Victoria Borwick - Listening to Londoners

What would I do as Mayor with the tube strikes?

2007-09-04T22:44:00.000+01:00

This strike is unnecessary and disruptive. The underground workers have been assured that their jobs are safe and that their pensions are secure – how many people have that job security?

Livingstone should be saying “you strike if you want to, but as Mayor I am going to keep London moving”. I am not going to be held to ransom.

I would suspend the congestion charge, I would open up the parks for parking of additional cars (as happened in the past with transport strikes); I would look at suspending some of the parking restrictions and I would work with the London Boroughs to ensure that Londoners could still get to work, and go about their daily lives. As your Mayor, I would stand up for the rights of Londoners.

Yes, we would have some chaos and inconvenience but this is better than Londoners being held to ransom at short notice. What about all the people who have not been able to get to work and thus have not been paid, or the extra inconvenience that Londoners have suffered – they don’t all have the secure pensions that these strikers can look forward to.

I would take a strong line. It is not about talk, it is about doing something positive to help Londoners get on with their lives and knowing that this Mayor would be on their side.

Tube strikes

2007-09-03T22:58:00.000+01:00

In the papers over the weekend, yet another young Londoner stabbed to death – what is happening to our great city?

Caught the circle line, but learned with dismay that as of this evening there would be strikes. Yet again hard working Londoners held to ransom by the underground workers – Livingstone has said they will keep their jobs, he has said their pensions are safe, I have no doubt he will tell us it is nothing to do with him – don’t forget this is all our money that was poured into this Metronet partnership in the beginning, and now – guess what it is Londoners who are going to pay to put it right – no change there then.

London is the powerhouse of the British economy, the Mayor should be out there selling London and its advantages for business, not selling us down the river to the unions – just like the bad old days of the GLC

Delays on the tube

2007-08-31T22:54:00.000+01:00

Stuck on the tube again – in the morning had to wait ages for a tube because of "staff shortages" – I sat and imagined all the tube drivers on holiday in the sunshine whilst we stood around on platforms around London, trying to get to work, trying to get on with our lives.

The one thing that the Mayor really has control of is Transport for London – it is his creation. All these people forced to use the creaking tube system, with above inflation fare increases every year - what benefit have we seen?

On the way back in the afternoon, I was stuck in a tunnel, boiling hot and no explanations, whilst a another poor girl worried with us all, was she was going to make her job interview on time?

That’s why it matters that the tube runs more efficiently, people need it to make their lives work. We all tried to give helpful suggestions, but how was she going to get to White City on time?

Salmon Centre – Bermondsey

2007-08-22T09:34:00.000+01:00

I had a really interesting visit to the Salmon Centre in Bermondsey. This Charity has been undertaking impressive youth work for 100 years, but they are nearing completion on a fantastic new 8 storey facility which will provide state of the art gym facilities, performance studios, music rooms, and a host of activities – it was fantastically impressive – but even more so were the dedicated team who have worked long hours to achieve this ambitious project.

I urge anyone who is interested in real youth work, and understands that this is about long term relationships with communities to learn from the Salmon Centre. This is not about quick fixes, this is about helping people through a difficult and changing period in their lives to fulfil their potential.

Their Mission:
The Salmon Youth Centre in Bermondsey aims to inspire young people to realise their potential, to contribute positively to the communities in which they live and discover meaning and direction for their lives.

Their Vision
Our hope is that the young people may recognise and respond to the Christian faith, which is the basis of our work, and which we believe gives true meaning and direction for life.

http://www.salmoncentre.co.uk

Crime in London

2007-08-14T15:07:00.000+01:00

The weekend papers highlight the extent of crime and tragic deaths of young people in London, so far this year. Yes some crimes are falling, but we need to tackle those crime that are not going down – street crime, knife crime, car crime – we all know someone who has been a victim of crime and often the police seem too busy to be able to deal with the problem – too much paperwork and too many processes to go through

The newspapers report there have been: 3,500 gun incidents in London over the past 12 months; thousands of guns are said to be on the streets; the capital has more than 200 gangs; the average age of black Londoners murdered by a gun is 19; on top of the five gun victims, nine other under-18s have been stabbed to death in London this year.

