to support them in the wonderful work they are doing. We recently secured the flowers for Newington Green after collecting over 700 signatures - a campaign that was welcomed by local residents and businesses. Residents have said that the flowers have change the look of the area making it a brighter and more pleasant place for themselves and visitors. Unfortunately, Labour opposed our proposal for placing flowers around the borough. We are proud of Newington Green and the way it looks and believe that the flowers around the area are a real benefit for everyone and the judges obviously agreed.

There has been success across Islington, with Islington winning the London in Bloom competition for a second year running, and also won a prestigious silver gilt award in the national Britain in Bloom competition. The Liberal Democrat council was praised by the judges for “enhancing the environment beyond normal expectations.”
Islington was the overall winner of London in Bloom, scooping ten separate awards:
• Best overall London in Bloom Entry
• Gold award in the category for similar boroughs
• Silver gilt for Angel Town Centre
• Improvement award for Gambier Estate
• Merit award for Whitecross St. Peabody Estate
• Improvement award for St. Luke’s Centre
• Silver Gilt for Spa Fields
• 1st place in ‘Capital Growth’ allotments competition for St. Luke’s Centre
• 1st place in Floral Display Award category
Islington also won London in Bloom last year, so represented the whole of London and the South East in the national Britain in Bloom competition - winning the Silver Gilt Award. Islington was also the only large urban area given a nomination to the Royal Horticultural Society Community Award, in recognition of how all sectors of the community worked together.
The Britain in Bloom judges said:
“The vibrancy generated by the young, ethnically diverse and crowded population of Islington is reflected in the enthusiasm of the borough council and its officers.
“They have been extraordinarily successful in engaging with significant sectors of the community to build a strong, forward-looking policy to make Islington a better place to live.
“With a shortage of green space, the use of imaginative schemes has succeeded in enhancing the environment beyond normal expectations and shows what can be achieved in challenging circumstances.”
Ruth Polling, the Liberal Democrat councilor responsible for the borough’s parks, trees, and flowers, said:
“This is a huge achievement for all the winners, and I want to congratulate all the gardeners in the borough whose front gardens, window boxes, allotments, and community gardens contributed to our success together.
“This Liberal Democrat council has put so much effort into making our dense, urban home a better place to live. We’ve invested over £7million improving and expanding our parks, carrying out the biggest tree planting project in Islington in generations, and putting more flower displays along our streets than ever before. It’s really nice to get recognition from the Royal Horticultural Society judges and other visitors - but what matters to us is that we’ve made the place better for local people and resident