It's Gordon and Harriet

I was up in Manchester today for the Leadership Conference, held in the Bridgewater Hall. It was a really positive event, and it was nice to see Lambeth well represented there.

The announcement of the results for Deputy Leader were pure political theatre, with twists, turns and suspense throughout. There were gasps as the results were read out by Mike Grffiths of the NEC, and consolatory applause as one candidate was knocked out of each round.

Finally, it came down to two candidates - Alan Johnson, tipped by many as the favourite (who had been nominated by Streatham CLP) and Harriet Harman, who eventually won. Sky News had announced Johnson as the winner minutes before the announcement, only to have to retract and apologise, proving the old saying about Sky - "never wrong for long".

Coming out of the hall, there were a lot of long faces, and a lot of shocked ones. I went to the bar with some friends and we watched as various followers of various candidates got their bags and drifted home.

This all goes to show that the Labour Party can do the surprising thing, even surprise itself. She's only been elected for a matter of hours, but I have no doubt that Harriet will be a notable Deputy Leader, who will attract many people back to the party, and new members too.

I spoke to an old friend from '97 on the phone this evening and he said, wisely: "Harriet wanted it enough. The others didn't. She won." And now that she has won, we should all support her to do the job.

It was a historic occasion - seeing Gordon Brown accept the leadership, and Tony Blair standing down. Gordon made an acceptance speech that was ambitious, substantial and serious, with much for local government to think about. The poll results today - putting Labour significantly ahead of the Tories - stand us in good stead as we embark on a new era of Labour government.

Lambeth's X-it project shows strong practice

I'm pleased to report that a youth project in Lambeth, X-it, was highly commended in a Home Affairs Committee Report out today on young black people and over-representation in the criminal justice system.

MPs on the committee contacted young people from Lambeth’s X-it programme who gave evidence for the report.

One young person gave her views on the programme this morning, outlining her experience of young people and crime in the area. The reporter mentioned she was part of a successful Lambeth programme that has prevented re-offending in over 70 percent of cases.

BBC News Twenty Four and the Today programme did interviews this morning at the Marcus Lipton Youth Centre, with young people on the project, myself and project organiser Julia Wolton.

Two other Today programme pieces on the Home Affairs Committee report included a broadcast from the Boyhood to Manhood centre in Peckham and an interview with Kids Company founder Camilla Batmangheldjh.

The core of prejudice at the heart of Cameron’s Conservatives

It has emerged that almost two thirds of Conservatives apparently believe that immigration has not “been good for Britain”, according to a survey carried out by a leading Conservative website, whilst only a third of Conservatives would attend a civil partnership ceremony.

The findings were published by ConservativeHome, at:

http://conservativehome.blogs.com/torydiary/2007/06/is_this_you.html

The survey results state that only 34.4% of the 1,294 Conservatives who took part in the survey considered that “immigration had been largely good for Britain”, whilst only 66.3% would “go to a civil partnership ceremony if invited by a friend.”

This survey shows the core of prejudice at the heart of Cameron’s Conservatives. Labour equality activists from the BME and LGBT communities have maintained that divisive Tory attitudes are alive and as insidious as ever, and here is the proof. It seems that David Cameron has so far managed to chloroform dissent within his ranks, but it is now reviving.

These findings will come as a shock to many people in Lambeth for example, where the Conservatives affect a cuddly image. When Tories express their real views they prove that only Labour has the commitment and the support from within to promote equality, whilst the Tories remain as entrenched in their attitudes as ever. They still have a long distance to travel from lip service to genuine belief.

The Joy of Stench Pipes

I was at the Patrolling the Streets Scrutiny Commission tonight giving an update on the introduction of the 22 new Police Community Support Officers we as a Labour council have invested in. I have a feeling the Commission was supposed to report its findings at the beginning of the year, but here we are in May. Could this have anything to do with it being chaired by a Lib Dem?

Anyway, I was followed in the hotseat (bear in mind this was hardly the Spanish Inquisition) by Cllr Jackie Meldrum, the Deputy Leader, who was answering questions about our plans for greater community engagement.

Jackie prefaced her remarks by expressing her views on the literally hundreds of council staff who patrol Lambeth streets, from highways engineers to refuse collectors.