The Met Police figures reveal that in the first six months of the year there were 22,793 crimes in the capital, for which a foreign national has been charged. These included violent offences, ranging from murder to assault. There were also nearly 6,000 drug offences, 414 sex crimes, 522 robberies and almost 1,000 burglaries.

This is the most important priority for the Mayor. Forget cheap oil from Venezuela, what we want is to be able to go about our daily lives free from the fear of crime.
We all need to work together with the police, and the local community groups to show that this is the number one priority for us all.

Robbery in Battersea

2007-08-10T15:04:00.000+01:00

A friend of mine is robbed in M&S in Battersea – a moment’s inattention and her purse, money, credit cards, bus pass and all her personal bits and pieces are stolen. M&S staff are helpful and kind, but it is all very distressing.

The police take a report over the phone, but don’t seem to be particularly interested in what was stolen, as they have too many local crimes to deal with, and no-one cares that without her keys or any money she has no way of getting home. Of course I go round and pick her up, but it is very sad if you are elderly and alone.

2007-08-08T14:59:00.000+01:00

Return back to London - home to a mountain of post and emails – jolt back into the realities of being a local councillor and trying to help local residents who are having problems.
Political debate hotting up and several requests to speak as one of the potential Conservative candidates for Mayor. Boris appears to be on holiday, so all quiet from his camp.

holiday time

2007-08-02T21:53:00.000+01:00

Off to the Lake District for our holiday. Packed the family and walking boots into the car. CDs for the Harry Potter book to listen to, quiz books and snacks to keep us going.
We all piled up the motorway, took turns sharing the driving with my husband Jamie and arrived in evening sunshine near Lake Windermere - wonderful .......

Open the papers to see the chaos at the airports - very pleased it is not us

Hospital queues

2007-08-01T21:51:00.000+01:00

Back to the Brompton Hospital with my eldest son – I read in the papers that this was changeover day for Doctors and not the day to have an appointment, but when the appointments are made months in advance you don’t have much choice.

I have to say we waited over an hour and a half to be seen, but I was pleased with the Consultant we saw who took a great deal of time to explain everything to us.

Croydon

2007-07-26T21:46:00.000+01:00

I was the guest speaker at a lunch in Croydon for the local Conservative Association. Andrew Pelling MP was there with his family and he spoke very well and knowledgeably about the local issues, he is held in high regard by his electorate.

Their new candidate for the GLA is Steve O’Connell who is currently deputy Leader on the Council and very active in tackling local crime issues. I think he will be excellent on the GLA as he will stand no nonsense, and knows what it is like in the Boroughs.

Crime, transport and "over development" are the issues here, just like they are in so many parts of London.

Poured with rain again on the way home – what will our basement at home be like this time? Did I clear out the drains sufficiently?

Planning meeting

2007-07-23T21:41:00.000+01:00

Off to the Brompton Hospital physiotherapy dept. with my eldest son. All very friendly and helpful. Really shows that caring staff make the difference.

Planning Committee for Kensington & Chelsea this evening – As a local Councillor, helping my local residents object strongly to the building of “Tesco Tower” on Warwick Road in West London.
The proposed development is viewed as too high and too high density, with nowhere to push a pram or go to a park. We need houses and flats particularly affordable ones, but not in tall towers with no community space.

The Council rejects the scheme and there is much celebration, although Tesco’s and Multiplex are likely to appeal – why can’t we just have a Tesco’s Extra which would benefit the area, increase the shopping choice, better to have local shops, then people will not have to travel.

I am sure other shops would cheer up this bleak corridor in Warwick Road if Tescos were to expand.

Birthday baking

2007-07-22T21:37:00.000+01:00

Made a gooey cake for my Mother’s 92nd birthday, decorated by my children, and we all had a Happy Birthday tea for my wonderful Mother, and happy day with the family.
It is important to appreciate all that the older generations have been through, and my children love asking Granny how things happened in her day. A walking talking history book.

