Dear celebrity,

May I kindly ask you to send me one or two hand-signed autographs.

I am an enthusiastic collector of autographs for many years and would be delighted to increase my collecton with your photo and signature.

Thanking you in advance for your effort, and much luck and success for the future.

Kind regards form Alfred the Autogroph Collector,
from Schopfloch at the Romantic Road, Midddle Frankonia/Bavaria.

He includes an address. Am I really enough of a celeb to respond? Of course not, but while I’m pretty certain every other councillor has got one (at least in Wandsworth, since I think that’s where he scraped the address) I can die happy that Alfred thinks I’m Z-list at the very least.

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No related posts.

Town Centre meetings
I had a meeting with representatives from the borough’s town centre partnerships early in the week which, I thought, was useful and generated a lot of ideas and issues for the council (and the town centres) to take away and work on.

The different character of the five town centres is one of the defining characteristics of Wandsworth and help give the borough its heart soul. There is nothing worse than an out of town shopping centre (having spent a large part of the day at Westfield, I’m glad we have never gone down that route).

It’s easy for a council to concentrate on its residents and not think about the businesses needed to serve the people who live there and provide jobs for local people. While I think we generally do a good job I know we don’t always get it right and am pleased the partnerships are prepared to tell us when we don’t!

Act of Remembrance
I took my son along to the Act of Remembrance in Battersea Park on 11 November. As always it was a moving ceremony that involved not just those affected or involved in the armed forces, but also local children. And while I do get a little annoyed at the few dog-walkers who cannot pause for a moment at 11am, it was good to see most people in the park taking a few minutes to those who have sacrificed so much for us all.

Civic Awards
Another defining characteristic is the council’s commitment to volunteering and giving some recognition to those who have given so much to their community. One of the year’s highlights for this is the Civic Awards which seek to recognise a handful of people each year who have given, voluntarily, huge amounts over the years to the area.

Wednesday saw five awards made to those whose lifetime of commitment had made a difference. It was an opportunity for the council to say thank-you, and for the recipients, their friends and families to celebrate. And one of those nights that really shows that the council is, and should be, about so much more than just providing services.

Building Confidence in Our Community
Finally, I spent yesterday in Roehampton at a conference organised by the police (with some help from the council’s Community Safety Division) about the different factors affecting confidence in the police in the borough.

You might, superficially, think it is just a function of the police themselves – but there are so many factors that affect what people think about safety in the area. We happen to have excellent police, but many other factors seem to determine how people think. For example, many ‘communities’ within the borough have different views because their access is restricted, not deliberately, but because people haven’t thought about their situation.

There were some powerful presentations given, I was particularly touched by two ladies who discussed their experiences of interacting with the police when they were victims of domestic abuse. It is a recurrent theme for me, but it is important to realise that things are very very rarely as clear-cut as they might seem.

Theoretically related posts:

• Weekly wrap-up, 6 November
• Weekly wrap-up, 23 October
• Weekly wrap-up, 18 September

No political points. The recession continues, unemployment goes up.

Last month we saw a small drop in Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) claims, this month’s increase more than wipes out the drop.

Overall there was an increase of 140 JSA claims this month, a 2.1% rise. There are now 6,813 people signing on, an increase of 2,768 (or 68.4%) over the year.

And that’s just in a year. We haven’t seen any growth in the economy since 2007. The increase in JSA claims since then is 82.1%. It’s hard to see the benefits of our economy being ‘well-placed’ for this recession.

Theoretically related posts:

• Wandsworth sees a small fall in unemployment claims
• Unemployment claims back up in Wandsworth
• Wandsworth unemployment claims drop – a bit

It might, at first sight, be a slightly odd thing to do. He has just turned one and I can’t claim he showed much awareness of the service – the passing ‘planes interested him far more. But I felt it was an important thing to do. Now, more than ever, we should observe these small acts that force us to stop and think.

This was the first Remembrance Day for which there were no veterans of the First World War alive in this country. Indeed, we will soon be in the situation in which the ‘war to end all wars’ will have moved out of living memory. Even for the Second World War a veteran will have to be in their eighties (or have enlisted illegally) to have seen active service.