She then went slightly off the page, and I was unable to force back giggles, when she told the assembled councillors, officers and single member of the public that: "I'm very interested in stench pipes."

I may have giggled at the sudden remark, but there is a seriousness to the situation, both in terms of sanitation and conservation. She was referring to the 158 stench pipes there are (apparently) dotted around Lambeth, only about six of which the council and Thames Water actually know the location of.

So I'm publishing a picture to give a general indication, in case anyone bumps into one (not literally I hope). They are taller than lamp posts, Victorian in design and probably looking a bit the worse for wear since they have been forgotten about. So support your local stench pipe, if you can find it first.

Deputy Hopefuls Come to Streatham South

This afternoon 5 of the 6 candidates for Deputy Leader of the Labour Party came straight from a large hustings in Coventry to a branch social in Streatham South. We had laid on a good spread for Peter Hain, Hazel Blears, Harriet Harman, Jon Cruddas and Hilary Benn, and a large number of local party members came along to enjoy the sunshine and pick the contending brains. Some people came with very searching questions about party democracy, Iraq, equalities issues, poverty in Africa and a host of other subjects.

It was slightly surreal standing in the garden while the contenders mingled with Streatham members. It was all perfectly amicable and the members were chuffed to bits that these busy political figures had taken time to come to SW16 to hear what the members wanted to ask them before they made their decision about who to vote for.

There's an article in the New Statesman about it here, which rather misses the point that it was intended to be a small, friendly and intimate event, to contrast with the big hustings we will see in the next few weeks:

www.newstatesman.com/200705220003

Letter to The Times

I've written the following letter to The Times after reading the obnoxious article today by Mr Weak himself, former prime minister John Major, who attempts to throw vitriol on Labour's record over the past ten years.

Dear Sir

John Major accuses the Labour government of being “a waste of time” (The Times 2nd May).

Does John Major consider the minimum wage or two million more people in work to be a waste of time? Or the huge improvements in the NHS and education? Or the ban on foxhunting, which David Cameron wants to repeal as a priority of any new Tory government?

This shameless and arrogant piece is an insult to the millions of people who wasted their time on the dole under Major's disastrously weak and uncaring government. I recall his own Chancellor, Norman Lamont, saying the country's slump was “a price worth paying'” - a piece of spin strangely resonant in today's Tory party under his former spin doctor, David Cameron. Meanwhile, his trade secretary Michael Heseltine, who had promised “to intervene breakfast, dinner and tea to help British companies” busied himself before one breakfast in 1992 by making nearly thirty thousand miners redundant before lunchtime. Leaving aside the worst recession in British history, what achievement can Major really be identified with? The cones hotline?

Yours faithfully

Cllr Mark Bennett

Labour Councillor for Streatham South

Major's article is at: www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article1733740.ece

National Councillors Day

Not only is it St George's Day today (Huzzah!) but it is also (allegedly) William Shakespeare's birthday. The old bard would in fact be 443 if he were alive today.

These dates are well known - even if Shakespeare's actual birthday is probably a matter of wishful thinking - and reasonably well marked. What is not so well known is that John Shakespeare, the Sweet Swan of Avon's dear old dad, was an Alderman in Stratford - an early representative of local government.

So I say to myself, why shouldn't we use the same day to mark the national poet, England's national saint and our much-maligned elected representatives in local government?

If Britain can have a national jelly bean day (as we did, yesterday) and a national allotments week (coming our way 13-19 August) and even a national moth night (11 August, put it in your diary), surely it's not beyond the bounds of possibility to have a national councillors day. I doubt the greeting card industry would be rushed off their feet with requests for "Happy Councillors Day, Councillor!" cards, so it's got to be cheap.

Surprisingly, Shakespeare didn't write any grand dramas about cloak-and-dagger town hall intrigues - even though he spent a lot of time in Southwark.

W. S. Gilbert, however, gave us his appreciation of the role of new-fangled county councillors in the 1893 Gilbert and Sullivan opera "Utopia Limited":

"This County Councillor acclaim,
Great Britain's latest toy —
On anything you like to name
His talents he'll employ —
All streets and squares he'll purify
Within your city walls,
And keep, meanwhile, a modest eye
On wicked music halls."

Ah yes, those wicked music halls. Still a problem.

Happy St George's Day!