Results tagged “Views”

John Biggs is the Labour London Assembly member for City and East

On the day that Barack Obama was raising the world’s aspirations, Boris Johnson was damping London’s down.

East London’s travelling public will look back on the publication of the Mayor’s 10-year transport plan two weeks ago as a bleak day.

Remembrance Sunday saw seven church services across Tower Hamlets, and Tuesday marked the 90th anniversary of the end of the First World War.

It is heartening that attendance at services is not declining, nor is the appetite for supporting the Royal British Legion and the thousands of volunteers who give their time to sell poppies.

Jim Fitzpatrick is the Labout MP for Poplar and Canning Town

This weekend we’ll have Remembrance Sunday. There are ceremonies all over the country.

I’ll be marching with the Poplar British Legion, from Arcadia Street at 10.30am, to the memorial in St Leonard’s Road, for the open-air service at 11am.

John Biggs is the Labour London Assembly member for City and East

And so we are all doomed. At least if you believe the media.

In reality, it is impossible to say just what is going to happen to the economy and, just as it was unlikely that the good times would roll on forever, so it seems unlikely that all hope is now lost.

Phil Briscoe is the Conservative councillor for Blackwall and Cubitt Town

The new age of post-crunch consensus arrived at the council chamber last week, as Labour councillors tried to brush the last few years under the carpet and support a number of Conservative initiatives.

Labour supported the Conservative lead to reverse the closure of the Bancroft Library, to appoint an independent auditor to examine leaseholder service charges and to take a tougher stance against One Housing and its failure to deliver promises for residents on the Isle of Dogs.

Jim Fitzpatrick is the Labour MP for Poplar and Canning Town

The Government continues to do all it can to stabilise our economy. However, world-wide winds continue to blow.

Constituents with savings in Icelandic banks, Northern Rock and elsewhere have been in touch. We’re keeping them posted with developments and assurances.

The House is back, another session has begun or rather is ending.

John Biggs is the Labour London Assembly member for City and East

For those of you held up on your journey to work because the DLR weekend closure had overrun, it can have been little compensation to know that soon a better and quicker service will arrive.

And I confidently predict that the arrival, in two years’ time, of air-conditioning on parts of the Underground will lead to demands that it be added to the other lines, and the DLR, too.

Phil Briscoe is a Conservative councillor for Blackwall and Cubitt Town

THE collapse of Lehman Brothers saw commentators blaming bonus-culture greed for wrecking our economy and expressing glee at the sight of jobless bankers.

But should investment banks take all of the blame? Gordon Brown abandoned monetary policy and set the Bank of England free, while establishing himself as the king of credit in the land of debt.

Jim Fitzpatrick is the Labour MP for Poplar and Canning Town

IT'S been a chaotic, upsetting – and I don’t think it would be stretching it to say monumental – week for Wharf workers.

Lehman Brothers, with around 4,500 staff, filed for bankruptcy, and Morgan Stanley’s future looked uncertain, during a week when the mighty global investment banks ended up looking no more robust than a market stall in a hurricane.

John Biggs is the Labour London Assembly member for City and East

EVERY new mayor, Prime Minister or council leader since the beginning of time has some sort of honeymoon, in which they are graceful in victory and enjoy a halo of goodwill from the public.

And, in the early days, all hard decisions can be blamed on your predecessor, who achieves an almost satanic status.

Phil Briscoe is a Conservative councillor for Blackwall and Cubitt Town

THINGS are bigger in America, and timing a trip to coincide with both Democratic and Republican Conventions proves elections are no exception.

Excitement was not limited to the 100,000 people at the conventions, the hundreds of Republicans I met while watching John McCain on a big screen in California, or the hundreds of Democrats we encountered watching Barack Obama on screen in Washington.

So much for summer. We’re told it was both the wettest and hottest for decades. How does that work?

September means back to normal working after my two weeks’ holiday. The House may not be sitting but there’s work to do.

This Sunday (Sept 7) at midday, is Merchant Navy Memorial Day at Tower Hill. This began in 1998 and is now firmly in the calendar of remembrance.

At a time of economic nervousness I have to boast that I only spent three days on the beach, with the rest of my break spent decorating the house and visiting potential universities with my teenage daughter – the looming expense of the latter explaining the relative frugality of the holiday.

I have returned to an orgy of warmth, making up for the cold weather, about the UK Olympic performance.

Phil Briscoe is a Conservative councillor for Blackwall and Cubitt Town

Estate agents may be struggling but one local sector is still booming – roadworks.

A typical morning sees seven sets of lane closures and traffic lights on the sole access route for the Isle of Dogs. This on top of the construction vehicles that use the public highway as an extension of their building sites in continued defiance of their planning permission restrictions.

Jim Fitzpatrick is the Labour MP for Poplar and Canning Town

For the last two weeks, my wife Sheila and I have been on a work placement with Voluntary Service Overseas in Bangladesh.

It has been a humbling yet inspirational experience.

We were placed with a non-governmental organisation (NGO) called Population Services and Training Centre (PSTC).

John Biggs is the Labour London Assembly member for City and East

Our new London Mayor recently addressed Docklands businesses encouraging them to support the community.

As I have often written, the gulf between the Wharf and many local people needs to be narrowed.

There are many areas of progress such as the newly opened Financial Services Academy.

But there is much more to do.

Phil Briscoe is a Conservative councillor for Blackwall and Cubitt Town

Despite the credit crunch, local planning issues have dominated my council casework recently.

Plans are in for Wood Wharf and Asda and there has been consultation on the Crossrail station and a plan to replace the City Pride with a 63-storey tower, building the affordable housing 1.5miles away at the Island Point site.

On the waterways, plans are back to moor a ferry at West India Pier, and a floating hotel next to Meridian Place.

Jim Fitzpatrick is the Labour MP for Poplar and Canning Town

I’ve been holding coffee mornings on a regular basis, the most recent one being this month, at George Green’s School on the Isle of Dogs.

These events provide an opportunity for local people to meet me on an informal basis, over a cuppa and a biccy, for a chat at the weekend. Not everyone wants to attend an advice surgery, or make a special appointment to see me.

John Biggs is the Labour London Assembly member for City and East

The honeymoon with our new Mayor is creaking to a close, with a furore about Mayor Boris Johnson’s deputy mayors, including allegations against and resignation of one of them.

These may be just teething troubles with the real politics beginning in the autumn when announcements are expected on spending cuts and new priorities.

Phil Briscoe is a Conservative councillor for Blackwall and Cubitt Town

Two weeks ago, I attended a full meeting of Tower Hamlets Council, one of only six opportunities each year for councillors and the public to raise questions and motions.

This latest meeting was typical for a Labour-controlled council that shies away from answers, dodges debate and runs for cover at the very mention of public scrutiny.

Jim Fitzpatrick is the Labour MP for Poplar and Canning Town

Summer’s here. How do I know?

Wimbledon, cricket season, next season’s footy fixtures out; and anti-social behaviour issues have come flooding in, as the days are longer, and the toe-rags who make life miserable for so many people are more evident.

Gordon Brown, I was going to write, “enjoys” his first anniversary, but that clearly wouldn’t be right.