For people born in my generation such wars are unimaginable, and our links to them fairly distant. While my mother was old enough to remember WWII most of my classmates’ parents were either born after the war or were too young to recall it. Growing up the Falklands Conflict happened at a time when I was young enough to see it as exciting, and would watch the news marvelling at the Harrier. Our first involvement in the Gulf came when I was a teenager, and while I could intellectually grasp the issues I fear I had neither the age or the life experience to fully understand what a war really entailed.

Even now, with our troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, we perhaps allow distance and trivialities to crowd out what is happening and what our troops are facing on a daily basis.

We have, perhaps, become slightly arrogant. I think the UK, in particular, views relatively peaceful Western-style democracy as a stable end-point of a country’s development. In fact, it isn’t. History, both classical and modern is littered with examples of democracies failing or being overthrown, by internal and external forces, to be replaced by dictatorships and tyrannies.

If we value our freedoms and our liberty we must be vigilant and fight for them just as much now as our armed forces have done, almost continually, since the first Remembrance Day in 1919. As those terrible, all-encompassing, wars fade from living memory, those two minutes and everything they represent becomes all the more important.

We will remember them.

Theoretically related posts:

• Weekly wrap-up, 13 November

Then, by happy coincidence, I noticed that the Clapham Junction Christmas lights were being turned on by Isabel Losada, a local author who happens to be on Twitter. This, I reckoned, made for an ideal date – since if I also turned there’d be at least two people at the tweet-up.

So the date and venue are set: 6:30pm onwards on 18 November in the Slug and Lettuce, St John’s Hill, Battersea (even though they seem to think they are in Clapham).

I imagine it will be a bit smaller than the last, mainly because of the short notice. It also won’t be sponsored (I’ve still not been paid for last time!).

But it will still be a good night out. Anyone is welcome, despite the SW11 focus and #Battertweet name, just RSVP at the twtvite.

Theoretically related posts:

• Last night’s SW11 Tweet-up
• The SW11 Tweet-up
• SW11 tweet-up: Now we have a venue!

That he has was a story that, at first, I let pass me by. But the more I have thought about it the more distasteful I have found The Sun’s attitude and the more I have found myself respecting Gordon Brown.

I can only try and imagine the horror of losing a child – if I’m honest, it isn’t something I particularly want to imagine – so Ms Janes has my sympathy. As does the Prime Minister who, though in totally different circumstances. It seems to me that letters of condolence, whoever they are from can do little to soften the blow.

But that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be written.

I, fortunately, will never have to write a letter like those the Prime Minister is writing to the families of fallen service men and women. That Gordon Brown takes the time, even if they do have spelling mistakes and bad hand-writing, to write them personally and send them without them being checked – so they are directly from him – is admirable

For the paper to reveal they have a recording of his subsequent call to Ms Janes raises even more questions. How many people have tape recorders at the ready by their phone? I can only guess; but if you forced me I’d be far more likely to think the paper is taking a Prime Minister with a track record of bad spelling and handwriting and using the anger of a grieving mother to make a story where none should exist.

We can make political points about the war and about his handling of it all day long. We shouldn’t be trying to make political points from letters like this – and I’m not sure what point The Sun is trying to make: that the Prime Minister doesn’t know each soldier personally, that he doesn’t get letters like this triple-checked by an array of Civil Servants, that he deliberately set out to upset a grieving mother and family.

Gordon Brown tried to write a letter to offer some comfort to the mother who lost her son in Afghanistan, an impossible task. For trying so personally, he deserves our praise, not our condemnation.

Theoretically related posts:

• Brown, biscuits and decisive leadership
• Nick Clegg can take heart from Gordon Brown
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If you have any information on any of these crimes you can get in touch with the local police on 020 7350 1122 or via Crimestoppers (anonymously, if you wish) on 0800 555 111.

You can click on the individual markers for more information.