Final Four Conservative Candidates

2007-07-21T21:33:00.000+01:00

After the final selection process for the Conservative Candidate for London Mayor – four of us have come through the final interviews – Borwick, Boff, Boris and my fellow Kensington & Chelsea Councillor Warwick Lightfoot. Now to the final stage of this part of the campaign.

Back to cleaning out our gutters and drains so I am better prepared for the next storms – certainly makes a break from the politics, and brings a dose of reality.

Floods in London

2007-07-20T21:28:00.000+01:00

Oh what rain – we read about floods in the rest of Britain and we forget about London. What an amazing amount of rain in a really short period of time. Water poured into our basement at home and scared off all the spiders for a bit.
I went round to help my 92 year old mother who was in a much worse state. I lifted off her drain cover to help the water run away.
There were many others even in Kensington who have suffered and the Council are now making a map of the problems, so we can all be better prepared – next time.
I have read that the Olympic Village is in an area prone to flooding, so lets hope we get that right in time.

Campaigning in Ealing Southall

2007-07-16T23:56:00.001+01:00

I have been campaigning twice here for the election on Thursday. Canvassing over the weekend I found that many people had not yet made up their mind, but like all by elections these days, were drowning in literature – what do we inflict on our voters to shake them out of their apathy!

This morning, campaigning again with Tony Lit with Malcolm Rifkind, Eric Ollerenshaw, Karim and several other supporters we had a very positive reaction. Its time for a change, and the Labour Party have not delivered locally. In Southall, Tony is famous and children scamper after his autograph, and we are now winning over the voters in Ealing. Let’s hope for a win, or a close contest on Thursday to show that Conservatives are making a difference.

Certainly no wish for Livingstone’s tram here – in fact all voters I met seem to be united on that one, so Ken, you certainly have not got the support here in West London – when did you last walk these streets?

Tony Lit campaign page: http://www.ealingsouthallconservatives.org.uk

Crime – Young people the victims as well as the perpetrators

2007-07-13T17:27:00.000+01:00

The assembly interviewed Viv Ahmun from “in-volve and the London Gangs, Guns and Weapons Practitioner’s forum”, Decima Francis “Boyhood to Manhood Foundation”, Commander Rod Jarman, Metropolitan Police, Alex Reyes, "Kick Start Project, Crime Concern".

I thought this would be a really interesting debate as I believe that crime and particularly violent crime, continues to be the major issue in London.

As usual the underground was only working in parts, how anyone gets to work without being frazzled I do not know. Walked across to City Hall in the rain, why is City Hall so difficult to get to, no wonder there is such a mystery as to what goes on there. Why doesn’t such an important place for debate have better transport links? When you go to Westminster it is easy to get there.

Anyway back to the debate on how we can reduce crime in London.

The messages from the morning were:
The age that young people turn to crime is decreasing from mid teens down to 11 and 12 year olds – horrifying. Peak age used to be 17 -24 age group
In places like Peckham and other London boroughs – gang crime is increasing and the level of violence is increasing.
Although young people have always carried weapons – the difference is now they actually use them to harm people ….
There have been 15 deaths this year, and many more woundings.
The Church and religious organisations can play an important part in keeping young people out of violence.

It was noted by some of the speakers that the teachers should be social workers, because there was no one in authority in these children’s lives to teach them the difference between right and wrong – Remember this debate is in the same week as Iain Duncan Smith’s report on the importance of the family – and that certainly resonated this morning. There was an expectation from some of the speakers that society and “the system” should support these young people.

The Metropolitan Police estimated that there are about 250 gangs across London.

It was seen as very important to have local projects “home grown” projects for the long term. Not just enough to have a football camp for 10 weeks a year, there needed to be longer term solutions to meet the needs of more than one generation, who could then be mentors and a peer group leaders for the next.

The GLA members were concerned that there seemed to be almost an acceptance that young people will go through a stage when they carry out crimes. This is not a “rite of passage” and we need to show that this is just not acceptable on London’s streets. The police, all agencies, voluntary sectors, and religious communities, and the local Borough Leaders have got make it absolutely clear that this breakdown in acceptable behaviour needs to be stopped. We need clear policies to tackle this level of crime and the underlying issues that cause it.

