The Future of Shopping in Ealing

1. What do you think of the Dickens Yard proposals, and what is the best way forward for development in the borough?

Dickens Yard isn’t in my Ealing North constituency but the commercial viability of Ealing as a shopping centre is an issue close to my heart and I support the principle of town centre regeneration while having severe concerns about the impact of the development on the surrounding residential streets and, especially, Christ Church School. Negotiation is needed! There used to be a well loved swimming pool behind the Town Hall and bringing that facility back to Ealing would unite all shades of local opinion. There is also the issue of the well used public parking space that is an encouragement to many people living outside of Central Ealing to visit the town centre. In the long term there will be virtually no car parking in any urban town centre but in the short to medium term we have to consider those for whom public transport is simply not an option and to encourage people to change their driving habits rather than ban them from their own town centre.

42 Days

Why I voted for 42-days…

A number of people have written to me on the issue of the 42-day detention and I value the opinion of those who have contacted me on the subject, but am in an absolute quandry over this issue.

I certainly wouldn’t have voted for the original proposition but a reserve power subject to approval of the DPP and affirmative votes in Parliament seems a fair compromise between the priorities of the individual and the state.

Tory MP claims too much money is spent on schools in Ealing

Tory frontbencher and Ludlow MP Philip Dunne has attacked the government for spending £5,280 per pupil per year in Ealing South Gloucestershire kids get £3,860.

Ealing North MP Steve Pound said “Philip Dunne shows a woeful ignorance and it is a pity that a bit more wasn’t spent on his education. He tries to imply that there is some political motivation behind the generous support that the government gives Ealing but can’t see that this is a Labour Government working with a Tory Council in the best interests of Ealing schools.

Surely no-one could deny that the needs of a West London borough like Ealing are far greater than those in rural Gloucestershire and his partisan comments on the front page of Monday’s “Daily Telegraph” do no favours to his Conservative colleagues in Ealing or to anyone who actually cares about education in our part of the world. When a senior Tory says we are spending too much on educating our pupils then I dread to think what their policies will be when they are finally revealed”.

A Week in London’s Fast Lane

Whichever way you slice it you have to accept that driving in this city of ours will never be a pleasure again.

Even before the current price horrors inflicted on us by the oil producing nations it was becoming painful to drive round London and I found myself getting more and more short tempered and angry.

This week I decided to do without the car.