1. Yellow flags represent burglaries and red flags represent street crime reported in the period.
2. The briefing only contains details of burglaries and robberies. Other crimes are not included.
3. You can see more detail by following the link to the Google website.
4. The flags are not placed precisely (it would be irresponsible to advertise victims of burglary) but instead are spaced roughly equally on the roads they took place. The idea is to give a visual representation of the spread and range of crime in Wandsworth, rather than pinpointing crime locations.
5. While I try to ensure the data is accurate it is reliant on the information I receive, and I’m only human, so it may be mistakes have crept in. Please let me know if you think you’ve spotted one.

Theoretically related posts:

• Crime briefing, 22 – 29 October
• Crime briefing, 15 – 22 October
• Crime briefing, 8 – 15 October

Last Saturday saw Wandsworth’s 2009 firework display in Battersea Park. I understand the dry and clear (if somewhat cold) conditions resulted in a huge turnout and they shouldn’t have been disappointed by the fantastic display put on.

The iPhone video isn’t great quality and the sound of the fireworks somewhat drown out the music – a cover of ‘One Love’ – but does a pretty good job of giving a flavour of the climax of the display.

One of the beauties of Twitter is that you can get an instant reaction to events (for those who could access it, O2’s ever worsening network meant I had no connection during the event) and it was great to see comments like:

• “Just watched an amazing fireworks display at Battersea Park, really impressed ” jamiebarry
• “Just back from Battersea Park fireworks – amazing show.” rossbalham
• “bonefire day fireworks in battersea park were awesome. best fireworks show i’ve seen so far.” cezarneaga
• “Battersea Park fireworks;best I’ve ever seen.Musically choreographed & stunning.Bonfire was a bit huge & scary http://twitpic.com/oqj2p” ianapplegate
• “Battersea Park fireworks last night were insanely good – best ever. http://www.painsfireworks.co.uk were behind it, def check ‘em out.” louisedoherty

I can only agree. A spectacular display, my congratulations to the team at Wandsworth and Pains Fireworks who put it all together.

Theoretically related posts:

• Battersea Poems
• The Big Lunch in Shaftesbury Park?
• Last few days to vote for your local park

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Regeneration and Community Safety OSC (well, cycling)
I posted about the meeting the following day, so will not repeat the points. Except, rather smugly, to point out that I cycled to the meeting. I’m rather pleased that I’ve been managing to keep the cycling up – and am finding it an interesting experiment.

Last Monday was the first time I saw some really bad driving. Hitherto I’ve found other road users considerate, much to my surprise. There had been a few annoyances, but nothing major. However on Monday I found myself braking as a car turned left right in front of me and being nudged into the back of the bus by someone who didn’t want to give me any room. Perhaps worst was the driver who ostentatiously pulled into the oncoming lane to pass while pointedly accelerating then swerving rapidly to avoid a head-on collision with cars coming the other way.

My other cycling experiences have all been positive, and I’m going to carry on, but a salutary lesson that it isn’t all good!

Oxford Circus and Balham
It’s mischief and a little childish. But I really enjoyed the whole Oxford Circus and Balham episode. I think what made it sweeter, however, was that Westminster responded. As far as I’m aware the conversation was a few people with Balham connections tweeting about the crossings there. I don’t think anyone was really seriously suggesting Balham and Oxford Circus were the same.

The episode got picked up in a few places. I know the Municipal Journal ran it. The Guardian’s Dave Hill mentioned it and I understand the Local Government Chronicle have also featured my apology blogpost.

Alertbox in Northcote Road
This morning saw a formal launch for AlertBox in Northcote Road. AlertBox is a remarkably simple system that connects retailers and allows them to alert each other to potential problems – for example if they spotted a shoplifter – and to call for help if needed.

The system already runs in Southfields and Tooting where many shopkeepers rave about it.

The installation in Northcote Road was funded by the council and Battersea Crime Prevention Panel, with the technical support coming from the Community Safety Division.

Weekend events
This weekend see two major events. The first is the Battersea Park fireworks on Saturday. The display has always been one of London’s best and I hope the weather holds out to make it another successful year.

The second are the Remembrance Day services on Sunday. The two ‘civic’ services are at St Mary’s in Battersea and St Mary’s Putney. But there are other services taking place across the borough.

Theoretically related posts:

• Weekly wrap-up, 13 November
• Oxford Circus: An apology
• Balham was there first