Let’s be clear here about what is happening on our streets, and let’s get a Mayor who will stop being soft here and call for clear action, street by street, block by block and work with the Boroughs to tackle this issue.

London Low Emission Zone

2007-05-10T14:41:00.000+01:00

Ken Livingstone has given the go-ahead for a London-wide Low Emission Zone designed to cut harmful emissions from the most polluting lorries, coaches and buses. Unfortunately this will put additional pressure on delivery vehicles and small businesses.

The important issue is to get London traffic moving again, as congested traffic is polluting traffic and with all the pinch points on the roads and artificial road width restrictions, London's traffic speeds are now down to 2.9mph in the Strand (TfL figures)

The new European Directive will also place additional restrictions on businesses in London.

However the even greater problem for our local businesses, is that overseas vehicles will effectively be exempt from this additional charge, so whilst UK business are penalised, our European neighbours can escape these additional charges.

local elections

2007-05-09T14:26:00.000+01:00

Congratulations to all our successful candidates. I was delighted to see that we won control in Woking after all the hard work put in by the candidates, it was a pleasure to help them.
On election day I also canvassed with Ian Rowley in Marylebone and had the fun of meeting Barbara Windsor - just as glamorous as she is on the film sets. Then later in the evening I went up to Abbey Road to help Lindsay Hall, who again had a great success - Labour into third place in both these elections.

Having seen how confusing the election results were in Scotland, I would remind everyone that we also have a confusing system in London next year with the Mayoral elections, so we need to ensure that our voters know how important it will be to vote.

Crime too close to home

2007-05-02T08:23:00.000+01:00

Late at night an intruder tied to break into our home with a brick. I was down in the kitchen making a bed time drink. I called out – perhaps screamed would be a better word, as I did not know where the sound had come from. However happily my family slept on, in spite of the sound of crashing glass.
I woke my poor husband and we checked the house. Someone had thrown a brick through the dining room window, but fortunately the glass was so thick and the noise so loud, the intruder had not got in, or “gained access” as the police would say.

I called the local police station immediately, but of course, as those of you who have been a victim of crime well know, you get passed from “control room” to local area or whatever and by the time you have spelt your name and address and details several times, any intruder would have got away….

However the police were very efficient and came and checked whether there was still someone hiding nearby, although as it was dark and the middle of the night, it would be difficult to be sure, and they covered up the window with bin bags, whilst we waited for the scenes of crime officer to come. He took one look at the brick and said that was not much good to him, and could find no other evidence.
The police called me back at 5.00am to give me the crime reference number and check that I was all right. Most conscientious, although I could do with a bit more sleep! Anyway we have now toughened the glass, so hopefully we will have a better nights rest.

Bromley Hustings for London Mayor

2007-04-30T13:14:00.000+01:00

Bromley invited Conservative candidates for the London Mayor to supper followed by speeches and debate on the Mayor's powers, under the chairmanship of Nicholas Bennett, Councillor in Bromley.

Bromley has suffered from Ken Livingstone’s meddling with planning powers and there have been constant arguments particularly with regard to the higher planning densities demanded by Livingstone. The most popular view in Bromley is to declare “independence” and re-join Kent, rather than London.

I believe that local Councils should decide local planning policy, yes consult and work with their residents, but not have high targets imposed on them without due regard to the local environment.

Bromley, particularly the town centre, is, like many town centres suffering from “commuter criminals”. This is a new phenomenon where young gangs are abusing their free bus passes travelling to an area where they are not known and not only terrorising other passengers on the way, but also causing criminal damage at their chosen destination, before using public transport to escape detection.

Sorry Ken, Free bus travel for school is fine, but this privilege stops at 7.00pm

Belvedere waste disposal plant

2007-04-26T17:47:00.000+01:00

Courtesy of Cory, Councillors from Kensington and Chelsea and Hammersmith and Fulham visited the proposed site for this new plant.

Most of the waste will come in on barges and be unloaded at a deep water jetty, where it will then be transported across to the main plant. However the gantries and road system to transport the waste from the river to the plant have to raised to avoid the Thames Path - the footpath alongside the Thames. It will be a massive construction project.

This facility will operate 24 hours a day. The bulk of the ash is recycled to be used in building materials and the contaminated ash is stored in containers and then taken by road to hazardous landfill sites elsewhere.

This will be a vital facility as landfill becomes more expensive and we all need somewhere to dispose of our rubbish, but I can certainly understand why the local residents objected as it is going to be a vast operation.

Like the Olympics site the land is contaminated with cadmium, borax and other unpleasant chemicals and waste, so it is better that this site will be used for the benefit of Londoners, than residential. The residential is currently so far away that the heat generated from this heat and power plant cannot practically be used, however technology continues to develop, so we shall see how this project develops.

more technical details on: http://www.letsrecycle.com/legislation/news.jsp?story=5724

Havering Conservative Future

2007-04-25T17:36:00.000+01:00

An innovative evening with several of the potential Conservative Mayoral candidates invited to speak and then challenged to questions.

Havering includes Romford, Upminster and Hornchurch, but as an "outer London" Borough has been ignored by our Zone 1 Mayor and seen many cuts in local transport. Upminster and Hornchurch remain outposts on the district line and Romford the largest Town Centre in East London is off the map - consider the advantages to the residents of Romford is their transport links were improved.
This is an important issue for the next mayor.

Local residents, including our Conservative MPs are also campaigning against a new prison on Rainham Marshes

Conservative Mayoral Candidates

2007-04-19T23:49:00.000+01:00

You may have heard on the news and in the papers that Greg Dyke was considering putting himself forward for London Mayor.

There has been a lot of froth and speculation about potential candidates for the London Mayoral elections, but my position is clear. Londoners are bored of Ken Livingstone's left wing posturing. What we want is a Mayor who will tackle the problems we deal with every day: violent crime, getting to work on time, finding somewhere to live and who will get London moving again. This is what I stand for - and I have lived in London all my life.

This year Ken Livingstone is costing the average Londoner over £300 in addition to our council tax - he is too extravagant with our money and his overpaid unaccountable bureaucracy at City Hall is fast becoming like the bad old days of the GLC

Campaigning for the local elections

2007-04-15T20:23:00.000+01:00

Telephone campaigning for Woking was a difficult evening, as it is a very marginal seat. Then an interesting visit to Kingston & Surbiton Campaign dinner to meet their prospective Parliamentary candidates, and hear Steve Norris give an excellent speech reminding us of the importance of doing well in these May elections, to beat the Lib Dem challenge.

Saturday was spent canvassing and delivering in Woking - again fighting the Lib Dems. The big issue was crime - just like London - lots of petty crime and how to get young poeple off the streets and feeling they have something positive to do, rather than be vandals and terrorize people in their homes.

I was also amazed at the "land grab" several houses where residents had sold off part of the garden to develop their land, leading to lots of small houses on small plots of land. Other residents of course complaining about this distruption to their neighbourhood.

Conservatives are campaigning to reduce the council tax which has risen steeply here - in comparison to neighbouring Runnymede which is Conservative controlled and has a far lower council tax.

Ken's extra tax for Londoners

2007-04-10T21:01:00.000+01:00

So Ken wants to charge us extra for living in London. According to the Evening Standard today 10th April 2007, Ken proposes to charge Londoners an 2p extra income tax.

The wage bill at City Hall is over £30 million. According to the report by Deloittes last year, Ken is spending £1.3 million on his publicity staff, a further £2.4 million was spent on advertising, and £3 million on The Londoner.

If Ken can afford to spend all of this, let alone the £5 million a year on consultant’s fees, he is already charging us all too much. Ken – don’t you understand, Londoners want to choose how they spend their money, and I don’t think they would choose to spend it with you. Tax in Britain is already at a 25 year high. We want value for money and less tax.